November 26, 2012
Published on tags: General
The GPVWC Administration released a raft of new regulations and innovations that will take place from the 2013 season. These include a restructuring of the GPVWC Career Ladder, new Contract rules and a revolutionary dynamic weather simulation.


With the GPVWC's who's who gathering in Solihull for the 2012 GPVWC Day, the Administration presented the features which will make the coming season the best in the GPVWC 14-year history. Here are the new innovations explained.



A new Concept of Career Ladder
Teams and Drivers Eligibility - Contracts
Driver Salaries
License Fees
Race Weekend & R&D Features
Engine Development
Dynamic Weather System

A new Concept of Career Ladder


All the mods for the three series in the Career Ladder (Superleague, Supercup, Formula Challenge) have been overhauled in order to ensure a seamless and progressive transition for the drivers moving through the ladder. The GPVWC Formula Challenge will undergo the biggest change, to become more focused on the drivers who will be able to arrive-and-drive with more freedom than in the past. The biggest change for this championship, however, will be to move raceday to Tuesday evenings in the weeks when Superleague and Supercup take place in order to guarantee three days of high-adrenaline racing.


The Calendar of all three series has been unified in order to truly create a unique system between the Superleague and the two support series. The provisional Calendar is as follows:



Round 1 - Melbourne (Australia) 
Round 2 - Sepang (Malaysia)
Round 3 - A1-Ring (Austria)
Round 4 - Hungaroring (Hungary)
Round 5 - Barcelona (Spain)
Round 6 - Monte Carlo (Monaco)
Round 7 - Montreal (Canada)
Round 8 - Yeongam (Korea)
Round 9 - Istanbul (Turkey)
Round 10 - Silverstone (Great Britain 
Round 11 - Monza (Italy)
Round 12 - Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium)
Round 13 - Magny-Cours (France)
Round 14 - Nürburgring (Germany) 
Round 15 - Indianapolis* (United States)
Round 16 - Yas Marina* (United Arab Emirates)
Round 17 - Suzuka (Japan)
Round 18 - Interlagos
(Brazil)

* Pending review


Teams and Drivers Eligibility - Contracts


In order to prevent the problems of 2012, when leading drivers from the Superleague stood in lower series, affecting both Championship battles and the series' regulars enjoyment, the GPVWC Administration has introduced new Eligibility rules for both Teams and Drivers.


As previously announced, Teams will only be allowed to take part in one series within the Ladder, opening up valuable space for new teams coming up the ranks. With a steady influx of new outfits joining the GPVWC, the Administration believes there are enough teams to guarantee stability and variety to the three series; of course, teams in the higher ranks of the Superleague will be allowed, if not encouraged, to establish partnerships with teams in lower leagues to nurture new talent and keep their testers sharp.


In order to provide rules to prevent drivers jumping from one series to the other, the GPVWC Administration enacted a massive overhaul of the contract system in a way that both increases flexibility and encourages stability within teams.


The new contract system will feature three different classes of contracts: these are Primary Drivers, Reserve Drivers and Emergency Drivers. Primary drivers, as the name suggests, are the drivers teams will rely on to do the bulk of races. Unlike last year, however, there will be some limitations. Primary Drivers will NOT be allowed to participate in any way in series “below” their current one in the career ladder, their commitment being to the series where they have a Primary contract. In the case of Supercup and Formula Challenge Primary Drivers, however, they will be allowed, should they want to, to take up a Reserve deal in a series above them.


As for Reserve Drivers, they will be intended to be strong part of the teams and reliable stand-ins. Their contract, however, will allow them to take part only in four races per season. Any Reserve reaching this limit will only be allowed to do more races by signing a Primary Driver contract.


Each team will be allowed to sign THREE contracts of these two categories - irrespective of what class the three are. The fourth slot will be reserved for Emergency Drivers.


Emergency Drivers are, on all accounts, entitled to the same deal of Reserve Drivers, but their contracts cannot exceed a duration of one month. They are considered to be, as their name suggests, a last-minute temporary stand in should the three main drivers under contracts be unable to participate in an event.


Contract deals are also to undergo radical changes. In addition to what described above, teams will now be able to offer short- and medium-term contracts to drivers, selecting any length between 1 and 12 months for the contracts. Wages will change too, with the payment to drivers being pro rata based on the length of the contract. However, there will be a handling fee - of a fixed magnitude - for each contract, thus encouraging teams to strike long-term deals with drivers, encouraging stability by offering more value for money.


