2013 IFCA Championship Format

To help everyone keep their eye on the checkered flag we will be updating what the 2013 IFCA World Championship format will be throughout the year. We've had a lot of input from you the internationally rated drivers of the IFCA, FMUK, SimRacers, FSCS, DMR, and others.

Rather than reveal everything at once and have you forget about it by the time the championship rolls around in September, we are going to release key parts during the next several months. We hope that by doing it this way we can keep your attention, and keep you on track towards being in the final.

The IFCA Admins have been convinced that instead of a 32 driver tournament, there should be a larger 64 driver field. This is in part due to the increased popularity of league racing both in and out of the IFCA, and because of the depth of quality drivers that a larger field can net.

Much of our discussions center around format and how to make it fair for everyone. Some say that it should be a double elimination, others a single. Some say you should only use leader board cars, others only stock. Should it be total time, or head to head racing? Old cars, or new? Lower class, or higher? Street cars, or race cars? Spec builds, or open builds? FWD, AWD, or RWD? Qualifying, or no qualifying? The combinations are endless.

Our solution is to do a little bit of everything. We will start with allowing everyone ranked in the top 64 of the IFCA Championship Ratings list, to qualify with a special car we call our, "IFCA Champ Car." The Champ car will ultimately be the car that is used in the final round of 8. This is a car that will not be a leader board car, but will be a race car from the R3-Class. The primary attribute of this car is handling and not speed. It will have a fully tunable spec build too. We chose this great car so that everyone will at least get to compete in the same car that will ultimately decide the 2013 IFCA World Championship. This is all the tease you'll get on this specific car for now.

Qualifying will be a one time shot of 4 laps. To prevent sand-bagging, everyone will be grided according to their qualifying time, and then their IFCA rating. In this way a fast driver with a high rating will not be able to grid with slower lower rated drivers just because of a slow qualifying time. This insures that all the fast drivers will be grouped together even if they qualify poorly. It will be impossible to purposely place yourself in a slower group so as to gain a open track advantage and produce a shorter total time because you had little to no traffic to deal with.

Once the 64 have qualified with the IFCA Champ car, the first round will actually be in a stock F-Class FWD street car. Finishing order will be based on total times for the first round. During the race there will be a standing start, limited damage, any assists, 1 mandatory pit stop, and 15laps long.

more to follow...

As earlier mentioned we will attempt to incorporate a little bit of everything when it comes to format, from all the various rated series events from the 2013 season. One thing that will be monitored is the correct championship livery. It is only during the IFCA World Championship that we mandate you display certain items on the car not the least of which is your actual IFCA racing #. We will also be looking for the IFCA URL on both sides of the car (www.IFCAracing.com) as well as a Domino's Pizza sponsor logo on both sides, and your special IFCA World Championship number plate on 4 sides of the car. No profanity or crude pics on the car will be accepted, and subject to disqualification from the Championship.
to be continued...

As for which class of cars will be used in the IFCA World Championship in September, there has been talk of selecting 1 car from each of the 10 classes. Problem with this idea is that it would turn the Championship into a 10 race affair and begin to deflate the intense pressure and importance that fewer races represent in a world championship format.
We want to simply cover the spread of the classes rather than do all of them. Here are the classes that will be in play for the Championship:

Round 1, F-Class, because it is a neglected class that will be challenging for the majority since it is the least popular.
Round 2, C-Class, because it is the upper performance end of the lower classes.
Round 3, A-Class, because it is the most popular class Forza4 drivers compete in.
Round 4 Final, R3-Class, because it offers the best balance of speed and handling of all the classes.

Be sure to vote which cars you would prefer here https://ifca.forumotion.com/t5752-which-car-would-you-pick-for-the-2013-ifca-world-championshi as this will have a strong influence on which cars are selected.
more to follow...

...and, so, the obvious question becomes what track or tracks will the IFCA use? The thinking is we want to go with a long track. A track that has many opportunities for passing both at speed and under braking. There are only a few tracks that fit this bill.

