Formula B-Spec Season 4 - British GP Sept. 24

[Earth]

​

NEW
Team Cars
For the first time in Formula B-Spec history, teams will compete in the championship with 2 cars instead of one. This creates new possibilities for strategy, as each team car can now have it's own individual setup, as well as it's own tire and fuel strategy. Because of this a maximum of 12 teams are allowed to enter the championship. They will not be chosen on a first come first serve basis, but rather will be hand picked if more then 12 teams are entered.

NEW
Tire Strategy
Teams in FBS now have to consider tire strategy in addition to fuel strategy. 4 compounds of tires are now available: ultrasoft, supersoft, soft, and medium.

NEW
Advanced Car Building
The level of control teams have over the performance of their car has now increased substantially. The base DP-01 chassis can be modified so significantly each team is allowed to rename the chassis as they see fit, becoming constructors.

NEW
FBS Engineer Exam
Do you know about the technical details that make cars fast? If so, take the engineer exam to earn boosts for the performance of your cars.

=====================================

What is Formula B-Spec?
Instead of driving the cars yourself, you serve the role of team manager. Hire drivers, paint your cars, choose strategy, and setup your cars for optimum speed to win races. This B-Spec series uses the racing simulation rFactor as it's base. I have heavily modified the files within the game to produce a usable B-Spec product.

=== Information ===

Spoiler

Livery Competition
The date for the livery competition is August 7th. In order to participate teams must have submitted a finished livery by that date. 1st place gets 2,500,000cr, 2nd gets 1,500,000cr, 3rd gets 1,000,000cr.

Jerez Test
Each team may select just 1 driver to compete at the official test.

Rules
Setup data is not to be shared
Fuel strategy or tire strategy is not to be shared until after each race starts.

Grid Penalties
If a driver causes an avoidable collision with another and it results in damage or considerable loss of time to the other then the offending driver will be penalized 5 grid spots at the following Grand Prix. If its the last Grand Prix of the season a 30 second post race time penalty will be given. For the 2nd offense of the same driver a 10 place penalty will be given for the following Grand Prix. If it is the last Grand Prix of the season a 60 second post race time penalty will be given. A 3rd offense equals a 20 place grid penalty for the following Grand Prix and exclusion from the results of the race where the offense occurred.

Car Performance Updates
How cars will be updated this season has not been decided as of yet.

Daytona 24 Hours
I suffered from burnout when working to prepare the Daytona 24 hours. After some months, I was ready to continue. However a virus that had attacked my PC during that time had corrupted every single image file on the HDD. For some reason this broke all my rFactor installs, including the one I was going to use for the Daytona 24 hours. This depressed me as it took quite some time to get it up and running properly because of the complexity of using multiple mods as well as the extensive modification needed.

So more time passed. I decided to return to the B-Spec space but with Formula B-Spec as it is easier to prepare then the Daytona 24 hours. The Daytona 24 Hours will still happen though, but not until February 2018. It will use the same cars as originally planned earlier this year. Im planning to build a new PC in October which should be very helpful in streaming a 24 hour race, as the last couple of 24 hour streams froze with 5-6 hours left. Other improvements will be far better graphics and a 720p stream instead of the current 480p. A new PC also allows me to possibly purchase rFactor 2, and explore it's usefulness as a B-Spec platform.

Hopefully every year I can run the Daytona 24 hours, Le Man 24 hours, Spa 24 hours, and one season of Formula B-Spec. That is my goal moving forward.

Formula B-Spec Season 4

Schedule (Subject to Change)

=== The Car ===

Spoiler

• IDT Simulations Champcar 2007 DP-01
• ~600kgs
• ~800HP
• ~350kph top speed
• 7 Speed Gear Box

=== Race Weekend Format ===

Spoiler

• Friday - Free Practice (30 minutes)
• Saturday - Qualifying (25 minutes)
• Sunday - 300km Race (Live stream on twitch.tv/alphicah)

