Marc (Hydro) suffered a complete and extended power outage just after gooners qualified tonight and it never came back although we waited and waited and waited. He's got a few replays saved from qualifying runs that need to be verified for a few close calls so we're going to hold off until tomorrow morning (pacific time) to release the full LMP qualifying results.
However, there is some news...
One thing we heard from a few LMP drivers is that they are going to try and qualify in room A for GT rather than run the LMP class in room B. That's understandable, but is going to make it tough to get a sufficient number of LMP cars for room B so we're going to make a couple adjustments to try and increase the probability of at least 5 LMP cars for room B (and preferable 6 or 7).
First, any of the 7 LMP drivers that qualified for lounge A need to declare LMP or lose their place in that lounge. Basically we need lounge A "set in stone" so other drivers can make their class decisions. If any of those drivers decide to run GT then each remaining LMP driver will move up a spot to fill the gap.
Once LMP A is final the remaining drivers that qualified for LMP have their choice. They can commit to LMP or they can go on reserve and try for the A lounge in GT. If they try for the A lounge in GT
and they met the LMP requirements their position in LMP is "reserved" until after GT qualifying shakes out.
All the above is consistent with the original design, but here's what's new:
1. We're going to open up qualifying for additional drivers for LMP to fill any spots vacated by drivers moving to GT.
2. We're going to remove the minimum speed restriction for LMP participation. All drivers we observed so far maintained enough car control to compete in the class. However, we still reserve the right to exclude a driver if they do not show the ability to keep the car on the track and in control.
So drivers that didn't satisfy the original LMP requirement can race in the LMP class in lounge B and they can also go on reserve and attempt qualifying for GT if they desire. The only difference between them and those that met the original requirement is they can be "displaced" in LMP by new drivers that qualify between now and Thursday. Basically the drivers that qualify between now and Thursday go into a pool with those that qualified, but didn't satisfy the requirements.
It sounds a little complicated, but the dynamic with two lounges and two classes and the ability to qualify in both is complicated and this modification of the rules hopefully will allow us to run two solid mixed class grids.
Finally, here are the 6 drivers in LMP that definitely qualified for room A. In alpha order, not order of time. There is one open LMP-A spot pending (Hydro getting his power back online) that will be announced tomorrow:
- GTP_Aderrrm (committed)
- GTP_Chorda (pending)
- GTP_CSL
- GTP_DrWatson (committed)
- GTP_PASM
- GTP_WRP001 (committed)
All of the drivers listed above need to state on the thread whether they are committing to LMP or are going to attempt GT qualifying (and give up their spots in LMP-Lounge A).
The full qualifying times, ranking, the 7th driver in A and all the remaining details will be released tomorrow.
to Marc, who hung out in the lounge all day, qualifying folks, and then had a power outage before he could get his own run in. Boo! 👎
