I happen to agree with Ben AND Tony on this one (dear god, someone must have tried to divide by zero or something)

Chris, the logic makes sense, but in practice it doesn't seem to matter. Especially at places like Hastings and HPR where T1 comes up pretty quickly after the start. In this case the riders on the BACK of the grid actually stand a better chance of catching the leaders as they get a better run (carry more speed) into the corner than the riders at the front (more straightaway space to gather speed). At Pueblo it's less of an issue because the run to T1 is pretty long.

I also agree that almost all of the T1 incidents I've seen are the cause of a single or a small group of riders that forget that it's impossible to WIN a race in the first corner, but VERY possible to lose one there (or even a season championship...)

s