Driver Salaries


2013 will see the introduction of a league-wide, comprehensive driver salary. All drivers will be evaluated in real time, providing an absolute ranking of the drivers, updated after each race. Contracts, obviously, won't always charge the full amount: besides the length of the contract, also the type of contract and the series for which it is struck will play a part in determining the amount paid by the team.


Reserve contracts will cost only a fraction of the price of the Primary ones, reflecting the limited use they allow, and likewise will Emergency contracts. At the same time a further reduction will be applied to contracts signed for the Supercup, while the Formula Challenge, as for last year, won?t have any finance system.


A change is introduced also in regards to the way the wage is calculated. Each driver will be evaluated on the basis of all his results within the three Ladder series in the whole rFactor era of GPVWC, between 2009 and 2013. Most crucially, results will be weighed according to the series, a Superleague win, for example, being valued more than one in a lower series.


License Fees


The reduction to three drivers for team will mean fewer License Fees than in the past. Unfortunately, an increase in the size of the league and in the number of services added to the Championships means an increase in the expenses needed for hosting, TeamSpeak (which has just been increased by a further 20 slots) and prizes.
This means that, for 2013, the GPVWC Administration will need to slightly correct the license fees upwards. Revenue from the new tariffs will be all invested in the promotion of the league and the improvement of equipment.





Superleague
Supercup
Formula Challenge


Team
£15
£7.50
FREE


Primary / Reserve Driver
£10
£5
£1


Emergency Driver
FREE
FREE
FREE



Race Weekend and R&D Features


The last step into the aforementioned process of unification of the three Series in the Ladder is the adoption of a unified Points System. The new structure, which reflects the one utilised in real life by MotoGP, will reward winners but also give points to the top 15 placed drivers. The GPVWC Administration believes every battle in the League is important, whether it takes place at the sharp or dull end of the grid, and this new system will hopefully reward improving drivers with something to show for their weeknight efforts.


As regards changes affecting the activities on the racetrack, in 2013 drivers will be required to use both available tyre compounds throughout a race: the new mod, which is now being tested by the administration, will allow visual differences between the Option and Prime compounds and will therefore help in bringing a new element of strategy to races. This rule will apply to both Superleague and Supercup.


Research & Development will also undergo a radical overhaul. 2013 will see the introduction of tiered improvements, meaning certain areas of development will only be unlocked once other improvements are gained by the team. Furthermore, aerodynamic upgrades (body, wings) will be visible on the car in the form of added winglets, bargeboards and profiles which will give a clear, visual idea of the state of development of each vehicle. To add to the realism, any "gained" development will also be removable, meaning teams will be able to revert their car to conditions more suited to other tracks without losing their developments.


Engine Development


The biggest change in the R&D department, however, regards Engines. 2013 will see the return of Engine Development, adding another degree of complexity to the job of team manager. Different engines will be able to bring potentially crucial differences between the teams - but the new system goes far beyond that.


Teams within the Superleague will be tasked to become engine constructors, building the powerplants for all other teams. Four "works" deals will be available, and teams will be required to negotiate to market and sell their products to the other nine teams in the series. Only works teams will be able to develop the engines, and they will pass on their knowledge to their customers. Works teams will need to invest big sums for the privilege of controlling the pace and direction of development. They will earn by getting customer deals, and then can choose to save the money or invest it. But reputation, and results, will matter? a works team going lazy to save money will not find teams offering much the next year!


A new Dimension of Racing - Dynamic Weather System


A real game changer for the GPVWC, the introduction of a Dynamic Weather System will revolutionise racing in our series. The new plugin, produced by RFE, does not simply add wet tracks to the game: it is, crucially, a complete weather simulation, with atmospheric conditions changing throughout the race and being reflected by the levels of grip and temperature of the track. Improvements include the formation of a drying line and some superb work from our team to create great wet tyre textures.


With so many new features, destined to affect the realms of team management, on-track strategy and driver experience, the 2013 season at GPVWC is taking shape as one full of promise. The whole GPVWC Administration cannot wait for the start of the new year, and the hope is that no one within our great community will be able to wait either.