USCR Knockout Qualifying

[MoMedic9019]

With the predicted car counts in all categories, 60+ cars at each race...would anyone be interested to watch an F1 type qualifying session? Or is it more exciting to watch it as is?

[freeballin]

There won't be that many cars so it's sort of a moot point. Then again hot tracks like Kansas can't afford more than forty cars so a split grid isn't a bad idea.

Bring on 2014!!!

[Maelochs]

Knockout qualifying would take all day with four classes. Twelve ten- or fifteen-minute sessions, five or ten minutes in between, and qualifying lasts longer than the race.

[MoMedic9019]

What about two sessions, 6 minutes each, for each class?

[Purist]

The knockout route only makes sense to me if it's a single-class series. Otherwise, you're going to have four sessions anyway. They've handled 50+ cars in this way at Road Atlanta, and 60+ cars in the current manner at Sebring. So, at the tracks that can handle the full grid, I see no need to change. If it's a track where the grid is going to be split, the present system should work just fine too. The only difference will be that you'll have to delineate who is running which race, but that's done easily enough.

Why make it more complicated than it needs to be? Also, it annoys me when I have to go digging through everything to find the ultimate lap set in each class, because the fastest lap wasn't set in the final session of the class. I find the current Qualifying "show" quite enjoyable, and I get the true satisfaction of knowing that everyone delivered the best lap they could in that one shot. (I don't want my Qualifying diluted!)

[rwindle]

Originally Posted by MoMedic9019

What about two sessions, 6 minutes each, for each class?

6 minutes of qualifying wouldn't give those Continental tires enough time to come up to temp. How many laps of Sebring can a prototype or GT car do in 6 minutes ... or Road America ... or Daytona. The number of laps would vary of course, prototypes getting 1 more lap than GTs due to lap time differentials ... maybe.

I'll bet the team owners/managers/crew chiefs dread the "knockout" format ... putting their drivers, cars and engines at risk one additional time compared to the slower teams.

[Ephaeton]

Originally Posted by MoMedic9019

..would anyone be interested to watch an F1 type qualifying session?

I wouldn't.

Originally Posted by MoMedic9019

Or is it more exciting to watch it as is?

It's just fine as it's handled by ALMS atm, IMHO.

[Speed-King]

Really not a fan of those ultra-short qualifying sessions. Personally, I'd introduce a system like at most 24 hour races:

One 30 minute practise session to get used to the track and every session afterwards can be used to set qualifying laps.

[Jonerz]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Really not a fan of those ultra-short qualifying sessions. Personally, I'd introduce a system like at most 24 hour races:

One 30 minute practise session to get used to the track and every session afterwards can be used to set qualifying laps.

I'd consider that system for an event where you want to draw more people to the track earlier in the week, but I like the current systems in GA and ALMS which are fairly similar.

Condense qualifying to force everyone to show their hands fairly early, split it up so you for the most part give each class their own show, and make the pole sitter the fastest man in qualifying trim.

The one advantage that the alternative provides is you are more assured of getting the fastest car on pole. Not that we really have a problem with that at the moment.

Chris

[Matt]

Towards the end of GT qualifying at LRP this weekend, it felt a bit like a NASCAR qualifying session, with only the Falken Porsche out for a few laps completely by itself at the end.

[Pandamasque]

The whole reason of contrived F1 qualifying is to avoid 45 minutes of nearly empty track on TV before the big guns decide to leave the pits. In multi-class racing the problem is completely opposite: giving everyone enough track time.