Start Your Engines …

I. FORMAT:

The event will consist of two (2) qualifying Heats, each a two-lap race, and a three-lap Final. Novices can get a rules refresher by attending the scheduled Paradise Terrace demo. Otherwise, don’t expect to be taught during play.

Everyone who wants to race will be allowed to race in each Heat. Multiple entries are allowed, even after you have won a prior Heat. Winning a heat will not necessarily guarantee you a spot in the Final. Multiple Heat entries may improve your chance and position in the Final (see below).

Each Heat will use as many different tracks as are necessary to accommodate all players. Generally, each board will have between six and ten cars. All who want to race in a Heat will be divided as randomly and evenly as possible. Players may use any track they agree on, with exceptions listed below. Please note that time is limited, so try not to choose an extremely long or slow track.

Due to time constraints, races will generally end and finish positions will be recorded the instant the second car crosses the finish line. Players may choose to “play it out” if all agree and time permits. Cars that crash will be ranked in reverse order of the time they crash, i.e. the first car that crashes will be considered to be in last place even if another car crashes further back on the track later in the same turn.

All players will be assigned a unique random number when first entering the event. This number will be used as the last tiebreaker when determining starting positions and alternate qualifiers for the Final. Players who sign up for multiple Heats will receive only one number.

Qualifying for the Final: 10 players from preliminary Heats will qualify for the Final. Heat winners will be ranked using a system based on the MESE tiebreakers. In order, the following criteria will be used:

1. Win in first Heat entered
2. Most wins
3. Win in second Heat entered
7. Average finish in all heats entered
8. High random number drawn

If fewer than 10 heat winners appear for the Final, second-place finishers will be selected as alternates based on the following
system:

1. Second in first Heat entered
2. Most second place finishes
3. Second place in second Heat entered
7. Average finish in all heats entered
8. High random number drawn

A player must finish in first or second place in at least one heat to qualify for the Final.

I will rank players and post the rankings ahead of time so players can see if they have a chance to qualify. I will probably rank the top 20 or so, and the top ten qualifiers who appear will be in the Final. The Fnal will start promptly at its scheduled time, so it may be worth your while to stop by and see if you’re in.

Starting Positions:
In each Heat the starting positions will be randomly determined as follows: each player will roll the black die with the LOWEST number getting the 1st position, and so on.

In the Final, The top ten qualifiers will be assigned starting positions based on their ranking as described above.

FINAL MULLIGAN: Each racer will be given a chip allowing the use of one re-roll during the 3 lap race, the second roll must be taken, even if worse or the same as the first roll.

Car/Pit Color Selection:
The pole sitter chooses his car color combination first (with the matching pit area), then the second position picks, and so on until the last. In this way, positions in the pits will be determined by pole positions.

II. TRACKS:

The players in each group for a Heat will decide the track they want to use for that Heat, by vote if necessary. Note the EXCLUDED Tracks below. If the players cannot agree on a track within a few minutes, the GM will assign one for that group. Pole positions cannot be rolled until after the track is decided.

Excluded Tracks:
The two Super Speedways, Indianapolis (#26) and Daytona (#30), are excluded. That applies to both the ovals and road courses shown. I don’t want to deal with all the special rules for these two tracks.

IF YOU OWN THE GAME AND SOME TRACKS, PLEASE BRING WHATEVER YOU HAVE!!

III. RULES:

All races will use all of the Basic Rules, plus Slipstreaming and the special Tournament Rule \"Redlining\". The Final will use a few extra rules. There will also be two house rules included, revised collisions and a final Mulligan—see below.

