RCS1: Group 6 Prototype-Sports Cars (Racing Challenge Series)




Introducing the:

Racing Challenge Series!

A new Automation challenge series based upon racing car classes of the real world! To start off with, I have chosen Group 6 Prototype-Sports Cars, but the next host (or next in-line from results) may choose whichever specialisation they desire, should they choose to continue the series!




RCS1: Privateer Group 6 Prototype-Sports Cars




Summary of Group 6 Prototype-Sports class

Group 6 Prototype-Sports cars (Primarily for this 5th-7th series: 2,000cc and above) were raced 1966-1971 until the class was updated to Group 6 Two-Seater Racing Cars for the following year. The regulations were not very tight back in this decade with no minimum production requirement, or maximum engine capacity limit (for the 5000cc and above class), and no aerodynamic limits at all.

Group 6 was later succeeded by Group C Sports Car class, and is known as the precursor by many! 1967 was also the last year the unlimited engine capacity was allowed, as in 1968 it was capped at 3 litres.




The Brief

It is the beginning of the 1967 world sports car championship! You are part of a mid-sized privateer group, not exactly low-skilled and not entirely top-class… However you have new sponsors/investors from your team’s reasonable records: It’s time to use that money on a few race cars for the new season to help give you the cutting edge!

The boss has tasked you with finding the right cars for the job! The requirements are somewhat lax as Group 6 Prototype-Sports Cars class is quite open-ended. The plan is to purchase at least two to three cars (depending on the budget) and race them over the entire season.




Game version: Ellisbury Stable (Aka Not Al Rima)
Trim & Variant year: 1967
Bodies: No legacy, Open-Wheel, or meme bodies.
Tech Pool: Default sandbox (+5 everywhere) only

Price: Maximum Soft Limit of 50,000, Hard Limit of 70,000 (Detail Stats Approximate Cost).




Car requirements

  • Wheelbase: Unlimited

  • Wheels & Tyres: Cross-Ply Race Hard compound required. Maximum width of 345 (This is with leniency of the GT40 MKIV having 325 rears). Minimum profile is 30 (For realism’s sake, make sure the tyres are not too skinny profile as it does not fit the time period)

  • Aero: A maximum of one wing fixture for the front and for the rear of the car is allowed for a total of two wing fixtures altogether. Unlimited use of lip & spoiler category. (3D is allowed but the wing must be attached to the body in some way.) ((Both wing fixtures are allowed to be invisible but must be within the confines of the body and not floating behind the rear or beyond the front of the car to an extent, use common sense for this one, ask if you think it might be a DQ or not)) (((Please be mindful the late 60’s was an experimental time for aerodynamics, but double-stage wings and modern aerodynamics were unheard of, try keep it realistic!))) ((((See soft limits for aero cap limits!))))

  • Safety: Minimum Standard 60’s

  • Interior: Must be 2 full seater, Race with No Entertainment (Not +2 seats)

  • Suspension: Maximum toe angle of +/- 0.50 (Could not find much information on this, so it is based off default values of Group 6 cars featured in GT7, with most of them having 0.40 or 0.45 rear toe in at default.)

  • Quality Sliders: Free to use as you see fit but don’t go too crazy!

  • Advanced Trim Settings: Wheel Width, Diameter and Camber are not allowed. Wheel Offset maximum +100

  • Realistic styling: Headlights, taillights, indicators, wipers. No fuel cap is acceptable as hidden. (Use research and common sense: A solid axle truck isn’t a sports prototype for a 1967 Le Mans, and will be binned accordingly)

  • Plain single or two colour preferred with no sponsors applied is acceptable, but feel free to go crazy with a livery if you wish or craft a “base model” plain single colour car!




Engine requirements

  • Engine type: Unlimited (V16 accepted)

  • Engine capacity: Over 2,000cc only aka FIA Appendix J 1967 5th-7th Series Class cars

  • Fuel type (RON): Leaded Super 98 only.




Soft & Hard limits

The soft limits are to help guide you, they are not a limitation, but implemented to help steer you in the right direction alongside realism.

  • 800kg soft minimum weight (Observed from Chaparral 2F: ~795kg, Ford GT40 MKIV: ~1000kg, Ferrari 330 P4: ~792kg)
  • 1850mm soft maximum width, 2050mm hard limit width (Observed from Chaparral 2F: 1780mm, Ford GT40 MKIV: 1791mm, Ferrari 330 P4: 1810mm)
  • Aerodynamic maximum force soft limit 109kg @ 100mph, and hard limit no more than 115kg @ 100mph (2E makes 108.86kg @ 100mph). ((This is the COMBINED total of aero on front & rear @ 100mph))



Priorities

:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

Sportiness, Engine Reliability, Design/Styling, 1km time, Top Speed, Cornering G-Forces

:star: :star: :star: :star:

Drivability, Realism, Gearbox, Brake, Suspension & Differentials reliability

:star: :star: :star:

Prestige, Safety, Lap time around Airfield

:star: :star:

Value, Fuel Economy, Service Costs




Car inspiration

Ford GT40 MKIV

Ferrari 330 P4

Ferrari 312 P

Porsche 907 LH (Langheck)

Chaparral 2D

Chaparral 2F

Alpine A210

Bizzarrini 5300 GT Corsa

Bizzarrini P538 Super America

Lola T70 Mk III

Matra MS630

Ford GT40 MKI

Mirage M1

Porsche 910

CD SP66

image

Howmet TX

Rover-BRM

Jaguar XJ13

Nissan R380 II

Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2 “Daytona”

Serenissima Spyder

Inspirational vids

(I couldn’t find any good Chaparral 2F footage, so 2E will do lol)




References




Rules & queries deliberation

This is not my first time crafting a new Automation challenge for the community, I’ve crafted before the Codename Indistinct series, which didn’t really take off. I feel this time it would be better to hold a deliberation to gauge what the community feel about the Racing Challenge Series!