=== Race Strategy Options ===

Spoiler

• Ultra-soft Tires
• Super-soft Tires
• Soft Tires
• Medium Tires

• 3 Stops (the car is fueled just enough at each pitstop to make the race on 3 stops)
• 2 Stops (the car is fueled just enough at each pitstop to make the race on 2 stops)
• 1 Stop (the car is fueled just enough at each pitstop to make the race on 1 stop)

=== Championships ===

Spoiler

• Driver Championship
• Team/Constructor Championship

=== Championship Points Payout ===

Spoiler

1. 10
2. 7
3. 6
4. 5
5. 4
6. 3
7. 2
8. 1

=== Prize Income ===

Spoiler

>>Grand Prix<<

1. 1,200,000cr
2. 1,150,000cr
3. 1,100,000cr
4. 1,050,000cr
5. 1,000,000cr
6. 950,000cr
7. 900,000cr
8. 850,000cr
9. 800,000cr
10. 750,000cr
11. 700,000cr
12. 650,000cr
13. 600,000cr
14. 550,000cr
15. 500,000cr
16. 450,000cr
17. 400,000cr
18. 350,000cr
19. 300,000cr
20. 250,000cr
21. 200,000cr
22. 150,000cr
23. 100,000cr
24. 50,000cr

=== Championship Bonus ===

Spoiler

>>Driving Champion<<

1st - 5,000,000cr -
2nd - 4,000,000cr
3rd - 3,000,000cr
4th - 2,000,000cr
5th-24th - 1,500,000cr

>>Constructor Champion<<

1st - 12,000,000cr -
2nd - 8,500,000cr
3rd - 8,000,000cr
4th - 7,500,000cr
5th - 7,000,000cr
6th-12th - 5,000,000cr

=== FBS All-Time Stats ===

Spoiler

<LINK>

=== Awards ===

Spoiler

Ayrton Senna Award

• Pole Position + Race Win

Kimi Raikkonen Award

• Fast Lap + Race Win

Michael Schumacher Award

• Pole Position + Fast Lap + Race Win

Jim Clark Award

• Pole Position + Fast Lap + Race Win + Lead Every Lap

=== Templates ===

Spoiler

Livery Rules
Team cars must share identical liveries except for:

• Helmets
• Car Numbers (Numbers are not required)
• Mirrors
• T-cams

Car (No tobacco sponsors)
<LINK>

T-Cam Template
<LINK>

Helmet
<LINK>

Car & Helmet Guide
<LINK>

=== Entry List ===

 

[Suzumiya]

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

 

[Suzumiya]

Also, a question. Do we still retain our current drivers from the MTP Endurance Series, or are they all free for everyone once again?

 

[Earth]

Also, a question. Do we still retain our current drivers from the MTP Endurance Series, or are they all free for everyone once again?

Everything from MTP carries over here, so if a driver is already taken then he is unavailable.

Teams already signed up with MTP who have drivers can release any driver(s) they want, and the credits they spent on that driver will be returned to them. The team can then sign a different driver. Of course, a team can only have a maximum of 6 drivers on the squad at any given time.

 

[Formidable]

Glad to see you back @Earth ! Sorry to hear about the issues with Daytona and such, but I hope for nothing but the best for this FBS season 👍

 

[Gerarghini]

Tagging @Jahgee even tho he's dead

But maybe this time I'll actually submit stuff instead of disappearing 👍

EDIT: Hey @Earth I know I submitted a new form but could you please ignore that one I forgot I already had an MTP set up.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

Oh boy.... Here we go again!

 

[Earth]

The Australian Grand Prix is Just Over 5 Weeks Away
7/13/2017

After a 12 month hiatus, FBS is back.

Currently 6 teams have submitted entries for season 4. Of the six teams one chassis did not pass crash testing, so this team was asked to improve the performance of it's car in this area. FBS boss Michael Silver said a lower turnout so far compared to previous seasons was somewhat disappointing, but also expected. "It's the landscape of B-Spec racing, as a whole. It's not as healthy as it was 2 years ago, or even a year ago. There's a variety of reasons for that. Of course interests change over time and some people move on. However the surprising part is that not many new teams have stepped into their place. For every 2 or 3 teams that leave, maybe 1 new team joins to replace them. The lack of growth overall beyond the original members is what's disappointing the most."

