To me a worthy champion should be fast, consistent and show commitment, if only 23 or 24 races count from a possible 33 to me that doesn't sound enough to fulfil the above. I know the number of rounds have increased but DD don't control that and let's be honest you, Jim, Scott and me did all 9 rounds last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Being able to drop 7 races will allow me to choose one round to drop and have a couple of mishaps so think it's a good compromise.

my 2pence worth of thoughts are:
unlimeted dnf's doesnt reward consistent riding and finishes
too few allowed dnf's can penalise bad luck

once it's decided how many race results make up the points for championship best to allow any meeting to be used to make up those results

In general more choice is a good thing !
so being able to pick 9 from 11 race weekends is probably going to suit more riders than either 11 from 11 or 9 from 9 weekends

We could limit the amount of meetings entered by any rider to 9 of meetings and then only count 23 of their scores, but that would likely reduce grid sizes (could even end up with an empty grid at Mallory) and penalise Hottrax which could then have a negative result on the following season and future entrants

Without a race in July and three in August there will be some that will give at least one of these August meetings a miss, some may give a earlier round a miss with the intention of putting the saved money aside for August and others opt to miss later rounds. Therefore offering quite a few choices.

[quote=skidlids]In general more choice is a good thing !
so being able to pick 9 from 11 race weekends is probably going to suit more riders than either 11 from 11 or 9 from 9 weekends
QUOTE]
Agree with you Kev more choice is generally a good thing. No matter how it pans out there will always be somebody it doesn't suit what we have to think about is what is best for the series and the majority. To me this means supporting Hottrax by competing at every meeting and allowing people the flexibility to do what they want whether that is somebody who wants to compete in all 11 or those who want to pick and choose.

The compromise of all 11 rounds counting with your best 26 results to count does it for me.

Miles does make a good point that we should reward consistency so perhaps a limit of 3 DNFs or was it a pain to administer in 2014?

The problem comes when a race is red flagged after someone has DNF'd before the red flag and is therefore not the cause of the stoppage. Then the race is re run from the same starting positions so is effectively a new race and what went before is null and void. With the only exclusion being the rider that caused the stoppage, so although someone may have crashed out or broken down before that and can't get back on the grid they then become a DNS

Now when it comes to these restarts and calling what went before the CofC seems to me to make some odd decisions.
And changing a DNF that couldn't be dropped to a DNS that can be dropped can make quite a difference in a championship chase
This is something I didn't anticipate last season

But on the whole if we go for 26 from 33 and allow the dropping of 7 we could certainly reward consistency through bike prep and using your noodle by only allowing a limited amount of DNFs and as you suggest 3 seems a fair amount

I think this is where the issue is, they always put us back to our original start position and never aggregate both parts so it will always be a new race. Could we state our own rules saying if you crash or break down then it is classified as a DNF, not quite worked out how or who would keep an eye on it though, just a thought but might get even more complicated. :confused:

Seems a bit silly. If you start a race and dont finish it regardless of reason it should be a DNF

Restarting a race after an incident is not a fresh new race and should really be done in the running order at the time of the red flag.

If 2 people crash out without a red flag then 5 laps later out comes the red flag those 2 people should not be allowed to start again and should get a DNF. With last year's rule interpretation they would get a DNS which is wrong.

All under the ACU rules and what the Clerk of the Course decides. Nothing to do with Desmo Due rules
If the grid is reformed and the riders start from their original positions it is deemed to be a re run of the race and not a continuation, so what has gone before is null and void.
I can't recall a DD or other club race that I have been at been run in two parts where we form up on the grid in new positions corresponding to where we crossed the line

As this would mean we would have to leave the track, the first part be called and standings (taken back a lap)at the time of a Red flag published, then there should be a half hour for anybody to protest those standings (may have been passed under a yellow flag or someone missed a chicane at somewhere like Oulton and gained an advantage)
Then when that period has expired the race can be run providing it wasn't the last or next to last race of the day then it may just be canceled and half points awarded for the first part

Fair enough.

Just out of interest, would that mean if you missed the start first time you could be in the next start?

Yes
Although I have noticed Hottrax seem to alter the rules to suit themselves at times as the ACU refers to the amount of laps completed and remaining laps left in the race for the decision about a rerun or continuation to be made.