iracing.com Road Pro Series and iracing.com World Championship Grand Prix Series
Introduction: At the top of iracing.com sanctioned competition is the iracing.com World Championship Grand Prix Series, (iwcgps). The winner of the World Championship Series (WCS) is, by definition, the best online open wheel driver in the world for that year! Note to Interested World Championship (WC) Drivers: Drivers qualify for an iracing WC on the basis of their competitive results, but they are required to represent the series in a positive fashion in order to maintain their Pro and WC licenses. There is a very high level of competition in a Pro or WC level series; consequently there are often multiple additional rules above and beyond the normal automation that exist only at this level. These rules are often managed and officiated by live race officials and a competition team who make decisions based on these additional rules in virtually every race. These competition-based decisions may or may not favor a particular driver. For example, unlike the other levels of iracing, the WC has an at fault review and point system, which can lead to penalties and even suspension. In contrast, for the rest of iracing from our incident points, safety rating and even to our protest system, there is a no fault concept. Our regular protest system is based on an intentional or unintentional concept which can also stretch to reckless or repeated behavior. That is a dramatic difference when comparing the officiating standards in a standard iracing series to those at the WC level. Difficult decisions have to be made when assigning fault. Drivers obviously will not always agree with those decisions but, for the good of the series, a driver is required to accept those decisions. This series is not for everyone and it is perfectly OK if this series is not for you. We may have a discussion on that point with a driver if we feel things are not working-out, leading to revoking their license in some cases. We are excited to have drivers with positive attitudes who can accept bad days at the track (even if someone else is at fault) and realize there will also be good days. Remember the series is about competition and facing the very best, but it is also about having fun. As the Sportsmanship and Sporting Code makes clear, the expectation in this series is that you will not lash-out at your fellow drivers, race officials, employees, fans or other iracing members. There is no place for unprofessional behavior in this series. *Note: This document assumes a basic understanding of iracing competition, as sanctioned by FIRST, including the competition licensing program and Safety Rating system, the irating skill measure and divisions. For more information on these topics, please refer to the iracing.com FIRST Official Sporting Code (available on the iracing members Web site). These guidelines are subject to change at iracing s sole discretion. Any changes to the guidelines will be announced within the iracing service. P a g e 1
OVERVIEW: Qualifying for the iracing.com World Championship Grand Prix Series Earning entry to the iwcgps o Drivers holding a Class A Road License will compete in the designated Grand Prix Pro Series starting in November. o This series will have one race per week, one on Saturday at 13:30 GMT/09:30 ET and 13:30 GMT/08:30 GMT after U.S. daylight savings time. Races may have multiple splits based on irating. o 10-12 Races with 2 drop weeks. o Top 10 points finishers will be considered for a Pro/WC license and entry into the iwcgps o Positions 11 through 20 will be considered for a Pro license and entry into the iwcgps. Field Size o Single Race with 35 cars depending on race venue. o Qualifying will be attached to the race session. o Race fields will be determined by qualifying iracing.com World Championship Grand Prix Series Field Size o 35 cars depending on race venue. o Race field will be determined by qualifying o 35 grid spots are guaranteed to WC licensed drivers. WC Licenses: o Top 30 drivers retain their WC oval license and return to the WCS the following season. Drivers finishing outside of the top 30 will return to a Class A or applicable license and try to qualify for the WCS in the following Grand Prix Pro-Series. WCS Season o 12 to 16 Week Season with 1 drop week o Races are every other Saturday at 14:00 GMT/09:00 ET. After U.S. daylight saving time change, race time will be Saturday 14:00 GMT/ 10:00 GMT. P a g e 2
iracing.com Grand Prix Pro Series The iracing.com Grand Prix Pro Series will be the sole qualifying series for entry into the iracing World Championship Grand Prix Series. This series will start in November of the current year and end in January of the following year. The series will be a standard Class A Series with between 10 to 12 weeks of racing. There may be multiple splits based on irating. The field size for the races can be up to 35 cars. The grid in each split will be determined by qualifying speed. The qualifying session will be attached to the race session. Drivers with a Class B 4.0 to Class A 4.0 may compete in this series. For a driver to be promoted to the iwcgps, he/she must have a Class A license at the completion of the final race of the season. iracing.com World Chamionship Grand Prix Series As the highest racing series within the iracing.com