Hey Guys - There are lots of great ideas flying around here, its good to see so many people actually care about endurance racing.
A few years ago I was racing with the ARL out at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia and they put on an endurance race like I had never seen before. It was super exciting right to the final lap and I beleive the team that won consisted of back of the pack pro riders running an old FZR400.
I'll try the best I can to recall the rule structure:
- A Handicaped Race
- Race could be 4 hours or 225 laps whichever came first (based on average lap time of 1:04).
- Riders will be grouped and started according to their best lap time within the team, of the current 2011 season. Riders/teams not posting a time throughout the year will be grouped in the last group.
- groups will be divided as per the following lap times (min):
- 1:20+ They start when green flag drops.
- 1:15-1:20 They start 5 min after green flag
- 1:10-1:15 They start 10 min after green flag
- 1:05-1:10 They start 15 min after green flag
- 1:00-1:05 They start 20 min after green flag
- > 1:00 They start 25 min after green flag
I have not done the math to figure this all out correctly but it gives everyone a general idea of what it would be like. The main goal is to figure out the handicap times (start advantage) so that after 4 hrs (length of race) all teams would be on the same lap.
As the race progresses, theoreticlly the faster teams are supposed to be able to make up the number of laps the slower teams have put in from being allowed to start earlier......and hopefully it comes down to the final lap or minunte of the race when all teams should be on the same # of laps, assuming everyone had the exact same time in the pits.
By doing it this way, it does not matter if the faster riders team up, every team has the chance to win regardless of skill and every team should get roughly the same amount of laps, some just take longer to do those said laps.
I did not enter the endurance race out at ARL, but I can say as a spectator it made for one exciting finish...... watching the faster bike trying as hard as he could to catch the slower rider on the last lap after 2 hrs. It was awesome. He didn't catch him
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If this was something the club wanted to look at a little further I can contact Terry Steeves at ARL and get the exact rules and timing structure.
As for the cost to do the endurance race, I don't have alot of suggestions for that. If the rules are changed so everyone has a somewhat equal chance of winning (based on Handicap), would more people entertain the idea of doing it......? Who knows. All I know is that I will do it again - I love endurance racing! and beleive it or not I don't even care if I win, as long as I can go have fun backing it in
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How about we have a prize for whoever backs it into turn 1 the best? It could be highly entertaining for spectators
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