With the release of the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Series Rules comes the unveiling of all that is new for the ProSolo season. This year is no different, with a series of tweaks, adjustments, additions and subtractions designed to mirror the ever-evolving trends and attitudes within our sport. Here is a quick overview of the changes, both major and minor and a bit of background on each.
The first, biggest and likely to be most talked about change is the reintroduction of a ProSolo specific index. Like the Racer’s Theoretical Performance (RTP) index used last year, the ProSolo Index (PSI) has been developed by Chicago Region’s Rick Ruth. The new numbers are based on past ProSolo results and are intended to better adjust for the typical ProSolo launch and course. Looking at last season’s results, the new numbers compress the margins, putting two to four times more drivers inside of the first two seconds than we saw with RTP numbers.
The new index will play a large role in class competition in 2013 with 12 classes using PSI to determine results. The two Race Tire classes (R1/R2) are unchanged for 2013, as is Ladies 1(SP/P/M) and Ladies 3(ST). Ladies 2(Stock) and Ladies 4(RT) have been combined into a single class where RT cars will use a .975 multiplier in addition to their class's PSI to compete directly with the traditional stock class cars. The open RT classes have been split by drivetrain; with two wheel drive cars in RT2 and all wheel drive in RT4.
The other classing news is the addition of Stock/Street Index Classes. These classes take typically undersubscribed Stock, Street Touring and Street Prepared classes and combined them into “S” Classes to increase their probability of making a 5-car class. The combinations for 2013 will be- S1 (SSP, ASP, CSP), S2 (BSP,DSP), S3 (SMF, FSP, GS, STF), S4 (AS, FS), S5 (CS, DS, ES). These classes will run together, regardless of individual entry for the 2013 season, and be reevaluated before the 2014 season. This should have a profound effect on the number of drivers regulated to the bump class, and as such the number of bump classes has been reduced from 2 to 1. All totaled, these changes have taken the number of open classes eligible for challenge qualification from 26 to 19. With Formula Jr and Ladies Classes, ProSolo will have a maximum class tally of 31 in 2013.
Changes are also being made to the Finale entry method to ensure drivers who are in contention for year-end trophies are not excluded from the event. At season’s end competitors will be divided into a series of categories. Category 1 will be made up of Zone Champions, category 2 will be drivers who have scored at least 25 points within a zone and category 3 will be drivers with 3 events, regardless of zone. These three categories will have the first opportunity to register for the Finale and are effectively a lock to gain entry provided they enter between July 30th and August 9th. On August 9th, Category 4 drivers, made up of competitor who has scored points in any two events, may register for any spots that remain. Should a waiting list scenario develop, the waiting list will be organized by category, giving priority in order to entrants in categories 1, 2 and 3. For entry in to the Finale, two ProSolo events will be required in 2013.
There will again be a 5 point prize for winning a zone, meaning the maximum points total coming into the Finale will again be 45. However, with the requirement of having run 2 ProSolo events to enter the Finale, bonus points have been dropped. The intended purpose of bonus points was to allow a single event competitor to make up ground at the Finale and be able to compete for a championship. However, to keep a higher number of drivers in contention for the year end class championships, the overall Finale points payout has been bumped to 45 points for first, 32 for second and 26 for third. With a 13 point margin between first and second, any driver coming into the Finale with 32 points controls their own path to the championship. A driver with 25 points can still win it all provided they win and the second place driver has no more than 38 points.
In years past, the Finale challenge has required a top 32 qualifications to participate. Meaning that, should a competitor drop out, their spot could not be claimed by the 33rd qualifier as is normally the case in regular season rounds. That limitation has been done away with for this season. There has also been an adjustment to the bracket order for challenge competitions. The bracket has been redesigned to place the top qualifier at the top of the bracket and the second qualifier in the middle. This will allow for equal amounts of time between top qualifying driver’s runs to reduce the down time as the bracket plays out.
To View all the Rulebooks for Solo, visit the Cars and Rules page at SCCA.com
2013 ProSolo Index: [click here]
Direct link to download the 2013 Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Rules - http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/assets/2013%20SCCA%20ProSolo%20Rules.pdf
