Formula Eldham

Formula Eldham is an Eldham-based ice boat racing championship series founded and hosted by the Wilmund citizens Juvieus, wiegeht_s and FredBurton since January 2022.

The company is formally run and registered at stock exchanges as Eldham Boat Racing Inc., but publicly recognized as Formula Eldham.

Formula Eldham itself is the most popular competition of the company: In a World Series of 6-10 Grand Prix races all across Eldham the Champion of ice boat racing is determined.

The second popular event is the Grand Prix of Nations, in which one driver per nations competes on track to win glory and massive amounts of prize money for his country.

Founding
Juvieus has always been a fan of ice boat racing and already constructed various race tracks in other worlds. In early January 2022, wiegeht_s and him constructed Wilmund Circuit south of their home town. Shortly after on January 8th, the town hosted the I. Wilmund Grand Prix, which was primarily attended by compatriots from Yunria and saw FredBurton emerge victorious. In those weeks the nation was going through a severe political crisis, and when the night seemed darkest, the joy and communal spirit this event sparked in the attendee's souls was a true source of hope.

Motivated by the success and feedback of this legendary night, the citizens of Wilmund decided to continue bringing joy and entertainment through the means of racing to all of Eldham. The idea of a world series, spreading over 10 race tracks in 10 nations was born, and Formula Eldham was founded.

Season 1 started on January 23rd with a tryout on Wilmund Circuit and the first Championship race on the Dripstone Circuit in Velenu.

In the following days and weeks the company rose quickly in popularity and attracted lots of sponsors, cities interested in constructing race tracks, as well as the attention of large banks. Juvieus saw the economic potential of their invention and listed the company for stock trading at the EMF.

In May, Juvieus initiated a new single-race competition between regular seasons, which was intended to attract even more fans. Since people in Eldham typically root most enthusiastically for their nations instead of privately owned racing teams, the idea was to make it a competition between the many nations of Eldham to determine the greatest nation of ice boat racing. With the first Grand Prix of Nations, the company went completely through the roof, winning support and promotion by the admins and doubling their member count from 250 over 500 members within one week.

At the time of writing on August 10, Eldham Boat Racing has successfully hosted and completed three seasons of Formula Eldham and two Grand Prix of Nations.

I. Wilmund Grand Prix
The I. Wilmund Grand Prix was hosted on January 8th 2022 and counts as the first official race of Eldham Boat Racing. It was directed by wiegeht_s, saw seven drivers compete, and a couple more watching from the stands. It is legendary for its post-race celebration and communal spirit it inspired among the Yunrian citizens.

Season 1: Formula Eldham presented by Casa Nostra
Season 1 was hosted between January 23rd to February 20th and featured 9 championship races on 5 tracks. Initially there were 9 tracks planned, but half of the cities who wanted to join the series did not finish their circuits in time, which led to the competition hosting reverse races on each of the finished tracks.

For winning a race, a driver was awarded 10 points. Second got 8, Third 6, and from there each place down until the 8th finisher receives one point. Finishing below was not awarded a point.

A price money of 500$ per point was introduced as well as 100,000$ for the Season champion, 50,000$ for Second, 20,000$ for third as well as 20,000$ for the Best Team. The total prize money pool totaled over 365,000$.

Season 2: Formula Eldham presented by Imperial Bryennius Banks
Ahead of season 2, a YouTube trailer released by wiegeht_s gained attention in another Minecraft racing community, which attracted a bunch of drivers which were way more professional and joined Stoneworks exclusively for racing. While it raised the level of the competition, it also lead to a little less identification with the actual root and purpose of the competition, namely that it should entertain people of Eldham, be incorporated into roleplay, and attract Eldham based sponsors and cities.

But also among the Eldham drivers and established names more professionalization occured. Off-season break saw some interesting driver transfers happen and sponsors entering the market to open professional teams.

Reigning Champion Ashey173 was recruited by AdmiralFluffy for the new outfit of Atreides Racing. They also enticed Tapnap away from Akari, but Akari owner NielsLb found a worthy replacement in one-time GP winner Inferrum.

Bokoya Boats, now rebranded as Economy Viewer Racing, hired the talented zeenix to race alongside Juvieus and represent that proud orange and blue. Previous team champions A&C Motorsports entered Season 2 with an unchanged lineup featuring CiaroHD and _YIKESU.

Season 2 was held over 6 races and saw a restructuring of the prize pool.

There now would be 1,000$ per point, but only 50,000$ for overall solo Champion, as well as 20,000$ for Best Team.

I. Grand Prix of Nations
The I. Grand Prix of Nations was hosted on May 22nd on Atreides Circuit, who won the bidding against other race tracks.

The event is the largest ever in Formula Eldham history, quite possibly one of the largest peaceful gatherings in all Eldham history.

Over 50 players gathered both in VC as well as onsite at the circuit to determine which nation is the Greatest of ice boat racing.

The race was open for one driver of each nation, but a fan based voting in the days before the race determined which 16 nations would ultimately be allowed to start the race. Both professional Formula Eldham drivers as well as some amateur drivers participated for their nations, but it those who had experience in the two previous seasons clearly outperformed the rest of the field.

Season 3: Formula Eldham presented by Brudmir Royal Industries Enterprise
Season 3 started May 29th and had its last race on July 31st. It was the longest season so far, spanning well over nine weeks. By now Formula Eldham had grown to eight race tracks in eight nations, so accomodating all of them in the schedule took over two months. There are even a couple more racetracks that were dropped since the abundance of race locations.