New National Format

[Chris Doughty]

Originally Posted by OldTimer

But it gives the people who can make both days a big advantage, currently that is not the case. At tiverton this year people who only raced on the Sunday were given extra practise as the track was unchanged from Saturday to help reduce any advantage.

I am not against change at all but all the angles need to be covered / discussed.

My own thoughts are to leave it as it is but actual have more nationals say 8 but still only four to count and you can only enter 6 of the 8. This would let more people actual race, and more clubs to get nationals around the country.

your first comment, it does give the people that make the practise day an advantage, BUT in the current format, it ONLY gives the advantage to the locals that have been able to race on the track every week for 3 months prior to the event, I think it actually makes it fairer.

the last idea would not work, I can see people trying to find out which events Cragg is doing to make sure they book into the 2 events that Cragg is not able to do so they get a 'free ride'

[trekkerkk]

personally off everything discussed saturday practise and sunday racing,
is the best so far,
for me travelling up saturday morning then travelling back sunday afternoon/evening is far more enticing than the current format,
like si says,one night away for me is a big advantage,
it deffinately would help close the gaps on the locals also,

trekkker

[Lee]

Travelling seems to be a big issue and also the early dart factor on a friday afternoon, so how about a Northern National series and a Southern series and then a final weekend to decide who the national champion is which would be held on a track that has not been used for either of the two championships, This would allow 250 people to race on one weekend and guarantee the best drivers at the final weekend.

Just a thought?

[niggs98]

really like si's idea and think it would really work on a lot of levels like no home advantage with all day practise ( i know it would of helped me a lot last year with my first year into the national series). possibilties of running a round or 2 of qualifying on the saturday afternoon will allow more people to enter the national series meening smaller numbers on the reserve list and those returning to national racing after a long lay off wont struggle to get in just because they are an f5 even tho they may of been an f1 a few years before etc. also with 8 race dates it will allow the use of more tracks (again reducing anyones home advantage) meening the brca will be giving money to more tracks to be ploughed back into the sport and give the newbies/juniors etc a chance to see the likes of Cragg etc to watch there lines see how they drive find out setups and improve there own abilities and talk to them to gain more info which will help there enjoyment and improve driving standards across the board because of it, this intern could lead to advertising in local papers etc to gain more recognition for the sport and get more racers at club meetings (again helping the sport)

also with the posibilityof earlier finishes on a sunday it will help me especially when i still have over an hour to drive

[emzy]

I'm afraid I'm party pooping again - I don't like Si's idea either.

This is just me but I get 4 Saturdays off a year and already use the 4 plus a random sick / non-paid for the 5th or 6th and for any family holiday. Stick in an extra 2 weekends and I'm screwed,

Would it be 3 from 4 to count? Doesn't give much leeway for missing events. This year was the first year I've done Tiverton because its just way too far and I'm not sure if we'd go again. So if I needed to miss another National for exams or whatever, I'm screwed there too.

Yep, I know I'm just talking about me but well... I'm hungover so I'm being selfish.

I know I (and other Saturday workers) could miss the Saturday but really... what's the point of racing at all if everyone else has had a full day practicing?

[Chris Doughty]

Originally Posted by emzy

I know I (and other Saturday workers) could miss the Saturday but really... what's the point of racing at all if everyone else has had a full day practicing?

what is the point of racing if people have had months of practise on the track because its their local track?

if I had to choose between racing against someone who lived at the track and someone who had 1 day of practise I know which one I would prefer

[emzy]

At the end of the day, someone who lives at the track will still have had months of practice.

[trekkerkk]

the big thing for myself is it takes me a while to learn a track,
i did the euros in france 2005 where the practice was extensive to say the least i managed to close the gap down to drivers that i normally wouldnt get anywere near,so having the saturday as practise i can see being a huge advantage for people like myself that take a while to get going,

trekkker

[Chris Doughty]

Originally Posted by emzy

At the end of the day, someone who lives at the track will still have had months of practice.