The track for the 3rd round will be the same track used in the 8 man final, the designated home track of the IFCA, Sunset P. Reverse full.

For the first round of 64 however, we will be using Sebring as the qualifying track. But, for the actual first round race, we have a special surprise track that few if any have ever raced on. We will use this same mystery track for the second round of 32 as well when we switch to a C-Class car.

(Again, the 3rd round of 16 will be at the IFCA home track in A-Class cars, as well as the final 8 for the Championship in R3-Class.)

more to come...

Just a quick update. The minimum GP Points have been set at 1500, or equal to 15 rated races to be eligible for the IFCA Forza World Championship. Some might see that once they have enough GP Points and enough of a rating to place themselves somewhere in the top 64, that they will be able to simply sit on their rating and not race for the remainder of the year. This could be a big mistake.

We average about 10 new drivers per week which means that we could have another 300 rated drivers added to the list by years end. Not only that, but the ratings formula is structured in such a way that it tends to expand the scale it is based on as more races are rated and more drivers are added to the pool. This means that there really is no upper limit to the ratings, and it could go as high as the 2700s for the top drivers. This expansion means that someone in the top 64 today sitting on what appears to be a solid rating of say 2276, won't be high enough later in the year to even be in the top 64. Because of all the added drivers, and expansion of the list.

As an added incentive not to opt out and sit on what someone might feel is a good enough rating, we will be offering prizes to the top 3 drivers in GP Points, excluding AAR GTDon. However, there will also be a special prize for anyone who surpasses AAR GTDon in GP Points by the end of the year.

more to come...

The schedule for the 4 day, two weekend event, for the, “2013 IFCA Forza World Championship” looks like this in September:

1.64 driver field.

2.R3 Champ Car Qualification 5laps @ Sebring Full. (Qualifying with an IFCA Race Official will begin Sept 1st, and end Sept 20th)

3.Everyone will be gridded according to their qualifying time, and then their IFCA rating. In the case of ties, the driver with the most GP Points will be first.

4.First round will begin Saturday Sept 21st , 1:00pm EST, 15laps, in stock F-Class FWD street cars @ Sebring Full extended version, with 1 mandatory pit stop between the first and last lap.

5. Finishing order will be based on total times for the first round in the 4 sixteen man lobbies.

6.The top 32 drivers will advance to the second round on Sunday Sept 22nd, 1:00pm EST, 20laps, competing in spec built C-Class cars @ Sebring Full extended version, with 1 mandatory pit stop between the first and last lap. Lobbies will be divided into 4 grids of 8 drivers.

7. Finishing order will be based on total times for the second round in the 4 eight man lobbies.

8.The top 16 drivers will advance to the third round on Saturday Sept 28th, 1:00pm EST, and 25laps, in spec built A-Class cars @ Sunset P. Reverse, with 2 mandatory pit stops between lap 5 and lap 20.

9.The top 8 finishers will advance to the 30lap fourth and final Championship round @ Sunset P. Reverse, on Sunday Sept 29th, 1:00pm EST, in the spec built R3-Class Champ car, and 2 mandatory pit stops between lap 5 and lap 20.

10. Every round will be a standing start, limited damage, any assists.

A few are starting to ask, "When will the final cut off be for ratings calculations this year?" The answer is Wed July 31st 2013. After July 31st all regular season ratings calculations will cease in preperation of the post season. Those 64 drivers who make it to the post season in September will continue to be rated for their efforts in the post season.

And yes, it is possible that the eventual "Forza World Champion" might end up with a slightly lower rating than the highest rated driver of the entire 2013 season. Not likely, but possible. Whatever happens the Forza World Champion will earn the #1 plate (and the cash), and not the highest rated driver.

Prize purse stands at $300.00 total, but could go higher depending on what happens this year.

