A private discussion has prompted me to ask the following:
'The engineering disciplines required to set a weight target and to meet it are vital skills. I can't conceive of designing a racecar without setting a weight target and analysing and managing the design to achieve it. It's my personal opinion but weight should form an actual part of the competition score, kind of like the cost event.
'What should happen is teams should declare a running weight when they submit their competition entry. Then they are scored against a minimum weight (analagous to the maximum cost). Finally, they lose points if they weigh in heavier than their declaration (say 5 points per kg). Will get the teams much more focussed on a good design process. Safety should not be compromised because we already have adequate structural regulations and the minimum weight score can be made sensible enough (say 140kg). Teams can go as light as they dare given the stiffness and reliability tradeoffs.'
What do you all think?
Regards, Ian