Let's Make a New Racing Series - Round I

"Tim (Fractal Footwork)" (fractalfootwork)
03/23/2014 at 20:30 • Filed to: Poll, OppositeLock

I've taken a lot of flack from angry Jalopnik commenters by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . I was looking at IndyCar from a business perspective by trying to steal marketshare away from Formula 1 when it was down; fear no more of this completely imaginary change in rules, I am here to guide to into building your own race series.

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Now is your chance to show the people in power your hopes and dreams of reviving GT1, Group B, Group C, and a multitude of other forgotten race series, or your plan to bring about something new entirely. This will either turn out to be incredibly awesome or incredibly hilarious; let's hope for both.

This will be a multi-round process. Options denoted with "[R2]" will be decided in more depth next round, along with other, new options.

If you think there should be an added selection on any poll or a new poll that you would like to vote on, comment below and I will add it in.

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1. Body Style

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2. Wheels

While a wheel count may be commonplace of 4 when starting a new motorsport, I don't think we can ignore it completely.

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3. Engine(s)

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4. Transmission

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4. Freedom of Design (Aerodynamics & Engineering)

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5. Track Type(s)

If any track gains more than 15% of the vote, the next round will decide if more than one type of track will be run in the series.

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6. Type of Race

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DISCUSSION (12)

bob and john > Tim (Fractal Footwork)
03/23/2014 at 20:41

An idea for one series:
you have a set budget. lets say, 200,000

you have to take a production car and use that chassis and motor.
you can make as much HP and use as much fuel as you want, but ur only allowed 2 motors, and you have to make it last for X. (a 24 hour and race for distance, or 2500km and race for time)

daender > Tim (Fractal Footwork)
03/23/2014 at 20:50

I'm mostly happy with the Continental Tires Series since that's probably the closest we'll get to '60s Trans-Am racing but I wouldn't mind seeing more production-based cars on street courses!

John Norris (AngryDrifter) > Tim (Fractal Footwork)
03/23/2014 at 20:50

Kinja'd!!!

Raphael Orlove > Tim (Fractal Footwork)
03/23/2014 at 20:51

NONE OF THESE CHOICES ARE BACKWARDS RALLYCROSS WITH JUMPS/MID-COURSE LOGS AND/OR MUD CARAVAN RACING

Rainbow > Tim (Fractal Footwork)
03/23/2014 at 20:55

Why not all of the above? A completely open race to any vehicle at all on a circuit that covers every possible driving surface?

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Tim (Fractal Footwork)
03/23/2014 at 20:55

I put in all my answers and realized I have basically described Can-Am...

Tim (Fractal Footwork) > Raphael Orlove
03/23/2014 at 21:03

That comes in round 2!

ghosty - electric space wizard > Tim (Fractal Footwork)
03/23/2014 at 21:14

I would love to see an American series like this: Ford makes a Special Taurus with the Coyote and RWD. Chevy races the SS. And dodge races the Charger. All American sedans with RWD. Mostly original bodies but with the obvious racecar changes. And homologation. race on the Road and Street courses. essentially being a US variant of V8SC kind of.

Stephen the Canuck > Tim (Fractal Footwork)
03/23/2014 at 22:09

I have an idea.

How about racing series where there are 25~ races over the season; 18 are road courses, 4 are street courses, and 3 are ovals. (can be modified, would use popular/exciting tracks).

Cars and engines are production based, production cars must use one of the engines available for it to have on the road.

Suspension, aero, engine, etc. are open ended (all modifications should be able to go on a road car). All vehicles must have standard of safety that is very high (full cages, fire extinguishing, etc.).

Teams can use whatever vehicles they like, coupes, sedans, SUVs, trucks, convertibles (must have roll cage that will provide complete rollover protection). They can be any drive train configuration, but must stay true to the road car. The car must have been manufactured in the last 3 years.

Fuel for the race is unlimited. So are tires. Teams can use whichever tires they like (sponsors tires like Formula D). Though they have to pay for fuel and tires out of their budget (fuel is assessed and charged after the race)

Have all the teams qualify on Friday. Group the cars by lap times; divide them into four groups; 1:30-1:39, 1:40-1:49, 1:50-1:59, 2:00-2:09, etc. (lap times may vary more than this, group appropriately). Use weights to balance the faster cars to match the slower cars.

Have four 4 hour long races over the weekend, (2 Saturday and 2 on Sunday). The slower group goes first with the fastest group on Sunday afternoon.

The four hour race is to see whomever completes the most laps (at the end they finish the last lap, and if multiple cars are on the same line it's by who is across first).

Have team championships (teams can run two cars max). Have a driver's championship (points are awarded per position; 1st place in race gets 1 point, 2nd gets 2 points, 40th gets 40 points) where lowest point total wins.

Total sponsorship money for a car would be capped at $200k per race season (parts, travel, entry, R and D, the car) Team can supply up to $100k. Total Budget of $300k. Each team must pay a fee for each race of $2k (can use their own money or sponsors may pay), which is outside of the $300k budget. Race purses won where the last place team gets $200, and each place above that gets 150% of the purse below it. (there's probably a better way to do this).

Get TV deals where possible, possibly with regular or online (streaming). Host car shows on the race weekends, have open pits/staging outside of race time. Encourage fan interactions, have Q/A, meet and greets, other fun things.

Make it accessible to teams, drivers, fans.

Axial > Tim (Fractal Footwork)
03/23/2014 at 23:43

How about an endurance racing series that runs road courses on both asphalt and dirt, and where the only requirements are that you meet safety regs and you have to spend between 900,000 to 1,000,000 on the car (just an example). Those are hard caps, no exceptions.

Otherwise, the style of the car is entirely up to the team. The point is for teams to come up with the fastest machines they can dream up. Since the the spending bracket is so narrow, money is not a deciding factor in the race. It's pure engineering, driving, and racing strategy.

GhostZ > bob and john
03/24/2014 at 20:53

The series is really interesting for 1 or 2 years, and then from that point on, EVERYONE uses the same car because it happens to be the fastest car for that price. In other words, everyone will just use twin turbo Corvettes.

bob and john > GhostZ
03/24/2014 at 21:07

yhmm. maybe a secondary rule that you cant use the same car twice. so u use a corvette for one year, then you have to change the next year, and only after 4-5 years you can reuse a model.