Lots of position changes coming out of the Suzuka West round of the CPR with action across the entire grid. Aside from the very top and very bottom of the CPR 09 field almost all cars changed overall postion.
The GT cars are on the march with all of the top three overall CPR leaders coming from this class. Smokeio's Galaxie reclaims the top spot after both Robert's GT40 and Wpsoko1's L88 took turns at the front for rounds 2 and 3. The 34ever1 takes the final spot of the overall top three and still maintains the IoE lead. Third place through sixth is still pretty tight in terms of overall distance with only a 126m spread between them. You can through a blanket over the rest of the field.
The prototype lead has settled down to Robert Livingston's GT40 leading, with Kanagom's repaired Ferrari still holding onto the second spot. Will his car hold together for the rest of the series? Darren's careful treatment of all the cars here is to be credited. Phil Kalbfell is only 50m back in 3rd.
In GTU class Robert's Porsche 904 class pulls 275m ahead of Phil Kalbfell's Mercedes 190SLR in second. The Porsche 356 Speedster of 356speedster only 55m further back in third. Robert's GTU powerhouse is currently 8th overall, and chasing down Phil's Ferrari which is only 18m further ahead in 7th place.
The cars move on to Targa Burnaby for the CPR's next installment. I'd expect to see a lot more lead changes given the unique nature of the track. Reliability will remain a factor. The improved pace of the field this year makes it harder for any repaired cars to claw back overall position. The DrVanski Porsche 917 languishing back in 47th spot in spite of P class podium finishes is a testament to this fact.
The overall top 3 continue to play 3 card monte with the podium positions while the rest of the grid slugs it out at Targa Burnaby. Luf's new track appears to be a fast one. The results show that the greatest race distance covered in this year's series here at Targa Burnaby. The top 14 cars have opened up a slight gap on the rest of the field, with lots of movement up and down the grid. Only 3 cars have held the same position on the leader board compared to the results after Victoria.
With the series at the half way mark, the cars are slated to head back East. Next round to take place at ACE Hobby in Niagara Falls, New York.
Congrats Luf, I am amazed at the distance you guys got out of the cars in 12 minutes! I am also amazed that you can fit 24.5 meters of track in an area that small. Excellent show! Thanks Luf!
Actually, we did 15 min per car, (5 min in each lane). I thought that's what we did last year.
Should we divide the total number of laps at Round 5 by 1.25, just to equalize things? As it stands right now, Round 5 becomes more important in the race than any other round. I'm not sure that's a good thing.
As my car came in right in the middle of the pack in Burnaby, that's nor an advantage nor a disadvantage for me and that's why I'm telling it like I see it.
Changing the total distance for the round would be the only correct thing to do IMO. You are right that leaving it at 15 minutes does make it more important.
You guys are aware that the distance above is the cumulated distance after round 5 and not the actual distance driven in round 5?
In round 2 the total distance for the fastest car was about 2307 meters while in round 5 it was about 2552 meters, which is about a 10% difference, and that 10% will be reduced to about 1% when adding together the whole series, so I can't see where the problem is.
Different events different lengths, that's racing.
Should we divide the total number of laps at Round 5 by 1.25, just to equalize things? ...
No.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Kalbfell
Changing the total distance for the round would be the only correct thing to do IMO.
Really? I think that thanking Luf and his drivers for a good run and for looking after the cars would be the only correct thing to do...but I'm funny that way.
The CPR is based on timed races, not distance. Not solo time trials. The rules are very clear as to the race format: 12 minutes minimum. There is no stated maximum. Take the time to look back at the historical 1:1 races of the day and one will see that they were all different distances and durations: 12h (Sebring), 24h (Daytona, Spa, and LeMans), 1000km (Nurburgring, BOAC, Monza), or 7 laps of the Targa Florio. Should we have Luf reduce his race to seven laps? I don't think so.
Personally I think Luf has done a great job. If he and his crew are tough enough to race for five minute heats then so be it.
You're right Van. The rules state that the rounds should be 12 minutes minimum. I didn't see that prior to your reply. So, the 15 minutes at Burnaby are perfectly OK with me in these circumstances.
As a host of the CPR myself (and also a proud sponsor!), you know very well that my post was IN NO WAY a criticism of the work that Luf and his crew did at the last round. I was only referring to the 15 minutes because Luf himself referred to it and I was thinking there was a 12-minute rule.
So, big thanks to Luf and the gang in Burnaby and thanks to you Van for pointing out to us the exact CPR rules.
No problem, Christian. Isn't fifteen minutes a sprint race for your guys? I'm looking forward to the return to Grand Rocher II. It will be interesting to see how the new racing surface comes into play there.
Isn't fifteen minutes a sprint race for your guys?
Yes, 15 minutes is looking more and more like a sprint race for us...
In the last year or so, we did a 12-hour, an 18-hour and a 24-hour endurance race, in addition to a lot of other day-long events with «shorter» heats (20-20 and 40-minutes rounds this past Sunday!).
But our local club racing nights in Québec City are still 6 or 7-lap sprint races, crash'n'burn. Diversity is great!!
CPR 2009 Official Results
I am also amazed that you can fit 24.5 meters of track in an area that small. Excellent show! Thanks Luf!
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