OK, so I don't know what I've done exactly, but as I've not gotten any response in the convos, I'm posting this and it can be deleted later if nas demands it.
SILLY SEASON 2015
As always, the offseason is time for a lot of change, and the GTPlanet Fantasy series is no different. The addition of six more points races, the addition of Audi and Honda, the change to the Dodge Dart, and a number of instances where you simply have to sit back, look at the screen, and ask the ether "Do you even TRY to think first?". However much of that is done, and the events will still have to prove they can handle the series in the future. The now, however, lies in the team and driver rosters shuffling half the deck while replacing the other half. Despite early claims, just over 1/2 of the field did get their entries done in time to compete.
So, lets go over those roster changes in detail, starting with the certainties. As should be know, there are only a few rules for participation in the series, two of which go hand in hand. Follow the GTP AUP, and don't get permabanned. MrUnknown was kicked from the series after being permabanned after winning round 24. He was then replaced by CSMDuty11 for the rest of the season, and obviously will not return...ever. Moving towards the lighter side a bit, two 2014 participants declared in season that they would not return in 2015, Ryou and his #42 and ProjectWHaT and his #69. They have been marked as "Retired" but unlike real life retirement is not an absolute, and if they change their mind and can get back in, they will be welcomed back.
On the other hand we have three returning 'Quo' teams who's only notable changes have been paint scheme details. These three are the #19 Team SNAIL Chevrolet driven by goofytyler, the #79 Ford piloted by BKGlover under the NCTX Motorspots team name, then finally the #88 Chevrolet under the command of Dustone and the Holden Racing Team. These three are also still wholly independent, in opposition to what you are about to read.
Ready for confusion? Good, because the other 40 entries this season are gonna make you ask "Wait, what?" more than once. Lets start off by going over those who are returning:
-Leading of is one entry with only a minor change, the driver's name. The #1, fielded by Team Lucas, is still driven by CodDemon101, however he has officially changed his name to ScuderiaLucas, everything else is the same as last season.
-BayneHamlin1121 returns with the #4, But with this season he is the owner of Autobacs Racing Team America, fielding Hondas instead of Toyotas for the 2015 season with teammates SVX and Davis.
-GranTurismo916 comes back with few changes, but the big news is the change from #6 to #60 while merging into Michelin Racing, formerly Furinkazen Autosport.
-Whitetail has also merged with a competitor, Niku, but everything else is the same, #9 Pontiac under the banner of Rubber Hunters Motorsports, the only Pontiac team in the field.
-nascarfan1400...Hooo boy. Still Chevrolet, but more involved due to being the head of KANS Motorsport, the lead driver of four, and on top of that...changing from #14 to #80.
-Doodle stays under the Chevrolet, but moves under a team banner as well. He was recruited to Team Kate Upton where he was given #21 over his old #17.
-DurWinning also became part of TKU, keeping #20 but running the team in conjuction with Jahgee1124.
-Speaking of, Jahgee1124 splits TKU with DurWinning 50/50. He also keeps his #24, but the team plays second fiddle to KANS Motorsport in the pecking order.
-Much like Jahgee, RACECAR's #32 team stays intact for the most part, but he runs Toyota Team Cuatro with DCybertron and teammates Gerarghini and rookie Clayton Hardy.
-Speaking of Gerarghini, he pulls a full move for the season, joining TTC and erego moving to Toyota from Ford, and from #35 to #30.
-The second member of KANS Motorsport is Silver Wing, necessitating a change from Toyota to Chevy. He keeps the #37 however.
-swiftsmith got an early start on the team thing, dubbing his #50 'Swift Autosport' early in 2014. This continues into 2015 as a full team effort, acting as the factory Ford team, four strong with three rookies.
-Tired iron returns, but has joined up with Harsk World Motorsports, so he stays in the #53, but is now driving an Audi.
-BRRT_Angel moves a full move from a fill-in Ford seat to a full-time factory effort. She moves from what would have been Furinkazen Autosport's #54 Ford to the #7 Chevrolet of KANS Motorsport.
-The final piece of the TKU puzzle, The Bman is only really changing numbers, from #64 to #25.
-raven214 is also undergoing a full move, possibly the biggest as well. He establishes his own team, Raven Motorsport, but he has managed to attain the assets of the 2014 Champion Turbo_snail and had decided to continue on with #97 Chevrolet, the team as a whole using Chevrolets.
-Niku Driver HC, as mentioned, has teammed with Whitetail to represent Pontiac as the Rubber Hunters Motorsports, and like Whitetail will retain the #76.
-DCybertron is the final standing driver added to the Toyota Team Cuatro fold. He moves from #86 to #31, but the rest is really the same.
-quietgirl faces a refreshed Victoria Secret scheme, and a new team affiliation. She joins Raven Motorsport, but retains the #87 and her Chevrolets.
-Harsk100 formed Harsk World Motorsports, and then recruited fellow Concept Cup Dodge driver Tired iron as a teammate. During the offseason, once BRRT_Angel's new number was changed from #0 to #7, Harsk traded his #96 for the now vacant #0, as well as making the jump to Audi, gaining what factory support they offered.
-Michelin Stays in his championship caliber #99 Ford, but he is teammed up with GT916 under his own team banner, Michelin Racing, a union formed under the idea that they would team with Furinkazen. This didn't happen, and Michelin took charge.
