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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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)
