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The Trinity vs. ROAR saga continues with a letter to the BRL Oval Series

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Main Photo: The Trinity vs. ROAR saga continues with a letter to the BRL Oval Series
3/4/2013
By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com
 
Over the past several months the industry has been in an uproar over the D3.5 17.5 brushless motor debate between ROAR and Trinity. As time has gone on the struggle between the two only heats up more and more. Today, the CEO of Trinity, Ernest Provetti, has released another open letter.
  
This time the letter is to Chuck Kleinhagen, owner of the BRL Carpet Oval Series. Kleinhagen and the BRL Series, amongst others nationwide, has conducted tests of their own declaring that they agree with ROAR's decision that the D3.5 17.5 brushless motor is illegal for ROAR rule spec class racing.
 
The letter below was sent out today from Ernie Provetti:
An open letter to Chuck Klienhagen, owner of the BRL and my other critics (handles no names on RC Tech Etc)

Chuck:
We have never met each other so I will not say anything unkind about you. Rather I respect you for promoting and building oval racing in the United States through the “BRL”
 
I am perplexed though that you constantly “side and support” an organization ROAR who not only “does not recognize your own organization” but simply seems to view Oval Racing as an annoyance to their fold.
 
I also am perplexed on where you receive your facts from. Not blaming Chuck. This is am emotional topic and both sides seem very passionate about their stance. What I would like to do is very simply go over the FACTS!

  1. Trinity submitted the D3.5 to Bob Ingersol, the Independent Lab around March 2012.
  2. It was legalized by Bob Ingersol who has had more experience testing and tear-down brushed and brushless motors for ROAR and IFMAR ‘using the supplied testing data” for the past ten years.
  3. Upon Ingersol’s and the ROAR Executive Committee’s ratification we produced the D3.5
  4. Bob used the “testing equipment ROAR has used for the past 10-15 years”, he was not requisitioned to go find a piece of new equipment “regardless of cost” that would render the D3.5 illegal.
  5. It was the best selling motor in R/C without question and I would like to bring out one very important point...there is more to making a fast motor than wire gauge. Trinity does not put a sticker on a Chinese motor and sell it is as their own like so many others do. We have an expensive program which we have used the past 30 years where it is widely accepted that we have had the fastest stock/spec motors in the industry...hands down!
  6. It has been confirmed by ROAR and Steve Pond (who re-tested the motor) that Trinity has never changed the motor from the original archived samples that have to be submitted with every motor that is submitted to ROAR for approval.

Which leads us to the inevitable question: “What would make Steve Pond, whose term as President was over” and is not qualified as a motor expert (Steve has been the past Editor of Car Action and has worked in the promotional and web department of Kyosho Corporation...I think most would say this does not qualify him to be a motor expert any more than any random racer who races an r/c car) “take on removing Trinity’s D3.5 motor from the approved list”

Chuck I have been compared to “Lance Armstrong” by Steve Pond, have been labelled a cheater and more recently been villainized as making ROAR spend the “membership money” to fight this legal case brought by Trinity against ROAR.

If you do me one favor.....please when you read the next paragraph, try and remove all your pre-conceived ideas about me and my company and try to understand how you would feel if you read this ‘sitting in my chair’. You have done nothing wrong and now are forced to spend your own money to fight a case that ROAR forced your hand to bring and obviously was in collusion with 3 of your biggest competitors to put you out of business....

Read on....

From: Steve Pond

Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2013 11:24 PM
To: 'Steve Merk' ; 'Hill Ed' ; 'Ron Schuur' ; 'Jason Mackanick' ; 'Clarke Denise'
Cc: 'administrator'

Hello Steve and the rest of the executive committee,
After a discussion with Ron this evening, I'm starting to question whether or not this action with Trinity is worth any more of our time, and spending any more of the members money. Ron had a discussion with Jim from Tekin, and many of us have had ongoing discussions with Bob at Novak, Jim at Thunder Power, and various other motor manufacturers. What's become abundantly clear is that ROAR is being left to stand alone in this dispute with Trinity. Despite all the lofty rhetoric from most of the manufacturers when it was discovered that the Trinity motor was simply too fast and was probably illegal, every one of them offered whatever help was necessary should we decide to reverse the approval of the Trinity D3.5 motor due to the oversize wire. Well, now that we are on the verge of engaging in legal action with Trinity, we've been left to stand alone by all the aforementioned. Tekin has even gone so far as to insult ROAR by suggesting "it's no good." Needless to say there are a lot of raw nerves on the part of many involved in this process, but the complete lack of support from the other motor manufacturers in the industry, and especially those that were most vocal about the fact that the D3.5 was improperly approved, has significantly diminished my motivation to defend our actions on their behalf.

Our decision to remove the D3.5 from the approval list is a principled and correct decision. The wire is too big, verified by his own attorney. On that basis alone I feel that ROAR has a very strong case against Trinity and would more than likely prevail. It appears now that we're fighting a potentially costly and time-consuming battle on behalf of people that will not stand in our corner.

It's therefore my recommendation that we reconsider this action against Trinity, restore the motor to the approved list, and work with Trinity on a schedule to phase out the motor on the basis that it still remains illegal. The affiliated manufacturers have a right for their complaints to be heard, and to expect us to act upon those complaints. But, if we are not going to have their support, then I don't see the need to pursue any further action. It's taking up a lot of the time and could potentially drain many of our resources that can be used for much more positive purposes. I'm interested in everyone's thoughts on the subject. If there is a consensus for this course correction, then I think we need to act upon it quickly. Steve M, the decision of how we go forward is ultimately up to you and if you decide you want to continue with this action, I will invest as much time and energy is needed to defend ourselves. But at this point I don't see any need to continue to waste our time and resources to defend manufacturers that will not support us.

