International T/A Series [1967 Season] [Season Over]

[VicVictory]

Good evening folks (or morning, for those of you in Europe).

So a couple of countdowns are just winding down as far as competitions (and one is resetting). Figured now might be the time to put in one of my own. Maybe a bit crazy for starting one of these myself, but heck, insanity is sometimes the spark of brilliance. Or something.

So, I thought I'd start another racing series for those who either can't get enough for who might not be interested in the current offerings.

International T/A Series

My objective with this is to roughly simulate the American Trans-Am series just before the "Golden Years" where AMC, Ford, and Chevy duked it out with their pony cars. Like those years, there will be two different classes with radically different engine designs. Participants may enter into one or both categories. Since T/A was eventually a manufacturer's championship, the car and the engine must be designed by the same entity -- no purchasing engines from other companies. Also, there will be valvetrain (and other) restrictions to stay in keeping with what, historically, were the competitors of the day. Of course, the competition bears a LITTLE bit of my own twist to it.

So, here are the basics:

Year of Manufacture: 1967

Touring-eXtreme (TX) class:
Maximum displacement: 5000 cc
Valvetrain: pushrod only
Aspiration: Natural, carburetors only. Race intakes allowed, DCOE carburetors not allowed.
Fuel: Super leaded
Quality sliders: No negative points. Period. Total of 20 positive points in engine and 25 positive points elsewhere.
Reliability: Engine >30, Car >60
Tires: Semi-slick, max +4 quality, 205 MM max width, 60 minimum profile
Safety: Standard 60's required
Brakes: 2 pot disc only
Transmission: Design your own, but come up with TWO sets of settings (closeness and top speed). PM one setting in the .LUA file and the other setting as part of your message (see below for post-submission alterations). The PM'ed secondary setting will be considered your "alternate" gearbox.
Exhaust: No bypass valves.
Body: Minimum 100 inches wheelbase (2540 mm), 4 doors only.
Maximum engine cost: $3000
Maximum material cost: $10000
Maximum production units: 250

Touring-Under 2 Liter (TU) class:
Maximum displacement: 1999 cc
Valvetrain: Any cam configuration, 2 valves per cylinder only.
Aspiration: Natural, DCOE carburetors REQUIRED. Race intakes allowed.
Fuel: Super leaded
Quality sliders: No negative points. Period. Total of 20 positive points in engine and 25 positive points elsewhere.
Reliability: Engine >30, Car >60
Tires: Semi-slick, max +4 quality, 185 MM max width, 60 minimum profile
Safety: Standard 60's required
Brakes: 2 pot disc only
Transmission: Design your own, but come up with TWO sets of settings (closeness and top speed). PM one setting in the .LUA file and the other setting as part of your message (see below for post-submission alterations). The PM'ed secondary setting will be considered your "alternate" gearbox.
Exhaust: No bypass valves.
Body: 82-100 inches wheelbase (2082-2540 mm), any number of doors.
Maximum engine cost: $3000
Maximum material cost: $7500
Maximum production units: 225

Post-submission alterations:
The following settings MAY be altered between races (PM me the alterations by the race deadline and I will apply them):

Suspension geometry (any individual setting except quality)
Aero front/rear inclination and downforce
Brake pad composition (but not size, quality, or caliper type)
Transmission: may switch between primary and alternate gear box between races
Engine: fuel mixture and ignition timing ONLY (doubt anyone will change this, but...)
Tires: any setting except quality, as long as it meets the original requirements (again, doubt this will change, but...)

The Courses:
I will not release the full course list yet (that will be released on the day of the first race), but it will be a mixture of speed courses and handling courses. There will be 3 from the USA, 2 from Europe, and 2 from Oceania. However, the T/A series opener was typically at Laguna Seca, so you can be guaranteed that will be on the list.

Races will be run on Thursdays and Mondays until the series is complete.

