After a few weeks of thinking, I decided I’d try my hand at creating a tournament of my own. Paradoxically, even after expounding on the virtues of simplicity and accessibility, I’ve gone for complex and exclusive Brace yourselves!
Extreme tuning house and racing affiliate Gryphon Gear started out as a convening of circumstances, passions and expertise as unlikely as it was serendipitous. Originally an extreme outfitter specialising in bespoke carbon fiber parts and engine/drivetrain rebuilds, it made waves with its own demonstration models and became affiliated at first with other extreme tuning houses, then later on larger companies in collaborations that showcased their respective expertise in racing events. GG do not turn a profit on the ultra rare cars they build themselves: those are examples of the extremes of engineering made possible through their partnerships and racing successes. For the most part, the true focus of Gryphon Gear’s machines lie in a world far beyond most sanctioned forms of motorsport; most of their jobs belong to the underground.
Thus I invite you to a high-stakes, maximum-power league that will take place at some of the greatest locations in the world, yet far away from factory works teams, from official brand sponsors and mainstream media coverage. Where extreme is constantly redefined into an entity, a value unto itself. Here, victory means legend, defeat a blazing wreck of twisted carnage. Speed is king, yes, but flair and mythology are what allows mere royalty to transcend to deities.
This tournament takes all comers from all eras, whether they be supercars fresh off the floor, or highly modified tuner machines. There are two essential rules: that they are extreme enough, and that they are somehow, still ‘street legal’.
[size=150]REQUIREMENTS:[/size]
[ul]]Any year up to and including 2014/:m]
]Engine and platform years do NOT have to match/:m]
]Maximum 98RON fuel system/:m]
]Maximum engine loudness 80.0/:m]
]Minimum Basic safety for latest applicable build year (no limit on quality)/:m]
]Must have working headlights, tail lights, indicators and functioning doors/:m]
]Minimum engine reliability as listed on the drivetrain tab is 10.0
/:m]
]And last but certainly not least, minimum EITHER 1hp:1kg power:weight ratio OR 1000bhp/:m][/ul]
There are NO restrictions on anything not mentioned here.
[size=150]TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE:[/size]
This is an international series with eight distinct events spanning seven countries. While ‘technically’ legal, in no way can this kind of race ever be sanctioned by an official race body, so the races are all short. There will be a points system with racing as the main focus, but plenty of rewards for style, eccentricity, and plain madness. To make things challenging, remember that we’re on a tight schedule and there will be no opportunity for retuning your car for individual events: so choose your tune wisely!
And now, to present the schedule of events:
Unless otherwise specified, fastest time wins the race.
[ol]]Bathurst After Dark: Sprint race at Mount Panorama/:m]
]Midnight Touge: Single pass down Mt Haruna/:m]
]Need For Speed: Top speed test at Bonneville Salt Flats (the result is determined by the Sector 3 time)/:m]
]Quarter Mile Dash: Single pass over Tulsa Quarter Mile (the result is determined by the test time)/:m]
]Top Gear Powerboard: Timed (standing start) lap at Airfield/:m]
]Le Mans Unlimited: Sprint race at Circuit de La Sarthe. We shall be using the modern format, with both chicanes interrupting the Mulsanne straight./:m]
]Redwater Redline: Sprint race at Spa Francorchamps/:m]
]The Ring: Single (flying) lap around Nordschleife (I have a modified copy of the track for the flying lap, and if for some reason your car is so scary that the flying lap is slower than your standing start, I will use the faster lap time.)/:m][/ol]
After that, since we’ll be in Germany, provided we’re all still in one piece and not in jail, everybody can celebrate with a beer or ten.
[size=150]SCORING:[/size]
This is where it gets fun. Are you sitting down?
The main points for each of the eight events are determined by position:
[ul]]1st- 12 points/:m]
]2nd- 10 points/:m]
]3rd- 9 points/:m]
]4th- 8 points/:m]
]5th- 7 points/:m]
]6th- 6 points/:m]
]7th- 5 points/:m]
]8th- 4 points/:m]
]9th- 3.5 points/:m]
]10th- 3 points/:m]
]11th- 2.5 points/:m]
]12th- 2 point/:m]
]13th- 1.5 points/:m]
]14th- 1 point/:m]
]15th- 0.5 points/:m][/ul]
The point distribution is potentially subject to change, such that points are allotted to approximately 80% of competitors each event.
