IFCA Series News

I'm at least a second faster in the 427 using silver against silver or bronze against bronze with the two cars. Do I suck at driving the Viper?

WritesCode4Food wrote:I'm at least a second faster in the 427 using silver against silver or bronze against bronze with the two cars. Do I suck at driving the Viper?

Lol I've heard from others that it is the opposite for them, they can't drive the Cobra.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the "Fun Run."  As mentioned this was about preparing for Season 13 and Trans Am Group 6/12a racing.  We learned a lot from this session. 

The overall winner was Bronze driver AAR OneShot, finishing in 2nd place in both races.  But this wasn't the purpose of the event.  The purpose was to see how close these very different cars were.  In testing the Viper and the Cobra managed to both run 2:13.2s.  The group average in the race for the Viper was 2:13.236, but for the Cobra it was only 2:14.217.  

Strangely, Silver driver ZAR Eries was 1.52sec slower in the Cobra.  Almost as strange was Bronze driver WritesCode4Food who was 1.38sec slower in the Cobra. Oddly, only one driver was faster in the Cobra than he was in the Viper.  GTDon ran 0.16sec faster in his Cobra than his Viper with a 2:12.832.

The fastest lap by anyone in either car was DinoGrumps in his Viper, running a 2:11.638. He also had the fastest combined average lap time of 2:13.136 with both cars.  He had the fastest Cobra time too at 2:12.634 which was good enough to beat all but one of the Viper drivers.

Everyone's average lap times fell within the margins of the skill level rating of each driver as expected. (the IFCA computer doesn't lie) As for the anomalies we have to chalk it up as bad tuning and good tuning and driver preference.

Our conclusion is that the Viper was indeed able to turn faster lap times even though the Cobra was slightly faster in top speed, so we have to give the nod to the new school for superior handling, and the win.  So hang on to your Vipers as it will be our benchmark car for the series.

     

Driver	Rating	Skill Level	Viper Lap Time	Cobra Lap Time	Avg lap time
DinoGrumps	2002.176	Gold	2:11.638	2:12.634	2:12.136
ZAR Eries	1979.807	Silver	2:12.103	2:13.621	2:12.862
GTDon2	1977.211	Silver	2:12.989	2:12.832	2:12.910
OiCafe	1964.487	Bronze	2:12.709	2:13.145	2:12.927
AAR OneShot	1965.622	Bronze	2:12.770	2:13.252	2:13.011
ITS Wi11iE	1966.999	Bronze	2:13.122	2:14.249	2:13.685
Poennaninova	1964.544	Bronze	2:13.877	2:14.296	2:14.086
SirKane2	1966.248	Bronze	2:14.835	2:15.014	2:14.924
WritesCode4Food	1965.422	Bronze	2:14.426	2:15.800	2:15.113
	group	average	2:13.236	2:14.217

Din my controller broke again last night

I was matching you in practice. 2.12.9 in the Cobra.

For reference my best in the Viper was a 2.11.8 in practice as well, to use as stats.

Best Cobra Bronze time was a 2.11 and with Viper a 2.10

So to me the cars were roughly a second apart between Silver and Bronze no matter the car.

GTDon2 wrote:Thanks to everyone who participated in the "Fun Run."  As mentioned this was about preparing for Season 13 and Trans Am Group 6/12a racing.  We learned a lot from this session. 

The overall winner was Bronze driver AAR OneShot, finishing in 2nd place in both races.  But this wasn't the purpose of the event.  The purpose was to see how close these very different cars were.  In testing the Viper and the Cobra managed to both run 2:13.2s.  The group average in the race for the Viper was 2:13.236, but for the Cobra it was only 2:14.217.  

Strangely, Silver driver ZAR Eries was 1.52sec slower in the Cobra.  Almost as strange was Bronze driver WritesCode4Food who was 1.38sec slower in the Cobra. Oddly, only one driver was faster in the Cobra than he was in the Viper.  GTDon ran 0.16sec faster in his Cobra than his Viper with a 2:12.832.

