Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration

There have been several posts and opinions about the cars that have been selected for the Lights and their effective handicap effect on the races. Some have welcomed the way it has worked, others are concerned that they are too harsh.

When we looked at the possible configuration of a multi mod format for the Friday series last season, I always had in mind that it should be a "FUN" event that would bring the Heavies and Lights into direct competition on track. The intention was that the Lights would have slower cars that would require them to use their experience and race craft to compete against the faster machinery in the hands of the less experienced Heavies. In just about any race between the Lights and Heavies where there is a free choice of chassis, the Lights are going to take the honours and all the podium places simply because they can extract more pace from those cars.
I genuinely wanted to give the Heavies a shot at finishing on the podium and racing wheel to wheel with the aliens amongst us. The reasons for that were twofold. Firstly, it should encourage the heavies to have a go at some of the other car groups in a race where it was not certain that the Lights would run away with it. Secondly, I feel that a lot of the "race pace" that the Lights appear to have stems from experience and race craft, so arranging things so that the Heavies got to race in close proximity might just show them why and where the aliens are quicker?

We have 4 other championships running in any season in UKGPL, where drivers are competing for outright points scoring and victories to take the crown at the end of the season. Maybe there was space for a series of races that concentrated on the fun of racing within GPL rather than collecting podiums and points. It is unfortunately a fact of GPL life, that once there are points on offer and a championship title dangled at the end of the season, it is difficult to prevent the red mist of competition descending at the same time as the starter drops his flag. We all want to win, that is why we ( and I include myself ) do this!!!

The only thing that I can say about the handicaps is this.... Because by our very nature we all have different ability, any fixed handicap system such as the current limited car choice is bound to favour some drivers more than others. Noticeably the Lights are still managing to dominate the podiums ( I know the Ratio of Lights/Heavies is skewed towards the Lights) so things are not too harsh. If each race was being won by the Heavies then there would be grounds to change the system, because I think that on balance the Lights, by virtue of their ability, should be expected to get their cars to the flag first..maybe 6 times out of 10?.

Also the very fact that some are questioning, and some are content, indicates that the car selection is somewhere near the middle ground? which is the best I could hope to achieve.

We have only had one complete 4 mods round of races at Monza so far and just the F2's and 69's at Lime Rock, ( 2 very different tracks) I am watching the results very carefully and if after we have completed another 2 or 3 tracks results indicate that things need changing, then I would hope to make small adjustments to keep the racing close and exciting.

I welcome all feedback on how those involved feel that this is working out. As I have said, the intention was/is for all drivers to have some fun on a Friday night with cars that we don't usually race, against drivers that we would not find ourselves wheel to wheel with and on some different tracks.

	Author	Topic: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration (Read 3313 times)
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