Season 2 IFCA Relay Challenge Jan 5th!

by **IFCA GTDon** Sun Nov 18, 2018 3:05 pm

The IFCA Relay Challenge

Have you ever wished for a series that was geared for the little guy? You know, a series that had a format dedicated to creating a truly level playing field that the fast guys couldn’t take advantage of?
How about a series that balanced the cars, and race-craft vs. raw skill equally enough so that your average league racer actually had a better than 50/50 chance of competing? Ever excitedly join a series because one of your favorite cars was on offer, only to discover it was sadly and remarkably uncompetitive for all but the very fastest drivers?

Have you ever been in a series that had restrictions on how you were allowed to drive your car, like, with or without TCS, or ABS? Ever been in a league event where the fastest guys always seem to somehow pick the fastest car every time? Or maybe you’ve experienced a typical spec race where only the fastest drivers know the one magic setup that works way better than all the rest? Hmm?

Well, If these are some of the complaints you’ve had about other simulation racing formats over the years, then your ship has just come in and it’s time to hop on board the “IFCA Relay Challenge” series. We get it, and we have had the same problems with your average racing series too, which is why we invented the unique team relay format. But it doesn’t stop there. We have purposely addressed every complaint we have had with your average league series so that those issues are minimized, and your fun is maximized with a fresh new approach.

First, drive your car the way you want, it is not our business how you like to drive your cars. Secondly, we offer enough cars that you are sure to find a favorite, and because each car was repeatedly tested by an actual test driver driving it as opposed to some formula, you can be confident the car will be able to compete fairly.

Not too good with tunes? Not a problem, we offer multiple tunes for every car, the same tunes that our best drivers use. We also offer statistical comparison sheets for every car so at a glance you can tell which car has the most speed, acceleration, horsepower, torque, P.I., least weight or handling. There are no hidden secrets to the cars we have offered. Their performance is not a mystery and is within 0.1sec per lap on average on the majority of the tracks on our schedule. Every car is built with a specific build and is fully tuneable so that you can customize it to your style of driving. This allows a car to have many solutions to a fast lap rather than just one super secret one like a spec car does.

But, beyond just having some 75 equally prepared popular cars in two classes to pick from, each car also has 4 levels of tire performance available to you based on your IFCA world rating! If you are truly fast, and have a rating well above the average, then your legal version of the car will have a lower tire/width compound. On the other hand if you are below average, then you will have access to a higher tire/width compound.

We’ve been able to precisely determine a scale that says, “a fast guy on slightly lower tires, is roughly equal to a slower guy on higher compound tires.” This is a self-correcting BoP (Balance of Performance) totally dependent on your IFCA rating prior to the race. Do poorly over a few races, and your rating will drop and you will be allowed to use better tires. Do really well every race, and your rating will go up perhaps high enough to force you to use a lesser tire set. In either case the difference is not particularly large and still requires skill to take advantage of, or overcome. Our testing has shown that on average a higher skilled driver still has a slight edge over a lower skilled driver on superior tires most of the time. Typically the higher rated driver is more consistent lap after lap, and this is his main advantage even on inferior tires. So as intended, a drivers skill or lack thereof, is still the prime factor because the tire BoP difference is minor, accounting for only about a 0.5sec increase or decrease in lap times.

Psychologically this is a win win for everyone. For the first time in any league event a slower driver can know for a fact that it isn’t his car that is the problem. It isn’t that his faster opponents have a better car or tune or build either. No, he knows he is in a car with slightly better tires giving him a slightly better car, in turn giving him a slightly better chance to compete for a podium and feel the thrill of going door handle to door handle with a faster driver for the first time ever!

Meanwhile, the faster driver gets to showcase how good his skills really are without jealous accusation, conspiracy, or resentment from his competitors, because, everyone knows he is on inferior rubber, and still competing for a win! If he doesn’t win outright, no shame comes to him. And if he does win (which is likely still) all the more glory to him for doing so in a slightly slower car.

Keep in mind that this tire BoP is not as degradating as manipulating the car itself or enforcing artificial friction limits, or horsepower restrictions. What this does is retain the base performance and characteristics of the car without hurting the way the car responds at all. The only thing that changes is a small amount of grip. On fast tracks less grip hardly matters, on slow tracks it matters more.
The real genius of the relay system is that it is a “true team event.” It is the only known format found anywhere in the Forza racing community that enables you to actually race as a 2-man team cooperatively during a single race. That’s right! Both drivers are in the same lobby at the same time taking turns (stints) while racing their opponents. How? By some simple math of course! It’s a simple formula by which both drivers do the same number of laps and the same number of stints (3), and once both drivers have completed the same number (18laps), they then both come out onto the track together to finish the last 8 laps together.

For your average league racer this is a real help to be able to team up with a faster driver and achieve better results than if he was racing alone. Together you will both become faster as a result.
There are no sign-ups to get in. Everyone must qualify to get in and be one of the 6 teams in the GS class or one of the 6 teams in the ST class. Qualifying is open every Saturday at 6:00pm EST starting Nov 24^th. Saturday Dec 29^th will be the last day you can qualify. That’s 6 attempts before race day on Saturday Jan 5^th at 6:30 EST. You get 4 laps at Daytona 24hr each attempt and you can use any car each attempt, AND you do not have to use that car for the season. Whatever car you do start the season with will be the car you must use for the whole season. Also, you can use a substitute driver just for qualifying if you want. Maybe you know a fast guy, well, bring him in to help your team! Ringers are welcome. Your qualifying time is an average between your team manager and you.

Follow the links below to study the car lists, car stats, car builds, lap times for each track, and official lap records. Then, if you think you might want to throw your hat into the ring, get with GTDon2, or SPEEDYJAB09 on Saturday and run what you brung brother!

P.S. If you are velocity challenged and fall into the 1800 level driver skill level, this is an excellent chance for you to compete with the big boys!

(if you are not rated on the IFCA ratings list you will start as a 1900 level driver)

World Rankings and Ratings
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6516-ifca-forza-7-ratings-and-world-rankings#135703

GS car builds
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6541-ifca-relay-challenge-gs-car-builds

ST car builds
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6547-ifca-relay-challenge-st-car-builds

Car stats sheet
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6550-stats-guide-for-st-and-gs

Official track lap records
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6544-ifca-relay-challenge-track-lap-records-per-class

IFCA Relay Challenge Format
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6540-ifca-relay-challenge-endurance-format