I completely agree,

but giving everyone the opertunity to have a day praccy would level it out a bit.

the initial learning curve for a track is really steep, after your first few laps on the track you are taking seconds off your time each go...

once you have had 2 or 3 runs you are only shaving very little off your times each lap, maybe not even that, just getting more familar with 'racing' on the track.

the differance between a month of praccy and no praccy is quite a lot.
the differance between a month of praccy and a day praccy is far far less.

[PaulRotheram]

your forgetting a hugh impract a national has on clubs, southport has had loads of visitors this year, all wanting practise for the national, giving us more popularity which we need, and alot more income.. take that away and you'l not had many clubs left. I'm pretty sure other clubs have had more drivers visiting also.

current format is the bomb, dont change it.. it helps everyone. for the sake of a days racing, and the current format, i much prefer the later due to the impact it has on clubs all through the year, not just one weekend.

[Chrislong]

Originally Posted by PaulRotheram

your forgetting a hugh impract a national has on clubs, southport has had loads of visitors this year, all wanting practise for the national, giving us more popularity which we need, and alot more income.. take that away and you'l not had many clubs left. I'm pretty sure other clubs have had more drivers visiting also.

Thats very true, I forgot about that. There is less loyalty to clubs nowadays, for example - Bury had many busy club meetings leading up to the national and now it has passed its back to small club meetings (the weather playing a part in that too) consisting of its hardy club members.... in the meantime, there a handful of us who'd usually be elsewhere (Bury/Batley) and are now going to Southport & boosting there heats.

[Reevsey]

I think this is a very good point, but i think the benefit from my idea is that you would not need to visit the venus so much before a national. This would ensure people spent more time at their local club supporting their grass roots racing encouraging racing to grow over the UK as a whole and not at key clubs because they have a national that year.

If you take Chris's point Bury metro will be suffering from a boom with loads of people wanting to use the facility but not many wanting to help with the club so they get some short term growth and funds but as soon as the national passes they are in their bust cycle where every one moves on and only the hard core local club memebers remain. This situation i can't see helping a club long term.

I personaly feel my idea has come from the amount of purpose built tracks that we now race on (not having a go at these tracks as they all have great facilities and in the last few years we have been lucky that they have asked to hold nationals) if i think back to Aylesbury/Worksop/Bury St Edmunds & Holbech etc there was more of a split between what i would classify a level playing feild track v a track you really need to practice on before a national.

I know not all are keen on some of the mentioned tracks but i think it does cut down the cost of racing over the course of a season

[neiloliver]

i WISH I could gain some form of advantage from Oswestry, but seeing that we never race on the field it makes no difference whatsoever! I think the current format is fine, it runs like clockwork and that has taken some years to perfect. I am not saying charge is not a good thing, but i dont really see what you gain? apart from more practise which is BORING. Chuck 'em down and get qualifying i say...

ps - prep for Oz is going very well

[andy05]

I think the current format is great

[MattW]

For me, the merits of this suggestion is the practice on tracks that because of geographical location, many of us do not get to race on from year to year.

Maybe if the venues were a little more spread then it would at least help?? Say no more than one venue per region??

[MarkWesterfield]

The individual clubs really need to work harder at getting more people intrested in the hobby and racing that live in the areas around that club. Your never going to win a battle over racers that travel, your best bet is to focus on getting more local racers.

Over here in America, 1/8 nitro off-road is popular right now, but the weekly club racing is poor. The racers are traveling from trophy race to trophy race and skipping the weekly club racing. So now all the hobby shops are trying to "one up" the other trophy races by the other tracks in order to win over the existing traveling racers. Every week a different track is throwing a trophy race right now, making each trophy race worth less. The track owners should have focused on getting new racers instead trying to keep racers that were not intrested in racing at the same track all the time.

As far as having an extra day of practice. The more dedicated and talented drivers will win every time, but keeping racing simple, affordable, and fun will bring in more racers. More people can do a 1 day race than a 2 day race, period. It takes less time, less comittment, and less money. Be very carefull when listening to the suggestions from the "racers", they will spoil themselves to extinction if you give in to everything they want.