IFCA Super Touring Oct 19th

Because this pilot program is just 3 races long we will be doubling the bonus points for the practice leaderboard. Top 8 times by Wed night will earn +.50 instead of +0.25.  Top 2 times after Wed will earn +3, top 3-8 times after Wed will earn +2, top 9-24 times earns a full point instead of just +.50.

On the 3rd and final race of this pilot season we will double the race points, and race bonus points, for fastest lap, track lap record, clean driver bonus, and pole bonus.

We will employ our ballast handicap schedule after the first race.  Everyone will begin the first race in whatever car and ballast they desire. No ballast? No problem.  However, the handicap ballast will kick in for the 2nd and 3rd race.  

You are free to use a different car each round too.

Finishing order ballast adjustment after race 1 and 2:

1,2,3, = Pro/Extra Heavy
4-7 = Platinum/Heavy
8-11 = Gold/Medium
12-15 = Silver/Light
16-19 = Bronze/Extra Light
20-24 = Copper/ No Ballast

IFCA GTDon wrote:Because this pilot program is just 3 races long we will be doubling the bonus points for the practice leaderboard. Top 8 times by Wed night will earn +.50 instead of +0.25.  Top 2 times after Wed will earn +3, top 3-8 times after Wed will earn +2, top 9-24 times earns a full point instead of just +.50.

On the 3rd and final race of this pilot season we will double the race points, and race bonus points, for fastest lap, track lap record, clean driver bonus, and pole bonus.

We will employ our ballast handicap schedule after the first race.  Everyone will begin the first race in whatever car and ballast they desire. No ballast? No problem.  However, the handicap ballast will kick in for the 2nd and 3rd race.  

You are free to use a different car each round too.

Finishing order ballast adjustment after race 1 and 2:

1,2,3, = Pro/Extra Heavy
4-7 = Platinum/Heavy
8-11 = Gold/Medium
12-15 = Silver/Light
16-19 = Bronze/Extra Light
20-24 = Copper/ No Ballast

It turns out, to make sure everyone uses the correct ballast, everyone will use 1 car for the whole 3 race season.

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:Because this pilot program is just 3 races long we will be doubling the bonus points for the practice leaderboard. Top 8 times by Wed night will earn +.50 instead of +0.25.  Top 2 times after Wed will earn +3, top 3-8 times after Wed will earn +2, top 9-24 times earns a full point instead of just +.50.

On the 3rd and final race of this pilot season we will double the race points, and race bonus points, for fastest lap, track lap record, clean driver bonus, and pole bonus.

We will employ our ballast handicap schedule after the first race.  Everyone will begin the first race in whatever car and ballast they desire. No ballast? No problem.  However, the handicap ballast will kick in for the 2nd and 3rd race.  

You are free to use a different car each round too.

Finishing order ballast adjustment after race 1 and 2:

1,2,3, = Pro/Extra Heavy
4-7 = Platinum/Heavy
8-11 = Gold/Medium
12-15 = Silver/Light
16-19 = Bronze/Extra Light
20-24 = Copper/ No Ballast

It turns out, to make sure everyone uses the correct ballast, everyone will use 1 car for the whole 3 race season.

Additionally all races will be with clear weather conditions.  This insures that everyone will be able to achieve their best practice lap dial-in.

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:Because this pilot program is just 3 races long we will be doubling the bonus points for the practice leaderboard. Top 8 times by Wed night will earn +.50 instead of +0.25.  Top 2 times after Wed will earn +3, top 3-8 times after Wed will earn +2, top 9-24 times earns a full point instead of just +.50.

On the 3rd and final race of this pilot season we will double the race points, and race bonus points, for fastest lap, track lap record, clean driver bonus, and pole bonus.

We will employ our ballast handicap schedule after the first race.  Everyone will begin the first race in whatever car and ballast they desire. No ballast? No problem.  However, the handicap ballast will kick in for the 2nd and 3rd race.  

