New National Format

[MarkWesterfield]

You guys should try to come to more races in the US and try it. Honestly, by the pics on Jimmy's site here, it looks like you guys are having more fun than us.

[rich_cree]

Blimey, that got more responses than I thought!

As for how long the days would be, maybe I was optimistic with an extra qualifying round, but if we still have four rounds of qualifying then theres no more races to be run over the weekend than there is currently so the days would be identical, if not possible a bit shorter due to there only being one stop needed after practise to reseed heats, instead of two stops.

As for what happens if you break both your cars, this would be exactly the same as if you broke your 2wd in rd 1 then did the same in round two. You would expect the same ammount of time between hitting the track (1.5 hrs or so).

Personally I find the different track layouts take longer to get used to than hopping from one car to another (might help you do better at the cactus too Lee? ).

I also think the track deteriorating over the course of a meeting is one of the best aspects of off road racing. I'd also say that most tracks (if they are going to cut up) tend to be pretty much blown out after a couple of rounds and changing the layout for 4wd generally just makes practise a bit of a waste of time. If it gets too bad you can still alter the track for day 2, just like they do when it rains.

I do see the problem with only having one set of electronics too, also folk who have to work on a saturday or sunday. Just wanted to gauge opinion, so far negative sums it up best!!!

[Jamie B4]

Rich,

Not too sure about your idea but I am in total agreement that something needs to be done to stop the locals having such an advantage, again you can almost predict who is going to be in the majority of the A finals and for the "nearly made it"'s its the same old story.

I bet that most of the A finalists have practiced on the track for about 3 months before

J

[Lee Martin]

i dont think our A finalists practised 3 months before...

some have yeh agreed...

but either me or daz had been to bury, even for a meeting....

i think the same goes for ellis....

[Chris Doughty]

last time I raced at Bury Metro was the national before this one, I got second in 4WD and 7th(I think) in 2WD...

[Reevsey]

As it seems the main issue with Rich's plan is people running the same electrics in both cars how would people feel about the following which i belive would take away home advantage to a certain extent and take away any need to visit a national track before a national.

4 2wd nationals (Best 3 to count) Sat practice Day Sunday race Day
4 4wd nationals (Best 3 to count) Sat practice Day Sunday race Day

Benefits that i can see

• Potential for a day practice before race day
• only one car to get ready for a weekend
• no need to brave the friday night traffic on motor ways as you could travel up sat morning
• Potential for people that stay in hotels to only have one night rather than 2 which may mean over the course of the season 8 nights v 12 nights if you always stay over on the friday night
• Potential to use less tyres if you do not always run new in practice
• more clubs could hold nationals
• If you work Saturdays you could now compete at 2wd nationals

Issues i can see

• 2 more weekends in an already packed calander
• Clubs would potential only get paid for a Sunday race meeting where as they currently get paid for a Sat & Sunday meeting

What are peoples thoughts?

[_sleigh_]

Now that is not bad, not bad at all

[Kopite]

Not sure if i go for this local advantage stuff really. yeah, you'll get a few surprises in the A final at certain tracks during the year, but the overall positions in the championship will even itself out throughout the course of the season.

I do like the sound of this idea for the nationals myself , but to be fair to all competitors, i just can't see it happening. i know too many people who work saturdays for a start!! And yeah, imagine what a ballache swapping speedo's round throughout the day would be!!

[Northy]

Who really only has 1 speedo that they use in both cars?

Come on, hands up.......

G

[Reevsey]

Another benefit of running nationals to my sugggested format would be practice on the Sunday morning could be cut down there for giving us a chance to get away earlier so most people can be home at a decent time on a Sunday.....

Regarding Home advantage, i am afraid as the tracks that want to hold nationals are generally the purpose built tracks it is becoming more relevant to practice at these tracks to ensure you are good to go on the Day, It is why people such as Neil Crag, Tom Yardy & Phil Sleigh etc have made the effert to visit Stotfold already and yes there are guys such as Lee and Bloomers that don't practice at the tracks but can perform on the day. I do some of the kiddy winter series meetings as i feel the need to practice at these tracks to give myself the best opportunity but reality is some tracks are just to far for all of us to practice at.

[rich_cree]

Si mate, cracking plan! That is really superb.

I'll sign up for that.

[trekkerkk]

thats a really good idea si,
deffinately gets my vote,

trekkker

[TRF_Tastic]

Maybe cut out all the practice on sunday and have extra heats???

I would defo be up for a spot of that!!

[Reevsey]

Yea i guess we could have booking in on the Sat afternoon and maybe finish the day with a controlled practice run to check xtals etc so we were good to go first thing Sunday morning which would mean we could get 140 people booked in??????? and still finish on time........ (but could be a problem for people who decide not to turn up on the saturday. i think about 60% of tc national entries turn up on the Saturday with the rest just comming along on the Sunday though so may have to have a 2 min practice run Sunday morning)

Paul Worsley mave have a small heart attached with more drivers to manage though.........but it is an idea at this stage.

If more people think it is a good idea i will propose it at AGM time

[losixxx]

think the main problem would be the extra 2 weekend's, especially for the brca team, they already do 9 weekends per year with the nationals, end of season/indoors finals, plus for regions trying to fit in a full series with 2 less weekends to use. ive tried to get a 2 day regional in midwest for 2 years but keep getting told people have trouble getting more saturdays off!
imho it aint broke so don't try and fix it

[Chrislong]

I like Si's idea, that would rock.

Recently, I been thinking to myself how fast seasons come and go - i.e. right now we have had 3 rounds of the nationals and feels like we have hit the 50% marker early in the calender.... although things like the Worlds and Euros need to be avoided, but id like the summer season to be longer (and drier) than the winter indoor season..

Chris

[modelimages]

chris
see your point about not being broke but we are turning away people from nationals with 20+ reserves, we need to look at the format to see if we can get more heats.

my suggestion run it like the euro's first day practice and 2 rounds of qualifying, then second day 3 rounds and finals. yes it stops people who cannot attend saturday but there are 150 people who can and do.

there are advantages on running a single class weekend but of course you will need more of them.

[Southwell]

This would put me off some of the far away nationals, I would have to get more time off work and sacrifice more holidays to do them all.

[spenner]

Im with Si and John on this,
The idea of 4 and 4 is great, i would also prefer Sat: 2 Rounds of practice + 2 rounds of Quali then 2/3 rounds on sunday plus finals.
Numbers can increase allowing our nationals to be MASSIVE. Also keeps the carnival atmosphere.
I would say most people attend nationals for the social side as well as the racing ???

The friday's don't really bother me (personally) it's the travelling home from your Tiverton's, Bury's and Southport's on a sunday evening.

[Northy]

Originally Posted by spenner

it's the travelling home from your Tiverton's, Bury's and Southport's on a sunday evening.

What do you think it's like for people traveling back from Tiverton when they have to travel south to get to the likes of Bury and Southport

G