Somewhat independent of the discussion about changing mod 1/12 but more out of my own curiosity, what metric can be used to determine if somebody is capable of running mod 1/12? At what point is someone deemed capable?

I ask because I have raced mod 1/12 at quite a few races, but am still very much a newcomer to the class (and rc on the whole) compared to the rest of the field. At 2014 Worlds I was 4 laps off of Marc R and Alex, but in the same main as Cyrul and Rick H. At Reedy Invite earlier this year my fastest run was 8 seconds off of Spashett's fastest. At MHIC earlier this year I was about two laps off of Keven in quals and then three off in the main after my own first lap screw up. Am I capable of running the class? I think I am, but by your definition above I pretty clearly am not one of the 5-10 guys.

Just a thought, as I think having an understanding of what makes someone 'capable' or 'accepted' when racing a class could help determine how said class needs to evolve.

(Of course this begs the next logical (but tangential) question - to say that if I am incapable of running the class, why is there no similar discussion for people who are 3-4 laps off in other classes?)

Also, I realize this could potentially contradict my earlier question, but I would like to request that we avoid specifically calling out folks in this thread. Is the pool of talent in mod in the US pretty shallow? Yes. Does that mean we need to specifically call out people who are off-pace? Nope.