5. Rule Enforcement:
We can't possibly control all the actions of our drivers, but we have ways to penalise drivers who break the rules.
5.1 Stewards Panel:
The
Stewards Panel forum can be used to report incidents and other rule violations that occur in a race. A proper explanation and/or evidence of the incident must be provided in order for it to be investigated. This will then be looked into by various members of the AC Team and appropriate action will be taken.
What you can make a stewards enquiry for:
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Racing incidents: If you feel another driver has caused an incident - eg. hitting your car, forcing you off the track, rejoining the track unsafely, or generally driving too aggressively - you should report this to the stewards for investigation.
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Corner cutting: If you witness another driver is persistently gaining time by abusing the track limits, you should report this to the stewards for investigation.
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Removing an unfair time penalty: If you receive a time penalty from the game, and you feel this was awarded unfairly, you can make an enquiry for the penalty to be removed. When making such an enquiry, you need to provide evidence of the penalty being applied. Evidence can be either in the form of video footage, or a picture of the post-race race director screen showing what the penalty was for and the time of when it was applied. Any appeals without this will be dismissed.
Bear in mind that we will not be giving compensation for penalties that affect your position on the track during the race. This includes drive through penalties and extra time spent in the pit box as a result of a stop-go penalty.
5.1.1
● Time limit for enquiries: Note that there is a time limit of
2 days after the race has run to make a stewards enquiry for an incident you have been involved in or witnessed during the race. If any new rule violations come to light through videos released after this time, it is still possible to report this, but
only if this violation is something that would not have been visible to other driver(s) in the race at the time it happened.
5.2 Penalties:
The stewards have a variety of penalties that may be applied to punish drivers who break our racing rules, depending on the severity of the violation. The available penalties are sorted below, in order of severity. Breaking a rule also leads to penalty points being added to your name - see further down for more details.
(Note that penalties may be added together in the event of multiple violations in a race, which could result in total time penalties of a higher number than what is suggested below)
● 5-second time penalty
● 10-second time penalty
● 20-second time penalty
● Qualifying ban for the next race (may also be applied in place of a time penalty if the driver did not finish the race)
● Disqualification from the race
● One-race ban
● Multiple-race ban
● Permanent removal from the league
Any penalties will be aimed at the person who has done wrong - we cannot compensate anyone else as a result of someone's actions. All penalties are discussed by the Stewards Panel (consisting of the members of the AC Team - Admins, Moderators and Coordinators - from all platforms) before being issued and the driver will always be informed of the outcome. The Stewards Panel is completely neutral and will not include anyone who may be affected by the incident in question.
5.3 Penalty points system:
The penalty points system is a way of keeping track of a driver's record of breaking the rules of clean racing, and to more severely punish repeat offenders. Penalty points will be applied
alongside normal race penalties, as per the list below.
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5 points - Driving dangerously or unsportingly
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5 points - Causing a minor avoidable collision
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10 points - Causing a major avoidable collision
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5 points - Failing to wait for the affected driver after causing a collision (in addition to one of the above)
●
5-15 points - Excessively abusing the track limits (depending upon severity)
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15 points - Quitting out of a race without retiring first (not counting legitimate disconnections)
●
25 points - Deliberately destroying your car (especially serious with the possibility of a safety car)
●
50 points - Deliberately crashing into another driver
If you accumulate
25 points, you will be awarded a qualifying ban.
If you accumulate
40 points, you will be awarded a one-race ban.
If you accumulate
50 points, your league position will be put under review, with the likely outcome of being removed from the league.
Penalty points will usually be reset ahead of a new season.
5.4 Strike system:
While the race penalties and penalty points system are aimed at dealing with on-track issues, the strike system deals with issues that may occur off the track.
It's simple -
if you receive 3 strikes, you're out. Receiving 3 strikes would also see you placed on the blacklist, meaning you would not be allowed to return to the leagues in the future.
You can receive strikes for the following:
● No-showing a race without giving prior notice to the League Coordinator
● Rage-quitting out of a race (deliberately quitting for no good reason, as specified in rule 3.4.1)
● Showing abusive behaviour towards another driver, either in the race lobby or on the forum
Note that if we encounter situations where someone's behaviour gets completely out of hand and is extremely serious, a ban may be applied directly regardless of strikes accumulated.
5.5 Blacklist:
The blacklist contains the names of drivers who have been removed from the leagues - either through accumulating 50 penalty points or 3 strikes - and drivers who have left the leagues during an ongoing season with no good reason.
Having your name applied to the blacklist generally means you will not be allowed to rejoin the leagues in the future.