However, there are a host of supplementary points that serve to even the playing field and to encourage unorthodox approaches (i.e. because I don’t want to see a field entirely composed of mid-engined supercars made in 2014):
Chassis year
[ul]]1991-2001: 3 points/:m]
]1987-1990: 4 points/:m]
]1940-1986: 6 points/:m][/ul]
**Engine year **
[ul]]1992-2003: 3 points/:m]
]1985-1991: 4 points/:m]
]1975-1984: 6 points/:m]
]1940-1974: 10 points [size=65](because it’s nearly impossible to make an engine made in 1974 that fits in a car put out 1000hp)[/size]/:m][/ul]
Format
[ul]]Front-engined AWD: 2 points/:m]
]FR: 7 points/:m]
]FF: 15 points [size=65](because lol)[/size]/:m][/ul]
And then of course, there are the bonus points for madness!
[ul]]Road Rocket [size=85](hit 400km/h)[/size]: 1 point/:m]
]True Megacar [size=85](power:weight ratio of at least 1kw*:kg)[/size]: 1 point/*:m]
]Ringmaster [size=85](make it around Nordschleife in under 7 minutes)[/size]: 1 point/:m]
]Longest Burnout [size=85](for the one model that has worst wheelspin penalty to tameness)[/size]: 2 points/:m]
]Houston We Have Liftoff [size=85](for the one model that has the highest lift/least downforce at either end, note if your car blows the tyres it gets DQed)[/size]: 2 points/:m]
]Lowrider [size=85](for the one model that has the worst bottom-out penalty to tameness)[/size]: 2 points/:m]
]Cheap & Nasty [size=85](for the one model with the lowest total budget)[/size]: 3 points/:m]
]Wild Thing [size=85](for the one model with the worst tameness:sportiness ratio)[/size]: 3 points/:m]
]Wild Pack [size=85](for each model, in the event more than one model has a tameness of 0)[/size]: 3 points/:m]
]Look Ma, No Hands! [size=85](for not using driver aids)[/size]: 1 point for each driver aid available but not used (launch control does not count as it does nothing at the moment). If you don’t use any, you get an additional point/:m][/ul]
[size=150]RESULTS:[/size]
There are a few ways of cutting this. The overall winner, obviously, is the entrant with the most accrued points at the end of the tournament. They will be known as the Ultimate Street Legal Rider and they will have hordes of enthusiasts and teenagers drooling over their car. The entrant who wins the most points from events shall be dubbed the True Racer, and shall be tasked with being the designated driver to divert the cops if and when the convoy gets busted for speeding. And my personal favourite, the entrant who manages to accrue the most bonus points, shall be simply dubbed Crazy Wheels and shall be offered a job as a Hollywood stunt driver.
Seriously, I’m making this point system up to make it much harder to figure out an advantageous angle. Just have fun and make something extreme!
ADDIT: TIEBREAKERS
In the event that there is a tie for first in any of the three classifications, the tie will be broken in the following ways:
[ul]]Ultimate Street Legal Rider: The win will go to the user with more points from the events. If this is a tie, then the win will go to the user with more bonus points. If this is still a tie, then the win will go to the user who either has the most wins, or, failing that, the single highest finishing position in any event. If there is still a tie at this point, then those involved in the tie will settle it with a beer drinking contest, the winner being the last person to get cut off/pass out/make an emergency trip to the bathroom./:m]
]True Racer: The win will go to the user with more wins, failing this, the single highest finishing position in any event. If there is still a tie, the win goes to the user with more bonus points. If there is stilll a tie at this point… see above./:m]
]Crazy Wheels: This one gets settled with a game of Truth/Dare./:m][/ul]
[size=150]SCHEDULE OF EVENTS[/size] (in EST with daylight savings in effect):
0:00 November 10: meet at the Gryphon Gear factory in Donnybrook, Victoria, Australia
0:00 November 11: meet at Mount Panorama in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia
0:00 November 13 (local time 23:00 November 12): meet at Mount Haruna in Gunma, Japan
0:00 November 16 (local time 06:00 November 15): meet at the Bonneville Salt Flats International Speedway, Tooele County, Utah, USA
0:00 November 17 (local time 0:700 November 16): meet at Tulsa Raceway Park, Oklahoma, USA
0:00 November 19 (local time 11:00 November 18): meet at Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey, UK
12:00 November 20 (local time 0:00 November 20): meet at Circuit de la Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France
0:00 November 22 (local time 12:00 November 21): meet at Spa Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium
0:00 November 23 (local time 12:00 November 22): meet at Nordschleife, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
6:00 November 23 (local time 18:00 November 23): close of track, adjourn to local pub for presentation, celebration.
[size=150]ENTRIES[/size]
Submitted by host (not scoring for tournament purposes):
[size=150]STANDINGS:[/size]
Ultimate Street Legal Rider: Leo Baltazar
True Racer: Leo Baltazar
Crazy Wheels: VosNox