 Older Article | Newer Article |
V8 race formats – Let’s mix it up a bit
by Stefan Bartholomaeus
A lot of people in V8 Supercar racing are talking about event formats right now. Considering that it’s nearly the end of January, this is quite an unusual occurrence.
Clearly, VESA are taking the ‘boring’ tag placed by media and fans alike on many of the 2008 races pretty seriously.
And so they should. You can only use terms like ‘great pressure motor race’ so often before people don’t listen to you anymore.
Whilst tweaking the round formats may sound like a relatively simple fix, history has proven otherwise. The problem seems to be that if you ask ten people in the paddock for their solution, you’ll get eleven different answers...
The questions may be obvious, but the answers are not.
Do the races need to be shorter or longer? Should qualifying be one long session, knockout, or a shootout? Do we want tyre stops? How about fuel?
At this point, you’re probably ready for me to trot out some ‘ultimate format’ that is guaranteed to give us tremendous racing every time. 321Ignition certainly wouldn’t be the first to try that...
However, the way I see it, what V8 Supercar really needs is a variety of event structures.
The problem in the past has been that the formats become stale over time. A decade ago, it was the 3 x 20 minute sprints that were getting tired. So in came the (approximately) 120km ‘pitstop’ races, initially run two per round
For 2003, we saw a smattering of 300km tyre and fuel stop races added to the calendar, all of which seemed to disappear just as quickly as they came. More recently, reverse grid races were introduced, at no less than nine of the thirteen rounds, before they too dissapeared.
Now, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with any of these formats, but we can’t have them all the time... they get boring.
The reverse grid idea tried in 2006 is probably the best example of over-doing a format. If you’ve got reverse grids at nine of 13 rounds, the sporting value of your championship should rightfully be questioned. But having it at one round makes it another challenge for the drivers and teams to overcome, a real talking point for the media, and a great spectacle for the fans.
It’s all about variety.
In the WRC, you have different challenges in the form of gravel, snow, and tarmac surfaces, which vary round to round. In IndyCar, you have short ovals, superspeedways, road courses and street courses. This variety is a key factor in why these championships (and their champions) are thought of so highly.
Whilst racing in snow, or on ovals, isn’t really the Aussie way, the same effect can be achieved with mixing up the formats.
The option tyre that is to be debuted this year should be a very good thing. It’s exactly what the 3 x 120km format needs, and is a definite step in the right direction.
However, if it’s introduced for every round, drivers and engineers will work out the perfect strategy, and people will soon get sick of it.
Theoretically, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to suggest that every round could be run to a different format. The only real limits are how simple the championship needs to be made for the casual fans, and how far VESA are prepared to stretch the ‘entertainment versus purist racing’ bungee chord.
Whilst these two issues need to be seriously considered, there really are limitless round formats that could be used.
Why not have a round with 5 x 20 minute sprint races (with no CPS), where the first four ‘heats’ utilise a randomised grid order, and the ‘final’ is grided up using cumulative points? Some would love it, some would loathe it, but either way, everyone would be talking about it... and no one would be complaining about a lack of passing afterwards!
It is indeed possible that 2009 could be used as a sort of ‘trial’ year, where a variety of formats are put on show. Post-season fan surveys (serious ones, undertaken by professional, independent market research companies) could then assist in finding answers as to what worked and what didn’t. You never really know until you try it...
Getting back to reality, all that can really be hoped for is that we don’t get lumped with a ‘standardised’ format for 90% of the year. Come on VESA, mix it up a bit.
Now, whilst we’re on the subject of variety, how about those technical regulations...
- Stefan Bartholomaeus
© 321 IGNITION Pty Ltd 2009
| Older Article | Newer Article |
| Browse 'from the paddock' | |
