The World Grand Prix Championships are back for another season of thrills, spills, shunts and bumps. The multiverse's best racing teams will go head to head to find out who is the number one racer - and who is the number one racing team.
For those of you unfamiliar with the WGPC, I could tell you about how it's been going since around 2005, and how its basically a slightly-more-relaxed version of Formula 1, but to best get a feel for how it works, here is a link to the WGPC12 thread, which was a pretty awesome experience from start to finish. Having a read of it will give you a feel for how the season works, but bear in mind there are a few changes for season thirteen.
Every user may sign up ONE driver. Every driver starts off as a free agent, meaning they are not affiliated to any team. Drivers sign up to teams via roleplay in the RP thread (coming soon), though its customary to ask around the users who control racing teams (more on them later) to let them know you're available.
The more RPing you do with your driver, the faster they are likely to be on the circuit, and the more likely a team is to sign them. Furthermore, teams may hire and fire drivers throughout the season, so if you don't contribute, there's a chance your team may get rid of you in favour of someone who will.
To sign-up a driver, fill in the following form:
NAME:
GENDER:
NATIONALITY:
TRIGRAM:
ABILITY: (Experience/Reflexes/Reliability)
BIO:
NAME is the full name of the driver. The driver may be male or female or - a new rule compared to previous seasons - any kind of sentient being. Want to sign up a pony? Or some kind of sentient wasp? That's fine, but do appreciate that IC regulations on driver safety, car weight, helmet measurements and general aerodynamic ability would have to be factored in. The WGPC reserves the right to punish sentient bees for not wearing the correct safety equiptment, even if said safety equipment would make it impossible for said bee to reach the steering wheel.
GENDER is your driver's gender. If this is left blank we will assume the driver is a male human. If you've decided to go for a half-ape half-encephelapod, this is where to write that.
NATIONALITY is the driver's nationality. This is also probably the demonym form of your nation's name.
A TRIGRAM is the three-letter code that tells us what your nation is called. Audioslavia's, for example, is AUD.
ABILITY is split into three sections: EXPERIENCE, REFLEXES and RELIABILITY. Experienced drivers corner more efficiently, drivers with good reflexes may be more effective during overtaking manuevers, while reliable drivers don't find themselves upside-down in a gravel-pit quite so often. Each attribute should be given a numerical number between 1 and 3 and the three ratings must add up to a maximum of six
You can increase your driver's E/R/R rating by RPing.
BIO is a short biography of your driver. His/her/its age, experience, hopes and aspirations, driving style, favourite sandwich, things like that.
Sign-ups (33)
The following applications have been accepted, and the drivers will take part in the negotiation period at the start of the season. Not every driver is guaranteed a drive.
AUD Alexander Lund
BAU Lauren Ashburton
EFL Victoria Gardner
ESP Johnathan Klassen
FND Smith Snick
GLX Wayne Forrest
HAN Maxwell Song
HDR Sayono Souzare
KRN Qara Budang
MAT Ruslan Matveev
MDU Enu Noel
MGN Scotty Tucker
MIO Michael Olaffson
MLT Maluk Vezer
MTJ Alex Dimitrianov
NDL Adrian Klaassen
NED Jacob Bohun
NEK Alexandra Mayari
NKM Noel Kallaghan
PKR Katarzyna Owczarzak
PPD Xebandhra Kallasdun
RPX Ujkan Sadiraj
SJG Moisés Delgado
TAE Oliver Bliss
TCU Roger Bunn
TOR Weston Arbeid
TRB Rudolf Ibuna
USI Crimson 'Swift Curse' LaRoja
VER Lovisa Landenberg
VIL R.L. Cruisin
VNG Mike Starlite
YTT Tyler Brooks
ZAD Alexander Longreach
Each user may sign up a maximum of TWO grand-prix circuits, and no more than one per nation (meaning one circuit from your main nation and one from a puppet is fine).
Signing up a circuit is not a guarantee that it will be used in the upcoming WGPC season. Spare circuits may be used for pre-season or in-season testing.
It is customary to provide an image of your circuit (no larger than 900 x 900 pixels, of course). Providing an image isn't mandatory, though better-RP'd circuits have a better chance of being used during the season.
To sign up a circuit, fill in the following form.
EXAMPLE SIGN-UP
NAME OF CIRCUIT:
CITY/TOWN:
COUNTRY:
NAME OF GRAND PRIX:
TRACK RATING: (Technical Difficulty/Overtaking Opportunities)
LAP RECORD:
LENGTH OF ONE LAP:
Link the image too, if you have one.
NAME OF CIRCUIT is the name of the circuit. To use a real-life example, Spa-Francorchamps is the name of the track used for the Belgian grand-prix.
CITY/TOWN is the name of the place the circuit is in / nearest to. For example, Spa-Francorchamps is situated near the Belgian town of Stavelot.
COUNTRY is the nation the circuit is in.
NAME OF GRAND PRIX is what the grand prix will be called. For example, Grand Prix de Quebec or Audioslavian Grand Prix or Gran Premio de Astrograth.
