The HERO Challenge Championship
The scheduled HERO Challenges have formed their own championship which will NOT count for the HERO-ERA Cup or Golden Roamer Trophy.
Crews can enter this with a view to progressing up the ladder to tackle one of our more difficult events in the future. Competitors who are masters are NOT eligible for championship points.
The winning driver and navigator of the HERO Challenge Championship will receive a £250 voucher which can be against any future entry or purchase on the HERO-ERA Store. The overall second-placed driver and navigator will be awarded with a £100 voucher and third place will receive a £50 voucher.
HERO Challenge Championship 2024
Regulations
Master's Class
Master’s Class in respect of any Masters who wish to enter into these events, they will not be eligible for an overall result or any awards other than class awards. 10 Masters entries will be accepted once the entry list opens any further Masters entries will only be accepted 28 days prior to the event, and only when entries are still available not taken up by Non-Masters Crews.
The Definition of Masters Class –A Master will be defined by a crew member who has finished first overall on three or more HERO-ERA Green or Blue standard events or, in the top three of a Red or Black event in the preceding five years. This is extended to include finishing positions in non-overall award eligible cars on certain other HERO-ERA events. In addition, crew members who have received a Le Jog Gold medal or have finished first overall in a HRCR National B/Inter Club Road Rally in the preceding three years will also be classified as Masters.
Classification relates to the seat in which an individual has entered and the status of a crew at the beginning of a season will remain in force for the duration of that season irrespective of their results during the year.
The type and category of car entered has no bearing on the crew’s status as the definition of a Master is purely based upon their experience and results.
Masters Class – If both entrants are defined as Masters they will be designated in the Masters Class on that event and can only compete for Class Awards. However, a Master Driver or Navigator can compete with a non-master Navigator or Driver and will be eligible for overall awards but Masters will not be eligible for points in the Hero Challenge Championship or for Clockwatcher or Test Pilot Awards.
If a crew begins the 2024 season as a non-master, they will remain a non-master for the period of that season.
The type of car and what category is irrelevant – the definition of a Master is purely based upon the crew’s experience.
To be eligible for HERO Challenge Championship points, the crews:
1 – Must compete in at least one of the individual events to be able to qualify for HERO Challenge Championship points – by doing so they confirm their acceptance of these 2024 HERO Challenge Championship rules.
2 – Points are only scored by the individual competitor. The competitor is entitled to compete in different cars for different events and have a different drivers/navigators on different events.
3 – Master drivers and navigators are NOT eligible for HERO Challenge Championship points, but if their driver or navigator is not a Master in that role on the event, then they alone ARE eligible for HERO Challenge Championship points.
4 – Points are awarded on both individual events, based on the class results as published (so if a HERO Challenge participant is the class winner, they get maximum points. If the class winner is a Master, then the second highest placed Hero Challenge non-master participant would get maximum points for finishing second in class, and so on).
5 – Competitors can compete in one, two or three HERO Challenge Championship events. The top three drivers and top three navigators at the end of the Championship will receive special awards.
6 – In the event of a tie, the win will go to the competitor with the highest number of class positions first. If a tie still exists, the best overall positions will be taken into account, and finally the least penalties at the first timing point of the first Regularity completed by the competitor.
7 – Class positions will be calculated by ignoring overall positions, i.e. first overall on the event will be first in class for HERO Challenge Championship points, not the class position shown in results.
Points will be awarded on each event as follows:
Competitors finishing first in class are awarded 10 HERO Challenge Championship points.
Competitors finishing second in class are awarded 8 HERO Challenge Championship points.
Competitors finishing third in class are awarded 6 HERO Challenge Championship points.
Competitors finishing fourth in class are awarded 5 HERO Challenge Championship points.
Competitors finishing fifth in class are awarded 4 HERO Challenge Championship points.
Competitors finishing sixth in class are awarded 3 HERO Challenge Championship points.
Competitors finishing seventh in class are awarded 2 HERO Challenge Championship points.
Competitors finishing eighth in class are awarded 1 HERO Challenge Championship points.
In addition to the above and to add a bit of spice – Each of the three HERO Challenge overall event winners will be awarded a bonus of 5 points, 3 for second and 1 point for third place that will contribute towards the championship points.
Masters are not eligible for overall bonus points, so if two Master drivers finish first and second overall, maximum points will be awarded to the third placed non-master driver, and so on.
The same bonus points will be awarded to the top three drivers on each event in the Test pilot category and the same for the navigators in the Clockwatchers category.
Masters are not eligible to receive Championship points in these categories, and they are not eligible for these awards
Disputes
The Organisers reserve the right to adjudicate on any queries raised regarding the allocation of points. A provisional points table will be published on the HERO-ERA website within seven days of the end of each qualifying event and entrants will have a further seven days in which to raise any queries. These must be submitted in writing. If appropriate, a further set of points will be published which will remain open to query for a further seven days from publication. Once this period has expired the points will be considered final and not subject to any further amendment.
The award winners will be announced in accordance with the above schedule and the formal presentation will take place in early 2025.
These HERO Challenge Championship rules should be read in conjunction with the event Additional Supplementary Regulations and HERO-ERA Standard Regulations.