The Gathering of Tweakers (GoT) community is starting a new tournament: the Close Racing Challenge will start on December 17th.
Quick summary
- Cars that invite close racing: Skip Barber, Kia Optima and Pontiac Solstice
- Tracks that invite close racing by drafting and overtaking spots
- Sessions every Tuesday evening, 19:00 – 21:00 GMT
- One week dedicated to practice, the next week dedicated to racing
General
This series is based around one theme: close racing. There are several things in place to promote close racing. First, the cars and tracks are chosen such that they are not very difficult combo’s, everyone can get around the track in at least competitive pace, and tracks are chosen so that there are drafting and overtaking opportunities. The series uses three cars (not at the same time, no multiclass): the Skip Barber, Kia Optima and Pontiac Solstice.
Note: we have decided to drop the artificial field balancing feature, because the races have been very close already naturally and field balancing may ruin that! 
Tournament details
The series will span several iRacing seasons.
Races are on Tuesday evenings, typically starting around 20:00 GMT.
There is one race every TWO weeks. The week before the race is reserved for a free practice session (which may end with a short test race as well but will not count for the standings).
(Note: during christmass and newyears the schedule may shift around a little)
Therefore: one week is practicing, the next week is racing.
Session details
Every PRACTICE session (first week) will consist of a 1.5-2 hour practice, and may be followed by a short test race.
Every RACE session will consist of another hour of free practice, followed by 15 minutes of qualification, and then a 45 minute race.
Timing:
Practice: 19:00 – 20:00 GMT
Qualification: 20:00 – 20:15 GMT
Race: 20:15 – 21:00 GMT
Details:
Setups: open, except we have a fixed setup for race 6 (Kia @ Pocono OVAL)
Grid: Standing start
Fast repairs: 2
Weather:
Weather will be fixed, static weather but NOT default weather. We have come up with a random weather setting for each race, which you can see in the schedule in the next post. The same weather will be used during the free practice, and during the race week. This means you can practice in the correct weather whenever you want.
Points and scoring
The points for finishing position each race are simply counted back from 30 to 0. The winner receives 30 points, second place receives 29 points, third place receives 28 points, etc.
There are 4 drop races.
Accessibility
You must be a member of the Gathering of Tweakers league in order to join the sessions.
You must have at least a D-license and 1500+ iRating in order to join our league. These requirements are waived for GoT community members.
Besides joining our league, you are invited to join our own Tournament Website. You can view the details and register for each race here. Please consider registering for the races you want to attend so that we can see how many people will join. Note that the number of signups here is typically not representative of the amount of drivers that show up.
The tournament standings will be kept in a completely automated way by the website and can be found here:
Standings
The point standings can only be viewed if you have an account so please consider signing up via our website!
Useful links
Register for our league to gain access to our sessions.
Tournament website
Overview of race sessions, registration for individual races and tournament point standings.
– Tournament sessions
Shortcut to overview of sessions.
– Account registration
Register for an account on our Tournament website to register for races and view point standings.
Note; registration may occasionally fail (just try again if it does), or the website may fail to send you the activation PM. In that case please contact me via PM and I can sort it out for you.
– Tournament standings
Shortcut to tournament point standings (requires an account).
Program
| Racedate | Cars | Tracks | Heats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17-12-13 | Kia Optima GX | Brands Hatch (Grand Prix) | 1 |
| 07-01-14 | Skip Barber Formula 2000 | Canadian Tire Motorsports Park () | 1 |
| 21-01-14 | Kia Optima GX | Daytona International Speedway (Road) | 1 |
| 04-02-14 | Pontiac Solstice | Sebring International Raceway (Modified) | 1 |
| 18-02-14 | Skip Barber Formula 2000 | Charlotte Motor Speedway (Road Course) | 1 |
| 25-02-14 | Kia Optima GX | Pocono Raceway (Oval) | 1 |
| 11-03-14 | Skip Barber Formula 2000 | Phillip Island (Phillip Island Circuit) | 1 |
| 25-03-14 | Kia Optima GX | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Full) | 1 |
| 01-04-14 | Pontiac Solstice | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Grand Prix) | 1 |
| 08-04-14 | Kia Optima GX | Watkins Glen International (Cup) | 1 |
| 15-04-14 | Skip Barber Formula 2000 | Pocono Raceway (International Course) | 1 |
| 22-04-14 | Skip Barber Formula 2000 | Twin Ring Motegi (East) | 1 |
