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Beating industry records for sure is a motivator outside Championship.
Some that has few or no win during season can also be it. Jcoop, AP will fight to some extent for a win. But it will not be Championship effort. Basically as in Nascar "I will put my foot down until I see God or pass the finish line", requires a Championship on the line in my opinion. Of course in the heat of the moment you will get some excitement from time to time, adrenaline speaking over mind.
Guys wouldn't do head starts on outdoors during SX if all they cared about was getting good results in SX. Hunter stayed on SX, because he needed full focus. How many others stayed on SX? Roczen?
Unfortunately, having 4-5 guys in contention for championship as long as possible is better for racing than having 1.
Because of what happened to George caused you to start this thread…If it was Herlings and Coenen’s chain derailments you would have started the thread then…and wanting to reward Tom a redo on a crash that was 100% his fault…come on man you can’t be serious…part of what makes this sport great is the ultimate challenge of man and machine where they both have to perform at their best to win…no mulligans, no do overs, just down and dirty racing and letting the chips fall where they may…you know what they say about assumptions….I’ve been a fan of the GP’s since the 70’s and have been to multiple GP’s and MXDN’s (more than you have I’m sure)…I’m sorry the sport can’t hold your interest because your favorite riders have a bad day and if you can’t enjoy the talent of every rider on the track and all the races within the race even when your favorites aren’t there then maybe you should ask yourself why are you even a fan…
You obviously missed that Herlings DNF yesterday. Before that it was basically a wash due to mutual DNFs.
C'mon.
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I know the title is the biggest carrot. I'm sure that dropping a moto or OA result could help in some cases. But it could also hurt in others. Who knows if it would help more than it would hurt. Like somebody else had posted, going back and doing some math and showing how it could have extended some past championships could be the best way to sell Your idea. Or maybe see that it may not have made much impact at all. Interesting thing to think about.
SMX has gotten more guys coming back to ride sooner and racing when they were not in the past. And incentifies getting an overall win or being in the top 20 overall points of your class. That has made real improvements in riders trying to get every point that are deeper in the pack so they are able to race in the SMX rounds and not ride an LCQ each round. Having the SMX title is one of the ways of adding a carrot to chase that has worked. I don't know if having throw aways is the answer, or making 3 10 round series instead of the 17, 11 and 3 rounds we have now. with each series having an equal number of races in it and giving racers 3 chances for a title.
But in a short series a DNF or bad finish would impact that title more than a longer series with more chances for everybody to have a bad round and chances to make up more points.
I think that maybe making the points you collect during SX and MX matter more when it comes down to SMX and that title could be a good carrot that would keep a guy going for wins. What if they made each overall win or podium, count for some sort of bonus points for SMX? Or something like a bonus that gives You an improved gate pic for each win? So You could use it to get a better gate at a round that You needed it most, using it at rounds that You didn't qualify as well at. Something to provide an incentive to win every weekend and motivate guys to do the entire season if they wanted to win the SMX title.
How about passing points? give a way for somebody like Prado that needs points to work their way through the pack and make up points. It could provide for some exciting races with guys purposely getting bad starts and battling as the dice through the pack to the front. Probably more of a gimmick than a throwaway round though.
I have seen throw aways impact local races by having guys just not go to some tracks they dislike and use it as a throw away. Or bad weather , just don't go to the race. I doubt that would happen at the highest level. But it's possible. For me to be on board I'd have to see some math that showed that it would help keep the title fight open to more guys ,or keep the points closer more often than it would have made either no impact or made fewer guys in the title fight. It would also make it possible for the last race to not count still. If the guy winning didn't have any bad rounds and the guy in second and 3rd used a throw away , well why do the last round? Skip it since You have to throw away one anyway, and why risk injury for a race that is going to get thrown away anyway. WIth throw aways, You could have the guy that was winning right up to the end not win. And that feels like it would go against what a lot of people that love moto love about the sport as a sport they both watch and compete in. After the throwaways are counted they could flip the points leader and 2nd. I've seen it locally.
The thing I have always loved about motocross has been that the winner is the winner. And it's easy to see. You have to put out the effort and not coast in on a teammates effort like team sports. The rider has mattered more than the bike in all but maybe the highest levels of the sport . And adding a throw away or some of those things I suggested feel like they take away from the rawness that motocross is. And the challenge of winning a title, every round counting, every race matters. It would cheapen the title
I think the biggest negative impact would of course be that the championship can be awarded earlier. But I'll take that over season excitement being over after 1/4 of the races being done.
I don't think anyone would skip races, because until the last race you don't know if you would need that mulligan. Local races I agree, they take the chance of skipping a sand track for example of they only like hard packed.
Pressed submit to soon.
I agree that making the long series shorter, and short ones longer maybe also adds so that at least something new is coming every 3 month or so if you blown out early. MXGP is ruthless if you miss races early.
I didn’t miss it…you keep telling me what I missed or don’t watch or a fan of and you couldn’t be further from the truth…I just see it differently than you do…I feel bad for JH it sucks…but I will guarantee you he won’t quit and he will try his best to prove he is the fastest regardless of the points situation…I would think George, with his ego, would do the same, but as I said previously it will tells us a lot about him if he begins to mail it in from here….sorry you don’t have anyone to root for anymore as you obviously have thrown out the white flag already on your guys…one of my guys crashed on the 1st lap of the season and is out for a while and I guarantee you when he comes back he will be racing to win…just like he did when he got injured in SX and came back for the last few when you said he was going to mail it in and quit….
I don't see how You can say that Prado is totally out of the title with a single DNF. Yah makes it less likely with how consistent the Lawrences both can be. But both of them have had bad luck too in the past. One bad mud race for Jett and Hunter and Prado could be right back in there if He keeps trying and going for it. Look at the title that Tomac tore his achilles in. I wanna say that Webb was also in that fight and Sexton had the longest shot at winning and he won it. I could be wrong on the exact riders and details. Been a lot going on lately for me.
I know its less of a chance, but as long as it's mathematically possible, there can be a cerareo that a longshot still wins the title as it is. I would like to see stats that would show that it would help more often than it would hurt.
I think that clean racing is much more exciting than a take out in one corner by the guy who ends up winning the race. Things done to promote clean racing would also result in closer finishes and closer racing with battles that last longer . And the rounds that have had the leaders right there 1 second or less apart the entire race have been most exciting for me. That race that Deegan and Davies had could have been insane if they both stayed off the ground. But they decided to play it that way and instead it was exciting for a few laps and then a runaway. No matter whos winning the title.
It is interesting to think about , I really would like to see how it would impact history. Maybe I'll have to start a project running some hypothetical championships. taking every racers worst race and dropping it and seeing what that alone would do. I know its not going to really tell the tale of what may have happened if they had that little extra motivation of a title that they wouldn't have if I just went back in history and did the math.
If it was just Hunter or Jett, still alive.
Jett maybe some effects from his injury prevents him from completing the series. A DNF for one of them. But the chances of something happening to Jett, Hunter and Deegan?
AMA has some life in it with 3 still "in it". But MXGP is dead unless Coenen gets a small injury, crashes out or DNF x2.
From a racing perspective it will have an impact since Lucas incentive to risk anything is low.
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