yep, you run the danger of starting another pods vs box endless thread....
both WSBK and Motogp motors run airboxes, so could stop there.... seen them with my very eyes, its a fact, no arguing with that (unless you think works race engineers know nothing 'bout motors
)
main reason is that you can harness airbox frequencies to boost power which simply do not exist without it, shielding from hot air and turbulence are added benefits
but old habits die hard, open stacks look cool and certainly period and for many the gut feeling that an open carb "will breath freely and therefore better" is enough of a logic. its a bit like it used to be with exhaust pipes in the 20's, people taught that by chopping them right after the exit they'd get minimum resistance to flow, scientific evidence showed longer pipes of the right length increased power.
i race vintage with open CR + stacks, and I would definitely build an airbox if i had the time. quite bit of a project if you want to make the carbs easily serviceable, etc. Planning to implement one in my next racer build