You are free to use a different car each round too.

Finishing order ballast adjustment after race 1 and 2:

1,2,3, = Pro/Extra Heavy
4-7 = Platinum/Heavy
8-11 = Gold/Medium
12-15 = Silver/Light
16-19 = Bronze/Extra Light
20-24 = Copper/ No Ballast

It turns out, to make sure everyone uses the correct ballast, everyone will use 1 car for the whole 3 race season.

Additionally all races will be with clear weather conditions.  This insures that everyone will be able to achieve their best practice lap dial-in.

I may have come up with a way to enhance this dial-in format after all.  I think we might be able to properly implement a delayed start sliding scale.  Doing so would make it the equivalent to how it works in drag racing.  In this way we can put enormous pressure on the fast guys as much as we do on the slower guys.  It would really draw out the true benefits of this type of racing known in drag racing as, "Bracket Racing."

I will detail this further, soon...

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:Because this pilot program is just 3 races long we will be doubling the bonus points for the practice leaderboard. Top 8 times by Wed night will earn +.50 instead of +0.25.  Top 2 times after Wed will earn +3, top 3-8 times after Wed will earn +2, top 9-24 times earns a full point instead of just +.50.

On the 3rd and final race of this pilot season we will double the race points, and race bonus points, for fastest lap, track lap record, clean driver bonus, and pole bonus.

We will employ our ballast handicap schedule after the first race.  Everyone will begin the first race in whatever car and ballast they desire. No ballast? No problem.  However, the handicap ballast will kick in for the 2nd and 3rd race.  

You are free to use a different car each round too.

Finishing order ballast adjustment after race 1 and 2:

1,2,3, = Pro/Extra Heavy
4-7 = Platinum/Heavy
8-11 = Gold/Medium
12-15 = Silver/Light
16-19 = Bronze/Extra Light
20-24 = Copper/ No Ballast

It turns out, to make sure everyone uses the correct ballast, everyone will use 1 car for the whole 3 race season.

Additionally all races will be with clear weather conditions.  This insures that everyone will be able to achieve their best practice lap dial-in.

I may have come up with a way to enhance this dial-in format after all.  I think we might be able to properly implement a delayed start sliding scale.  Doing so would make it the equivalent to how it works in drag racing.  In this way we can put enormous pressure on the fast guys as much as we do on the slower guys.  It would really draw out the true benefits of this type of racing known in drag racing as, "Bracket Racing."

I will detail this further, soon...

There is a new tire rule similar to F1.  We will use 3 softs and 1 medium each race. 8laps x 3softs =24laps + 12laps of mediums = 36laps per race, with 3 mandatory pit stops. You decide when to use your mediums.

The idea here is to keep everyone on the fastest tires for the longest period.  During this period is when you will have to be careful not to break out of your dial-in.  But then when you go to your mediums you get a break of sorts, because you can drive as hard as you like since in theory you are in no risk of going faster than your soft tire dial-in.

Keep in mind track conditions will be optimized, clear, no weather changes, no time changes, 100% rubber, like a hot lap session.

Your dial-in does not apply to qualifying.

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:Because this pilot program is just 3 races long we will be doubling the bonus points for the practice leaderboard. Top 8 times by Wed night will earn +.50 instead of +0.25.  Top 2 times after Wed will earn +3, top 3-8 times after Wed will earn +2, top 9-24 times earns a full point instead of just +.50.

On the 3rd and final race of this pilot season we will double the race points, and race bonus points, for fastest lap, track lap record, clean driver bonus, and pole bonus.

We will employ our ballast handicap schedule after the first race.  Everyone will begin the first race in whatever car and ballast they desire. No ballast? No problem.  However, the handicap ballast will kick in for the 2nd and 3rd race.  

You are free to use a different car each round too.

