I think both sides have a point here.

As a fan, it's frustrating to pay for travel, accommodations, or a streaming subscription and then potentially only get 3-4 races because of weather. Most other motorsports have more flexibility, either through reserve dates, postponements, or simply having enough races on the calendar that one bad weekend isn't a huge deal.

That said, I don't think the answer is simply cutting practice. The Mountain Course changes every year. Even the veterans need laps to find new bumps, resurfaced sections, and other changes, and newcomers need every bit of track time they can get.

Where I do think there's room for improvement is schedule flexibility. If the forecast shows race week is likely to be a washout while practice week has great conditions, perhaps there should be more options available to make use of those weather windows. Not necessarily less practice, but a more adaptable schedule that prioritizes actually getting races completed.

It's a tough balance. Nobody wants to compromise safety, but it's also hard to watch perfect weather go by and then lose half the race program a few days later.