Future Event Ideas

[jjaisli]

I just wanted to 'throw this out there'. For 2010, the official Ferrari Challenge schedule is as follows:

March 12-14 Homestead Miami Speedway, FL
F430Challenge / FXX & Clienti F1(tbc)

April 9-11 Miller Motorsports Park, UT
F430Challenge / FXX & Clienti F1 (tbc)

May 1-2 Infineon, Napa Valley CA
F430 Challenge

June 26-27 Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada
F430 Challenge

July 31-Aug 1 New Jersey Motorsports Park, NJ
F430 Challenge

September 3-5 Watkins Glen, NY
F430 Challenge and Shell Historics in conjunction with Club Meet

November tbd International Finals tbd


European schedule as follows:

Monza (ITA)
12 Apr 2009

Algarve (PRT)
17 May 2009

Imola (ITA)
05 Jul 2009

Paul Ricard (FRA)
06 Sep 2009

Brno (CZR)
27 Sep 2009

Valencia (ESP)


Italian series schedule:

29 Mar 2009
Monza (ITA)

03 May 2009
Mugello (ITA)

17 May 2009
Imola (ITA)

05 Jul 2009
Paul Ricard (FRA)

06 Sep 2009
Brno (CZR)

11 Oct 2009
Vallelunga (ITA)

15 Nov 2009
World Finals - Valencia (SPA)

Real Ferrari Challenge races (2 per weekend) are run for 38 minutes + 1 lap. No fuel or pit stops are permitted and tire stops are only allowed in case of danger or flat tire.


Points are awarded as follows:
1st Classified 30 9th Classified 8
2nd Classified 25 10th Classified 6
3rd Classified 21 11th Classified 5
4th Classified 18 12th Classified 4
5th Classified 16 13th Classified 3
6th Classified 14 14th Classified 2
7th Classified 12 15th Classified 1
8th Classified 10
• 1 point will be assigned to the Pole Position of each Race;
• 1 point will be assigned to the Fastest Lap of each Race;

Not that it really matters, but it might be interesting to try and run the races for either 15 or 20 laps (with qualifying) and to pick from these tracks, just to keep it authentic.

 

[arvore]

Yeah,maybe we should stick to one event(series) at one time-i think the old timer events should be almost over ain't it Jeff?- in a 15 days weekend event basis,since henrick has the problems with sundays...

I also think Jeff or Mario-due to their experience in these things-or both should organize this and set the rules(altought probably some won't please me ) to avoid and endeless discussion about them...

About the host i really don't like to mess with the winning team and things are going well with jeff hardwired connection(the freezing problem could happen to anyone) but if he thinks that is to much off a burden to him we could go to a secondary host who has good conection-Alan,in case he doesn't mind,could be a good solution...

 

[bullie77]

Hi Jeff,

I think this could be a really good suggestion. For example, we could do a mixed of the American/European/Italian RL Challenge Series and have a schedule such as:

1) Homestead Miami Speedway (Infield)
2) Infineon (Sprint)
3) Mont-Tremblant
4) Monza
5) Mugello International
6) Vallelunga
7) Misano

Although I don't disregard this example of a selection (see, I'm your friend and left Paul Ricard out), there are a few favourites that are left outside (Spa, Silverstone, etc.), so I think we should keep the poll to see everybody's opinions. What do you think?

 

[jjaisli]

While I wouldn't mind to host, and I appreciate everybody's nomination or co-nomination, my big problem is simply finding the time and committing to it. While I enjoy putting these events together and I'm happy to offer whatever assistance and support I can, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep it up. So it might make more sense for somebody else to host it. And either way, I wouldn't want to host two different series concurrently. But I would have no issue if somebody else wanted to run it together.

Right now, for the Old Timer series, I'm trying to plan a 512M race on the 31st (a car I'm not exactly looking forward to because I don't think it's performance is conducive to larger lobbies), and after that, we'd be looking at the 288 GTO and then F40 et finis. I thought about adding the 512M ('94) but I think this would go better with the 3rd series I was planning after the Challenge series, "The Road Car Event".

I always envisioned the Challenge series emulating the real life series as far as tracks, race length, format, points, etc. But I would, for example, have no problem adding ABS for the 355 Challenge and higher. And traction control for the F430 and higher. Because those cars in the series actually do run with traction control and ABS. Same with the FXX. So I see it as keeping with the spirit of the series. And if people don't want to use them, it's up to them.

