Diagonal Grid Rows

[rybo]

I can't remember why we changed from a green light start to just a red light going off? Was there a "problem" we had to fix? Did it make the start "safer" ? Was it less "confusing"? or did we just conform to the way other clubs did it? :wink: .

Dion,

Glenn mentioned it too, but there were actually a couple incidents where the green light didn't come on in 2006. I was on the grid one of those times and it did cause a fair bit of chaos. The race was red flagged and restarted, but the opportunity for "incident" was high. The race I was in was a Modern Vintage race, and that season the grids weren't very big, so we didn't have a problem.

Just a question.....wouldnt it be somewhat less clustered in turn one? :?

Auzzy,

The answer to this question was listed above. IF the club switched to a Moto GP style grid with all of it's spacing, then yes it would reduce the clustering in T1. There are a couple of problems with this, however. One is that the grid in a race like AM U would have the last gridded riders at the bottom of the hill at HPR where it would be impossible for them to see the start lights. Secondly Moto GP often has 4 riders on the front row so that their overall grid length is shorter. By creating diagonal grid rows in the MRA and maintaining our current grid spacing I see two problems that occur. 1) Some of the "advantage" that Casey sees for the pole position rider is lost as the rider who's gridded 3rd will be almost even with the rider who's gridded 4th and the 4th place rider would actually have the inside line going into T1. While it's good for the pole position rider the 3rd place rider gets hosed. 2) It doesn't solve any kind of congestion problem at T1 because the spacing between the riders is the same, it's only the configuration that's different.

Folks wake up and smell the Starbucks! People want change. Small ones, big ones, odd ball ones, etc. They want to make the club more fun, more enjoyable, and and "test" new ideas. What's the harm? Try it for a race weekend, then take a vote. If the majority of riders hate it, go back to the norm. If they love it.. go with it. Don't be scurd of change folks... There is and MUST be lots of it from this day forward to grow as a club.

I now retract my stick from said pot......

Believe me when I say that I totally understand this sentiment. On the other hand there are some changes, especially procedural ones that take place on the race surface, that need to be very carefully examined before they are implemented. These kinds of changes have peoples well being hanging in the balance and even a small amount of confusion can have disastrous consequences.

I do believe that some changes need to be made for the club to move forward. I also know that the key to this success is the careful consideration of change before we make it. The MRA has a lot of really good things going for it and a lot of inertia in the right direction. From here we need to realize that it's a semi-truck, not a sportbike. It changes direction slowly and with lots of good planning.

Keep making suggestions, keep having ideas, keep bringing them to the forums. Some will get used, some won't. If you have questions about how the board comes to the decision to use or not use a suggestion you had, please pull me aside and ask.

Scott