TORA Endurance Championship: 6 Hours of COTA - Driver's Briefing

Welcome to the final round of the 2017 Season of the TORA Endurance Championship! For this round we head across the Atlantic for the first time to head to the Circuit of the Americas, otherwise known as COTA.  COTA is the newest calendar on the TEC schedule, and was purpose built to bring F1 races to America.  Designed, for better or worse, by renowned F1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke, taking many cues from some of the world's greatest race tracks such as Silverstone, Istanbul Park, and Hockenheim.  The combination results in a technical, challenging track that has played host to some of the biggest racing series in the world.

Qualifying - This will be the typical 1-Hour Endurance Qualifying.  Drivers will have 45 minutes to set their fastest clean lap.  We will be adding the best qualifying results from each team, so remember that more than one driver has to take part in qualifying.  To sign up for qualifying, please use THE QUALIFYING THREAD.  Remember that drivers should be/appear online 15 minutes prior to qualifying start, and should keep in-lobby chat to a minimal.  

Race - This is a 6 hour Endurance race.  Drivers will be competing in 3 stints of two hours each.  However, drivers are reminded that the race actually only lasts 1 hour and 40 minutes. Drivers are reminded that they are to use THE STINT THREAD to assign stints to each of their drivers.  Drivers are expected to be familiar with the rules and regulations come race time, so please review them before August 12th.  

Pit Stops - The required number of pit stops for each class are as follows: 6 for LMP and 4 for GT.  


Stint Starting Procedures - Stint 1 will start with a typical 80 mph 2x2 Rolling Start.  Stint 2 and 3 will be a single file start, starting as cars cross under the Xbox One bridge right after Turn 1 as pictured below. Remember that drivers are not to accelerate to race pace once THEY pass the designated start point.  





If anyone has further questions, please post them in this thread.  Good luck, and I will see you all on track.

Anyone who has ever driven COTA on Forza will tell you that the game lets you get away with a awful lot when it comes to track limits.  For TEC, we will not be using "IMSA Lines."  Everyone will be expected to follow the TORA Standard "two tires on the racing surface at all times" rule.  Here are some examples:

This is acceptable:


This is not acceptable:



This accounts for every turn on COTA, not just the T3-T6.  When in doubt, refer to this image that I posted last year during the Cayman Cup:



If anyone has any further questions, please post below.