"And of course you have to take into account that B-Spec racing has become more complex in some series, making it more time consuming to participate in them then in the past. There's also been the criticism of the custom setups FBS allows, however I feel the team has done a great job behind the scenes every season drafting new rules and regulations to give those who haven't figured out setups and how they correspond to each course to be competitive with and beat those who have. If you look at the new track tire wear variable from last season there was a few races whose outcome was changed considerably because some teams chose an undesirable strategy. This season we've introduces tire compound selections in addition to the track tire wear variable along with fuel strategy, which makes choosing the right strategy even more important then ever. It's not just about who has the fastest setup anymore."

"We're also looking more and more into the custom car building component. This will certainly grow more advanced in future endurance events or FBS seasons. The Engineer exam is something of a beta for that. If you know about the technology and science of what makes a racecar fast, then you will have the opportunity to build a racecar faster then somebody who does not. This can help offset or even overcome speed a team may lose because of an inferior setup. Custom car building is the core of the future of MTP."

"Of course the variable you look to control is the spending power and wealth of the top teams versus newer or struggling teams. We don't want the top teams buying wins, however at the same time we realize, just as it is the case in real motorsports, the teams with the biggest budget usually win. Our ultimate goal is to reward successful, hardworking teams with a better chance to win, but we do not want to make them unbeatable by even the smallest teams. If an underdog cannot win, then MTP has not done it's job well. But at the same time one must remember you cannot have an underdog without a favorite. There needs to be a bully to topple, a target to shoot for. A good example is Audi's domination of LeMans for all those years. Yes they stunk up the show, but I lost track of the amount of times i tuned in just to root for someone else to beat them. Now that they are gone, most of that passion is lost."

Another big change for season 4 is the new engines. Moving from the normally aspirated engines of season 3 to turbo charged engines for season 4 has produced a car that is more challenging for the drivers. More single car spins are expected as drivers struggle to put down the extra torque found in the new engines.

In the past the cars all ran the same spec gearbox settings for every event, meaning the tall gearing used at Monza was also used at Monaco. For the first time it will be adjusted per race to fit the needs of the circuit. In the past the cars would barely use 6th gear at Monaco and never 7th, but that will change this season with new spec gearing for each circuit. At the moment simulations show the current gearing should have the cars hit the rev limiter at 325kph (202mph) at the end of Australia's front straight, but race officials are not sure if this is tall enough gearing for the newer, more powerful engines.

In other news the MTP strategy group announced qualifying sessions will be 20 minutes in length if the grid is 18 cars or less, and 25 minutes in length if the grid is 19 cars or more. Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix will once again be broadcasted live.

 

[Earth]

A few updates:

• Entry list in the first post has been udpated
• Only 4 more teams can join before the championship is full
• The "T-Cam" on top of the cars has been removed. It will not be used this season for aesthetic reasons.
• Once a team signs up they are eligible for the FBS Engineer Exam. An email address is required to take this exam.

Information on removing the T-Cam:

Open the Champ07.gen and the Champ07_Spinner.gen files in notepad. Find these lines. Edit LODOut to read LODOut=(0.0)

<CCTCAMEXISTS> Instance=CCTCAM<UPNUMBER>
<CCTCAMEXISTS> {
<CCTCAMEXISTS> Moveable=True
<CCTCAMEXISTS> MeshFile=<CCTCAM> CollTarget=True HATTarget=False ShadowCaster=(True, Solid, 64, 64) LODIn=(0.0) LODOut=(0.0) ShadowReceiver=True Reflect=False
<CCTCAMEXISTS> }

 

[Rebellion765]

 

[Earth]

Bridgestone Tire Performance Chart for Season 4 Revealed
7/19/2017

"Different tire compounds is definitely something we regret not doing sooner," said FBS boss Michael Silver. The technical aspect of tires was very daunting at first, so it's something we really didnt work with for the first 2 seasons of FBS. Then, in season 3, we decided to introduce different levels of tire degradation, and this really helped make calling the right strategy more important. But still teams all used the same tire compound. That changes in Season 4."