The fastest lap by anyone in either car was DinoGrumps in his Viper, running a 2:11.638. He also had the fastest combined average lap time of 2:13.136 with both cars.  He had the fastest Cobra time too at 2:12.634 which was good enough to beat all but one of the Viper drivers.

Everyone's average lap times fell within the margins of the skill level rating of each driver as expected. (the IFCA computer doesn't lie) As for the anomalies we have to chalk it up as bad tuning and good tuning and driver preference.

Our conclusion is that the Viper was indeed able to turn faster lap times even though the Cobra was slightly faster in top speed, so we have to give the nod to the new school for superior handling, and the win.  So hang on to your Vipers as it will be our benchmark car for the series.

     

Driver	Rating	Skill Level	Viper Lap Time	Cobra Lap Time	Avg lap time
DinoGrumps	2002.176	Gold	2:11.638	2:12.634	2:12.136
ZAR Eries	1979.807	Silver	2:12.103	2:13.621	2:12.862
GTDon2	1977.211	Silver	2:12.989	2:12.832	2:12.910
OiCafe	1964.487	Bronze	2:12.709	2:13.145	2:12.927
AAR OneShot	1965.622	Bronze	2:12.770	2:13.252	2:13.011
ITS Wi11iE	1966.999	Bronze	2:13.122	2:14.249	2:13.685
Poennaninova	1964.544	Bronze	2:13.877	2:14.296	2:14.086
SirKane2	1966.248	Bronze	2:14.835	2:15.014	2:14.924
WritesCode4Food	1965.422	Bronze	2:14.426	2:15.800	2:15.113
	group	average	2:13.236	2:14.217

Testing for Season 13 is ongoing with some interesting observations perhaps unique to Forza and their build formulas.  For as much as we all like to complain about the dumb little things that T10 has gotten way wrong, the big picture view is more admirable.  

T10 has done a great job with its performance algorithms.  They have managed to thwart any sort of cookie-cutter solution to building or tuning a car while allowing graduated divisions for their entire car list.  Meaning, there are some things that will work on most of the cars but there are as many or more things that won't transfer to different cars.  So, each car even within a common class has to be looked at as a unique case when trying to create competitive equality.  For example, just because a race roll cage works better on one car doesn't mean it will for a different car.  This means that you will have to test every car of a particular group and can't just rely on the indicated stats or P.I..

Basically, T10 has made it so that there is often more than one way to build a competitive car, but, there are many more ways to miss this mark too.  One of the things that T10 incorporated in their formula was the relative age of the cars.  Older cars have older technology and less sophisticated chassis designs and geometry, and T10 has taken this nuance into account for their simulation.  What this means is, like the real cars, Forza cars reflect what you would expect in an older car design.  You would expect an older car to be less agile and less responsive with less grip.  They will have an overall feel of less control and slightly less balance but with a healthier dose of torque.  Meanwhile, the newer cars will feel much more composed and controllable with more of a higher-revving lighter engine. Often they are heavier but with a better balance of weight distribution thanks to things like CAD. 

And this is what we are seeing with this new class of Trans Am cars.  The older cars tend to be faster but the newer cars tend to handle better.  It's the old saying that you can make anything fast, but getting the power to the ground with control is the hard part.

We are working on 20 cars that fit the class and are the same cars that run in the real Trans Am Group 6/12a series.  There will be 10 old school and 10 new school cars to pick from.  If you prefer a bit more car control, go with a newer car.  If you want more speed or acceleration go with the old school.

By the way, in practice, I ran 2:14.9 in the 427 Cobra and during the race I ran some dirty 2:14s, I just was pushing the car hard and didn't get clean air or when I did, made mistakes.

WritesCode4Food wrote:By the way, in practice, I ran 2:14.9 in the 427 Cobra and during the race I ran some dirty 2:14s, I just was pushing the car hard and didn't get clean air or when I did, made mistakes.

Yeah, that's fine we have enough of a sample to know where we were at with both cars.

It has been talked about for a few months now that we should tighten up and smooth out the skill-level divisions.  Meaning we should fix the apparent gap(s) by compressing and evenly dividing the different skill levels.

