Launches at 5:30 am here. Happily I work nightshift so its at the tail end of my working day.
I had some internet issues though, so couldn't post the account names before kick off.

it would be fun to not know the results until the end of the event.

That'd add some intrigue; but difficult for you guys to audit. I guess we could have accounts on Private, switching over to Public after the race is over.

It adds another layer, looking up who is playing what class; choosing your own based on things like total number of entries. Its a game within a game; but if you just want to play, I can see it being an additional complication.
I think if I were playing, I'd have a friend on strategy duty. He'd look after the high level stuff; what competitors are doing; when I have sufficient lead to switch characters or start a new one.
Team play.