AOR iRacing GTE League Season 11 - Rules and Regulations

[Marvin]

The iRacing GTE Team:

• Marvin Sluman @Marvin
• Koen Van Eijk @Argon

As a member of this league you are expected to comply and adhere to the following rules and regulations. If you have any queries or questions regarding the contents of this section then please contact the iRacing team above.

 

[Marvin]

Championship Conduct:
It should go without saying that you should behave in exactly the same way as you would do in an Official iRacing session - therefore, your conduct will still be in line with the iRacing Sporting Code and Regulations (members can find the code here). Failure to do so may result in expulsion from the league.

In short, clean racing is what it's about. Leave room for cars around you and don't make overly aggressive moves to overtake or defend.

We also have a few of extra rules which over-ride the iRacing Sporting Code.

The rules apply to all sessions hosted. This includes the practice and qualifying sessions. Not following the rules in any of these sessions can lead to penalty.

Changing your line:
More than one change of direction to defend a position is not permitted. Any driver moving back towards the racing line, having earlier defended their position off-line, should leave at least one car width between their own car and the edge of the track on the approach to the corner. Any driver defending their position on a straight, and before any braking area, may use the full width of the track during their first move, provided no significant portion of the car attempting to pass is alongside theirs. Whilst defending in this way the driver may not leave the track without justifiable reason. For the avoidance of doubt, if any part of the front bodywork of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a 'significant portion'.

Moving in the Braking zone:
Drivers should hold their line when in braking zones. This works in both attacking and defending a position. If you are defending a position, do not leave it too late to make a move. If you are overtaking either for position or lapping. Do not cut in front of the car you've just passed in the braking zone.

Blue flags:
The rules concerning blue flags will be slightly different to how they are in the official series. Blue flags will be a mandatory rule that must be followed. Once the car following gets within 0.5 seconds of the blue flagged car ahead, the car with blue flags must allow the car behind past safely at the earliest opportunity, without blocking them. Sometimes this means that a driver should think ahead to avoid holding a faster driver up. If the car behind is almost within 0.5 seconds you should already be thinking about where you want to let the faster car by. If you know you're entering a twisty section, you might want let the faster driver by before that point.

On this point, there is no entitlement for higher class cars to be let by lower class cars if they're on the same lap. They are entitled to fight for position if they choose do to so, however it is reminded that class points will not be altered based on you finished higher/lower than a car in a lower or higher class than you.

On a similar note, the 0.5 second rule should be seen as the black/white ruling in the book. We hope that drivers will apply common sense when racing. If you're coming up to lap an Am battle, accept that they're not going to want to jump out the way and soon as possible. On the flip side to that though. Even if it is the Am fight for the lead, you must move out of the way for faster cars. Perhaps letting someone through on a straight before going through a series of corners is better than them desperately sending a move up the inside at one of those corners because they're in the their own fight.

Preferably the slower driver yields and moves clearly away from the racing line on a straight. This will give a clear signal to the faster car.

Unlapping Yourself:
Drivers may unlap themselves if they are quicker than the lapped cars. Cars on the lead lap do not have an entitlement to overly aggressive defend against lapped cars. If a lapped car catches you quickly, or is obviously quicker, it may be easier to let them go and not fight rather than fight to keep them behind. The fight is not for position so there is little point in risking a collision fighting a lapped car.

Headlights:
As a means of helping with blue flags, we advise the leaders to flash their lights at cars due to be lapped. This should not be done excessively. This is their cue to inform that the driver on the lead lap is about to pass the driver being lapped, and should let the lapping car pass at the next safe available opportunity.
Any other reason to flash the lights is deemed invalid.

Server Etiquette:
Do not spam the chat in server during practice, qualifying or the race. Voice chat is permitted but abusive language or arguing over the mic is not acceptable.

Formation Lap:
On the formation lap, stay in formation. Do not fall too far behind the cars ahead. Cars on the back row may leave a small gap if they choose, but not excessive in order to gain a run on the pack as the lights go green.

Do not accelerate and brake excessively. Weaving is allowed as long as this is done in a safely manner and not excessively.

The lead car should leave no larger than a 2 second gap to the pace car at any point during the formation lap. We implement this rule because the lights go green when the pace car pits, not when the lead car decides to go. With a field as big as we currently have, it can mean the green flag comes out with people barely in the final sector, certainly not ready to be racing. All other cars should also stay within 5 car lengths of the car in front.

On an additional note. The leader should maintain pace car speed throughout the formation lap, slowing excessively at the start to try and gain a jump on those around them will inevitably concertina the grid up and those mid-pack are likely to have incident. Bear in mind not everyone can see the lead car, nor can they see you slow until it's too late.

