View topic - Racing regulations

[Saints Don Vito]

TROVEGP RACING REGULATIONS
When you apply for membership, your forum name must correspond with your Online Gaming Name to save confusion. We always use our Online Gaming Name on the forum and when we race online.

Basic racing rules
1. If you hit another driver, force a driver off the track and/or otherwise disadvantage them during a race, you are expected to slow down and allow the other driver to regain his place, even if this costs you further positions. This shows respect towards your fellow drivers and will encourage drivers to be more careful. (Take care when letting the other driver regain position; do not drive slowly or stop on the racing line or in a dangerous position where you could cause further accidents.)

2. When another driver is attempting to overtake, you may defend your position but may only make one change of direction. Weaving in front of another driver or forcing a car off the track to defend position is not permitted. In general, once any part of another driver’s car is beside your own, you should respect their position and allow their car space to remain in this position without forcing them to leave the track or slow down to avoid doing so.

3. Any driver moving back towards the racing line, having earlier defended his position off-line, should leave at least one car width between his own car and the edge of the track on the approach to the corner.

4. When overtaking another driver, you must always respect their position and allow them to remain on track. You must not force them to take evasive action to avoid contact or remain on track – you may be penalised for such an incident even if no contact occurs. You may not leave the track with more than two wheels to overtake another driver, unless taking evasive action to avoid colliding with or otherwise disadvantaging another driver. If an overtake occurs that is not in accordance with these rules or is otherwise illegitimate, you must slow down and allow the other driver to regain his place even if this costs you further positions.

5. When being lapped by another car, you must allow the faster car to pass in a safe manner at the first available opportunity, without unpredictably altering your driving line or braking. When lapping a car, while it is the responsibility of the slower car to allow you to pass safely, you must not unfairly disadvantage the slower car when passing. In this situation, normal racing rules for overtaking apply to the faster car.

6. When being overtaken by a much faster car, you must not alter your line or braking. Unpredictable manoeuvres are likely to result in an accident. Let the faster car dictate when and where to initiate a pass,

7. Follow all safety rules as if you were in a real car on a real track. You must obey the pit speed limiter in the pit lane, observe all safety flags and lights, and must not perform doughnuts or other dangerous manoeuvres on or off the track. Driving in the wrong direction is strictly prohibited unless absolutely necessary to avoid accidents. You must never attempt U-turns on the racing line: if you must turn your car around, do so off the track and in a safe manner.

8. If you are involved in an accident, do not leave your car stopped on the racing line where it could impede other drivers or cause further accidents. Return to the race safely and if necessary pit to repair your car to continue the race. If you cannot do so, stop your car a safe distance from the track and not in a dangerous position.

9. If you leave the track for any reason, you must wait until the track is clear and there is a safe gap before re-joining the track. Upon re-joining the track, you should get up to speed as quickly as possible without blocking the racing line or disadvantaging any other driver.

10. If for some reason you must stop your car, do so a safe distance from the track, and not in any dangerous areas e.g. braking zones. Do not pause your game while driving; this will result in your car driving slowly or stopping on the racing line. Instead, you must leave the track and ensure that your car is stationary in a safe area before pausing.

11. You must not drive unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in any other manner that could disadvantage any other driver(s). This applies whether you are on or off track, and during both qualifying sessions and races.

12. Do not deliberately cut the track or go wide at corners unless taking evasive action. The white (or yellow) lines mark the edge of the track: don't cross them with more than two wheels unless there is a AstroTurf (green fake grass) behind the curbs, in such a case you are allowed to use the AstroTurf as a curb.

13. In practice or qualifying sessions, the above rules must also be obeyed. If you are not on a flying lap, you must not disadvantage any other driver, and should allow drivers on a fast lap to pass safely without compromising their lap time. If you do disadvantage another driver, you should allow them to regain track position if they wish to complete their/another flying lap where appropriate, even if this disadvantages your own flying lap.

