Our racing rules are pretty standard, but here are a few clarifications of things that come up from time to time:
Qualifying
The car in front has priority. It is your responsibility to find space to do your lap.
If the car in front is on a flying lap you must not interfere with their lap.
If you are not on a good lap (if you invalidated or lost significant time) then you must not impede a car behind you. This includes slowing at the end of a lap to make space for yourself - do not drop back to right in front of another car.
Race Starts
Most significant crashes happen in the first few turns when all of the cars are so close together. Please take extra care here, and try to keep safe space around you.
Early crashes can spoil races and be very frustrating for a lot of people. Careless or reckless driving that affects multiple cars will receive heavier-than-normal penalties.
Crashes often occur when:
- Someone brakes too late and hits the car in front. With multiple cars close together in front of you, you will need to brake much earlier than usual. This applies especially for the first heavy braking zone of lap 1, but also whenever there are multiple cars in front. Brake earlier and more gently than normal so that drivers behind can see you starting to slow.
- Someone moves sideways into another car. Hold your line unless you are absolutely sure there is no-one alongside you. Changes of "lane" are very dangerous, especially in or approaching braking zones. Be clear about your positioning, and do not switch around too much.
- Someone squeezes into a gap between or alongside two other cars. Often that gap will disappear in the next corner leaving you with nowhere to go.
Yellow Flags
Yellow flags indicate a caution zone and you should not be "racing" here. This means that you should drive in a controlled manner, which may require slowing down. You should not overtake other cars that are driving normally. (You are allowed to pass slow moving or stationary cars affected by the incident as long as you do so in a safe manner. This does not apply to the game bug with yellow flags for cars in the pits.)
White flags (slow car ahead) require similar caution although racing is allowed as long as it is clear that the track is safe.
Driving recklessly under yellow or white flags will incur a stronger penalty than normal.
Blue Flags
Drivers who are a lap down should allow lapping cars to overtake within a few corners; basically as soon as is reasonable and without delaying the lapping car any more than necessary.
Be predictable. Do not try to let them past in a corner, or lift on corner exit. It is best to hold your line and drive normally, then lift slightly in the middle of a straight to allow them to pass easily.
If you are shown a blue flag but are faster you are allowed to stay ahead as long as you are not slowing the lapping car down. If you are not able to pull away within a lap or so then you should yield the position and then follow safely.
If you are a lap down and are faster than the car in front then you are allowed to try to unlap yourself, but you must do so very safely. (If you are a lap ahead but the car behind is faster then it is often beneficial to both of you to let them go, but you are not required to.)
Incidents
If you spin another car, or otherwise gain a place through an accidental contact (a "bump pass"), then you should usually return the position. Do not slow abruptly as this often causes further problems. Continue driving safely and then slow down to allow the pass in a safe place (usually the next straight) where you can make plenty of space for passing cars. This will reduce any time penalties you may receive, and is a good way to maintain respect between drivers (it may even mean that you don't get reported at all for minor contacts).
If you are spinning or out of control on or near the track (for any reason) you should lock your brakes. This will mean that you travel in a straight line, which is much more predictable for following drivers. Continue to hold the brake after you come to a stop, until you are sure that it is safe to set off again. Even a small movement can cause further crashes.
Re-join safely. Even if the original incident was not your fault, if you re-join dangerously into the path of other drivers then you will receive a penalty.
Incident Reports
Incident reports are not only about "punishment". We can all learn from our mistakes (and the the mistakes of those we race with) as we continue to improve our race craft. This makes future races safer and more enjoyable for everyone. I encourage you to review any incidents you were involved in. Whether we feel we were the victim or the villain we may see a way that we could have avoided serious consequences by doing something different.
If you are involved in an incident which you believe was caused by another driver you can report it to the league admin (TC_WhiteRider) by private Discord message after the race. Keep it friendly and do not accuse other drivers in public. It is fine to contact someone privately if you want to discuss something, but be polite. It is encouraged to apologise (either privately or in the main chat) if you know that you disadvantaged another driver.
Reports need to include a video showing the incident clearly. Onboard / point of view footage can be useful (so we recommend that you record or stream your races) but is often too much of a restricted view on its own. Ideally you should have a button mapped to allow you to save a replay shortly after the incident, but saving the "highlights" at the end of a race may also capture it.
Please review the incident before you report it. Sometimes things can be very different to how you saw them at the time. If you still want to report it after review then save a video and share it with me (e.g. on YouTube or Twitch, or via PSN) by private message, along with the race and lap numbers.
It is best to include the chase camera views from both drivers for at least about 10 seconds before and after any contact. The dashboard and helicopter camera views are sometimes useful too, but you can also include any other view(s) that you think show what happened.
Reports should be sent by the end of the day on Friday, but the earlier the better. If you are not able to get a clip to me quickly then you can let me know that you want to report something, and send your clip later. Tell me the race number, lap number, and turn number in case I already have a replay.
PENALTY POINTS AND TIME PENALTIES
The penalty for causing an incident will usually involve added time in that race, and License Points. However, each incident will be assessed by the stewards and penalties are at their discretion.
We all make mistakes from time to time and the points system allows for occasional mistakes, while allowing us to keep track of anyone causing more than their fair share of trouble. There are more significant penalties for those who cause multiple crashes in a sequence of races. License Points are monitored on a rolling 8-round basis.
Guidelines for added time calculations:
- Illegal overtake +5s
- Damage penalty in 5s increments based on severity of contact(s) for victim
- 1s per position the victim lost, rounded up to the next 5s
- Time lost by the victim, rounded up to the next 5s
Note: If you wait for the victim(s) and return the position within the next few corners there will normally be no time penalty (except when causing damage). The incident may well not even be reported. These guidelines are set up so that waiting will normally cost you less than the time penalty that would otherwise be applied. Waiting is also a good way of acknowledging your mistake and apologising, and is strongly encouraged as it really helps the mood of the group. Thanks.
