NARS 2022 Virtual Radical Cup
Time to shake things up and go a bit “radical”, in more ways than one!
Our second ‘short’ series will feature two cars from one of the most popular racing car formats internationally – the Radicals. With many series around the world, enthusiasts regularly compete in sprint races with several ‘enduro’ championships also available, both formats featuring cars from the full range of Radical offerings.
We will use the S397 DLC Radical RXC Turbo GT3 as well as the freely available S397 Radical SR3-RSX. With races competed on virtually every continent, the choice of tracks is limitless, but for this series we’re going to go back to our “NORTH AMERICAN” roots. In addition to using some of the tracks from the Radical Cup – North America, we’ll also throw in some very deserving tracks that don’t often get much sim racing action . These eight circuits will provide opportunities for both cars to shine while ensuring some challenging multi-class action for everyone.
Race Night Format
To reflect the variety of formats being raced in real life, our Cup will include four sprint and four enduro rounds. Each sprint round will include a qualifying session and then two 30 minute races with the starting order in the second race reversed in each class from the finishing order of the first race. Enduro rounds will start with qualifying and then a 60 minute race.
Race Schedule
The 8 races will be as follows:
5 May: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Sprints
12 May: Road America Endurance
19 May: Barber Motorsports Park Sprints
26 May: Toban (Long) Endurance
2 Jun: Trembling Mountain (International Chicane) Sprints
9 Jun: Vancouver Indy Endurance
30 Jun: Sonoma Raceway (Classic) Sprints
7 Jul: Watkins Glen (Boot Chicane) Endurance
Car and Track Mods
Drivers wishing to race must own the S397 DLC Radical RXC Turbo GT3 and then subscribe to the NARS Steam Workshop item at:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2341079087 PLUS the Steam content linked to that item.
This will ensure that the drivers download and install the proper mods for the series, both cars and tracks.
Driver Classes
There will be two classes of racing – PRO and AM. Each class will be restricted to a single car type, but with a twist because, well, we’re being a bit radical!
Both classes may use AUTO CLUTCH and AUTOBLIP/LIFT, no other global rF2 aids permitted.
PRO: (Intended for more experienced and skilled drivers) – MUST drive the SR3
AM: (Intended for those new to racing, still working on their skillsets or finding that ‘finding the time’ for preparation is a struggle) – MUST drive the GT3
Settings will be verified post-race using LiveRacers. A driver who has used aids in excess of those permitted will be penalized 2 class positions in the race for each aid or level of aid used.
Drivers will be able to choose car/class from within the CMS mod as we will have adapted it for this purpose. Once racing has started, a voluntary change of car (and driver class) during the series means that the driver will forfeit all points accumulated to that time.
Choosing your Driver Class
Drivers are free to enter either class of racing. Regular NARS drivers are expected to choose the car according to the the driver class that they normally race (PRO or AM). Drivers new to NARS should use the PRO and AM descriptions to aid in their choice of car.
Drivers will automatically be entered in the championship appropriate to their choice of class when they pick their car – the GT3 or SR3.
The Series Director reserves the right to redirect drivers from one class to the other if it is obvious that they are misplaced.
Custom Liveries
CMS standard liveries will be provided and drivers are encouraged to paint their own custom liveries. Templates will be pinned to the #radical-info channel and will contain a number of required elements (CMS/NARS banners, sponsors and numberplates) that must be respected.
Liveries with car #/team name that are submitted to Matthew Overton BEFORE 1800 EST 28 Apr 22 will be added to an update that will be distributed before the first points race of the championship. Please ensure that you have used the required elements as positioned on the template!
The use of the NARS numbering system is required for custom liveries. Drivers not yet holding a NARS racing number may choose from those available, as listed at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13wo6t9tP2E1LCAUaJxE0osyKsnnnuyfh3N5T9Iv2WbQ/edit?usp=sharing and advise the series admin of the number they would like.
For drivers that miss the livery submission deadline, custom livery loading for existing CMS cars through the use of ‘loose’ .dds or .mas files will always be available, but please log onto the server a couple of days before the race so your file will get uploaded properly and avoid clogging the server on race day. Note that loose skin liveries will mean your team will not be correctly identified on the livestream, and may not appear on the replay meaning that it will also not appear on any promotional images!
General Information
Event Schedule
Sprint
7 PM/1900 Eastern – Server Reboot / Practice
9 PM/2100 Eastern – Driver Brief/Announcements
9:05 PM/2105 Eastern – Qualification (10 minutes each class)
9:25 PM/2125 Eastern – Warm-up (5 minutes)
9:30 PM/2130 Eastern – Race 1 (30 minutes)
10:10 PM/2210 Eastern – Race 2 (30 minutes – grid is reverse finishing order in class of R1)
Endurance
7 PM/1900 Eastern – Server Reboot / Practice
9 PM/2100 Eastern – Driver Brief/Announcements
9:05 PM/2105 Eastern – Qualification (10 minutes each class)
9:25 PM/2125 Eastern – Warm-up (5 minutes)
9:30 PM/2130 Eastern – Race
Points
Points will be allocated separately in each class as follows:
Sprints
Pole Position from Q: 0
40-35-30-27-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2
Enduro
Pole Position from Q: 0
60-52-45-40-36-33-30-27-24-21-18-15-13-12-11-9-8-6-5-3
Both formats:
Hard Charger (gained the most positions from starting grid to chequered flag): 2
Top 5 Most Consistent in race (all classes): 2
CMS LiveRacers at https://cmsracing-com.liveracers.com/League will be used for race positions.
Start
Double file rolling start with 5s gap between car classes. Racing starts when your car crosses the designated S/F line. No acceleration, no passing prior
Orange Zone (OZ)
There will be an OZ designated for each race in the driver notes that will be posted to the NARS #radical-info channel and noted again in the pre-race brief. There will be an automatic review of the OZ post-race.
Pit Stop
Driver choice.
Settings
We will use the latest stable build of rFactor 2.
The damage setting is 75%.
Crash Recovery is off. That means your car can fly off the track and land upside down. Drive carefully!
Driving View is open.
Open setups, but we encourage everyone to share!
The weather will be live.
The server name will be “CMS Radical Track Name”.
The practice server will be active 7 days before race day, no password.
The race server will be password protected and the password will be available on the CMS Discord NARS #radical-info channel prior to server reboot on race day.
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 Discord channel, they will be sent 3 text prompts in rFactor 2 text chat to join the CMS Discord server. After the 3rd prompt, they will be removed from the race server by race control until they rejoin with Discord voicechat active on the race 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.
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/.
NARS recommends the use of the Crew Chief app to provide enhanced spotter capabilities.
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 computers just before joining the server on night.
Don’t use a WiFi connection. Only Ethernet cable connections are permitted for NARS events.