POST 5 * Picking a Series

There are many series you can place a young driver into in this game.  For your first couple of seasons you may want to hang out in F3 or Formula 3.  Get as many quick races in as you can for track data, and focus on completing races, learning a few things, and seeing if you can sneak your driver onto a few podiums.

Series Considerations

• Driver points and rankings of drivers in the season or signed up for next season.
• Driver points your driver can gain in the series versus the next series up.
• Bonuses for drivers from certain countries.
• Your end goal for your driver's career.
• Money.

You can see what kind of competition is in a series by looking at driver points.  If there are 15 drivers with 3,000 or more driver points in a series, your rookie with under 300 points will not belong on the same track as them.  That should be a sign for you when picking a series.  You can also keep an eye on who is leaving or coming to a series next season by looking at who is signed up for the upcoming season.  This may help you decide if you want to stick it out in a lower level as you may be a top 3 driver in the series and have a chance to get a series trophy and title.

Sometimes you hurt your driver by staying in lower series to long.  If your driver can get 30 driver points for getting 15th place in stock car races, why would you stay in a series that gives you 30 points for a top three finish?  Answers may vary to that question, but that is a consideration for you when deciding, should I stay or should I go from a series.  It may be that as long as you don't crash you are confident you will always be a top 5 car in the lower series, and you don''t feel like learning a new car, setups, tracks, and all while training up your driver skills.

Some series want home town drivers.  Many series such as North America F3 or F2 may want local talent to keep sponsors happy, and thus give drivers a biased points rating.  It happens all around the globe, so check it out before you sign up a driver on an international circuit away from home.  Some USA drivers choose to go overseas anyway to develop. They see weaker fields and even without the biased points favor see a circuit they feel they can dominate.

What is your end goal?  My end goal for my current driver is stock car racing.  I saw an opening that my driver could be competitive in and took it.  My goal is middle of the pack and record as much track data as possible while growing skills.  Half way through the season and my driver only has one DNF and a couple lucky top ten finishes as well.  So far so good.  I was also concerned that no ranking USA drivers took root in the one race sport that is uniquely American.

Of-course you do nothing in racing without considering money.  Look at how you realistically think your driver will finish at the end of the year and determine if the risk in a bigger series is worth it?  Does the expense of the higher league cut into your training budget to much, or is the payoff good enough to keep you in and train as well?  Higher leagues also cost more than just an entry fee.  Pit crews are expensive.  Fielding a full crew is important in upper levels, and not needed at all in lower levels.  Weekly budgets to pay crews have to be weighed in that choice making skill set.  

I hope this post helped you decide series choices or at-least gave you an opinion on things you can consider when climbing the ranks or staying put.

As always, until next time.  Happy racing.