Sounds easy on paper, and would be if we had an even number of all skill levels, but we don't.  Our rating system helps to adjust for this and identifies the actual differences between skill levels.  Fine, but how to compensate for those differences in a fair and more competitive way so that all skill levels are compensated proportionally to each other is the trick.

Over time we've discovered that the best way to boost a slower driver's potential for success is not through giving him more power, or less weight, but through lateral Gs i.e. tire compounds.  In this way everyone has the same speed but not quite the same braking/accel/cornering.  Slower Bronze level drivers are better off with more car control is the point whereas faster drivers can manage cars with less grip.

So, starting next season (Season 13) we will revise the Skill Level divisions to achieve this new and improved graduation from one skill to the next.  Bronze level drivers will be those below 1967.000 (as they are now) and will still be allowed racing slicks, but with the addition of lightest wheels.  Silver level drivers will be from 1967.000 to 1982.00 and will be on sport tires but with the lightest wheels.  Gold level drivers will be from 1982 to1995 on sport tires and heaviest wheels. Platinum drivers (aliens 1995+) will be on street tires with the heaviest wheels or a reduction in tire width when/if there is no downgraded street tire compound available for a certain car. (all will be on the widest tires as a default)

What we think will happen with this spreading out and compression is that more Bronze level drivers will become more competitive and move up into Silver, and that some Silver will move up to Gold.  At the same time the fastest Platinum drivers will have a greater challenge in front of them so they can't easily check out from the rest of the pack.  They are likely to still win but not by as much as they have been winning.

We hope this change is met with applause and not boos as it should help those who asked for a little more help and challenge those who need a little more of a challenge.  If applied to our current ratings list it would look as follows:

Rank	Driver	Rating	Skill Level
1	TPR Picaso	2250.999	Platinum	Heaviest wheels/street tires
2	Quantum XVII	2021.978	Platinum	Heaviest wheels/street tires
3	RIOT ChevyPower	2010.864	Platinum	Heaviest wheels/street tires
4	DinoGrumps	1996.025	Platinum	Heaviest wheels/street tires
5	GTDon2	1991.255	Gold	Heaviest wheels/sport tires
6	SP33D RAC3R 28x	1990.205	Gold	Heaviest wheels/sport tires
7	FRA ChEmajor	1989.966	Gold	Heaviest wheels/sport tires
8	Jimboslize86	1983.012	Gold	Heaviest wheels/sport tires
9	Pepa Doraiba	1982.223	Gold	Heaviest wheels/sport tires
10	STAFFY9000	1978.418	Silver	lightest wheels/sport tires
11	ZAR Eries	1972.468	Silver	lightest wheels/sport tires
12	ApoloXxXCreedXx	1970.678	Silver	lightest wheels/sport tires
13	JDM Kevin72	1969.365	Silver	lightest wheels/sport tires
14	GoSox2000	1969.043	Silver	lightest wheels/sport tires
15	APX TREMEC	1968.946	Silver	lightest wheels/sport tires
16	Whipple 2SS	1968.008	Silver	lightest wheels/sport tires
17	BULLETGTR89	1967.926	Silver	lightest wheels/sport tires
18	TypicalWinner77	1967.807	Silver	lightest wheels/sport tires
19	ZHP 2004	1967.687	Silver	lightest wheels/sport tires
20	ITS Wi11iE	1966.999	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
21	McLarenMP4	1966.704	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
22	SirKane2	1966.682	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
23	ItsBloodyjaws	1966.543	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
24	EarnedCarrot925	1966.297	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
25	PipCentral	1965.667	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
26	AAR OneShot	1965.622	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
27	WritesCode4Food	1965.422	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
28	Papa creech172	1964.883	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
29	OiCafe	1964.818	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
30	Poennaninova	1964.528	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
31	Playerofbass	1964.49	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
32	Gofastbogdan	1964.109	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
33	C2E Prototype	1963.826	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
34	OldManBabyBody	1963.746	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
35	BRAAAP427	1963.535	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
36	EZT TomCat7	1963.091	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires
37	bobaay	1962.971	Bronze	Lightest wheels/race tires

   


I think everyone can see how some people at the edges will move quickly into a higher skill level thus evening things out in short order.  With 4 skill levels instead of just 3 a more even spread can be made and a more condensed or fine tuned graduation exists.

