Many of us know that SCCA is offering supplemental indexed road tire classes at national events this year. The organization of the classes is different, however, than our local SK* supplemental street tire classes. Here's how it breaks down:
Cal Club SK*:
SK1: SS, AS, BS, FS
SK2: CS, DS, ES, GS, HS
ProSolo events:
RT: All stock classes
Nationals and national tour events:
RTR: RWD vehicles in all stock classes
RTF: FWD vehicles in all stock classes
RTA: AWD vehicles in all stock classes
Even though the class organization is different, all of these classes use the applicable stock PAX/RTP index. (Cal Club multiplies the PAX by 0.98 when integrating into the overall event PAX results, but this does not effect placing within the SK* classes).
The differences in these classes got me thinking about how things will play out at national events. Our local SK* classes are divided roughly by engine power (although there are some exceptions, like the Elise). SS, AS, BS and FS are the big boys and CS, DS, ES, GS, and HS have the nice, sedate sunday drivers. ;) But at the national events (except ProSolo), the mix will be different. MX-5s, S2000s, Vettes and Camaros will all play together. Minis, Acurondas, and VWs get their own sandbox. And the Subies and Audis get to eat paste in the corner by themselves. }:) At the ProSolo, it's every man (or woman) for themselves.
I looked at the PAX results for our local SK* classes for the past 6 months. I wondered how things would shake out if things had been classed similar to the new national supplemental classes. Let's consider the ProSolo single RT class since that's simple and I'm lazy. Does SK1 have an advantage over SK2 or vice versa? Here's the raw data showing PAX order by car class:
Code: Select all
Sep-11 Oct-11 Nov-11 Dec-11 Jan-12 Feb-12
SK2CS SK1SS SK2CS SK2CS SK2DS SK1BS
SK1BS SK1BS SK2CS SK1BS SK1SS SK2DS
SK2DS SK2CS SK1SS SK2CS SK1BS SK2DS
SK2CS SK2DS SK2DS SK2DS SK2CS SK1BS
SK1BS SK2CS SK1SS SK1SS SK1BS SK2CS
SK1SS SK1SS SK1BS SK1BS SK1BS SK2DS
SK1SS SK1BS SK2CS SK2DS SK1SS SK2CS
SK2CS SK1BS SK1BS SK1BS SK1BS SK1BS
SK1BS SK1BS SK1BS SK2CS SK2CS SK2CS
SK2CS SK1SS SK1BS SK2GS SK1BS SK2CS
SK2ES SK2DS SK1SS SK1SS SK1AS SK1BS
SK1SS SK2CS SK2DS SK1BS SK2DS SK2GS
SK2DS SK2ES SK2GS SK1SS SK2CS SK1BS
SK2ES SK2CS SK1BS SK1BS SK1BS
SK2ES SK2ES SK2CS SK1AS SK1BS
SK1AS SK1AS SK1SS SK1BS
SK1FS SK2GS SK2CS SK1SS
SK1AS SK2ES SK2HS SK2HS
SK2CS SK1SS SK2DS
SK2GS SK2DS
SK2ES
SK2CS
SK1SS
SK1AS
SK1SS
At first glance it looks like there's no clear favorite. SK1 and SK2 are mixed together pretty well in the PAX results. But how about some statistics? Everyone loves statistics, right?!?!
Out of 6 events:
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SK1 SK2
--- ---
Total first place: 2 4
Total second place: 4 2
Total third place: 2 4
Total top 5: 13 17
Total top 10: 32 28
Avg top 5 per event: 2.2 2.8
Avg top 10 per event: 5.3 4.7
Total entries: 56 54
(all 6 events combined)
First of all, the total entries over the 6 events for SK1 and SK2 are virtually identical (56/54). So we can look at the placing data and do a pretty direct comparison. If there had been way more of one class than the other, you'd have to take that into account when considering how many of each class placed in the top 5, top 10, etc.
Second of all, although initially you would be inclined to say that SK2 actually has a slight advantage, I tend to think that the relative performance between the two classes is pretty comparable. SK2 has more winners, and more in the top 3 than SK1, but the difference between 2-and-4 and 3-and-3 is certainly within the uncertainty margin for this sample size. The same with the top 5 and top 10... you'd expect if SK1 and SK2 were exactly equally matched, they'd each have 2.5 in the top 5 and 5 in the top 10. Well, the split is 2.2/2.8 in the top 5 and 5.3/4.7 in the top 10. I would say that's within spitting distance of 2.5/2.5 and 5/5, with the differences just due to sampling error.
So, what these numbers tell me is that SK1 and SK2, when put head to head in indexed PAX results, get pretty comparable times, and the PAX/RTP weights don't seem to favor SK1 cars over SK2 cars or vice versa. This bodes well for the nationals supplemental classes, where all of the stock classes are lumped together, whether in a single overall class (ProSolo) or divvied up by drive axle.