Finishing order ballast adjustment after race 1 and 2:

1,2,3, = Pro/Extra Heavy
4-7 = Platinum/Heavy
8-11 = Gold/Medium
12-15 = Silver/Light
16-19 = Bronze/Extra Light
20-24 = Copper/ No Ballast

It turns out, to make sure everyone uses the correct ballast, everyone will use 1 car for the whole 3 race season.

Additionally all races will be with clear weather conditions.  This insures that everyone will be able to achieve their best practice lap dial-in.

I may have come up with a way to enhance this dial-in format after all.  I think we might be able to properly implement a delayed start sliding scale.  Doing so would make it the equivalent to how it works in drag racing.  In this way we can put enormous pressure on the fast guys as much as we do on the slower guys.  It would really draw out the true benefits of this type of racing known in drag racing as, "Bracket Racing."

I will detail this further, soon...

There is a new tire rule similar to F1.  We will use 3 softs and 1 medium each race. 8laps x 3softs =24laps + 12laps of mediums = 36laps per race, with 3 mandatory pit stops. You decide when to use your mediums.

The idea here is to keep everyone on the fastest tires for the longest period.  During this period is when you will have to be careful not to break out of your dial-in.  But then when you go to your mediums you get a break of sorts, because you can drive as hard as you like since in theory you are in no risk of going faster than your soft tire dial-in.

Keep in mind track conditions will be optimized, clear, no weather changes, no time changes, 100% rubber, like a hot lap session.

Your dial-in does not apply to qualifying.

Okay, I have a bracket race formula for road racing I think will work and be a lot of fun.  

In bracket drag racing the reason you can run cars of different performance levels is because of the dial-in time difference between cars. It's a perfect and extremely fair way to equalize cars, shift the focus toward skill, offer more strategy, and allow a wide variety of cars to compete. 

Let's say one car has a dial-in of 14.50 but the other car has a dial in of 9.50.  This is a gigantic 5sec difference, in drag racing it's an eternity. Such cars would not be able to race equally against each other, ever. Unless, they were bracket racing.  

What happens is, the faster car has to give the slower car a 5sec head start!  Why?  Because that is the time difference between their dial-in times.  So, the faster car has to sit at the line for 5sec before his green light comes on, meanwhile he sees that the slower car is nearly half way down the track already! Yikes!  But if he gets a good start/reaction time, he will arrive at the finish line at nearly the same time as the slower car. The challenge for both drivers is to get to the finish line first, without breaking out of their official dial-in times.  Their dial-in prevents them from going too fast, because if they do, if they break the rule by going faster than their dial-in, they lose. 

Some people like a car that is actually way faster than their dial-in so that they can have more control over their speed.  Others take the opposite approach and like a car that will only go exactly as fast as their stated dial-in so that all they have to concentrate on is a perfect start.  This is why you will see some cars hit the brakes at the finish line so that they don't go too fast.  Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn't.  If the other car has a perfect .000 reaction time and hits his exact dial-in, he will win 99.9% of the time even though he might be in a much slower car. But this is what is hard to do and is the fun part of the challenge. lol

For our purposes we can add this element too, but it has to be modified for it to work right because we aren't doing just 1 lap.  We have to go by estimated averages.  The average lap time difference between weight ballast is about .5sec per lap.  A Platinum ballast is going to be around .5 faster than a Pro, and Silver .5 fast than a Gold, and Bonze .5 faster than a Silver.  However, we don't want to give the store away since the .5 is a consistent perfect condition, lap after lap figure, without pit stops understand.  So no, instead we are going to cut this in half.  Each class will get a .25 per lap head start or a total of 9sec in a typical 36lap race between classes. Which when you do the math is a :54sec head start for a Copper driver over a Pro driver.  Sounds like a lot, but Pro drivers regularly finish well over 1 min ahead or more over Copper drivers on most tracks. So the delay start is no gimme, but it does help to make the racing closer. 

