Formula Renault 3.5 2014 League Managers Report
The season has been run and won. Time to make a report to try to trap any good things and define any possible improvements going forward.
Situation and background.
Rfactor 2 was growing steadily if not phenomenally within Race Department.
We had run a Virtual World Series by Renault in both Clios and the The Formula Renault 3.5 2010 car. The FR 3.5 season was a “problem season”.
Very high drop out. Started with appr 22 cars. Final 2 rounds had 7.The car was not popular and hard to manage for some.
The Formula Renault 3.5 2014 car was in the writers view much improved and both worthy of a league and importantly likely to spawn leagues in various communities. We wanted RD to be the place to race this new improved car.
So the league was proposed.
Objectives
Quantitative:
To have strong numbers each week (16-24).
To lower significantly the drop out rate from the previous leagues appalling 75% to a target of 25%.
Qualitative:
To have a high standard at the front but also have a welcoming climate for all standards of clean racers.
To have a culture of “friendly on the track and off it”. Incl lobby and forum threads.
To have a league where becoming champion was something very special. Where a podium was prized. Where a top 10 result for an “average driver” was special.
To crown a worthy drivers champion.
Staff
Gijs van Eldren stepped forward and offered to run the “Back End” ie server, mods and technical resources etc. Gijs also became the joint manager in key decisions.
Once calendar created and dates cheked Daiman Patel offered to stand in for Gijs at Bahrain.
Tools and Processes.
Initially a poll was conducted seeking expressions of interest. It was envisioned that to run 24 cars we would need appr 30 initial signups.
Further polls were conducted on track selection from the list Gijs van Eldren produced and also race weekend format. These polls both helped decide the various choices and further stimulated interest and discussion in a possible league.
Race Format
It was decided amongst staff to run a short and sharp 6 rounds and to avoid FSR and VWEC clashes.
Also only best 5 of 6 to count thus allowing for bad luck, disconnections, real world clashes and thus prevent such issues ruling drivers out of a season result and potentially causing a departure.
The vote decided on a two race “weekend” of 45 and 30 mins. Reverse grid for race 2 for top 10 in race 1. Top 10 was decided on to reward getting into top 10 and avoid “developing drivers” getting swamped at the start.
As a fitting finale we ran a longer (90 min) final race for a full weekend points.
Points. Initially F1 style points format was proposed but when the grid grew to 24 we reverted to normal RD points system. Race 2 was 50% points.
Assists
In view of the desired standards and status of the league it was no assists other than auto clutch. And Parc Ferme to create the occasional challenges.
Qualifying;
Super-pole was used to create excitement,and unpredictability creating the occasional charge from the back and to save time.
Teams
To help create a compelling “Constructors” as well as Drivers Championship we decided on a system of auto-paired team formation based on pace.
This required a couple of practice and rankings races thereafter teams were created by pairing
#1 with #24, #2 with #23 and so on.
It created an interesting dynamic within teams. Some with a clear #1 driver. Others down the list with closer pairings.
A drivers market was then opened up to allow mates to swap teams and drive with their planned team mate by paying a team fee* of the estimated points value difference between incoming and outgoing drivers.
*No impact on WDC just WCC points.
Below see a comparison of the estimated value and actual performance##.
This worked to keep a pairing of lesser ranked drivers in the WCC hunt and made it tougher for a pairing of #1 drivers to “walk away” with the WCC.
Practice and rankings races.
As well as facilitating the above these races served to;
Share our expectations of track and off track behaviour.
Let any early departures happen before the league proper.
A couple of such matters were dealt with and resulted in early departures.
League Manager
was implemented by Gijs. Once proven accurate the XL spreadsheet was retired.
This system of race results and points tabulation was excellent.
Management of poor driving.
Several penalties were applied. Most commonly used was a “no qualifying” and start at the back at the next round. One driver received this after several contacts in Bahrain. Following a further transgression at Suzuka he was given a 1 race ban. Several “no qualifying” penalties were applied after exceeding track limits at Suzuka qualifying.
Drivers were required to initially contact the transgressor and attempt to deal with it. Then come to stewards. One warning was issued after poor lobby behaviour. That driver left the league.
Marketing and Promotion
The option of advertising in the ISI forums was considered but once we had achieved a full grid was not implemented. It was preferred to grow organically within RD and from word of mouth than risk “flaky” signups.
