December 18, 2017

 

The 2018 season will continue to grow the Ladder and its flagship series, the Superleague, at a crucial juncture for simracing.
2017 was arguably one of the biggest years in the history of simracing. Twelve months that started with the Las Vegas eRace and concluded with the finals of the Formula One eSports Series established simracing as a growing scene.

GPVWC members played their part, notably with Superleague World Champion Rudy van Buren winning McLaren's World's Fastest Gamer competition and Jarl Teien reaching the semi-finals of the official F1 series - a sign of our league's prominence in the simracing world.

And yet, there is more to come in 2018 as our sport keeps growing - and GPVWC with it. In particular, the GPVWC Career Ladder will continue its trajectory of development as we keep attracting audiences and backers for the most in-depth racing experience on the net.

Together with the expanded rosters that saw the Superleague expand to 14 teams and more new entrants in the entry levels of the Career Ladder, there will be other changes aimed at promoting the racing in the three year-long series.

The Career Ladder mods return to a philosophy that was previously used by the GPVWC, with a single base mod adapted to the three rungs of the Career Ladder. This arrangement is designed to facilitate the adaptation process for drivers as they make their way through the series.

A newly reformed Disciplinary Committee, with a new structure to be unveiled soon, will ensure penalties are handed out in a timely and consistent fashion, while the broadcast and media departments are strengthened to provide the league with the exposure its excellent racing deserves.

In terms of Superleague, it will be a season of evolution rather than revolution, as some of the elements of a highly-successful and hard-fought 2017 are fine-tuned to provide an even more exciting competition.

New tyre and engine selection procedures will ensure there will no longer be a risk for forgetful managers to send cars out with unsuitable engines. However, to maintain a level of punishment for managers neglecting their duties, a system of fines will be introduced for teams failing to submit their selections on time.

Alongside the new engine manufacturer, the engine development system will see the introduction of two new areas - Reliability and Resilience. The former will enable manufacturing teams to create engines which shed less life % per kilometre, while the latter will ensure engines lose less power per every 1% of lifetime drop.

Of course, developing these areas will mean teams will need to make a choice, potentially missing out on further power, boost or fuel efficiency gains, therefore adding a new layer of strategic complexity to the managers' job.

These changes should help the GPVWC Management deliver another great season of racing across series. In addition, talks are ongoing with further backers to bring a bigger, more prestigious platform for the league, with news to be released hopefully in the next few weeks.

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