Basic Rules of American Iron Races

Race Length & Time:

For Season 1 of the American Iron Racing Series on Forza Motorsports 4, there will be 15 races. All races are held on Friday nights, and 9 P.M. EST, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Each race will end after reaching a minimum of 70 miles of racing. For instance, if a lap ends at 69.8 miles, the race will continue for one more lap.

All races will include one additional lap so as to allow for a warm-up and rolling start. (This is not included in the calculation of the 70 mile minimum distance requirement.)

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The Racing Field

The American Iron Racing Series is comprised of two sub classes: American Iron (AI), and American Iron Extreme (AIX). Racers will choose which class to race in, and upon doing so will select a car and follow the specific requirements of that particular class. While there are not specific guidelines for this selection, AIX racers are typically faster and smoother racers with more experience, as AIX cars require more car control and racing skill to be competive.

It is the goal that all American Iron races be multi-class races, in which both AI and AIX will compete together, but this does not always occur. The maximum number of racers in any one lobby cannot exceed 16 (per FM4), so in the event of more than 16 total racers, the field will be divided across multiple lobbies, with Race Marshalls reporting the final times and finishing order to the Race Organizer for final tally and scoring.

At the start of the race, racers will be in their qualified starting position. Stay in that position until the drop of the green flag, and be aware that there are other racers around you. Remember that the driver in the pole position has lane choice in double-file starts.

During cautions, just like in the real world, you can continue (and are encouraged) to catch up to the pack. Once you have caught up, maintain the pace speed and your position. Your position should change only if you are passing a damaged or pitted car. Restarts will follow the same rules as starts..

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Lobby Restrictions:

All American Iron races will be held in a sanctioned lobby, with a few basic restrictions in place.

Traction Control (TCS) and Stability Management (STM) are not allowed in American Iron races, and will be forced "Off." All other assists will be allowed.

Sub-classes will be in different hoppers to aid in scoring, and members of any penalty buckets will find themselves in a seperate sub-sub-class.

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Pre-Race:

Prior to each race, drivers will be invited to join the pre-race lobby. Here, number and break-up of lobbies, as well as Race Marshalls will be determined, and classes will be seperated.

Choose your approved car, and make sure that you are in the correct hopper for the given race. If you are, ready up and prepare for qualifying.

Races will try to start on time, but exceptions will be made in certain instances to allow more racers to participate. It is better (and more fun) to be early, so that you can relax and often practice one last time with the other racers prior to the event.

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Qualifying:

The first part of any event is the qualifying race. Qualifying consists of 3 laps, with a staggered (delayed) standing start. During qualifying, all collisions and damage are turned off. While you will be able to see the other cars on the track, they will not affect you.

At the end of the 3 laps, your qualifying position will have been determined for the race by your finishing position.

Be aware that "Certified" laps will score higher than "Un-Certified" laps, just like you would find on the leaderboards, so the key to qualifying well is to run not only and quick lap, but a clean lap as well.

After qualifying, racers will return to the pre-race lobby for one final time, prior to starting the race.

If you missed qualifying but are in the lobby prior to the start of the race, you will be allowed to start the race as if you had qualified in last position.

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Starting:

At the start of each race, allow the driver in front of you to move before you do so. Failure to do this could result in significant damage. Once the field is moving, with all AIX cars in front of all AI cars, form a single-file line, staying in your qualifying position. Once in line, feel free to weave about, spin your tires, drift, etc. to warm your tires, but be aware that there are others around you and that if you damage your car, you will have to deal with the consquences. The race leader should set a pace speed of about 50-60 mph, depending on the track. The leader of the AI racers should go slightly slower to allow AIX racers to move ahead of the pack.

For races with double-file starts, near the 3/4 mark of the pace lap, the driver in the pole position will choose their lane (left or right), and the field will form up behind and beside them. Odd-positioned qualifiers will be inline on the same side of the track as the pole position driver, and even-positioned qualifiers on the opposite. When the Start/Finish line approaches, the Race Marshall shall call for a final forming up prior to giving the final countdown of "3... 2... 1... Go!" Do not start racing on "1," start on "Go."

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Pitting:

All races will have a mandatory pit window, and all racers must pit during this pit window. The earliest you can pit in the window is the end of the first lap in the window. The latest you can pit is the end of the final lap. (Example: Pit Window, Lap 8 - 14. Pitting is not allowed until lap 8 is displayed on your HUD. Displayed (on the HUD) lap 14 is the last opportunity for you to legally pit within the window, so be aware of where the pit entrance is.) Pitting is allowed before and after the pit window for any reason, but be aware that pitting before or after the window will not satisfy the requirement for the mandatory stop. Failure to execute the mandatory pit stop with result in a disqualifcation for that race.