14. If a race or qualifying session is completed, you should avoid forcing the other competitors to wait for the full amount of time provided for you to complete the session if you are no longer racing. For example, should you leave a race or qualifying session, you should exit the session or retire your car, and not remain stationary on track after the session is completed.

15. Discuss any incidents with the other driver(s) after the race in a friendly manner. If you feel stressed by an accident, always take 24 hours to calm down, review the replays of the incident and resolve it in mature manner via PM and don’t make angry or immature posts about it on the forum. If this doesn’t resolve the problem please contact the member that organized your race by PM and send him video evidence that clearly shows the incident from various angles so action can be taken after reviewing it.

Breaching any of these rules in a championship or league race will result in a warning or penalty. See section 5.3 of the TroveGP Championship Rules for details of such penalties.

Being a TroveGP Member means that you are accountable for all of your actions on track. All members are expected to drive cleanly and fairly at all times. If you're not confident in your ability to do this, ask another member if they would help you out - someone will be glad to do so.

Difference between Party and a league races
Party Lobby events are for casual racing only. They are not about winning or losing but about having a great driving experience. This is the perfect environment for your daily races as there is no pressure involved, but members are expected to drive fairly and obey the racing rules regardless. Fun is King.

Leagues races are more professional and points can be scored for championships. All racing rules must be obeyed at all times, and there is also the pressure of running with some of the best drivers in the simracing community! However, this does not mean that you need to have alien speed to join our leagues! You will always find people of your level in every race. For championship races, the following rules apply.

TROVEGP CHAMPIONSHIP RULES
1) TroveGP Championship
1.1 The TroveGP Championship driver’s title will be awarded to the driver who has scored the highest number of points, taking into consideration all the results obtained during the events which have taken place and been completed.
1.2 Points will be awarded at each event in accordance with the real formula 1 points system:
1st : 25 points
2nd : 18 points
3rd : 15 points
4th : 12 points
5th : 10 points
6th : 8 points
7th : 6 points
8th : 4 points
9th : 2 points
10th : 1 point
Drivers who do not finish a race will not score points; in all races except sprints, drivers who finish a lap or more down on the leader will score points for the event.
1.3 If two or more drivers finish the championship with the same number of points, positions in the championship will be decided by:

1. the holder of the greatest number of first places,
2. if the number of first places is the same, the holder of the greatest number of second places,
3. if the number of second places is the same, the holder of the greatest number of third places and so on until a winner emerges.

If this procedure fails to produce a result, the championship positions will be declared tied.

2) Organisation of events
2.1 An event organiser must be an experienced member. Upon granting an application to hold an event, TroveGP will invite the relevant member(s) to organise it or to nominate an organiser.
2.2 Each organiser should supply TroveGP with a broadband speed test result shortly before the Event to ensure reliable hosting.
2.3 It is recommended that an organiser have a broadband connection of at least 10Mbps download speed and 2Mbps upload speed, with a ping of no more than 25ms.

3) TroveGP delegates
3.1 For each event TroveGP will nominate the following delegates:
- Staff member(s) and/or Moderator(s).
And may nominate:
- An undisclosed observer.
3.2 The role of the TroveGP delegates is to help the Event organizer in their duties, that all the regulations governing the Championship are respected, and to make any comments they judge necessary.
3.3 The event organizer, the nominated Staff member(s) and/or Moderator(s) and an undisclosed observer (if applicable) should be present at least fifteen minutes before the start of the event.

4) Instructions and communications to competitors
4.1 The event organizer, Staff member(s) and/or Moderator(s) may give instructions to competitors in accordance with the TroveGP Racing Regulations. These instructions will be distributed to all competitors who must acknowledge receipt.
4.2 All classifications and results of qualifying and the race, as well as all decisions made by the delegates, will be posted in the respected topic.
4.3 Any decision or communication concerning a particular competitor should be given to him before the start of the next event, and receipt must be acknowledged.

