Note that I have added number of competitors in class for every
event, and number of events run for every competitor on the points
pages to make it easier to see how attendance varied.
http://www.sfrscca.org/solo2/Results/2004/Championship/sti.html
Stock category drivers still have their own class.
Street Prepared people who want to run with street tires have the various
Street Touring classes to run. Mod and Prep cars didn't run in Street
Tire class anyway. People who want to compete on street tires
will still be able to do it about the same as before. SM guys are out
of luck, but they were never competitive in Street Tire either --
does it matter whether you get fourth in Street TIre or sixth some other
class?
As the guy who (often) set up the run groups, I can tell you for sure it
will make the abuse I get during the year much less ; -)
Backing Pat up, note that the number of Street Tire competitors
in the 2004 Championship Series varied from 29 to... three! No way
to put it in a separate run group, and make that work.
Street Modified had as many average entrants, but since it's "real"
class, the attendance was more consistent: 27 high, 9 low.
For 2004 Championship run group figures by class, see
http://www.sfrscca.org/solo2/Results/2004/Championship/counts.lst
(save as a text file to read it)
Street Tire is a "convenience" class for many people. There were only
8 competitors eligible for a trophy in Championship Series out of 16
avg entrants, the other half were not in it for the competition.
Plus, look at the results: Street Tire winners are generally Stock
category,
primarily GS. These folks will still get the same competition, perhaps a
few
more moving down from the open class. They will now get to pal around
with other GS drivers for example, and help teach novices with GS cars.
There can be informal competitions between open class drivers and STi
hotshoes without the artificial interference of an imprecise PAX index.
Compare the Street Tire results with open class results and you will see
that often the best ST driver beat or came very close to the best open class
driver.
I think it could end up a lot better for competitors.
Now the only use for the PAX index will be to set up the Indexed
Order or Finish list -- dreamland, in other words. Of course, street tire
drivers will not get tire compensation in this list, just as they don't
today.
There's no accepted standard for adjusting for tires.
Jerry
Jerry Mouton '64 E Type FHC "Laissez les bons temps rouler!"
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