Competition Program for open wheel road racing. The iracing.com World Championship Grand Prix Series. Licenses are awarded to only 50 drivers who have earned the right compete head-to-head to determine the best on-line driver in the world. The drivers in this series have worked extremely hard to get to this elite series and are the best sim racers in the world. iracing.com is also very proud of this series, it is the showcase for iracing in regards to simulated open wheel on-line racing. This series is viewed and followed closely by thousands of fans and fellow sim racers around the globe. WC Series will have multiple additional rules including an incident fault point system. Those rules are subject to change and are provided separately to drivers who make the series. Currently we distribute the rules via Email in a pre-race meeting text format. P a g e 3
iracing.com World Championship Grand Prix Series License Once a member earns an iwcgps License, he or she shall retain that license for the entire season so long as the driver maintains a safety rating of 1.0 or higher at that license class. If a driver falls below a 1.0 safety rating, their WCS license is temporarily suspended, however, that driver can drive at the lower class levels and may regain their Pro Series and World Championship licenses by achieving a 4.0 or higher safety rating. A driver could also permanently or temporarily lose their license for race incidents. The top 30 drivers who retain their WC License and are not eligible to drive in the following Grand Prix Pro Series. All other drivers who lost their WCS license may compete in the following iracing.com Grand Prix Pro Series and try to regain entry into the iwcgps. General Qualifying Criteria for WCS Drivers must have a iwcgps License in the road category. The top 30 point-scoring drivers from the current WCS series are retained for the next WCS season. The remaining spots for the following WCS are filled by the top 20 point-scoring drivers from the designated Grand Prix Pro Series. At the completion of the iwcgps season, all but the top 30 point-scoring drivers in the current WCS are eliminated and must re-qualify for the following WCS season via the designated qualifying series. The WCS schedule will be around 16-18 races typically running on alternating weeks. The iwcgps races will be held every other week at 14:00 GMT (10:00 Eastern Time U.S.). The full schedule is posted on the iracing.com member site. WCS events will typically be planned for 60-90 minutes in duration but could vary depending racing venue. Races will typically feature 35 car fields (though again this may vary depending on venue). Each week, the top 35 WCS drivers based on qualifying times are guaranteed a place in the race field. Points will be scored based on the NASCAR Sprint Cup points system (without averaging). The driver finishing first will receive an additional 3 point winner s bonus. Any driver leading a lap during the race will be awarded 1 bonus point. Counting the bonuses available a race winner can earn a maximum of 39 points. (See points table below) P a g e 4
Finish Points Finish Points Finish Points Finish Points 1 35 11 25 21 15 31 5 2 34 12 24 22 14 32 4 3 33 13 23 23 13 33 3 4 32 14 22 24 12 34 2 5 31 15 21 25 11 35 1 6 30 16 20 26 10 7 29 17 19 27 9 8 28 18 18 28 8 9 27 19 17 29 7 10 26 20 16 30 6 There will be one drop week in the WCS, and reflecting the level of competition, WCS races will not include resets. Points scored in WCS competition will not be included in the calculation of iracing club points or any other separate iracing competition. WCS races will include live iracing race stewards/marshals during each race and drivers must abide by their instructions. Other Sportsmanship and Sporting Code: All drivers in both of these series (Pro and World Championship) will be held to a high standard of behavior and sportsmanship on and off the track. The drivers in these series are the top drivers in the world and represent sim racing and our community. It is a privilege to drive in these series, not a right. It is expected that each driver in this series will treat other drivers, iracing officials, employees and the community with respect and class on and off the race track and will not bring the sport or iracing into disrepute via their actions. The iracing.com FIRST Sporting Code is in full effect for these series as applicable. P a g e 5
Prizes Below are the prizes for the iwcgps. WCS Prizes: Winner: Second place: Third place: Fourth place: Fifth place: Sixth place: Seventh place: Eighth place: Ninth place: Tenth place: Eleventh place: Twelfth place: Series trophy and $10,000 U.S. Cash $3,000 U.S. Cash $1,500 U.S. Cash $1,000 U.S. Cash $500 U.S. Cash $450 iracing.com credit $400 iracing.com credit $350 iracing.com credit $300 iracing.com credit $250 iracing.com credit $200 iracing.com credit $100 iracing.com credit *In addition, iracing may add additional prizes races or certain combination of races. Contest Rules: All participants agree to the WCS Contest Rules listed in the iracing.com reference section of the iracing.com member site: http://membersmedia.iracing.com/pdfs/iracing_com_competition_contest_rules_1_25_11.pdf Alternatively, you can email iracing.com at worldchamp@iracing.com for a copy of the rules or to ask any questions. P a g e 6