I was thinking the same question Dave. I was baffled at Hallett when the car felt worse than in the previous years, my times were about .5-.75 slower than the previous 3 years. Then I read that all the TT guys were killing their track records b/c of the new track surface this year.
Did anyone feel the RR's were faster? Could it be the RR's are faster on some tracks but slower on other tracks?

I do not claim to know anything about tire compounds but I know Bryan Curtis switched back to RA1's for both races Sunday and he said they felt better than his newer RR's. My RA1's have over 3 full events on them, and if they had been newer I would have definitely given them a shot to compare.
I am going to try both tires at NOLA, RR's with 8 heat cycles and RA1's with over 20 heat cycles, and see the time difference b/w both.

I also thought the RR's would have a big advantage when it comes to braking but I feel there is no difference in stopping performance. I wonder if this tire is similar to a Hoosier than runs great for the first couple of heat cycles and then starts falling off after 3 or 4 cycles.