REFRESH YOUR MEMORY: RACE FORMAT

A maximum of eight teams compete in every race, with four pilots per team. Seven teams are season-long, permanent fixtures in the lineup, who battle for DCL Team Championship points at each stop. One Wildcard Team is selected for each stop and can compete for a single race win on each of the two days. It all starts with Qualifying.

Qualifying via DCL The Game
For each stop, the starting order of Race Day 1 is decided by online Qualifying via DCL The Game. Qualifying is held at least one week before the race, and because the real-life racetrack and surroundings are recreated in DCL The Game, Qualifying is almost identical to what the pilots will experience on site.

Rounds: Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Grand Final
The race is carried out in three rounds: Quarterfinals, Semifinals and a Grand Final. In the opening Day 1 Quarterfinal lineup, the slowest team from Qualifying faces the fastest, second-slowest goes against second-fastest and so on. The winners progress to the Semifinals, and the Semifinal winners advance to the Grand Final.

Heats
Each round is made up of five heats. First up are four Single Heats, where one pilot from each team races one pilot from the opposition. The winner of each Single Heat receives 1 point for his or her team.

Next is the Big Heat, where all eight pilots fly at the same time. In this heat, a team must have a winning copter to collect any points, but the number of points awarded depends on how many teammates finish in the top four. The winner picks up 1 point for his or her team. If a teammate of the winner comes in second, the team receives a second point. If the winner and his/her teammates are first, second and third, the team gets 3 points, and a team that achieves a clean sweep is awarded 5 points.

DCL Team Championship Score
The result of the Grand Final will determine the team that wins the race. The DCL Team Championship points will be assigned as follows:

Day 2
The three rounds begin all over again on Day 2, with the only difference being that the starting order of Day 2 is decided by the race results of Day 1.

What happens if we have a draw in a heat?
If two teams have scored the same amount of points, the team with the most “Finisher Points” will win the heat. If they have the same amount of Finisher Points, they will be ranked based on the team qualification time.

Each pilot who completes a heat or a training round will score a Finisher Point for his team. A crash or a collision does not stop a pilot from scoring a Finisher Point, as long as all the prescribed laps are flown correctly and completely, including the finish into the DCL Finish gate. At the end of the race, the Finisher Points accumulated by the teams will determine the ranking for: 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th overall, between the losers of the quarterfinals. 3rd and 4th place is determined by finisher points scored by the semi-final teams.