Changing Car:
One car change per season for each driver is allowed under the following criteria:

• The driver needs to change car before the start of round 7. After round 7 it is not allowed to change your car.
• The driver acknowledges the fact that they will lose all of their championship points in the drivers and teams standings and will start again from 0.
• The driver acknowledges the fact that they will not be granted another car change during the season.

There's one exception to this rule.
If iRacing releases a mid-season bop change, the following rules apply:

• A driver is allowed to switch cars without any consequences to their scored points.
• The driver needs to officially announce his change of car before the first race after the bop.
• This will only be allowed before round 7. After round 7 it is not allowed to change cars, even if a bop update occurs.

It's not allowed to do a one-off race in a different car. If a driver accidentally chooses the wrong car, they will not be allowed to race.

 

[Marvin]

Race Structure:
Race sessions will be based on the following format this season:

• 1 hour 15 minute practice beginning from 18:15 (GMT )
• 25 minute open class qualifying beginning from 19:30 (GMT)
• Race: 1 hour 20 minutes starting at 19:57 (GMT)

Race distances will be based on time, due to the structure of the race night.

The race will begin under rolling start, the grid in qualifying order.

There are no pitstop requirements.

The fuel capacity is limited to 55%.

Weather/Track Conditions:
Weather and starting track conditions will be set to be automatically generated.

In-sim date will be as near to the real-life date as possible and will be posted in the race thread. This means that the conditions may vary from the official iRacing sessions. All races will be run with x1 sun progression.

Incident Limit:
The initial incident limit is set to 18x for the race. Once you reach this, you will get a stop and go penalty by the game. After 24x you will be disqualified. It's not possible to appeal incidents with the aim to get incident points removed post-race.

Causing a deliberate collision after the race is not advised, as this will make it more difficult for us to know how many incidents the drivers actually got. If you did accumulate incident points after the race which ruined a 0x incident score, or pushed you over the incident limit, it is your responsibility to inform us of this.

 

[Marvin]

Class Qualifying

Qualifying will be a 25 minute affair. Split into 3, 8 minute segments. One 8 minute segment will be for the AMs followed by one for the Pro/AMs and finally for the Pros. This ensures all drivers get a fair amount of time on track and all cars should get a clear lap without traffic.

From minutes 2-9: Am drivers qualify
From minutes 9-17 Pro/Am drivers qualify
From minutes 17-25 Pro Drivers qualify

Reserves:
For reserves, we'll assign them a group until they're placed in a class based off their iRating.

Pro: Over 3500
Pro/Am: Between 2000 - 3500
Am: Less than 2000


● For the first minute of qualifying, all drivers must remain in the pit-lane. The first group however they can queue up at the end of the pit-lane, but not inside each other, if they wish to queue, then they must do so like this like shown to the right. This means there will be a single file at the end of the pitlane. It's not allowed to overtake cars in that line.
Drivers who's pitboxes are next to that line are allowed to merge into the line of cars. Similar to merging on a highway.

● Drivers can only move to the end of the pit-lane within the preceding minute to their group to get track position.

● The track map will be marked to show where there is to be no overtaking from this point on for track position.

● Drivers may finish a lap if they started it in their allocated timing, but once the lap is completed they must immediately return to the pit-lane by holding escape, not driving in for an in-lap. Groups 2/3 should be on their out-laps whilst the previous groups might be starting their fast laps. This means the next group MUST give way and be way off the racing line while the previous group are completing their final laps.

● Drivers can attempt as many laps as they like in their group slot. However be aware you only have a limited amount of time to get your laps in.

● There are to be no shenanigans in the pit-lane such as donuts, reversing up and down, driving inside other cars.

● Any track and weather changes therefore will affect the group relevant to you. Sometimes your group will benefit, other times you will lose out.

Here is a minute by minute breakdown of how qualifying works. The following images will be posted in the race thread for all to see:

Qualifying conduct:
Any excessive tire heating is not allowed. This doesn't include normal weaving, but burnouts or donuts are not allowed.

 

[Marvin]

Championship Scoring:

Drivers that finish within 90% of the race distance will be classified and eligible to score full points. Drivers that are classified within 60% race distance are eligible to score half points.
Decimals will be rounded up.

Class Racing:
Drivers will be placed in either the Pro, Pro-Am or Am class.

You can use the Skin Pack to help you spot who is in what class on track. You can also use the relative to understand what class someone is by car number.

A driver picks a number 00 and 99. In session, your car number will be prefixed with either 1, 2 or 3. So if a driver has the number 83, then this is how it'll look the relative:

Pro - 183
Pro-Am - 283
Am - 383

Car #1 is reserved for the last seasons Pro Champion.