"I would say choosing the right or wrong tire strategy will be huge, and can certainly win or lose a team the race."

"Bridgestone did a good job in balancing all the tire compounds. These compounds are the result of thousands of testing kilometers to make sure the balance is just right. They all have their use for certain situations. The team worked hard to make sure a certain compound wouldn't end up being viewed as useless."

Silver also confirmed the Ultra Soft tire would be used exclusively for testing, practice, and qualifying. With that the official Performance Chart was revealed:

Purple was chosen to signify Ultra Soft Tires. Red for Super Soft, yellow for Soft, and white for Medium. When asked why a hard tire was not available, Silver noted the development team didnt feel a hard tire would be useful enough, that the four available compounds would provide the teams with enough options for varying strategy.

"We've only begun to scratch the surface with whats possible in B-Spec," said Silver. "There's so many options on the car that can be adjusted. rFactor is such a powerful tool that allows you to tweak and adjust nearly everything as you see fit. I would say we've only discovered a fraction of what's possible."

 

[RACECAR]

Suarez on a none-joke team, progress has been made.

Small jab aside, I'll having a entry going soon. Just need to get back knowing what the hell anything is again

 

[tbwhhs]

 

[Rebellion765]

When it's ready.2017 - Kyoto, Japan

Spoiler: BMW Tsukuyomi Luna-002 Livery Reveal

Spoiler: Sponsors

• NTT Docomo
• Matsumoto Kiyoshi (MatsuKiyo)
• PIAA
• Puma
• Bridgestone
• Castrol
• Endless
• Sachs
• Espelir

 

[YayoiGT2]

Haruna Tsuchigami critical of lower number of allowed teams
World Sports Network Breaking News

In an interview with the Tsuchigami no Kyojin team principal, Haruna Tsuchigami made her concerns about the lowered number of allowed participants very clear. "While it's very true that the Formula B-Spec series is one of the top racing championships in the world, I feel as though the 12-team limit imposed on FBS entries this year will do no good for the sport. At the moment, the series only has one new entrant to MTP. With a number of potential teams being so eager to join the series and so few spots available for them, it weakens our interest in racing. We're here to help expand the racing community first and foremost, and taking away a spot from a prospecting team principal would leave me with a sick feeling in my tummy."

When asked about how FBS should go about alleviating her concerns, Tsuchigami proposed a new Pre-qualifying procedure that would see 28 cars participate prior to the full Qualifying session, rather than 24 and no pre-qualifying. "Although it would be hurtful to see several drivers not make the main show on Sunday, we might be able to entice more teams to join in with a larger team entry limit without significant compromises to the race format." Afterwards, Tsuchigami was questioned on her commitment to FBS, to which she replied "We are ready. Iroha is ready. Our drivers are ready. However, our final decision to commit to a full season would be determined by Silver-san's stance regarding our team's concerns."

@Earth

 

[Earth]

FBS Issues Statement Regarding Number of Teams

"We dont see it as a problem. But we would be more then happy to be proven wrong, that there is 2-3 more teams out there interested that haven't signed up yet. We would certainly try and accommodate them. Signups for season 4 have been ongoing for over 2 weeks now, and only 11 teams have signed up. Tsuchigami no Kyojin would be the 12th and final team. So it seems pretty spot on to us, at least from our vantage point.

If the teams that are interested in racing make it known to us, then rules can be drafted to accommodate them. If that doesnt happen, then the limit of teams will remain at 12."

 

[YayoiGT2]

Spoiler: Statement from Haruna Tsuchigami

After some additional meetings with FBS officials, we have reached an agreement and can confirm Tsuchigami no Kyojin will be committing to a full season of Formula B-Spec this year. I would like to personally thank Silver-san for being very open with regards to our concerns for FBS, and by extension MTP as a whole.

