Many of the existing competitors have offered suggestions, and I've tried to incorporate as many as possible, even though some of these have been in direct conflict with one another.
The original "plan" was to move to an A-Class, 1970s only series. However, FM4's car list gets sparse after the muscle car era dies down so that plan would likely have seen only a few eligible cars. The second issue with such a plan is that the existing technical rules for C-class cars seem to work pretty well, and they seem worth retaining. Moving up to a higher class, with a very free formula, seems likely to require a great deal from the competitors (and organiser) to keep things close.
So - after deliberating all of that, I settled on the following idea for what to do with Season 2.
Two Championships
Next season will consist of two championships, running in parallel on alternate weeks. You can enter one or both.
1973-1993 Classic Roadsports
Putting the Belfast 911 through its paces.The first championship essentially continues the existing formula, though moving forward in time and with a wider "window" (this is because of the smaller number of elegible cars from either the 70s or the 80s).
The Ruleset is largely unchanged from the season 1 championship - C425, Mandatory Rollcage, No Slicks, No Racing Gearboxes, no Aero Mods (Except optional bumper removal), no Engine or Drivetrain Conversions.
Front-Wheel Drive is now permitted.
Turbocharger conversions are now permitted.
There are 2 4WD cars that currently fall within the ruleset (Integrale, Escort Cosworth). Currently I'm unsure about letting them run or not.
There are around 40 cars that can be entered in this. the lowest starting PI is 108 for the Scirocco, and the Highest is 408 for the Aston Martin (which can definitely be made legal). There's a lot of variety - while most of the big-block muscle cars have gone (though a small number remain, one with a massive 455 cubic inch/7.5 litre engine), every drive layout and possible shape of car (and a pickup truck) is there.
A full list of eligible cars is available here.
Because this is more of a "fun" championship, a change to the car-swapping rule will mean that there will be no limit on swaps, but each swap will incur a 25% point penalty (rounded up)
(example, a driver has scored 12 points and wishes to swap cars - his total is now 8 points. he then goes on to score another 11 points giving a total of 19 and wishes to swap again, so his score goes down to 15).
Group A Classic Touring Cars
I'd planned more visuals, but I haven't had the chance to arrange a proper photo session.So, here's a Beemer in a shed.
Group A Touring cars was mentioned by more than one competitor, and I've wanted to to a championship based on them since the Ford RS500 was added to FM3 in a DLC pack.
This Championship is only open to the following cars:
1983 Volvo 242
1985 Toyota Trueno
1986 BMW M635i
1987 Buick Regal
1987 Ford Sierra Cosworth
1988 BMW E28 M5
1990 Lotus Carlton
1990 Mercedes-Benz 190e
1991 BMW E30 M3
1993 Nissan Skyline GT-R
1993 Ford Mustang SVT
Cars are to be tuned to A600. Rollcage, Slick Tyres, and Racing Gearbox will be mandatory. No aerodynamic modifications are allowed. No Drivetrain, Engine, or Supercharger conversions (turbocharging is OK).
Test builds on these cars (I haven't done them all yet) show a power range from 290 bhp (Toyota) to just over 400 bhp (635 and probably the M5 as it's largely the same).
The Skyline does stand out as the only 4WD car, but it's carrying a big weight penalty and preliminary testing seems to show that it'll need a really skilled tuner to bring the best out of it.
Team entries are encouraged, with up to two (of the same) cars per team.
Schedule
The monday night slot, and the "on-the-night" format will remain unchanged.
Plan is to start on January 23rd with a Roadsports meeting, then GrpA on Jan 30th, alternating until March 26th.
Tracks, I'd like to open up to a vote, and I'll work out the process for that shortly.
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