2017 Structure and Changeup Discussion

[Scav3nger]

I said this discussion would be starting after Bathurst so here we go.

2016 has been a pretty successful year I would say. We've had our moments but overall it's been good. There are a few things for us to look into which we will be doing over the course of the next few months as we wind down 2016, so let's take a look at a few of these things now.

First things first is scheduling. I have been discussing with z00lu the options for 2017 revolving around our ability to leave space for other programs while still keeping our racing fairly regular. We have come up with one option, and I have one alternative I've come up with but not put a great deal of thought into at this stage.

The format we have come up with (Option A) is racing every first and third Thursday of the month between March and November. This would effectively mean one race a month for Forza and pCARS respectively. 9 rounds each respectively pretty much as it was this year but fixed to the first and third Thursday's of the month as opposed to roughly every three weeks (aside from around the endurance rounds). Under this format March 2017 would look like:
2nd - Forza, Round 1
9th - Other Game
16th - Project CARS, Round 1
23rd - Other Game
30th - Other Game
Apr 6th - Forza, Round 2

The alternative (Option B) I've thought up (rather hastily I must point out) is racing open to every week EXCEPT the third Thursday (and the fifth if there is one) with the first week being Forza and alternating titles. At this stage it will only be Forza and pCARS. So, for example, March 2017 would be
2nd - Forza, Round 1
9th - Project CARS, Round 1
16th - Other game
23rd - Forza, Round 2
30th - Other game
Apr 6th - Forza, Round 3

As you can see the options mean more Forza rounds under Option B, Project CARS would remain the same and stick to one round per month under both options. This is a discussion we'll be able to have in the coming months, we do not need to rush into a decision.

Now, the other big talking point is the racing itself. I'm not 100% content with how SCS has played out this year, the format was good but we just didn't have the numbers to make a multi-class championship work. So for 2017 SCS will be given a rest, and the mainline series will be put to a vote for its replacement for 2017. In company with this, however, we will also be putting to vote the 2017 Forza series as we have several options already available to us. Look for these as we approach our 2017 test night in October.

Lastly for 2017 on Forza we'll be introducing a series of new number boxes to provide more options to better match liveries. At this time there's no solid design information but we'll likely have the basics (white, black, blue, red, yellow, green). Keep an eye on the Number Box and CANZ vinyls thread for updates on this later in the year.

I know we still have a few rounds (and a number of months) left in 2016, but I'd like to start the discussion on this now so we have everything in order.