AG Tuning BGTA British Touring Car Championship Regulations (Season 2)

BGTA AG Tuning British Touring Car Championship



The BGTA are proud to present the second season of the AG Tuning sponsored British Touring Car Championship. This season will see a number of rule changes being brought in to develop and evolve the close racing we saw in season one of the BTCC. The new regulations brought in are designed to make the competing vehicles more closely matched in terms of performance.

The AG Tuning British Touring Car Championship is administered and organized by the British Grand Touring Association. The BGTA reserve the right to issue statements amending and clarifying the rules and regulations of the series at any time during its course.



A word from the BGTA

Season One of the BTCC was very much a trial series. It allowed us to see where we were strong, and where we needed to work on. We looked at the cars. We looked at the tracks. We looked at the drivers. We looked at attendance, participation, regulations and restrictions. And we hope this revised rule set for Season Two will refine the experience without losing too much of the spirit of the BTCC, and certainly without being detrimental to the greatest strength of Season One.

It was a hell of a lot of fun for those involved.

The main areas you will see difference in if you ran in Season One are in the cars themselves. We have upped the PI limit to A800, with 350BHP permitted. However, owing to the lack of variety in car choice in the middle of the season – grids often looked like the SEAT Cupra Championship – we have restricted the number of cars of one model allowed.



We have also lifted many build restrictions in how you construct the car. Drive-train swaps are permitted within reason, turbo modifications are opened up, and body options may be used. We hope this will balance the cars further without resorting to being rules police in defining what is and isn’t legal.

For the races themselves, there are a few minor changes. The basic structure remains the same – qualification followed by three sprint races. However, in keeping with the spirit of the BTCC, we have opted to drop the mandatory pit-stops, which would often break up the pack and ruin the close racing we expect from this series.

We are also putting more emphasis on the team and the role of Team Leader. Teams are now expanded and permitted to run up to three drivers. The Team Leader has the unenviable task of selecting which of the teams’ drivers are points-scoring cars, as well as declaring team readiness for a race.



As I’m sure you will agree, the revisions we have made have one goal in mind – we want to keep the fun in this series. Yes, there will no doubt be fall-outs and complications, racing incidents and rivalries, but that’s in keeping with the real thing that we are trying to replicate. There will inevitably be contact in races, but we ask that everyone keeps a level head about it and bear in mind that it happens all the time in the BTCC.

Remember, rubbing is racin’!



Championship Officials

Championship Co-ordinators - jenson09, Marchie, and ckBrenneke
Championship Scrutineers, Officials, Lobby Captains and Stewards – The BGTA Mod Squad



Competitor Eligibility

This championship is open to members of the BGTA. Membership can be gained by posting in the sign up thread in the BGTA’s forum.

Registrations will be accepted throughout the course of the series.

Competitors will carry their BGTA registration number throughout the series.

Guest drivers at individual rounds are welcome pending ratification from the BGTA officials in charge of the event.

Every driver entering the tournament must be a part of a team. This could be a one, two or three car team. The team must nominate a Team Leader to represent the team and make decisions.

Teams entering the teams championship with more than two cars must nominate which two will be eligible to score points towards the Team Championship. This must be done in the entry thread for each race.



Championship Rounds

The BGTA AG Tuning British Touring Car Championship will consist of 30 rounds at 10 events as follows:

MEETING/ROUNDS CIRCUIT
1/2/3 Maple Valley Short
4/5/6 Suzuka East
7/8/9 Mugello Short
10/11/12 Road Atlanta
13/14/15 Motegi East*
16/17/18 Sebring Short
19/20/21 Laguna Seca
22/23/24 Silverstone National
25/26/27 Sunset Infield Reverse
28/29/30 Maple Valley
*DLC Track



Championship Points

Depending upon entries to each round, competitors will be divided into equal (or as close to equal as possible) lobbies. Points for finishers are scored from 1st to 20th as follows:

30, 28, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

All competitors including and following position 20 will receive 1 point.

A point will be awarded to the competitor who qualifies for Pole Position for the first race in each lobby.

Points for the two nominated drivers will go towards the collective total for the Team Championship.

Non-finishers are defined by drop-outs through connection and power problems, mid-race leavers, and technical failure. They will recieve one point regardless of position at dropout.

Guest drivers will not score points towards the championship, but will score the points for the position they finish in the race.

The championship winner will be the entry with the most points after the end of the last round.

Should the championship end with two drivers on equal points, the winner will be the driver who:
- Has the most first place finishes for the season.
- If that is equal, the greatest number of 2nd places.
- If that is equal, the greatest number of third places.



Awards

The second season of the BGTA BTCC brings with it the introduction of sponsorship from AG Tuning. AG Tuning will be providing prize money and exclusive cars to the winners and runners up.

1st place in the driver’s championship will win 20 million credits, as well as a limited edition car made especially for the winner.

2nd place prize is 5 million and the AG Crimson Stallion VIP car.

3rd place will get 2 million credits.

The teams championship will also recieve prizes, which will be revealed at a later date.



Entries

The Team Leader of each team is responsible for entering his or her team in each meeting of the BTCC. This will be done by posting in the corresponding thread in the BTCC section of the BGTA website. The Team Leader must post the name of the team entering, the drivers from the team that will be competing, and if there is three competitors in the team, which two of them will be eligible for scoring towards the teams championship. This information must be posted in the relevant thread, which will close 24 hours before the racing begins.

A team or driver which fails to enter 24 hours before the meeting will only be allowed to compete at the decision of the BGTA stewards.

