Today is January the 1st, 1924, which means it is finally time for the second AIACR World Championship season for Grand Prix racing to begin.
Champions in season 1 were Sunbeam and Dario Resta, the 39-year-old Briton born in Faenza, who had now seemingly won everything there was to win in both America and Europe.
Henry Segrave won the Italian Championship and Tommy Milton the AAA Championship USA.
1923 thread --> https://gprejects.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=8934
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The following factory teams have pulled out of the sport: Ansaldo, Ceirano, Nazzaro, Bianchi, CMN, SIAM, and Ballot
The following factory teams have entered the sport: OM, FAST, SPA, BUC, AGA, Steiger and Vauxhall
The following manufacturers are no longer interested in funding the racing team: Fiat, Elizalde. The managers Novitopoli and DigitDan are (option a) free to keep racing as a factory outfit, but they will receive no money in 1924. (If they have a very successful season, the manufacturer might be interested in restarting funding the team.)
The (option b) they have is cutting ties with their manufacturer and converting their team into a privateer outfit, and selecting a new name for it, which enables them to buy and sell cars in the market, but obviously that means no chance of their manufacturer returning for 1925. Both teams have retained their existing driver contracts and will be able to retain the cars in their garage.
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GAMEPLAY INSTRUCTIONS
As a team owner in this game, your focus will be neither on car development, nor really even on your financial situation. Instead, the most important thing to manage is politics. After all, in a post-WW1 world, bringing your cars to the racetrack may prove to be the most difficult of all challenges!
In this championship, you may wield your political power by making important decisions within your national Automobile Club (AIACR, after all stands for "International Association of International Automobile Clubs") - vote on rulesets, select the race tracks in your countries, decide on political alignments with the powers-that-be, organize boycotts of your rival countries, GP’s and World Championship, and so much more. The more cunning your moves, the better!
To join the game - just post your intention to do so on this thread, state the name of your owner and select whether you wish to manage a factory team (in which case, please state which team) or a privateer (in which case, also state where your team is based).
AVAILABLE TEAMS (LINK)
Teams that say "Free" on the manager tab are available.
Factory teams will always get an annual income on January the 1st. The amount, though, depends on the whims of their factory! Factory teams are not allowed to buy cars, and are only allowed to sell cars at the permission of their factory. On the other hand, privateers start with $1500, are free to base their operations anywhere in the world, but get no annual income. Note that if a privateer does well enough they may be asked by a factory team to become their factory team instead.
Factory teams that do not get a manager will be managed by girry-AI.
Privateer teams will get $1500 of cash but no annual income (other than possible extra funding from their national government if success is achieved). They are able to use any car and get to have their base anywhere in the world. Note that if a privateer does well enough, a struggling factory outfit may ask one to become their factory team instead!
AI-managed privateers might also enter the occasional race.
Word of warning though - the odds are heavily stacked in favour of the factory teams, at least at the beginning of the game!
Car development is automatic and more or less follows the reality (so factory teams will get new shiny cars in their factory automatically - unless the make has a BMW moment & pulls out, of course :sauber:), as does driver skill development. All drivers in the game are real and have realistic talent levels. However, drivers gain experience only by going races (and also improve as they enter their prime / decline as they age and exit it). (There are also ways for privateer teams to develop their cars or even build their own, but it is up for the players to discover how that might happen.)
Driver injuries and deaths will occur through RNG. Hence they are, in fact, fairly likely. So be careful fielding certain IRL famous names too much on the most dangerous circuits of the era - or you might open some sliding doors...
Gameplay is very simple for the team owners. Before each season, there are two phases where you need to make bids, either on this forum thread or through discord. (If you fail to do this, don't worry - your decisions will be AI simulated.) The rest of the season will go through automatically.
Phase 1) Bid on drivers, buy your cars & vote on issues in your Automobile Club
Bidding on drivers is simple - just send a list of drivers & bids you wish to make on in order of priority. The highest bid wins, unless the bid is so small the driver does not wish to accept it, or one of the bids is from his local team, in which case the driver may be more likely to join your team. You can sign unlimited drivers, though after you sign your third driver, the drivers become gradually less likely to accept your bids.
