NEW FORMAT FOR NEXT SEASON

[jeromef1]

Hi everyone,
 
We are proud to announce that next season we will be trying a new championship format for the Thursday Open Wheel series. As voted on the forum, the new Indy Pro 2000 and the Formula 3 are still the most popular, but we were surprise to see other cars to get a good amount of votes! We have also taken into consideration all protests we received this season and all first lap review we had to look at. As a results of this, we are announcing that there will be 2 cars and 2 different series next season running at the same day/time slot! We will have an Elite series and an Amateur Series. Here are how series will be split.
 
PRL Elite Indy Pro 2000 Series or PRL Elite Formula 3 Series
[ul]
[li]If iRacing release the new Indy Pro next season, we will be using it for the Elite series. If not, it will be the Formula 3 again.[/li]
[li]This series will be broadcasted by GSRC and on the iRacing eSport Network.[/li]
[li]Race format will be the same.[/li]
[li]Entry fee of $10 as usual.[/li]
[li]Max. field of 33 drivers.[/li]
[li]Minimum 2000 iRating needed.[/li]
[/ul]
PRL Amateur USF17 Series or PRL Amateur Skip Barber Series
[ul]
[li]If iRacing release the new USF17 next season, we will be using it for the Amateur series. If not, it will be the Skip Barber.[/li]
[li]This series will not be broadcasted.[/li]
[li]Race format will be the same.[/li]
[li]No entry fee.[/li]
[li]Max. field of 40 drivers.[/li]
[li]Maximum iRating of 2400.[/li]
[/ul]
Important to note
[ul]
[li]A week before season start, we will be updating in the registration sheet the iRating of all drivers.[/li]
[li]If you have signed up for the Elite Series with 2100 iRating and you have dropped to 1900 a week before season start, you will be removed and refund.[/li]
[li]If you signed up for the Amateur Series with 2300 iRating and you have jump to 2450 a week before season start, you will be removed from the Amateur series with no chance of joining the Elite series.[/li]
[/ul]
We strongly think this new format will bring more competitive racing and will group faster drivers with same skills together. We know this will not please everyone, but we had to make such decision. We are seeing it as a trial. If it's not working, don't worry that we will adjust for 2020/S4.
 

---

 
We are bringing something new to our series moving forward! On week 7, we will now open the signups for the next season for current season drivers! Signups will be wide open to public on Week 9. With the amount of Premium members we have, we are also adding a new driver status category: Premium Member Returning.
 
Here is the new seat priorities order:

- Premium Member Returning
- Premium Member
- Returning Driver
- New Driver
 
To be considered a premium returning or returning driver, you must have attend 5 races out of 10.
 
You will receive this week an email with the link to the Google Form to signups for the Elite or Amateur series. The next season will start on June 18th and end on August 20th.
 
YOU MUST NOT GIVE THIS LINK TO ANYONE!
 
If we receive registration from drivers not racing in 2020/S2, they will be deleted from the sheet.
 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRkbuMZRhBXfTmTG74U-5wXHyd8E16pSzZbCrh4lm8oN_7_6IXN9jFF57qp54TpGQxMGsoNtQMUc060/pubhtml?gid=2142983872&single=true
 
 
 
 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRUV1KSVEMPPV8iUoy0qSwLh7PWiNZMuthW0XGYboal9VOE7PA0tAONOP-Rr2BbAQL3-1LWWXr0XzFy/pubhtml?gid=2142983872&single=true

 

[code_greene]

Would it be an option for each league to vote independently for which car they want to run?

 

[jeromef1]

We have based our the selection on votes we receive earlier in the season in the thread created for that.

 

[code_greene]

I understand, but we don't exactly know whether the majority of those votes came from people who are going to be in the Amateur split or Elite split. I think it would be reasonable that once the splits are set that each split can vote on which car they want to race.

 

[SharkV]

I understand, but we don't exactly know whether the majority of those votes came from people who are going to be in the Amateur split or Elite split. I think it would be reasonable that once the splits are set that each split can vote on which car they want to race.

Here is the pool link 

http://precisionracingleague.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=224&t=3689

We won’t do another on since this one is clear what people want

 

[code_greene]

Thanks for the link! I voted in it already. What's wrong with each split deciding which car they want? What if when the splits are settled, the majority in one split or another actually wanted the F3 car?

