Aavitt wrote:Seems like the 51% rules makes more sense to me, but what do I know? Tom did not say why Z8 changed it from 51% to 40%.
I think the lower Zone 8 rule has to do with the fact that Zone 8 events occur over a VERY wide geographic area. Zone 8 covers half of California, half of Nevada, and all of Arizona, and includes 13 local regions (including SDR).
That makes it hard for many Zone 8 participants to actually participate in 51% of the events across that area (unless you have no other life and don't mind driving 1500 miles out and back for an Autocross - California Central Coast region is in San Luis Obispo, and Southern Arizona region is in Tucson, AZ - about 750 miles each way).
With the 40% level, Zone 8 competitors can qualify for trophies with only a few long-distance drives. Also, since few Zone 8 drivers make it to a high percentage of the events, people have a fair chance of placing high in class with only 40% of the events.
In SDR, we don't have the same geographic costs, so requiring participation in 51% of the overall SDR events shouldn't be a hardship.