IET RACING LEAGUE RULES
We began as the International
Endurance Team in the Spring of 2020 as a group of iRacing drivers from all
over the world looking for a team to compete in the 2020 iRacing Le Mans
special event. Several of our original members were brand-new to sim racing and
eager for the opportunity to prove themselves. Since then, IET (as it is
commonly known) as fielded a team to most, if not all, iRacing special
endurance events. At our core, we aim to provide a fun, competitive environment
for all levels of experience.
The IET Racing League is an
extension of our enthusiasm for endurance racing of all kinds. Currently, our
league races exclusively in iRacing. We intend to host leagues in other
simulators soon including rFactor 2, Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC),
Automobilista 2 (AMS2), F1 games, and Raceroom. League racing focuses primarily
on GTE, GT3, and GT4 cars. Occasionally we’ll mix it up a bit to different car
types too. League racing is open to all levels of experience – we simply ask
drivers to be respectful of one another, display good sportsmanship, and
capture opportunities to both teach and be taught.
HOW TO
APPLY
League racing is administered
primarily through The Sim Grid (www.thesimgrid.com)
and our Discord server. You will need active accounts with both services to
participate. We require all league racers to be members of our Discord server.
Once you have accepted an
invitation to our Discord server, visit #role-assignment to unlock different
categories of the server relevant to your interests. If you do not complete the
questions in #role-assignment, only uncategorized channels will be accessible.
CHAT CODE OF CONDUCT
Racism/Discrimination/Hate Speech
We are an inclusive sim racing community. Incidents of hate speech will
not be tolerated and will result in an immediate ban.
Politics and/or Religion
Unlike some communities, we're happy for you to discuss these, if it is
in a civil manner.
Do not argue about incidents in public channels or harass the
drivers involved
Please refrain from calling out other drivers in public channels or
DM’s. To report incidents, see the report incidents section below. You may DM
stewards to discuss outcomes of incident reports if we all keep it friendly.
If you feel you are being harassed by another member of IET, please
report it through a direct message to any server administrator.
GENERAL RULES
Custom Liveries
We allow custom liveries in iRacing league races so long as they are
uploaded through Trading Paints or iRacing’s livery editor. Please keep racing
liveries civil – in other words, make sure you wouldn’t be embarrassed
explaining it to your significant other’s parents.
No chat during qualifying
Using chat in game or in the assigned Discord channel during qualifying
is prohibited regardless of its format. Please remember, you may be done with
the session but other may still be racing. Violation of this rule may result in
a penalty warning from the stewards.
Assists
All assists are allowed in practices, qualifying, and races apart from
the ideal driving line.
Car Damage / Repairs
Car damage and repair will be active in all practices, qualifying, and
races.
iRating / Safety Rating
League practice, qualifying, and racing sessions will not have any
impact on a driver’s iRating or Safety Rating. Driver are expected to minimize
collisions with other drivers, track scenery, and/or deliberately interfere
with an ongoing league session. Violation of this rule may subject a driver to
penalty points, disqualification from league session, or ban from IET.
Scoring
IET league races will award championship points in a league race based
on finishing order with bonus points for pole position and fastest lap during
the race. These points may be scaled based on the league season, event type,
and/or length. Only finishing positions 1 through 10 will be awarded points in
a race session. Bonus points will be available to any league driver regardless
of their finishing position so long as they remain logged into the race through
its conclusion.
PRACTICE
Free practice sessions will occasionally be available throughout the
week. Drivers are encouraged to practice the track and adjust their set-up in
league practice sessions or on their own. Drivers are welcome to socialize with
other drivers in chat sessions during practice. A practice server will be
available to drivers one hour prior to the start of qualifying for official
pre-race practice. No stewarding will take place during practice sessions,
however drivers are expected to remain courteous of one another.
QUALIFYING
Qualifying is held immediately prior to race start and will set the
starting order for the race based on the single fastest lap time. All
qualifying sessions will be “open”, meaning all cars in an applicable
classification will enter qualifying laps at the same time in the same session.
Each classification of car will be allowed 10 minutes to set a qualifying lap
and must return to the pits at the end of their session. No car is permitted to
start a flying lap following the 10:00 minute mark. The next qualifying class
of cars will be permitted to leave the pit only once the prior session has hit
its 10:00 minute mark.
Qualifying
Scoring
Other than
bonus points for pole position, no points are awarded for qualifying sessions.
Qualifying
Penalties
Qualifying sessions will be stewarded and appropriate points /
penalties will be assessed against offending drivers.
