I think there's a misunderstanding here. It is not a negative comment in any sort, but a constructive criticism and a personal observation. I believe Mike's (Beattie) goes the same way.
What he really means is that you cannot simply take the recent results of someone, i.e. isolate last season and judge solely on that. You have to look at the driver capacity, potential and overall speed, between divisions, mods, even sims (ok, maybe not).
For example, if I see someone fast in 67s, they're immediately going down in my book as fast drivers regardless of mod. 65? Sure, it may take a few laps to adapt and get up to speed, and when it comes to setups, it may take a bit of time too. But I'd never expect them to be slower and fighting for lower positions than they did in 67s. It just makes no sense and if it happens, it's solely down to the that driver either lacking preparation for the event, having their mind wander off, not giving their best, bad shape or whatever. But definitely not skill levels, let alone potential for becoming faster.
I think this is what Mike (Beattie) meant exactly. Ken, if I have to address someone concretely, is IMO faster than Mike. I have raced both many times, in many divisions and that is what I conclude without even having to stop and think about it. Yet he gets BT11...
John is consistent you say, but the only reason he doesn't win as often as he could is getting involved in incidents. It is obvious to anyone who has been racing for the last few years that he has improved immensely. But at the same time, BT11 is probably OK for him, for the lack of slightly slower car.
Jethro, as a slacker as he is when it comes to racing, has potential to become as fast or faster than me if he does his homework, so are we just relying that he keeps NOT doing so? I guess, lol. Otherwise he'd blow everyone and their mother away in his BT11.
If it's between Cooper and BT7, the reason Cooper is the winner is the lower drag (they're supposed to have the same engine, right?) and thus a better acceleration and top speed. And handling wise, I could never go quicker in the BT7 even on a slower track, so the Coop must be rather good. I remember at Imola the difference in my laptimes was almost a whole second between these 2 cars (I had to switch chassis so I ended up practicing properly in both). It just goes to show that engine is the single most important thing in 65s. Not only because more torque/power means better acceleration and top speed, but it also helps you turn the car with ease by reducing the natural understeer with the increased rear wheelspin.
But again, no negativism here. Only discussing things. I'm sure you can see the point if you think about it. But I'm not sure you understand the difference in effort required to mitigate the true handicap that exists. Because at the end of the day, if you're used to seeing someone give 110 % and someone else give 90 % and you handicap them according to that, what happens if the first driver drops down to 100 % or 90 %? You see the second driver walk away with it.
I know it's impossible to come up with the perfect handicap and I have said before that we have a very good system, but because of the fact that there's a human element, we need to adapt all the time in order to improve it. There's no point stepping on our toes and trying to prove who's right and wrong, but rather listen to the comments of those involved.
In this case those directly involved have a lot better insight than those looking from the side. And there's nothing personal against anyone, so I've only mentioned names to give proper examples. I won't mind being given in someone's example in the same way as it can only help out reach a better solution.
So, Mike (miner) and Phil, as always, I appreciate your time and effort and love for the league, but please don't take a mere discussion like this as an assault against your way of doing things or as a kick against the system.
SHE will punish you for those words (once we decode the stars ****), Mike (miner)!
-=Hristo=-
EDIT: Just to add something because I haven't read all of Phil's post before posting mine. Phil, we're here to have fun, but the point of racing is winning, let's not have second opinions about that. It is a Championship of people who compete with each other and the goal is to win. It's an inevitable consequence of racing and a desire that sooner or later emerges in your heart and mind, even if you initially begin with the idea of merely having fun racing other people.
So I disagree when you call it simply a game and ask us to forget about the fact that we're competing with each other for victory. It's as real as it can get, game or not.
Also, IMO, taking away the option to post and discuss would seriously harm the community. As long as foul language is avoided, there's no harm as far as I can see. It's bad enough that we can't start our own threads for simple things like race tips, setups and so on...
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