Please let me know what you think!

  • Rules and queries deliberation now closed!

Deadline and entry guide

Entries open for submission on the 8th of February 2025 @ 12PM GMT and close on 8th of March 2025 @ 12AM GMT

Please DM me your thread post & .car file through the forums in this format:

Model name: RCS1 - (YourUserName)
Trim name: Name of the car
Engine family name: RCS1 - (YourUserName)
Engine variant: Name of the engine




16 Likes

When you say “No 3D” for the wing, do you mean “no use of 3D to place the wing further behind the body than is allowed by the game” or “No 3D placement at all”?

If I wanna do a Chapparal 2F with the wing 3D mounted high above the rear axle (something that’s functionally identical to the wing positioned in the same spot with 2D), is that allowed? Or is it banned?

Also, I’d recommend explicitly including “overly narrow open wheel bodies” in the banned bodies - they’re outside the brief and they’re broken for stats.

2 Likes

We have free choice on whether to use carburetors or fuel injection, given that both types were present on the grid in 1967, to the best of my knowledge.

Among the inspirations, however, you seem to have forgotten the Jaguar XJ13, which would’ve raced in 1967 had Jaguar not been absorbed into BMC/BL.

1 Like

Definitely the former!

The idea on that rule is that you are allowed for example a single wing fixture on the rear, to enable downforce on the car, and that can be visible or hidden, then you may add 3D elements to make a “fake wing”, the idea being that 3D placed wings can be hella-cheesed out by being detached from the car.

I’ve added open-wheelers to the banned bodies list too, good callout! :+1:

The Jaguar XJ13, quite so, funny I was looking at it but forgot to mention it at all! I will add. :+1:

1 Like

For aero do you mean it’s allowed 2 wings, one on front and one on rear?
and is basic 70’s better than standard 60’s?
Also which should be trim year?

1 Like

Weight limits are minimum? maximum?

1 Like

Is anyone able to get their car to weigh around 800kg? With only steel chassis material it will be super hard

2 Likes

Updated. Basically speaking: One wing maximum on the front, one wing maximum on the rear, for a maximum of two wings together. Two wings are not allowed on the rear, two wings are not allowed on the front as well. Hopefully it’s not too confusing lol.

Whoops, updated now with the soft weight minimum limit being 800kg.

I have also extended the deadline to make the challenge last an entire month from the 8th of Feb to 8th of March as per high request on the Discord :+1:

I don’t like having a minimum weight it makes my car slower :frowning:

It is a soft limit, not a hard limit. Just use reasonable judgement, don’t go too deep over it. Most cars on the inspirations range from ~670kg to well over ~1,100kg. I may implement a hard limit, but currently unsure.

Btw in op, the file name says ‘RSC’

1 Like

Fixed :+1:

What type of races would these cars participate in, long endurance races, or shorter ones (I want to have the most realistic car and this determines my panel material)

As mentioned in the brief: 1967 World Sportscar Championship - Wikipedia

Any limits on suspension tuning? (mainly toe, as it is exploitable)

2 Likes

Fair point honestly, I’ll do some research today and implement a limit to toe most likely, good call :+1:

2 Likes

What about limits on tyre width and tyre quality?

I’ll do some research into the tyre sizes commonly used for Group 6 cars and implement a soft & hard limit for those, as for quality, I’m not sure how to add a balance of performance there, but open to ideas! :thinking:

After further thoughts, I have implemented a toe angle limit of +/- 0.50 and a maximum tyre width limit of 345. This is based on information I found in Gran Turismo 7 for default toe angles on Group 6 cars (GT40 MKIV, 330 P4, Porsche 906, etc), and the maximum width was difficult as most cars in the inspirations do not have any tyre info online, the most I could find is the GT40 MKIV’s rear being 325/30. This also makes me think the tyre profile rule I will bring down to 30 as well, but still use your judgement, really low profile tyres was not realistic for this time period!

2 Likes

30 profile would help with wide tyres if you’re looking at 345, because otherwise you would need absolutely gigantic tires to reach 50 profile but that wide so this is good IMO

2 Likes

Further change to the aerodynamics have been added to the rules: unlimited use of lip & spoiler category, and added note about how the late 60’s were a time of experimental aerodynamics however to keep it realistic, stuff like double-stage wings and modern aero isn’t acceptable :ok_hand:

Also added more cars to the inspirations :eyes:

Another quick edit to add a maximum cap to downforce based on info from the Chaparral 2E (since no data on the 2F and they’re same wing basically). Will make the hard limit no more than 115kg @ 100mph, and soft limit 109kg @ 100mph (2E makes 108.86kg @ 100mph).