I LIKE IT!

As some of you know, although I've raced Forza since FM5, I didn't turn off assists and get serious about learning how to drive until about 5 years ago, however, I work in the software business and our government has literally created a law for the technology sector that says 60-hour works are acceptable without overtime (I'm salary anyway) so that combined with being a single dad for about 7 years at best I'd get a few hours of Forza in a week averaged out.

When COVID hit and I started working from home for Amazon, I suddenly had some extra hours. I wasn't commuting, my boys are older and more self-sufficient and despite having a crazy on/off girlfriend (long gone), I had time for racing however, my pointer finger and thumb were numb most of the time even filled with medication.

Surgery a year ago changed the game for me! With no pain I finally weened myself off all assists except Simulation steering and braking line. Low and behold, I'm now competitive.

What I'm struggling with now, is tuning, it's time-consuming yet I find I am faster with my own tunes, just want to get there quicker and possibly sooner.

Can you guys share more tips and tricks for how you tune? Purely feel? Do you use telemetry? Tarot cards?

Sure man but honestly it is feel, feel feel. As really no two drivers drive exactly the same. The more skilled you become the more adaptable you are to various feels that different tunes might give.

If the car pushes too much, learn what gives more oversteer in mid corner and exiting, etc. These small adjustments goes a hell of a long way, if you know them.

It comes to at the end a single click makes a world of change in what and how you want to have the car feel and react. I drive traction and my setups never work fully for the others, I tend to like my cars to have a certain feel to them, others likes a different feel. You can learn a lot by getting someones tune and using it, seeing a single thing on track you like and then isolating exactly what that tune has that you like. Try it on your tune and slowly build your base tune.

I have a base tune I use, one that gives me the dame feeling, for the different types of car. I make small tweaks and race like that. Do I have the quickest tune, maybe not but it is one I enjoy driving. We all know the quickest tunes are generally loose af. I hate fighting a car all the time, some do like it, each to his own here.

When online hook me up anytime and I can share what I know. Its not a lot but maybe a single thing helps you out in getting where you want to go.

Peace bro

Eries is correct, what a lot of guys don't know about Forza is that a single click on just about any tuning adjustment can make or break a tune.  So it's a slow process and slower still if you don't know what that single click is giving you.  I rarely make more than a click or two between test runs.  In this way you can begin to feel the differences and start to go in the right direction with your tunes.

GTDon2 wrote:Eries is correct, what a lot of guys don't know about Forza is that a single click on just about any tuning adjustment can make or break a tune.  So it's a slow process and slower still if you don't know what that single click is giving you.  I rarely make more than a click or two between test runs.  In this way you can begin to feel the differences and start to go in the right direction with your tunes.

Actually, that helps a lot. I tend to make drastic changes quickly. I need to be a little more patient!

If you don't know, or didn't notice over in the Race Review of the final race of last season, your season finishing order determines your Official race number for the following season.  If you don't like your Official number or there is a livery you like that has a #17 or higher you may use that number.  

We make it easy here at the IFCA.  We don't have an actual full-blown official livery requirement or even a number plate, but, we do ask that you at least slap an authorized racing number on your car, which is common with all motorsports.

I will be double-checking your numbers, so don't be like BULLET last week and get tagged by the Race Director.  To help avoid this here is the official list.

	Drivers
1	RIOT ChevyPower
2	ZAR Eries
3	Jimboslize86
4	GTDon2
5	DinoGrumps
6	ITS Wi11iE
7	AAR OneShot
8	BULLETGTR89
9	SirKane2
10	EarnedCarrot925
11	Whipple 2SS
12	PipCentral
13	OiCafe
14	Papa creech172
15	WritesCode4Food
16	Poennaninova
17	GoFastbogdan
18	EZT TomCat7
19	ItsBloodyjaws
20	TypicalWinner77

Wow, that course is so bumpy! I think the game isn't as rough

Although we are still in final testing, the following are the 24 cars that you will be able to pick from.  Each car will have a specific build.  

