Before the holidays we surveyed the participants of the 2021 Montreal Cup Karting Championship.
Seventy-one different people took the time to complete the survey, giving us a valid sample. Overall, the respondents were very satisfied with the 2021 championship.
The first part of the survey focused on the 2021 season. As for the championship’s website, the responses were much more nuanced. After checking with some respondents, it seems that it is mainly people who visit the site with a mobile device (tablet, phone) who were dissatisfied. As the website is an information and documentation website, it is optimised for use from a computer. To have a website optimised for all platforms (computers, tablets and phones) in two languages is almost equivalent to making six websites. We therefore advise you to use a computer when visiting the site, especially for your registrations and your choices in the online shop.
Regarding the events, the majority were very satisfied. Where we had several different responses was on the presentation of a double event on the same weekend as for rounds 1 & 2 at ICAR. Comments varied depending on where the respondents were from. Participants who have to travel long distances to participate in the Coupe de Montréal liked the format while those who indicated that they did not like the format were mainly drivers living in the Greater Montreal.
We also had many comments on the qualifying in the Briggs & Stratton classes where everyone is trying to get the draft of the fast drivers and this is causing a lot of neck and neck on the false grid. A solution, to be determined, will be tried in 2022.
The second part of the survey asked questions to help us make decisions for the next season. Here are the answers.
1. We asked you if the number of races (currently 6) was a good number for you or if you would like to have more.
Opinions were almost 50/50.
2. If we can comeback to a physical posting board in 2022, we want to know what the preference was between this and the virtual scoreboard, with the understanding that neither solution will be applied (one or the other).
There is an overwhelming preference for the virtual posting board.
3. Several participants asked for a detailed schedule in advance. As this is not possible while registration is open, we asked you whether you would prefer to have to register in advance and have the final schedule earlier or whether you would like to keep the current situation.
Majority would like to register in advance and then, get the final schedule in advance.
4. We are looking for a way to shorten the increasingly long days for both participants and officials, not to mention the travel at the beginning and end of the day. We asked you what your preference was between a) removing the morning warm-ups, b) eliminating the pre-final race and having a longer final race, or c) significantly reducing the number of laps in the pre-final and final races. Preferences are a (56%), b (27%) and c) (17%).
Some people suggested splitting the groups over two days (e.g. 4-stroke on Saturday, 2-stroke on Sunday). This solution is not possible because very few participants would want to practice on Friday, do nothing on Saturday and compete on Sunday. This would lead to a lot of extra costs for the organisations in terms of expenses (insurance, ambulances, hotels, meals and salaries).
5. During the season, some participants asked us to award more points for the pre-final. So we asked you if this request reflected the wishes of all the drivers.
More than 2/3 of the participants are of the opinion that the final race should be given more points as it is currently the case.
Thank you very much for your great participation in the survey. It will help us a lot to prepare the new season. It is not certain that all preferences will be retained as there are often other elements to take into account (logistics, costs) but we will be able to make more informed decisions.