IFCA Series News

Quite a lot of attention is being paid to the upcoming "IFCA Spec Kings" on March 18th @ Silverstone International.  It's been awhile since we have done any spec racing and generally you can fall into one of two categories. You either love it because you like the car and track combo, or you hate it because you don't like the car and track combo.  This is always the way spec is and why we shy away from its 'all or nothing appeal.'


At the same time, it's good to give everyone a chance to see how their performance might change in their favor, every once in a while, when everyone is in the same car.  When it comes to spec racing especially in the lower classes our driver skill level divisions play a lesser role than in the higher classes.  Why?  Because they don't rely on tire grip as much as the faster cars do.  This means Copper, Bronze, Gold, Platinum, and Palladium will be closer together in performance.  Which in turn sort of defeats the idea, that, now that you are in the same car as everyone else you will have better chances to win.


The other thing to keep in mind is that even though the lower skill levels still have a performance advantage in a lower class car, they can not make up for driver mistakes as easily as a higher P.I. car.  They simply can't make up for it with speed they don't actually have.  This means that smaller driving mistakes take longer to recover from.  So it's a different kind of racing you may not be used to.  The kind of racing that actually requires precise lines and passes 100% of the time.  The kind of racing where there is no such thing as a quick pass.  The kind of racing where you stay closer to the car next to you for a lot longer during a lap.  This is the kind of racing that Eries and myself sharpened our teeth on when Forza 1 first arrived.  


The racing was always very close and you had to do a lot more planning ahead to make a good pass.  Just as important was to be flawless and minimize your mistakes so you would be close enough at the finish to make a move for the win.  This was Civic D-Class racing at its best.  


Tuning played a huge role too.  Because, we were essentially running public lobby sprint-spec-races of 4laps each day after day, and slight tuning differences could give you a specific handling advantage at a certain track.  Gearing was probably the main focus however.  If you didn't have good gears, you were lost.  


Hours, and days, and weeks, and months, went into tuning to optimize your car.  And over time someone would have a small breakthrough in tuning that gave them the advantage.  And like an arms race, it was all about developing your car to find that next tiny improvement.  And it went back an forth like this every month for months at a time.


It was super intense competition and great fun for almost the entire shelf-life of FM1.  I say this so that all of you who never got to experience such a high level of competition, can grasp what you are in for with the Datsun 510.  My point being, that there is much more to lower class racing than meets the eye.  There is a whole other extreme level that can be reached that will make you scratch your head and say, "but how?"


We won't have months to practice and tune the Datsun, and with the graduated handicap skill levels in place, everyone will be closer than if we didn't have skill levels, so that's helpful, but, it's still going to be a head scratcher for many of you still.  So don't be too shocked, and don't be too discouraged if people are beating you badly in a lower P.I. Datsun, there's always the next week with a different car and track combo to look forward to.




Good luck everyone!



Spec Kings info here:
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6840-ifca-spec-kings-2023

A new era or new chapter is beginning here at the IFCA.  The IFCA has dabbled with various team formats in the past but has never pursued an ongoing effort to support teams within the IFCA.  This is changing.  

The benefits of having teams are many.  There tends to be less contact on the track when there are teams.  Being part of a team helps everyone in the team reach a higher level of performance with tuning and driving.  As a team, strategic planning can play a larger role too.

To build off of these natural advantages, the IFCA is going to create a team points system for both the races and the teams reputations.  So, not only will individual team members have greater access to more season points than a non-team driver, their team will have a team grade or rating based on the teams participation and performance.

Each IFCA team is limited to 4 drivers but no less than 3. Every team begins with an A+ team rating.  Maintaining an A+ team rating grants you special privilege's such as early build access, early track access, and a place at the table.  The "table" is a short meeting with the Chairman of the Board toward the end of a season to discuss changes for the following season or seasons.  Every "A" rated IFCA team will have impact on the direction taken for the following seasons.  

We are at a point where we need to be more transparent and engaging with our members.  We can do this through the desires and wishes of our teams so that everyone feels they have some input as to what the direction of the IFCA will be.  Basically we want the teams to be more in partnership with the IFCA rather than in subordination.

So what's the catch to gain these privilege's?  Maintaining your team rating.  Drop to a B+ and you lose your seat at the table.  What can cause you to lose your A+ rating? Non-participation.  If a A+ rated team doesn't race, it results in a -1pt team rating deduction and they move down to an "A" rating.  If a team member is hit with an individual points penalty for contact during the race, the team is fined -1pt.  