The delay start is not for the first race understand because there is no weight handicap during the first race.  The weighted classes kick in on race 2.  This is why you have to race the same car the whole season, so we can see that you are using the right ballast each round.  You start with a A700 car, and lets say you win, now you have to run the extra heavy (Pro) ballast and your car P.I. drops down maybe 20 P.I. or so for the next race.

Try to keep in mind why we are electing to do this.  For the first time in a long time everyone is allowed to run any car that fits into A700 with racing slicks.  This means that there are going to be vastly different cars with different performance levels being used.  So, we have to invent a way to help level the field as much as possible to be able to allow you to pick any car and build it in any way you want since there will be no league testing.

What this means is that you won't have to worry about being the fastest driver, fastest car, fastest build, or fastest tune, you just have to be the most consistently fast.  Go too fast, and you know the drill. Whatever the total time difference of the slowest car in your class to the fastest is then added to your total time.  If for example the slowest time is 50:30.420 and the fastest is 50:00.320, then 30.10sec will be added to your total time for breaking out of your dial-in. If you are the slowest car in the class and you break out, :30sec will be added to your total time.

For the start we will do a 9sec delay call out for each class starting with the lowest class.

So what does all this do?  It allows you to pick whatever car you want. It puts enormous pressure on you to practice well and race consistently, and more. Everyone except the lowest class will be playing catch up all while trying not to break out of their dial-in, in the same way that bracket drag racers do for a totally close and fair race.

Build a good car, post a great dial-in, and run it as close to your dial-in as you dare in the race.  Each race we will adjust the delayed start figure so that it can be as precise as it can be to have the correct impact we want it to have.

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:

IFCA GTDon wrote:Because this pilot program is just 3 races long we will be doubling the bonus points for the practice leaderboard. Top 8 times by Wed night will earn +.50 instead of +0.25.  Top 2 times after Wed will earn +3, top 3-8 times after Wed will earn +2, top 9-24 times earns a full point instead of just +.50.

On the 3rd and final race of this pilot season we will double the race points, and race bonus points, for fastest lap, track lap record, clean driver bonus, and pole bonus.

We will employ our ballast handicap schedule after the first race.  Everyone will begin the first race in whatever car and ballast they desire. No ballast? No problem.  However, the handicap ballast will kick in for the 2nd and 3rd race.  

You are free to use a different car each round too.

Finishing order ballast adjustment after race 1 and 2:

1,2,3, = Pro/Extra Heavy
4-7 = Platinum/Heavy
8-11 = Gold/Medium
12-15 = Silver/Light
16-19 = Bronze/Extra Light
20-24 = Copper/ No Ballast

It turns out, to make sure everyone uses the correct ballast, everyone will use 1 car for the whole 3 race season.

Additionally all races will be with clear weather conditions.  This insures that everyone will be able to achieve their best practice lap dial-in.

I may have come up with a way to enhance this dial-in format after all.  I think we might be able to properly implement a delayed start sliding scale.  Doing so would make it the equivalent to how it works in drag racing.  In this way we can put enormous pressure on the fast guys as much as we do on the slower guys.  It would really draw out the true benefits of this type of racing known in drag racing as, "Bracket Racing."

I will detail this further, soon...

There is a new tire rule similar to F1.  We will use 3 softs and 1 medium each race. 8laps x 3softs =24laps + 12laps of mediums = 36laps per race, with 3 mandatory pit stops. You decide when to use your mediums.

The idea here is to keep everyone on the fastest tires for the longest period.  During this period is when you will have to be careful not to break out of your dial-in.  But then when you go to your mediums you get a break of sorts, because you can drive as hard as you like since in theory you are in no risk of going faster than your soft tire dial-in.

Keep in mind track conditions will be optimized, clear, no weather changes, no time changes, 100% rubber, like a hot lap session.

Your dial-in does not apply to qualifying.

Okay, I have a bracket race formula for road racing I think will work and be a lot of fun.  

In bracket drag racing the reason you can run cars of different performance levels is because of the dial-in time difference between cars. It's a perfect and extremely fair way to equalize cars, shift the focus toward skill, offer more strategy, and allow a wide variety of cars to compete. 

