With the success of the Classic Touring Cars Cup quite a few of us are looking forward to the next touring cars championship- and I'm aiming not to disappoint! We've all agreed that for the next season we are going to be graduating from our beloved Classic Touring Cars to DTM cars for the series spec as they are brilliant and fast cars to drive, not to mention that they give us great opportunities for equalisation and good close racing. With all this in mind, I present to you the DTM North America Cup!
Details are still being hammered out for the series and we are having a test event on Monday the 2nd of Jan which you can join at DTM Test Event @ Hockenheimring GP - Monday 2nd January. There are some things we need to start working on to get ourselves sorted to start though.
Teams
First thing is it was put forward that the next series should be a team series with team liveries. I like this idea as it makes it feel like a proper race series, but I'm crap at liveries! Soooooo... Is there anyone out there who fancies making some team liveries for the series? I reckon there will probably be 1 team each (at most) for the Audi TT-R and the Opel, and the rest of the grid will probably be Mercs and A4's, so we'll need three liveries each for those assuming we have a full grid.
Do we want to have our personal numbers on the cars or do we want to go F1 style with numbers based on our previous season's standing? Last point on teams is I am inclined to split the grid in to two groups with the top half in an A pot and the bottom half in a B pot and teams would have to be comprised of one driver from each pot, this way we don't end up with a McLaren Prost/Senna situation. What are everyone's thoughts on the above and whether teams should be assigned or people should be able to pick?
Races
Regarding races... (oh yeah, that part's important too isn't it?) I like the idea of running longer proper races with a qualifying session and then a high lap-count event, with a couple of 2x sprint events sprinkled in for good measure. My thoughts are to run a different points system on the two types of events so that the two sprint races roughly equal the total points of a proper length race. I'm hoping to make the longer races long enough to require people to have to make a pitstop without putting mandatory stops in the rules (having to use strategy is fun). Do people know how long that needs to be? Would we be in that range if we are racing 30 laps or do we need more?
Equalisation / Ballast
In the test event we are going to test a group ballast system for use in the upcoming series. The ballast system we are testing is going to be based on overall ability as opposed to race results. We are testing the use of the engine restrictor part in the upgrade shop that is available in 3 different levels of performance at equal levels for each of the cars available on the grid. The grid will be split in to 3 groups, A being fastest and B and C being slower. A group will be using the stock car with a max PI of 834 (depending on model), B group will use the stage 1 restrictor part on their cars with a max PI of 853, and C group will use a stage 2 restrictor with a (model dependant) max PI of 873. Under testing the different stage restrictors should produce a difference of .5 to 1 sec difference in lap time, and we're hoping to this system doesn't necessarily handicap the good drivers but brings the racing closer together.
I know this all might be a lot to digest but it will all work out- trust me! Let's have a show of the interest in the upcoming DTMNAC and people's thoughts on the above ideas. Any other suggestions for the series are welcome as well.
Details are still being hammered out for the series and we are having a test event on Monday the 2nd of Jan which you can join at DTM Test Event @ Hockenheimring GP - Monday 2nd January. There are some things we need to start working on to get ourselves sorted to start though.
Teams
First thing is it was put forward that the next series should be a team series with team liveries. I like this idea as it makes it feel like a proper race series, but I'm crap at liveries! Soooooo... Is there anyone out there who fancies making some team liveries for the series? I reckon there will probably be 1 team each (at most) for the Audi TT-R and the Opel, and the rest of the grid will probably be Mercs and A4's, so we'll need three liveries each for those assuming we have a full grid.
Do we want to have our personal numbers on the cars or do we want to go F1 style with numbers based on our previous season's standing? Last point on teams is I am inclined to split the grid in to two groups with the top half in an A pot and the bottom half in a B pot and teams would have to be comprised of one driver from each pot, this way we don't end up with a McLaren Prost/Senna situation. What are everyone's thoughts on the above and whether teams should be assigned or people should be able to pick?
Races
Regarding races... (oh yeah, that part's important too isn't it?) I like the idea of running longer proper races with a qualifying session and then a high lap-count event, with a couple of 2x sprint events sprinkled in for good measure. My thoughts are to run a different points system on the two types of events so that the two sprint races roughly equal the total points of a proper length race. I'm hoping to make the longer races long enough to require people to have to make a pitstop without putting mandatory stops in the rules (having to use strategy is fun). Do people know how long that needs to be? Would we be in that range if we are racing 30 laps or do we need more?
Equalisation / Ballast
In the test event we are going to test a group ballast system for use in the upcoming series. The ballast system we are testing is going to be based on overall ability as opposed to race results. We are testing the use of the engine restrictor part in the upgrade shop that is available in 3 different levels of performance at equal levels for each of the cars available on the grid. The grid will be split in to 3 groups, A being fastest and B and C being slower. A group will be using the stock car with a max PI of 834 (depending on model), B group will use the stage 1 restrictor part on their cars with a max PI of 853, and C group will use a stage 2 restrictor with a (model dependant) max PI of 873. Under testing the different stage restrictors should produce a difference of .5 to 1 sec difference in lap time, and we're hoping to this system doesn't necessarily handicap the good drivers but brings the racing closer together.
I know this all might be a lot to digest but it will all work out- trust me! Let's have a show of the interest in the upcoming DTMNAC and people's thoughts on the above ideas. Any other suggestions for the series are welcome as well.
).