Teams can regain lost reputation points in the following races they compete at.  For example,  Team Penske misses a race and falls to an "A" rating, but they make the next race and recover their "A+" rating, but, three of their drivers get penalized -1pt for contact, so then their team rating falls down to "B+" for the next race.  In the next race Team Penske gains +1pt for showing up, and only one of their drivers takes a points penalty for contact, this keeps Team Penske at a "B+". Team Penske can get back their "A" grade reputation in the next race if at least 3 drivers of their team race and no one gets penalized.  So, there is a progression and easy recovery of your teams reputation rating during a season or special events.

The team reputation rating scale:

A+
-1= A
-2= A-
-3= B+
-4= B
-5= B-
-6= C+
-7= C
-8= C-

For those of you not wanting to join a team, you do so at your own detriment because team members do earn more race points than non-team members.  Not only do team members collect more points, but they can really help you be a lot faster too.  For teams who don't want to have a slower driver on their team you need not worry because only your top 3 drivers are counted.  This means that a team is not penalized for having a slower driver as their 4th man.

Just a quick reminder to everyone for this season, we are initiating the new rule that if you take a points penalty for contact, it will cost you 3 grid positions in the following race.  This was something that all the team leaders agreed upon.

Going all the way back to Nov 27th 2017 we have kept track of the IFCA Champions list.  This list doesn't include the many other series and formats prior to 2017 most notably the FWC's back in the day.  This is just during FM7.

There are 3 categories. 1. Non-series wins where the format was not a seasonal series but rather a separate individual race each week. 2.Series wins which are season victories.  3. Team wins where the format was a team effort.

We really have been more team oriented over the years so it makes sense to continue to focus our attention on team competition.  

A lot of old gamer tags have come and gone too.  Some are still around, but a lot of them were one hit wonders and were unable to develop a dynasty or accumulate wins in other categories.

	Driver	non-series wins	series wins	team wins	total victories
1	GTDon2	13	5	11	28
2	RIOT ChevyPower	2	8	12	22
3	FRB Incognito	0	0	8	8
4	WhiskeySix1	1	0	6	7
5	W0lf00d3004	2	0	5	7
6	AAR OneShot	1	0	4	5
7	CRC Skitchin	0	0	4	4
8	ZAR Eries	1	1	1	3
9	R2P Volcano	3	0	0	3
10	DJProfessorK72	3	0	0	3
11	PedanticSquirel	3	0	0	3
12	ZHP 2004	0	2	1	3
13	DinoGrumps	0	0	2	2
14	sameole24	1	1	0	2
15	Ix Morbid xI	2	0	0	2
16	JDM Kevin72	1	0	1	2
17	SPEEDYJAB09	0	0	2	2
18	TheyCallMeBubz	0	0	2	2
19	AOR BIG CLOUSE	0	0	2	2
20	TomCat7	0	0	1	1
21	APX TREMEC	0	0	1	1
22	KartzFM	0	0	1	1
23	Papa creech172	0	0	1	1
24	ITS Wi11iE	1	0	0	1
25	BULLETGTR89	0	0	1	1
26	Poennaninova	0	0	1	1
27	Flavored Atoms	0	0	1	1
28	Zach The One	1	0	0	1
29	TROYBILT	1	0	0	1
30	R2p Tak	1	0	0	1
31	inviseco	1	0	0	1
32	FAA LuGnUtZ86	1	0	0	1
33	AFlamingCoconut	1	0	0	1
34	NellyDRacer	1	0	0	1
35	LeBRtinadian	0	0	1	1
36	blkghost187	0	0	1	1
37	LongColePole	0	0	1	1
38	Lanrell21	0	0	1	1
39	Rattlesnake	0	0	1	1
40	Boost Syndicate	0	0	1	1
41	LSEM LAWRENCE	0	0	1	1
42	Not Mute7396	0	0	1	1
43	Latte Speed	0	0	1	1
44	VM MuZz	0	0	1	1
45	VM ProEnergy	0	0	1	1

Okay, we are going to try to establish new teams using actual names rather than the old generic color names.  It was suggested that drivers would probably be more likely to stay with a team that has an actual name rather than a generic non-name.  Some said that it would also be more attractive and helpful for recruiting purposes.  Easier to sell in other words.  

