Dear, Federation International de l'Automobile,
Enough is enough with the "sustainability" nonsense. You are clearly starting the same old shtick again with this debate about tire warmers and their use or nonuse, during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Banning tire warmers and leaving drivers to fend for themselves on a track as long and large as Le Mans is, covering nearly eight and a half miles, on cold tires, is a safety concern of the utmost importance. You say, in article 6.5.5 of the supplementary regulations for the Le Mans 24 Hour race, "any process that involves a direct or indirect attempt at modifying the temperature of a tyre (compared to the ambient temperature) is forbidden."
Banning the ability to warm tires before they are put on the cars for "sustainability" is a joke. You claim it is for "environmental stewardship" or words that are similar to that affect. Well, be that as it may, you are taking a major safety risk around a track that is as long as Le Mans especially on the four miles of the Mulsanne straight on the back section of the course. How much sustainability will be maintained by this egregious safety risk? Zero. How much sustainability will be maintained by the teams having to have a completely new car if their primary chassis is scrapped due to an incident where stone cold tires are involved? Zero.
What you fail to realize is that your goal of "sustainability" is a gimmick. This has zero to do with cost containment or environmental stewardship as you claim it does. There are plenty of great drivers who have excellent car control on stone cold tires at the start of a motor race. But what if, what if, we see conditions that are similar to what we saw this year at Le Mans in the beginning of the race and during the nighttime hours where it is raining cats and dogs on a cold, and a damp circuit? Then, are you willing to risk letting several drivers aquaplane off the road because their tires don't maintain a modicum of heat?
There are drivers out there who have an uncanny ability of racing at full chat on stone cold tires. Don't get me wrong. But, in principle, this is a problem. Safety concerns for the drivers, for the condition of the cars in your fabled endurance race, must take more precedence before how "sustainable" and how "green" your brand of motor racing can be. We are seeing the use of sustainable fuels with biomass added to the petroleum. That's fine. We are seeing more recycled tires and sustainable elements being added to the tire compounds thanks to Michelin and Goodyear and the tires they will supply to the championship in Hypercar and LMGT3 for next year.
But at some point, your overzealous anxiety about sustainability must give way to ensuring competition among the teams at both the Hypercar and the GT3 levels. What you have here is a bunch of gubbins and gimmicks. I don't think you have a workable plan. This is just a "mandate" to be "greener" that could affect your brand of motor racing in a very negative fashion. Other championships particularly in the United States do not use tire warmers. But that is likely due to cost containment and not some environmental flimflam. I would deeply reconsider this decision and its plausibility, squarely upon safety grounds.
Do you care more about being environmentally friendly? Or, do you care more about keeping endurance sports car racing drivers safe, and teams from incurring hefty repair and parts bills? It is your choice. The chessboard is yours, ACO. You make the first move. But please do so wisely and use your heads on this and not hackneyed claims about being friendlier to good old Mother Earth. In racing, yes, like in any facet of life, we ought to do everything we can to be good to the planet. It is a noble endeavor. But, if it is going to have a serious effect on the racing and the safety of it, I think you folks need to reconsider.
Sincerely,
A concerned sports car racing fan
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