General Rules

Please think before you blame others, online racing is intense and very competitive and stressful at times, accidents are part of the racing experience and often caused by lag, competitors inattention due to a home phone ringing, family members interrupting them and such things as they cannot control.
The most obvious rule is: No careless driving. Always show respect for the other racers. Be careful. Show some patience. Driving online in a racing sim is NOT exactly the same as real life racing in every respect, and in some cases online sim racing requires even more care.
It’s the responsibility of drivers to make themselves familiar with all the rules that govern the casual race or competition in which they’re entered.

R1.0:

You must compete in a fair and honest manner.
You must endeavor to drive responsibly in a way that’s not likely to ruin the racing enjoyment of other drivers.
You must not indulge in bad general behavior.
You must not use abusive or offensive language (including but not limited to swearing) in any of the chat or voice facilities.
You are expected to behave like sporting gentlemen at all times.

R1.1:

Drivers who participate in official championship should log into the server at least 10-15 minutes before the official start of the event. If, for any reason, you can’t log so early, you should inform your Team Manager and/or one of the Competition Directors. If you’re not logged on by time and without to advise the organization, it may be assumed that you’re not attending to the event.
If, for any reason, you know prior to a race you’re unable to attend, please advise your Team Manager as soon as possible, and remember to unsubscribe from the event. Every driver who forget to unsubscribe and who will not participate to the event, will cause a loss of 5 points to the team.

Flags

R2.0: Yelow Flag

When the message Yellow Flag is shown, it means that a car up ahead has troubles, has spun or crashed. So, to avoid any kind of incident, it’s kindly suggested to reduce the speed in order to be ready for trouble. Remember that you can’t win a race if your car is damaged so it’s better to be cautious.

R3.0: Blue Flag

When the message Blue Flag is shown, it means that a car behind is in a higher position than you. This probably means that the car behind is faster than you and you’re being lapped. If this is the case, you must allow him to pass you easily and as soon as it’s possible to do it safely. Of course, the driver behind can’t pretend immediately the necessary room if you’re approaching to a hard corner or a chicane. But, what you have to do, it’s hold the line and don’t fight with the other car, especially don’t do unexpected movements left or right, slight off the throttle and let him pass you. Remember that he has a lap ahead of you so you’ll not lose any position.
At the same time, the driver who has to overtake the lapped car must do it in a safely environment, and without claim that the lapped car become invisible, especially if you see that it’s in a battle with a third car. Don’t ask him continuously to let you pass (using the chat), he has the notification of blue flag, plus, there are Race Directors who’re there to give some help if needed and to supervise to the whole event.

R4.0: Red Flag

When the message Red Flag is shown, it means that there’s a big incident who involve at least 50%+1 of the cars. This is a particular case, and only the Race Direction has the possibility to expose the Red Flag. If it happens, what you have to do is to stop completely the car, and wait for information from the Direction.

Turn One

R5.0:

Nobody loves being wiped out in the first corner. To win a race you must at least finish, and one of the most difficult moments of a race is the turn one. Remember a few things:
All of the drivers will try to do the best start they can, but, it’s possible that someone has a slow start, so, be careful to the cars in front of you. Everybody tyres are cold and grip levels low, so, don’t try to do the first turn as normally you’ll do in race conditions with tyres hot, you’ll surely be wide. Plus, you can have other cars near, maybe in your blind spots, so you’ll have to check their positions doing a head turn. Remember that you’ll not win a race only doing the first corner, and, the race isn’t 1 lap long. So, don’t try to pass all the cars in front of you because you have to win, the race is long and you’ll have better opportunities and conditions to overtake. Near the brake point, remember that one or more cars in front can brake early, maybe cause of heavy traffic, so, be prepared to brake you too and to avoid contact. So get ready to evade any possibility to hit someone or to avoid an accident ahead.