Redlining:
ONCE per turn and at ANY TIME during his turn a player may cross off one ENGINE point and move his car forward one additional space. That is the rule—very straightforward. No, you may NOT use your LAST engine point to Redline and deliberately blow your engine. Yes, you may redline in order to make it into a corner (the main reason for the rule). You may redline to get into Slipstreaming position (another worthy reason). You may even redline to get into the lead on the home stretch, thereby rolling first and winning! You may Redline as part of over-shooting a corner, but all the usual penalties apply to over-shooting: the extra space costs you a tire point and you may not change lanes with the redline. If you redline in a corner you must follow the arrows normally. Warning! Those engine points are precious, so redline with Extreme Caution!

Extra Rules used for the Final:
The Final will be a three-lap race and will use all Advanced Rules except Time Trials, Weather and Tire Types. Each player will construct his car using 20 Points.

Game Play:
In order to keep the game moving, and to help simulate the split-second nature of racing, all players are expected to begin moving their cars immediately after rolling the dice. Once a player is moving his car, he should finish the move in a prompt fashion. A player may move his car forward or may count with his finger touching the track, but either way IS considered to be moving the car. While moving a player may only take back the previous space; he may not take back several spaces and may not restart his move from the beginning.

When it is not your turn, PLAN AHEAD. This is the time to calculate your distances to corners and think about what your options are for the next move. When you turn arrives, you will be expected to shift gears and roll promptly.

Now, these restrictions are not designed to stress you out and make you screw up your moves. There will be NO CLOCKS put on players to time their moves, and there is no specific amount of time within which you must complete your move. The point is to begin moving after you roll and finish the move promptly. You may certainly pause for a few seconds in the middle of your move to consider your approach (to a curve or to traffic, for example), but don’t sit there for a full minute counting options. If you want to count in your head, or with your finger (NOT close to the track), that is okay so long as your move does not take very long to complete. Also, I understand that sometimes you have a crucial move to make and need some extra time. That is fine. The last few curves of a race might be key, or a bunch of traffic might have sprung up unexpectedly in your path just before your turn. Just don’t abuse the flexibility here, and also don’t be a jerk when another player needs a bit of extra time once in a while.

If you think a player is delaying the race unfairly, or is trying to take back moves repeatedly, please notify me so I can handle the situation. As GM, I reserve the right to take whatever remedial action I determine to be necessary if a player repeatedly violates this (or any other) rule of the tournament and disrupts the game.

IV. RULES CLARIFICATIONS:

This is a non-comprehensive listing of some common rules clarifications. All players are expected to know the rules so hopefully this list will answer most of your questions.

THE FINISH LINE: As per Descartes rules a car must completely cross the finish line to win. This does not mean your car has to be one space beyond the finish line; but it does mean you must cross the finish line not just have your car situated on it as could happen on most tracks in the middle lane.

Ex.:
On Track#11 Watkins Glen
Outside lane would cross the finish line on space#13
Middle lane would cross the finish line on space#14
Inside lane would cross the finish line on space#14
The number of spaces denoted are the spaces past the last corner of travel to the finish line; which can be easily referenced from the printed numbers on the side of the track.

USE OF TIRE OR BRAKE POINTS: Some people have a misconception that a car can only use three brake or three tires points in one turn. This is not true! You may use all of your available brake and/or tire points in any turn. I believe that the misconception comes from the rules section on Blocking, which does have such limits.

"FUEL” POINTS/TRANSMISSION POINTS: For some reason the game calls these “fuel” points when really they represent Transmission. They are used for over-revving the engine when you skip gears downshifting. They do not represent fuel in the gas tank. That is why you do not automatically get these points back in the pits, like tires.

TWO CORNERS IN ONE TURN: Remember that if you overshoot a corner and end in another corner, you are NOT considered to have stopped in the second corner.

BODY DAMAGE CHECKS: When you pass a car and change lanes so as to end directly in front of it, neither car checks for body damage. Of course, you still have to check for any other cars you are also next to.

ENGINE CHECKS: Remember that an Engine Check caused by your own roll of a 20 or 30 is not taken until the end of your turn, so that you get to move normally that turn even if you then blow your engine.

