General

This chart generator produces four varieties of Lane Rotation charts (Normal, Phase Shifted, Modified, and Clustered). Basically, with each of these, vehicles will rotate through each lane of the track.

• Normal - These charts line up the first set of racers for the first heat. For the next heat, the racers are shifted over a lane. One racer will be dropped out and the next racer brought in. The rotation is kept up until all racers have raced in each lane.
• Phase Shifted - These charts are basically regular lane rotation charts, but a "phase shift" has been applied to the assignments for lanes 2 and on. This shifting greatly improves the number of opponents that each racer will face. If you wish to use a Lane Rotation chart, this is the recommended type to use, due to the better number of opponents.
• Modified - These charts allow each racer to race once before the lane assignments are then rotated. This makes sure that racers don't just race bam-bam-bam and are done (like with Normal and Clustered Lane Rotation charts).
• Clustered - These charts will take a set of racers and rotate them through each of the lanes until they have raced in every lane. The next set or racers will then do the same thing. This will continue until all racers have raced in each lane.

All Lane Rotation Charts satisfy these conditions:

1. Each vehicle races the same number of times in each lane (which implies that the number of heats is a multiple of the number of vehicles).
2. The next time a vehicle races, it will move into a different lane.

Advantages / Disadvantages

Lane Rotation Charts are very simple and have their advantages and disadvantages that you should be aware of, so you should examine them before deciding on this type of scheduling for your race.

• Advantages:
  1. Race in Each Lane - This is one of the criteria that lane rotation charts must meet. Each racer has the same advantage/disadvantage when it comes to the lane assignments, so "slow" or "fast" lanes will not determine the outcome of the race.
  2. Equal Number of Heats - This is one of the other criteria that Lane Rotation charts must meet. The race is made more fair by allowing the racers an equal chance to compete by racing an equal number of times.
  3. Easy to Understand - There is no complex math used in generating the charts, so it is easier for racers to know when they will race.
  4. Easy to Pre-Stage Cars - It is easy to figure out which cars are needed in the next heat.
  5. Quick Heat Turnaround Times (Phase Shifted and Modified Charts Only) - Chances are reduced that racers will run in consecutive heats, and since it is easy to determine which cars are up next, cars can be pre-staged rather quickly. This can help keep cars flowing to the start line and reduce the overall time it takes to run the races.
  6. Heats Spread Out (Phase Shifted and Modified Charts Only) - Phase Shifted and Modified Lane Rotation Charts spread out the heats for each racer, which will keep the racers more into the race and less likely to get into mischief.
  
  
• Disadvantages:
  1. Low Number of Opponents - Each racer competes against mostly the same competitors every time. Phase Shifted Lane Rotation charts do a better job at giving racers a variety of opponents, but in many case are not as good as Perfect-N Type charts in that regard. A fast car may come in first place against some racers, but if it is almost always matched with the top car, then it will not place as well. If you are using times scoring then in the big picture, this doesn't really matter since the overall standings are based on the times, not the finish order. If you are using points scoring this type of chart may very well end up with some of the fastest cars not even getting awards, since points are based on finish order.
     

     Note: It is NOT recommended to use any type of Lane Rotation charts if you are scoring by Points. This is due to the few numbers of opponents for each racer. One of the faster cars could finish out of the trophies, if they mostly go up against the fastest car.

  2. Lots of Lag Time (Normal and Clustered Charts Only) - With Normal and Clustered Lane Rotation Charts most all of the racers run all of their heats back to back, so they have a lot of open time on their hands and that may lead to mischief. Phase Shifted and Modified Lane Rotation Charts eliminate this problem by spreading out the heats for each racer, which will keep the racers more into the race.

This page last updated: April 2, 2010
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