Drifting Tasmania Judging Regulations COMPETITION FORMAT The 16 drifters with the highest scores from qualifying will be eligible to enter the tandem elimination rounds. Progressive battles will follow the format of the positions table (‘Drift Tree’) resulting in a winner. In the event that there are less than 16 qualifiers, the affected competitors will receive a bye run through to the next round. The bottom 8 competitors, i.e. the 17th – 24th qualifiers will be placed into a ‘Best of the Rest’ battle tree, and will compete in a separate competition, resulting in 1 winner. These competitors will also receive competition points and their qualifying points toward their series points. There must be a minimum of 8 competitors to run the Best of the Rest competition. In the event that there are less than 8 competitors available, the Best of the Rest Competition will be cancelled. Each competitor will be permitted two qualifying laps of the drift course and will be judged on speed, line, angle and style. The highest scored competitor run will be selected to determine their qualifying position at the completion of the session. Each competitor will be permitted one warm up lap as their out lap prior to each battle. Competitors may borrow a car or change cars in the event that their vehicle is unable to continue competition. Competitors will be given a reasonable amount of time to notify the Clerk of Course that they need to change vehicles. The alternate vehicle must be scrutineered and competition ready prior to commencement of the battles. In the event that two competitors are sharing a vehicle and they are to battle each other, and they cannot provide an alternate scrutineered competition ready vehicle in a reasonable amount of time, one competitor must forfeit. The competitors will decide their course of action and report the nominated competitor to the Clerk of the Course prior to the session start. In the event that a competitor withdraws from the Top 16 or Best of the Rest competition, and cannot find an alternate vehicle in a reasonable amount of time, the battle trees will be re-‐
shuffled. Points will be allocated in accordance with the original qualifying positions. START PROCEDURE Competitors take position in pit lane. They are released two at a time for one warm up lap. Competitors then take position at the official start line, designated by orange cones & officials. The highest qualifier leads the first battle. A direction board will be placed at the start line to mark the lead and chase lanes. A pace zone may be placed in the starting region to keep the tandem battles fair and close together. The use of a pace zone will be specified during driver briefing. A full description of the drift track layout, correct line and clipping points will be published prior to each competition round, and outlined by the judges at driver briefing. Drifting Tasmania Judging Regulations – April 2015 1 QUALIFIYING During qualifying judges will assess competitors against four criteria – speed, line, angle and style. Each judge will score on all four criteria, with a maximum of 25 points per criteria, making a total maximum of 100 points per qualifying run. The judges’ scores will then be averaged to get the final total score. For a high score, competitors need to maintain speed, line and angle to that which is specified by the judges in briefing, in addition, judges will reward competitors with style points who impress with a smooth run and fast line. A spin will be judged as a 0 and a loss of control. Speed Speed will be judged by the speed that the Competitor’s vehicle maintains: • entering a corner • through a corner • through the entire judged area. Maximum points will be awarded to the competitor whose vehicle maintains a consistent high-‐
speed yaw angle (relative to the radius of the corner). Line Line will be judged by how closely a competitors vehicle is able to follow the racing line set out by the judging team. Maximum points will be awarded to competitors who “clip the apex” of the required clipping zones, following a traditional racing line through the entry and exit of turns (i.e. wide entry and exit positions of the vehicle). Points will be deducted from competitors who fail to keep within the track edges while drifting. Competitors who position two or more wheels outside of the track edges will receive a 0 score. Angle The angle of rotation of the vehicle relative to its direction of travel, as well as the Competitor’s ability to sustain this angle for as long as possible. Particular emphasis is placed on the Competitor’s ability to: • Yaw entry angle into a corner • Link corners using a consistent series of drifting motions • Generate angle during entry into corners, from as great a distance possible prior to reaching the apex of the corner • Maintain a wide angle of drift for long periods • Control vehicle when maximum amount of opposite lock is used. • Speed of yaw angle transitions will also be judged (ie. The quicker the transition the higher points received) Style Judges will make notes of competitors who show extra style. E.g. early transition, smooth transitions, excellent angle, good execution of a full run with minimal mistakes. Off course Unless otherwise specified during the briefing, one wheel off the track is penalised with a lower score. Any more than one wheel off the track is classified as off course and awarded 0 points. Clipping points The lead vehicle is to take the line as specified by the judges and as marked by both inner and outer clipping points. If an outer clip is hit or inner clip is hit, the vehicle will be judged to be off course and will be penalised as such. The clipping points are in place to mark line, and it is necessary to be as close as possible to them all to gain all points available for line criteria. Cones will denote all clipping points, either inner or outer. Anytime an inner clipping cone is hit, the vehicle will be considered to be off course and points will either be deducted or the competitor will be scored a 0 depending on the severity of the hit. Hitting an outer clipping cone with anything other than the vehicles rear bumper (i.e. hitting the cone with a rear tyre or door) will be counted as off course and will be scored a 0. If the hit occurs at any other point on track other than the marked outer clipping zones, points may be deducted. If a spin or major under steer results form contact with an outer clipping zone