Gran Turismo Racing Series - Development Thread

[Chatters]

Hey guys,

While Benz is toying with the idea of a Formula GT Championship, I thought I'd open this thread up for discussion. Basically, what I want this thread to be about is discussing ideas on how to make the series better, as well as how to attract more competitors to the series, so I want to cover all aspects of the GTRS, in particular:

• Points
• Race Length
• Time permitted for each Round
• Cars
• 'Drop your worst round' or any other similar ideas.

So I want to know from those that competed, and those that stayed on the sidelines, what worked for GTRS4, and what needed improvement? For those who didn't or were unable to compete, what can be changed to make it more convenient for you to enter? Anything goes in this thread.

Thanks guys!

[BertMk2]

Ok, here's my take on things:

Points:
Depends how many people enter, but points down to 8th seems ok.

Race Length:
10ish minutes seems good, it means you can just "pick up and play".

Time permitted for each Round:
A week is about right, if it's any longer then the series will drag on and people may drift away.

Cars:
RWD with enough power to make it interesting and preferably have a variety of cars that can be competitive (I know this is hard). Allow people to swap cars throughout the season (otherwise if you make a bad choice then you're less likely to comete in all rounds).

'Drop your worst round' or any other similar ideas.
Good idea - I'd extend it to allow people to drop a round at which they didn't submit a time, so if someone can't make a round for whatever reason they still have the incentive to complete the other rounds rather than drop out.

[Grandprix]

I would like to see the better drivers in the series have to work a bit harder to win like force them onto tyres that will make them slower, add success ballast ala Touring Cars etc.

[Peredo01]

How about 1998-2000 WRC cars.

[ezepze]

The only reason I dropped out was because of other commitments.
I've enjoyed all the previous series.

I think a 6 - 8 race series is about right
10 - 15 mins per race
1 week between races or it becomes too long
points down to 8 as per GP

I think the limiting factor for many is the car choice, if you dont like the cars you wont continue

I personally like the idea of the horsepower challenge, you (chatters) pick a different hp figure for each round and we have to find a machine ( race tyre equiped ) to quick tune up OR down to fit under that mark.

would ad a lot of variety ( 200 - 900 + hp ), and make everyone think
and no telling about your car choice until times are in.

any thoughts

[Chatters]

Sounds interesting- Not sure how complicated it would get changing cars every round but if everyone else likes it for sure we can do that...

Also, going with what Grandprix said, I think the best way to control "success ballast" is to have increments of time added to a driver's time on top of the time they submit. So for example if someone submits a time of 10:00.000 I add a another 2% of their total time to give them a final time of 10:02.000 (or whatever percentage is decided). However, this is also unreliable as it may encourage cheating from those with time penalties...

Also, what are everyone's thoughts on having an 'enduro' during the season? Good or bad?

[ezepze]

enduro should be for double points
30 mins duration maybe on one of the longer tracks
you could make it the series final race.

and leaving us to choose our own car to suit the Hp would stop people complaining about the car choice

[TIMELORD]

I was raring to go for the last season, but just didn't find enough time to enter any of the rounds. I suppose I was a little turned off by the tracks - not that they aren't classic circuits (Nurburgring, Le Mans, Suzuka, Monte Carlo), but I seem to play on them a lot. Trying others would have been fun, such as Hong Kong, Opera Paris, Seattle, Autumn Ring, Deep Forest, Midfield, Trial Mountain, Infineon, Tsukuba. I think between six and nine rounds would be best, with races of 10-15 minutes (varying from round to round). I like the idea of an endurance event as well.

For a points system, how about the Moto GP system of 25-20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 to the top 15 finishers (maybe all other finishers receiving a point as well, to reward those taking the time to compete!).

I think we should have dropped scores, along the lines of the best 4 if there are 6 events, or 5 from 7, 6 from 8, 6 from 9, or 7 from 10, depending on the number of rounds. We must bear in mind that many competitors will have to miss one or two rounds, and that they will be encouraged to continue if they don't feel that their season is over after missing one event.

Regarding the cars, personally I would like to keep car selection as simple as possible (along current lines), as I don't have too much time to search for or test various cars. Having said that, I enjoyed the Trial Mountain test at the start of Season 3, and I think it would be a good idea to have a pre-season test (lasting a couple of weeks) on a set circuit, so that we can compare cars and times etc.

I think we should definitely stay with pure racing cars, ideally DTM or JGTC machines.

I'd quite like to see the duration of each round extended to two weeks, to allow more of a chance for those that are time challenged. Those who have already set a time within a week can then move onto testing for the next round!

I fully intend to compete in the next series. Well done for all your efforts so far, Chatters, and keep up the good work!

