Shuey,
@Buckeye Rich said,
"The bike physically finished the full event, however, the rider did not accumulate enough points to be considered a finisher. The same for the 2-stroke KTM."
How do they come up with the minimum number of points to separate finishers and dnf'ers? Is this published or private for the participants?
It's a good question. The "points target” to stay on track to Finisher status is given out at the start of each Leg, for that leg, just for the riders, e.g. at the Start, riders are only advised the suggested number of points needed for that Leg. This keeps the number of points needed for each future legs still a mystery. Everyone expects point values to increase each leg, but . . . how much is anyone's guess. This information is provided primarily for the benefit of first time IBR riders as a guide to not getting so far behind in Legs 1 & 2 that it's impossible to catch up in Leg 3.
That said, the points target is only that, a suggested Target. You might fall short on Leg 1 then exceed the suggestion in Leg 2 or 3. The final total points required to achieve Finisher Status is given out at the beginning of Leg 3.
I can't recall these numbers being specifically released to the public, just mentioned in some after event rider reports. Of course, like this year, looking at the final results, it's pretty easy to determine the number . . . 80,000 this year.
I can't see much point in knowing the 80K final number before Leg 3 since the number of points available each leg is unknown until the bonus lists are passed out. Having a target to be on track for each leg IS helpful. Knowing the 80K number at the start when Leg 1 points are low would be more detrimental than helpful. A successful IBR ride is about managing the whole 11 days and riding flat out in Leg 1 and then Leg 2 would encourage riders to not have enough steam left to finish Leg 3 when points are at their highest. Sometimes to much information is not a good thing.
Shuey
