Automation Rallycross League, Season One (South Africa Final Results Up!)


Rallycross is a relatively new motor racing discipline, having come about in the 1960s. Modern rallycross combines the best attributes of circuit racing and rally to produce one of the wildest and most exciting forms of racing today.


Challenge Description

This challenge aims to try to capture the excitement and feel of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, with a realistic ruleset (with concessions to make it more fun and challenging for entrants), running through a simulated season of twelve rounds. The team that accumulates the largest amount of challenge points will be crowned the champion!

Rules and Overview

This will be by all accounts a very complicated and ambitious challenge, with both a user-driven driver simulation and pace control system (more on both of these later!) that entrants can interact with to give a greater sense of realism and interactivity. Combined with car to car interactions, this is not your average spreadsheet-based Automation challenge!

Series Overview

The Automation RallyCross League will run twelve rounds, spanning tracks the world over. Each round will run in the following format:

  • Qualifying – All entries will run in a four-lap heat, of which one lap must be a joker lap, in each of four qualifying rounds with up to seven other entries. The times from all the heats in each qualifying round will be tabulated, and each entry’s Qualifying Points will be assigned in relation to the rest of that round’s elapsed times. At the end of the four qualifying heats, each entry’s Qualifying Points will be added together, with the field for the semi-finals being determined from the top finishers in the qualifying rounds. Additionally, the top twenty finishers in qualifying will be awarded Championship Points, that count toward that entry’s total for the season.

  • Semi-Finals – Entrants that finished in the top half of the qualifying rankings automatically advance to the two semi-finals, where entrants with even qualifying ranks will race each other in one semi-final, and entrants with odd rankings will race in the second semi-final. Each semi-final race is six laps long, of which one lap must be a joker lap. The top half of each race will then advance to the final, with all entries in the Semi-Finals being awarded Championship Points based on the order of finish.

  • Final – Entrants that placed in the top half of each Semi-Final will advance to the final. The final is six laps long, of which one lap must be a joker lap. All entries that make the final will be awarded Championship Points based on the order of finish.


Car Specifications

Cars will be made in accordance with the following ruleset:

Both the Engine Specification Calculator and Tire Size Calculator can be found on Google Sheets by clicking here!


Once you have completed your car, send it via PM to me, and you will receive a Scrutineering Report back from me, with the car’s overall compliance level. Cars that do not pass scrutineering by the deadline will not be allowed to participate!

Driver Simulation

In this challenge, entrants will be able to customise their driver’s skills and perks according to their desires. These skills affect how a driver is able to drive their car on paved surfaces, unpaved surfaces, how talented they are at overtaking/blocking overtakes, how much they are affected by weather and how consistent their lap times.

  • Paved Pace (0 to 10) – Each point over/under 5 represents a 0.5% improvement (over) or 0.5% penalty (under) to an entry’s baseline pace on paved surfaces only.

  • Unpaved Pace (0 to 10) – Each point over/under 5 represents a 0.5% improvement (over) or 0.5% penalty (under) to an entry’s baseline pace on unpaved surfaces only.

  • Overtaking (0 to 10) – Each point over/under 5 represents an exponential increase in a driver’s ability to overtake or block overtaking moves by others, and also increases/decreases the likelihood of a driver being able to make overtakes over longer time gaps.

  • Weather Driving (0 to 10) – Each point over/under 5 represents a 1% improvement (over) or 1% penalty (under) to any grip penalty associated with bad weather.

  • Consistency (0 to 10) – each point over 0 represents a 5% reduction of the consistency penalty, to a maximum of 50%. This means drivers will be less subject to random lap time fluctuations.

Further information can be found on the Automation Rallycross League Driver Entry Form, found here!

Please do not use the Driver Entry Form unless you have received your TeamID in your Scrutineering Report!


Reward Ballast and Pace Control

In this challenge, a reward ballast system has been implemented. After each round, the top sixteen entries that earned the most Championship Points will have weight added for subsequent rounds, in accordance with the following charts:

Position Weight Added
1st +100 kg
2nd +80 kg
3rd +70 kg
4th +60 kg
5th +55 kg
6th +50 kg
7th +45 kg
8th +40 kg
9th +35 kg
10th +30 kg
11th +25 kg
12th +20 kg
13th +15 kg
14th +10 kg
15th +10 kg
16th +10 kg
Position Weight Added
Last -50 kg
2nd Last -40 kg
3rd Last -35 kg
4th Last -30 kg
5th Last -25 kg
6th Last -20 kg
7th Last -15 kg
8th Last -10 kg

The bottom eight entries that did not retire will have reward weight removed. The maximum permitted reward ballast for any entry is 250 kilograms, and the minimum possible reward ballast is -120 kilograms.

