Venues run the same race night every week. So you pick the format once, when you set up the season, and every round gets it. Pick a preset, change the lengths if you like, and you're done. One night can still be different when you need it to be.
The presets
Lengths are defaults. Change any of them on the format step or in Settings › Race night format.
| Preset | Sessions |
|---|---|
| Classic | Practice 10 min, Qualifying 15 min, Race 25 min + 1 lap. The race grid is the qualifying order. |
| Sprint + feature | Qualifying 15 min, Sprint 15 min (grid from qualifying), Feature 25 min (grid from the sprint result with the top 8 reversed). |
| Double header | Qualifying 1 10 min, Race 1 15 min, Qualifying 2 10 min, Race 2 15 min. Each race starts from its own qualifying. |
| Heats + A/B Mains | Qualifying group 1 10 min, Qualifying group 2 10 min, B-Main 15 min, A-Main 20 min. For more drivers than rigs; see Heats + A/B Mains. |
| Custom | Build the race night yourself with + Practice, + Qualifying and + Race. |
Change anything in a preset and it becomes Custom, so you always see exactly what will run.
Session options
Every session in the list has a number, its type, arrows to move it up or down, and Remove. A race night needs at least one race.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | What staff see on the Tonight screen and drivers see on the public pages, for example Sprint or A-Main. |
| Length | Minutes, or for races minutes or laps (Length in). |
| +1 lap after the time is up | Timed races only. When the clock runs out, the race goes on for one more lap. On in the Classic preset. |
| Counts for points | On for races, off for practice and qualifying. Turn it on for qualifying if you want qualifying to score. |
| Starting grid | Races only. How the grid is built; see below. |
| Scoring | A folding block on sessions that count for points: this session's own points table, multiplier, best place it can score and bonuses. See Scoring per session. |
| Who drives | Only when the format has groups: Everyone, Group 1, Group 2…, or From the grid. |
Starting grid
Each race picks one rule for its grid:
| Choice | The grid is |
|---|---|
| Qualifying order | The qualifying result. With more than one qualifying before the race, pick which one under Qualifying session (the closest one before is the default). |
| Qualifying order, top N reversed | The qualifying result with the first N places flipped. Set N in Drivers reversed (top N). |
| Result of <an earlier race>, top N reversed | The finishing order of a race earlier in the night, with the first N flipped. The Sprint + feature preset uses this. |
| Championship order | The current standings. Reverse the order: Not reversed, Top N reversed or All reversed. Include results not yet confirmed: off by default, so only confirmed rounds count. Drivers without points go to the back, in qualifying order (default) or alphabetical. |
| Set by hand each night | Staff arrange the grid on the Tonight screen every time. |
| Advanced… | Full control: which earlier sessions the grid is built from, how they are sorted (finishing order, best lap, best average of N laps, most laps, random, alphabetical, by hand or championship order), which positions are taken, whether they are reversed, and what happens to drivers not placed. |
Drivers without a time start at the back. On the night, staff can always rearrange the grid by hand; see The order panel.
Changing the format later
Open Settings › Race night format, make your changes and press Save race night format. New rounds use the new format straight away.
For rounds that already exist, Multitap Cloud asks before rebuilding them, and it only rebuilds rounds nobody has touched. It lists the rounds that keep their own sessions and says why: the round already has results, its grid was set by hand, it has penalties, its sessions were changed by hand, or a session is starting or on track. Make-up nights are never changed.
They keep their current sessions until you save a format. Until then, the Settings page shows the sessions worked out from your race settings, and the session lengths in the race settings stay in charge.
One night different
On the Tonight screen, press Change tonight's sessions. It opens the same session list for that night only: add, remove, rename or reorder sessions and change their grids, then press Save sessions. A session that has already run can't be removed or moved, and nothing above it can move.
Heats + A/B Mains
For nights with more drivers than rigs. Drivers qualify in groups, then the fastest race the A-Main and the rest race the B-Main.
[SCREENSHOT: Tonight screen check-in with groups] The check-in list with the Group column filled after Split into groups, and the two qualifying group cards below.
Group options
Set these in the Groups block of the format step or Settings:
| Option | Default | Choices |
|---|---|---|
| How groups are made | Split by standings | Split by standings, Alternate in check-in order, Random, I'll pick. |
| Number of groups | 2 | 2 or more. |
| Group size | Rigs in use | Rigs in use, or a number. |
| A-Main size | Rigs in use | Rigs in use, or a number. |
| Move up from the B-Main | 0 | This many top B-Main drivers join the back of the A-Main. When it is more than 0, the B-Main runs first. |
On the night
- Check in and split.
Tick who is here, then press Split into groups. You can move any driver to another group by hand afterwards. Staff can't start a group session until every driver who is here has a group.
- Run each qualifying group.
Each group drives its own qualifying session.
- The mains fill themselves.
The A-Main takes the fastest drivers across all groups, up to its size. The B-Main takes everyone else. Drivers without a qualifying time go after everyone with a time.
If nobody is left for the B-Main, because there are no more drivers than rigs, the B-Main is skipped automatically and its card says so.
B-Main scoring. By default the B-Main scores up to the league's make-up limit (4th-place points unless you changed it in Missed nights). You can change it in the B-Main's Scoring block.