 

[chilledant]

@jj in real life racing the use of assists are, used our not used,, it would be a bit stupid if in F1 half the grid uses assists and the other half not, this is just my view on it please dont take it personal,, i think there would be closer racing yes,, but if we on default with the fxx for example, that car does not have traction out of turns,, even more so existing slower corners,, its tail happy, with the slower cars i have no problem they hard to lose control off,, but then again ABS helps with them,, this could really turn into a heated debate,, maybe a poll should be set up to see what kind of response we get our a vote to see if they should be used,,,, Chilli..

 

[Alan_G]

While I wouldn't mind to host, and I appreciate everybody's nomination or co-nomination, my big problem is simply finding the time and committing to it. While I enjoy putting these events together and I'm happy to offer whatever assistance and support I can, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep it up.

Yes, this is part of the reason why I would like to spread the responsibilities over participants. JJ, compared to some others (such as myself). are at completely opposite ends of the busy-spectrum. He seems very busy throughout the week and barely gets time to practice for his own events, and then has to co-ordinate the whole thing. Many others taking part have much more time and wouldn't mind taking the responsibilities for this stuff. And I think it's difficult for one to enjoy the event when doing everything; preparation, hosting, invitations, results processing etc.

Arvore mentioned about hosting/connection stuff: I don't think just a single person should be used all the time, even with someone else as a backup. I think it should be distributed over whatever number of people can host, and have a good enough setup. Also, given that the majority of users are in Europe, it makes sense to give preference to a European host, which definitely helps to reduce any lag issues. Personally, I would do this as I'm in Europe, my connection is set up properly and I have plenty of time! It would be good if there were a few others who could host, and spread this over the series.

I like the idea of the schedule made up of a real life series. The problem with this is, looking at those schedules posted above, in SCC we would just be picking bits and pieces due to lack of circuits in SCC, and the resultant series would look nothing like any of them.

 

[jjaisli]

I'm glad you're volunteering to host Alan! And I think your attention to detail, technical prowess and general ability makes you're perfectly suited.

Just to explain, I wasn't necessarily suggesting we hold the actual races at the same tracks on the same days as the real series. I just used it to illustrate which tracks and how many are run over a season.

@ ChilledAnt: My idea of allowing assists was just a matter of keeping in line with the way the cars are set up in the actual events and trying to make them as close to real world Ferrari Challenge races as possible.

Of course they Ferrari Challenge series also features rolling starts. Hmmmm.

 

[Alan_G]

Ah yes of course. I was just talking about whether or not to make an attempt at all to include particular tracks featured in any of those series. I think not - I think the set of circuits should be just put together by the poll thing. Maybe the order could related to RL; the opening or finishing event could relate to real life.

 

[Biggles]

I've never been a major fan of these "big events" because of:

1) The difficulty in organizing & scheduling them (it's mainly been a burden on Jeff up to this point).

2) The connectivity & glitches associated with large lobbies.

3) The unfairness in grid positions with large lobbies - has maybe been addressed with our qualifying laps, although not completely successfully.

4) Our collective inability to run clean laps in a crowded field.

5) Long races are "fairer", but can end up being tedious because the field becomes so widely separated.

6) The actual results tend to be meaningless, because of no-shows, incomplete races, or other problems.

IMO the point of the racing is to have fun in a competitive environment - whatever arrangement best achieves this is what I favour, whether or not it corresponds to what happens in any RL racing series.

Back in the FC days I proposed, & set up a competition "ladder". It wasn't very successful because the participation was too sporadic. Given the more committed participation in SCC online racing, perhaps we could give it another try. In FC it was intended primarily for one-on-one racing, but as SCC provides a more stable online experience, it could be organized to be run with up to 4 - 6 participants per race. As racers would be grouped according to ability, players should end up racing with others of a similar ability, which hopefully would lead to more exciting, closer races. The aim for racers would not be: "to avoid being lapped by Alan", but to improve their position relative to their immediate competitors.

Overall, the results would be more meaningful, as drivers would move up or down the ladder according to their race results. The cars chosen, the tracks, the length of races etc. could be decided on a more flexible basis.

Of course, this does not preclude having periodic "big events" - it would be more a way of channeling day-to-day racing into a somewhat more organized format - sort of a "league" rather than a "cup" event.

Any comments?

 

[Alan_G]

When I considered the problem of having more than 16 participants, I thought about the possibility of splitting everyone into groups. Naturally, how they are split would need to be carefully considered. So this ladder sounds like what I had in mind as a solution.

Although with upwards of 16 players, a 348 challenge race is quite different from any of the Old TImer races.