To allow entrants to attempt to control when/how much reward ballast their entries accumulate, a pace control system is a central mechanic in this challenge. Entrants will be able to choose a baseline pace, from 0 to 10, that their drivers will drive their car in Qualifying, the Semi-Finals and the Finals. The maximum change in pace is plus or minus 1 percent, with a value of 5 being no change from baseline. Entrants can change their entries in the Pace Control Form once per week, with the cutoff for changes being Saturday at 2359UTC prior. Notice will be given when the deadline is for each week of the challenge.

Finally, any entrants not wishing to participate in this aspect of the challenge, and any entrants that have not submitted anything will run at a default 5-5-5 setting, or the last submitted setting.

Please find the ARXL Pace Control Form here.
Please do not use the Pace Control Form unless you have received your TeamID in your Scrutineering Report!


Other Questions

Will there be a BeamNG component to this challenge?

No. It’s already complicated enough as it is, and it would exponentially increase the amount of time it takes to run this challenge.

What tracks will we be running?

We will be running the tracks from the 2018 season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, in the order they run in reality.

Round Round Name Track Lap Length/Joker Length (metres) Paved/Unpaved % (Joker) Paved/Unpaved Type
1 Coma RallyX de España Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 1133/1236 60/40 (63/37) Asphalt/Gravel
2 Fernando RallyX de Portugal Circuit Montalegre 945/1050 60/40 (65/35) Asphalt/Dirt
3 BlueBull RX Belgium Circuit Jules Tacheny 1149/1236 61/39 (66/34) Asphalt/Dirt
4 Gulp Oil Rallycross of Great Britain Silverstone Circuit 972/1017 40/60 (40/60) Asphalt/Dirt
5 Team Staboil RallyX Norway LĂĄnkebanen 1010/1103 75/25 (63/37) Asphalt/Gravel
6 RX Sweden Presented By Blotify Höljes Motorstadion 1210/1250 63/37 (61/39) Asphalt/Dirt
7 Tyrelli World RX of Canada Circuit Trois-Rivieres 1351/1381 59/41 (58/42) Asphalt/Gravel
8 Air Trance RallyX de France Circuit de Lohéac 1088/1051 26/74 (50/50) Asphalt/Dirt
9 Boscc RallyX of Latvia BiÄ·erneiki National Sports Base 1294/1346 60/40 (62/38) Asphalt/Gravel
10 Conke-Cola RallyX of America Circuit of the Americas 808/904 52/48 (62/38) Asphalt/Gravel
11 Nurburgking RX Deutschland Estering 927/934 61/39 (51/49) Asphalt/Gravel
12 Fujisaki Tires RX of South Africa Killarney International Raceway 1067/1158 57/43 (66/34) Asphalt/Dirt

Wait, different track surfaces? How’s that going to work?

Each track surface type has a time penalty associated with it; inside the simulation model each lap is divided into four sectors, which are all broken down into paved and unpaved sections. The appropriate time penalties are then applied in kind to each car. Different surfaces have different time penalties, and will react differently if there is weather.

Weather too?!

Yes, weather. Each round of racing will have different weather for each Qualifying round, as well as both Semi-Finals and the Final. Weather forecasts will be published beforehand, so entrants will have a chance to adjust their strategies for each week of racing.

This sounds pretty complicated…

It’s a complicated challenge, yes. For those looking for more information, I have written a challenge guide, with some insights into how the simulation model will work, as well as an overview of how this challenge will work, found here:

ARXL Challenge Guide


Tracks

I have created a pack of the twelve tracks the ARXL will be running this season, found here:

Automation Rallycross League Track Pack


Submission Guidlines and Deadline

To submit your entry to me, please send it in the following format:

Car Model and Engine Family Name: ARXL-(Your Username Here)
Car Trim and Engine Variant Name: (Your Trim/Variant Name Here)

Please submit this to me via PM, along with team’s name, your car number of choice and your car’s country of origin. Car numbers will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis only.