Best regards,

Steve Pond

NOTE: Our attorney has never said in writing or verbally that our wire gauge is too big. It simply is not. We are dealing with a supposed overage of .001 (less than a hair follicle) which if it is (we have seen no ROAR report) could be lead by user error (due to temperature concerns when the epoxy was removed, causing expansion and how the wire kinks were removed in order to measure). Again I am not saying anything negative about Steve Pond, other than the fact that he is in no position to challenge Bob Ingersol’s ruling and is by no means a “motor expert”. How many Secretary’s of an organization have taken on the role of a technical inspector?

*This email is now a matter of public record in our lawsuit.

Chuck in closing...I do not blame you or anyone else for the statements you made toward me and my company but I do ask you to “remove the blinders” and see what is happening here. ROAR is “supposed to be” an independent company which is not biased toward any racer and or manufacturer affiliate.

ROAR should not be influenced by any manufacturer to try and destroy another person’s company.

What you think about me personally or not is certainly not the issue here. We have built a company over 32 years and sure we have made some mistakes but we have also brought a lot of good to this hobby. I am certainly not going to stand by and watch 2 Executive Committee members ‘who have a personal axe” to grind conspire with three (3) manufacturer’s to try and put my company and employees out of business and I do not think any of you would either.

Respectfully,
Ernest N. Provetti
Managing Director
Trincorp, LLC 
  
As expected, the open letter has raised even more questions regarding the issue and debate amongst ROAR and Trinity.
  
Upon further investigation we spoke to the BRL Oval Series owner, Chuck Kleinhagen, and he stated, "While the D3.5 17.5 does not pass the tests I personally have performed, it is legal in the BRL Series for the remainder of the 2012-13 season." He went on to say, "Next season is undecided at this time, and will be decided as that time gets closer."
 
In addition to speaking directly with Mr. Kleinhagen, we also came across his letter of response to Trinity and Provetti regarding this morning's open letter (posted above):
Ernie,

If you want to send me an e-mail, send me a PM and I'll send you my e-mail address. Billy Bruce also has it as you guys corresponded with me a few seasons ago when you said you wanted to sponsor a class in the BRL. And I've been copied on responses from other race directors back to you on your e-mails. In short, you can easily reach me without resorting to this nonsense of having Dave post Open E-mails on the forums.

Since you asked the question as to where I get my information, I mostly discover it for myself. I am one of the people who complained to ROAR about the D3.5 wire being oversized after I measured it myself. I agreed I wouldn't independently post my findings until they completed their spot check. Once they did, I posted a thread in our Forum indicating why I supported their decision and why, in spite of that, we were offering our racers who use your motor a grace period for the balance of this season.

So there is no question here I will repeat that I measured the wire myself using vernier micrometers designed to measure to the nearest .0001 inch. We also checked resistance per length of wire and other factors and concluded, for ourselves, that the wire exceeded the ROAR specification.

Next I suppose you'll say I only contacted ROAR because of my other sponsors. If you check the history of the BRL under our leadership you'll see multiple examples where we have applied our rules to the detriment of those sponsors. We believe strongly that the rules are the rules, no matter who they apply to. For the record, those sponsors are disappointed that we're allowing the D3.5 for the balance of the season. If our decisions were driven solely by a concern as to what our sponsors wanted we'd have banned it immediately following ROAR's announcement.

As for why I support ROAR, it is simple. First, I believe they are correct in this case in their determination that the wire exceeds their specifications as they have written and interpreted them. We also believe that every sanctioning body has a sole and exclusive right to interpret and apply their rules. Second, I am a ROAR member and I think they generally do a good job representing all of the RC hobby / sport. My interests go beyond just oval RC. I am a track / shop owner as well as the promoter of the BRL.

I do wish ROAR had acted more quickly in completing their spot compliance check and publishing their results. But Trinity proponents have been uttering threats of legal action since ROAR first announced that program. Given that possibility, I completely understand why they took so much time.

I also understand your desire to protect your business and promote your position. You and your proponents are doing that very effectively. It is your legal right to use the courts to try to have your position prevail. However, while that approach may be in the best interests of Trinity; I don't personally believe that approach is best for the sport / hobby. You asked that I consider the information following your open letter. For the record, I find publishing what was obviously an internal ROAR communication reprehensible. Also, as I read it, it re-affirms that Steve feels ROAR's decision was correct. It simply raises the question of whether the battle is worth the cost. Which is a "calculation" anyone facing a lawsuit has to make.

I have no desire to continue a public debate over this issue. I will delete any further posts on the subject that appear in the BRL forum. You have decided that this issue will be resolved by the courts or via an out of court settlement with ROAR. When I originally complained to ROAR last fall I agreed that I'd accept their findings even if they contradicted what I measured myself. In a similar manner if the courts or a settlement result in the motor being restored to ROAR approval, I'll accept that outcome and you'll hear no more from me on the subject of the motor's legality.

Regardless of that outcome, we have the sole and exclusive right to decide what is best for our privately run series and we'll continue to act in what we feel is the best interest of our series as we make rules for next season and beyond.

Respectfully,

Chuck Kleinhagen
Brushless Racing League 
 
While no one side can get everyone in agreement, I think most everyone involved in R/C can agree that this has been one of the most heated debates the industry has seen in years. Regardless of who is right or wrong, and what the outcome is, a disagreement to this level has potential to change the industry and R/C for years to come. Whether that is a change for better or worse, only time will tell.
 
Need to catch up on all of the action? Read more about the original banning of the motor in these related articles:
 
 
What are your current thoughts on the issue? Who in your opinion is right or wrong? What will be the outcome of it all?
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS BELOW! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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