1.0 General Rules and Safety
All cars must display a GTS Challenge logo and class on each side of their car. These are available at the track or online for purchase.
All cars, drivers and entrants will be subject to N.A.S.A Club Codes and Regulations, specifically the Technical Requirements, Required Safety Equipment, Vehicle Safety Inspection, Vehicle Legality Inspection, and General Competition Vehicle Rules sections (NASA CCR Sections 11 and 15-18). This covers rules for safety equipment, including full roll cages, window nets, belts, extinguishers, etc., as well as car markings, appearance, etc. All cars must have a N.A.S.A Vehicle Logbook and drivers must meet NASA licensing requirements.
2.0 Promoting Sportsmanship
To promote both clean and competitive driving, in addition to all NASA’s rules and punishments as described in NASA’s CCR we will be racing under a Modified 13/13 rule. The intent of the modified 13/13 rule is to provide some degree of protection against casual body damage and contact by careless drivers, but without excessive or blind rulings. In multiple-car incidents details, accounts, and evidence will be reviewed to assess fault. Sanctions against offending drivers will be imposed on a sliding scale subject to discretion of the officials. Drivers in single car incidents will not be subject to sanction. 13/13 rule may vary slightly from region to region. An entrant can obtain a copy of a regions 13/13 rule at every event or via email from the regions GTS officials. The GTS Challenge 13/13 rule can also be applied to an entrant who’s on track actions causes damage to another competitor’s car even if they have no physical contact with that car. Incident reviews and judgments will be heard by any combination of NASA Race Directors, GTS Officials and/or Incident Review Boards (IRB). IRB’s are assembled by NASA and GTS officials and may include race officials and race entrants.
The GTS Challenge 13/13 rule will not be applied in incidents involving cars from other race series that don’t have a 13/13 rule. In those incidents the NASA rule(s) and procedure will apply. All entrants are strongly encouraged to keep a copy of and learn the NASA CCR.This 13/13 rule can be applied post event as it is not always possible for things to be sorted out at the track in a timely manner. No 13/13 ruling can contradict the findings of a NASA ruling. 13/13 penalties can very in length at the discretion of the GTS officials. Regardless of the length of the penalty, no penalty is over until the driver participates in at least one GTS event under the penalty.
3.0 Car Eligibility and Classification
Any sedan or coupe from any German manufacturer — Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Merkur or Volkswagen — that has been modified to meet all N.A.S.A Club Codes and Safety Regulations, and having a N.A.S.A issued log book is eligible for GTS Challenge competition. There are five classes in GTS Challenge; GTS5, GTS4, GTS3, GTS2, and GTS1. All cars will be classed on a power to weight ratio. Based on dynamometer test results the ratio will be calculated as follows:
If max torque is less than maw RWHP: Car weight with driver divided by max RWHP (rear wheel horsepower) If max torque is greater than max RWHP: Car weight with driver divided by the average of max RWHP and max torque. The hp and torque of each dynamometer run will be averaged and then the dynamometer run with the highest average will be used in the weight to power ratio calculation:
The following table displays the class each car will be in after the previous calculation is applied to each cars dynamometer results.
D.O.T.
Race Tires |
Non-D.O.T.
Race Tires (slicks) |
| GTSU = Non-Certified Cars — NO POINTS |
| GTS5 = 6.0 – 8.49 |
GTS5 = 6.5 – 8.99 |
| GTS4 = 8.5 – 10.99 |
GTS4 = 9.0 – 11.99 |
| GTS3 = 11.0 – 14.49 |
GTS3 = 12.0 – 15.99 |
| GTS2 = 14.50 – 18.49 |
GTS2 = 16.0 – 19.99 |
| GTS1 = 18.50 and higher |
GTS1 = 20.0 and higher |
continued next column… |
4.0 Car Modifications
Any modification is allowed as long as the car meets all NASA safety regulations.
All GTS cars must use an engine built by the manufacturer of the make of car. Example: Any Porsche model car may use any Porsche engine as long as was manufactured by Porsche. Swapping engines between models is allowed, while switching engines between makes is specifically not allowed. Any car with engine make differing from car make that has previously competed in GTS Challenge prior to 11/1/07 shall be grandfathered into GTS and may continue to race in GTS. Grandfathered cars may switch back to an original engine without penalty but may not change from one engine manufacturer to another. Example: A Porsche 944 w/V8 Chevy installed may switch to any Porsche engine but may not switch to a V8 Ford. The goal is to limit further proliferation of out of manufacturer engine swapsAdditional roll cage bracing and construction is allowed and recommended. Tube Frame cars will be classed according to the “Non-DoT” class numbers. Tube frame is defined as any car that does not utilize the stock manufacturer’s unit body or chassis. Modification of suspension and drive train mounting points alone does not constitute at Tube Frame. Tube Frame cars running on Non-DoT tires will be bumped one class.
4.1 Cockpit Adjustable Engine Management Systems
All adjustable engine management systems must be declared on the Dynamometer certification form (see below). Failure to do so will result in disqualification of all timed sessions for the weekend. Adjustable engine management systems include but not limited to; Off the shelf systems such as Motec or MegaSquirt that can upload and download from external computers, potentiometers, diodes and switches that can alter signals form engine sensors, factory install devices such as traction control that changes engine performance when non-drive wheels are stationary.
5.0 Determining the lbs/RWHP, torque ratio
GTS Challenge will attempt to have a dynamometer at each event. However, the hosting NASA region is responsible for providing the dyno and it is solely at the discretion of NASA officials if a dyno is or is not present. When a dyno is present, there will be post race impound after every race. Post race impound will be held in one of the following two ways.
1. Top three finishing positions will go directly to the impound area immediately following the race.
2. A designated class or classes must go to post race impound. In this method, all entrants in a particular class(s) must go to impound after the race. If this method is used, entrants will be notified on the pre-race grid and/or while exiting the track after the race session. A GTS or NASA official will notify entrants with a sign that clearly indicates which class(s) are to go report to impound.If a driver, for whatever reason, is not sure if his/her class is required for impound, then that driver should assume that it is their class and go to impound. Any required entrant/driver that does not report immediately to impound forfeits all points and finish position for that race.Scales shall be available at all events, and GTS Challenge may require any or all entrants to have cars weighed at any or all GTS Challenge events.GTS Challenge recognizes that no set of rules can prevent cheating. Dynamometer testing is intended to be used only in case of a possible misclassification, either at request by GTS officials or upon filing of a protest filed by a competitor.
It is required that all entrants have their car dynamometer certified before entering their first GTS Challenge race of each season. Dyno test results must by accompanied by a signed and completed Dynamometer certification form. The form is available at the GTS website. GTS Challenge will provide a list of accepted dynamometer service providers. If the list does not include a dyno service near you or you use a dyno service not on the list, submit the contact info for the provider to GTS Challenge to have them added to our list. Any entrant without official dyno testing results will be in GTSU until properly classed per this rule set. Compliance with these rules is the responsibility of the driver/entrant. All entrants should be aware of the differences between brands and types of dynamometers. Dyno results can vary as much as 30%–40%, depending on brand. Results of a dynamometer at an event are final, regardless of dyno results from any previous testing.
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