Junior Drivers Championships

Having played a small part in last season’s (and previous ones) NZ Junior Drivers Championships, I have been taking a closer interest in the way that young people qualify for the finals.

At the moment, for those of you who are unaware, drivers accrue the following scale of points in the respective formats:

Junior Races; 1st=12 points, 2nd=7 points, 3rd=5 points, 4th=3 points, 5th=2 points

Regional Junior Races: 1st=5 points, 2nd=3 points, 3rd=2 points

Other Professional Races: 1st=3 points, 2nd=2 points, 3rd=1 points

I have to say that I find that table a little intriguing, the fact that drivers earn way more points when driving against their equals/peers, than out there in the big wide World, against the Country’s, and in some cases, World’s best.

Two aspects spring to mind, one that it is much harder for Juniors to gain drives in the open ranks, particularly if you are not attached to a big stable, or don’t have the record of one of the leading juniors, (you might note that I said record and not skills). Secondly, surely it is much harder for a Junior to win an open race driving against the aforementioned seniors, than other young inexperienced reinspersons. So why should you not earn at least the same points for such an achievement?

I’m hoping that there are good reasons behind the scoring structure, but my rather logical mind hasn’t been able to come up with many yet.

Pete Cook