CMS NARS 2023
Virtual BTCC

NARS is pleased to be hosting a virtual BTCC that our drivers have been asking for ever since S397 started their gradual release of mods for this hugely popular championship. The series schedule will mirror that of the real world, with race events in one evening following the same general set of events that are held over a weekend

THE CARS

We’ll be using the full suite of BTCC cars available in the rF2 DLC:

BMW 330iFord Focus ST

Ford Focus ST

Honda Civic Type R

Hyundai i30 N Performance

Infiniti Q50 (V37)

Toyota Corolla BTCC

Vauxhall Astra BTCC

We will also be using the CMS Safety Car, which is freely available at https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2965432751

THE TRACKS

We will use following circuits:

Donnington (DLC)

Brands Hatch (DLC)

Snetterton (through NARS Steam Workshop item)

Thruxton (DLC)

Oulton Park (Steam Workshop item – check the NARS item link)

Croft (DLC)

Knockhill (Steam Workshop item – check the NARS item link)

Silvertone (Steam Workshop item – check the NARS item link)

Make sure you are subscribed to the NARS item to get the non-Steam tracks automatically and check it to confirm the Steam Workshop tracks too!

Calendar:

18 May     Donington (National)
25 May     Brands Hatch (Indy)
8 June      Snetterton (300)
22 June    Thruxton
29 June    Oulton Park (Island)
6 July       Croft
27 July     Knockhill
3 Aug       Donington (GP)
10 Aug     Silverstone (National)
17 Aug     Brands Hatch (GP)

Event Schedule

7pm/1900 Eastern – Server Reboot / Practice
8:55pm/2055 Eastern – Driver Brief/Announcements
9:00pm/2100 Eastern – Qualification (15 minutes)
9:15 pm/2115 Eastern – Warm-up (10 minutes)
9:25 pm/2125 Eastern – Race 1 (20 minute race)
10:05 pm/2205 Eastern (approx) – Race 2 (20 minute races)

Start

Formation lap, standing start, double file.

Tyres (or Tires, if you prefer)

The series will mirror that of real life in designating the compounds available for that race night.  When a pair of compounds is designated, drivers MUST start a race with a different choice (ie R1 soft, R2 medium or vice versa when the choice for that night is s/m) . All qualifying session will be completed on the edium compound, all races.  The sole exception is in the event of rain, when for both Q and races, the rain compound may be used.

Gridding

Race 1 will grid using the qualifying session results. Race 2 will grid using the finishing results of Race 1, with the first six places in the grid selected randomly from the cars finishing in positions 7-12 in that first race.

Orange Zone (OZ)

There will be an OZ designated for each race in the driver notes that will be posted to the NARS #btcc-info channel and noted again in the pre-race brief. There will be an automatic review of the OZ post-race.

Registration

There is no pre-registration for the championship or races and drivers are free to join the series at any point.

Regardless of driver class, each driver showing up on race night are expected to have completed all their preparations, including reading the series and race instuctions, d/l and installation of the required mods, confirmation that their system and connection are working properly plus have completed enough single player and online practice on the CMS server to race competently and safely.

Pro & Am Group Settings

To minimize frustration and encourage drivers to participate for the full series, there are separate groups of drivers based on performance. Drivers are free to choose their class based on their skill level and ability to prepare. Default cars will be available for each class if the driver has not submitted a custom livery in time to have a custom car created for their chosen class.

Drivers who consistently finish in the top 1/2 of their races or believe that they are capable of competing for outright race wins should classify themselves as PRO. All other drivers should classify themselves as AM.

This ensures that the two driver classes have strong levels of competition within the classes with drivers running in the classes most appropriate for their demonstrated abilities.

Admins still have the right to reassign a drivers’ class up or down if they are not correctly placed based on special circumstances or drivers’ performance.

Championships

There will be two individual driver championships, PRO and AM.

Points will be awarded each race for championship standings with four ‘drop’ races for each driver over the course of the series.  This means that each driver has 20 races to record their top 16 results to count towards their championship standing.

In addition to the individual driver championships, there will also be a team championship, with pairs of drivers, one PRO and one AM, driving the same model of car.  Teams must register on the #btcc-teams channel and will count points as a team from that point forward, using their individuals class standings (drop rounds calculated) for a team total.

