You're putting words in my mouth, I didn't say that. I would like to agree with you that talent could trump seemingly required equipment. If you have so much time to spend on the hill, why not race yourself and find out?
However we simply have not seen that happen, afaik. The Olympic podium was Anderson, Karl, Bozzetto, all on plates. Karl was on his own Apex clone (or is the Apex a clone of the Karl? I forget) I'm not sure if Bozzetto was on an Apex or clone or a Vist or Hangl. Karl won the overall WC PGS. In the WC, if you're not on an Apex/clone, you're on a Vist or Hangl, or you're not in the game. Surely someone on the WC has experimented with removing their plate in training.
As for the weight penalty, it has been there for a long time with Vist and Hangl. I know the goal for the Bomber plate was to come in at or under the weight of a Vist, I have to imagine that was a goal for Apex too.