Reserves and unclassified drivers will be prefixed 9, so 983 would be their car number on track.

There is no entitlement for higher class cars to be let by lower class cars if they're on the same lap. They are entitled to fight for position if they choose do to so, however it is reminded that class points will not be altered based on you finished higher/lower than a car in a lower or higher class than you.
Overall finishing positions may be used to assign drivers to their classes, also in future seasons.

Drop Weeks:
There will be one drop week. This means that you lowest class scoring round will be dropped. Any round can be dropped, this includes a DNS.

Points per class position:
1st - 25 points
2nd - 18 points
3rd - 15 pts
4th - 12 pts
5th - 10 pts
6th - 8 pts
7th - 6 pts
8th - 4 pts
9th - 2 pts
10th - 1 pts

Team and overall points per position:
1st - 70 points
2nd - 65 points
3rd - 61 pts
4th - 58 pts
5th - 56 pts
6th - 54 pts
7th - 52 pts
8th - 50 pts
9th - 48 pts
10th - 46 pts
11th - 44 pts
12th - 42 pts
13th - 40 pts
14th - 38 pts
15th - 36 pts
16th - 34 pts
17th - 32 pts
18th - 30 pts
19th - 28 pts
20th - 26 pts
21st - 24 pts
22nd - 22 pts
23rd - 20 pts
24th - 18 pts
25th - 16 pts
26th - 15 pts
27th - 14 pts
28th - 13 pts
29th - 12 pts
30th - 11 pts
31st - 10 pts
32nd - 9 pts
33rd - 8 pts
34th - 7 pts
35th - 6 pts
36th - 5 pts
37th - 4 pts
38th - 3 pts
39th - 2 pts
40th - 1 pt

* Note: the overall leaderboard will not be seen as an official championship. It's merely there to give you as driver something else to race for. We, as organisers, will not give this table any public attention.

Bonus Points:

• 1 bonus point will be given to the three drivers who take their class pole positions
• 1 bonus points will be given to any driver who completes the race with 0x incident points.

Team Rules:
Upon registering, drivers can elect to race as part of a team or run as a 'Privateer' entry. This must be specified as part of their registration. Teams that register with only one driver are still eligible to score points in the Team Standings.

There can only be a maximum of two drivers per team entry at any one time. Reserve drivers are permitted to run in a team providing they are one of the two nominated drivers. If a team has changed their driver line-up then they must inform the iRacing Coordinators.

In the event of more than two drivers wishing to represent a team, drivers are encouraged to form 'B' or second teams if they wish to score points in the Team Standings.

Drivers can team-up despite being in different cars but should run similar liveries.

Your teams points are based on your overall position.

Drivers are free to swap teams during the season. However, their points will not be transferred to their new team and instead will remain at their old team.

 

[Marvin]

Stewards Enquiries:
Drivers are encouraged to call for an investigation into an incident they've been involved in, if they feel another driver has broken the racing etiquette rules. This can range from causing a collision to dangerously rejoining the track.

It is important for those creating an investigation to give as much detail as possible - what lap did the incident take place? Who were the drivers involved etc?

Stewards enquiries can be made here, and must be posted within 48 hours of the race having taken place. If you're going to need a couple of days to get evidence, you are encouraged to at least make the post stating your intent to go the stewards. Drivers are required to provide suitable evidence.
This can be either a snip of the replay file, or video of the cockpit and far chase cam of the cars involved via streaming sites such as youtube, twitch or others.

Lap 1 Incidents:
Stewards may pro-actively look into any incidents involving more than 2 cars that are caused on lap 1, regardless of whether it is brought up to the stewards or not. Incidents between just two drivers will not actively be looked at, unless the stewards deem it is happening too often, or it involves the same drivers.

If deemed appropriate, drivers may be awarded penalties as a result of their actions. Potential penalties include:

Warning:
A warning may be given for minor infractions.

Time penalty:
For minor incidents, we may apply a time penalty if the guilty driver finished the race. These time penalties can vary.

Pit Lane Stop Penalty:
If you are handed a Pit lane stop penalty, then when you serve your pit stop, at some point during the pit lane, you must reach the pit lane speed limit, bring your car to a complete stop, then you can set off again.

It is up to the driver to decide where they serve their penalty in the pit lane, but we request it is not done in line with the pit stops as to not distract other drivers. This is also to not mess up any driver who is at either extreme end of the pit lane.

These penalties will be checked. It is on the driver to ensure their car stops. We will check based off the iRacing HUD speedo and physically watching the car. If either of these show you have not stopped the car, then you have not served your penalty. You are advised to save your race replay in-case you do not show up in the replays for the coordinators.