TRACK RATING is, like the driver ability rating, comprised of numerical values. The first value is Technical Difficulty. A technically difficult track would be easier for experienced drivers to traverse quickly. The second value is Overtaking Opportunity. This value rewards quick-witted drivers who can best take advantage of overtaking opportunities. The numbers should add up to ten. (ie 4/6, 3/7, 5/5)
LAP RECORD is the fastest any grand prix driver has driven the track before.
LENGTH OF ONE LAP should be measured in kilometres. Tracks that are too long or too short won't be considered when it comes to selecting places for the racing season.
The above two are in italics for a reason. We need information for only one of these.
Oh, and remember the two usual rules: NO OVALS, and NO RL CIRCUITS
Circuits (22)
The following applications have been received. Only fifteen will be selected for the Grand Prix season.
AEL Trac Rasio Drefhil
AUD Crossport Raceway
BAU Alexwood Racing Park
BEA Beobic Racing Arena
EFL Mount Salt Raceway
FND Slithereen Snakeheart Circuit
HAN Haishang International Circuit
HDR Yakumicha circuit
LIV Gold Park Circuit
MLT Vaduz Street Circuit
MNG Goldshom Park
MTJ Petrovijanka international street circuit
NEK Nekoni International Circuit
NKM Northwilde Race Track
PKR Tor Wyscigowy Przemyslaw Kuczkowski
PPD Circuit de Blakkoakes
RPX Komandat Race Track
SJG La Laguna
TUR Eelandii Grand Prix Course
VER Naturburg Circuit
VIL Vilitan Mountain Challenge Course
YTT Circuit de Telino
Team sign-ups work a little differently compared to other sports, and will work a little differently compared to previous editions of the WGPC too.
Whereas, for WGPC, invitations were given to various users to run teams in the WGPC, this time the team sign-ups are semi-open. Anyone is allowed to register a team, but only a few will be selected. Selection is based on the hosts' preference and nothing else. Please also note that, unlike previous iterations, there will be no test-driver slots and each user is allowed only one driver, regardless of whether or not they are running a team. This does mean that a user's driver is not obligated to drive for the user's team.
Why so strict? The onus is on teams to RP well, for enjoyments sake as well as to reap the benefits of a decent RP bonus. Users that RP well will find not only that their drivers go faster, but their teams perform better too. The combination of a well-RP'd driver racing for a well RP'd team will make for a very competitive team, though its worth stressing that, due to the random nature of scorinators, RPing well is not a guarantee of success, it merely improves your chances.
Also, just as teams are free to fire drivers if they feel they aren't performing (ie the user isn't RPing enough), drivers are free to quit teams they feel are not giving them the help they need (ie the user isn't RPing enough). Although it rarely happens in Formula One nowadays, there is the possibility to remove teams during the season and enter new ones, if there is little or no activity from the user. All changes are at the discretion of the WGPC Committee.
To register a team, fill in the following form:
TEAM NAME:
RATING: (Wealth/Experience/Skill)
TEAM PRINCIPAL:
HEADQUARTERS:
RACING COLOURS:
TEAM NAME is the name of the team. For example, McPahan Racing, Yogutz Lantzia, Red Bull Racing
RATING is, like the ability sections for the drivers, divided into three numbers. The 'W' stands for Wealth - the team's ability to afford the best money can buy in terms of engines, tyres and equipment, and should be able to deliver fast cars. A team's Experience denotes their ability to get the best performance out of their car and how to best adapt the car to different circuits, while the Skill rating denotes how reliable they can make the team's car, and just how reliable the pit crew are at changing the tyres on a car without accidentally setting fire to it.
Each rating can be a maximum of 5 and a team's total rating points can add up to no more than 12. You can increase your team's W/E/S rating by RPing.
The Team Principal is the person in charge of the team.
A team's Headquarters are the city in which the team is based.
Racing colours (you may spell colours without the 'u' if you prefer) are the main colours of the team's livery. You may provide a picture if you think you can make one.
The following applications have been received. Only twelve teams will be selected for the WGPC season.
Teams (17)
AEL Macllynlleth Clockwork Racing
AUD McPahan Racing
BAU Archer Motorsports Super-WGP
HAN SinoMotors Racing
HDR ENSADRINK GP Team Dekijika-Tarogama
KRY Aston Tickford Racing
MIO Uurutia Motorsports
MTJ Mattjiana Racing
NEK Scuderia Fuoco e Ghiaccio
NKM Nurkaman Motorsports
PPD Cobolis-Wobbegong
SJG Telaris Racing
TAE Salvatore F1
TCU Synclair Automotive
VER Hans-Nyrota Racing
WHT Orlov Racing Automobilles
YTT Frontière Racing
The WGPC is the multiverse's oldest open-wheel motor racing championships. Our ethos is to provide a fun RPing environment for everyone, regardless of their knowledge of cars, Formula One, or motor racing in general. You don't need to be a petrolhead to RP here. If you *are* a petrol-head, though, and you're looking for something more in-depth and technical, try Formula Hodori, which should be making a long-awaited comeback soon.
Closing date for sign-ups has been moved to 20th June 2015 due to RL commitments.