Almost every car you see has been in the real Trans Am race series known as Group 6/12a.  It's really the combining of two classes within Trans Am racing.  It's a fan favorite mix of old vs new machinery with a lot of bragging rights to the winners.  

Basically, both classes were running the same lap times so Trans Am allowed them to race together.  Just about any car is eligible provided you can run competitive lap times.  Sort of a 'run what you brung' within certain limits format.  Because of this, you see a very unusual field of cars from the 1960s-70s-80s vs 1990's-2000's.  

We've selected 12 cars to represent each group as you see below. All cars will be in S-Class.  

These are for the most part cars we don't often get to race because they are difficult to equalize within their own classes.  This makes for a great list of eclectic cars that few of us have ever raced.

The build sheets will be available sometime next week.

	Group 12a
1	2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S
2	2015 Corvette ZO6
3	2007 Ferrari 430
4	1993 Porsche 911 Turbo S
5	1992 Alfa Romeo 155
6	2015 Challenger Hellcat
7	2008 Viper GTS ACR
8	2016 BMW M2
9	2007 Mustang Shelby GT500
10	1995 Mustang SVT Cobra R
11	1990 Camaro IROC-Z
12	2005 Ford GT
	Group 6
1	1982 Porsche 911 Turbo
2	1987 Buick Regal GNX
3	1988 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
4	1967 Corvette Stingray
5	1961 Jaguar E-Type
6	1970 Corvette ZR-1
7	1970 Mercury Cougar
8	1965 Shelby Cobra S/C
9	1969 Mustang Boss 302
10	1969 Camaro SS
11	1965 Mustang GT
12	1958 Aston Martin DBR1

Please continue to check the latest Master Car List for Season 13 as we begin to populate it.  Only 4 of the 24 car builds have been posted so far.  

here:
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6737-trans-am-master-car-list#139320

Okay, the complete list of 13 'Group 6', and 13 'Group 12a' cars have been posted with their build sheets here:
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6737-trans-am-master-car-list#139320

Just for clarification, this is not a multi-class race.  It is two classes formed into one just as it is done in the real Trans Am series for this group.  So basically what we have here is a tribute series of sorts to the real series since we are using all the same cars that are found in the real series.

There will be only 1 IFCA Masters Champion crowned but there will also be a class champion.  If for example, the champion driver uses a Group 6 car, then the Group 12a driver with the most season points will be recognized as a Class Champion of Group 12a.  In this way no matter which car Group you use, you will have a championship to chase. Any car from either group has the potential to be the overall champion based on testing.  Should be a very interesting season.

Get ready for Season 13, April 30th and Group 6/12a Trans Am racing!  Get your car here:
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6737-trans-am-master-car-list#139320

This car is relatively close to what we will be driving in Season 13 @ Road America.  It's got a similar hp to our 67 Vette. The IFCA car has wider tires and way more grip making the lap times far different.  Our car runs around a 2:12.000 to this real car's 2:28.8.  But they both do about the same 170mph top speed.  It's just that the real car has very skinny tires, something about like a stock width, stock tire compound, or worse.  As you can see it's a handful and is very loose.  The extra 50hp the real car has is not helping it at all. lol





Coool!

I've talked to a few of you who had some concerns about whether the skill level scale for Season 13 is right or not.  Some fear that it may be off because Willie has done so well in a Bronze level Porsche.  

What many don't know is that Willie is a Porsche guy, and actually more of a Silver level driver.  

"Then why is he in a Bronze car?"

Because over the course of 2 seasons of racing, he has not raced up to his level.  Even so, he's right at the very top of Bronze with a 1966.843. 

"But why is this?"  

Several factors like track selection, car selection, tuning, practice, and just plain bad luck.  You give me a Bronze level guy who has been doing practice laps, against a Silver level guy who has done little to no practice, and I'll take the Bronze level guy every time.  This is how close the margins are between all of us.  No one can just rest on their laurels around here or the pack will pass you by.

For some context as far as the cars go, nearly every Bronze level car will run in the 2:10s, with a good Silver level driver. And Willie actually is a good Silver level driver.  

