Interesting, thanks! To what do you attribute the apparent difference between running SM and champ? Did you ever rack up 100+ hours on a set in SM? If yes, do you think the difference is that temps are climbing in champ and staying there for long stints damaging the grease? If so then it might well be solved by cleaning a new set and injecting a higher temp lubricant and/or adding cooling ducts.
I never got close to 100 hours on an SM set (my best guess is less than 50 hours on the SM. Also the brake temps on an SM are lower- my guess is both contributed to the failure.