 

[Earth]

Agaton Team releases promotional video of the G-02 testing in Turkey



Sponsors:
AMD (Ryzen, Radeon)
Brembo
Bridgestone
Castrol GTX
DMG Mori
Energizer
Richard Mille
Castrol GTX

 

[Earth]

FBS Announces Knockout Qualifying Format
7/30/2017

The Australian Grand Prix will feature 24 cars on the grid. Because of the size of the grid a new qualifying format will be used at each Grand Prix.

Round 1:

• 30 Minutes
• Top 16 Advance to Round 2

Round 2:

• 25 Minutes
• Top 10 Advance to Round 3

Round 3:

• 20 Minutes
• Top 10 battle for Pole Position

The new qualifying format gives teams goals to shoot for. Getting a car or two into the second or third round of qualifying can be a goal for a team. It's similar to the reason FBS does not reward points for every position. It's because it wants to make achieving a top 8 finishing position a goal for teams to work towards. Even if a team cannot achieve a podium, pole position or race win there are still other goals for them to aim for in the championship.

All 3 rounds of qualifying will be streamed live for the Australian Grand Prix.

 

[Earth]

Driver List v2.0 Released
8/1/2017

FBS has worked very hard with @Suzumiya to update the MTP driver list.

Effective immediately, all drivers will have their stats based on this updated list.

Driver List v2.0 can be viewed > HERE <

The driving performance parameters in the new list are:

• [SPD] - Speed. The overall speed of a driver. Measured in units 1-100
• [AGR] - Aggression. How aggressive a driver is in overtaking or battling. Measured in units 1-100.
• [BRK] - Braking Ability. How good a driver is braking into a corner. Measured in units F-S
• [CRN] - Cornering Ability. How good a driver is at navigating corners. Measured in units F-S.
• [ERR] - Errors. How good a driver is at avoiding mistakes. Measured in units F-S.
• [TIR] - Tire Conservation. How good a driver is at taking care of his tires. Measured in units F-S.
• [FUL] - (For Sportscars Only) Fuel Conservation. How good a driver is at conserving fuel. Measured in units F-S.

The F-S Scale:
S = Best
A
B
C = Middle
D
E
F = Worst

@AJHG1000
@DcrRaikkonen
@Formidable
@Gerarghini
@optiongamers
@Pezzarinho17
@RACECAR
@Rebellion765
@Suzumiya
@tbwhhs
@YayoiGT2

 

[Earth]

Factory Update Announced & Explained
8/4/2017

Updated Team Pages:

> LINK < -- Agaton Team
> LINK < -- Cimarron Racing
> LINK < -- Eastern Atlantic Motorsports
> LINK < -- McGill Racing
> LINK < -- Scuderia Rabia Furiosa
> LINK < -- STARtec DEVELOPMENTS
> LINK < -- Team Hot Wheels
> LINK < -- Team Pezzarinho
> LINK < -- Team Racerworkz
> LINK < -- TRB Motorsport
> LINK < -- Tsuchigami no Kyojin
> LINK < -- Tsukuyomi Racing Project

Engineer List
> LINK <

Legacy Team Pages:

Spoiler

-link- Agaton Team @Earth
-link- Allstar Racing @aarror
-link- Cimarron Racing @AJHG1000
-link- Eastern Atlantic Motorsports @Formidable
-link- EH Team Racing Technologies @GTracerEHTeam
-link- HRSC Racing - @Harsk100
-link- Jahgee GP @Jahgee
-link- McGill Racing @optiongamers
-link- Okuma Motorsports @GTRacer22
-link- Polaris GP @amaterasu
-link- Scuderia Rabia Furiosa @DcrRaikkonen
-link- STARtec DEVELOPMENTS @Suzumiya
-link- Swift Autosport @swiftsmith
-link- Team Hot Wheels @Gerarghini
-link- Team Pezzarinho @Pezzarinho17
-link- Team Racerworkz - @RACECAR
-link- TRB Motorsport @tbwhhs
-link- Tsuchigami no Kyojin @YayoiGT2
-link- Tsukuyomi Racing Project @Rebellion765

Engineers from the 'legacy' team page should be moved to the new team page. Where they go in the factory is up to you. To see how engineers are added to the factory see the Updated Agaton Team page.