Car submission deadline: Thursday Oct 16 10:00 AM PDT (UTC -8) (Submissions now closed)
First race Monday Oct 20, deadline 10:00Am PDT (UTC -8). Track: Laguna Seca

Track List (in run order):
Laguna Seca (Mon Oct 20)
Green Hell (Thurs Oct 23)
Albert Lake F1 Circuit (Mon Oct 27)
Sonoma Raceway (Thurs Oct 30)
Catalunya F1 Circuit (Mon Nov 3)
Tsukuba Circuit (Thurs Nov 6)
Daytona Sports Course (Mon Nov 10)


Submit your car's .LUA file as well as your optional alternate gearbox settings to me before the deadline. Please name your file with the following convention:

1967 ITA - (name) - (class)
example: 1967 ITA - VicVictory - TX

If you have a manufacture/model name for your car that you wish added, include that in the PM as well.

Cars that have been submitted and verified legal to race:
HighOctaneLove - Bogliq Buttercup (TU) and Bogliq Bullfrog (TX)
Luilakkie - TU and TX entries
oppositelock - TU only
ekorch20 - Kormar TA6 (TU)
applepi66 - OM Racing TX (TX)
RaduST - Siret 5000 (TX), Brasovia Sport (TU)

TX standings after 7 races:
Luilakkie - TX - 28 pts
RaduST - Siret 5000 - 21 pts
HighOctaneLove - Bogliq Bullfrog - 12 pts
applepi66 - OM Racing TX - 9 pts

TU standings after 7 races:
Luilakkie - TA - 34 pts
oppositelock - TU - 29 pts
RaduST - Brasovia Sport - 21 pts
ekorch20 - Kormar TA6 - 14 pts
HighOctaneLove - Bogliq Buttercup - 7 pts

Any questions? Comments? Desires for me to take a flying leap? Post 'em.

[nialloftara]

This sounds great, I still have the old engine files from the old trans am challenges I hosted months ago, can't wait to really build some old muscle.

[CNSpots1]

Considering I'm currently restarting my Manufacturer, as Willow. And I'm in this time period. I will probably create a car for this series AND incorporate yearly(assuming this competition proceeds one year at a time) results into my company's story.

[VicVictory]

If things go well, I don't have a problem running seasons for it.

[RaduST]

OK. I'm in.

[VicVictory]

A friendly reminder: there is a little less than a week left in the submission period for this race series.

[ekorch20]

I'd like to participate in this, but I've never done one of these competitions before. Is there a guide somewhere for pulling the relevant files? My apologies if this should be in another thread or is a classic newbie question.

[VicVictory]

What you do is you build your car (complete with engine) in the editor. When you save it, save it with the naming convention mentioned in the first post in this thread. You then go to where your .LUA files are kept for cars (in my case, it's in Documents -> Automation -> Models). You can then PM me the appropriate .LUA files (if you want to send both at once, .ZIP them).

[ekorch20]

Thanks! Looking forward to it.

[07CobaltGirl]

Also, be sure to double and triple check your car/engine against the rules of the competition (especially the year)! So many DQ's in these challenges due to failing to check the rules and conformity.

[VicVictory]

Got our first verified legal entries. Who's next?

[oppositelock]

Looking over the rules, they seem generally well written, but I really don't understand the 4 door requirement for TX class. The only valid bodies are the Cadillac land yacht and the recently added 1940's sedan, neither of which screams 1960's Trans Am car. The muscle car body, which seems to fit the spirit of the race more than anything, isn't allowed. In light of that, I think I'm just going to stick with a TU entry.

[VicVictory]

It has to do more with the year of manufacture: 1967. American T/A racing didn't move to 2-door "pony cars" until 1968. (which means that the next "year" in the series will have different rules). Prior to that, the field was mostly 4-door sedans. When I originally wrote this, I had forgotten that only that one giant body fit the bill, but that 40's sedan was also added.

But thanks for participating in TU.

[Lothoren]

Its laguna seca total time, or flying lap time?

[VicVictory]

All tracks will be total time.