The 2014 Porsche 911 is also a good car but it is not as fast and doesn't accelerate as hard as other cars.  It has great grip with the right tune, and has a big top end punch.

"So, what happens if Willie beats everyone in the opening round? Won't that screw up the ratings?"  

No. He will gain at least 13pts or more which places him at the top of Silver or bottom of Gold, depending on where everyone else finishes.  The less everyone finishes as expected, the more points Willie will collect from the field.  

"So, how is that fair to the field?"  

Because the higher Willie goes the worse his build becomes.  As his build becomes slower for race 2, everyone who lost points to him in Race 1 will have a better opportunity to take those points back from him.

"But that doesn't make any sense!  That just means that he will go back to Bronze again, and beat everyone again! And the cycle repeats, ratings busted!"

No, that's not what happens. lol  What happens is yes, Willie goes from being slightly underrated to slightly over rated this is true. But after the 2nd race (Sebring) he will not lose all of the points he had gained.  He will possibly lose some points which brings him down to the Silver level in all likelihood, which is closer to his actual skill level.  

Finally, he will be rated more where he should have been all along and will not likely dip back down into the Bronze level ever again.  If he does manage to go all the way back down to Bronze, this means that he would have had a bad race and gave away all the ratings points he gained in the first race, and, he will lose season points as well.

This is a unique situation, I know of no other drivers who are as far away from their true rating as Willie is.  And sandbagging isn't a factor here either because no one sandbags 2 seasons in advance, it's not worth it. lol

I hope this explains things better for this season.

GTDon2 wrote:I've talked to a few of you who had some concerns about whether the skill level scale for Season 13 is right or not.  Some fear that it may be off because Willie has done so well in a Bronze level Porsche.  

What many don't know is that Willie is a Porsche guy, and actually more of a Silver level driver.  

"Then why is he in a Bronze car?"

Because over the course of 2 seasons of racing, he has not raced up to his level.  Even so, he's right at the very top of Bronze with a 1966.843. 

"But why is this?"  

Several factors like track selection, car selection, tuning, practice, and just plain bad luck.  You give me a Bronze level guy who has been doing practice laps, against a Silver level guy who has done little to no practice, and I'll take the Bronze level guy every time.  This is how close the margins are between all of us.  No one can just rest on their laurels around here or the pack will pass you by.

For some context as far as the cars go, nearly every Bronze level car will run in the 2:10s, with a good Silver level driver. And Willie actually is a good Silver level driver.  

The 2014 Porsche 911 is also a good car but it is not as fast and doesn't accelerate as hard as other cars.  It has great grip with the right tune, and has a big top end punch.

"So, what happens if Willie beats everyone in the opening round? Won't that screw up the ratings?"  

No. He will gain at least 13pts or more which places him at the top of Silver or bottom of Gold, depending on where everyone else finishes.  The less everyone finishes as expected, the more points Willie will collect from the field.  

"So, how is that fair to the field?"  

Because the higher Willie goes the worse his build becomes.  As his build becomes slower for race 2, everyone who lost points to him in Race 1 will have a better opportunity to take those points back from him.

"But that doesn't make any sense!  That just means that he will go back to Bronze again, and beat everyone again! And the cycle repeats, ratings busted!"

No, that's not what happens. lol  What happens is yes, Willie goes from being slightly underrated to slightly over rated this is true. But after the 2nd race (Sebring) he will not lose all of the points he had gained.  He will possibly lose some points which brings him down to the Silver level in all likelihood, which is closer to his actual skill level.  

Finally, he will be rated more where he should have been all along and will not likely dip back down into the Bronze level ever again.  If he does manage to go all the way back down to Bronze, this means that he would have had a bad race and gave away all the ratings points he gained in the first race, and, he will lose season points as well.

This is a unique situation, I know of no other drivers who are as far away from their true rating as Willie is.  And sandbagging isn't a factor here either because no one sandbags 2 seasons in advance, it's not worth it. lol

I hope this explains things better for this season.