How it works:

The way staff work has been overhauled. The two major changes are:

#1. The PIT stat has been replaced with AER. AER = aero.
#2. When adding an engineer to your factory, notice they now can only help you in one area. While they have attributes for 3 areas, CHS, ENG, and AER, when you add them to a segment of your factory the only stat that matters is the one that corresponds to the segment you placed them in.

For example, an engineer might have 84 CHS, 23 ENG, and 45 AER. If you send him to work in the wind tunnel, the AER stat is all that matters. The Wind Tunnel will get 45 AER points, and thats all. The other points will not be used.

After an engineer has been assigned to work somewhere in the factory, the assignment is permanent.

Each team's factory is made up of 5 segments. To get a detailed explanation of how much each levels increases your car's performance, see the notes placed in each upgrade level.

7 Post Shaker Rig
Adding staff here increases the cornering performance of the car

Composites & Autoclaves
Adding staff here allows your team to build custom parts for your cars, reducing the overall weight.

Engine Dyno
Adding staff here helps increase the horsepower of the engine

Wind Tunnel
Adding staff here reduces the drag of your cars

CFD Software
Adding staff to work with the CFD Software improves the performance of the car's diffuser

If there are any questions, ask and I will answer them


@AJHG1000
@DcrRaikkonen
@Formidable
@Gerarghini
@optiongamers
@Pezzarinho17
@RACECAR
@Rebellion765
@Suzumiya
@tbwhhs
@YayoiGT2

 

[Suzumiya]

STARtec hard at work for upcoming season

Osaka, Japan- Last season, the Japanese outfit saw a terrific result for their debut, a result that many doubted would happen. Finishing behind constructors Team Pezzarinho and McGill Racing, two behemoths of the open wheel scene, STARtec was to be expected a mid-pack team but hastily hushed skepticism with a 3rd.

The team now, however, are hard at work once again, unsatisfied with the result that they managed to produce.

"Our goal last season was to finish the season. We exceeded the goal by a landslide," team representative Takane Fujii stated. "By the time the season was rounding off to an end, we found ourselves clawing for a title. While it was effectively a two horse race by this time, it would work towards the next year of competition. Despite the retirement at Suzuka, our spirits were very high leaving the season and our goals have now changed drastically."

"We expect a championship this year. No excuses from us."

While Fujii's statement was rather polarizing, she then explained her team's intentions.

"I think it's a bit redundant as a racing team to set their goal to finish the season and end up clean. That's what every team wants. It would be insulting to the audience and media to be willingly coy and expect something honest, especially at the size of our facilities and last year's performance. We hope they understand."

Team lead engineer Ayako Nana was much more delicate and gentle with her words.

"A good effort is all we need to deserve respect. Last season was a rush to keep up. This season, I learned from my mistakes, and the team and I have formed a much more linear plan.

It's not that these plans can be set in stone, of course not! Something may come up and force us to work on something else of interest. Our direction, however, will always be the same, and hopefully our work will show that"

Nana also weighed in on the new Multimatic/Riley support deal.

"Multimatic/Riley has been very cooperative with us as a supplier, and we are so thankful for their work that we named the chassis with their namesake in it. Combined with the Honda power, I feel it will truly be a definitive Honda racer."

Nana refused to comment on other supplier deals.

Team principal Haruhi Suzumiya was not present at the headquarters at the time, however, she was spotted at a water park some miles away from the facility.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

Team Pezzarinho Announce New Manager

Following the unexpected decision by Perry Brown to leave Team Pezzarinho at the end of 2016, there were many doubts about the future of the team and whether they would return to defend their second Championship title. As many media outlets predicted, Team Pezzarinho have indeed returned with a new manager in Adrian Boddington. Fernando Alonso remains with the team to defend his title, however he will be challenged by new team mate Sebastian Vettel.

"I'm really excited to join this team at this time, it is a huge challenge of course but it is also the best possible moment. Perry lead the team back to Championship glory last season and now it is my job to maintain that form and continue to set a benchmark for the series. We are delighted therefore to retain Fernando Alonso, a formality for both parties after such a successful campaign last year. To maintain that high standard across the team, we needed to hire a second driver that would challenge Fernando, and there aren't many drivers more suited to that task than Sebastian Vettel. In Alonso and Vettel, I think we have by far the strongest driver lineup for the upcoming season and so it is now up to our engineering team to deliver a winning car for them."

