F grades what's the point??
 

Dos'nt really seem much point in the f grades it just seems to be a measure of how anal you are!!
What does f stand for anyway ?? Freak seems to be all I can see it relevant to :D

Bit like your posts :woot:

So you can be graded into the relevant heats and compete against guys who are of a similar ability. Better than being held up by slower guys or holding up guys who are faster than you are. I thought it would be obvious.

True, but thats what ability ratings are there for.

This year I have an F grade, because I completed enough regionals to get one, but in the past I haven't, so never got one. Even so, by accurately stating my ability level on booking in at big meetings, I've never found myself in either a heat of superstars where I am totally outclassed, or a heat of numptys where the whole class takes me out!
Having an F rating hasn't changed this one bit, so I'm not bothered with regional.

Its a way to challenge yourself and see how much better you're getting compared to a larger group of people than an average meeting.

Due to some dnf's in my finals last year I just scraped my F3, so this year I want to improve by getting the same grade but higher up. F2 is out of reach but a well earned F3 will do me :lol:.

Theres no "ability rating" box to fill in if you enter nationals. Regionals i wouldnt personally class as "big meetings". You are seeded initially based upon your F ( Formula ) grading. This is based on regional results and not your own opinion of your ability so you get seeded much more accurately.

The ability level is obviously down to the honesty of the person holding the pen. You arent really able to give an accurate ability level unless you know exactly whos attending anyway. You might be the slowest driver there.

You sound quite anal you must be f2

:thumbsup: You`re a wise man. I am.

That sounds like you play with your own bum !!

What a stupid thread for the following reasons:

1) F grades are required to judge your true ability, any knob can turn up to a large meeting and simply lie about their ability so they get it!

2) It stops the morons getting into Nationals that can't be arsed with Regionals so only the people willing to make an effort get in!

3) By doing Regionals it helps to generate money for your clubs in your region which is handy when the attendance is low during the holiday period and you get a so called useless F grade!


This is why the hobby is dying because of idiots that come out with stupid comments like "F grades whats the point??" and "I'm not bothering with Regionals" basically just lie about their ability because they can't be arsed to make an effort!!! :thumbdown:

That shows how wrong you are. I'll be running the Bury round, I just won't be racing. It serves no benefit to me.

I see the point for F1's and F2's, but F3-F5 is a different story. It doesn't give you a true picture - not in the North West last year at least.
Two rounds (South Lakes and Keighley) had much lower attendances than the Southport and Bury rounds, which means coming last at those meetings netted more points than an impressive performance at the pack Southport Rd 1.

And it doesn't help club funds to be closed for 5 weeks when regionals are elsewhere......

But what would happen if you went to a regional for the first time I would be classed as a f3 racer yet I could be as good a driver as a f1 racer there for I would end up racing against lower ability drivers until I was regraded how long would that take?

good point, you may win loads though lmao!

yash e mash;)

You`ll be in a minority if you roll up as a "car park basher" and managed to pole the A final at a regional. It does`nt happen, and you won`t so don`t worry yourself with that :lol:

Yeah you may have one meeting where you arent seeded accurately if you are an unfound superstar. You class yourself as F3, again, it depends who races in your region. you might be F2 or you may be the slowest in your region and therefore remain F5

So if F3-F5 grades are useless what are you expected to do, take a persons word for it how good they are?? All F grades are useful which is why you have to do so many to get one so attendance doesn't matter too much. All as it means is the people that could be arsed to go to the Regional will reap the rewards where as the people that didn't will suffer a bit and rightly so. :lol:

It depends on your region if you make money or not. At the end of the day its a good way of advertising the hobby and more importantly your club. :thumbsup:

I can not remember having F grades 20 years ago when I used to race in regionals and nationals. I just remember being in mostly A finals but that was back in the day when cat xls won world championships:woot:

Yeah i had one of those in 1987 too :) Nothing wrong with the grading, just means you may get seeded in too low a heat at your first regional but you have to start somewhere. After that you`d be seeded in a more suitable heat.

Its a little more complex than taking a persons word for it. For a start, anybody with any level of experience is likely to be known by somebody, except perhaps the odd club visitor from a very different region etc. So with a little sharing of information getting a decent picture of someones position isn't that difficult - easily as accurate as F grades at least at the 3-5 level. More so as my current grade reflects last year, which isn't always the same as this year!

To further muddy the waters, F grades are national, but based on your rating in your region. In a busy, competitive region its hard to get an F3 rating, but if your region consists of 3 sheep and a seagull racing a grasshopper, you really ought to be an F1 or 2. Which means that F ratings aren't really an accurate gauge when comparing across regions either.

But thats my point - its only even used for the first round! After that, people will know you are better/worse than that and adjust accordingly.

Fair enough I have no problems with f grades just seems that it could possibly take some time for someone new to regionals to up your grading. I personally will not be doing them been there done that got the trophies:lol: I have only just got back into rc at xmas mainly to have a bit of dad and son time. He is only six but I get my enjoyment out of watching him race.

:drool:O dear bud lol, you been on the alcoholic lemons again :woot:

God I'm so glad I don't come on this website much :wub

F2
 

We had an F2 one year when turn out was crap. He was one of the four who qualified in 4wd. His ability, using bbk software (0 to 15), is nine.

I always sort our heats by ability. Formula 1 get 15. If a f1 gets demoted then he gets dropped to a 14 and as long as he drives well he stays a 14. Our regionals usually sort out quite well with drivers from other regions visiting help to judge the overall abilities of our drivers.

As for Nationals.......I believe that if you don't do Regionals you don't do Nationals. Taken to the extreme...if you dont do club racing you don't do regionals. That's how it was when I started.(or so I was lead to believe)

Si's point about the turnout is true, if you happen to be unlucky and miss a couple of regionals where the general turnout and standard is lower then someone of lesser ability could end up with a higher licence grading than a better driver who went to a meeting of higher class/turnout.

If you don't agree with F grades and would rather keep your hand away from your b0ttom then fine, but for many of us it just gives us something to aim at (other than other drivers) for the end of the season, and to those who haven't been doing it long or have come back to it, it is a measure of improvement, though not 100% accurate, granted. The seeding at regionals (by whatever method) I believe is important in heats assuming you want to get in the highest final you can. IMO in any heat at a regional all the drivers should be within a lap or so, perhaps a couple of cars being lapped by the leaders.

I raced my first regionals last year and got an f3,but i cant be arsed with all the travelling so im not doing any this year and ill give myself the f grade at the end of the year just by judging it of other peoples results i race with.So ill probably be awarding myself an f2 as i think ive improved a lot,hope this helps:thumbsup:

ps hopefully ill be telling everyone im an f1 next year!!!

It's a good job your not running the computer then.

I'am a A1 in my own world, god i love these threads proves how geeky this racing is lol :thumbsup:

All thats important is we all enjoy it, otherwise there is no point. Some people strive to improve the F grade, some don't, whats it matter? Nothing if your enjoying it.

I think F grades is something unique to our class, why? Im suprised about that. As I can see there purpose for national events etc.