We are working through the requirements for holding a race meet. There is already a discussion relating to safety requirements - https://cyclekarts.com.au/groups/adelaide-cyclekarts/discussions/item/race-meet-safety-requirements which will take care of the technical stuff, but we still need to determine how we race. What format. How many races. What duration or distance.

Getting everyone together in one place is a big logistical challenge, but once we are there, how do we want to run the races???

I think we should look to have some prizes / trophies and a formal format. Of course the ethos is just about having fun, but if we are racing lets put it in a format where end up with an overall winner and podium places. Prizes for best dressed / best pit display / etc If the end goal is podium places I think that we need to have some kind of championship format.

I assume that like me, most people will not come alone and have other drivers that want to have a go. So we probably need to run a number of races so that everyone gets a chance.

For many, this might be the first time that they have actually run their machines anywhere than up and down their driveway, so an open track would be good for testing and shakedown. It will also give everyone an opportunity to have a go

Having some time in between races is also a good idea to allow for repairs etc.

Depending on the venue, there may be a noise curfew so the window for racing might be fairly narrow. We need to be able to fit everything into the time slot. We also need to consider whether people are travelling up the day before so we can get an early start, or if people will travel on the day. If people are travelling on the day we might not want to run races too late to allow people time to get back.

Do we want lots of shorter races or fewer longer races?

Are races based on the cars, or the drivers? initially when there are just a few cars and multiple drivers it might make more sense to have a drivers championship. I guess this will comes down to how many entrants there are. It would be good to know this ahead of time so that the race format can be worked out. It might be a nightmare to try and do this on the fly on the day. For this reason I think that we should have a closing date for entrants so that it can be worked out ahead of time.

Here's a first blush of what the day might look like.

- Drivers meeting - Go over the safety stuff. (no karts on track before the drivers meet.)
- Open track - shakedown testing / have a go
- Track closed to prepare for heats
- Initial heats - run through the participants to get to the finals
- Lunch - Track closed
- Open track
- Track closed to prepare for finals
- Finals
- Track closed
- Prize giving

I can't see why the track cannot be open for most of the time with the exception of racing and designated closures. This would give plenty of opportunity for everyone to have a go

I know that this seems very formal, and most likely initial races will look nothing like this as we will probably only have a handful of participants, but lets plan for what we want this to end up like and we will then be prepared for whatever happens. I'm trying to plan the long game here.

Having and following a formal format will also help us down the track when we want to move these events to public venues. We can demonstrate that we know what we are doing, and that it has been successful (and safe) in the past. Additionally most people that participate in the public events will already be familiar with the format.

Thoughts...

Discuss...