Adrian chose not to mention too many details about the new car in the press release other than information already revealed by the series entry list. "The TP-04 is very nearly ready for next weeks test, and it will once again be Mercedes powered. We spoke briefly with Dieter Zetsche about potentially becoming manufacturer backed but ultimately we quickly came to the conclusion that remaining a customer benefitted us both at this time. And we get to keep the car blue!"

The team is expected to unveil the TP-04 for the first time on August 7th, ahead of a planned filming day at the circuit. Both Alonso and Vettel will be present and no decision has been announced about which will take part in the official test sessions.

 

[tbwhhs]

Spoiler: TRB Motorsports JC17-01-Mercedes

Spoiler: Sponsors

Shell
Adidas
Tag Heuer
Citi
Jack Daniels
T Mobile

 

[optiongamers]

McGill Racing looking forward for the new season

After a unsuccessful attempt at defending our title last season it's great to be back for the new season. Last season we had a good string of results and had the pace but unreliability and poor performances in races had costed us.

However for the new season we are hoping we still have the pace like we had with previous seasons which is difficult to judge as we dont know what the pace of our old and new rivals will be. The new cars this season look great and appear much simpler in comparison to last seasons car which is good. Once again we are running the Ferrari engine which we have been loyal customers with Ferrari for the last three seasons and have been significant in retaining our performance. It seems like this season we are one of two teams running the Ferrari engine with most teams running Honda or Mercedes engines so hopefully the engine is up to par with the competition and that is something we will evaluate over the season incase we plan on switching supplier for the next season. Although with less teams running Ferrari engines this might allow us to work more closely with Ferrari to develop the engine. Bottas will be retuning as the number one driver for our car this season and he will be joined by new comer to the series Paul Di Resta who has had experience with us in other competitions.

Bottas and Di Resta will be unveiling the new car livery at Jerez which sticks to the classic McGill Racing livery. Bottas will be the first driver to test the car with Di Resta testing the car on day two.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

Team Pezzarinho TP-04 Breaks Cover

We have the exclusive first pictures as Alonso completes the first shakedown of the new Team Pezzarinho challenger in Jerez. Sebastian Vettel will take over running this afternoon.

Spoiler

UPDATE: Team Pezzarinho release studio images of the TP-04

Spoiler

 

[Earth]

Season 4 Gets Underway at Jerez
8/8/2017

Formula B-Spec had it's first official session of it's fourth season in Jerez. The 60 minute long practice session took place in perfect conditions. 8 of the 12 teams were on hand for the test, many of which ran black cars with no official liveries as of yet.

As something of a surprise, Tsukuyomi Racing Project's Amber Sebringson posted the fastest time of the session, a 1:21.620. That time was good enough to be almost half a second clear of McGill Racing's Valterri Bottas.

Katsumas Chiyo was third quickest. The Japanese driver is currently serving as Eastern Atlantic Motorsport's test driver, but with performances like this, how long before he is promoted to be one of the team's regular drivers?

BMW made a big splash in it's first official FBS outing, locking up first and third positions. FBS has not been very kind to new engine manufacturers in the past, with Porsche and Ford struggling mightily in their debut, but BMW is looking to change that. On the other hand Mercedes teams filled out the bottom four spots.

The surprise of the session was Fernando Alonso and Team Pezzarinho in fifth place. While timing and scoring shows the driver having completed 8 laps, the truth is Alonso only completed 2 flying laps throughout the entire session. The other 6 laps amounted to nothing more then installation laps.

Alonso was seen understeering and going wide off the track briefly entering the last hairpin, so something in the car certainly wasnt in order. Yet another trackside report said the TP-04 looked 'rapid' at times and was perhaps 20, 30kph faster through one corner then the car it was following. What exactly was wrong nobody outside of Team Pezzarinho really knows. Was the team simply sandbagging, or something else? Perhaps Day 2 of the test will answer some of these questions.