We are using the standard rule that everyone in 5th or 6th gear must make an engine check whenever anyone throws a 20 (in fifth gear) or a 30 (in sixth).

SLIPSTREAMING—Things to Remember: Slipstreaming is ALWAYS OPTIONAL.

You must be in 4th, 5th or 6th gear and in the SAME OR HIGHER gear as the car you are slipping. I.e. if you are approaching a car in 6th gear, you must also be in 6th gear to slipstream it.

If your slipstream move ends you behind another car, you may slipstream again as long as you qualify normally. You may keep slipstreaming as long as you qualify.

If slipstreaming carries you into a corner, you use a brake point (but still move the full three spaces). This is called Late Braking. If you don’t have a brake point, you can’t choose to slipstream into the corner.

You slipstream exactly three spaces (you must use normal brake points if you want to move less).

In a straight-away the three spaces must be moved in one of three ways: 1) Pass the car you slip and end in front of it; 2) Move over one lane and ahead two spaces; or 3) Move over two lanes and ahead one space. The upshot is that you CANNOT move over one lane, ahead one space, and then move over another lane, even if that is the only available movement option because of traffic. If it is, you cannot slipstream.

In a corner you ignore the above movement options and just move three extra spaces following the corner arrows normally. If you overshoot the corner with a slipstream, the normal overshooting rules apply (tires points, no lane changes, etc.).

You can never use Brake points to get your car into a slipstreaming position, but you can Red Line, of course.

PIT STOPS: Stop whining about the apparently silly rules that allow you to enter the pits in 6th gear and exit them in 4th gear. Michael Schumacher never had it so good! Remember that the game is trying to simulate a long race with only two laps. If cars had to slow down to stop in the pits and then start again in 1st gear, a pit stop would basically take a car out of the race. Clearly, the designers had to fiddle with reality to make the pit stop a viable part of the game system.

To enter the pits, a car must have a movement point to move out of the pit road and into the colored pit area.

To EXIT the colored pit area, the car moves to EITHER ONE OF THE TWO SPACES beside that color’s pit area. This uses one space of movement. While there appear to be two separate pit areas for each color, the game does not differentiate between them. Each car leaves pit road into the “first” pit space, but each car may exit from the “second” pit space.

In the Heats only the Basic Game pit-stop rules are used. The Quick Stop rule is not optional, but is mandatory. You must roll the black die and on a 1-10, you exit the pits that turn in 4th gear, or less. If your path is blocked, you do not suffer any penalties. Your car just stops behind the blocking car.

In the Final the Advanced Pit Rules will be used. If you only replace tire points, then the Quick Stop rule is mandatory. Remember that you have two WEAR POINTS to use in the pits to replace any of the following: Brake, Fuel (Transmission), Engine, Bodywork and/or Road-Holding. NOTE: That’s two Wear Points total throughout the race, NOT two points per pit stop.

ROAD-HOLDING: This will only be used in the Final. Like engine and bodywork points, your car must have at least one road-holding point to function. It is out of the race when it loses its last point.

Dangerous spaces are created whenever a car loses an engine point involuntarily, bodywork point, or is eliminated. Note that choosing to Red Line will NOT cause a dangerous space. Mark dangerous spaces where the loss occurred. Pennies work well. When a car enters a dangerous space, a black die is rolled. On a 1-4 the car loses a road-holding point. No, the dangerous space does not become even more dangerous when a road-holding point is lost in the dangerous space. Remember, in Formula One racing they don’t stop the race to clean up the track every time it gets a little messy.

REVISED COLLISION: In order to increase the risk of collisions eliminating a racer, instead of requiring a roll of one, the roll will now be based upon the number of cars your car is touching (excluding one of which are directly in front).

Example: Jim drives into a turn and is directly in front of Steve, directly behind Sarah, and touching Jake and Irving on the sides, Sarah, Jake and Irving will each make one roll, taking body damage on 3 or less. Jim will make 3 rolls, all taking body damage on 3 or less.