5) Incidents
5.1 An "Incident" means any occurrence or series of occurrences involving two or more drivers, or any action by any driver, which is reported to the delegates by the race participants which:
- caused a collision
- forced a driver off the track
- illegitimately prevented a legitimate overtaking manoeuvre by a driver
- illegitimately impeded another driver during overtaking
- resulted in gaining an advantage from cutting the track
- or otherwise constituted a breach of these Racing Regulations.
Unless in the opinion of the delegates it was completely clear that a driver was in breach of any of the above, any incidents involving more than one car will normally be investigated after the race.
5.2 It shall be at the discretion of the delegates to decide, upon a report or a request by a participant, if a driver or drivers involved in an incident shall be penalised. If an incident is under investigation by the delegates, a message informing all members which driver or drivers are involved will be displayed in the respected topic. Such a message must be displayed no later than four days after the race has finished.
5.3 The delegates may impose any one of the penalties below on any driver involved in an incident:

1. A warning. Any warning may be appealed by contacting the event organiser/staff member who issued it, but unless evidence is provided to support this appeal this warning will not be revoked. Note that an appeal where no evidence or reason is provided may result in a further penalty being imposed.
2. A time penalty. This time will be added to the driver’s final race time, and is at the discretion of the delegates.
   If either of the above two penalties are imposed, a warning will also be issued. This warning may be appealed, but under normal circumstances, any such penalty will not be overturned. If three warnings are issued to a driver in the same championship, a further penalty will be applied from those below.
3. A deduction of any number of points from the championship.
4. Exclusion from the results of the event.
5. A grid position penalty for the next event – this will consist of the driver being forced not to set a qualifying time.
6. Suspension from the next event in which the driver is able to participate.
7. Exclusion from the remaining events of the championship.
   These penalties may also be appealed, however strong evidence must be provided supporting the appeal for it to be considered.

6) Qualifying
6.1 Depending on the event, a fifteen-minute qualifying session may take place before the race.
6.2 During qualifying, any driver whose best qualifying lap was clean and unimpeded and exceeded 120% of the fastest time set during the session may not be allowed to take part in the race if such a suitable lap time has not been set by the driver in a previous race or session. This decision is at the discretion of the delegates and may not be appealed. Drivers who fail obey such a decision will be excluded from the results of the race, receive a twenty-five point penalty if appropriate and be suspended for the next event in which they are able to participate.
6.3 If 25% or more participants lose connection to the session within the first 10 minutes of qualifying, the session will be aborted and the entire race including qualifying will be restarted once only. Members with a known history of bad connection are not to be included within this percentage.

7) Meetings
7.1 Before the session: A meeting, chaired by the event organizer, will take place fifteen to thirty minutes before a scheduled event. This should be attended by all drivers participating in the event, and will take place in the TroveGP meeting room and TeamSpeak Channel, posted on the Notice Board.
7.2 After the session: Should the race host consider another meeting necessary it will take place fifteen minutes after the race. Competitors must be informed no later than five minutes after the ending of the race. All drivers must attend.

8) Starting procedure
8.1 10 minutes before the start of the session, the room will be opened and competitors will be permitted to join the session.
8.2 The approach of the start will be signalled and/or announced by the event organizer by pressing start five minutes, three minutes, one minute and fifteen seconds before the start of the session. All drivers should not press ready until the final signal to allow these signals to be carried out.
8.3 If any other problem arises, and if the race organizer decides the start should be delayed, the race organizer will post a message in the meeting stating: “DELAYED START” followed by a short explanation and a new expected starting time. The next signal by the event organizer will be the three-minute signal.
8.4 If for any reason a driver will arrive late to an event, they must inform the organiser as soon as possible either privately or via the meeting room. In this case, an event may be delayed by up to twenty minutes at the agreement of the other competitors. If a driver fails to arrive at an event at the scheduled time without warning, the start will only be delayed by up to ten minutes.

Remember, the above regulations are to encourage fun, fair racing here at TroveGP.

Last updated: 14/3/2012