F2WF13 - 10 Days to Go - The Way of the World

So this year we had a look at a slightly different format to the process which was applauded and ridiculed in equal measure....

So this year, attendance points were added to the qualifying round scores so reward those who attended the qualifying rounds and to induce a few more entries at the rounds. Last year saw too many qualifiers have extremely low attendance, so something had to be done about it. Oh, and it meant the semi final prize pot went up a bit....

What did we get?

It gave a similar grid to last year, but rewarded those travellers. There were some semi finalists who scored very few actual points, but did the miles and deserved to be rewarded. There were a few favoured drivers who placed all their chips on one or two rounds and failed to make the cut. As an experiment it worked, but the question comes about when the Mildenhall/Cowdenbeath combination will attract the same amount. With shale being in the middle of the country, and with the traditional outposts of Scotland and the Westcountry not being strongholds for shale, as they lack a track. The more midland based F2 driver often say that the World process should follow the same format, one tarmac and one shale semi final/world final, as Formula 1. For them it is more cut and dry.

They have one shale, one tarmac semi finals. They have 12 tracks, half shale half tarmac. Makes perfect sense. Do they have the numbers to justify or regionality to sort it any other way?  No. In F2, there are only 3 shale promoters to 9 tarmac promoters. Rotation should always favour tarmac.

To those who say, the shale drivers have the World of Shale, the World Championship should be tarmac only is ridiculous. The World Champion should be the best all round driver. Maybe a rival tarmac series to rival the World of Shale should be tried again.

There are those that think that a Saloon style ranking system should take place. What you seem to get is the same grid every year, which although exciting, if a driver makes a comeback, he has to go through often the last chance.

If the drivers are worth their salt, then they should be able to qualify for the world.
It's the cup final. Everyone driver has the chance to be world champion. Some have more chance than others, but how many times have we seen a non league team punch above their weight in the cup final. What I would not like is to see the same old drivers. Like the cup final, it gets a little tedious when its Manchester Utd vs Chelsea. But occasionally, like Wigan, an underdog comes through. No seeding, just see who comes out on top.
However, if we ever get like the Superstox world with its complicated public draw, which makes the Champions League draw look like a raffle, it's probably too late to salvage hope. 

How would I improve it this existing format?

Move the final Skeg qualifier to a weekend. This allows more people to chase the last ditch to get gold, without having to take annual leave.

Continue the regional qualifying clusters to encourage travelling...

World and Semi venues to have 2 qualifying rounds - to give more reward to the local drivers, and to have less no shows...

Add a round at Lochgelly, Ipswich, Wimbledon, Yarmouth, Eastbourne and Aldershot.... Come on Deane, you know you want too....

Increase the semi qualifiers to 64. Most tracks can safely hold a 32 car race, and to be honest, 32 cars is about right. Will make the last couple of laps more exciting if a few more backmarkers are to be negotiated...

Add 10 attendance points for attending championship meetings, to encourage better turnouts for the other championships.
 
Either the international entrants get seeded in at the semi stage or we have a International Semi final, open to whoever wants to travel!

And the most important thing to avoid the no shows...... an opt out if you don't fancy the semi or world venue, then opt out. If you score well, then you pay a premium to re enter, plus your rounds you attended but didn't score WCQR points for. (You would still be able to claim national points, just that if you won a heat, the 2nd place guy would get 10 WCQR points but 9 national points....).

So there's the masterplan. It might happen you know....but we have the fairest world final system of them all...