r/Sportscar_Racing • u/corgifemboy • Jun 08 '24
Other regional/national championships why do so many series use +1 lap?
was recently watching Porsche Carrera cup and Ferrari Challenge - why do they both have a time limit and a +1 lap? Like, 30 minutes +1 lap for example.
why not just a 30 minute limit?
8
u/leo_murray Jun 08 '24
It’s there so the finish of the race happens at the actual finish line. it also makes it clearer when the race ends.
5
u/Mani1610 Jun 08 '24
It’s there so the finish of the race happens at the actual finish line.
Well that's also the case for timed races. Once the clock hits 0 the last lap has begun, the finish is still at the start / finish line.
1
u/cujo826 Jun 09 '24
It allows race control to have a definitive time to throw the white flag / announce the last lap (sorry I've grown up with us Motorsports where the white flag indicates the final lap). Consider the lead group being halfway around the track when the race timer hits 0. A vast majority of the time you don't have the official event timer going in the car.
-8
u/blintech Jun 08 '24
Finishing a race mid corner at the 30 minute mark doesn't have any way to time the cars, would be confusing and different every race, and means the finish line is no longer a finish line.
3
u/corgifemboy Jun 08 '24
I know - thats not how these systems work though. Like, for porsche carrera cup benelux, its 30 minutes + the remainder of the lap the lead driver is on
2
u/blahteeb Jun 08 '24
It's to avoid confusion. If the lead driver is ten yards from the finish line when the clock ticks zero, then the race ends as soon as the lead driver crosses. This adds confusion to teams further back because it can be hard to communicate if the lead driver was behind/ahead of the finish line at zero.
Adding +1 lap, it gives all teams a good amount of time to communicate that the leader is on the final lap.
Say a lap takes 2:10 to finish. The leader crosses the line with 2:15 left. On a normal lap, you wouldn't indicate to your driver that the leader is on the final lap, because it is expected that the leader will cross the line with .05 to spare. But what happens if for whatever reason, the leader runs .06 slower. Now suddenly you're announcing to your driver that the race is already over because the leader has actually crossed the line AFTER the clock hits zero.
As a driver, it may be critical to know when the final lap is, including knowing when you should safely slow or keep on racing. Without the +1, it creates the possibility that some drivers will not be made aware of the final lap until after the race is already over. Sure it's an uncommon issue, but you could get rid of the entire issue by just adding 1 lap.
-3
-5
u/budgetpopcorn Jun 08 '24
I don't think I've seen that. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but most of those series will just show a "final lap" or "last lap" graphic when the cars cross the start/finish line with less time than it takes to complete a lap. For example, fastest lap time is 1:20 and they cross the start/finish line at 0:40 so the time is now irrelevant. It'll just be a race to the line and it'll show "final lap".
11
u/LilBirdBrick Jun 08 '24
It definitely is a thing, DTM uses it for example. The race ends after the leader completes an additional lap after crossing the line when time runs out. I'm not sure why, it's probably to just make the race a little longer.
1
u/budgetpopcorn Jun 08 '24
Ahhhh have only seen a couple DTM races and must've totally missed that. Very interesting but yeah probably just to add that last little bit of drama.
46
u/Mrdiddy12 Jun 08 '24
I've seen a few normally timed races where the leaders crossed the line within a few seconds of the countdown reaching 0, which caused confusion about whether the race has finished or not. (The second British GT race at Snetterton last year was a good example of this) Having a bonus lap means that drivers know a bit in advance when they will finish and avoids confusion.