Lane Assignments (updating 2D.8)
This discussion has an associated proposal. View Proposal Details here.Comments about this discussion:
Started
I think the rule 2D.8 about lante assignments is outdated and the described system is not used at the competitions. Especially that the riders decide for themselves ("The general rule is that riders decide for themselves.") is is no longer realistic at competitions. In fact, the lane assignment is done in advance and is mostly based on the times of the riders. Most events today ask for a time during the registration process for this purpose.
In Germany (and I think it has also been used in some international competitions) we very often use the following system:
8.1 Lane Assignments
1. According to the number of usable lanes, the fastest riders will be placed in the last heat, the next riders in the second last heat, etc. until all riders are distributed over the heats.
2. The lane assignment in track-bound races is carried out according to 8.2.1
3. In each heat at least three riders should be seated if possible; however, this number can be undercut due to cancellations.
8.2.1 Lane assignments in track-bound races
1 In age group races the lanes are to be divided according to the entry times. Riders for whom no entry times are given will be placed without time behind the slowest registered rider. The order in which riders with the same time are seeded will be decided by lot.
2 In final races of track-bound races, the lanes are to be distributed according to the times achieved in the age group races. The order in which riders with the same time will be seeded shall be determined by lot.
3 The lanes are to be distributed as follows in each run:
- If the number of lanes is odd, the fastest rider in the race will be placed on the middle lane. The rider with the next slowest time will be placed on the lane to the right of the middle lane (number of the middle lane +1) and all other riders will be placed alternately to the left and right of the middle lane according to their times.
- If the number of lanes is even, the fastest driver will be placed on the lane with half the number of lanes. The driver with the next slowest time will be placed to the right of this lane (half lane number +1) and all other drivers will be placed alternately to the left and right according to their times.
This system works very well and ensures that the riders in the individual races are similarly fast and that the races are exciting for the spectators. Of course one could formulate such a system only as a recommendation and make it obligatory for the Unicons, for example, to save organizers of smaller competitions from additional work on the lane assignment.
Comment
I agree. I think this is already often (or always?) used at Unicons and ECU, and I think we should prescribe it for such large conventions.
Comment
My understanding is that lane assignment is usually done as follows at Unicon and ECU (not intended as rule text, just an explanation):
Lane assignment is based on seed time. For finals, your seed time is your performance in the age group race. If you have no seed time, you are placed slower than the slowest seed time, in random order among the no-time riders.
If there are multiple heats for an age group, the heats go slowest to fastest. There should be at least 3 riders in each heat at the time of creation, cancellations may reduce that number. The fastest heat should be full insofar as possible.
Lane Assignment:
100m and shorter races, inverted-V format:
- If the number of lanes is odd, the fastest rider in the race will be placed on the middle lane. The rider with the next fastest time will be placed on the lane to the right of the middle lane (number of the middle lane +1) and all other riders will be placed alternately to the left and right of the middle lane according to their times.
- If the number of lanes is even, the fastest driver will be placed on the lane with half the number of lanes. The driver with the next fastest time will be placed to the right of this lane (half lane number +1) and all other drivers will be placed alternately to the left and right according to their times.
200m and longer races, inside lane advantage
- The fastest rider in the race will be placed in lane 1, the next fastest in lane 2, and so on outwards
If a lane is not usable due to poor quality, simply skip it and proceed in the same fashion as above.
Comment
I think it would be helpful to include an example in the rulebook when this gets created. For a 8-lane track:
100m and shorter: 4,5,6,3,7,2,8,1
200m and longer: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
Comment
If the example for 100m is correct, then it is indeed needed. I had understood it as 4,5,3,6,2,7,1,8.
A couple of "driver" should become "rider". (In German it translates to the same word.)
Comment
Sorry, Klaas is correct.
Comment
Many thanks for your comments Scott - for the races over 200m you are of course right that the distribution you mentioned makes more sense. Otherwise, the distribution you describe should correspond to my proposal. I have adjusted the proposal a little bit, and added your comments.
8.1 Heat and Lane Assignments
1. The fastest riders will be placed in the last heat, the next riders in the second last heat, etc. until all riders are distributed over the heats.
2. In age group races the distribution is done according to the entry times. Riders for whom no entry times are given will be placed without time behind the slowest registered rider. The order in which riders with the same time are seeded will be decided by lot.
3. In final races the distribution is done according to the times achieved in the age group races. The order in which riders with the same time will be seeded shall be determined by lot.
4. The lane assignment in track-bound races is carried out according to 8.2.1
5. In each heat at least three riders should be seated if possible; however, this number can be undercut due to cancellations.
8.2.1 Lane assignments in track-bound races
1. In races up to 100m the lanes are to be distributed as follows in each heat:
- If the number of lanes is odd, the fastest rider in the race will be placed on the middle lane. The rider with the next slowest time will be placed on the lane to the right of the middle lane (number of the middle lane +1) and all other riders will be placed alternately to the left and right of the middle lane according to their times.
- If the number of lanes is even, the fastest rider will be placed on the lane with half the number of lanes. The rider with the next slowest time will be placed to the right of this lane (half lane number +1) and all other riders will be placed alternately to the left and right according to their times.
2. In races from 200m the lanes are to be distributed as follows in each heat:
- The fastest rider in the race will be placed on lane 1, the rider with the next slowest time will be placed on lane 2 and all other riders will be placed one lane higher according to their times.
3. If a lane cannot be used, due to poor quality or other reasons, skip it and proceed as described above.
Comment
The reference to 200m and longer should perhaps be: any track race with a staggered start. Because if 200m or 400m are done with a waterfall start, then I think the order that is also used for 100m is more appropriate.