So let's say you want to recruit a driver (to gain the bonus points) but your team is already at the 4 driver max, you can still recruit them by placing them on a "factory team." Once these fill up we can add more factory teams.




So here are our new "factory team" names:



1. Team STP





2. Team Sunoco



3. Team Summit

Just want to clarify how the points are awarded.  The following does not include the qualifying and practice lap formula for grid position or your performance bonus based on your rating and expected finish.



          

Practice Lap Bonuses

top 2

1.5

3 thru 8

1

9 thru 24

0.5

Race day bonuses

Pole

1

Fastest clean race lap

1

Track lap record

1

*Clean race bonus

0.25

The points scale

1st = 33pts

2nd = 32pts

3rd = 31pts

4th = 29pts

5th = 27pts

6th = 25pts

7th = 24pts

8th = 23pts

9th = 22pts

10th = 21pts

11th = 20pts

12th = 19pts

13th = 18pts

14th = 17pts

15th = 16pts

16th = 15pts

17th = 14pts

18th = 13pts

19th = 12pts

20th = 11pts

21st = 11pts

22nd = 11pts

23rd = 11pts

24th = 11pts

Double bonus final round all points doubled

Penalties = 5 strike limit per season

Hard contact of any kind will earn a strike

Points penalties issued for impeding other drivers

Compensated points divided by 4 for impeded drivers based on lost positions due to contact

Clean race bonus is when you are not penalized for contact during the race

If you earn a points penalty it will cost you 3 grid positions in the following race

Team Points

To gain maximum team points every driver in a team must post a top 12 practice lap which nets 3pts for the team, and a bonus of 0.5pts for each team driver.

Only the top 3 drivers will earn additional team points based on their finishing order.

The team driver points schedule will be based on a 24pt scale. 1st place earns 24pts for their team, 2nd place earns 23pts, 3rd place earns 22pts and so on down to 24th place earning 1pt.

In addition, we are adding a participation bonus for teams and drivers this season. A driver who competes in all 7 races earns a participation bonus of 1pt at the end of the season.  A team that competes in all 7 races with a minimum of 3 drivers will also earn a 1pt participation bonus.

It was recently suggested, as a way to motivate full attendance, that we enact a special participation bonus.  So before Season 19 begins this is what we are going to do:  A driver who competes in all 7 races earns a participation bonus of 1pt at the end of the season.  A team that competes in all 7 races with a minimum of 3 drivers will also earn a 1pt participation bonus.  It now pays to partake!

In our continuing effort to maintain a fair and level playing field for everyone in every skill level, we've decided to adjust the build on the 2005 Ford GT.  It was decided that the Ford needed a little something extra to close the performance gap advantage that the Ferrari 360 had on a majority of the tracks on the schedule.  So we added Sport Pistons which is only 8hp more and 1lb less.  But, it shows you how close we think they are to start with.

This should give everyone something more to think about when selecting their season car.  The build sheet is updated here: 
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6792-trans-am-master-car-list#139698

Check out the IFCA Newsletter here:
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6867-season-20-ifca-trans-am-series-july-15th

GTDon2 wrote:Check out the IFCA Newsletter here:
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6867-season-20-ifca-trans-am-series-july-15th

I just want to get it out there for the IFCA community to be on one sheet of music.  After every season, just as it is in real racing, drivers come and drivers go.  Teams too, come and go.  This is to be expected.  Sometimes it's because of personal issues and commitments, sometimes it's because of financial support and time, other times it's because of format changes.  And it could be a combination of these things.  Either way, we do not begrudge those that must leave the IFCA for whatever reason they have.  We are glad they were able to compete and hope that success graced their races enough for them to eventually return one day.

Yes, there are those who habitually claim they are not going to return after each season but then do, I know.  They have their reasons and that's fine.  It indicates just how much commitment it requires to try to forge a successful run at the IFCA Trans Am Championship.  And with each passing season, it becomes harder and harder to win as the rules and formats are modified to create closer and closer racing.  This can have a negative effect because generally, people don't like change.  But what often happens is that a driver will warm-up to the new changes by the opening round, realize he was going to be on putzing around with Forza anyway, and changes his mind to run.  It happens, we get it.

Our last FM7 season will be no different.  Everything is reviewed from the previous seasons as to what worked and what didn't work.  We throw out the bad and keep the good as a result.  Then we try to add new things that will not only be more interesting and fun, but ultimately more fair.  And yet in spite of this repeated effort there are folks who are still enticed to discover some sort of secret angle or conspiracy that would be contrary to these facts.

