Thoughts on Novice Class

[iiibbb]

I've noticed almost no one runs novice anymore. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I think it's because it may not be well-advertised during pre-registration. Perhaps there should be a check mark asking two questions

1) are you a novice?
2) do you wish to run in a separate novice class?



Since Novice Class is not part of a season championship race, I actually think the best solution have the novice competition as anscillary... specifically that novices compete in both within their class, as well as against the novices as a whole. That way if they decide to move to the normal class during the season their points will follow them. Plus the normal class will be well populated (it is a drag when no one is in your class).

Just a thought.

[Makev]

The only reason I don't run in Novice class is because Novice classes are not listed on the MyAutoEvents site.

[jun]

Having a brief discussion with Ray yesterday, it seemed plausible that nobody runs novice, because novice's generally do not preregister. They just show up and want to play?

Opinions?

[rschumin]

The only reason I don't run in Novice class is because Novice classes are not listed on the MyAutoEvents site

Glen asked about that yesterday and I thought Novice was listed, but now I see that it is not. There is a facility to add supplementary classes so I suppose I could add Novices Classes to the choice list.

I never ask walk ups if they want to run as a Novice. I guess I don't think about it.

I will relate a cautionary tale about a young man who thought he would have a better chance to win a trophy if he ran novice class rather than the corresponding open class. Ends up he went fast enough to win the open class, but was out PAXed by another Novice so no trophy.

[iiibbb]

I will relate a cautionary tale about a young man who thought he would have a better chance to win a trophy if he ran novice class rather than the corresponding open class. Ends up he went fast enough to win the open class, but was out PAXed by another Novice so no trophy.

That's why I don't think novice should be a 'class', but just a sidebar and recognize the top Novice of the day. I think it's better to keep everyone in their classes.

[mroberts]

Yeah, Novice is great if you're in a PAX-friendly stock class, but you're better off running in your normal class if you're modified. That killed me in my first event - I could have been second in SM2.

[LynnCombs]

Yeah, Novice is great if you're in a PAX-friendly stock class, but you're better off running in your normal class if you're modified. That killed me in my first event - I could have been second in SM2.

My feeling exactly on the novice class, I think your as well off running your regular class. The same idea on Ladies class.. pax kills you in SS, unless you have a Ladies for each class.

[iiibbb]

Again... this seems to be too nuanced a decision for a novice to make. I think it should just be a sidebar instead of a class.

It's not like it affects anything either. I think the fact that it keeps a novice from earning points in their real class a deficiency as well.

[techteg]

I started autocrossing in 2003 when novice was still a well-populated class. My first event was April 2003 in Mercer County with a whopping 23 novice entries. By my third event, I won the novice class (in Verona with only 7 entered as novices). To me, it gave me a sense of accomplishment while retaining the knowledge that I still had a long way to go. If it weren't for the competition in the novice class, I may have been discouraged after getting beat by ~10 seconds by Eisenbies every event.

Season points didn't matter to me that season (or the next), and I don't think that they really should.

I agree that entering as a novice should be encouraged, and that it would be great to include novices in both their regular class AND the novice group as a side competition.

[00GTJustin]

I agree with Stephen. I won my second novice entrance against twenty-some other drivers (how do you remember these things??) and I felt like I was on the top of the world. The novice class really should be encouraged to populate again as a side competition.

[markjmeyer7]

When I was new to AutoX, I never ran in the novice class because I felt like it would just be a justification for my poor performance. Even if I could do better than other novices, I didn't think this would give me a great sense of accomplishment. Perhaps if I had run as a novice, this would have actually happened, but I didn't see the point.

I think that having novices run with their class with just a separate/side novice comparison would be the best way to do it.

[Chiketkd]

The only reason I don't run in Novice class is because Novice classes are not listed on the MyAutoEvents site.

I'm with you there. I'm eligible to run Novice this season but also passed up as it's not a choice available when you pre-register.

I also feel that you should compete in your class. I like going up against Steve, Justin and Chad in D-Stock. I just need to take the time to go to a test-n-tune and have other members ride with me and point out ways for me to improve... I know I need to get closer to the cones on both sides of the car, as well as have a better *feel* for the amount of grip my car has going into a corner and/or braking zone.

[rschumin]

I added a line to the registration form (starting with Lexington) where you can indicate if you are a novice or not. It is just for information at this point. Answering yes does not commit you to running Novice class.

[Chiketkd]

I added a line to the registration form (starting with Lexington) where you can indicate if you are a novice or not. It is just for information at this point. Answering yes does not commit you to running Novice class.

Are you going to have a Novice Class at some point this year? Will novices like myself just keep running in our current class w/ PAX determining our final position among other novices?