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Cautions:

Sometimes large accidents happen. If this is the case, the Race Marshall may call a "Caution." In the event of a caution, the race leader will slow to the pace speed, and allow others to form up behind them. During this time, racers behind the leader and allowed (and encourged) to continue at about a 3/4 race speed to catch up with the leader. Racers are not, however, allowed to pass or otherwise change their position.

If a driver chooses to pit during this time, they may do so, but they will forfeit their position if they are passed.

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End of Race:

Once you have finished the race, stay in the race and lobby until all the racers have finished! You may want to record your time to verify the offical scoring times and position later.

After returning to the Pre-Race lobby, you are free to go as you please, though many racers hang around and chat, as well as organize practice sessions, afterwards.

I have an update. This update comes courtesy of NASCAR Discussion in the Off-Topic category.

Smus wrote:On FB, the Speed page asked which racing series has the best qualifying, it was F1, NASCAR, MotoGP, a few others …

When I begin my next series (American Iron season II or otherwise), I will change the way I host qualifying. I will incorporate an element of the current American Le Mans Series and am contemplating the use of the inverted five from 1990's Trans-Am.

Forza Motorsport 4 allows timed sessions and the ability to rank finishing order by best lap time; I will put those functions to use.
  1) Qualifying will be held on a date prior to the race.
  2) Qualifying will consist of two sessions.
2a) The first session will be a manipulated single lap to arrange lobby points.
2b) Top point earners will finish at the back of the first session to give front racers more time in the qualifying session.
2c) The second session will be the real qualifying session.
  3) Qualifying will be at least a 20 minute timed session.
3a) Qualifying will have roll-off delay.
3b) The final racer to roll-off will have 20 minutes.
3c) I will calculate all roll-off time into the overall clock.
  4) Qualifying will remain ranked by best "clean & certified" lap time.

I do feel it behooves myself and a select few racers to raise issue with the proposed changes in the qualifying format. I feel, due to the lacking ability in Forza 4 to make adjustments in the race itself, that it would deem the extra time superfluous. Alsp, the extended qualifying time leads more to overall slower times due to tire wear and degredation. Most importantly, i feel the point must be made again that a group of racer, myself and Rem come to mind instantly, who may find it difficult to make a seperate time for both qualifying and race. Leading then, possibly, to racers who would be otherwise contending to sit and bsttke from the rear on a regular basis.

Just my 2 cents.



Pulled out my word book for this one.

Smus wrote:I do feel it behooves myself and a select few racers to raise issue with the proposed changes in the qualifying format. I feel, due to the lacking ability in Forza 4 to make adjustments in the race itself, that it would deem the extra time superfluous. Alsp, the extended qualifying time leads more to overall slower times due to tire wear and degredation. Most importantly, i feel the point must be made again that a group of racer, myself and Rem come to mind instantly, who may find it difficult to make a seperate time for both qualifying and race. Leading then, possibly, to racers who would be otherwise contending to sit and bsttke from the rear on a regular basis.

Just my 2 cents.



Pulled out my word book for this one.

Agreed. While Laguna Seca was the only track I ran real well at during series 1, I was at least able to fend off my position occasionally. Those who race close by me know I'm not going to pass unless it's given to me most of the time.

In a twenty min heat there wouldn't be a noticible tire grip difference. I have sometimes for example at road atlanta run for an hour and actually clicked off equal lap times at the end compared to the beginning. I totally get the qual time issue though but if we ran a twenty min session that wouldn't really add but maybe ten or 15 min to our event time if we did quals and race back to back. Also I really dig the inversion idea... At the Rolex race on Sunset I messed up a dropped from 3rd to 8th or 9th and had to use pit strategy to make up time by having a nice clean track to work with. I feel this would make the pit strategies a more important choice. Would be like how they do feature races on dirt tracks. Switch the top # of qualifiers with the bottom # and let it show who really has the best stuff. I'd wear it as a badge to have to be sent to the rear cause I qual'd good and then try and prove it in the race too. Could be fun

T-A flipped the top 5 so [example] qualifying order of 1 - 16 would look like this come race day: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 6 - 16. I don't know yet if I'll follow that example, change it up, or not use it at all.

Sounds like fun! However you want to run it dude, I'm in.