Discussion: Tierra Viva 2016

Heard nothing about it, just popped into my inbox which coinicided with seeing an update from Sleepmonsters.



Seems to be a very small field of teams taking part just 10 as far as I can tell.

A couple of points / questions:

Are people Patagonia'd out?
While AR series race is it a low scoring event or just too far for most teams to bother going to?
With such a small field it would be 'easy' points for strategic racing for teams near the top of the table?
Is there previous form with the race or RD that so few are taking part?

I see Nick Gracie is there with another team.

I think all of the AR World Series races are worth equal points (except for the World Championship), so this would be an easy way to get some big points. It would also be an easier way for a couple of teams to get an entry into the World Championship.

I did TV a few years ago and Nick Gracie's team won. It is less hard core and remote than the Patagonia Expedition Race, and it used to be a series of loops from a central HQ so it hasn't captured people's imaginations in the same way. It was a good race though, and they treated foreign competitors well.

So Hoka and Walhalla both on the second trek leading. Who is first, who knows? Interestingly if Walhalla win and get the entry to ARWC, don't the ARWC teams have to be all one nationality? Walhalla is down as a Paraguayan Team but 2 Britsih and 1 Spanish racer on board. How does that work for QF for ARWC?

Don't imagine there is any intention to use the slot for Walhalla as it's composed in this race. Nick will race with Godzone, Urtzi with Columbia (unless one of these two teams is disbanding, which I can't imagine). Jo Thom seems to bounce around a fair bit from the little I know of her. I'm thinking that if anything, Gustavo Borgognon who works with Urtzi to organize Expedition Guarani is maybe angling to get a slot for a team that he will lead, composed of racers from Paraguay. Seems like a bunch of friends/competitors who came together otherwise.

My last reading said 3 of 4 single country for ARWC.

Yup, that's why Tecnu is racing for Canada in 2016!

The rule is not applied for the qualifiers is how I understand it, only the Champs.

I was not successful in my cursory attempt to see how "team" was considered, eg, is it USARA style where you qualify a captain that can race with anyone they want later, or is per team and you can swamp the whole crew as long as branded, etc....

Yes, rule only applies to ARWC.

I've never seen the answer to Mr. W's question in the rules but there is this rule for the ARWS Rankings:
AR World Rankings are awarded to a team entity, not individual team members. Teams may substitute members with a team roster containing a maximum of 7 members.

Agree with JayXC. AMK will/should score points for GODZONE despite having two and two. I believe the same will be true for Walhalla. Composition matters at ARWC only, I think.

Yes, rule only applies to ARWC.

When I referred to Mr. W's question above, I meant his question about how a "team" qualification was defined, i.e. how much does the ARWC version of the team need to resemble the ARWS qualifier version of the team? That's the question I haven't seen an answer for but there is that rule about the rankings.

2 members of qualifying team need to be on the team that goes to ARWC with the free entry.

Thanks!

Congrats to Fanny and team!! See you in AUS!