Qualifying
Flags
Blue Flags – when not on a flying lap, you must yield to any car
on a flying lap. The standard penalty for failing to do so is a 5 second
penalty which can be adjusted for severity.
Yellow Flags – cars still on their flying lap do not need to
slow down or yield for yellow flags.
Hindering
You are not allowed to overtake or otherwise hinder cars ahead of you
that are on a valid lap. It is every driver’s responsibility to make sure a
sufficient gap exists between cars to avoid overtaking a car on a flying lap.
If you are no longer on a valid flying lap (i.e. no official lap time will be
reported through iRacing’s incident points) you are expected to yield to any
car on a valid flying lap. The standard penalty for hindering is 5 seconds
which can be adjuster for severity.
RACING
Use of Spotter
While not mandatory, IET suggests drivers use a spotter (live, CrewChief,
or in game spotter) enable to prevent incidents.
Overlap
Overlap is defined by the front axle of the car behind being along the
rear axle of the car in front. This is not an exact scene, so there is leeway
for drivers and stewards to assess overlap.
Overtaking
In general, it is the responsibility of the car behind to choose a safe
point to attempt an overtake, and to do so without causing an incident. Once
the car behind establishes overlap, it becomes the responsibility of both
drivers to avoid an incident. While cornering, the driver behind must have
established overlap to the car in front at the turn-in point of the corner
before they should attempt an overtake. If there is no overlap at this point
the leading driver has the right to their racing line and does not need to make
space for the attacking driver, any attempted overtake without overlap will be
classified as a divebomb. If you find you are about to divebomb another driver
aim for the outside of the corner to avoid contact. Divebombs can result in a
warning or a penalty at the discretion of the stewards. (Note that the turn-in
point is not the start of the breaking zone; drivers can still out brake each
other on corner entry)
Defending on straights
The car in front can choose any line they like to drive if they are
ahead of the car behind. However, they are only allowed to change direction
once before the braking zone to defend and can only defend one side of the
road: either the inside, or the outside.
Squeezing
A car is permitted to squeeze another car to the side of the road if
(1) they are at least half a car length ahead, or if (2) they are following the
natural racing line. Either way, they must leave more than a car’s width of
space on the track for the other car. If neither (1) or (2) holds, you are not
allowed to squeeze as this risk collision.
Incidents during race
If you are involved in an incident, please try to keep the racing line
clear to prevent further incidents. If you are facing the wrong direction after
incident and other cars are approaching, hold your brakes so you don’t
accidentally roll into them. The goal is for you to be as predictable as
possible, so other drivers do not run into you. If you are off-track, you must
return to the track in a safe and predictable manner, and yield to cars that
are on the racing line. Unsafe reentry may result in a penalty at the
discretion of a stewards.
Racing Flags
Yellow flags - drivers must drive cautiously and are not allowed
to overtake other cars: except if they are off-track, out of position, or
involved in the incident. If a driver overtakes another driver under yellow flags,
it is the leading driver's responsibility to return the position as soon as it
is safe. If the driver does not return the position it will result in a
penalty. Drivers are also not allowed to gain an advantage on a car in front
that drives cautiously and must wait till after the next corner before
attacking the car in front. If two cars are side by side during the incident,
this rule does not apply.
White flags - it is the last lap of the race.
Blue flags - In a race, getting a blue flag means a car is about
to lap you. When under blue flags, you are not allowed to defend from the
lapping car when they make an overtaking attempt. This does not mean you have
to immediately slow down to let the lapping car through though, as it would in
Formula 1 for example. Instead, it is up to the car behind to make a safe
maneuver, and for the lapped car to make sure they do not defend. You should
drive predictably and hold your line to avoid an incident with the faster car. It
is still advised that cars being lapped make it easy for lapping cars to pass
them, as this most often leads to the least amount of time lost for both cars.
Black and orange (meatball) flag: drivers are shown the black
and orange flag when they need to pit for repairs or turn on their headlights.
If repairs are needed drivers may attempt to drive back to the pits they do so
drivers should activate their flashers (left and right turn signals) and do
their best to stay out of the way and off the racing line for faster cars. If
drivers find they cannot drive back to the pits they can stop their car off
track and teleport to the pits. Aside from the time incurred by iRacing to tow
the car to the pits, no additional penalty is assessed for teleporting.
Unlapping
Drivers are allowed to unlap themselves from cars that are laps ahead.
Please only do so if you are sure that you are faster than the car ahead and
can pull away from them. After you have unlapped yourself, remember you are
still not allowed to defend if there are blue flags.
