The penalty for not qualifying is already to start from the rear of the field. You may have a point on the late q penalty. We could bring the deadline closer to the green flag (say, 4 hours) and do away with the late Q.
I concur. If we do want to keep late Q, then the cut line should be set in stone at the deadline. If, for example, we have 13 in D1, then the late Q'ers are vying for 14th-16th, rather than taking a mid-pack position and pushing people that Q'ed on time into D2.
I like the idea of placing all DNF's after all finishers, regardless of division.
I prefer applying a percentage based on number of completed laps, much like what Dennis is proposing.
I agree 100%
The system we already use is in my opinion, perfect!
Going to play devil's advocate here.
Attendance, unfortunately, is something that we can't predict, and in turn, that makes the number of spots available in Division 1 vary every week. Therefore, qualifying 11th would place someone in D2 if only 20 show up, but D1 if there's 21 the next week. Also, ever since I bought GT5, what made me the driver I am today was not driving against those close to my skill level, but with people that were much better than me. If we are PURE Racing Evolution, it's not just the format that should be fluid, but the driver's capabilities as well. If we go
"fast people race D1, slow people race D2", then it limits someone's potential. As a D1 regular, I'm willing to sacrifice some close competition, if it means those further back have a better chance at racing those a skill level above them.
Finally, the current format places too much pressure into Q'ing, and we get too accustomed to driving our cars like it's a time trial. Then we carry that mentality into the race, where that doesn't always work. I saw this play out during the last NA GT Academy, when we had practice races to get everyone ready. Many were faster than me on the time sheet, but when the checkers flew, I finished ahead of just about everyone else, because others drove like it was Q and either went off, or created incidents. If there's anything we could do so people focus more on consistency and good racecraft than time trialing, then the racing will only get better. Not that there's anything wrong about setting PB's
(I have a bad habit for doing this), but you don't have to set them during the race to be competitive. You just have to be faster than the driver ahead of you.
And that's my two dollars and two cents
(adjusted for inflation).