Several drivers posted videos on Youtube.
We wrote and posted a “Newspaper” The Blown Diffuser” within RD. Once or twice it was presented as a featured article. Later editions were deemed not up to the standard for this honour.
A Club race was run on the Thursday before the league race to get new drivers involved.
This race featured 12-17 drivers each week and of itself was a success.
Through word of mouth we continued to get new drivers of a very high standard that met and exceeded any drop out.
We created home made physical trophies for WDC and WCC to increase the feeling of tangible success around the league.
Weather
The cars are all but undriveable in full wet conditions. However Gijs managed to push the envelope with Dusk qualifying at Bahrain and high race temps and a short rain spell at Sepang. These added a lot to the oddysey of the league journey. A similar wet spell was tested at the club race prior to the final but as it was a 60 mins race vs 45 it was a slightly longer wet spell and right on the limit. In a 90min race may have been a drama so was deleted for the finale.
Outcomes Quantitative
Race attendance was 22-24 drivers at every round.
Final round was 19 drivers but 2 more wanted to race so 21 is fair.
Drop out rate target was achieved at circa 25% (8 of 24).
Outcomes Qualitative
The return of the defending champion Dino Paolini was a big boost.
Several accomplished drivers arrived on the scene initially and later newly arrived drivers due to word of mouth. The standard of new arrivals met or exceeded that of departed drivers. Where possible we slotted them into WCC teams. We enjoyed the performances of several other very fast guys and the standard of the top 5-6 drivers was very high giving the rest a learning curve, target, and sense of purpose.
Overall standards were also high. A top 10 finish did mean something to capable mid pack drivers.
Even getting in the points was not assured.
The WDC was open till the final round with 3 drivers in a realistic place to win. If you won this league you did something special by beating some credentialled drivers.
Some teams embraced the WCC scenario with good teamwork. Such a dynamic created a mentoring and knowledge sharing on issues such as setups, strategy, skinning, driving. It also created new bonds amongst drivers.
Challenges
Drop outs are enumerated above. Of the 8 or so droputs, 2-3 dropped out due to significant unpredictable and pressing real world events. 3-4 for more frivolous reasons.
This in my view is as good as it gets in such a league. People get upset, change their mind, get distracted, fail to plan. Its voluntary and its for fun and we will never please everyone.
Build 880 was a bit buggy and caused several drivers issues and much frustration at Monza. With 15 finishers we decided it would stand.
Some guidance was issued.
Further issues but not as many occurred at Sepang.
Strangely by Suzuka it was ok.
There was some complaints by a loud minority over track (version) selection at Spa. They were by no means well supported by the majority. It was considered not a broken track and in the view of many was better than the suggested version and stood. One driver left the league over the failure to get his favourite version used.
In the main the grid settled down to the job of racing as the season progressed and matured.
Conclusions and possible improvements
It is felt by the writer that we had a very successful season.
Qualitatively and quantitatively the set objectives were met.
The Club scene was strengthened synergistic-ally rather than weakened by the league.
New drivers arrived and raced.
The format seemed to work with race 2 spicing it up for the drivers outside the top 5-6.
Hopefully the foundations are laid for this league to be “a keeper” and form a key plank in RD RF2 schedule going forward.
Improvements.
We had several FSR drivers on the grid. We should investigate furthering possible synergies with FSR with such possibilities as...
Using more FSR tracks to facilitate practice and preparation.
FSR Feeder status? eg a guaranteed test with a top FSR team for the championship winner.
That is not to say its our core aim. They stay the same and maybe we rule these out as incompatible. But we should look into it.
Maybe a second or even 3rd “90 minute special” on popular and iconic tracks.
Further key decisions can be found here
http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/notice-board.93340/
## Did we get the driver valuations right for the team pairings?
Comparison of driver pre season points valuations used for driver market and the actual points scored.
A selection of drivers who completed 5 rounds.
Driver Points Value/actual final score.
Aleksi Kivela 115 /113
Dino Paolini 110/107
James Sadler 90/98
Nicolas Delamare 75/64
Tapio Rinneaho 70/41
James Bolton 35/27.5
Jason Skyring 35/13.5
Xavier Poirel 15/36
Martin Bulgin 15/17.5
David OReilly 15/28.5
Thanks to Gijs and David for running a great Championship as well.
