Spreadsheet needs updating to put Silverstone70 on and, most importantly, Ade into the yellow group!
I noticed a bit of inconsistency in the spreadsheet, Mike & Sandor were given as DNF for Silverstone, however those that DNFed in the first two races were allocated finishing positions. Makes a big difference in some cases!
I guess it was the only way to eliminate the chance for the fastest drivers to drive a Green Group car. Looking at the gap between drivers in the race of Silverstone 70, it worked pretty well in my opinion. If the target is a close race, you can't let the fast people take a car 4-5 seconds faster than the others... In that way there will be a good group reshuffle after every race. In the next one, me and Ade will go again in the yellow group. At the same time Thomas, Navin and Lorenzo, will go back to the orange.
I see that rule as an incentive for all the people to finish the race, and to have more competitive races. When 2 strong drivers like Thomas Muttram and Lorenzo had the chance to drive a green group car, if you go to check the result of Road America race, you will see that it wasn't a race... Just to make an example, I was 5th on the grid at 5 seconds by the lead... I'm not a champion, but 5 seconds seems too much to have a chance to compete with the first row drivers.
At the same time it's clear that between my 13th position of Road America, and the 13th position of Mike in Silverstone (counted as a DNF), there's a big difference, cause I took advantage of my 13th position choosing an Orange group car, while he has to stay in the yellow group for Silverstone 70 race. The difference is that Mike in Silverstone 70 race, demonstrated to be able to compete with a fast driver like Paulo (in a green group car), that usually don't make even a single training lap before a race. If Paulo would have trained a bit more, it's enough to look at his laptimes during the last laps of the race to understand that he would easily win the race with a better knowledge of car/track combo.
It's logical that we need to find the right balance for the championship rules to have more competitive races, but first of all we have to eliminate the chance for the fastest drivers to drive cars like the L72 if you don't want to kill the race before the start, and that seems to me the easiest way to do it. If you push esc during a race, or you disconnect for any reason and you don't see the checkered flag, your result will count as a DNF. Only in this way your average in placement would not be affected. Another idea could be calculate the DNF as a 10th position in the spreadsheet, so in this way, the driver affected by some connection troubles or involved in an accident, will see his average position getting better and he will have the chance to take an Orange group car for the next race to recover some points in the standings, and at the same time, there will be no chances to take a Green Group car unless you will make a really bad race in the next one.
In this way, just to make an example, the average positions after 4 races would have been:
1) Mike Miller 1+3+10(DNF)+3 = average 4.25 (Yellow)
2) Lorenzo Galluzzi 10(DNF)+1+2+12 = average 6.25 (Orange)
3) Thomas Muttram 10(DNF)+2+4+9 = average 6.25 (Orange)
4) Manteos 2+10(DNF)+1 = average 4.33 (Yellow)
This second solution increases a bit the average of the faster drivers, and decreases a bit that of the slower in case of DNF. At the same time if me and Mike for example will get DNF for the next race, we will stay again in the Yellow Group even with this second solution. I guess this method offers only a few more chances to recover some points in the standings if someone get a DNF in more than 2 races, but never giving the chance for a fast driver to take a green group car, that for me remains the target to have fun and close races.
I hope I was clear enough with my explanations... a bit too long I know
Cu on Thursday