Let's say one car has a dial-in of 14.50 but the other car has a dial in of 9.50.  This is a gigantic 5sec difference, in drag racing it's an eternity. Such cars would not be able to race equally against each other, ever. Unless, they were bracket racing.  

What happens is, the faster car has to give the slower car a 5sec head start!  Why?  Because that is the time difference between their dial-in times.  So, the faster car has to sit at the line for 5sec before his green light comes on, meanwhile he sees that the slower car is nearly half way down the track already! Yikes!  But if he gets a good start/reaction time, he will arrive at the finish line at nearly the same time as the slower car. The challenge for both drivers is to get to the finish line first, without breaking out of their official dial-in times.  Their dial-in prevents them from going too fast, because if they do, if they break the rule by going faster than their dial-in, they lose. 

Some people like a car that is actually way faster than their dial-in so that they can have more control over their speed.  Others take the opposite approach and like a car that will only go exactly as fast as their stated dial-in so that all they have to concentrate on is a perfect start.  This is why you will see some cars hit the brakes at the finish line so that they don't go too fast.  Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn't.  If the other car has a perfect .000 reaction time and hits his exact dial-in, he will win 99.9% of the time even though he might be in a much slower car. But this is what is hard to do and is the fun part of the challenge. lol

For our purposes we can add this element too, but it has to be modified for it to work right because we aren't doing just 1 lap.  We have to go by estimated averages.  The average lap time difference between weight ballast is about .5sec per lap.  A Platinum ballast is going to be around .5 faster than a Pro, and Silver .5 fast than a Gold, and Bonze .5 faster than a Silver.  However, we don't want to give the store away since the .5 is a consistent perfect condition, lap after lap figure, without pit stops understand.  So no, instead we are going to cut this in half.  Each class will get a .25 per lap head start or a total of 9sec in a typical 36lap race between classes. Which when you do the math is a :54sec head start for a Copper driver over a Pro driver.  Sounds like a lot, but Pro drivers regularly finish well over 1 min ahead or more over Copper drivers on most tracks. So the delay start is no gimme, but it does help to make the racing closer. 

The delay start is not for the first race understand because there is no weight handicap during the first race.  The weighted classes kick in on race 2.  This is why you have to race the same car the whole season, so we can see that you are using the right ballast each round.  You start with a A700 car, and lets say you win, now you have to run the extra heavy (Pro) ballast and your car P.I. drops down maybe 20 P.I. or so for the next race.

Try to keep in mind why we are electing to do this.  For the first time in a long time everyone is allowed to run any car that fits into A700 with racing slicks.  This means that there are going to be vastly different cars with different performance levels being used.  So, we have to invent a way to help level the field as much as possible to be able to allow you to pick any car and build it in any way you want since there will be no league testing.

What this means is that you won't have to worry about being the fastest driver, fastest car, fastest build, or fastest tune, you just have to be the most consistently fast.  Go too fast, and you know the drill. Whatever the total time difference of the slowest car in your class to the fastest is then added to your total time.  If for example the slowest time is 50:30.420 and the fastest is 50:00.320, then 30.10sec will be added to your total time for breaking out of your dial-in. If you are the slowest car in the class and you break out, :30sec will be added to your total time.

For the start we will do a 9sec delay call out for each class starting with the lowest class.

So what does all this do?  It allows you to pick whatever car you want. It puts enormous pressure on you to practice well and race consistently, and more. Everyone except the lowest class will be playing catch up all while trying not to break out of their dial-in, in the same way that bracket drag racers do for a totally close and fair race.

Build a good car, post a great dial-in, and run it as close to your dial-in as you dare in the race.  Each race we will adjust the delayed start figure so that it can be as precise as it can be to have the correct impact we want it to have.

Please review the adjustment to the ballast rule here:
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6947-super-touring-sebring-oct-19th#142208