Consider me a John Wayne, ready to take on allcomers. Like the best Westerns, our season should end with a darn good shoot out.
The F1 Shoot Out conclusion at Belle Vue, underlined furthermore, with red pen and boldened font, that F2 would benefit greatly from a Shoot Out. The sheer nature of a grand finale, where the outset and destination of the season is completed at the season end. Climaxing at just the right time.
Moves are well afoot, indeed imminent about the much talked about F2 Equivalent
Let's get one thing absolutely crystal clear. It's not a slight on Gordon. Not in the slightest at all. Count how many times in its 57 year existence that the National Points Silver Roof has gone to the wire. You won't need a second hand, and certainly no need to take your socks off. The showdown engineered last year by Gordon's ban saw that there was a need for an end of season pick me up. Everyone was talking about the Geo vs Eddie show. But the need to do nearly 100 meetings to win it? No Need compadre. Bankruptcy brinkmanship for a piece of silver? Again, no need. A sensible solution is needed, and although it won't be right at the first attempt, it is to be persevered with and not jetisoned at the first attempt. The last three years for F1 has seen it go right down to (and often in) the wires, giving even a hardcore F2 fan like me excited!
WHAT IT SHOULDN'T BE.....
1. As is. The Status Quo. Lessez faire. As mentioned before, a season long title shouldn't be all over and done with and destined to be won by the end of the season. A Grand National Championship isn't run in June, but we know who's won the points by then. Dull to watch and ultimately it's available to all those who want it so badly they can do the meetings, which are conveniently on their doorstep.
2. A top dozen, like F1. With the distribution of points not fairly geographically spread and with less meetings on one surface compared to another, it will need to be fairly balanced to reflect the nature of the sport, racing from the north to south on all surfaces on all different kind of tracks.
3. An end of season qualifying round series then closed grid final. Makes it far too random, and its too much like the other big race of the year, you know the one with a gold roof.
4. This is a controversial one - it shouldn't replace the National Points, however it should still have the silver roof. Silver cheques should be in place for the person who ends up with the most points all told at the end of the season. Rugby fans of both codes and those of American Sports know that the Grand Final is the big deal. Who knows who wins the AFC and NFC? All that matters is the Superbowl... However like the rugby league folks have the league leaders shield and an easier path to the playoff final
THE JHo SHOOT OUT PROPOSAL
Here's my idea of a fair reflection and exciting conclusion to the season.
ENTRANTS
Automatic Entries
National Points Champ 2016
World Champ 2016
World Champ 2017
British Champ 2017
Points Leader as of September 20th 2017
Shoot Out Champion 2016
Entries That Have to Qualify
Top 3 in Shale points chart (as of September 20th 2017)
Top 6 in National Points Chart (as of September 20th 2017)
Top 3 in a cumulative ranking system, based on attendance and positions finished of the other championship events prior to the cut off period (and the events that occured post "cut off" the previous year).
Driver with most amount of race wins
Dominator Champion (ok that one might need persuading)
If any of the auto entries occupy these positions, then it will transfer to the next in the list.
So 20 drivers qualify for the shoot out. A fair number reflective of the nature and active amount of drivers.
ROUNDS
1 per promotion. Sensibly scheduled. Cowdie/Barford, King's Lynn and Mildenhall, Northampton and Skegness, Bristol and Taunton, Buxton and Startrax. Final last meeting of the year, be it Brum or wherever. Drivers can double up one round, and drop another. Promoters to co-operate and provide a sensible renumeration for travellers.
POINTS
National points remain as is, so that we keep the prestige of the "National Points" title.The Jho Shoot out version would have a separate scoring system.Points would be scored as per normal. However come the end of the meeting, the points of the Shoot Out drivers would be placed into rank order and points would be scored 20 for 1st, 19 for 2nd and so on. If you don't show- then you get nothing, nada. If you show and score nothing, you still get points. Why? Keeps it exciting and stops one driver running away with it....
To the neigh sayers - its a new idea and well look at most sports, they are all moving to the end of season creschendo. American Football has it's superbowl. Rugby has its playoffs and so on. The top point scorer gets awarded a trophy, and in the team games, often an easier route to the final. Yes, teams who finish 6th can win, but it can be harder for them to do so. Something has to change for the good of the sport so we can go out
Guns at the ready - who's quick on the draw!
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