Red Hook Criterium just announced that the qualification system, which was implemented during Red Hook Crit Brooklyn No.10, will be tweaked for Red Hook Crit London No.3. The changes will be minor but can have a massive impact for the riders involved. A few days ago RHC already made it public that the Last Chance Race will have 15 extra spots, increasing the amount of starters from 60 to 75. Today, RHC announced that also the Super Pole starters field will be increased from 15 to 25 starters. This means that the top 5 of each of the 5 heats will start in the Super Pole. As the amount of riders increased heavily, the Super Pole will now be spread over 2 to 3 sessions. Another interesting rule is that it is mandatory to start the Super Pole. If a rider decides not to start the Super Pole they will be allowed to start the final but from the back of the grid. Another interesting point is that the winner of the Last Chance Race will have a better starting position than the 10 slowest Super Pole starters.
Photography: Tornanti.cc
In the women’s field there will be 2 qualifying heats with the top 10 going advancing to the Super Pole. The rest will be lined up behing the Super Pole starters according to their qualification position in the heat.
We asked David Trimble, the race director of Red Hook Criterium on why the system needed to be tweaked.
“In Brooklyn we learned how important it is for the championship with Eleonore Saraiva taking the lead in the standings over race winner Colleen Guick partly because of the bonus points awarded in the Super Pole. In London we want to give more a riders a chance to earn these points and to put more weight on setting a fast time.”
Details on the qualification system can be found here.
