Historic Racing League

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  • The Vision for HRL Series Two

    The Vision for HRL Series Two

    The Historic Racing League is returning in 2025 with a bold new series that will begin with the early days of motorsport and span through multiple decades of racing to the end of the century. Series Two will continue and build on from the established success of the first HRL series, which ran from 2019 to 2024.

    Discord Server

    HRL has switched to a brand new Discord server for S2, preserving the previous server as an archive for lore, history, and information. Where possible, guides and tutorials have been made to make getting involved a little easier.

    Website

    We have worked to overhaul the existing website and the new HRL site will contain much more information than before.

    Championships

    HRL Series Two will have three to four shorter championships in the pre-war era of motorsport, as well as non-championship races. This will help to establish the early history of motorsport in S2’s universe, before the league transitions to post-war racing with Formula One, sportscar racing, rallying and more.

    In seasons that we don’t drive, various simulation methods will be attempted to fill out results, with Lights to Flag being a reliable baseline.

    Roleplay

    Roleplay will remain largely player-driven. However, we’re aiming to implement some improvements to help encourage it further. For example, the documenting of press-posts and paddock interactions via the Wiki, so that such posts are easier to find alongside the rest of the lore. We’ve also added a “world-news” channel, which will help drivers to contextualise posts where needed, and will be utilising newspaper clippings alongside other visual improvements to help with immersion.

    If you need help fleshing out your character, we’ve created a Roleplay Guide which you can use to help get situated. This is quite detailed, but don’t worry – if you feel overwhelmed, generally it’s difficult to go wrong creating a character, and admins can help you. The guide can be found Here.

    Injuries

    As with HRL 1, Injuries will be an important part of the league dynamic, and as such the system used has been entirely revamped. This will allow for more nuance while being less complicated for drivers to use. It uses a point system based on context to decide if your crash is a Soft/Medium/Hard, as before, but with other safety features factored in. Drivers can then use a custom discord command to find out the results & injury types without having to guess. A guide on the new system can be found in the #injury-rolls forum.

    Wiki

    We will be using a new wiki for S2 and will switch to using Miraheze due to its customisation and the lack of intrusive ads. The new wiki will serve as the place to write lore about characters, events, and history as well as anything else that may happen in our timeline.

    If you don’t feel able to add to the Wiki, feel free to ask Staff for help, or utilise the new #wiki-submissions forum to have information added for you by an admin. We’ve added this so that drivers who otherwise wouldn’t use the wiki can contribute if they would like, without having to work within the wiki structure or worry about mistakes.

    The new wiki: https://wiki.historicracing.cc/wiki/ 

    In Addition

    • Custom teams and Privateer entries will be expanded upon in HRL 2. Fully custom teams, such as Scuderia Margheriti in HRL 1, will be added via application, with high quality submissions by regular members considered. Staff and creative members will be able to help with the presentation thereafter (liveries etc.). There will be a soft limit for the number of these active at once.
    • Throughout the running of HRL1, several members of staff have learned to mod Assetto Corsa, which means there is potential to use bespoke cars, engines, and tracks in some scenarios.
    • We will likely be experimenting a little bit with systems in the early seasons, but if drivers have any ideas feel free to let us know either via one of the public channels or DM.

    Conclusion

    From all of us in the HRL admin team, we’d like to thank every driver who helped to make HRL 1 such a success. For some of us, HRL has been a big part of our sim-racing hobby for almost 6 years, and while many drivers have come and gone, the unique structure of our league and the community who have formed around it have allowed us to cover a grand total of 24 driven seasons across Rally, Grand Prix and Sportscar events, with many more to come.

    In 1968, the FIA introduced regulations to reduce driver fatalities.
    Welcome to 1923. 

  • HRL is reborn

    HRL is reborn

    After almost 6 years since Historic Racing League was founded back in April 2019, we’ve finally finalized the first iteration and worked tirelessly on revamping the league to restart from the early days of Motorsport.

    HRL has really been an incredible experience, from when we first started getting regulars (other than me, Maddie and Jaz), the incredibly fun memes, inside-jokes, roleplay-events to everyone coming together and becoming a wonderful community.

