AMS2 Preferred race time

GeekyDeaks · Apr 7, 2023

Hi all,

I know a few people are struggling to race due to it being very late. I have a bit of flexibility on the start time for Thursday and possibly Tuesday, so I figured I'd put the question out there on when people would prefer to start and end the sessions on the assumption they last about 2 hours

GeekyDeaks · Apr 7, 2023

Pinging:

@ABOE UK, @Bas Kriesels, @Bhutch88, @Bjorn de Haas, @CK1249, @Daniel R., @Des Bain, @Eric S, @Ernebro, @Fiberoptix, @Frobs, @grooc, @groy1980, @G-Slev, @Guido Trampe, @Jan Larsen, @jimortality, @joeymac, @Jochen Lenaerts, @Kees Veenstra, @Lizard77, @Lloyd Johnston, @Lracer, @max1966i, @Munkyboo, @PurgerUK, @Raf Nix, @Reefabus, @Reiche, @Sanbone, @some_race_driver, @Stefan Hiller, @T1MKO, @The Almighty Snark

The Almighty Snark · Apr 7, 2023

Currently at UTC+2 so if we'd start at 17.30 UTC(19.30) Local that would be perfect. I tend to go to bed around 22.00/22.30 on day shifts and if a race starts at 21.45 local time as it does currently it is often too late for me.

grooc · Apr 7, 2023

Makes no difference to me, Scott. All the choices are late morning/early afternoon in my time zone. I don't work M-Th, so I am super flexible.

Reefabus · Apr 7, 2023

I'm open. Nothing conflicts with me.

Eric S · Apr 7, 2023

I fully agree:

Currently at UTC+2 so if we'd start at 17.30 UTC(19.30) Local that would be perfect. I tend to go to bed around 22.00/22.30 on day shifts and if a race starts at 21.45 local time as it does currently it is often too late for

CK1249 · Apr 7, 2023

Hi Scott, thanks a lot for the poll. For me 18:00UTC / 20:00 CEST is ideal. My kids are 2 and 4 years old. We bring them to bed around 18:30/19:00ish. Until they sleep and we have restored the appartment to livable conditions, it is usually around 19:30ish. So 19:30 CEST would be possible, but is a stretch. For me also, going to bed earlier is beneficial, as the kids are back up at 6 in the morning, but I am tired always, so starting at 20:30 would also still be OK. Just 21:00 CEST is really late for me. Usually that is the time, I already had a shower and getting ready for bed. Long story short 20:00 CEST would be ideal.

Sanbone · Apr 7, 2023

I should be good for anything after 18:30UTC, anything before that I could possibly make but I'd end up massively inconsistent with getting home from work / kids time.

Kees Veenstra · Apr 7, 2023

Also kids here, so anywhere between 19.30 - 20.30 CET would be fine for me. Just a suggestion, I would prefer to know the upcoming combo at least 5 days ahead. Then I can plan one or two evenings for some practice sessions.

GeekyDeaks · Apr 7, 2023

Hey all. I notice that I unintentionally setup the poll to allow 2 votes. From the count I can see some of you have done so, but not all. To make sure the vote is balanced can everyone pick two time slots around your desired time please?

GeekyDeaks · Apr 7, 2023

As I needed to get Tuesday sorted, I figured I'd go with the current majority of 18:30 UTC / 20:30 CEST, however in an effort to accommodate those with a preference to finish earlier, I reviewed the timetable and compressed it a bit so we should be able to finish by 20:00 UTC / 22:00 CEST. The timetable looks like this:

	duration	UTC	CEST	EDT
Practice	20 mins	18:30	20:30	14:30
Qualifying 1	7 mins	18:50	20:50	14:50
Race 1	25 mins	19:00	21:00	15:00
Qualifying 2 / break	7mins	19:25	21:25	15:25
Race 2	25 mins	19:35	21:35	15:35

I think this should be ok as most people tend to skip half of the practice whilst Tom regales us with a bit of unusual trivia. Slightly shorter Qualy, but still enough time to get a banker in and then try to push for two more laps. If anyone wants more practice, the server will alway be available for anyone to jump on earlier.

Any thoughts?

Eric S · Apr 7, 2023

Could I make a suggestion (also after discussing with Bas at a nice dinner). Shorten the practice to 5 minutes and make it a longer quali. You could save some time there also. Practice has no added value compared to a (extended) quali.

GeekyDeaks · Apr 7, 2023

Eric S said:
Shorten the practice to 5 minutes and make it a longer quali.

I like that idea. There is a minor complication, but I think it's worth trying out this Tuesday so I'll update the timetable tomorrow.

To explain a little further, the server simply loops around a set event, so the practice and qualify session times will be the same for the second race, which means we will need to force the second qualify to be skipped. From what I have seen so far, this means the second race will have the same qualifying positions as the first, so there will not be an opportunity to scramble the grid like we normally do, but I don't think that will be a big deal.

GeekyDeaks · Apr 7, 2023

Ok, so updated schedule would look like this:

	Duration	UTC	CEST	EDT
Practice / Qualifying	25 mins	18:30	20:30	14:30
Race 1	25 mins	19:00	21:00	15:00
break	5 mins	19:25	21:25	15:25
Race 2	25 mins	19:30	21:30	15:30

Further practice can be done prior to the event, but the plan is now that due to the extended length of the qualifying, if people do need to use it for practice, having a lap spoiled by traffic should not be too much of an issue.