For some examples (and answers), people have said things like: 

"The format is rigged for faster drivers!"  --hard to justify this claim since it is "rigged" in favor of slower drivers who are afforded more grip.

"The car selection favors the Race Directors!" --if this were true, we would rarely run any class above B-Class.  Myself and eries come from D-class and we are heads and shoulders above everyone who has ever raced here in the lower classes.

"The ratings points swings are way too much!"  --not on purpose as a part of some kind of attempt to manipulate anything.

"The ratings points swings are way too little!"  --we agree, but this was the direction that teams voted to go with and not a manipulation. (we are changing this for Season 20)

"The car testers have way too much of an advantage!"  -- testing cars and developing cars are two different things, but there isn't much we can do about this, someone has to test.

"The season points favor the fastest drivers and teams!"  -- to a degree this is true, the points slope gradually leans toward the faster drivers as a way to combat sandbagging.

"How come they won't allow more people access to the test cars?"  --we are always open to more testers, but few are ready and able to put in the kind of laps we need for good data nevermind their skill level.

"GTDon always makes the MOPAR's the fastest!"  --not true at all,  I am a MOPAR Man, everyone knows it, hell I was born on 4-26! But history has shown that my MOPAR's are never the top tested cars.  Just being in a Dodge or Plymouth is advantage enough. lol  If anything I have been way too generous to the Blue Oval crowd. (never say the "F" word)

"There are too many cars to pick from to know which car is best!"  -- yes, it has been the case that we have had gigantic car selections, but this can hurt the fastest drivers as much as the slower, because who really knows which car is best?

"If the handicap system worked, then why am I faster in a Gold car than in a Silver car?"  --because bluntly speaking, your skill level is such that it makes little difference which car you are in. On average there is about a 0.5sec difference as tested by fast drivers, between each skill level build.

"Why can't we just all run identical cars?"  -- seems reasonable, and we have done so, but the gaps between the fastest and slowest widen considerably more when we do this.

So you see, there are a lot of (repeated) criticisms out there, but when you compare them to actual history, they all start to fade quickly under closer examination and insight.  The only conspiracy we have as a league is trying to help slower drivers compete more equally and be able to punch a little bit above their weight.

We want closer racing at all skill levels.  We want racing that is exceptionally fair to the slower drivers.  We want to challenge the faster drivers by making it more difficult for them to win.  We want the racing to be more than just about winning the race.  We want all the factors of the entire racing experience to come into play and affect the entirety of your season, just as it is in real racing.

Here's hoping that this places more of us on the same IFCA sheet of music.  We wish all of you the very best of luck during this historic last season of Forza 7.


Your Benevolent Dictator

Due to the full grid of 24 drivers there will not be enough open slots in a party to have everyone in a single party.  We will be in game chat at first, and then move to private team parties for the start of the race.

There is no race on the 19th.  Why?  Because as some of you know I don't schedule a race when the NHRA comes to my home track of Brainerd International Raceway.  I have season tickets and reserved seating.

Sebring will be, as indicated on the schedule, the following weekend on the 26th.

Sebring is also the last time you can opt to use your Trump Car.  You are not allowed to use your Trump Car for the finale at Indy oval.

Now that we have a sketch of what FM8 will be like, we can have a glimpse of what the IFCA will be like in the future.  From what we can tell, FM8 appears to be much more like FM1 than we were anticipating, and this changes things a lot in a good way.  

The biggest change will be (apparently) host controlled lobbies.  We are not 100% sure about this yet, but, T10 did say that you will be able to start a lobby by yourself and have people search for you or for any lobby that has been created.  This is exactly the way it was in FM1, and the cause of Forza's precipitous downfall ever since.  

I say this because without host controlled searchable lobbies you have far less opportunity to connect with other drivers of like mind.  It is because of this one feature that clubs were created and people had massive active friends lists.  We were constantly changing out people on our limited friends list not because people were quitting Forza, but because we were trying to fit the most active drivers on our friends list.  It was agonizing because we were limited to just 50 friends I think it was.

What this means is that you will be spending considerable time randomly sampling/searching private lobbies for good racing.  You will pick up a ton of new friends too.  You will discover all kinds of different and cool formats people are doing, some you will dislike, and others you will love.  And this is just one part of the time consumption that will be happening in FM8.  