Track Limits
iRacing will assess all warnings / penalties given for violating track
limits. A drive through penalty will be assessed against any driver exceeding
track limits every ten off track events. There is not a maximum number of
off-track points during a race session. Drive through penalties must be
completed within 3 laps of being issued and cannot be cleared by stewards. iRacing’s
identified limits for each track will be used.
Overtaking and track limits
If an unfair advantage is gained from going off-track during an
overtake (either as an attacker or defender), the position should be yielded to
the other car, except if the off-track was made to avoid an incident.
Avoiding incidents
Stewards will take risky overtakes, risky defending (see squeezing),
and forcing 3 wide situations into consideration when issuing penalties.
Meaning that if an incident happens to you as a result of your risky driving,
stewards may not penalize other drivers for causing the incident as you will be
partially at fault.
Pitlane Etiquette
When leaving the pits drivers are not allowed to cross the white line.
Once cleared of the white line drivers are free to race. During all sessions
other than the race drivers exiting the pits must do so in a manner that does
not interfere with drivers currently running hot laps. During a race session,
drivers leaving the pits have priority, therefore must be left space. Drivers
are not required to signal entering or leaving the pits (although it can be
helpful at some circuits)
PENALTIES
Penalties are announced in the weekly incident report and remain
subject to appeals until the next race. Any in game retaliation will result in
a disqualification or a one race ban. Time penalties will only be applied for
the race in which they are given, meaning if you retire after causing an
incident the penalty will not carry over to the next race. When you cause an
incident, we recommend returning the position. Stewards will take this into
account in assessing penalties. It is not always obvious who’s at fault in the
middle of the action: if unsure, continue racing and let the stewards handle
it.
Assessable penalties include:
·
Racing incident. None of the drivers involved
were found at fault for the incident.
·
No further action (NFA). The offending driver
was at fault, but they were the only one disadvantaged by the incident.
·
Warning. When the offending driver was at fault,
but there was not enough damage and/or position loss for a penalty.
·
5 second time penalty. For causing minor contact
where an advantage is gained, and for causing a collision where the position is
returned.
·
15 second time penalty. For causing a collision
with serious damage and/or position loss. This usually involves a spin.
·
30 second time penalty. This penalty will be
given for more severe incidents typically involving multiple cars.
·
Disqualification. When a car is deliberately
causing contact with other cars.
·
Qualifying ban. We hand out this penalty at our
discretion, or when exceeding the maximum amount of license points (more
below).
·
Race ban. This penalty is also given at our
discretion, for example when a driver still causes incidents after being given
a qualifying ban.
Lap 1
incidents
For incidents in the first lap, the penalty is escalated by 1 step (5
second penalty becomes 15 second penalty etc.) because incidents in the first
lap often have much more detrimental effects on race outcomes. Note that license
points remain unaffected.
License
points
League drivers are provided a “license” valid only for that season of
league racing. Points will be assessed against a driver’s license (“LP”) based
on assessed penalty points and warnings during the series.
·
1 point for each warning
·
2 points for each 5 second penalty
·
3 points for each 15 second penalty
·
4 points for each 30 second penalty
Extra penalties are imposed on drivers when they reach the following
number of penalty points:
·
8 points: qualifying ban for the next event
·
12 points: race ban for the next event, or a DSQ
from the final race.
·
16 points: race ban for the next event, or a DSQ
from the final race.
·
20 points: race ban for all remaining events in
the season, or a DSQ from the final race.
License point penalties ignore whether the driver returned position or
whether it is a first lap incident. For example, if a driver causes a small
incident on lap 1, rather than a 5 second penalty they get a 15 second penalty.
However, they still only get the 2 LP penalty points based on the original 5
second penalty.
Reporting
incidents
Stewards use iRaceControl to monitor every incident of contact between
cars during a session. Since incidents can involve more than simply car
contact, drivers are encouraged to report all incidents. Incident report is
intended to make league racing fair and help drivers improve by learning from
mistakes. Apologies between drivers involved in an incident is encouraged!
Stewards will go over all reports and provide an incident report. If a steward
was involved in an incident, they will not be involved in the discussion. A
report of incidents occurring in a race will be posted by the stewards in
#incident-report within 72 hours of the conclusion of the race.
Appealing
Drivers may appeal any stewarding decision if they feel the penalty
issued in the incident report is unfair. Any appeal of an assessed penalty must
be submitted within 24 hours of the incident report posting. An appeal report
will be posted in #incident -report prior to the start of the next scheduled
league race. An appeal may result in a lesser or harsher penalty than
originally levied.