Corner rights

R6.0:

The following car must have enough overlap with the car ahead before they reach the corner’s turn-in point to have right to drive up the inside, or to expect the necessary room from that. Enough overlap means that the following car must be at the same line of the driver’s seat of the car ahead, but in some circumstances is needed maybe more overlap. The ahead driver has the right to follow his own racing line if there’s not substantial overlap by the following car before turning in the corner.

R6.1:

If sufficient overlap is established before the turn-in point, the behind driver has the right to sufficient side room. The front driver must leave him the necessary room.
The outside car has the right to all the outside way of the corner right up the exit point. The inside driver so must be careful especially near the exit point. At the same time, the inside car has the right to all the inside way of the corner right up the exit point. So, the outside driver must be careful especially near the apex point. The ahead driver can still battle for his position but must do so while maintaining the necessary side room to the driver behind.

R6.2:

Where an ahead driver has clearly made a sufficient error to warrant a passing move a behind driver may attack their position, with due caution and care, regardless of whether there was any pre-existing overlap (Ex: if the ahead drivers brakes too late and drifts out wide of the apex then he reduces his speed etc.). This would be a valid passing opportunity, regardless of whether there was a sufficient overlap before. By the way, there’s still substantial responsibility on the overtaking driver to take all the necessary care to avoid contact. Small errors by the ahead driver may not be sufficient to justify an attacking passing move. Just because the ahead driver do a small mistake doesn’t give you automatic rights to pass him uncontested or to expect sufficient room to pass. You still have to judge if the error provides the opportunity to overtake him safely.

Shift-S / Pit Menu

R7.0:

During race and qualify is forbidden to use the key combination Shift-P to go into the garage.
During Qualify, if a car spun or crash, the driver must go into spectator mode for the rest of the qualifications.
All the other cars can do a normal pit-stop to refuel, change the tyres or make changes to the setup with F12 menu, but it's not possible to do Shift-P (and change the setup).
Race Direction will be strict on this rule, so be careful.

R7.1:

In race, shift-S will be considered as a retire due to technical reasons. Once the driver has retired, he cannot rejoin into the race, until it’s finished.

Pit Lane

R8.0:

Drivers should always take to the track with enough care to avoid any crash with the drivers already on the track.

R8.1:

Cars on the race track have right-of-way over cars entering the race track from pits.

R8.2:

Cars on the pit driving lane have right-of-way over cars in, or coming out of, the pit stall lane.

R8.3:

To improve realism, Race Direction decided to avoid pit in the first 20% of the race.

Contacts

R9.0:

If there’s contact between drivers that doesn’t put either out of the race, but results in the guilty driver making up places on the innocent driver, the guilty driver must wait for the innocent driver to regain the lost position, letting him pass freely and re-establishing his position, even if the guilty driver lose some other position due to the incoming cars.
Drivers victims of contacts that are forced to retire can always do a note to the Race Directions, using the forum.

Defensive Driving

R10.0:

The ahead driver has the right to do his own line down a straight. He may take one move to block an attacking car, but after that he must maintain his new position through all the straight. Naturally, as they approach to the corner, the ahead driver can return to his normal racing line to do the corner. The ahead car has the right to do his own line through the corner, ex driving a defensive line to protect the position, forcing the attacker to pass outside. This is not considered blocking, but part of the normal racing etiquette.
In fact, the ahead car can drive any line he thinks is the better one to avoid being passed by the attacker.

Damaged Car

R11.0:

Driving a damaged car through the track is to the entire responsibility of the driver. He must take all the necessary care to avoid accidents, and to not interfere with the other cars. A severely damaged car has no-rights to any incoming car.
Driver has no defense if, for any reason, he cause an accident or whatsoever kind of trouble to the other racers. If he goes out of the track, he must accomplish to the rules “Re-entering on track” (R10.0).

Mistakes

R12.0:

If you make a significant driving error and there’s one or more drivers incoming, you have reduced rights to counter their attack. If one or others have to give the way, this should be the driver who makes the error.
This is a really difficult part of judge, and if you’re not sure if you have the rights or not, continue with your race, being careful to the other car. Drivers have the possibility to protest after a race sending the portion of the race where there’s the misunderstood to the Race Direction and, together, judge the mistake and, in case, give some penalty.
In any case, it should be applied the maximum care to avoid any kind of contact.

