Thanks for those statistics about car usage David. It much confirms my thoughts about the Brabham.
I would agree that a "tweak" to the token value is needed for the 67 Brabham, it is most definitely not a slow car and should be much closer in cost to the Ferrari, Certainly, it should not be possible to run the Brabham in every race! If I recall correctly the Brabham actually won the 67 GP title in 1967, maybe because it was more reliable than the Lotus, but it was obviously a match for the rest of the cars?
The 69x's certainly attracted some large grids, because we had everyone running together, and limiting the choice of cars for the fast guys certainly kept things entertaining for all. Maybe a slightly more restrictive choice for the Pros next season will allow the others to close the gap and contest the championship?
We cannot hope to race all of the various mods in a season if we want a 10 race series, so I guess the Friday slot will have to offer whatever does not get onto the season list?
On the shifter debate.
As far as I can remember back into the grey mists of time, there has always been a knowledge in GPL that using a shifter offered a slightly faster "shift time". To my knowledge there has never been ( until now) any real concern or attempt to legislate for this within UKGPL. That is not to say that there should not be some ruling to equalise things, I am just undecided on this issue as regards policing it.
I actually see things from a different perspective and wonder if this perceived advantage is now important because the level of competition within UKGPL is so high? There are about 4-5 drivers at the top of the leader boards, who are so close to being aliens that I wonder if they are beginning to develop scaly skin, webbed feet and can breathe pure sulphur dioxide!! Many races now have lap times very close to WR pace and it is usually NOT a single driver, but 2-3 cars that are battling for the win. At that level I guess each 1/10th of second becomes more important, hence this debate.
From a personal point of view, I am not the least concerned if someone can change gear 0.3 secs faster than me, as I believe ( maybe rather optimistically!) that I can regain that by choosing a better time/place to make my gearchange and minimise the any advantage? It just adds to the challenge of GPL.
One thing I think we might need to look at is the number of active members and new/returning recruits.
There is a critical threshold for any sim, regarding dwindling grids. Once the grid numbers start to drop on a regular basis people find it less attractive to participate, so they withdraw too. Once that downward spiral gains momentum it is 99% certain that it ends the sim.
Take a look at PnG which wast OK 12 months ago with regular grids of 10-15 cars. Then numbers dwindled as a few went off to try other sims, a few lost interest because their closest competitors were no longer on the grid, and regular grids dropped into single figures. Then the loss of 2 or 3 cars is hugely significant! It only took the release of RaceRoom beta to attract another couple and it was all over. PnG is shelved and I think unlikely to re appear.
The best we can do is to keep UKGPL as attractive and competitive as possible, to many people of ALL abilities. There are still people out there discovering GPL for the first time, plus those who are amazed to find that it is still going 5 years after they dropped out. I guess what I am proposing is that we need to offer the very fastest drivers a challenge in UKGPL, come to UKGPL and test yourself against the best. Whilst at the same time offering those who are new or returning a level of racing that is attractive and fun, where they can improve their skills without being intimidated and disheartened by alien pace and ability.
Sunday morning ramblings over, off to lunch!
