GMWC Finals Event Format

The GMWC Drivers Championship standings is determined by the cumulative results of the Finals event, which is held after the conclusion of all official seasonal series that contribute to the GMWC.  The winner of the Finals is crowned as the GMWC Drivers Champion.  The winner is the driver with the most Finals points after the Superprix Stage.  Points for the GMWC are earned via two separate methods:

1. The finishing positions in the seasonal series.
2. The finishing positions from the Finals stages.

The Finals event itself consists of multiple stages, where each stage features a race that represents one of the contributing series:

• Street (GART)
• Oval (GMOC)
• Touring (GTCC)
• Superprix (GMGP/GMFC)

Series Seed Points

A driver can only earn seed points from one series.  If a driver finishes in a points-earning position in more than one series, they will be awarded seed points only from the one in which they earned the most seed points.  If a driver earns the same amount of points in more than one series, the priority of assignment is as follows: GMGP, GMFC, GTCC, GART, GMOC.  The order matters because drivers with seed points have certain vehicle restrictions placed up them in the Finals stage that corresponds to the series in which they earned their points.

Race Day Format

Signature tracks have been chosen that will be featured in every GMWC Finals (until such time as changes are made, of course).  The intent is for the GMWC Finals to be not only a tradition, but also something with unique appeal that drivers can anticipate and prepare for over the course of each season.

The stages will occur in the order listed here.  There is a separate (short and private) qualification session for each stage.  The stages get progressively longer, but there are also 3 breaks included in the schedule, also of progressively longer duration.

Note that after each stage, drivers will have to leave the rFactor server just long enough to switch vehicles, and then hurry back in order to participate in the qualification session for the next stage -- the race for one stage and the qual for the next occur back-to-back because the breaks are located between qual and race sessions.

Street Stage

Oval Stage

Any driver who earns seed points from GMFC or GMGP must use the car in this stage that they used in the respective series.

Touring Stage

Any driver who earns seed points from GTCC must use the car in this stage that they used the most in the GTCC series.

Superprix Stage

Any driver who earns seed points from GMFC or GMGP must use the car in this stage that they used in the respective series.

Notes

• The 2011A CSP release will be published by the time of this event.  The reason this is important is because we no longer need dedicated oval tires for the grid-gp vehicles.  They're no longer needed because the normal grid-gp tires are viable for use on all of the oval tracks at which the grid-gp vehicles will be used.  This means Taekook will be providing a new grid-gp tire for 2011A for mainline grid-gp usage.  These tires will be available for use in the Finals.  Taekook had originally licensed tire technology from Vanderwall, so their new tire is expected to be similar to the Vanderwalls.  However, due to Taekook's heavy involvement in the drifting scene, expect a tire with much higher ideal slip angles.  If you have a 'drifty' style, you may like the new tires.  This will also probably suit gamepadders better than any current option since gamepadders tend to oscillate in and out of higher slip angles as a matter of finger/thumb technique.  The Coffields have the highest ideal slip angle among the current mainline GP tires.
• A GMWC Team Championship based on the Finals may be possible.  This has not been thoroughly discussed or finalized yet.
• The tracks for future Finals will not change often from season to season.  These will tend towards our 'Indy', 'Le Mans', or 'Daytona' in tradition, with a little bit of F1 mobility (like the British GP has ocassionally been at a location other than Silverstone).  Of note, the Superprix stage track is actually Suzuka, not Sepang, but we are using Sepang for the inaugural event because we just visited Suzuka this season.
• The track/car combos were all chosen to be substantial, requiring more than typical preparation effort compared to our weekly events.   Even the oval will require a measurable amount of setup prep to get through the race on our tires.
• In the future we will not schedule Finals tracks for the regular season events.  The one exception this season is Martinsville for the Oval Stage, which both GART and GMOC did use.  The reason for this is exactly why both of these series chose the track in the first place.  It works exceptionally well for open wheel cars in rFactor.  We have isolated the main requirements for a killer oval track for our cars:  at least one tight radius corner, low banking, and long straights relative to the corners.  Only Martinsville and Gateway satisfy all of these in a format that allows us to use non-oval-specific tires.  Indy and Pocono satsify the three specs as well, but require the oval tires.  Martinsville has a lot more sparkle in the implementation than Gateway, so it is the stage choice.  In the future GMOC and GART will not run Martinsville.  They'll visit Gateway.
• The length of the stage races will be a fixed lap count, not a time value.  The official laps counts will be announced after the practice server gets enough activity on these tracks for us to determine the lap counts that will consume the desired amount of time.