Electronic Scoring at CCS Regionals

[CCS]

First off, all practice times and race times would be available for each rider, that is just one side benefit for it. (Depending on how many riders actually came in and collected them, we would either print them all out, or have you turn in a request for times and then print them for you at the end of the day.)

One problem I see with trying to use times for qualifying is which bike are you on, 600 or 750? Does it have DOT's or Slicks? The variables that you would have to contend with would either eliminate practice as we know it, eliminate classes or have the GP and Superbike classes timed and SuperSport gridded by entry. It will be a daunting task to come up with a workable solution.

I am open to suggestions.

[corien]

here are a couple of comments from my experience racing two years at lrrs with transponders. last season was my first year without a transponder.
i have come to realize that transponders are an enormous luxury. every practice and every race was printed out within the hour and pinned on a designated wall in the tech garage. some people had a bad habit of tearing out their times and making a mess of things, but in general the system worked. i always wondered why loudon had more expensive race entries (100 dollars for gtu, don't remember the sprints, but it was more than i am paying now at ccs midatlantic) i wonder if it had to do with the transponders.
you could either buy your transponder and charger or you could get one for the weekend and return it. i choose the latter. you would be forced to buy it when you either loose, crash, or break the transponder.
transponders are awesome, but i couldn't afford to buy two  (2 people in my household that race) of them right now. maybe if you force me :P


corien

[BRG]

I think this sould be supplied by CCS at no additional cost to the racer. Almost all of the racers have a hard time paying for everything now. Race entry fees just went up within the last 2 years and rasing the cost will just make racing even more out of reach for the street rider that wants to start racing.

2 cents

BRG

[Gixxer124]

You spend $300 on one, crash you first race out and destroy it!  :(   Pay a deposit, increase the fees on the first 2 races and have CCS responsible for them. Just my $.02.

[Brett]

I might be willing to go maybe $100 just to help offset your cost. But really it's only going to make things easier for you guys. So I think you have to ask yourself, is it worth it? I have someone there to take my times so I don't need it. What would be nice is being able to be more creative with our # plates and #s. More like world Superbike. Since you don't have to rely on seeing them as well. As for grids I think that would be to much trouble. You have to many classes to keep track of.

[CCS]

If everyone bought into the system, or we bought it and increased the fees, then being "creative" would be more acceptable AS LONG as the scorers could read it.

Get all the CCS racers you know to take this poll, I want/need the results buy the middle of May so we can decide what to do with the budget for 2003.

Thanks Y'all.

[squidin]

Well, I think it is difficult to supply the racers with the transponders free of charge at this point in time and is asking a little much from CCS to be honest. I also race AFM and I had to purchase the transponder for $100 which is less than they cost but I get my $100 back if I quit at some point. Having a better timing system is crucial to allot of racers out there. I am more concerned about accurate finishing positions than times although once you have thetransponder times are there either way ;) I would be willing to pay ~$100 for a specific numbered CCS transponder even for the 2-3 races I attend a year and I don't have tons of money either. If you cannot afford an extra $100 for a once off fee then chances are you really shouldn't be racing anyway cause all it takes is one little oopsie to cost you $1000!!
-Shane

[TrophyGal]

I'm not a "licensed racer" (just a weekend staff member), so I can't vote ... but I think it would be great.  We'd still have backup scorers doing it manually.  More of you ought to vote on this topic! :-*

[Gixxer124]

How do CRA and others do it?

[billryr8828]

I personally voted for the raising fee option. Depending how often and how many classes you race in whether this would be best for you or not. Personally if you were to buy the unit and it went bad or needed battery repacement then it would be on you. Granted the lifespan should be good on these units but I would prefer not having the added worry or expense if the unit died and would rather go back to the scoring tower and just let them hand me a replacement.

[TightSqueeze]

Kevin,

The first thing you need to do is to make scoring mandatory for one weekend for EVERY racer(and cornerworking too), then post the poll and see the answers. ;D

The nominal race fee increase is a good solution as the racer doesn't have to remember to bring it with them to the track or maintain the battery.

$25/weekend is really too high, and thus optional, and most racers won't participate.  Including it in the fee makes it a bit more obligitory for the racer to participate.  

Further, to be able to produce lap times for the riders is worth the small fee increase vs. begging your SO/parent/crew to get it right.

Steve Clark, #16Ex MA
CCS Scorer
TightSqueezeRacing.org

[Rob]

How 'bout a choice between buying it outright, and a rent-to-own type program.  Another thing CCS (or someone?) could do that would make it a bit easier on the racer is to buy back old units, and sell used units at a cheaper price.

I would think a combination of 1 and 2 would be worthwhile.  Some of us may only attend 1 or 2 Nationals and the ability to rent a transponder would be more cost effective.  While someone that attends all the Nationals would benefit from purchasing them.

Guess I am a dumb ass for not reading it correctly.  For some reason I had Nationals on the mind.  I would be willing to buy one, but still think a combination of rental and purchase to be the best option.  Some people like me can only make 4 or 5 races in a year and rental may still make sense.