Entries must be received before 2359 UTC on Thursday, November 22nd! (6:59 PM Eastern Time, 12:59 AM CET on Friday, November 23rd)

Please note that due to the complexity of this challenge, entries are capped to a maximum of 64!

37 Likes

I was hoping someone was going to make a Rallycross challenge like this, I’m looking forward to this!

No required naming Scheme?

Oh boy, oh boy I’ve been waiting to build a rallycross car, guess this is my chance

Just a question will there be only the top tier Supercar RX or maybe there will be Super 1600

Have you considered adding a minimum ride height requirement?

Oh, yeah…totally forgot about that, of all things! :joy:

Here’s what it should be:

To submit your entry to me, please send it in the following format:

Car Model and Engine Family Name: ARXL-(Your Username Here)
Car Trim and Engine Variant Name: (Your Trim/Variant Name Here)

Please submit this to me via PM, along with team’s name, your car number of choice and your car’s country of origin. Car numbers will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis only.

This has also been edited into the OP as well.

There is no minimum ride height requirement for this challenge; modern WRX cars actually ride pretty low, considering what they’re doing, and also depending on the downforce levels people are using, it could cause some issues there too.

7 Likes

What about the wheels? I reckon that carbon fibre wheels would not be able to withstand the abuse of jumping cars, but I could be wrong.

1 Like

I’m very much looking forward to this challenge and how it works out :slight_smile:

After taking a look at the ARX League Guide, I spotted one thing which might be wrong (or just documented incorrectly) or I didn’t understand it correctly:

The reliability calculation, specifically the accumulation of “Break Points” seems to have an inverse effect. As documented, the car will accumulate more points when having higher reliability. If I understand correctly, this would lead to a more likely breakdown. Could you please comment on that, @MrChips ?

7 Likes

Carbon wheels will be allowed in this challenge; whether or not it’s wise to use them, well that’s up to you.

In my rush to crank out the Challenge Guide, I accidentally reversed the numbers in that equation! :sweat_smile:

It should be (65/Reliability…), instead of (Reliability/65…), which is how it works in the simulation model. Thanks for pointing that out by the way, I’d have never noticed it! I’ve uploaded a fixed guide with the correction as well, for those wondering.

10 Likes

Are the +5 quality points in table for all the car or just the tyres

just tyres

please ignore keika isn’t bothering to update after rule changes

BoostandEthanol Racing Presents The Keika Kaiken IV ARXL


This V6 nightmare that will slide past you in the first turn is a Keika Kaiken modified by BaE Racing, an uncreative team name I will be using from now on.


Featuring an aggressive aero kit that is probably more show than go, and some rally lights, it’s sure to perform!


And from this angle it looks like it wants to stab you! So move out of the way!


Engine Offer

BaE Racing has also managed to get their hands on a 661hp engine. If you’re interested, contact us! The first to respond will get the insane engine!

15 Likes

Ok thanks

Sakura Racing Sport-All Nihon Airlines Rallycross (SRS-ANA RX)

2018 Sakura Ronin SRS RX

16 Likes

is the engine size limit 1600cc, or have i just completely misunderstood this?

Please use the engine specification and tire size calculator on the first post in this thread.

1 Like

Rosales R200 Ti Integral RX from SBA Motorsports

Final Shakedown from SBA Boonigan Team

Our driver, Phornsawan Sirisuk will be our first driver from Thailand for participation in the rallycross.

Design concept

SBA Motorsports @SBA_Motor_Official

Hold our Pad Thai, we will send this hot one straight out of Thailand. It is hotter than putting Sriracha sauce on your food for sure.

SBA Motorsports @SBA_Motor_Official
Ready for some HOT SAUCE?
#Rosales_R200_RX #ARXK #aintcare

10 Likes

So a bit of bad news; a couple of serious exploits and loopholes have been found in the rules that will need to be corrected. As such, I am suspending entries for a couple of days. All entries that have been submitted will need to be re-submitted when things open up again.

My apologies for this, but I want to make sure I run a competition that’s as fair to everyone as possible.

16 Likes

Fuji Raceworks @FujiRaceworksJP

We’ve got something special brewing for the #2018ARX! #CoherenceRX #RXSupercars #FujiMotors

2 Likes