The other part(s) are the career mode and the leveling up of the cars.  It's going to be a slow go getting all your favorite or relevant cars leveled up to the point that you can use them in an ongoing league race.  Then there are the weekly rated races that FM8 will have that are pre-staged rotations with practice, qualy, and racing each week on a daily 24/7 basis. All of this is then wrapped by the new game options with pitting, and tires, and damage mode.  Meaning, that it is going to take some time for everyone to figure out what works, what doesn't, what they like, and what they don't like. On top of all that comes learning the new physics model itself.

So as you can see it's a lot of stuff before we get to the point of fleshing out how we want to approach a league format.  We eventually will, but we see it as taking awhile.  In the meantime we will no doubt be hosting unrated IFCA preview events of various kinds on and off during the weeks to come.

So, all is relatively good news from the IFCA view.  FM8 really is going back to the future and its roots it turns out.  And ironically, just like FM1, there will be no spectator mode.  Not really a game breaker by any means, but a bit of a downer. If this is the trade off to gain host controlled lobbies, then it is well worth it.

You guys are going to like this, a lot!  So when the game comes, get out there, explore the private lobbies, gain a new batch of friends, get some new ideas, build up your car collection, and bring it all right back here to the IFCA, the original Forza Motorsports league.  And we will be forced to have multiple lobbies once again.

Happy hunting!

Host controlled lobbies is as you state the reason Forza was such a massive success.

This is where I met Don!

Got the game, okay did the career etc, then ahh what is this online racing about. Meh I don't like R class, and really like D, so ahaaa search D class online lobbies. A list popped up and I went in. Man people chatting away, no chat like it is now.

Cool finished my first race, thse guys seem cool, so let's add them to my friends list.

So it went days passed and soon, I'd just join the guys who I have added. Friendships started.

What is this club features, let me ask to join one. Nice.

Days went by. Let me start my own club!

Rivalries started.

Soon the IFCA was formed and well the rest is history. So exciting!

I will be proposing a new season points scheme come the next team meeting.  I'm mentioning it here so that everyone can give it some thought beforehand.  

My idea is to invent something that is similar to what the NCAA, NASCAR and the NHRA have been using for years.  A formula that bi-folds the season in such a way that you have a regular season designed to identify the top teams and drivers, and so that you can then have a kind of reset that begins a post-season and run for the championship.

The idea of this kind of scheme is to extend the life/viability/interest of weaker teams during a season, while at the same time establishing a more refined championship result.  It's this idea of providing a kind of second chance to everyone by utilizing a post season/playoff format. 

It may require that we go from a 7 race season schedule to possibly a 10 or 12 race season schedule.  Although the specific details are not yet fleshed out there are numerous ways that we can arrange this. 

Examples: 

1.) The NCAA way, (modified), would be to have the top 3 teams and top 12 drivers placed in a playoff format, while still offering those outside the playoff 1 last chance to get in.  Those outside the playoff would be fighting to get into the post-season in other words.  So, 1 additional team and 4 additional drivers would act as wildcards with a chance to make the post-season.  However, it would be possible that the extra 4 drivers would not be from the same team thus preventing the 1 wildcard team from reaching the post-season.

What this does is allows both teams and drivers to have a second chance to get into the post-season at best, or, act as spoilers by preventing rivals from getting in, at worst.  Either way everyone would have incentives to continue to compete all the way to the end.


2.) The NASCAR way, (modified), would be to have the top 4 teams and top 16 drivers placed in a playoff format. The top 16 drivers in terms of points and race wins qualify for the IFCA Playoffs. These drivers are often referred to as the "Playoff Contenders" in NASCAR.  

The playoffs begin with the Round of 16, consisting of 2 races. After these 2 races, the bottom four drivers in terms of points are eliminated from the playoffs.  The remaining 12 drivers compete in the Round of 12, which again consists of 2 races. Afterward, the bottom four drivers are eliminated.  The eight remaining drivers compete in the Round of 8, which has 2 races as well. The bottom four drivers are eliminated at the end of this round. 

The final race of the season is the Championship Race, also known as the "IFCA Series Championship." This race features the remaining four drivers. The driver who finishes highest among the Championship in this race is crowned the IFCA  Series champion.


In the Championship Race, the four drivers' points are reset to a base level, and the highest finisher among them in the race wins the championship. The other three drivers' finishing positions determine their overall standings.

