Cars and rules for 2020

[dreadnaut]

Let's say you got 239 hours last race, you get 241 hours this race, does that mean you only get 1 point from this race and no leftover hours?

Uh? I think you would get 2 points, and with zero hours left. Let's try with an example:

A. Always carry over
Race 1: (0 from previous) + 239 hours --> no points, all 239 carried over
Race 2: 239 + 400 = 639 --> 2 points, 159 carried over
Race 3: 159 + 200 = 359 --> 1 point, 119 carried over
Race 4: 119 + 50 = 169 --> 0 points, 169 carried over

B. Carry over unless you get points
Race 1: (0 from previous) + 239 hours --> no points, all 239 carried over
Race 2: 239 + 400 = 639 --> 2 points, 159 carried over reset!
Race 3: 0 + 200 = 200 --> 0 points, 200 carried over
Race 4: 200 + 50 = 250 --> 1 point, 10 carried over reset!

I think this would make things more difficult for those who stay in the lead for longer; in particular, it would decrease the incentive to keep the top position in the last third of the race, leading to more uncertain finales.

Might be completely wrong though

Carrying over, as you pointed out, means that LTB goes from being a "race score" to a "season score". We could just sum up all the leading hours and assign floor(hours / 240) points at the end of the year. I don't know if I like that :\

[Duplode]

So the new system is already running, with CTG and Seeker having gotten floor(356/240) = floor(255/240) = 1 LTB point in Z223. Not sure what to make of it, so I'll wait and watch. The LTB denial playbook will certainly be turned on its head 

[Duplode]

We could change the system so that one LTB point is assigned as soon as a pipsqueak collects 8064/36 = 224 hours of leading time. We can round that to 240 hours, ten days, so that no-one can collect 3 points in the same race.

I have just noticed it is possible to receive LTB +3 at the end of a race, though it remains the case that you can't earn them over a single race. If someone enters a race with 239 carryover hours, they will get an LTB point upon their first leading hours while still having the rest of the race ahead of them, and so 481 hours (twenty days and an hour) will result in LTB +3. Conversely, if someone leads a race for 600 hours (25 days -- a decent approximation to the whole race, discounting the quiet days and an update Sunday), 120 carryover hours will suffice.

[dreadnaut]

I have just noticed it is possible to receive LTB +3 at the end of a race, though it remains the case that you can't earn them over a single race.

Yes, but I think the "earning" part is important: it's not enough to have a great replay on this track to get tons of points, you need to do well on two.

Still, the system has not really distributed points to more pipsqueaks, I think. So it is different, but is the change worth it?

[Duplode]

Still, the system has not really distributed points to more pipsqueaks, I think. So it is different, but is the change worth it?

I actually agree this doesn't need to be changed; my post here was just meant to document the possibility. Having your carry-over hours discarded because you did too well in a race would feel quite unfair.

[Duplode]

With the season concluded, we can look at how LTB was affected by this year's rule changes. To begin with, here is a table showing how the bonus points were distributed in 2019:

Code Select Expand


Race MAR CTG OVE FIN SEE DUP DRE Total
210 2 1 3
211 2 1 3
212 1 2 3
213 2 2
214 1 2 3
215 2 1 3
216 2 1 3
217 1 2 3
218 2 1 3
219 2 2
220 2 2
221 1 2 3
Total 17 2 3 4 4 2 1 33


Next, the corresponding table for 2020:

Code Select Expand


Race MAR CTG OVE FIN SEE DUP DRE Total
222 2 2
223 1 1 2
224 1 1
225 1 1
226 2 2
227 2 2
228 2 1 3
229 0
230 2 1 3
231 2 2
232 2 2
233 2 2
Total 0 9 1 0 8 1 3 22


The most remarkable change is that the total LTB points granted through the season has fallen by a third, from 33 to 22. While in 2019 three bonus points were given in nine out of twelve races, in 2020 that only happened two times, and there were races with one and even zero points being obtained. In principle (and this might be a bit controversial), I see that as a positive outcome, as it might make it harder to build an insurmountable lead through LTB points alone (to me, the paradigmatic example of that is Renato versus CTG in 2013). It is, however, risky to jump to conclusions about such matters solely based on a 2019 versus 2020 comparison, given the different character of the title fight in each season. At a minimum, it is also worth looking at what would have happened in 2020 if the rules hadn't been changed:

Code Select Expand


Race MAR CTG OVE FIN SEE DUP DRE Total
222 1 2 3
223 1 2 3
224 1 2 3
225 2 1 3
226 2 1 3
227 2 1 3
228 2 1 3
229 1 2 3
230 2 1 3
231 1 2 3
232 2 1 3
233 2 2
Total 0 12 2 2 11 3 5 35


The changes in LTB totals for pipsqueaks range from one to three points, and the overall effect on the season scoreboard was small (even in a close season like this one, the top 5 order was unaffected). This observation suggests that the rule change hasn't, in fact, significantly reduced the strategical importance of LTB.

[dreadnaut]

It's somehow a failure of the new system that the set of pipsqueaks that gained LTB points didn't grow    There are some hours still unused, but not that many.

[CTG]

It's somehow a failure of the new system that the set of pipsqueaks that gained LTB points didn't grow    There are some hours still unused, but not that many.

Solution: podium bonus.