Secondly, I think that referring to "the fastest riders" is incorrect. The whole point of the race is to determine the fastest riders. Scott's text mentions seed time, which I think is logically better.
Lastly, I agree with Scott that including an example would be useful. I would prefer if, in addition to my first comment above , "from faster to slower seed time" is added to Scott's text suggestion. This clarifies what the list of numbers means.
Comment
Jan,
"In races up to 100m" should be "In races 100m or shorter". Currently you are excluding the 100m.
Comment
Klaas, I understand what you mean but I think in races with a waterfall start there is at least no lane assignment, because no lanes are used. 8.2.1 is therefore called "Lane assignments in track-bound races", all races with waterfall start are not track-bound. But maybe lane-bound or lane-bounded are the more corret terms? An 800m race with a staggered start I would also call a track-bound race until the breakline, which would therefore also fall into this category.
I don't know whether we really need to determine the distribution for a waterfall start - do you think it's nesecary?
Yeah, with "fastes rider" you may be right - for me, it was clear what was meant in connection with subitems 2 and 3. But I think we can change that so that it's clearer.
Scott, I added an "and including" ;)
8.1 Heat and Lane Assignments
1. The riders with the fastes seed times will be placed in the last heat, the next riders in the second last heat, etc. until all riders are distributed over the heats.
2. In age group races the distribution is done according to the entry times. Riders for whom no entry times are given will be placed without time behind the rider with the slowest entry time. The order in which riders with the same time are seeded will be decided by lot.
3. In final races the distribution is done according to the times achieved in the age group races. The order in which riders with the same time will be seeded shall be determined by lot.
4. The lane assignment in track-bound races is carried out according to 8.2.1
5. In each heat at least three riders should be seated if possible; however, this number can be undercut due to cancellations.
8.2.1 Lane assignments in track-bound races
1. In races up to and including 100m the lanes are to be distributed as follows in each heat:
- If the number of lanes is odd, the rider with the fastes seed time in the race will be placed on the middle lane. The rider with the next slowest seed time will be placed on the lane to the right of the middle lane (number of the middle lane +1) and all other riders will be placed alternately to the left and right of the middle lane according to their times.
- If the number of lanes is even, the rider with the fastes seed time will be placed on the lane with half the number of lanes. The rider with the next slowest seed time will be placed to the right of this lane (half lane number +1) and all other riders will be placed alternately to the left and right according to their times.
2. In races from 200m the lanes are to be distributed as follows in each heat:
- The rider with the fastes seed time in the race will be placed on lane 1, the rider with the next slowest seed time will be placed on lane 2 and all other riders will be placed one lane higher according to their times.
3. If a lane cannot be used, due to poor quality or other reasons, skip it and proceed as described above.
Exaple for the seeding of a 8-lane track from faster to slower seed time: 100m and shorter: 4,5,3,6,2,7,1,8 200m and longer: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
Comment
I have never been in a waterfall start. If riders are free to chose their start position along the start line irrespective of lane lines, then indeed it is not lane-bound and therefore impossible to assign riders to lanes. Necessary/desirable or not, it simply can't be done.
I agree that "lane-bound" is better than "track-bound". (It's not "bounded" I think.)
You use both "entry time" and "seed time". I think "seed time" is the proper term.
In the first 2. and 3., "decided by lot" versus "determined by lot" for the same thing. Either is OK with me, but the different words raise the question why they differ.
Typos: fastes > fastest (2x), and Exaple > Example.
Comment
I have never been in a waterfall start at a larger event, those have always been staggered starts. The waterfall starts that I've been a part of at NAUCC, the riders have been free to choose their starting position. Also, no age group has more than 10 participants there, so each age group is a heat.
Comment
When a waterfall start is used, there are often more riders in the heat than there are lanes available. In Germany the waterfall start is also used very rarely - if it is, it is mostly because it allows more riders to be set into the heat than there are lanes available. However, this inevitably means that the rider must take up a starting position irrespective of the lane lines.
I used both terms, because I think only the fact that the entry time is used to seed the heats makes it a seed time. When registering, you don't give a seed time, or would the term really fit? If the time you enter at registration is called seed time even without its function, I would change the term accordingly.
Yeah, thanks - I think I'm too tired.
Comment
Seed time is the correct term here.
Comment
Thanks Scott.
Is it then also correct to speak about seed time in the sub-part "Lane assignments in lane-bound races", even if in the case of the final the time from the age group race is used? For me this sounds a bit confusing... But if it's correct for the native speakers, I'm fine with that.
Comment
Seed time refers to both the time the rider enters on their registration to seed their lane placement in age group races, and the age group result which is used to seed their lane placement in finals. Does that help?
Comment
Okay, thanks. In German, two different words would be used for this, which is probably why it seems a little weird to me.
Comment
I have just realized that we have not included any sentence in the new rule that only makes it mandatory for e.g. the Unicon or international competitions... Should we add something like this?
At the very beginning of the rule we could, for example, add an descriptive sentence:
"The following heat and lane assignments must be used for Unicon and international competitions. Also for other competitions it is recomended to do the assignments accordingly. The rule is applied for each age group separately."
Comment
Fine with me.
Comment
What do you mean by: "The rule is applied for each age group separately." ?
Comment
Maybe it is superfluous, but I would like to make it clear once again that especially points 1 and 2 are applied separately for each age group - namely, that not the fastest riders across all age groups start in the last heat, but the fastest riders of each age group start in the last heat of this age group.
Comment
I think
"The rule is applied for each age group independently."
is better. Thoughts?
Comment
That's probably better, I'd be fine with it.
Comment
I agree with independently.