So you have the returning drivers, now lets see who's departing and where the new blood will be racing.
-2014 Championship contender GTracer98 is out for 2015, and the points for the #3 Ford were purchased for the Chevrolet World Motorsports #22 Chevrolet of GTracer22. Redundantcy is redundant.
-CSMDuty and the #7 Chevrolet do not return, though CSM is on the reserve driver's list, so Swift Autosport bought the assets and are using them for the new #2 team with tbwhhs at the wheel
-The #11 Toyota of Chqr couldn't make arrangements for the new season, as such the cars have all been folded into the Toyota Team Cuatro fold, specifically for the new #33 Toyota of Clayton Hardy.
-2014 Daytona 400 Champion Roflwaffle couldn't line up the resources to run the new season. As such the #16 Toyota also falls into the TTC fold, but the points and equipment are aimed to be used for the satellite team Polaris Motorsports, supported by TTC obviously. Amaterasu, listed as owner and driver, will pilot the #84 Toyota in this season's ROTY battle.
-ABP and his #18 Chevrolet decided not to return this year, so all assets were passed on to new teams. The team points were transferred to the KANS Motorsports #00 Chevrolet of KuniKino****a.
-Winner of the 2014 season finale, Earth has had many things outside of the series come up, and as such has cut the GTPFS from his racing. Swift Autosport has also taken in the #28 Ford team and given it the #39 for new driver ph1sher.
-Johnny1996 hasn't been seen since the 2014 season beyond racing, and some might argue it wansn't him in the car, but regardless he did not renew for 2015. Raven Motorsport has obtained the team effectively, and have reorganized it from the #38 Chevrolet to the #12 Chevrolet of rcb929.
-Ryou's retirement left the fate of the #42 in the air. Into the picture comes RedDragon and RTi Team NZ collecting the assets and rebranding as the #67 Toyota.
-Ninners didn't renew his license for 2015, allowing the rights for his championship contending team open. They were scooped up for a new Chevrolet team, The Mob Squad #10 of Jordan. All hail the overlord.
-When AJHG couldn't get his renewal in, Harsk took the opportunity to accuire the points from him. As such the #51 is now an Audi being driven by Luke.
-sparkytooth's fleeting interest flew away for 2015, and he sold the team to Swift Autosport in exchange for some gimmicky Lexus. As a result, we stop saying "Dammit sparky." and switch to the ever popular "Dammit Smurfy!". The #55 Ford becomes the #5 Ford of Smurfybug.
-ProjectWHaT's retirement also left his team in limbo. It was accuired by Pucko Racing Team for new driver JockeP22. The team retians the #69 but moves from Chevrolet to Toyota.
-raven214's purchase of Turbo_snails Championship team, and subsequently changing over to all the new stuff, lead to the #71 assets gathering dust. With Dodge withdrawing the Charger, only the points were really worth much, but worth it they were for Audi Sport who bought them for vetteman24 and the new #15 Audi.
-Carbonox faded out of the scene as 2014 went on, so when he did not renew for 2015 it wasn't a big surprise. When Autobacs Racing Team America bought the equipment, they traded out their leftover Chevrolets for some raw chassis to build their new Hondas on. The #74 becomes the #46 Honda of Davis for 2015.
-Bhowe...I really don't know why he didn't return, just that he didn't. BayneHamlin's ARTA effort did the same thing for the #83 they did to the #74, this time the team was reorganized for SVX to drive the #8 Honda.
-Championship contender rallymorten, overloaded from his workload, has cut back on his schedule like Earth did, jost for different reason. RESHIRAM5 purchased the points as the cars were already sold off, and formed Rainbow Road Racing. The team changes from #95 to #05 and will race Hondas in conjuction with the ARTA team.
-MegaUmbreon passed on the 2015 season, allowing his #98 to go freely. The points were then picked up by Chevrolet World Motorsports for their final team car. The #98 Ford becomes the #43 Chevrolet of AudiMan2011.
-Furinkazen has recovered for the most from his accident at Indianapolis, however he decided to move onto other interest, allowing Angel to take the points from the #54 with her, and Michelin to take over what would have been Furinkazen Autosport.
-Last of note is a compicated matter. samurai8juice has decided to only run a partial schedule, leaving to door open for a part-time effort. This was filled by Skython, who in defiance of the world turned to Dodge for help. Dodge decided to help and decided to change the formula. Skython will drive a #11 Dodge for SRT Motorsports, but unlike the rest of the field the full-size model won't be represented. The forces that be decided to field cars based on the Dodge Dart over the Charger.
To all those moving on, good luck to you on future endeavors. To all those running this season, race hard, good luck, and try to bring it back in one piece 007.
...Oh, some parting trivial stuff on the Manufacturers:
-Chevrolet goes from 16 teams to 18 for the 2015 season, the largest manufacturer by far.
-2014 Manu. Champ Ford lost half of it's force, going from 14 to 7 efforts this season.
-Toyota shuffles around a bit, but TRD won't be any more stressed for engines as they remain at 7 teams.
-Pontiac also retains it's 2014 number of 2, and both are out of one shop.
-Dodge was abandoned by their 2014 squad, and so have hit the reset button. Testing the new Dart body, they have one part-time effort for 2015.
-Audi, the first of the European automakers, and Honda are jumping into their first seasons, and both are four-strong in their support effort for 2015.
All right, bash away.
