Imports101 MaxAction Second Series 2006

[GeneSPIDA]

After the first round of the Imports101 MaxAction series, there were some questions regarding how the handicaps were calculated. I've now received a response to the query I sent to Norbert. It doesn't entirely make sense to me, but I think it relies on the statistics of significant historical data and comparing your results over time.

Anyway, here's Norbert's reply if you want to read it:

Hi Gene,

The handicap system is based on thousands of results from different drivers in different cars. It is something stumbled upon way back when I introduced the teams events for MC Motorsport and also did all the results for them for about 2 years or so. I simply kept all the results in one data base and then put them in order with all the different drivers etc. A pattern became obvious and because I was looking for a handicap system I followed it up more closely.
The system is not based on ccm, HP, turbo, supercharger or not, spring rates, suspension settings, brake pads or disc size, I don’t care how heavy the driver is or if there is carpet in the car or not. Tyres race or street doesn’t matter to me either. I used to say all I need is the cars manufacturer, the year and model, the colour and the registration number and with that I can give you a handicap factor. That really confused the sh1t out of people ;-) But that was before we introduced class results and so now I need the ccm as well. Not that I use it for the handicap, I just need it for the classification, that’s all.
So really I still just need the cars manufacturer, the year and model and the colour. The registration number isn’t needed anymore either! Confused?
That’s all bull! What is really needed to be able to come up with a handicap factor is the car with its respective driver on the bitumen performing! Then the by now established system will do it by itself, comparing say your performance in your car to everyone else’s performance on the day, but more importantly to all those drivers who competed over the years in all sorts of different cars with all sorts of different experience levels.

In short the handicap system sorts out how your performance is relative to all those competitors over the years. The first few factors it comes up with should be taken as indicative, but as more data on your performances becomes available it will become more stable, but it will pick up quite quickly on modifications like changing from street tyres to race rubber or changing from the factory EMS to a well tuned aftermarket EMS. Yes, if nothing else has changed you could see if a modification works for you or not! It also can be said that the system is working similar to a golf handicap system, so based on your and your cars performance only! This btw is also the reason why different drivers in the same car can have totally different handicap factors (father/son, husband/wife etc)

I hope the above will help you understand a bit more of how the HC system works!

Cheers,
Norbert

Gene

[JustCallMeOrlando]

Steph and I are going to Yunderup for the weekend, but we'll be coming back up for the Sunday to watch you guys, hows that for commitment?

[GeneSPIDA]

Steph and I are going to Yunderup for the weekend, but we'll be coming back up for the Sunday to watch you guys, hows that for commitment?

Excellent! Looks like we've got ourselves some groupies

[CLG]

Steph and I are going to Yunderup for the weekend, but we'll be coming back up for the Sunday to watch you guys, hows that for commitment?

I'll take your woman down south - you can spend the weekend doing car shit?!

[glytch]

Courtesy of da BOM - http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDW12300.shtml

Friday Showers developing later. Min 6 Max 21
Saturday Few showers, mainly morning. Min 11 Max 19
Sunday Fine. Min 8 Max 20
Monday Showers, windy. Min 10 Max 19
Tuesday Showers, windy. Min 10 Max 18

Looking good.

[GeneSPIDA]

I've got a mini emergency with SPIDA. In trying to fix the fuel breather problem by running another line back to the fuel cell, the bloody connector in the tank became loose (i.e. the nut on the INSIDE of the tank) causing fuel to keep leaking out.

So, now I'm in a mad rush before sunday to get my hand into the tank and tighten the damn nut and connect everything back up.

Mega P******-off!!! Anyway, no point crying about it, I've got to get it done by Sunday or else the LSD doesn't get a try out, which will be very disappointing given how much I've tried to get that done in time.

At least the weather's looking good, thanks Luke.

[JustCallMeOrlando]

I'll take your woman down south - you can spend the weekend doing car shit?!

Nah, you can keep Mrs Palmer and her daughters company.

[GeneSPIDA]

OK, after a major pain in pulling the tank out, I've managed to re-tighten the offending connector. I've also made a different mod to the breather, so I'll keep an eye on it over the next couple of days, but looking good so far.

So, car's on the road again and on schedule for Sunday's run.

Gene

[WA_TRD_83]

Nice work fella's.. was good to watch and gave me that urge to compete some time soon..

I'll post some pictures up when I get my PC back at home...

cheers
Damo

[JustCallMeOrlando]

Good fun as usual guys, sorry I had to bail early. Big day of events, I had to come down though.

As with Damo, I'm keen to get my car sorted and give it a spanking

[GeneSPIDA]

No problem, great to see you guys down there. Along with a few others who made it down too.

Full results are still pending, but I had a bit of a mishap and tactical error in the last run, where I managed to do a 180. Stupid me then got going again and completed the course without penalties (no cones hit or wrong way), but resulted in a 110.8sec time

What I should have done after the spin was to go the wrong way as I would have been given a 92.03sec time. That made a big impact on my overall result.

So, to summarise so far:
27th: Ian with 344.30
30th: Luke with 346.94
34th: Mitch with 351.42
56th: Matty (who didn't compete) with default 375.48
58th: Gene with 377.74 due to above

Bugger!!! If I'd done a wrong way and got the 92.03 sec time, I would have ended-up with a 358.97 putting me in 41st place. Tip for newcomers, if you're as far off the fastest pace as I am, doing a wrong way will often give you a quicker time that taking the penalty. Although not really in the spirit of things.

The car did feel better with the LSD, and no fuel issues this time. I'll just need to work on my driving and see what I can do with my lines and understeer. I was actually trying to see if I could keep the speed up a bit more on the last run, which didn't really come off

[glytch]

It was good to see quite a few specators there. Thanks for coming.

I was just looking over the results from the last two rounds, and everyone improved on their pace compared to the first round (even though the final result may not have been)

Mitch and Ian had good clean runs all day which resulted in them having much improved final standings, and whilst my overall position was slightly better than last time, I had a WW on one of the runs, giving me a time penalty of about 9 seconds.

Gene - Its a bit of a shame that last run mucked you up so much. Maybe you can request a WW on it as technically you were travelling backwards at some point?

[GeneSPIDA]

I've put the final results from the second event on my site:

Second Event Final Results

Unfortunately, due to my stuff-up, I came last. But, I won't do that again!

Gene

[ra23celica]

Gene,
Don't be hard on yourself mate, I did the exact same thing a few rounds ago and ran dead last as well, and it is one of those things you only let happen once!
Busy times for us ahead, Targa West soon and then straight into Round 3 of MaxAction.
Cheers,
Mitch.

[GeneSPIDA]

I need to find a way of improving my times a bit as the only people I seem to beat so far are those incurring penalties, with a couple of exceptions.

It's still fun though. Although I would like to knock a few of the cars off.