    Now, we finally say goodbye to the stunning characters and wonderful world we have collectively created over the last half-decade, and it’s time to usher in a new universe. The old series will always stay in our hearts and it will always be available for archival reasons, should anyone want to view it, reminisce or take inspiration from.

    I personally want to thank every single member who has taken part over the last few years, and I’m so excited to see where this new universe will go. The possibilities are endless and we can and will build up a complete alternate universe from the very earliest days of motorsport.

    HRL is dead, long live the heir, HRL.

  • Cummingham wins inaugural Cascadian Grand Prix

    Cummingham wins inaugural Cascadian Grand Prix

    Robert J. Cummingham won the Cascadian Grand Prix in Tacoma at an average speed of 95.2kph, taking the victory at a canter ahead of Aaron Ruggles and Harold Roscarla-Lyons. Cummingham would receive a prize of $10,000 for the victory.

    The start of the race was disastrous. Alois Karl Hammerschmidt and Walker Risewell came together on the opening lap at turn three, with the spinning Hammerschmidt running into the path of Risewell. Hammerschmidt miraculously was able to continue, but the damage to Risewell’s vehicle was terminal. Minutes later, a serious crash at the end of lap two resulted in the injury of many spectators who lined the circuit on the corner exit. The incident occurred when Frederick Morgan lost control of his vehicle and span into the crowd at the final corner. Luckily, the people managed to jump out of the way in time but they did not expect a second vehicle to have an accident at the same place moments later. The Frenchman Jean Baptiste Le Prestre de Vauban span at the exact same corner but many spectators failed to evade the car this time. Vauban himself was ejected from his car in the crash but suffered minimal injuries. Controversially, he rejoined the race after dusting himself off, which attracted jeering and shouts from the attending crowd as he sped around. The race continued despite the crash, with Cummingham managing his vehicle expertly as he pulled away out front.

    Aaron Ruggles and Alden McNab were locked in a battle for second place, with Ruggles having a top speed advantage whilst McNab had the better drive from corners. Eventually, a spin from McNab would drop him down the order. Harold Roscarla-Lyons and Lawrence A. Wadsworth were also duelling on the dirt track, but Wadsworth would fail to find a way past as the race came to a close. Cummingham was cheered at the post-race ceremony for winning the race, but the crowd’s mood would turn as the race organiser Solomon Henderson presented Cummingham with the trophy. Nine spectators were injured in Vauban’s crash at the final corner, with one later dying on their way to hospital. Many in the crowd blamed Henderson directly for the crash due to his decision to allow spectators to stand “close to the action” on the grass verges surrounding the circuit. There was also extreme vitriol directed towards Vauban, who had finished the race albeit in a damaged and bloody car. As he walked through the paddock, some threw their tickets or drinks at Vauban in disgust. The Frenchman would later be arrested as he attempted to leave the circuit. A day later he was found dead in his cell from an apparent suicide, likely wracked by guilt over the death of the spectator. The race in Tacoma was mired in controversy and its impact on the American motorsport scene, whether that be positive or negative, will likely be debated for many years.

    Elijah Hancock, Olympia Tribune

  • 1894 Paris-Rouen Horseless Carriages Contest

    1894 Paris-Rouen Horseless Carriages Contest

    Paris–Rouen, Le Petit Journal Horseless Carriages Contest (Concours du ‘Petit Journal’ Les Voitures sans Chevaux), was a pioneering city-to-city motoring competition in 1894.

    The contest was organised by the newspaper Le Petit Journal and ran from Paris to Rouen in France on 22nd July 1894. 102 entries were initially due to race in the event, but only 24 appeared for the initial four days of vehicle exhibition and qualifying events. Many national and international newspapers wrote about the upcoming race and thousands of visitors entered Paris to catch a glimpse of the vehicles before the race was due to start. The eight 50 km (31 mi) qualifying events started near the Bois de Boulogne and comprised interwoven routes around Paris to select the entrants for the main 126 km (78 mi) event.

    Read more and see the event results on the Wiki