> First, let me make clear that Dennis Grant was not there or involved in
any
> way! :-)
Thanks Mark. :)
> First, we went looking for a new timing system. The old system was a
one-off
> design that didn't mirror any other drag type tree system.
It should be pointed out that one of the design decisions in the old timing
system built into the launch proceedure a frustrating difference between
ProSolo and Drag Racing - and I mean a "weeping and gnashing of teeth"
level of frustrating. Having the start lights work exactly like drag race
trees all over the world is an ENORMOUS win.
I think people will find, once they actually drive the tree and get numbers
back, that their start line technique will improve many many times over. In
the past, you could suck on the tree and never know it. Now you'll know it.
:)
Which in turn means you can DO something about it.
> If all goes well Phase 2 in possibly 2002
> will actually display time differentials, side winner, etc. during
Challenge
> runs.
Note that successful implementation of Phase 2 is going to make for much
more exciting and spectator-friendly challenges:
- 2 cars pull up to the line. The displays show class dial-in times (for
EACH car) and the head start the slower car will be getting
- The cars run, and hit the finish. The first car back is doing better. The
displays show the run times for EACH car (so you can see how close they ran
to their dials, or if they broke out) as well as the newly computed dialin
(which is a measure of how well they did against each other)
- Back to the line, launch. Display shows RT and (maybe) 60', so you get an
idea of how well they're doing
- First guy back wins. A big honkin' WIN light lights up on the side that
wins (useful for close races, and the nonobservant)
Not only is that about a thousand times easier to follow (and thus more
exciting) it's also so highly streamlined that the amount of time it takes
to run a Challenge should drop considerably. Which in turn means that
running very large Challenges (64 cars, or 128 cars) becomes feasible.
Which means that more people per class qualify for the Challenge, which in
turn both raises the Challenge profile and includes more people.
So then maybe we won't have this bass-ackwards situation right now where
people care more about their qualifying results than they do the Main
Event.
> The premise for this is that even though rt doesn't count for the class
> competition you need to practice it for the Challenge and will do so
during
> class runs.
You'd better - because the people who ARE treating the light as if it
counted, now that they are getting the data to tune their light to the
track conditions, will eat your lunch come Challenge time.
That's what I don't think people have fully twigged to yet - having
reaction times (and to a lesser extent, 60' times) means that those who
know how (all the bracket racers, raise your hands!) will get better and
better lights all through qualifying (oops, I mean "class competition") and
should be well into the low 0.5s by the time the Challenge rolls around. If
you're cutting 0.8s, and you're both capable of running your class dialins,
then you're giving away 6 tenths.
> A decison has been made that rt is of no concern for class competitions.
I
> disagree, but that's my opinion. I can see how it could possibly attract
and
> open up class competition because cutting a light will not be critical to
> winning your class..
The really funny thing here is that even though RT "counted" with the old
system, there was no way of telling if a given driver was making use of it
or not. So even though cutting a good light helped win, you had really no
idea if you were slow on the tree or getting beat on the course.
So for all intents and purposes, nothing changes.
> Unfortunately, as previously
> discussed, the days of class competition being supreme and the Challenge
> being just a bonus round seem to be long gone. All the focus has shifted
to
> the Challenge
I don't think that class competition was EVER intended to be the focus of
ProSolo, that's just how it turned out - partially because the rules for
the Challenge were so hard to follow, and partially because autocrossers
are used to 10 million classes with 10 million winners.
If you look at how ProSolo is structured, with the dialins, and breakouts,
and the structure of the Challenges, ProSolo is all about taking wildly
diverse vehicle types and preparation levels and placing them in a venue
where they can compete against each other in a manner that is both fair and
difficult to manipulate (sandbag) It has accomplished this to a level that
is so rigourous, and yet reasonably simple enough to follow (when data is
presented correctly) that it's astonishing. ProSolo works, and works really
really well. It's one downside is that there are SO many classes, that it's
hard for Challenge qualification to reach more than 2 or three cars deep in
a given class - and if your class gets _creamed_ (Hi Bob!) it's entirely
possible that only the top guy qualifies.
The solution to that problem is simple - more cars in the Challenge. Either
start off with a bigger field (64-128 cars) or split the Challenges into
mini-challenges (Stock class challenge, SP class challenge, etc) Either way
works just as well.
But in my oh-so-humble opinion, increased focus on the Challenges is not
"new" or an "abberation" - it's a return of ProSolo back to its true roots.
A "correction". And a highly welcome one at that.
DG
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