The teams would be able to continue to compete for the Team Championship as they do now even when a driver of theirs's is out of the playoffs.


3.) The NHRA way, (modified), the regular season events help determine which drivers qualify for the Countdown to the IFCA Championship. The top 12 drivers make the cut and the top 3 teams.  The Countdown to the Championship consists of the final 4 events of the season. The points for the drivers and teams in contention are reset, with the top seeds receiving a points lead.  The driver (and team) with the most points at the end of the Countdown event is crowned the IFCA champions.


The objective of these formats is to create increased drama for the competitors and fans alike.  In the case of the IFCA it's more about offering extended play for the weaker teams and drivers.  Any combination of these 3 scenarios is possible and much of our current numeric points system, ratings, and bonus programs would be applicable in one form or another.

Of course, we could throw the baby out with the bath water and start over from scratch. Just do a straight up no bonus, no grid compensation, no skill level handicap, without ratings, with a single spec car,,, and watch the fastest driver win the season before the season even ends. lol  Yeah, not so fun.  Not a challenge for the faster drivers, and absolutely no chance for the slower drivers.  So no, we won't be doing that. lol

Nothing is in stone yet, but please Team Leaders, think about this for the next IFCA Team Meeting and bring some ideas to the table for FM8.

GTDon2 wrote:I will be proposing a new season points scheme come the next team meeting.  I'm mentioning it here so that everyone can give it some thought beforehand.  

My idea is to invent something that is similar to what the NCAA, NASCAR and the NHRA have been using for years.  A formula that bi-folds the season in such a way that you have a regular season designed to identify the top teams and drivers, and so that you can then have a kind of reset that begins a post-season and run for the championship.

The idea of this kind of scheme is to extend the life/viability/interest of weaker teams during a season, while at the same time establishing a more refined championship result.  It's this idea of providing a kind of second chance to everyone by utilizing a post season/playoff format. 

It may require that we go from a 7 race season schedule to possibly a 10 or 12 race season schedule.  Although the specific details are not yet fleshed out there are numerous ways that we can arrange this. 

Examples: 

1.) The NCAA way, (modified), would be to have the top 3 teams and top 12 drivers placed in a playoff format, while still offering those outside the playoff 1 last chance to get in.  Those outside the playoff would be fighting to get into the post-season in other words.  So, 1 additional team and 4 additional drivers would act as wildcards with a chance to make the post-season.  However, it would be possible that the extra 4 drivers would not be from the same team thus preventing the 1 wildcard team from reaching the post-season.

What this does is allows both teams and drivers to have a second chance to get into the post-season at best, or, act as spoilers by preventing rivals from getting in, at worst.  Either way everyone would have incentives to continue to compete all the way to the end.


2.) The NASCAR way, (modified), would be to have the top 4 teams and top 16 drivers placed in a playoff format. The top 16 drivers in terms of points and race wins qualify for the IFCA Playoffs. These drivers are often referred to as the "Playoff Contenders" in NASCAR.  

The playoffs begin with the Round of 16, consisting of 2 races. After these 2 races, the bottom four drivers in terms of points are eliminated from the playoffs.  The remaining 12 drivers compete in the Round of 12, which again consists of 2 races. Afterward, the bottom four drivers are eliminated.  The eight remaining drivers compete in the Round of 8, which has 2 races as well. The bottom four drivers are eliminated at the end of this round. 

The final race of the season is the Championship Race, also known as the "IFCA Series Championship." This race features the remaining four drivers. The driver who finishes highest among the Championship in this race is crowned the IFCA  Series champion.


In the Championship Race, the four drivers' points are reset to a base level, and the highest finisher among them in the race wins the championship. The other three drivers' finishing positions determine their overall standings.

The teams would be able to continue to compete for the Team Championship as they do now even when a driver of theirs's is out of the playoffs.


3.) The NHRA way, (modified), the regular season events help determine which drivers qualify for the Countdown to the IFCA Championship. The top 12 drivers make the cut and the top 3 teams.  The Countdown to the Championship consists of the final 4 events of the season. The points for the drivers and teams in contention are reset, with the top seeds receiving a points lead.  The driver (and team) with the most points at the end of the Countdown event is crowned the IFCA champions.


The objective of these formats is to create increased drama for the competitors and fans alike.  In the case of the IFCA it's more about offering extended play for the weaker teams and drivers.  Any combination of these 3 scenarios is possible and much of our current numeric points system, ratings, and bonus programs would be applicable in one form or another.