"4) Our collective inability to run clean laps in a crowded field." - With the friendly handling of the 348 Challenge, this problem is much reduced. Last night we had around 11 people in a lobby. The only on-track problem occurred with one particular person doing some pretty stupid driving. With all of the regulars, it was fine.

"5) Long races are "fairer", but can end up being tedious because the field becomes so widely separated." - We did a couple of 7 lap race. At the end of one of them, the first 4 places crossed the line within a couple of seconds of each other. In another, at Silverstone National, most of the field lapped within < 1s of each other. So the point is, with this car it really tightens the field up. One particular user, who I have lapped a few times in the Old Timer event I believe, was right up there after 7 laps showing strong pace and battling for a high position.

 

[jjaisli]

Oh no Biggles, not the ladder again.

Sorry, I don't mean to be so negative. In principle, it was a good idea, but I'm afraid it failed before and is simply doomed to fail again for the simple reason that it was left on it's own and completely up the discretion of all the participants to take an active roll on their own initiative. And frankly, there were some weak links in that chain. If the ladder series is EVER going to work, it must be treated like a small child, that needs constant guidance and attention. It will never be self sustaining and it needs an administrator to be more active in the goings and comings and push along challenges.

I can tell you that I made a challenge within a day or two after the ladder was up and running. And after that I made another challenge, for which I had to wait for acceptance depending on the outcome of the event the person I had challenged was currently engaged. Well, that dragged on and after 2 weeks it hadn't happened. The next person I challenged never answered the request. I think I then asked somebody else who also never responded. Or did respond and said they didn't have time. In which case I would have moved up 3-4 spots, a position I would not have gained on merit against drivers who I knew were faster and I kind of lost interest.

 

[Biggles]

Well, like anything it does need some organization & some commitment on the part of the participants. We really didn't have any success in organizing "big events" either back then. It could be more successful this time around with the impetus given by the "Old Timer" events.

The thing is, when I look at the experience of the SCC "big events", it has been 30% waiting around while we sort out the various glitches & disconnections, 30% crashing & punting, 30% racing alone, & 10% good, close racing. (Oh, & 50% post-race discussion ) It's all very well as a "social event", but frankly I have had more fun racing on a casual basis - 3 or 4 laps in close competition with a couple of other SCC friends.

A "ladder" just attempts to put some competitive structure into the day-to-day race meets.

 

[drivatar]

5) Long races are "fairer", but can end up being tedious because the field becomes so widely separated.

Yes, it's no fun driving 20 min without much competition what can easily happen in those 20 laps events. If problems come up much more is ruined if you have few but long races.
10 laps should be enough.

My pace with the 348 Challenge was a surprise yesterday .

Because of the reasons jjaisli mentioned I don't think a ladder system will turn out satisfactory

 

[Alan_G]

My pace with the 348 Challenge was a surprise yesterday .

Yes, and you were the person I had in mind who showed a strong pace, probably due to the more friendly handling of these cars. But it was the whole field who was squeezed much more closely. At Silverstone National, coming to start the final lap, Frawe was in 1st position, and he commented afterwards he thought he had a chance of winning! (although a couple of us slipped by)

 

[Biggles]

10 laps should be enough.

I'm inclined to agree: as long as the grid positions are fair - ie competitive racers are grouped together - and 8 - 10 racers rather than 15 or 16, 10 laps should be enough to get a fair result.

Oh no Biggles, not the ladder again.

You're just going to have to face up to that fear of heights, Jeff ...

 

[arvore]

*BUMP*

I Know our ancient is probably still in his caribean vacations...👍

But come on you guys what about everyone else????
All the brainstorming for nothing....????
Let's put up some ideas toghether...what do we all agree???

-the car-348 Challenge

-the tracks-bullies pool

-no set ups

Lets try to agree onthe format to see if we get things rolling after the old timer events are concluded...👍

TKX

 

[jjaisli]

I'd be happy to 'sell' the SCC Ferrari Challenge series intellectual property to a qualified host and promoter for nothing more than a guaranteed grid spot.

 

[new_soul]

*BUMP*

I Know our ancient is probably still in his caribean vacations...👍

But come on you guys what about everyone else????
All the brainstorming for nothing....????
Let's put up some ideas toghether...what do we all agree???

-the car-348 Challenge

-the tracks-bullies pool

-no set ups

Lets try to agree onthe format to see if we get things rolling after the old timer events are concluded...👍

TKX

what about a car pool ?