TORA US Spec Miata Cup Discussion

^ In fairness I have never seen TORA actually add races to an ongoing Championship. If it had happened before, I'd strongly consider it.

On the flipside, we've lost a few competitors along the way. That has been balanced out with a couple additions in recent weeks.

So, I guess the thing for me to do as series host is see what everyone else thinks about an additional round or two.

The Championship is down to the final round, and there is but a two point split for the title between Big Ben and John Galt, with tight battles for many spots down the point grid.

All this should add up to a very exciting finale at the sprawling high speed Road America circuit.

I had a lot of fun racing tonight. Some great battles with a few cars.

Congrats to the winners and champions.

Hope you all had as much fun as I did.

Almost missed the races last night. We changed to winter time on Saturday which meant that the meeting started one hour earlier than I anticipated. Pure luck for me with all the problems to start the lobby...

In the first race I must admit that I was a bit asleep still when the lights went out but in the second race my pace was better. Happy to finish fourth.

I will miss this championship although it has meant that I have had to get up in the middle of the night for the races. The racing has been really close and intensive. I’ve really enjoyed it and I wish we could do something similar again, maybe with the gen 3 Miata...

Thanks to Flying Mikey and all of the drivers who made this championship such a gem.

Maybe a Miata Cup on European time... ? ;-))

Thanks guys for a fun series. I have to admit though, it's probably my least favorite that I've done here. I personally am not a big fan of the Miata, and I found D class to be a bit too slow for my liking, especially since I've been racing mostly S class in FM6. No offense Mikey, you put on a great show as always. I did kind of lose my enthusiasm mid way through.

I did it because I really enjoy racing with the guys in the TORAus series, and in that respect, you guys didn't disappoint. We had some good battles and a lot of fun. So for that aspect, thank you all!!!

The 2nd race on Road America could/should have been restarted due to the 3 cars on the last turn bumping and going off the track on the 1st lap.

I put the Replays of the 2 races up on the Storefront.

EZT TomCat7 wrote:The 2nd race on Road America could/should have been restarted due to the 3 cars on the last turn bumping and going off the track on the 1st lap.

I put the Replays of the 2 races up on the Storefront.

As the incident started (I think) the leader was crossing the start finish line. By the time the number of cars involved was confirmed, I know I was on lap 2 in P3. And due to connection issue delays we were very short on time. I knew if we restarted, that Mako would not be able to finish.

Had we not been so delayed, or it happened earlier in the lap, I'd have called for a restart, but it was the "perfect storm" of unfortunate circumstances.

In hindsight, given the Championship implications, I should have called a restart, and reduced the lap count by a lap or two. An option that was there, but I didn't really consider until some 14 hours after the fact.

Just wondering who is Transitioning over to Forza 6. I feel a itch for a American car racing league.X3

LMP Fox wrote:Just wondering who is Transitioning over to Forza 6. I feel a itch for a American car racing league.X3

NATCC starts soon, and there are plans for US Muscle Car series on both 4 and 6. .

I wont be on the one until March at the earliest

I really believe subjectivity needs to be taken out of this. If the rules say "three or more cars on the first lap" and three cars are in an incident on the first lap for them, then they would probably want a restart. If I were one of them, I would.

(Please keep the "having fun" argument out of this.)

The rules do not explicitly define "the first lap" (which I do not believe is really necessary, but anyway). Is it for the leader or is it for the field? If it is for the leader, then it should be said "as long as the leader is on Lap One." I do not agree with this concept, though. If it is for the field, then no changes are required. It is something that is implied and something everyone should know. At the same time, though, we don't want to create a rulebook that is 73,000 pages long that no one can interpret other than an attorney or a CPA.

^ It was an unfortunate incident which happens so rarely  that even the Staff and Stewards were split on whether or not a restart was warranted.

In my recollection, I had not encountered this set of circumstances ever happening before in any race I have been in on any site.

EZT Neo 45 wrote:I really believe subjectivity needs to be taken out of this.  If the rules say "three or more cars on the first lap" and three cars are in an incident on the first lap for them, then they would probably want a restart.  If I were one of them, I would.

(Please keep the "having fun" argument out of this.)

The rules do not explicitly define "the first lap" (which I do not believe is really necessary, but anyway).  Is it for the leader or is it for the field?  If it is for the leader, then it should be said "as long as the leader is on Lap One."  I do not agree with this concept, though.  If it is for the field, then no changes are required. It is something that is implied and something everyone should know.  At the same time, though, we don't want to create a rulebook that is 73,000 pages long that no one can interpret other than an attorney or a CPA.

In any and all forms of racing, the current lap is defined BY THE LEADER. Once the leader has passed the start/finish line the race is officially on lap two, regardless of where the rest of the field is. The rules here as well as every other league out there are based on the accepted rules and standards of all real world motorsports. Even a casual fan of racing should have a basic understanding of this without it being specifically spelled out for them. If someone is not familiar with the accepted rules of racing, then I suggest they make an effort to familiarize themselves with them.

In any event the race and the series is over. There is always some confusion and delay when determining whether a restart is warranted. This was a rather unique situation as it occurred at or very close to end of lap one, start of lap two. The decision was made, right or wrong, to continue the race, and that cannot be undone. I see no point in continuing this discussion.

Ouch!

Perhaps I should stick to World of Tanks or simply keep my thoughts to myself.

EZT Neo 45 wrote:Ouch!    

Perhaps I should stick to World of Tanks or simply keep my thoughts to myself.  

Sorry Neo, my post was not meant to be harsh or derogatory in any way, nor was it directed specifically at you. I quoted you simply to address the confusion I saw over who's on what lap when. I feel that the majority of us are familiar enough with racing that this should not even be a question.

Again, my apologies for being, shall we say, a bit too direct.