IFCA Relay Challenge Season 3 Trans-Am April 13th

by **IFCA GTDon** Mon Feb 18, 2019 1:27 pm

IFCA Relay Challenge Season 3 Trans-Am April 13th

Hello boys! With the increased popularity and interest in team relay racing we are happy to announce IFCA Relay Challenge Season 3 Trans-Am, to begin April 13th.

As you know this format is a true team series that requires a partner to compete in. It's you and your teammate against the world! Well, sort of, but you get the idea. Bottom line is that it is really fun to be part of an actual racing team rather than just in name or points only. This is the only format where you get to cooperatively race as a synergistic team in real time helping each other get to the finish line.

Here's how it works: You and your teammate take turns (stints) in relay fashion. At the start one driver will be the lead-off driver for the first stint, while the other driver drives to the pit to park at pit exit and wait for his turn. Both of you will do 2 pit stops, and then a final mandatory pit at the end of the 21st lap. Once you both have completed your 21st lap, you both leave the pits together for the first time to finish the remaining 8 laps together in tandem.

Both drivers are required to pit on the same lap number for each pit stop. The first 2 pits can be whatever your team decides. It can be on lap 7 and 14, or 5 and 13, or even 2 and 10, Whatever number your partner pits on has to be the same as you. The "goal" is to get to the lap 21 mandatory pit as fast as possible so you both can finish the last 8 laps together and ahead of your rivals. Everyone is required to pit at the end of lap 21. The exchange of drivers happens when one driver exits the pits and goes through the waiting ghosted driver, Once contact is made the waiting driver can leave to start his stint.

With everyone having different pit strategies it becomes difficult and fun to tell who is actually in the lead until teams start coming in on their mandatory 21st lap pit and you see 2 cars leaving the pits at the same time for the first time. And this is when the racing intensity actually begins, in the last 8 laps, as faster drivers from slower teams start to gain on slower drivers from faster teams!

In the end, the team with the best combined average finishing position wins! If there is a tie, the team with the highest pre-race average IFCA computer rating wins! But it's not just about the wins and losses, we also offer a series of performance bonus points for fastest clean race lap, track lap record, pole position, and half point bonuses for having posted a top 3 lap time for the T/A class during the week. That way there are incentives to push hard all week no matter your skill level or season points.

Speaking of skill level, the IFCA Relay Challenge is really all about the underdog and giving your average grassroots sim-racer a real chance to compete with the fast guys. We do this by allowing the slower drivers below the IFCA rating of 1950.000 to use the "Factory Build" version of the T/A cars on offer. The Factory Builds have slightly better hp/tq and suspension and wheels, making them slightly lighter, quicker, and better handling than the lesser Privateer builds the fast guys must use. It still might not be enough to beat a fast guy but at least you'll know your car is not the problem. The fast guys can still get in and out of corners better, so what this does is bring everyone a little closer together regardless of skill difference.

Other key features that help to create greater parity within the series is the fact that the series is limited to a 12 team field where only the fastest 12 teams start the season. The caveat here is that to qualify in, you are allowed to use any of the 9 cars offered though they may not be the car you start the season with. You and your teammate's time is added together and divided by 2 to get your average qualifying time as a team. We also encourage substitute drivers and "ringers." These are drivers who may not be able to commit to a whole season but would like to race and help out a team.

When the season starts you can choose to use a different car for the first half of the season then the car you qualified in is the point. At the halfway mark of the season, you are then allowed to change out your car if you don't like the performance of the car you started with. With all these measures in place, we think the slower teams have the optimum chance to compete for a podium. In a more traditional single driver series where you are heads-up racing faster drivers and stuck in a car you picked, the slower driver has practically no chance at a podium and is relegated to backmarker status for the entire season, season after season. We want to change this by giving the slower driver more than a fair chance to compete, while at the same time adding some pressure to the fast guys.

You will be allowed 3 weekly chances to qualify before race day. Saturday April 13th 6:00 EST Daytona 24hr is the first race and the qualifying track. You will get 4laps to qualify (3 full laps). On race day, there will also be a grid qualifier of 4 laps.

After each race is complete, new ratings will be calculated so that drivers can get ready to use the correct corresponding car build for the next race, Some weeks you could be in a Privateer build, and some weeks in a Factory build depending on how well you do. The better your results, the higher your rating, the more likely you will be in the lesser Privateer build. This is important for those who hover right in the middle around 1950.000.

Official qualifying will begin Saturday, March 23rd thru Saturday, April 6th. Your team will get 3 attempts to set your best average time @ Daytona 24hr. Again, only the top 12 fastest teams will make it into the show. This is an abbreviated season of just 6 races too. Race Directors to get with for qualifying are FRB Incognito, GTDon2, SPEEDYJAB09, and RIOT ChevyPower.

Tracks
1. Daytona 4/13 Saturday 6:00 EST
2. Homestead Road Circuit 4/20  Saturday 6:00 EST
3. Watkins Glen International 4/27  Saturday 6:00 EST
4. Lime Rock 5/4  Saturday 6:00 EST
5. Road America 5/11  Saturday 6:00 EST
6. Laguna Seca 5/18  Saturday 6:00 EST

We prefer nostalgia liveries. You can use any car number, but we prefer you use the IFCA number plate that will be available courtesy of SPEEDYJAB09. As a team, you and your teammate need to be in the same basic livery.

All the builds have been shared as either 1950.000 or 1949.999 in file name, via GTDon2. Builds are also published on the IFCA.

For further information on the 9 cars, Camaro, Cuda, Mustang, go here:

[ltr]https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6562-season- ... car-builds[/ltr]