Of course, we could throw the baby out with the bath water and start over from scratch. Just do a straight up no bonus, no grid compensation, no skill level handicap, without ratings, with a single spec car,,, and watch the fastest driver win the season before the season even ends. lol  Yeah, not so fun.  Not a challenge for the faster drivers, and absolutely no chance for the slower drivers.  So no, we won't be doing that. lol

Nothing is in stone yet, but please Team Leaders, think about this for the next IFCA Team Meeting and bring some ideas to the table for FM8.

A couple of people were asking for greater clarity and guidance on this topic.  The idea is pretty simple, but the actual details can be foggy.  They can be foggy because there are innumerable ways to formulate this, as indicated by the other sporting organizations mentioned who use the same kinds of systems. 

Basically, we would want to create a system that offers extended opportunity for everyone to compete for something the whole season through.  A "second chance" if you will.  Our ratings and our performance points formula with our bonuses helps to do this, but more could be done in this direction with some kind of a playoff system.

The way we have been doing it, the writing is on the wall for half the field by the halfway point of the season, that they will not be in championship contention.  Professional leagues have long figured out that a playoff system of some sort is a way to mitigate this problem for the competitors as well as increase the drama for the fans.

I'm strongly suggesting we do the same.  The question becomes, what system do we want to employ?  What playoff variation is going to best suit our unique requirements in simulation racing for best effect?

From what I can see this would likely require us to go to a slightly longer season of perhaps 9-12 races in order to properly incorporate a postseason.

In summary here are the three proposed variations lifted from the NCAA, NASCAR, and the NHRA. These are only proposals. With everyone's input the final version is likely to be different from these.

1.) Wild card postseason format; half of the teams and half of the drivers compete to reach the playoff rounds via regular season points. 1 team and 4 drivers outside the upper half must then try to get in via a wild card round.

2.) Elimination postseason format; Top 3 teams and 12 drivers make the cut and then go into the postseason points elimination rounds, until, there are only 4 drivers and 2 teams left competing in the final championship round. Everyone else is playing the spoiler role, attempting to help their team or teammates via finishing order.

3.) Countdown postseason format; Top 3 teams and 12 drivers make the cut for the last 4 races of the postseason. Teams and drivers are seeded with points in hand and/or by grid position, but their total points are erased at the start of the postseason.

Again, there are many variations on this idea. I'm throwing this out now so we all have enough time to mull it over and hack out a path that best suits our unique requirements.  I think keeping our season format as is, is not the way to go.  I think offering a format that gives everyone increased potential to compete the entire season by extending their opportunities to compete is a proven way to have more fun.  Why?  Because it offers more hope and more pressure at the same time, from the start of the season to the end.

Please publically comment here to add to the discussion...

Eries and myself will not be using FM7 ever again after the Saturday Sept 2nd Finale for Season 20 @ Indy Oval.  Which means that we will still be about 30 days away from the FM8 release. 

So, what is going to happen upon the FM8 release is that we will be hosting our own lobbies and sampling others just as we used to be able to do in FM1.  This means that people will be able to search for us or our lobbies and the unique settings for racing.  It will be a time to experiment, and sample, and make new friends.  It will be a time to master the new physics where everyone starts from ground zero too.  It will not be a time to setup official rated league races however.

I will be on during our usual Wed night practice race time of 8pm CST, testing out whatever cars and classes and formats we can use.  It will be a kind of rotating continuous stream of tracks and cars and people.  It will be somewhat like a public lobby merged with a meetup, but controlled.  There will be your usual bad apples from time to time, and they will get the boot just as they once did in FM1.  But, we will also entertain many new good folks who will take an interest in a well governed/hosted lobby with an interesting set of rules.  

The more you sample these different lobbies the more new folks you will meet and the more people we can introduce to the IFCA.  Also, the more you experience these other lobbies the more you will be able to decide what you like and what you don't like.  Then, you can bring this information back to the IFCA and help mold the next format for when we do resume official league racing.

It's going to be great guys!  It's going to be a little wild at first, but a lot more satisfying overall.  There will be so much more to do and people to meet. Along with just obtaining fully built cars, it is going to take some time before anyone will be ready to league race I assure you.  

Of course, new leagues will pop up, and whether the league community is ready or not, they all will be in a rush to try to put out the first official organized FM8 race too.  So there will be a certain level of competitive pressure to get on with it.  

