Cars in NON-CONSECUTIVE Heats

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pack529holycross
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Cars in NON-CONSECUTIVE Heats

Post by pack529holycross »

Simple question with possibly a complex answer :


IS there an option within GrandPrix Race Manager that will allow the heats within a given round to be sorted so that a car does not run in consecutive heats?

Here is why I ask this -
The race schedule generates diversity in the schedule, but KNOWING that the cars in Heat #2 are not the same cars in Heat #1 will increase, in my opinion, the efficiency of the Pitcrew/stagers/starter/finishline runners process. This would be a result of allowing the stagers to have the second heat preloaded or in some sort of "on deck" location, and not have any delays in staging a given heat due to waiting for cars to come back from the finish line. I estimate that with a 50 foot track and 6 cars racing per Heat, this would increase efficiency dramatically.

Opinions?

YIS
NICHOLAS
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Re: Cars in NON-CONSECUTIVE Heats

Post by gpraceman »

I assume that you are using the Perfect-N type of scheduling. You can use the Advanced chart options to set the "Avoid cars in consecutive heats" weighting to "Heavy". This will not guarantee that cars will not be in consecutive heats, but can help.

Anyways, the more cars you have on a schedule, the less likely cars will run in consecutive heats. Conversely, with fewer cars, the odds increase since there is only so much that can be done to prevent that scenario.

Having more track lanes also compounds the problem, since it makes it even harder to prevent consecutive runs.
Last edited by gpraceman on Sun Oct 12, 2008 12:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Randy Lisano
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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pack529holycross
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Re: Cars in NON-CONSECUTIVE Heats

Post by pack529holycross »

I was reading in the V8 documentation that groups can be combined into a master schedule...


does this translate to a Tiger Heat, then a Wolf Heat, and so on, with the groups' race schedules still tabulated appropriately, even though the groups are interwoven?

If this is the case, I think this could be a solid alternative as it keeps every group involved throughout the event. Can a select number of groups be consolidated, such as Tigers/Wolves, then Bears/Webelos ?

Nicholas
PS. I ordered the V8 upgrade - if you get a chance to shoot me a serial number when you get a chance, that would great on kind and wise sir

EDIT - Lol..i just realized that this years version is the "V8" upgrade.. made me think of the Ford V8 chrome badge...
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Re: Cars in NON-CONSECUTIVE Heats

Post by gpraceman »

pack529holycross wrote:I was reading in the V8 documentation that groups can be combined into a master schedule...

does this translate to a Tiger Heat, then a Wolf Heat, and so on, with the groups' race schedules still tabulated appropriately, even though the groups are interwoven?
Schedules can be combined (collated together), so you can keep all racers involved yet racers will not compete against anyone outside of their race group.
pack529holycross wrote:If this is the case, I think this could be a solid alternative as it keeps every group involved throughout the event. Can a select number of groups be consolidated, such as Tigers/Wolves, then Bears/Webelos ?
A master schedule does not consolidate the race groups. It only collates the schedules for the different groups into one schedule. You can create combined groups yourself, if you wish, since you can specify the groups any way you want. You can then use subgroups to segregate things for awards purposes, if needed.
pack529holycross wrote:PS. I ordered the V8 upgrade - if you get a chance to shoot me a serial number when you get a chance, that would great on kind and wise sir
This will be processed on Monday.
Randy Lisano
Romans 5:8

Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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