All formats will now have the same 15x/30x incident/DSQ limit
This means we no longer have to bounce between different incident limits, we have a slightly higher ceiling in general, and we can get rid of the steward ability to increase the incident limit pre-race because it was never used anyway.
Each class now has 10 minutes instead of 7.5 during endurance qualifying
This should give all drivers a bit more breathing room in open qualifying. This will not get increased any further to keep race end time as early as possible.
Sprint feature is once again the longer of the two races, some sprints may feature a pitstop, and inverts have been increased to 12
These changes, in addition to a points system that discourages chasing the invert, will be an experimental “attempt #2” at a format where the feature race is the longer of the two, based on learnings from past seasons. Some of the feature races will also feature a pitstop this season. This is only the second time in series history we have tried this. The ones that do have a stop will run a 15m/35m sprint/feature time split. The ones without a stop will run 20m/30m. The invert remains the same for both.
Endurance races will require the change of at least 1 tire
This change is also experimental for this season, and is intended to reduce the amount of fuel saving needed during endurance races. The vote for this was especially close, so we will be looking for feedback on whether to make this change a more permanent series fixture.
Points system rebalance
Increased value of every position. Discouraged sandbagging for the invert. Ensured every position is worth the same across endurance and sprint races. Removed Fastest Lap and Pole Position bonus points. Increased value of all other bonus points from 1 to 2.
Delta points available to podium sitters
Delta drivers can now earn a maximum of 8 “Delta points” for winning Delta class in a race. These points only count towards the Delta Championship, and do not count towards drivers’ totals in the overall Alpha Championship.
| DELTA RANK (ENDURANCE) | POINTS EARNED |
|---|---|
| P1 | 8 |
| P2 | 5 |
| P3 | 2 |
| DELTA RANK (SPRINT) | POINTS EARNED |
|---|---|
| P1 | 3 |
| P2 | 2 |
| P3 | 1 |
| DELTA RANK (FEATURE) | POINTS EARNED |
|---|---|
| P1 | 5 |
| P2 | 3 |
| P3 | 1 |
Special 4th Anniversary Mt. Washington hillclimb
Come test your mettle at Mt. Washington! This hillclimb will be open for 6 hours, come celebrate 4 years of ATC on December 30th! This is not a points-paying event.
Livery competition, winning livery featured in the ATC14 poster and introduction video
Rumors of this planned competition’s demise were greatly exaggerated. Each organization is allowed to submit 1 of their driver’s liveries. If not part of a team, drivers may submit their privateer liveries. After the submission deadline, voters will award bronze/silver/gold medals to the liveries they like the most. The winning car will be featured in most ATC14 promotional material. The only rule will be that the liveries must be made-for-ATC, with series banners and decals present. Full entry details will be posted closer to season start.
100% random weather forecasts
This was the most popular voting option when you look at the head-to-heads against the other more structured options, but the vote between this and any structured option was a bit closer. We’ll all get to see how this plays out together!
Rulebook tweaks
This past season was the cleanest ever in terms of incident reports by count. It could have been even cleaner if not for the most common type incident that incurred some kind of penalty this season: the outside car hooking onto the inside car’s rear quarter panel and spinning them, almost too easily. We’ve expanded some guidelines to hopefully help us mediate these incidents better. In general, everyone will need to be more careful in these situations until if/when the collision physics change again.
Additionally, we have slightly tweaked potential penalties for collisions to allow the stewards more flexibility when considering mitigating circumstances. The unfair advantage definition has been slightly expanded as well to include serving slowdowns dangerously and incorrectly pit lane starting.
The full ATC13 rulebook will be posted closer to season start.
This concludes our ATC13 rundown.
Come race with us on December 16th at discord.gg/alphatouringchallenge!
Alpha Touring Challenge 