 

[SharkV]

Thanks for the link! I voted in it already. What's wrong with each split deciding which car they want? What if when the splits are settled, the majority in one split or another actually wanted the F3 car?

I think you should read the post at the start of this.  It explains the new format.  If there are new cars for next season, then you will have to find another league to run F3, if not we will stick with F3 probably.

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]PRL Elite Indy Pro 2000 Series or PRL Elite Formula 3 Series[/font]
[ul]
[li]If iRacing release the new Indy Pro next season, we will be using it for the Elite series. If not, it will be the Formula 3 again.[/li]

[/ul]

 

[code_greene]

I read the post, thanks. The reason I'm asking these questions is because there really is no other broadcasted league for F3. And if it turns out that the majority in one split or another actually wants the F3 car, why force us to move to a car we don't want?

 

[jeromef1]

Hi everyone,

Please don't think we come to a decision alone on announcing what would be next season car. The decision has been taken based on votes and discussion with managers (8) and organisers (2). There is no major decision like this being taken solo. All major decisions are well thought. As an example, Tyler, our road manager, is a data expert and provided us the data and statistic about iRating from drivers so we can bring the best criteria for next season.

All PRL staff are doing all this work on a volunteer basis. The $10 entry fees, Premium membership donations and sponsorship goes directly to the league to cover broadcast and other expenses. As an example, we have a project to migrate to a new website and possibly buy a more solid forum platform, there is a cost associated to that, but it's to bring a better experience to our members. No managers and organisers make money here. We are all working on a volunteer basis and we all have full time job + family to take care of. With that said, don't think we will poll all drivers for every decision we will be making. We don't have time for that. Since a few years, PRL has shown to be the most solid and organised league in North America. Usually, when we are making decision, it's because it's the best for the league and the community. Trust us, we have a lot of experience! If this new format is not working, I'm sure we will find a way to fix that for next season.

When we take decision like this, we can't please everyone. I will be honest, in the past, we were doing more poll on a regular basis, and it has never worked... Every time we polled, we always have drivers not happy. We never get 100% of the drivers to take part of the vote to give us a clear picture of what drivers want. We can't please everyone. This is why we are doing less and less poll, and based our judgment with our experiences and our balls. When we are doing poll, it's because the management team is in a dilemma and we need help from the community. Just take the example of the poll we did a few weeks ago. Out of 42 registered drivers, we got 33 votes. But each member was able to vote for multiple car. I'm sure a lot voted for at least 2 cars. Which means that out of 33 votes, probably only 15-20 drivers voted... So it's 50% compliance... It's not enough to give us a clear picture, but we based our decision with what we have and experience.

This new format has been well thought and we are sure it's gonna be a success. Everyone is always welcome to provide feedback via the feedback form or to share their thoughts on the forum. But being persistent on a topic when we have provided reason is pointless, especially from drivers who have no knowledge of PRL history.

I'm sorry we do not please all drivers, we would like to keep you all, but we know we will lose some of you, but gain others on the other hand.

Hope this makes the situation clear now.

Thanks!

 

[jeromef1]

Also another point hehe... We have 8 returning drivers who have signed up for each Elite and Amateur series. Signups must open next week. If we do not open signups next week, we will be to short for season start. Trust us, we need that time to recruit! Who would signups for a league not knowing the car they will be driving? We did that in the past, starting signups without announcing the car and we were never able to start the series due to lack of people. But even if we are not announcing the car and we get 40 signups. What are we doing if half want F3 and the other half Indy Pro?? So we will take a decision and we will lose half of drivers...

Trust us, it's better to start publicly the signups for a series when all the settings and rules package are available! Now we are settle and we all know Elite will be Indy Pro or F3 and Amateur USF17 or Skippy. So drivers who signed up will have no bad surprise.

 

[mclachlanol]

Hey guys,

To give a little background, we are currently in the 18th season for the Thursday night league. We have always changed cars in this league. Before the F3 it was the Radical, before that it was the Skippy, before that it was Indycar, then ProMazda, than I believe Porsche Cup. Normally we change after 2 seasons. The F3 has lasted 4 seasons now, it is overdue for a change. Now every time we make a car change we have a few disappointed members, same thing happened when we switched from the Radical to the F3, but we always gain new drivers and even get some previous members coming back, and to be honest if we never changed cars we wouldn't of been driving the F3 to begin with.

