Hey Paul,
If you're going to overanalyze the results, at least do it right,
okay?:):):)
-Saturday has to be thrown out. Third runs for heat 2 were *way* wetter
than heat 1. Remember STSL doesn't run in the same group as open, so
Katie ran in the afternoon when it was completely dry, except it
probably rained on the last run which makes that totally invalid too.
-Bret Norgaard ran STX in the McCormick/Elder Civic. That's right, THE
SAME CAR.
-Kevin didn't look too happy with his runs on Saturday, but notice on
Sunday he was *faster* than Ralph in the dry.
Now all this is still assuming that both Ralph's M3 and Kevin's Civic
are really maxed out (which they probably aren't, yet) and driven to the
limit. Also doesn't take course dependency into account.
So who asked that question anyway? The bottom line is when you have a
class with a certain set of rules, and then you add an allowance for
bigger tires, LSDs, and cars with hairdryers, you really should get a
faster class. Part of the reason the low hp, speed maintenance cars
like the Civic are in vogue in STS is the tire width limit plus street
tires puts a big penalty on heavy cars. Open diffs take away much of
the advantage of powerful cars.
Now even ignoring all the wonderful car choice possibilities that 245
tires and LSDs open up, can you really say that same Civic with a Quaife
and more theoretical tire (actual available 245s wouldn't fit a civic so
great) wouldn't be faster? This is why you can't base classing on local
results. At a Tour you begin to get a better picture. The most
committed drivers tend to flock to these events from a broader
geographical area. This means a deeper pool of talent and cars set up
closer to the limit of the rules. But for all the reasons already
mentioned (weather, cars not yet ready for nationals) one Tour isn't
good enough either.
Car classing and indexing should be based on a lot of factors, and a lot
of results considered by people with lots of experience in the sport at
all levels. And even then, you can't make everyone happy because you
just can't make everyone happy!
I realize this is all basically what you are saying, so please don't
take this as an argument.
:)Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: Tibbals, Paul [mailto:PHT1@pge.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2003 3:51 PM
To: Autox (E-mail)
Subject: Atwater questions
The question has been asked, "Why have STX as a separate class from STS,
given that local times are generally about the same?" At the Solo2
Tour, only one person in STS, Katie, would have trophied in STX.
Conditions in the first run group were generally about as bad as in the
second on Saturday, it may have been wetter at the end of the 2nd than
at the end of the first. STX cars can have turbos which, all else
equal, may have a horsepower advantage particularly on courses with long
straights where they can stay on boost.
In the Atwater results at
http://www.scca.com/amateur/solo2/nat_tour/2003/atwater/atwater.pdf many
classes but especially STS had a noted "R" next to the 2nd line in some
drivers' listings. What does that mean?
PaulT
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