and automatic score of 0 will be given. Drifting Tasmania Judging Regulations – April 2015 2 Entry technique Single transition entries are recommended during battles, but competitors will not be disadvantaged during qualifying when attempting alternate entry techniques. TANDEM ELIMINATIONS Three judges will observe both runs during a head to head battle. There will be no declaration of scores between the two runs. At the conclusion of the two runs, each judge will individually declare a winner. Judges are allowed to converse but are not permitted to show their written winner to any other Judge. Judges will select from three options: • Competitor A wins • Competitor B wins • One More Time (OMT) The majority will rule and a winner will be decided. In the event there is no clear majority, an OMT will be granted and the competitors will begin another two run head to head battle. Multiple OMT’s may be necessary to determine a winner. In the event of a spin, this will be deemed a loss of control and the opponent will be scored with a win. Speed The lead vehicle is to keep within 95% of qualifying speed, and is to run the line and attempt the entry the judges are looking for. The chase vehicle is to emulate this with an emphasis on proximity. Pace cones will be in place to ensure battles are as evenly matched as possible, the lead vehicle is to ensure that both speed is as close to qualifying as possible, but more so that the chase vehicle is by his side, if slightly behind (front bumper to rear bumper), judges will penalize a chase char who slows the run down, or a lead vehicle who drag races. Accelerating hard before the last pace cone will result in a reduction of points. If a slower lead vehicle trips a faster chase vehicle up whilst on a good line with good speed and angle, the chase vehicle will be penalised for failing to be able to regulate speed and hold proximity. If the slower vehicle trips the chase vehicle up due to poor line, poor angle or poor speed, the lead vehicle will be deemed at fault, and receive a lower score from judges. Angle Angle will be expected to be held throughout the course, and being relative to line and speed, will be judged as such, i.e. if you have an excellent line, but are sacrificing angle to pull a gap/close a gap, you will penalised. Holding more angle throughout the course will see more marks in both angle and style, however, if this holds your speed up and allows your competitor to gain proximity, you will lose points. Proximity Proximity is highly emphasized and encouraged, but will be judged strictly. The chase vehicle will treat the lead vehicle as a moving clipping point, and want to get as close as possible without hitting it. If the lead vehicle prevents the chase vehicle from doing so whilst maintaining excellent line, angle, speed and style, the lead vehicle will take the advantage. If the chase vehicle closes the gap whilst emulating the lead vehicles line, angle, speed and style, it will take the advantage. If the chase vehicle closes the gap but takes a shallow line or shallow angle to do so, the lead vehicle will take the advantage, due to the chase vehicle being off line. If the lead vehicle pulls a gap but takes poor line and angle to do so, the chase vehicle will take the advantage. Emphasis here is on the chase vehicle maintaining proximity without sacrificing line or angle. Cutting corners to gain proximity will be judged as being off course and will be marked as such. Entries Single transition entries are recommended during battles, the emphasis being on close proximity. Scandinavian flick (Scando) entries will only be judged from the last transition into turn 1. Vehicle Advantage Exceptions will be made by judges if a large difference is present between the two vehicle battling in terms of power output, tyre selection and general modifications, a gap will be expected to be made by the better vehicle, failure to do so result in lower scores from judges. The better vehicle holds the advantage, and will be expected to keep the advantage. This is in place Drifting Tasmania Judging Regulations – April 2015 3 specifically to highlight the better driver, and put less of an emphasis and reliance on vehicle modifications, thus creating a more even playing field. Lead Vehicle (line) The lead vehicle must be required at all times to run the line given by the judges and maintain adequate speed throughout the course. If the lead vehicle shows untypical speed, this may result in penalty for the competitor. Untypical speed is defined as speeds of equivalent measurement from qualifying speeds. Competitors must be within 95% of their qualifying speeds. If the lead vehicle loses drift, goes off line or reduces speed too drastically in comparison to their qualifying speeds and the chase vehicle hits the lead vehicle, the lead vehicle will in most cases be deemed at fault for the contact. It is each individual judge’s role to ascertain fault. There may be circumstances where the lead vehicle is not at fault for the contact and this will be ascertained by individual judges. Chase Vehicle (line) In general, the chase vehicle needs to treat the lead vehicle as a moving clipping point. The chase vehicle needs to run the same basic line as the lead vehicle. Taking a lower line than the lead vehicle will result in a loss of advantage. If the lead vehicle is offline, then the chase vehicle will gain advantage points by staying in close proximity to the lead vehicle. The chase vehicle should keep as close to the lead vehicle as possible to gain the advantage. The chase vehicle will be rewarded more points during the chase run fro having closer proximity in more difficult parts of the track (i.e. turn 1 at Baskerville), over slow corners (turn 4 at Baskerville) as the skill level is regarded as higher. Overtaking The chase vehicle may only overtake the lead vehicle when the lead vehicle spins and the chase vehicle is forced to overtake to avoid collision. In such circumstances the vehicle that has been overtaken will be penalised for that run. Unsporting Behaviour Competitors demonstrating behaviour that, in the eyes of the judges, provides them with an undue competitive advantage may be penalised. This applies whether the advantage is as a result of deliberate actions on the part of the competitor, or simply an incident or circumstances that might unjustly influence the results of competition. Drifting Tasmania Judging Regulations – April 2015 4