The reason for changing cars is overtime people do loose interest and the league contracts because of it. We have noticed that our field size is dropping and the forums have become a ghost town. We used to get 30-40 posts every week, now it's none. Iracing offers tons of variety and it would be foolish not to take advantage of it. There are 2 new shinny toys out there to play with next season so we are going to try them out.

It's completely understandable that we have some dedicated F3 drivers, especially at the elite level where you guys spend so much time and effort practicing, and unfortunately we may loose a couple of you guys. We hate to see anyone go, but it does happen. One thing I can offer is since league racing doesn't affect your irating this gives you chance to try out a new car against some pretty fast drivers without having to worry about messing up your irating. Who knows, maybe you will end up liking the new car better.

As far as signing up for next season. Iracing has announced they are releasing the new cars and they usually don't make those announcements if it wasn't ready, so expect to be driving the new cars. If you are absolutely against driving the new car then it's best not to signup for next season. Again, we would hate to loose anyone but it's understandable, I do encourage everyone to try the new car out, again it doesn't hurt your irating so why not, and who knows though, maybe this car will suck and we will switch back to the F3 at the end of 2020 lol.

Best,
Owen

 

[TRG]

Well said Owen. You hit on the important points. Attendance drops off, and the F3 has become long in the tooth. Time for something new. We will stick to Thursday series tradition and try out the new format. It has become apparent that the series has shifted from guys who like to race together and have fun, to guys who are only here for the car with little involvement with the community.

 

[ruffalostarks]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]It has become apparent that the series has shifted from guys who like to race together and have fun, to guys who are only here for the car with little involvement with the community.[/font]

On that note, might we move league comms to Discord? I regularly communicate with other people in this league on other platforms because these forums are rarely checked and difficult to communicate directly with other members on

 

[Darklol]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]It has become apparent that the series has shifted from guys who like to race together and have fun, to guys who are only here for the car with little involvement with the community.[/font]

On that note, might we move league comms to Discord? I regularly communicate with other people in this league on other platforms because these forums are rarely checked and difficult to communicate directly with other members on

We are planning an upgrade to the current web site and forum. But a forum is still the way to manage a league, since you can have a structured environment, add content, manage permissions etc... versus something like Discord where it would be hard to get the exposure to new people since you need to be invited into Discord by someone, also it would be hard to have signups, stewarding and results etc... done through something like Discord. I understand it might be easier for everyone to just grab your phone and see what has been said on Discord but on the management side it's not for us. We are not only managing 30 people here but a few hundreds.

I personally feel its every member's responsibility to come on here to post or at the minimum read about what is going on and coming down the pipe. We are always trying to improve so I think we could notify also on Discord major announcements but we are already sending emails out to everyone, posting on social media about it so it would just be another task for our management team which again is doing all this voluntarily when they could be spending time with their families or just having fun racing instead of creating all of this.

 

[DeamingPie]

I read the post, thanks. The reason I'm asking these questions is because there really is no other broadcasted league for F3. And if it turns out that the majority in one split or another actually wants the F3 car, why force us to move to a car we don't want?

No one is forcing you to do anything.

 

[code_greene]

I read the post, thanks. The reason I'm asking these questions is because there really is no other broadcasted league for F3. And if it turns out that the majority in one split or another actually wants the F3 car, why force us to move to a car we don't want?

No one is forcing you to do anything.

No idea why there's such hostility over a completely reasonable idea like allowing both splits to vote on their car, but okay! I'm signed up and moving on..

 

[DeamingPie]

I read the post, thanks. The reason I'm asking these questions is because there really is no other broadcasted league for F3. And if it turns out that the majority in one split or another actually wants the F3 car, why force us to move to a car we don't want?

No one is forcing you to do anything.

No idea why there's such hostility over a completely reasonable idea like allowing both splits to vote on their car, but okay! I'm signed up and moving on..

There is no hostility on this end.  You made the claim that you are being forced to do something.  I'm certain management has better things to do than to fly to PRL members homes and force them to sign up at gun point.  If Jerome or any other member of management  has done that to you, please call 911 immediately.