Our local racers are having a little debate about timed races and I wanted to put it out there and see what the rest of the world thinks. We are having a 3 hour closed course GP style race Racer A completes 6 laps and starts lap 7 and crashes or has a mechanical failure and does not finish the full 3 hours. Racer B completes 5 laps but finishes the full 3 hours. Both riders are in the same class Who wins?
6 laps always beats 5 or otherwise you could just wait in front of the flagstand for time to expire and get the overall win.
I would also say that it is rider A, with more laps. That is unless your racing organization has some very specific written rule about needing to ride until the end of the race. I don't see how that would be sensible, though. I'd be interested to hear the logic behind suggesting that it would be rider B. This is very often not the case for multi-lap GP or Hare Scramble type races. I can think of many times where I beat people who went through the checkered flag before I did (by virtue of being 1/2 a lap ahead of them, etc) and vice-versa.
But, in a multi-lap race, what is the definition of "finish"? I think that the answer to the question depends on the rules of the racing organization. If you have to ride through a checkered flag for your score to count, how do you score people who didn't ride through the checkered? You generally don't DNF them (for example, national enduros will still score and rank people who don't finish all the sections, they are just ranked below those who did). I can understand a case for rider B finishing in 1st place, and then rider A finishing in second, in that you score the riders who "finish" the race first, and then rank the riders who don't. However, a multi-lap GP or scramble type of race isn't as easy to determine "finish" as an enduro or point-to-point race, because it doesn't happen at a specific time, it happens after you have done "at least" some amount of time. From looking at standard mototally results, I think they just score based on number of laps, regardless of exactly when you stopped racing. Another way to think about it: I think of multi-lap timed races as though they were the same as just riding in a straight line for the time period. At the end, whoever has gone the furthest wins. It doesn't matter if I guy is way ahead and then stops (or crashes, or breaks down), if people can't catch up to him before the time is up, he still beats them.
Generally the rider with the most laps went through the checkered flag first. But we are lacking the specifics of the situation and in the end it is the referee's call. Generally speaking, a DNF does not equal a win, at least not on the west coast.
Very common for the first place rider not to be the first one through the flag. For example, in a 90 minute hare scramble, if the first place rider comes through after his third lap at 80 minutes, they have the white flag out, and then at 90 minutes they have the checkered flag out, and a rider behind him will get the checkered and finish the race with 3 laps total (and have 1 less lap than the guy in first). Example: ECEA Hare Scrambles (Mototally) does it by number of laps, "finishing" not relevant: http://www.moto-tally.com/ECEA/ECEA/Results.aspx/2014/1/O2/CT
Our OMRA rules are you must cross the line after the flag drops, then you count laps and times. We also require completing 50% of time/distance. In your scenario, the leader DNFs under our rules.
Agree- IMO if it is a '3 hour race' the winner has to be there or on the way there at the end of hour 3. Especially in XC and Enduro- bike has to be reliable enough to complete the time requirement..
So what I am hearing from a lot of people (not kyle) think a rider that crosses the finish line with 6 laps beats a rider with 12 laps that doesn't cross.
It's all about how the particular organization scores. The organization I race with (ECEA) doesn't appear to care if you "finished" or not, just how many laps you did and how fast you did them; someone who knows the ECEA rules can correct me on this, but that is what the results look like. On the other hand, it sounds like OMRA specifically requires that you ride through the checkered.
I was scored under moto-tally all last year. Your time is for the last lap completed. I have never beat a rider who made more laps than me what ever class they entered. We ran 30 min woods motos and the fast guys made more laps every time. Some riders would get a finish time of 30:?? or so with a extra lap before the checkered was out, but only a few. I could get 31:?? or so as I was out on course as the checker flew, sometime I never saw the white. A ride who DNF was scored by the last lap and placed by time. Few races in the season on the white flag lap as riders are getting pulled off because they will not come back before the 30 min mark I was flagged to go another lap as I just had time. I would end up the last rider with 5 laps that day. They had no idea I could not feel my hands LOL and I really wanted off that course !!
Is it an endurance race or a distance race? This reminds me, I need to go see a good demolition derby. (race?)
