iRacing League Discussion

[Kenadian]

Why limit to weekend? There's a lot of SOF and other league racing going on as is, why not open the poll to all days. But yes, we should continue on with the discussion.

...because most people have jobs.

The average workweek is Mon - Fri.

Also as Noel stated, we don't just have North Americans interested here, we have Euro's as well and it's impossible for them to get on if we're to race weeknights.

 

[Daunt]

What they said.

 

[Kenadian]

I've been giving this a lot of thought for a long, long time now and honestly the more questions I ask the more varied opinion I get when it comes to League.

Everybody wants something different and it's simply impossible to make everyone happy so I'll go with what I think gives us our biggest chance of success.

Based off of Twitch viewership and what has brought in the most new Members to our Community and Teamspeak the League will be GT3 based off Blancpain Sprint Series Rules.

This means races will be 1 hour in length with a mandatory Pit Window as fuel will be limited to start. We'll most likely be running a fixed setup for each car so as to keep them equal.

I have to check with iRacing if this can be done but if possible Grid Position will be set from a Qualify Race.

I've already contacted iRacing and inquired about the possibility of nerfing the GT3 Cars to allow for inclusion of a buffed CTS-VR and will update once I know.

There will be no fast repair.

Races will be held mid day on the Weekends but which day will be set from a Poll on the Blog.

We'll likely set a minimum license level of C into the Series but will allow for lower license level drivers to join based off their competence in Practice Pals Sessions.

This is yet another way to motivate people to join Practice Pals Sessions.

That's all I have for now so please feel free to chime in.

Just know that the main format (Blancpain Sprint, 1 hr, weekends) is now set in stone and will not be altered, my apologies.

 

[Kenadian]

Response from iRacing Support:

You would have to do significant testing to see how much weight might make it equal to the GT3 cars. I have no idea if it can be made equal through setup and weight. Your going to have to trial and error it.

I'd love to have the car in there so it's worth trying for starters.

 

[Daunt]

Most of that I agree with 100%. GT3 will ensure growth and the largest participation, which is very important.

Only thing I might disagree with is a fast repair. Considering we're aiming to be more of an entry-level league, rather than a pro-type league, we want it to be beginner friendly. It is always nice having a fallback on that.

Other than that, I'd love to see it happen. I highly doubt we'll get anywhere with the Caddy. Personally I'd love to see a GT1/GT3 combo... that would be absolutely amazing, especially with the upcoming Aston. Would have to drop a GT3 car to make it work because we're limited to 5 cars currently.

In theory that would be awesome but we'd have to get good participation from both series for one, and two, enforce racing one or the other (no switching back and forth, etc)

 

[Daunt]

Response from iRacing Support:



I'd love to have the car in there so it's worth trying for starters.

We can try it no doubt. I'd be down for going through it. I think the first step would be test sessions in the cadillac at a couple tracks like Spa, Silverstone and RA and see if we can match our GT3 times.

I guess the first question is, can we remove weight from the Caddy, or are we looking at adding weight to the other 4? Because the latter would require a TON more work. If we can remove from the Caddy, is there a limit?

 

[Kenadian]

It sounds like it hasn't been done or even thought of before over at iRacing so it's going to be up to us to figure this out. I'm pretty sure we can remove weight from the Caddy and if we can address it's horrible understeer (as I'm sure we can based off S2 2014 Global Challenge fixed) then it's going to be close.

Having said that, the Cadillac may also have a huge advantage on the straights but again I'm not sure? We'd have to drag race the thing just to see what it can do in a straight line and adjust accordingly.

It could be we can't get it to work but I'd love to try as it's the one thing our League has that no one else will.

...plus let's face it, the CTS-VR belongs there much more than the Ford does.

 

[Kenadian]

Fast repair isn't set in stone but I like the idea of not having it to encourage clean racing. GT3 is already riddled with horrible driving standards even in the Top Splits so I want to keep that out of here if possible.

I really want this to be a clean racing series so removing access to fast repair is something I feel will help clean things up.

I'd also love to add all affected meatballs so in that if one car gets a meatball so then do the others that were included in the accident.

I don't know if this is possible though?

I do understand that we want to draw in as many people as possible but I'd much rather have a smaller grid with competent drivers rather than a large grid full of nutjobs.

Ultimately I want this to appeal to both new and veteran racers and everyone I know who's been in iRacing for any length of time complains about the chaos in GT3.

Lastly I think encouraging the clean, competitive nature of this series will benefit Practice Pals. League and P2 are joined at the hip because I don't think one can exist without the other.

Think of our average P2 session but with longer runs , clean, close racing and our ridiculous comms; who wouldn't want to join that?

I think we're unique enough to draw in drivers regularly so my fear isn't about the few that won't like no quick repair, my fear is 60 grid spots won't be enough in S3.

 

[Daunt]

I dunno, I mean with growth that means we can be more selective. I don't want to say we pick and choose, but it won't be a huge deal for the league as whole to kick out reckless drivers. I certainly agree that we want quality over quantity, but to begin with, we need enough to make a league worthwhile.

Our V8 league has 1 quick repair and I see incredibly clean, respectful racing. I think it is moreso about the drivers as a whole. If anything I'd contend that quick repairs are used 75% of the time in the league now as a "shit i fucked up on my own" rather than any sort of dirty or careless racing.

Either way, I think the key is having a consistent and very well responding officiating. If things happen during the race, it needs to be evaluated and taken care of.