I still think the rating system needs tweaking. Based on lap times and results, Gofastbogdan is definitely a faster driver than I am. I have no doubt about that. We've both raced in 8 races, yet I have a higher ranking than him.

If your mind thinks, I had better luck in the races, then I'd ask, why should luck play a part in our ranking?

Personally, I think our driver ranking should be based on lap times against our peers (Bronze, Silver, ...) in the same builds. If we are consistently at the top of our level, then compare our times against what a higher-level driver would do in the same build. If the Bronze driver is driving a Bronze tune as fast as the average Silver driver would do in a Bronze build, then promote them. If they are consistently the slowest lap times in a Silver build then use the reverse for demotion. However, do not use race results for driver ranking because luck plays a part in it! Use race results ONLY for seasonal points.

So, separate scoring for the season and scoring for the driver ranking.

WritesCode4Food wrote:


I still think the rating system needs tweaking. Based on lap times and results, Gofastbogdan is definitely a faster driver than I am. I have no doubt about that. We've both raced in 8 races, yet I have a higher ranking than him.

If your mind thinks, I had better luck in the races, then I'd ask, why should luck play a part in our ranking?

Personally, I think our driver ranking should be based on lap times against our peers (Bronze, Silver, ...) in the same builds. If we are consistently at the top of our level, then compare our times against what a higher-level driver would do in the same build. If the Bronze driver is driving a Bronze tune as fast as the average Silver driver would do in a Bronze build, then promote them. If they are consistently the slowest lap times in a Silver build then use the reverse for demotion. However, do not use race results for driver ranking because luck plays a part in it! Use race results ONLY for seasonal points.

So, separate scoring for the season and scoring for the driver ranking.

Um, no. lol. let's take a closer look.  

Over the last 3 races starting with Homestead, you finished 2nd, then at Mugello you didn't race, and you finished 16th at Daytona. Whereas GoFast finished 3rd, 12th, and 13th. You gained +8 during that period, and GoFast gained only +4.  Or put another way, he lost twice as many points as you, mainly because you missed a race and suffered no losses, but he didn't.  In fact, he lost -6pts at Mugello!

So, if both of you were rated very close to the same, beginning at Homestead, and I added +8 to your rating, and only +4 to GoFast's rating, who do you think is going to be rated higher?  Hmm, let's look back and see....  Sure enough, before the start of Homestead, you were rated 1965.274 and GoFast was rated 1964.271!  That means that you both were only separated by 1.01pts!  And that my friend is why you are currently rated 4pts higher.  I rest my case. lol

Look,  I get you just don't agree with the rating system.  And I think everyone understands that your personal opinion is that you don't agree with the rating system.  I can accept that.  But until you can present some sort of concrete evidence to support your position that warrants a change, then all you have is your opinion.  And so far, I've soundly covered and explained in detail why you are wrong.  And this is yet another such moment.  So, let's just move on shall we? lol

That sounded mean.  What I mean is, this horse is dead so let's stop beating on it okay Code? lol  I promise that if you become a demonstrably more skilled driver than Quantum, the IFCA computer will rate you higher than Quantum.  All you have to do is come in 1st place two or three times and Shazam! Into the Platinum ranks you must go! lol Deal?

As an aside to all this, I have to say that the ratings have been instrumental in defining the pecking order which has helped create the current format.  We are now seeing closer lap times, closer racing, a greater mix of drivers and driver skill at the top, and in different cars no less.  And all the while staying within the meaningful ratings envelope that allows enough room for the fastest driver to still win by a nose.  And this is what we want to see at the end of the day.  Close clean fair racing for every driver from top to bottom.  We want the Bronze guys to have the most potential so they can get better and be more competitive, and we want the Platinum guys to be challenged so that they neither run a way with an easy win, nor destroy their rightful chances to win.

Thank you for all your opinions,

The Benevolent Dictator
GTDon

Just a heads up, we will attempt to have an offseason race today at 7pm EST.  We will run 5laps at all 5 tracks with no pit stops.  There will be a 2 lap qualy before each race.  You can run any car at your skill level and/or a different car at each track if you like.  

Be a good time to bring in any new drivers you have been talking to, too.