[Closed] Is it the done thing in racing ...

It would be odd for a prolific racer to just stop racing because they'd gained an unassailable lead.

Err, of course. Do you think Chelsea will stop playing once they've more points than can be made up in the games remaining or a GP driver would stop racing in a similar position?

Why not? Maybe they do it fun as well as only winning?

I know its daft. But looking at how hard others have tried to get there place on the podium it looks a bit harsh on them to loose it that way.
Just me being a bit soft I suppose.

But looking at how hard others have tried to get there place on the podium it looks a bit harsh on them to loose it that way.

So why don't they just beat the winner and earn their spot that way?

Of course. It'd be un-sporting if he sat up!

Think of the guy in the last points position, he's ridden his nuts off all season to keep the guy behind him out of the points. Imagine how pissed of he would be if the last few rounds effectively got bonus points as the leaders buggered off to the pub.

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Do you really want to improve your standing through charity? Wouldn't the potentially improved position and resulting sense of success be somewhat hollow?

But looking at how hard others have tried to get their place on the podium it looks a bit harsh on them to lose it that way.

What? That's just bonkers.

That's a consensus then. :0)

..... I'm bonkers 😀

I would be gutted to get a podium knowing it was only because somebody better wasn't there.

I think you're being soft.

how does the series leader riding (or not) affect others positions? The only way to overtake someone and get a higher placing than them overall is to beat them (and get more points) - whether that's racing for 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd, the race is between the rivals, not the leader.

Did the OP just finish a race one spot off the podium while the top step was being occupied by the bloke who had already wrapped up the championship?

are you just talking individual races?

I can see that - but it's still a charity prize in my book.

Nice humblebrag OP.

😉

Series toj.

Guilty as charged Chakaping. After 30 years of chasing to win something it feels a bit odd. I am soft as shite though and why I do anything competitive is beyond me. :0)

As long as you win the races and don't place between people it won't effect anything anyway

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so if it's series points then it doesn't matter whether the series leader is still hoovering up wins, it's only about you getting more points than your rival.

theotherjonv it's far more complicated than that, at least it is in Leagues with nonlinear points. In Central there's a 10 point difference between 1st and 2nd, then 5 point differences, further down the rankings it becomes 2 then 1 point differences. Then there's the effect of dropping lowest scoring rounds if the league only counts your best X finishes. My other half is contending to win senior women overall, I'm aiming for a top 10 in vets, and we've sat and tried to do the maths, but there are too many factors and they include who is likely to race and finish ahead of me and my 'rival', in some scenarios he could finish 1 position ahead of me and I would still extend my gap on him.

I also agree with you and the consensus though. My highest finish so far is a 5th; if I took 3rd because the big hitters gave it a miss I'd be as embarrassed as I was pleased (this happened but not to me when basically our top 5 all raced a National series round that clashed with a league round, I didn't race it either and everybody else had seasons-best finishes).

Could you explain that final sentence please? How could a rival finishing 1 position ahead of you help you extend your gap over them?

[quote=mos ]Could you explain that final sentence please? How could a rival finishing 1 position ahead of you help you extend your gap over them?

As a result of dropping that "low-scoring" result in favour of a better one?

I didn't say him finishing there would 'help' me, but in certain scenarios I [i]could[/i] still extend my gap [i]despite[/i] him being ahead of me, and that would depend where we both finish, which would be influenced by who else raced.

If he finishes 5th and I'm 6th, he takes 5 points off me in that round. If he finishes 6th and I finish 7th he takes 2 points off me. However my lowest scoring round is lower than his lowest scoring round, so where we both collectively finish will influence whether one or both of us drops a lowest score.

There's another guy who has only raced 7 rounds when the league counts the top 8. He consistently finishes ~5th, and he races this weekend. So if he gets his usual finish he will leapfrog both me and my rival, pushing us both down the overall league.

didn't realise scoring was non-linear. that said, whether it is or isn't the best way of beating your rival is with watts, not maths.

I kind of get the concept better now though, particularly dropping low scoring rounds off. I assume that's to enable someone to be ill or injured rather than to pick and choose what races to do based on who else is injured or ill or off at the nationals though.

Nothing wrong with crushing the opposition in my book, granted I'm a mid pack clogger when it comes to CX racing, but I'm still beating people.

I will admit when I used to fish competitively I have won aggregate series with rounds left and carried on fishing, safe in the knowledge that I'm still beating my nearest rivals and my rivals knew it, so the psychological advantage is there with you for the next round. Also on more than one occasion when I knew I could win a series that consisted of say 4 matches I missed one on purpose, you know, just to give the minions hope 😆 😆

I would be gutted to get a podium knowing it was only because somebody better wasn't there.

I think I could probably get over it.

mos » Could you explain that final sentence please? How could a rival finishing 1 position ahead of you help you extend your gap over them?

We have an even more complicated (and fallible) system than that at the sailing club!

Handicap series with you start time varying through the year depending on your position. finish in the top half and you lose 0-60seconds at the start, finish at the back and you gain between 0 and 60 seconds. The idea being that everyone should finish at the same time by the end of the year.

So you come last in race 1, get maximum head start in race 2.

Come last again and your head start keeps building.

A high pressure system and no wind keeps the fast boats (and you) at the back through July whilst the oppies take home the chocolates, so your start handicap keeps going up.

Around race 9 (out of 15) the wind picks up, your fitness finally comes back, you have a run of good luck and you get a string of top places.

Somehow I managed to podium purely as a result of all my bad luck being in the first 2/3rds of the season, then having a string of good days!