LIST OF AVAILABLE DRIVERS (LINK)
Buying your cars is also simple. Either a) you agree on a fee with a fellow team to buy their old engine and chassis, or b) buy a chassis on the free market - just make your bids; the highest bid wins, this time regardless of nationality.
The issues to vote are subject to change annually. Throughout the season, you will be able to raise issues for the following year - only your imagination (and the AIACR boss’s discretion) is the limit on what you may propose for 1925 and beyond.
In the meantime, here are the 1924 issues all members of the Automobile Clubs will be able to vote for. The option that gets a majority of the votes will win.
1. Should the Championship adopt a new Championship format in 1924? "Two races in Europe and two in the US will be marked as "Continental qualifiers" - the best manufacturers from each are qualified for the final three races of the world championship, where the Champion is determined as normal"
a) Adopt the new format (Effects: The calendar gets completely redrawn)
b) Do not adopt the new format (Effects: The proposed calendar (on the spreadsheet) will take effect)
2. The Championship will run to the 2-litre ruleset until the end of 1924. Which ruleset should the Championship adhere to from 1925 onwards?
a) Formula Libre
b) 2-litre
c) 1.5-litre
3. Should the Prize Money system be adjusted?
a) Keep using the the 1923 prize money system
b) "Competing should be purely for the love of it" (Effects: no prize money for anything)
c) "Any and all winnings should be put in a piggy bank dedicated solely to the repairs of cars by teams that already compete. A new team needs to compete for 25 years before they get access to this repair fund" (Effects: this happens)
d) "A race that isn't part of a championship pays out for a race win between 1/15th and 1/10th of the championship prize money for the lowest-paying National Championship that season. The exact value is rolled the week before the event to show the irregular payout from non-championship events." (Effects: This happens, the non-championship race entry fees increase by $30)
GREAT BRITAIN ONLY:
4. Where should the British GP be hosted?
a) Brooklands Outer
b) Brooklands Mountain
c) Ards
ITALY ONLY:
5. Should Fiume be allowed to host a round in the Italian championship from 1925 onwards?
a) Yes
b) No
8. Should the Italian Championship adopt the Formula Libre regulations, effective immediately?
a) Yes
b) Keep the 2 litre regulations for 1924
GERMANY ONLY:
6. Should Germany apply to host a GP in 1925?
a) Yes, Each team pays a fee of $500 to host a GP in 1925
b) No
UNITED STATES ONLY:
7. Should the AAA championship continue to host the races to the World Championship ruleset?
a) Continue with the World Championship ruleset
b) Select an independent ruleset for 1925
This phase will end on February 20.
Phase 2) Select the events you wish to take part in
No team is going be able to take part in every event, so as team owner you will have to prioritize events. To enter events, just select the events where you wish to enter your cars #1, #2, #3 etc. and then enter your drivers accordingly. Your team will proceed to try to enter them if it has money to enter them, and enough teams / drivers to race. (Calendar will be found below this section)
You may also request your driver to PUSH HARD at any selected event, which means a similar boost as a favourite track will be used - but his error proneness will also double!
If a driver crashes out of the race with an accident, their car will have to be sent back to the shop. The cost will be covered by insurance, however the car may have to miss races.
In 1924 there are three championships, with the most prestigious, World Championship events bolded. In addition to the World Championship, there is also the Italian Drivers’ Championship and the AAA Championship in America. If a country hosts enough non championship races, they might also organize a national championship of their own. Each race will be simulated and results posted here and on Discord. A full season will take around 3 to 4 weeks to sim.
This phase will end on February 27.
(Preliminary) SEASON CALENDAR (LINK)
Travel/Entry Costs:
Crossing the Atlantic, USA - United Kingdom, USA - Brazil or Brazil - USA: 45 days, fee: $1000 + $100 per car
Moving the team to a neighbouring country by road network - 4 days. (France and UK, and UK and Ireland are considered neighbouring countries.)
