Hillclimbing AND Rally Class

[kturner]

thanks walter. hopefully RA will be proactive and update their website or put some additional info out there.

for me i am still up in the air about running the hillclimbs as a "rally" event. I realize the hillclimbers are getting a good bang for their but three days for a coef 1 RA event doesn't make a lot sense. what about racing down?

[sciroccohp]

That doesnt seem right..

What is the difference in paying 2 entries and driving 2 different cars vs paying 2 entries and driving the same car with 2 different power levels?

What is the reasoning for this rule?

To not give someone an advantage?

I would understand if it was a rally and no one had driven the course before, but we have all driven the roads before.. most of us know them fairly well..

If the reason for 2 entries was to learn the course, then entering in 2 different cars still gives you the same advantage.. right?

I don't care and don't have a dog in this fight but I know I would do better if I was able to go up both groups from the simple fact my tires may retain more heat so instead of having traction 1/2 way up the hill I may have it 1/4 way up the hill and I would gain an advantage over someone only taking 1/2 as many runs with the same kind of setup. I would personally say go for it unless we reach the limit of entries allowed and it keeps someone else out.

[jkale]

I don't mean to sound argumentative.

I would just really like to know when that rule went into effect and what the cause of creating the rule was.. Im sure Kevin has the answer for me..

[Rabbit Farmer]

From the 2004 rules..... well, at least it is shown in bold to show it was changed from the previous years.

4. If there are more than 2 drivers in a car, or more than 2 cars per driver,
those drivers may not get a full set of runs, despite regulation 16. One
entry per car, per driver.

[KevinGale]

The single entry per car rule was put in place by a group (a majority or they wouldn't have got it passed) who were afraid that it was an easy way to buy an advantage. By buying two entries you could double your seat time, double your chances of a good run under optimal conditions and better learn the course. This group thought it was unfair to people who didn't want or couldn't afford to buy two entries. There was also some concern over full events (but that is easy to deal with).

Strangely entering more than once is allowed as long as you bring two cars. Why this negates the above concerns is a mystery to me. So if you have enough money to build two fast cars and get them to the event you can buy the advantage.

Kevin

[Rabbit Farmer]

I thought that was the intent of the rule also... someone could not race twice in one weekend (regardless of the number of cars) for the reasons Kevin stated. Rule was not written to match the intent, therefore a perceived loophole, but as always, the intent dictates the execution. Of course, I have seen people entering more than one car, but didn't care (personally)... unsure if this is because of the 'a full event to break even is better than losing money on the event' or I thought since it was two cars, in two different classes, it was okay. Or perhaps it just didn't matter.

Anyway, back on topic... is it allowed to drive the same car in two classes at the event? A full event is always a good thing.

Steve

[KevinGale]

As I recall we specifically left in the ability to enter with multiple cars, it wasn't a loophole. That was how we came up with the wording "One entry per car, per driver." which specifically allows a driver to enter more than one car. It would have been simpler to just say one entry per driver. What I don't recall is why we did this. I have some vague memory of historical reasons (we allowed this in the past) and the example of a person entering in different classes. People didn't seem to mind as much if the driver entered twice if the entries were in very different classes.

[walterclark]

I spoke with Don today.

A car and driver combination can only be entered once per event. This is intended to keep drivers from being able to buy a high number of runs compared to others and taking advantage of the reps. A driver may enter a second car (not the same car with a different number). This can do the same thing. Don did not vote in favor of this when it was proposed at NEHA, but it passed so it exists. To change these rules requires a formal NEHA meeting and member vote.

If a single car were entered in both rally and hilllclimb (lets say the codriver drives in the hillcimb part, making it a legal second entry for the car) and if the car requires a restrictor and it or other items were removed for the hillclimb run part of its entry, the car will have to be re-teched before its next rally class run. In the case of a required restrictor that has or may have been removed, we will verify its diameter compliance with our gauge before it is allowed to run.

Restrictors (and other items) required on rally cars may be checked at any time during an event at the discretion of the Chief Scrutineer. At the hillclimbs this option will be exercised frequently to ensure fairness.

[walterclark]

Joey,

Don was explaining something to me relating to your situation that I had to spend a few minutes looking into to appreciate.

There are 19 coefficients in the Eastern RA Regional championship. 12 of those are from the TON/STPR/NEFR and 7 from NEHA. Points from your best 2/3 (13) coefficients count toward the regional RA championship. So if you run TON/STPR/NEFR you really only NEED one NEHA scored as a rally to get to the 13 coefficients. This year there should be 2 NEHA throwouts in terms of scoring for NEHA class and King of the Hill. So you NEED to run one of the hilllcimbs as a RA rally to get your 13 coefficients, and you NEED to run 5 hillclimbs to fill the NEHA class and KOH requirements. That leaves one NEHA event where you could go either way depending on where you need to score more/better points.

By the way, were you able to get a RA Unrestricted license, or do you have to run with a Novice license and those class restrictions?