OZNZ September Update

We've been a bit quiet for the past month and a bit, but fear not, OZNZ is still trucking on!

In past few months, we completed the Seat Leon TCR Challenge, which provided us with some close, intense racing in the Front-wheel drive Seat Leon TCR. If our racing was anything to go by, we can't wait for the TCR series to start in Australia as it will make for some amazing viewing.

We also said goodbye to the VLN series due to declining numbers. The 4 rounds that were run at the Nordschleife in the Audi TT RS and the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport for extremely challenging and every driver got bitten by the Green Hell at some point in the series.

OZNZ hosted it's first special event race night, the Porsche Cup Sprint Trophy. 1 car, 1 night, 4 races. It was 2 hours of tight racing in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car on 4 short race circuits. A lot of fun was had and we are busy planning another special event night to take place before the end of 2018.

Currently we are 2 rounds into the GTE Championship where drivers had the choice between the Porsche 911 RSR or the Corvette C7R GTE class cars. Points are close across the board as the Mandatory pit stop in each race throws strategy into the mix.

Finally, we are diving head first into some rFactor 2 action with the Enduro Cup pre-season race at Monza on the 29th of September. This race is a lead in to a full Enduro Cup series but gives a chance to tune and tweak the various race/server settings to get things just right before the points table kicks in.

So, as you can see, it has been a busy couple of months at OZNZ and as always, there is more to come, so keep your eyes peeled for more information on what we are getting up to.

And, if you want to get in on the action, everyone is welcome to come join us!

Race to the Clouds!

We've had a short break since our most recent Dirt Rally event and now that we've had a quick breather Hegz has thrown down another challenge!

This time we're bringing you the Race to the Clouds!

Jump behind the wheel of a winged monster and take on the 20 kilometer challenge of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.

For this event you can choose between the Audi Sport Quattor S1 Pikes Peak, the Peugeot 405 T16 Pikes Peak, or the Peugeot 205 T16 Pikes Peak to take on the Classic Pikes Peak course, Gravel and all!

For more details and to sign up for the Event, head to the OZNZ-Rally page at Dirtgame.com.

If you are new to OZNZ and want to participate in our events, make sure you join our Discord server and introduce yourself. Discord details can be found HERE.

Three new series announced and what you can expect.

Last week was a busy week for announcements at OZNZ Gaming as we finally let the cat out of the bag for our next three racing series and events at OZNZ Sim Racing, but amidst all the excitement, we might have missed some of the details.

But fear not my friends, for today we are going to lift the veil and give you a more detailed run down on what you can expect when you hit the track in the Porsche Cup Sprint Trophy, the Grand National and the GTE Championship.

OZNZ Porsche Cup Sprint Trophy.

The Porsche Cup Sprint Trophy is a departure from our traditional Sunday night racing series format.

Usually when we run a series, we will plan it to run over the course of 4-5 weeks, with one, maybe two races each Sunday.

For the Sprint Trophy, all the racing for the series will take place on a single Sunday evening (19/08/2018)

Starting at 6pm AEST (8pm NZT) we will run four races of 15 minutes, each with a 5 minute practice and a 7 minute qualification.

The entire event should last for just over two hours, finishing around our normal race finish time of 8-8:30pm AEST (10-10:30pm NZT)

The important thing to remember for this event is the earlier start time. During a normal OZNZ Sunday event, we open the servers for Official Practice at 6pm, with qualification or the race starting an hour later at 7pm.

For the Porsche Cup Sprint Trophy, RACING BEGINS AT 6PM AEST (8PM NZT).

The OZNZ Grand National.

The OZNZ VLN series which was due to run until the end of the year has now been cancelled after only four rounds.

In it's place, we will be running the OZNZ Grand National, a series that gives a nod to the Stock Car racing of the past as we jump into the 55 Chevy mod car.

This series will be a mixture of Road tracks and Oval short courses in a car that should provide some exciting racing.

The Oval courses are Bristol Motorspeedway and Martinsville Speedway (tracks created by Llamafett). Due to the short nature of the tracks, we have all but removed the Blue Flag rule when running on the Oval tracks. There are various reasons for this, but the upshot is that drivers who have fallen off the lead lap can still keep the hammer down and fight for position.

The Road courses are Watkins Glen and Riverside Raceway (tracks created by Lilski). We will be running the Classic Short layout at Watkins, and the Nascar layout at Riverside. The Blue Flag rule has received only a minor adjustment for the Road courses to bring it inline with Nascar rules. Drivers who are about to be lapped but are still on the lead lap (so, the leader has caught up to you for the first time) do NOT have to yield. Drivers who have already been lapped MUST yield.

For all rounds, the Yellow flag can now be called much easier. any incident involving two cars, or a single car that has spun or is stranded may bring out the Yellow flag. At the Oval courses, we will run a minimum five laps under Caution (may be extended by the Admins). At the Road courses, the duration of the Yellow will be monitored by the Admins and called live.

And one more Nascar rule has been added to the series.

For the Grand National, we will be using the Lucky Dog rule.

The Lucky Dog is the first car that is a lap down (or, the leader of the lapped cars).

The Lucky Dog will be offered a wave around to gain back a lost lap. If the drivers chooses to pit under Yellow however, they cannot take the wave around.

On Race Night, we will cover all this during the Driver brief to make sure everyone understands these rule changes.

The OZNZ GTE Championship.

Earlier in the year, we ran the GT3 Championship - Season 1. We were scheduled to run a second GT3 season in 2018 but during the planning stages, opted to switch to the GTE class, which we have yet to run in a Sunday night series.

For the GTE Championship, we will be running a single, longer format timed race, rather than two shorter races as we did with the GT3 Championship.

We have also decided to use the Mandatory Pit Stop mechanic. This means that during the 45 timed race, the pit lane will open after 10 minutes, and will close after 35 minutes (10 minutes before the end of the race). This leaves drivers with a 25 minute window in the middle of the race where they must enter the pit lane and take either a set of tyres or 1 litre of fuel to complete their mandatory stop.

If drivers stop before the pit window opens, their stop will not count as the mandatory stop and they will be required to stop again.

If drivers fail to stop before the window closes, they will be disqualified when the pit window timer counts down and sent back to the pit lane.

With the tyre options available on the GTE cars, we are hoping that there will be multiple strategies used by drivers in their attempt to get from A to B faster than the rest.

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So there it is, three new series coming up and a lot of racing to be had. As always we hope that they provide our members with some exciting racing and a lot of fun!