If you are out of the race before serving your Pit Lane Stop Penalty, then it will be served at the next event. If you are unsure of this or have questions, it is your responsibility to ask a coordinator before the race session.

If you're on pole for example and your pit stop is at the very end of the line. Once you pass the yellow cones, on the speed limit, you must stop your car. Bring it to 0. Once you've done this, you can set off again, back up the speed limit and complete your stop as normal.

Drive Through:
Drivers may be given a drive through penalty, that they have to serve in the next race they attend.
This can not be served in lap 1 or under white flag.

Pit-lane start:
Drivers who cause a large incident may be given a pit-lane start. This means you cannot qualify and you cannot start the race on the grid.

Disqualification:
A driver may be disqualified from the race, if the driver caused a significant incident.

Race ban:
Drivers who cause significant incidents, or repeatedly cause incidents may receive a race ban.
This is a severe penalty and should act as a last warning before a driver is removed from the league.

Removal from the league and blacklist:
Drivers who deliberately take out another car will be removed from the league and blacklisted.
Drivers causing continuous incidents may be removed from the league.

The Penalty Point System:
The Penalty Point System allows for additional discipline of drivers who consistently break driving etiquette throughout seasons. This is to ensure drivers feel inclined to maintain a respectful driving standard.
The distribution of penalty points is determined by the stewards, though we will base our judgement off of the following guidelines:

- 5 penalty points for a minor case of dangerous driving
- 10 penalty points for a moderate case of dangerous driving
- 15/20 penalty points for a major case of dangerous driving
- 5 penalty points for practice misconduct impeding an unconsenting driver
- 5 penalty points for misconduct under blue flags
- 50 penalty points for intentionally taking out another driver
- x penalty points for general misconduct

The level that an incident involves dangerous driving or misconduct is determined at the discretion of the stewards.

Penalty points accumulated by a driver will carry through seasons. Therefore:
- A driver who obtains 40 penalty points inside their last 12 race nights completed will automatically be given a pit-lane start.
- A driver who obtains 50 penalty points inside their last 12 race nights completed will automatically be given a race ban and their position in the league will be put under review, with the likely unfortunate outcome that they will be removed from the league and blacklisted.

However, the league coordinators can also hand out these penalties to known repeat offenders, at their discretion.

 

[Marvin]

Absences, Quitting & the Blacklist:
You should sign up to the league with the intention of participating in every race. We do not accept drivers who sign up to the league wanting to be a reserve because they don't want to commit to a full season.

Circumstances may prevent you from making some races, in which case it's very important to follow the following procedure:

If you are unable to attend a race, you have to give notice for your absence as early as possible but before the event session starts (Monday 18:15 GMT). This is done by informing a member of the iRacing Team of your situation, either by sending them a private message (PM) or by posting in the official race thread. It's your responsibility to make sure they receive your message.
Early notice allows us to inform and ready up reserves, ensuring a full grid and allowing reserves to practice.

Joining the session and not starting the race will be counted as uninformed absence.

Drivers who no-show without informing the coordinator will be monitored. Two consecutive uninformed no-shows (missing 2 rounds in a row) with no forum activity will result in being removed and in most cases blacklisted. Three cumulative uninformed no-shows will result in being removed and blacklisted.

Drivers who are not able to attend a larger number of races will be demoted to reserve or removed from the league at the discretion of the organizers.

If you have to pull out of the league, you must let the iRacing Team know. If you leave by simply not showing up for the races, or leaving the league through iRacing, you will be placed on the blacklist and not be allowed back into the Championship in the future.

If you are removed from the league, you will be placed on the blacklist. You could also be placed on the blacklist for leaving the league without notice or without a proper reason. Drivers who are placed on the blacklist are generally not allowed back into the Championship, except in exceptional circumstances.

In some cases, drivers may be given a second chance if the admins deem there is a reason to believe the driver has changed for the better. However, this will usually come with stricter conditions, and getting removed for a second time will mean permanent exclusion from the leagues, no exceptions.

 

[Marvin]

Top Tips!:
If you are involved in an on-track incident, don't overreact. It may be frustrating, but you need to stay calm and get on with it. Losing out due to another driver's mistake or recklessness is no excuse for retaliation or acting against the rules. If another driver does something you feel is against the rules, report it to the Stewards after the race rather than argue about it over the microphone.

These are long races, take your time making moves, pick your fights carefully and race fairly.
Be aware of the skill gap between the classes, and anticipate early or late braking or accelerating when battling a car of a different class.

We will not tolerate abusive comments in the server. You will be told to stop. Failure to stop may lead to getting penalties or in extreme cases removed from the league.

Respect your fellow drivers! Keep a friendly atmosphere in the lobby and treat your colleagues as equals, regardless of them being quicker or slower than you.