LCS... Am I crazy or is this series a joke?

[Lotusflower]

I have tried to modify the title of this thread in order to not offend anybody, however my attempts have been unsuccessful. I have been respectfully acknowledged by the Series, and treated very fairly, my confusion, or questions regarding the series rules have been addressed, in the most respectful way. My apologies if the title of this thread was offensive, and unfair.

I have been told and understand the rules are still in development, I will leave it at that. I just found it hard to accept the racer that cause delay of the race, in truth 15 minutes, didn't get any penalty what so ever. The other racers had to sit on the grid with cars that notoriously lose h/p when they are heat soaked. Although it was not as hot of a day as it has been in past events. It seemed a bit unfair.
My intention is not to complain or, cause any problem, but only to possibly help by drawing attention to something that will eventually be addressed anyhow.
Thanks for your responses.
LCS
All in all, a challenge!

[ErictheBastard]

I've only been an observer at the last three events so I can't speak with ANY authority on this whatsoever, but... I think the organizers have been pretty candid that there is a bit of a learning curve to all this. They are NOT a professional sanctioning body. I think calling the series a joke (even speculatively) may not do much in the way of building a quorum for your cause. This may be little salve if you have that mutant competitive gene that seems to be dominant in so many good racers.

As it stands now, they've had to create quite an interesting power/weight classification formula to account for the vast difference in specification from car-to-car. My understanding is that there is talk of a proper 'spec' class for the future which will feature NA Elises in mostly stock trim with a few added track safety features. This suits my aspirations fine. Hopefully there'll be an alternate showroom stock 255 Cup car class for the forced induction crowd. That would certainly help boost cup car sales and be incentive for the Lotus factory to deepen sponsorship and support.

Hang in there, as an aspiring entrant for next season, I really want to see as many participants as possible. BTW, thanks to Jim Navarro for kindly introducing himself today as I wandered about the paddock.

[plastique999]

I was at both events, and without naming any names I'll try to express my opinion. First off, as Eric said, the LCS is in constant evolution, so we have to give Jim, Jack, Tom, Robb and others credit for an awesome series. The rules are ever-changing, but here is what I saw....

At Race #5, I have never heard of a rule where if you spin during practice you get penalized one row back. The only rule I know is that if there are two 4-offs, then the racer is done or if there are three 2-offs (I think). But I don't know about this grid position back one-row....that racer should not have been penalized as such.

At Race #6, there were 2 restarts, and yes we were waiting in the second group. However, Jack and I just shut our engines off and pulled out of our cars because it is damn hot waiting in the car.
Now the rule of the spin, as far as I know, is if you have 4-offs in TT you are DQ'd! This happened to me at Laguna - plain and simple. And that person should NOT receive any points - I got nothing, but that was the consequence of my fault.
However, if the spin happened in the 2nd lap, and he got his 1st lap in, then that 1st lap may count, and have points.

As far as that person being able to participate in the Race afterwards, I am not sure. I do not know what the rule is, but there should definitely be one.

Almost every TT, and definitely every race, there are 4-offs. I think there does need to be quality control regarding this - it is for our safety, which is number one.
I personally think if you spin 4-off during TT, then you should not be able to participate in the Race....for our safety. Some drivers are more aggressive than others. Problem is that most spins happen during the actual Race.

Whatever the case, I am sure the Rules Committee will come up with something safe and fair. The series has evolved dramatically.

[apk919]

Originally Posted by Lotusflower

Race 6: A racer spins off track during the time trial causing 2 restarts, the racers on the grid had to sit and wait for the previous group to re-run the time trial, which took about 15 minutes with you race car sitting at idle gathering heat...

I don't know for sure who caused the 2 restarts... I was under the impression it was two different people. I thought for sure if you go four-off during a TT, at a minimum, you get no more TT laps... I'd be surprised (and disappointed) if the person whose off caused the first restart was allowed to participate in that restarted TT.

As far as being penalized for a four-off in the TT... as Eddie said, if you do it in your first timed lap, you're DQ'd for sure. If you do it in your second... well... regardless of what the rules say I think you should be DQ'd also... otherwise someone who has a good time under their belt from the first timed lap can effectively take a lot of risk to get a better lap, potentially ruining their competitor's good laps...

[fishguy]

Originally Posted by plastique999

Almost every TT, and definitely every race, there are 4-offs. I think there does need to be quality control regarding this - it is for our safety, which is number one.
I personally think if you spin 4-off during TT, then you should not be able to participate in the Race....for our safety.

since you are bringing up safety;
for your safety there should be no more "loophole demo races" where guys are racing W2W in cars that are not fully race prepped.
I keep reading that "this event full race prep will be enforced", but the pictures of the cars racing seem to show otherwise.

Rules or not, you guys "demo racing"should know better.

[Brent Bauman]

don't worry Fish, that is now the case. I sat on the sidelines w/out a cage.

[fishguy]

Originally Posted by Brent Bauman

don't worry Fish, that is now the case. I sat on the sidelines w/out a cage.

thats good to hear brent
glad i was wrong.
kudos to the series for enforcing that rule!

[jplotus]

Originally Posted by Lotusflower

I have been told and understand the rules are still in development, I will leave it at that. I just found it hard to accept the racer that cause delay of the race, in truth 15 minutes, didn't get any penalty what so ever. The other racers had to sit on the grid with cars that notoriously lose h/p when they are heat soaked. Although it was not as hot of a day as it has been in past events. It seemed a bit unfair.
My intention is not to complain or, cause any problem, but only to possibly help by drawing attention to something that will eventually be addressed anyhow.
Thanks for your responses.
LCS
All in all, a challenge!

Kelly,
First i want to say that your driving has improved dramatically evidenced by your recent times. Keep up the good work!
The person who went four off during the time trial did not get a redo lap . His off caused rocks to be thrown onto the track and it had to be swept . Thats what caused the delay.
The 2010 rules book is almost finished and we addressed this issue by stating that "In the event of a four off during your time trial that you would be dq" We have in the past counted the first lap of the tt if you went off in the second lap.
As for your start of the race ,unfortunately you got caught in the middle of Glens spin and it took you out of contention. You did an amazing job to avoid him. You did the right thing by coming in since that is the rule since you did go off track.
In my opinion the time trial and races or two different events within our program. What happens in the TT should not be reflected in the race . We are looking at a possible different qualifier for the race rather than the times in the time trail.
The new set of rules will be out soon and hopefully everyone will read them. Thanks, Jim