On Feb 10, 6:04*pm, Tim wrote:

As an aside, does anyone know how or if auto racing numerically
handicaps either cars or drivers in auto racing? I believe they only
handicap by weight and power output (all things to do with the car -
not the driver)


Tim -

Allow me to chime in, as a former auto-racer (NASCAR, SCCA Solo II,
SCCA Solo I, SCCA Club Racing, SCCA Club Rally, International
Conference of Sports Car Clubs, brief manager of a racecar-building
shop in Memphis, TN). :-)

The most common/abundant use of Handicapping that I know of is in
Autocrossing (SCCA Solo II).
In autocrossing, cars are grouped into classes according to their
performance or common characteristics. These are not set-in-stone;
some are derived by finding a bunch of cars with similar HP and
weight, other classes are defined by common characteristics (economy
grocery-getters get lumped into a class, low-HP 2-seat convertibles
tend to get lumped into one or two classes, etc). These classes are
regularly reviewed and if one model of car is consistently beating all
the others by a large margin, the classes may get re-shuffled or that
particular car may get bumped into a class that turns in faster lap-
times, on average.

On top of that, a series of "advanced" classes have arisen around the
PAX handicap. Each year this handicap is derived from examining an
abundance of race results from the past few years. The best lap-time
for a couple of top finishers in each racing class are compared to the
fastest car (regardless of class) that ran the same course on the same
day. Results are filtered for weather changes (wet pavement) and
other anomalies. This data is assumed to be statistically significant
and relatively driver-agnostic over a large sample (around 500 events
with 100-200 competitors at each event, plus about 1200 competitors at
the National Championships each year). The average % difference in
finishing times between each class is then used to come up with an
index factor to apply to each class. This - theoretically - lets any
two cars compete and the vast majority of the difference in their
handicapped lap-time will be due to differences in driver skill.

But they have the same "issues" we have with the Sports Class:
First, not all cars in a class are considered equal; so each year
people "head-hunt" for the best car to buy in a particular class, to
give them an advantage regardless of any handicap (the difference is
that cars are generally much more-affordable and more readily-
available than gliders; even though they depreciate faster).
Second, you compound the issue by handicapping the class and not the
individual cars - people try to find a "hot" car in a class with a
"soft" index (so they maximize their handicapping advantage).
Finally, autocross courses - like glider tasks - change every day.
The rules behind course-layout are pretty flexible and are often
constrained by the racing site. So sometimes you get a course that
has long straightaways and big sweeping turns (favoring "muscle-y"
cars). Other times you get tight courses with lots of slaloms and
hairpins (favoring the 90's Mazda Miatas, which are among the most-
maneuverable, best-balanced, and best-handling cars of all time).
This is roughly analogous to those "weak weather days" that favor the
18M or Open Class ships...

IMHO, some things about glider tasks and weather may forever elude a
handicapping system (or, at least one that humans can comprehend) - I
mean, how can you have a system that handicaps a 1-34 and a Discus-2
equally well on a day with closely-spaced thermals; yet still works
when you're jumping 20+ miles between isolated sections of wave on a
day with NO thermals? On the first day, the difference between your
Max L/D isn't the issue - its the high-speed section of your polar.
On the second day, the difference *is* your Max L/D and the 1-34 just
might not be able to make the jumps! Do you declare a whole separate
course/task for the 1-34 and judge him/her completely separately from
the rest of the pack?

The bottom line is that the current handicapping for gliders isn't
perfect; but its pretty darn good. On an average day with an average
course, it corrects a good portion of the imbalances. For those few
days with outlying conditions, I think you just have to shrug your
shoulders and sigh. Baseball has rain-delays, and we have our issues
with mother nature as well! :-P

--Noel