1st Place and Forza World Champion = $150.00+ #1 plate for 2014

2nd Place = $75.00+ #2 plate for 2014

3rd Place = $30.00+ #3 plate for 2014

4th place = $15.00

*Driver with the most Grand Prix Points = $20.00

Driver with the most GP Points that matches or beats AAR GTDon's total GP Points = $10.00



* GP Points are participation points noted on the far right side of the world rankings page. Each rated race you compete in is worth 100 GP Points. https://ifca.forumotion.com/t5185-2013-ifca-forza-league-racers-world-rankings-list

A small update on the change out of the round 2 car. It will remain a Mustang but at a higher C-Class build. It will be the 1995 Mustang Cobra GT.

https://ifca.forumotion.com/t5704-ifca-champ-cars

Just an ongoing reminder about proper racing and all that this implies. After sampling quite a few other league events I can say that the IFCA regulars do a pretty good job of racing people clean with little to no contact.

Our guys are very good at racing you hard and close for the most part, and will wreck themselves before wrecking you if at all possible. This is the sort of attitude that isn't as noticeable in other leagues. Because of this I will be reinforcing and reminding everyone that they should be practicing how to run fast AND close but without contact.

We are fairly easy going about the "rules of the road" here at the IFCA, but as more and more people come in, we see less and less people demonstrating they know how to race. In the September Championship we will be very critical about enforcement of these rules at every turn.

Be warned! If you think you can bash your way to the front whether on purpose or by "accident" think again. The IFCA Race Officials will be looking at everyone and everything all the way up to the Championsip cycle. Notes are being taken on certain people and a list is kept on those who always seem to have problems or make problems. Your history as a driver will not go unseen, and will be taken into account when a ruling must be made.

Best rule of thumb, be ready to crash yourself before crashing someone else.

Good job Don, These things go unseen too many times. I recall 3 races in particular that I have wrecked my car on purpose to not destroy the guy in front of me. I felt really bad at the time because my race was finished but I got satisfaction out of it when the guys around me said "Kick, you did the right thing, we all would have been done". Two of these races it was not even my fault, just a wreck happened too fast in front of me. I am with you man, There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that if a legit pass is attempted, I will hold my line to the best of my abilities and expect the same from the next guy. Good job Don

...additionally, it should be understood when it comes time for a decision by the Race Officials to be made, if circumstances are presented, either unforeseen or otherwise extraordinary, in which strict application of the Rules may not achieve “the Purpose” or "intent" of the Rules, that in such rare circumstances, Officials, as a practical matter, may make a determination that is not contemplated by or is inconsistent with the Regulations. Such determinations are reviewable by Supervisory Officials. All such determinations are Conclusive, except as provided for in the Rules.

To answer some of you, yes, we are seriously thinking of having a kind of prelim to the main Championship event for those lower class drivers who are not going to make it in. Details to follow...

It has been decided that there will indeed be a second tier 2013 Forza World Championship for those on the World Rankings list below the 50% line. We will call it the, "IFCA 2013 Amateur Forza League World Championship." It will precede the actual World Championship for the upper half pro level drivers. The format will be the same as the pro's and the top 3 drivers will then be invited to the big race.

Just as with the big race in Sept, the amatuers will have a 64 driver field to contend with. This means that those from around 150th on down will be able to get in this support event.

Further details on when this event will happen will be released soon...

Just a quick heads up, the final date for the regular season has to be changed from July 31st to Mon July 1st. This means that all regular season ratings will end on the night of July 1st even if the series being rated has remaining races to be raced after July 1st.

In other words, the IFCA Ratings Computer will be shut down on July 1st. No further ratings will be calculated after this date. This is so we can have the time to organize the amateur section of the Forza League World Championship in August.

The only ratings calculation to be done after this date is in the post season during the Championship rounds.

We are getting down to the wire for all rated races and the end of the regular season on Monday July 1st.  There are many drivers on the ratings list that need at least 1 more rated race to qualify for the post season. 

Let your league managers know to post results as soon as possible because it all ends Monday night!  You will be locked into your rating at that time.

Will Spec Vette on Monday night be the last rated race on the 1st?

Might be a good last chance for those who need 1 more race to be eligible!

I could post results immediately following the race.

Yes, that will be the end. Need to get results that night

Ok will do!