In the past FBS has been criticized for not giving more running time to drivers have problems with their cars during a session. FBS' postion on this remains the same. If a driver suffers a mechanical failure or crashes in practice or qualifying before setting a competitive time, the race stewards will not restart the entire session to give the driver another shot.

Simon Pagenaud and TRB Motorsports certainly had to be disappointed to finish the session last, 2 seconds off the pace. Pagenaud posted the slowest second and third sectors of all the drivers. TRB Motorsports is a veteran team and will no doubt get things turned around sooner rather then later.

Timing Results:

Spoiler

@AJHG1000
@DcrRaikkonen
@Formidable
@Gerarghini
@optiongamers
@Pezzarinho17
@RACECAR
@Rebellion765
@Suzumiya
@tbwhhs
@YayoiGT2

 

[Earth]

Team Pezzarinho Displays Astonishing Pace on Day 2
8/10/2017

After Day 2 of the Jerez test, there was one question on everyone's mind.

Is the TP-04 the fastest racecar ever built?

FBS boss Michael Silver said he is expecting the racing organization's stocks to plummet the next day. "I think alot of people are going to be worried after seeing these timing results, and what it means for the quality of racing over the course of the upcoming season. Is it ideal? No. Are we going to change anything this season because of what we've seen in testing? No. FBS does not compromise. There will be no performance ballast or anything like that.

The 1998 Formula 1 season was the first time I followed the series from beginning to end, and it's the inspiration for the creation of FBS. If you look at the first race in the 1998 season, the McLarens lapped the field. If that happens in FBS this season, so be it. Most importantly I think FBS is fair. Or at least as fair as it can be. Everyone started with a white sheet of paper this season. Team Pezzarinho appears to have made the most of what was offered to everyone, based on testing. I congratulate them for that. The team deserves it"

Behind Alonso was Amber Sebringson, who nearly matched her time from Day 1. Its early, but the Tsukuyomi Racing Project team is establishing themselves as having the second best car.

Neel Jani and Simon Pagenaud both bounced back and improved their times by 1 full second over the first day. Di Resta and Hockenheim both turned in times a few tenths slower then what their teammate managed on Day 1. The STARtec-Riley lo Phantasm was once again the fastest in a straight line, but was unable to find overall speed.

Tsuchigami no Kyojin debuted the Iroha WGP-17 with Tsugio Matsuda behind the wheel, but only managed the slowest time in 2 of the 3 sectors.

Timing Results:

Spoiler

@AJHG1000
@DcrRaikkonen
@Formidable
@Gerarghini
@optiongamers
@Pezzarinho17
@RACECAR
@Rebellion765
@Suzumiya
@tbwhhs
@YayoiGT2

 

[YayoiGT2]

Haruna Tsuchigami: "Nothing is final"

Despite the extremely poor pace demonstrated by the Iroha WGP-17 in its debut run at Jerez earlier today, Haruna Tsuchigami has assured fans that her team is taking extensive measures to improve the car in time for the Australian GP. "We underestimated the level of preparation needed to be competitive this season, but it's okay. Today we logged a lot of laps at full attack, so now we can make big improvements come race day in Australia next week."

Spoiler: Also...

PLEASE GET THE NAME OF MY CAR RIGHT UNYUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
IT'S IROHA
I R O H A
XD

 

[Suzumiya]

Takane Fujii: "Nothing is ever achieved just moping about"

STARtec's quite odd performance at Jerez has the team's fans at worrisome states, wondering if they have not met the levels of the other teams throughout the offseason. However, Fujii has very stern outlooks on the possibly bright future.

"We could easily go and panic and try to change everything on the car. But we'll focus one thing at a time. Our setup for this track for speed is for nothing, so that is a huge step we have to take. We are not taking advantage of our great ground effects our car has. It is truly hurting us around the circuit. All in all, what is very fantastic is that we are very pleased with our drivers' performances. They handled the car in an awesome manner, and we can't wait to see when we give them a completely capable car."