[Chatters]

I like the idea of awarding a point to everyone who sends in a time. I think that's definately something to implement in Season 5.

As for tracks... How about I open up a poll, and everyone chooses the tracks they want for the next season, and we race on the most popular?

Edit: I can't have more then 10 poll options, so maybe one of the mods can add a poll with all the tracks?

[rich07]

Im all for an enduro. Good idea with the the track poll, Chatters, it would be good if that would happen. It would give competitiors the voice to determine what tracks would make up the GTRS, I think most people would be receptive to that idea. Just dont vote for Hong Kong please, I hate that track!!

[ezepze]

if you cant get the poll going we could just post our top 10 tracks

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Peredo01

How about 1998-2000 WRC cars.

We tried a season with the WRC cars and generally they were quite unpopular (understeer all the way!). RWD with plenty of power seems to be the most popular (JGTC, DTM etc)

I'm not a fan of the enduro idea either - I tend to do my races in those brief moments of time when there's nothing else going on and the mrs isn't using the tv. The chances of getting an enduro done are small - also if it was for double points then how would that work with the dropped scores? It would overly penalise anyone that couldn't do the enduro.

Opening up the cars we can use would again I feel play into the hands of those with the most time to test various machines, giving a restricted list does at least give us an easier task of working out what works best for us.

[Chatters]

OK well, seeing as the poll doesn't appear to be happening, I think it's better if everyone just posted a list of all their favourite tracks (say, Top 10).

[rich07]

In no particular order here's my top ten.



Circuit Le Sarthe 2 (the one without the chicanes)
Deep Forest Raceway
El Capitan
Grand Valley Speedway
Laguna Seca
Nurburgring Nordschleife
Suzuka
Tokyo Route 246
Trial Mountain
Tsukuba

[White flag man]

How about everyone has the same car, no tuning.
3 laps per round, that would give plenty of chance to try again if things go pear shaped and stop people giving up if they are struggling. Medium tyres only. Winner of the round has to make a pit stop next round. Enter all lap times, 1 point given to person with fastest lap. 1 point for every entry. Different disciplines (track, street circuit, oval, rally tarmac, rally loose surface, ice).
I'm not a fan of enduro races, I just don't have time.

[Denosaur]

I agree with about having 3 or 4 laps per round, especially on some circuits.

No enduro's!! I end up using the "Auto pilot" as it is in the regular version on long races. And at the same time, some people might not have the time to sit down for that long. I found it hard enough in the last series and couldn't make the last round. At the same time, 2 weeks per round would be good, but then a 1 week makes it go quicker and keeps you on your toes.

How's about using all the street circuits?? Don't know all of them, but I'd say that there are probably at least 6 tracks of the top of my head that could be used, including La Sarthe without the chicanes as they're public roads that make that track.

Go for a points system that cover all entries and I like someones idea of a bonus points system if enter in a time.

Need more than about half a dozen cars to choose from thou.

[BertMk2]

As far as tracks go:

Apricot Hill
Tsukuba
Midfield Raceway
Deep Forest
Trial Mountain
Suzuka
Grand Valley Speedway
Infineon
Twin Ring Motegei

NOT La Sarthe or the Nordschleife (the first is tedious with the riduculous straight) and the second too bumpy by far.

As for cars - just got to make sure that any choices are evenly matched.

[TIMELORD]

I'd like the following to be in the championship:

Hong Kong
Opera Paris
Seattle
Autumn Ring
Deep Forest
Midfield
Trial Mountain
Infineon
Tsukuba
Apricot Hill

Note that these aren't necessarily my favourites, but I'd like to race on them for a change.

I think that 3-lappers might be a bit too short for many tracks (better to think in terms of distance: how about races of between 30-40 miles? The races should be over a meaningful length, rather than being sprints.

[ezepze]

my favs

trial mtn
apricot hill
nurburgring
deep forest
midfield
tokyo r246
el cap
seattle
sarthe1
suzuka

[Chatters]

So, when does everyone think would be a good starting point for this series? Late April? Early May? Earlier? I need to have time to organise all the tracks, cars etc.

[steve_r]

As soon as possible!

This post is registering my intent by the way...

Favourite Tracks:
Nuremburg
Suzuka
El Capitan

[BertMk2]

When we start the new season is largely irrelevant for me - I have no life

[hitchcockm00]

I like the idea of putting everyone in the same car. Make sure it's one that most people like though.

[Chatters]

Any objections?

OK, so I think I have tracks sorted (but for anyone who hasn't voted feel free to post your favourites). Now its time for cars. Any suggestions (apart from mine?)?

[TIMELORD]

M3 looks good to me!