Entry fee for a regular race in home country: $50 per car
Entry fee for a regular race abroad: $100 per car
Entry fee for a World Championship GP: $400 per team
Entry form example (this imaginary team has two cars and three drivers available):
Targa Florio - Car 1 and Car 2 - drivers: A. Stooge, B. Stooge (in order of priority)
Circuito di Cremona - Car 1 and Car 2 - drivers: A. Stooge, B. Stooge
Grand Prix de France - Car 1 - drivers: B. Stooge, C. Stooge
Gran Premio do San Sebastian - Car 2 - drivers: A. Stooge
Beverly Hills Race Autumn - Car 1 and Car 2 - drivers: A. Stooge, B. Stooge, C. Stooge
This imaginary race plan (which, for the record, is *not* financially the smartest race plan - but alas) would incur the total cost of 2*$50 (Targa Florio entry fee) + 2*$50 (Cremona entry fee) + $400 (French GP entry fee) + $100 (San Sebastian entry fee) + $1200 (crossing the Atlantic with two cars) + 2*$100 (Beverly Hills entry fee) = $2100.
Using this race plan with more than two drivers, will help to deal with emergencies. If A. or B. Stooge are injured or dead, they will be replaced by C. Stooge at the French GP and at Beverly Hills - not at the Cremona nor at the San Sebastian, however.
Don’t forget to check the ruleset of the race you are planning to attend! If the car you enter will not comply to the ruleset of the race, you will be disqualified but pay the entry fees anyway.
Rules
World Championship - rules that are set in stone:
To be classified for a World Championship GP, a driver must finish the entire race alone, without relief or a riding mechanic.
To classify for the final standings of the World Championship, a constructor / a driver must start at least two races. Otherwise they will not be classified.
To be classified as a World Championship, the Championship must have at least four events on at least two different continents.
To classify for the World Championship event, the driver must use a car that complies to the pre-agreed rules of the World Championship. Otherwise the car will not be classified for points.
World Championship Rules that are set in stone for 1923 and 1924 but are subject to change for the years after
Only full member countries of AIACR have a right to host a World Championship GP.
The engine capacity must be a maximum of 2000cc (2.0 litres) in size.
Prize money for the World Championship: $25 000 for the winning constructor if a drivers’ championship does not exist, or $12 500 for the constructor if a drivers’ championship exists
Prize money for a World Championship event victory: $10 000
Italian Championship
Prize money for the Italian Championship: $10 000 (if foreign entries are permitted) or $5 000 (if foreign entries are not permitted)
AAA Championship
Prize money for the AAA Championship: $10 000
The engine capacity must be a maximum of 2000cc (2.0 litres) in size.
For the “races abroad” purposes, the ingame countries are the same as the actual 1924 countries.
For home team / home track purposes, countries are treated as a single region - with the following exceptions to make it fairer because the vast majority of drivers are from a handful of countries (so a driver with hometown in France won’t have 800 favourite tracks etc):
- USA is split into the real States
- UK is split into Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Northern England, Midlands and Southern England
- Spain is split into Spain, Basque Country and Catalunya
- France is split into Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Corsica, Southeastern France, Occitanie, Bourgogne-Franche-Comte, Nouvelle-Atlantique, Brittany, Normandy, Haute-de-France, Île-de-France, Northeastern France, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and Central France
- Italy is split into Libya, Sardinia, Sicily, Southern Italy, Central Italy, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Northwestern Italy, Lombardy and Southeastern italy
- Germany is split into Bavaria, Southwestern Germany, Northwestern Germany and Eastern Germany
Drivers are more likely to join a team whose headquarters are on the same region as their hometown. They are also more likely to perform better on a track that is located on the same region as their hometown.
Relevant Countries in 1924:
Here's to a successful 1924 season - and again, any new players are welcome to join the game anytime!
Louis Chevrolet - $1,500 (+ $500 compensation to Frontenac) - 2 years
Alfieri Maserati - $1,500 (+ $500 compensation to Diatto) - 2 years
Prince Bertrand de Cystria - 
Pete DePaolo - $500
