"So... I wonder if anyone can beat me this year?"
Never fear, dr-baker and others, the F1RMGP Women's European Cup is back for a second season, and better still, the calendar's expanded to 12 rounds in 12 different countries. The first season, as you'll all know, was very much a dry run for an all-new F1RMGP setup, and served its purpose adequately (in the end). And it seems so many of you have got a taste for running your own F1RMGP teams (not just you, Mr Lindsay) that it's only fair to run this championship again, before the Bathurst Enduro closes the season where all the F1RWRS/GP2C/REECCS (etc) drivers can join in the fun as well. With most of the teething troubles of the first season ironed out, this second season will be run in much the same way as the 2014 Bathurst Enduro was, so, here's how it will work.
The points and garages system
There will be fourteen garages available this year, and hence, fourteen teams. As with the Bathurst Enduro, the number of points will be highest in garage 1, and lowest in garage 14. Not all the 2014 cars will be available, but all are rated out of 100 for both power and reliability, with the ratings given as they were at the end of the 2014 season - some cars were developed on the way, most weren't. Likewise, drivers are rated out of 100 for both skill and consistency, and the ratings are given as they were at the end of the WEC season, or - in a few cases - at the beginning of the Bathurst Enduro (which is those who did not compete in the WEC season but were rated for the Enduro in case any of them happened to be selected). A small extra rating for the car called the "qualifying boost" is rated from -10 to +10; this also counts to the total, so a theoretically "perfect" team would score 610 points. However, a qualifying boost of 0 does not necessarily mean the qualifying pace is the same as the race pace, and only the Series Management knows how any of these ratings translate to the cars' and drivers' performance.
There is no obligation to use all the points available to each garage, but it is strongly recommended. As it was at Bathurst, each car-and-drivers combination can be adjusted to the correct number of points by tweaking the car - whether that's improving it or throwing a spanner in the works - and likewise, drivers can be given a bit of extra training or "hindered" somewhat.
This is important:
- Car power and reliability ratings cannot be adjusted by more than 20 points each way.
- Driver skill and consistency ratings cannot be adjusted by more than 10 points each way.
- No rating can be adjusted to more than 100 or less than 0, except for:
- the qualifying boost which can be adjusted by a maximum of 4 points from its original value, to a maximum of +10 and a minimum of -10.
A maximum of two hologrammatic drivers are available, as the Main Series has none. However, as Günther Schmidt is still in charge at ATS Rial, no hologrammatic team bosses will be able to participate.
The entry procedure
Slots on the grid will be allocated in the order of who posts first, and according to what car is being used, and - crucially (said Jonathan Legard) - whether or not the entry is complete and correct. A complete entry consists of:
- the garage number
- a team name; this can be one of the teams that participated last year, or a completely new team, but each entry will be named this year, there won't just be "(Main Series team name) WEC".
- one or more team principals: these are optional and will default to those of the Main Series if none are given.
- the car numbers; these need to be consecutive, anywhere from 3 to 99 and there are no leading zeroes (like in America, where "7" and "07" are different cars). The numbers 1 and 2 are reserved for Vanina Ickx and her team-mate (if she gets entered at all to defend her title) so that also rules out the number 0. And, also, numbers 9 and 10 are reserved for the "competition" garage - see below in the Entrants section.
- the 2014 chassis, complete with acknowledgement of the base P/R ratings, and any adjustments (max P/R ±20, QB ±4).
- the two drivers, also complete with acknowledgement of base S/C ratings, and any adjustments (max S/C ±10). Any drivers who are not so far listed - give them stats that are appropriate (i.e. nobody with the ineptitude of Milka Duno should be made to look like Michèle Mouton).
- add up the total points to show that they're appropriate for that garage, and include this in the entry.
Additional driver restrictions:
- this series, as you'll all have twigged (unless you're FMecha) is for real life drivers only. There are plenty of F1 Rejects Universe series for the Katayama sisters (and others) to compete in!
- the Cope twins will only race as a pair in the same team, though it might be interesting to see what happens if they're trained differently. They have the same base S/C ratings.
This is important, so I'll say it again: entries will not be accepted until they're complete and correct. So be very careful adding up those stats, because if you're overdrawn, the entry will not be accepted and another forumite can come in and steal the place you were looking for.
And just so there's no hogging the grid, one team per forum member, unless we're running close to the deadline and it looks like there will be no further entries (say, with about three days to kick-off).
The race weekend
There will be one qualifying session - and with 14 teams, hence 28 cars competing for 26 grid slots, you know what that means - there'll be a guaranteed two DNQs every time. Hence, the 107% rule has been ditched, and will only be reinstated if more than three drivers prove to be so slow - and we're talking 1991-vintage Coloni slow here - that it's worth reinstating.
The race takes place over the same distance as it does in the Main Series, the day before - and results will be posted at the same time as the Main Series, which will be on approximately a weekly schedule.
The quest for the Maria Terese de Filippis and Bertha Benz Cups begins here!
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