I understand the sentiment and in truth, I agree, but even this "safety" measure brings new challenges.
There were a lot of entrants this year to celebrate/commemorate the last running of a part-gravel climb, including some previous runners. Most of them were surprised by how the paving had subtly changed the course. Corners that used to be "flat-out with the tail out" were now slower, as the tarmac racing line was narrower and tighter than the dirt it replaced. Even on Monster's run, you can see that he's not hitting the apexes as much in the last few miles - which were paved most recently. Ditches on the inside were larger than before, making attempts to straight-line or hug corners riskier [for the car]. Obviously, tarmac makes the climb safer and (given consistently favourable conditions, which are by no means guaranteed!) faster; but not necessarily easier. It presents a different kind of challenge, with a different kind of solution*. Hopefully this will attract yet more entrants to try and break the slew of record times set this year. After all, it's there for the taking
*Yeah, I'm referring to Millen's 4WD-LMP-thing. Although I think he overstated the brake issue, the splits before then suggested that he would have squeaked under ten minutes. And that's essentially a new car, (compared to Monster's Suzuki - approaching ten years for the same basic design IIRC?); how fast will it be when he has it sorted out?