Entries wishing to withdraw from the event after posting intent to compete must do so by posting in the same thread prior to the event beginning. Failure to do so will result in penalties being applied to championship points. If you miss a round and fail to inform by this method, and have valid reason for non-appearance, please contact a BGTA Steward as soon as possible.



Qualifying

Each event will see one qualifying session take place prior to the first race.

This will follow in the official BGTA format:
- 1 warm up lap
- 2 qualifying laps
- 1 slow down lap

Competitors must not cross the line on the slow down lap until all times have been collated and grid order determined by the BGTA official presiding.

Collisions will be turned off for this session.

Tyre wear and fuel will be set to simulation.

Damage will be set to limited.

Traction Control, Stability Management and Anti-lock Brakes will be turned off.



Races

Each meeting of the BTCC will consist of three races.

Lobbies will be arranged in order of fastest to slowest depending upon qualifying times. Competitors will be spread in even numbers across the lobbies.

The grid order of race one will be determined by times from qualifying. Grid order of race two will be based upon the finishing positions from race one. Grid order of race three will be the reverse of race two’s final positions.

When race three is reversed, so too are the points available – the slowest qualifying lobby will earn maximum points.

Each race will consist of 6-10 laps of the track.

Non-finishers in a race will begin the subsequent race in last position, based upon dropout order, irrespective of how the grid for that race is decided. If a competitor lags out, they will score only 1 point.

Collisions will be turned on.

Damage will be set to limited.

Tyre wear and fuel will be set to simulation.

Traction Control, Stability Management and Anti-Lock Brakes will be forced off.



Scrutiny and Enquiry

The BGTA official in charge of the lobby will record and investigate each event through the use of the telemetry system.

If you feel you were involved in an unfair incident, please present the details through the Steward Enquiry thread in the BGTA forum.
Include the vehicle(s) and drivers involved, the lap the incident occurred on, and a brief summary of the incident. It will then be investigated by the BGTA Stewards.

Any driver who is found to be at fault in a situation which is deemed to be avoidable will be deducted championship points and/or handed a grid penalty for the following round. Serious and repeated offenders will be excluded from the championship.



Results

All qualifying times, grid positions and finishing points will be deemed provisional until they have been scrutinized and posted by a BGTA Steward in the Championship Table thread on the BGTA forum.



Technical Information

Please be aware that any vehicle found to be contravening the following regulations will be subject to penalties as above, which may result in dismissal from the championship.

Cars eligible for use must meet the following criteria:

- Have been built from the year 2000 onwards.
- May upgrade all areas of engine, including turbos and superchargers.
- May change the drive train, however, the drive type may not be changed.
- Must use the Race grade of tyre.
- May have any bodywork modifications, including spoilers, other than carbon fibre parts.
- Must be built to a maximum PI of A800.
- May have modifications to the platform and handling aspects of the vehicle.
- Must be (or have been) available through a dealership.

Provision may be made for flexibility in some areas if a request is made to and received by a BGTA official presiding over the championship. This request may be declined.

Please see the addendum for a list of eligible vehicles.

There is a limit of six cars per model available across the entrants to the BTCC. Your team leader must submit a request for your choice of car, but be aware that this may be turned down if the model is already in use and has reached the permitted level.

Vehicle changes may be made at the provision of the Championship Co-ordinator, but any championship points accrued will be lost, and the entrant must start afresh.



Presentation

Vehicles entered to any round of the championship must meet the expectations of the BGTA Standards – i.e., no profanity, no illegal or inappropriate imagery, and no anime as part of the livery. This is at the discretion of the BGTA Steward presiding over the lobby.

Vehicles must carry BGTA standard number boxes and sun strips. These are available on request by gifting a car to a BGTA Steward who will return it with all necessary BGTA vinyl groups.

All cars must carry AG sponsorship logos. These will be provided as detailed above.

Any further sponsorship is permitted but must not obstruct the BGTA required vinyls or AG logos.

Rules ammendments 19/12/08

Rolling Starts

From round two of the BTCC (Suzuka East) encompassing rounds four, five and six of season two, the first lap of each race will be a rolling start instead of a standing start.

The pole man must lead off the grid at approximately 70mph for the first lap, with the following cars holding grid positions at the same speed. Once the start line has been reached for the start of lap two, the pole car may start the race proper as it crosses the line.

Cars following may accelerate at the point the pole car crosses the line, but may not overtake until it has crossed the line itself.

Please be aware that recordings of the race will be analysed by lobby captains to determine if competitors breach this rule.

Rules ammendments 19/01/09

Rolling Starts

Due to the introduction of rolling starts, most races so far have lost a lap due to the initial parade/formation lap. This means that for the races run thus far, no race has exceeded 9 competitive laps other than rounds 1, 2 and 3.

In order to clarify the TORA standing on this, races which have been set to run at less than ten laps, ie Road Atlanta at eight laps, will REMAIN at the original stated race length, including the formation lap.

This is due to the fact that race distances were calculated on time, not distance. In order to maintain a race length of approximately ten minutes per round, race lengths will remain the same. This means that an eight lap race will consist of one formation lap and seven competitive laps.

Setting up lobbies, sorting out connection problems, working out laptimes and grid positions following qualification, and then racing the three rounds per meeting is already time consuming. As Head Race Steward, I see no reason for drawing out these meetings longer, when the BTCC has thus far thrived on the short, fast, close races we have all experienced.

Good luck in the coming rounds.

ckBrenneke.