Jezchat /\ Pitwall

Don't have time to read the other help articles? Can't be bothered to trawl through the forum? Then this page is for you! Find out all you need to know to get yourself onto the Pitwall ladder as quickly and as simply as possible - but beware, following this guide may lead to addiction!

Note: This guide is updated less frequently than the others, so if some things have changed, try searching in the In Depth Guide instead.

Choosing a Team

On the Team Options Page, apply to take control of a team with the “As new” team status. Your application will get accepted on the next hour update.

No staff or drivers contracted to your future team? Look at a team's history – those teams with a more successful history will, in general, still be better.

Sponsors

Sponsors will provide your team with a vital source of income, so it's important to get them early. First, hire a head commercial from the Staff Market Page.

Next, go to the Sponsors Page and select the Section 1 tab. This will bring up all of the lowest-paying sponsors that want to sign with you. Select a few (you can have up to five) and negotiate with them. Repeat this for as many sections as you can.

When you've signed a sponsorship deal, you will be paid hourly until it expires.

When hiring your commercial, "Contacts" is the most important stat, so get this as high as possible, without paying more than about 200 000.

When negotiating, it will take a while for sponsors to reply, so continue with the rest of the guide whilst you wait.

Finally, the highest paying sponsors only pay successful teams, so increase your sponsor happiness by doing well in races and writing regular Press Releases

Drivers

Once you’ve received your team the first thing to do is sign some drivers. Go to the Driver Market Page and set the Team filter to display only free drivers. Next, select a driver you wish to employ and offer him a contract. You choose the conditions you wish to offer him, so don’t let him get too greedy! After a period where the driver considers your offer (usually less than 24hrs) he should accept and you’ll be ready to roll.

If the driver is negotiating with other teams, he may take longer to sign, so try to find ones who are only negotiating with you.

Charisma stat is most important (to earn money), then speed and corners. Anything at ‘Good’ or above will be sufficient for now. Try not to offer a driver too much – no more than 150 000/week wage, with bonuses no higher than 400 000/200 000/100 000/50 000 would be ideal. Many drivers sign for a lot less than this.

Don’t sign more drivers than you need – one for your first driver position and one for the second. You’ll have to pay drivers that you aren’t using.

Mechanics

To complete pit stops competitively in the race you’ll need a head mechanic. Go to the Staff Market Page and recruit one. You’ll also need to hire about 40 generic mechanics on the Staff Page. Set your mechanic % to anywhere between 0 and 80% (it doesn't matter when during the week you do this, but you need to do it before Sunday).

‘Pitstops’ is by far the most important stat. A mechanic with a ‘Good’ pitstop rating for under
150 000 would be ideal. Don’t sign the contract for too long.

Contracts

To get the contracts you’ll need to race this weekend, go to the Contracts Page and sign Own Brand deals for engines, brakes, fuel and tyres.

Your money is better spent elsewhere than contracts at this stage.

Production

Before you can race, you'll need parts on your cars. On the Development Page's 'Internal' Tab, produce some reliable gearboxes by changing the drop down box and click on "Produce Part" three times. Repeat this for all of your parts, they will be produced as soon as possible.

You should consider setting up Production Rules when you have the time.

Testing

Wednesday is the official beginning of Race Weekend. It is the first chance you’ll have to give your car a shakedown. To send a driver out, look on the right of the Testing Page, give him at least 10 litres of fuel, set his driver orders to ‘save the car’ and ‘lower RPM a lot’ and make sure you choose “latest untested” parts. Send him out and wait a few minutes to see his laptime.
You can send your drivers out for as many laps as you wish, but be sure to include more than enough fuel for their stint

You can compare your drivers by sending them both out with identical fuel loads/driver orders. The more laps you complete on a particular fuel setting, the better your estimate of fuel consumption. More aggressive orders result in better laptimes, but more wear to your car. You should not use orders above “Take it Easy” and “normal RPM” yet.

Qualifying

Using your fuel data, you can now calculate your strategy. After working out how much fuel each driver will need, go to the Qualifying Page, add enough fuel, select “most reliable” parts and send them out. After a couple of minutes, their laptimes will appear in the table. Qualifying is only possible on Friday or Saturday.

Always add an extra few litres to allow for random events. You do not need to calculate the fuel for qualifying. Send your drivers out on their race orders (eg “Take it easy, Lower RPM”).

Strategy

On the Strategy Page you can now set your race strategy. Always ensure that you select new tyres at each stop (they can be the same compound) and assign each driver some mechanics.

Fuel tank capacity: 100 litres.
Three stops is usually a fast, safe strategy.
Mechanic numbers vary; try 15, 20 and 30 for tiny, medium and large pitboxes.

Raceday

Sometime on Sunday your drivers will line up on the grid, the lights will go out and you’ll experience a full Pitwall Race in all its glory. To start with, just familiarise yourself with the surroundings and enjoy the competition.

Racing is fast, exciting and unpredictable – you can and usually do go from first to a DNF in a matter of seconds, so don’t worry if it happens, there’s a lot to learn.

What Next?

There’s so much more to Pitwall than just the racing, so start reading other guides and evaluate the opportunities that developing, youth teams and the staff market present. If anything still confuses you, check out the Jezchat In-depth GuidePitwall or Jezchat forums and before long, you’ll be challenging for your first title and well on your way to Pitwall stardom.