Racers.....

The vast majority of Locost drivers do not finish high enough to score Championship points, instead settling for 2 points for completing the race. Drivers who rarely or never score Championship points might like to run in a parallel Championship, ‘The Locost Academy’, aimed at giving the ‘also-rans’ a results table that reflects their finishing position.

The proposal is that drivers who have never finished in the top 10 to be eligible to have their results entered into the Locost Academy results, which run separate to the official Locost results.

Eligible drivers then enter races in exactly the same way, but points are awarded according to where the Academy drivers finish relative to eachother. For example, if the highest finishing Academy driver finished 14th in the race, they would receive Academy points for first place. If the next highest Academy driver finished 18th in the race they would receive Academy points for second place. I thought 40 for the first place Academy Driver, and 1 for the 20th placed.

Bonus points can be awarded for the fastest Academy lap.

The results from the final 7 races will count to give us an Academy result at the end of the year.

It's just for fun, but drivers like me who drive all over the country just to get 2 points night like to have a results table of our own.

Suggestions, feedback, comments welcome.

But Mike, you're a race winner now (well done) surely that would exclude you from the Academy.....

Well done Mike, excellent result. Hope that work wasn't too early this morning. It was pleasure sharing the paddock with you and your dad. Made it back by 8.30 so the girlfriend was happy! See you at Silverstone.

Chris

Dickie

Although I won, because it was a 'colsolation race' there are no points and no trophy! 2 championship points!

The point of the Academy (or whatever it ends up being called) is that at the end of the year drivers like me don't just end up with 1s and 2s in the official results, but we also have a championship within a championship.

[Edited on 12/7/05 by Locost82]

It sounds like a great idea to me. There are so many entries nowadays that it would be good if there was some kind of reward for all those people who have put in a lot of money and effort to get along to the races but aren't in a position to challenge for top honours.

On my previous visit to Pembrey 2 years ago i finished 3rd in the 'B' race (the bottom 20 or so qualifiers) and was absolutely chuffed to bits but a little disappointed that i still only got the points for turning up and finishing.

Actually it was worse than that - i went to pick up the results sheet and joked with Mrs Knight that i deserved the 3rd place trophy they had for the final and i got a slap across the face! At least this year's one was just metaphorical!

Academy idea is fantastic! I know a lot of us "also runs" at the back would enjoy having something more to compete for, especially if we get dealt any more consolation races. Better than just being higher than each other based on alphabetical order!

How would we go about setting something like this up? Judging by the recent issues with 750MC i'm not sure they will be too helpful, but i guess we could approach them first. Failing that we make it very informal and sort it out between ourselves, but it would be better to have the results alongside those of the front runners. Maybe Silverstone as the "Locost Celebration" would be a good time to discuss.

James

As a "still building, hoping to race at some point next year" guy, I think the idea of an academy is brilliant - it would be an excellent starting point for the newbies to (hopefully) see themselves gradually progressing.

I agree that it would be best if the 750MC would buy into the idea & publish official academy results in addition to the championship... but reading the recent posts on the yahoo list, I'm not sure whether they would play ball. If they won't, why not have an informal arrangement - I'm sure someone would be willing to do the calculations & put it on their website; once I have got the damn thing built & I am racing, then I would be willing to lend a hand.

On the subject of Silverstone, I am going to be there to watch & get some build tips - does anyone think they will have any spare tickets going begging - for beer tokens of course!

Cheers,
Rob.

I'll put some paperwork together for Silverstone and take it around the Paddock to see who's interested.

I was thinking of publishing the results on this website, Pistonheads in the Locost Racing forum, and by email if people would like that too. I'd also be able to hand out results sheets at the events too.

I think that running this system till the end of the year would let us see how it could be improved for the first full season next year, and IF it's a success the 750MC might pick it up. If not, we can run it as an informal arrangement.

Thanks for the input. See y'all at Silverstone.