There are also two additional driver trophies – one “Hard Charger” per class to recognise drivers who make the biggest gains from their starting positions and the “In the Groove” to recognise the driver who drives the most consistently during their races, regardless of class. These trophies will be awarded at the end of the season.  No ‘drop’ rounds for these trophies – drivers will always be able to compete for points in these trophies in each race competed.

Points

20-17-15-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 point thereafter
Pole in each class receives 1 additional point in R1

Hard Charger Trophy: 2 points per class to be shared between the drivers in each class gaining the most grid-to-finish positions in the race. Minimum of 1 point to be awarded per driver if there is a tie of two or more drivers per class.

In the Groove Trophy: Points are gained by drivers driving the most consistently in the race compared to their own fastest race lap as follows: 5-4-3-2-1.

Details on how to follow championship results are provided at #links-nars.

Custom Liveries and Numbers

CMS standard liveries are provided and drivers are encouraged to paint their own custom liveries. Templates are at the top of the #btcc-info channel and the windshieldout template will contain the numberplates that must be used.  Check #btcc-info for further instructions.

If you miss the submission date for the start of the season and still want to run your livery, custom skin uploading is welcome and encouraged, but please log onto the server a couple of days before to mitigate server load from skin transfers on race day.

The use of the NARS numbering system is required for custom liveries and drivers not yet holding a NARS racing number may choose from those available.  Simply follow the directions contained in the #nar-links channel in the CMS Discord.

Settings

We will use the latest stable build of rFactor 2.
The damage setting is 75%.
Crash Recovery is off. Drive carefully!
Driving View is open.
Auto Clutch, Blip, Lift and Brakes/Clutch are the only rF2 global aids available.
2x fuel on all cars except when specifically noted in the pre-race notes.
Weather will always be live weather conditions.

The server name will be “CMS BTCC [track name]”.
The server race password will be provided when the server is rebooted on race day.

General

LiveRacers will be used to record the hot laps and race results with full championship results displayed in the rF2la app – available through #nars-links

The race will be live-streamed on YouTube at our channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Kdp07PvIeW47f0_sM0emw

Race Communications

We will use the CMS Discord rFactor 2 voice channel for race communications.

CMS Discord is available at https://discord.com/invite/4ckmjPX

The voice channel is only required to monitor race control during the event. You do not need a microphone if you do not want to speak.

If you have a microphone, please set it to “push to talk”. If that just doesn’t work for you, PLEASE set the voice-activated audio level up considerably so your coughing, wheezing or sim controls grinding isn’t “shared” with everyone else. Don’t be “that guy/girl”.

Chatter during free practice is permitted and encouraged! For qualification and races, please be brief in your communication on Discord and talk only if absolutely necessary. One sentence then quiet is requested. No text chat AT ALL during qualification or race.

Abusive and/or profane in-game chat, Discord, or forum post language may lead to that driver receiving a sanction up to and including a ban from CMS.

Should a driver join the event server without being in the NARS Discord voicechat, they will be sent text prompts in rFactor 2 text chat to join. If the driver has not done so by the start of the Driver Brief, they will be removed from the race server by race control until they rejoin with Discord voicechat active and monitoring the NARS channel.

Competition Rules and Stewarding

This series will conform to the CMS General Competition Rules that may be found on the CMS Discord Server. All drivers are expected to know the GCR and shall be required to abide by them.

Pit Entry/Exit Lines: On circuits that a white line is drawn at the pit road entry or/and exit, crossing this white line to enter or exit the pit is prohibited unless specifically permitted in a pre-race brief. Otherwise, it is permissible for tires to step on the white line, but crossing the line with one tire completely will result in a post-race Incident Review Request and penalty.

There are no live stewards. A post-race Incident Review Request may be submitted for adjudication with any resultant penalties to be served in the next race competed by the driver(s) at fault. The IRR form may be found at https://cmsracing.com/incident-report/.  Penalties from the last race, or not served by the end of the series will be converted into time penalties in the final race.

rFactor 2 system assigned penalties during races must be served. The Race Director will only have the capability to clear penalties and driver DQ during practice on the race server and then AFTER qualification but before the race.

Connection Notes

Drivers are strongly advised to reboot their computer just before joining the server on race night.

Don’t use a WiFi connection. Only Ethernet cable connections are permitted for NARS events.