Recovering from an incident

R13.0:

Driver who has made an incident has the entire responsibility of recovers from the error. So, he must take all the necessary care to not interfere with the other cars on the track. He must do all he can to minimize the hazard. If the incident does a sufficient damage to the car to be un-drivable (ex: tires or suspensions totally damaged that causes continues spinning), he must consider the opportunity to call the “Safety Car” and wait it to recover or retire definitively from the race.
If you’re on the track after an incident and still in an incident recovery mode, then you have no rights what-so-ever. You must give way to all non-incident cars until you’re fully recovered. You have no defense if you cause another incident whilst recovering from an incident, even if the incident was not your fault.
On the other hand, all the non-incident drivers must take care if “Yellow Flag” message is shown while doing the part of the track where the incident occurs. They might consider the possibility that one or more cars are on the track and, to try to prevent any sort of incident (especially if the previous has just happened and the cars are still spinning cause of the various hits), it’s suggested to moderate the speed, at least until you passed the “yellow zone”.

Re-entering the track after running off

R14.0:

It’s always desirable to re-enter the track parallel to the road, slowly and gently, and with the maximum care. This gives the best opportunity to see what’s coming up beside you using the mirrors, and it’s easier for the cars incoming to see the conditions in which you are.
Particularly if you’re stuck against a rail or a wall, keep in mind that your car can be very damaged, and re-entering the track with a moderate speed can cause you to spin.
In any case, you have the responsibility to not interfere with any cars still on the track.

Race Direction / Safety Car

R15.0:

In every official race there’ll be one or more race directors, who’ll supervise to the whole event, checking the track and drivers to prevent possible troubles. But, as we know, it’s impossible for one race director to check the entirely track, so, it’s possible that some contact or bad maneuver is not seen. In any case, the drivers, after the end of the race, can complaint about one event that, belong him, has to be checked by the Organization. He can do a thread in the dedicated section of the forum, and attach the part of MPR where the accident occurs. It must be done in the next 24 hours from the end of the race. The Organization has 3 days to check the accident and decide if the guilty driver must be penalized or not. Every complaint received after the 24h will not be considered by the Organization. Of course, the Organization themself

R16.0:

During a race, if an accident results in one or more cars unable to move or to continue the race (Ex: if it’s overturn), the Safety Car will exit, and a message like “Safety Car out: Yellow Flag on track” is provided. From that moment, it’s strictly forbidden to do any overtake, and positions are frozen as they are in that moment. The Safety Car will be ahead to the actual leader of the race, and will drive at a given speed. Of course, all the cars will tag along the Safety Car, maintaining their position. It’s the Race Director who’ll drive the SC, that’s because of the particular conditions on the track, so he shouldn’t be worried about any other thing. The cars involved into the accident must wait the message of the Race Director prior to retire from the race.

During this period of Safety Car, drivers can pit to repair the damage or refuel, but only if pit lane is open. They have a confirmation of that simply looking at the bottom of the screen. If the driver decides to do a pit, he’ll automatically lose his actual position on the grid, and he will rejoin at the end of the group. He cannot regain the position he had before pitting.

Drivers can ask to the Race Director the entrance of Safety Car if they think to be in a dangerous position, simply sending a chat message. The Race Director will consider the situation and, if it’s the case, he will declare the Safety Car exit.

Race Direction will be strict on this rules, so be careful.

End of the Race

R17.0:

After the race is finished, all the drivers must do the re-entry lap to the pit lane. This has been decided to improve a bit the simulation of real races. After all the drivers are in the pit lane, the race can be considered finished and chat is free. Remember that, even if you’re already passed the finish line, someone else have to finish the lap, so, start chatting can interfere.

This sporting code has been approved by Playerzone Direction and can be modified in any of the rules if needed.