The IFCA in turn will resist this pressure as much as possible in an effort to make things right before jumping in the deep end with a half baked program.  There will be plenty of time to soak it all in and get a good feel for what will or won't work for good league racing.

So, when you see me on FM8, just jump right on in.  I run a quick no nonsense lobby to get everyone as much track time as possible.  My pace as a host can be a little intense and even exhausting, but you can opt out at any time.  I like to use a nice mix of friendly entertaining banter, with sprint races on a constantly rotating track list.  I tend to stay in 1 car class, maybe 2, per session.  My sessions last about 2hrs. And I promise you, I don't tolerate people who want to disrupt the racing.

So what are we doing in those 30days? We will be reaching for the stars!

Goodbye Forza 7, it has been a long friendship. Time almost for Big Brother to step in.

Thanks everyone for the past years, looking forward to see you all soon.

Even though the racing activity has temporarily ceased, retooling is ongoing here at the IFCA.  Plans are on the drawing board, brainstorming is in play, and change is in the air.  And we want you, the IFCA patron/member, to be a part of this change as we transition into FM8 exactly 30 days from now.

You may have noticed that we have already adjusted the driver rankings/ratings for FM8 here:
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6756-ifca-forza-8-driver-ratings#138938

Also notice that we have renamed our top skill level from 'Palladium' to 'Pro.'  This is more in-line with real GT racing and Pro/Am classes.

Unlike in any of the past IFCA seasons with any of the previous versions of Forza, we will employ a post-season type of format for the first time.  The question is, which kind, and/or why? Why are we doing this?  

The short answer is because many of our real-life professional league counterparts use such a system. NASCAR, and the NHRA do, as does every stick and ball sport.  They do it to refine who is the very best.  They do it to be as fair as possible to all the competitors.  They do it to generate a higher level of fan interest and competitive drama. Everyone enjoys having post-season play.  Everyone likes having the potential for a second chance to compete during a season.  So, we here at the IFCA recognize that these are things we want to enhance as well. 

Another new aspect we are going to initiate to help our teams become more viable, is to associate each of our teams with a "sister" team so that a faster team is associated with a slower team.  No points will affect each team because of their association however.  It is simply for the purpose of helping  slower teams get faster and be more competitive by creating a more friendly racing culture up and down the paddock and grid.

We are expecting to go from a single lobby 6 team 24 driver grid, to a double lobby 12 team 48 driver grid with FM8.

We are going to a longer season of at least 10 races in total.  This will enable us to use at least 3 different classes of car during a season.  Depending on which post-season format we go with will determine the actual length of a season.

To help us determine which type of playoff system to use, we will be posting a poll for you to vote on.  Your options are as follows...


1.) Elimination postseason format: Top 3 teams and 12 drivers make the cut and then go into the postseason points elimination rounds, until, there are only 2 teams and 8 drivers left competing in the final championship round. Everyone else is playing the spoiler role, attempting to help their team, teammates, or "sister team" via finishing order. 



2.) Wild card play-off format: 50% of the teams and 50% of the drivers compete to reach the playoff rounds via regular season points. 1 team and 4 drivers outside the upper half must then try to get in via a wild card round. Everyone else is playing the spoiler role, attempting to help their team, teammates, or "sister team" via finishing order. The Wild Card round will be a special Wed night race prior to the playoff season.



3.) Countdown postseason format: Top 3 teams and 12 drivers make the cut for the last 4 races of the postseason. Teams and drivers are seeded with points in hand and/or by grid position, but their total points are erased at the start of the postseason. Everyone else is playing the spoiler role, attempting to help their team, teammates, or "sister team" via finishing order.

Hello race fans, for those of us that still like to race. I come up with a race i call triple heat Saturday night. This is 3 different races on the same track. There will be 3 car classes "builds to come". The car classes go up in PI. The 1st being the lowest class and work are way up. The 3 races will be in the time frame of 40 to 50 minutes. the cars builds and track will be up soon. So get reader for triple heat Saturday.

P.S. This is not a IFCA sanctioned  or sponsored  event. There will be no ratings.

Saturday the 30th 6:00 PM central time. THSnite.... Wooooo

TRIPLE HEAT SATURDAY NIGHT
The cars are..
1968 Opel GT
1997 BMW M3
2017 Chevrolet Camaro
The track is Mugello FULL