V8THUNDER RULES SUMMER 2011

Once announced, the weather for the race will not be changed.

3. Teams
Running in teams can be advantageous with regards to sharing setups and drafting at superspeedways. Teams must have at least two drivers in a series, and are limited to a maximum of four. Only the top two team finishers score points for the team championship for a given race. Larger teams with more than four drivers in a series are required to run as two seperate teams for points scoring purposes. Team lineup changes are allowed only at the season breaks, and each team is allowed to change a maximum of two drivers.

4. Penalty Systems
Following each race, a review is performed of all incidents causing caution periods, with penalties being awarded to the driver(s) deemed guilty of causing the yellow. For races in which yellows are not turned on, and for accidents that did not result in a yellow flag, the admins will either investigate only accidents for which a complaint has been filed within 24 hours after the end of the race, or incidents deemed serious enough to warrant attention.

All series use a penalty points system, with championship points deducted for each incident and race suspensions possible. Further details can be found here.

Drivers can appeal to the admin team if they feel they have been unfairly penalised - the incident will then be looked at by the Penalty Appeals Board, which is composed of independent Admin(s). Their decision is final. Appeals must be filed via Private Messages to the respective Series Director within 24 hours of the Race Analysis being posted to the forum, appeals received after 24 hours has elapsed will not be heard.

5. Provisionals
To ensure those that have to miss races are not immediately at a disadvantage, five provisional starts (ten in Lites) will be awarded. Provisionals must be requested in the forums (no automatic provisionals) BEFORE the start of the race (exceptions can be made for technical/personal problems at the discretion of the admins). Provisionals cannot be used for races where a driver is serving a ban or suspension period. All drivers requesting a provisional for a race are ranked as if they finished (number_of_cars_in_race) + 3. That is, if 15 cars took part in a race, all those who posted provisionals will be given points for finishing 18th.

6. During The Race
Admin Commands - Members of the V8Thunder Admin Team will never use admin commands during a race other than to eject an unwelcome driver or to enforce the Lucky Dog rule. Requests for cleared black flags, yellows, restarts etc. will be ignored. Under no circumstances will a race be restarted after the green flag drops other than in exceptional circumstances as deemed appropiate by an inrace admin.

Server Problems - If the server crashes or if there is a mass-boot (more than 50% of remaining drivers drop connection at once) then the following procedure will be used.

* If fewer than ½ of race laps have been completed and subsequent running is not possible (i.e. server is down), the race will be rescheduled.

* If fewer than ½ of race laps have been completed and subsequent running is still possible, the race will be restarted. The race length will be no longer than the number of laps remaining at the time of the server problem. The new race will be preceded by five minutes practice, qualifying, and five minutes happy hour.

* If ½ or more laps have been completed the race will not be re-started. If the server replay is available, results will be based on positions at the time of the server problem. If no server replay is available, the race will be rescheduled.

7. Lapped Cars
Drivers about to go a lap down must not block and not overdrive to stay on lead lap, however this isn't GP racing so if the lap down car is fast enough to stay ahead of the leader safely they may do so within reason and only if safe, if the leader is clearly faster then the lap down car should move out the way. Inside the last quarter of the race, lap down drivers will be expected to show respect to leaders and not interfere with a battle, if the lap down car is caught in a pack of lead lap cars, they should safely drop to the rear of the lead lap car pack and not interfere with the battle, complaints from leaders will be investigated and penalties handed out as the admins see fit. However, this works both ways and a lead lap car does not have a "right" to a corner and should still exercise as much caution and responsibility when lapping a slower car as they would if they were battling a car on the same lap.

IF BEING LAPPED, DRIVERS SHOULD MAINTAIN A CONSISTENT LINE AND NOT CHANGE LANES, IT IS PREFERABLE FOR LAPPED CARS TO STAY IN THE HIGHER GROOVE ON THE TRACK WHEN BEING LAPPED, this is not always possible especially on short tracks but the main requirement is to just stay on your line and not deviate from it.

8. Pit Stops
It is the responsibility of the driver pitting to do so safely - they must call out their intention to pit if there are other cars in close proximity.

Drivers spinning or causing an accident while pitting and bringing out the yellow will be penalized. The penalty will be the highest available penalty, regardless of the amount of damage provoked to other competitors. Penalties can also be given for unnecessary contact in pit lane.

9. Caution Periods
At V8Thunder we operate the "Lucky Dog" procedure.
When Yellow Flag comes out, ALL drivers should slow and maintain position.

When the caution flag comes out, all drivers must hold position and gradually reduce speed IN A CONTROLLED MANNER, maintaining, as far as possible, their race position when the flag was thrown. There will be NO racing back to the line*. Drivers who slow dramatically when a caution comes out, without good reason, may receive a penalty. This is considered ungentlemanly conduct as it may cause other drivers to wreck whilst attempting to stay behind. Drivers involved in the accident should rejoin the racing surface safely, and should not attempt to pass other cars in an attempt to regain positions lost in the accident, racing for position under yellow will be penalized.

9.1 Free Pass (Lucky Dog procedure):
The Free Pass car will be the FIRST CAR A LAP DOWN AS PER THE F2 SCREEN - there will be times that this is not necessary the first car a lap down who is nearest the leader, this will be taken at the first time of the allocated Admin passing the start and finish line after the yellow has flown - i.e. when the admin receives the "Caution is out, Caution is out" message after passing the S/F line they will check F2 and announce who the free pass car is, i.e. FREE PASS IS CAR 200 on text chat, this will only be done ONCE so don't miss it, the free pass is also NOT open to discussion.

In the event that the admin is involved in the incident and unable to make it to the start and finish line, the free pass will be announced at the first available opportunity.

At the one to go signal, the Lucky Dog should overtake the field and pace car and drive around the track and join the end of the queue, thus gaining their lap back the Nascar way, when the race restarts, the Lucky Dog recipient will be black flagged by Race Control, this will be cleared as soon as humanly possible by the Admin, but if after a lap it has not been cleared, type something in chat so we know and can run the command again.

It is acceptable for the Free Pass receipient to safely move forward in the pacing line under caution and to run near the front of the queue while waiting for the one to go signal, this is especially encoraged at short tracks.

The Free Pass car should not overtake the pacecar until given the one to go signal, a penalty may be applied post race for taking the wave around before the one to go signal.

9.2 Free pass incident responsibility
If your in the free pass (lucky dog) position and know in your mind that you caused the yellow, type involved into chat and the LD will move to next in line, if you stay silent and take the lap back, then a post race penalty will apply.

9.3 Restarts
All restarts will be single file restarts, with lappers inline.

9.4 Restarts inside 15 laps to go
If there is a late race restart, inside 15 laps to go, ALL lap down cars (excluding the lucky dog where applicable) should cycle through the pits at one to go, or when prompted to do so by the inrace admin.

For the benefit of argument, the caution procedure is usually:
Caution lap - pits closed
First caution lap - pit open for lead lap cars
Second caution lap - pit open for lap down cars
Third caution lap - one to go

This procedure can be longer at short tracks so please keep an eye out for prompts from the admin team.

Lappers should cycle through on the third caution lap, they do not need to stop, just drive through the pits, and wait in order at the pit exit until the last lead lap car has passed and then rejoin. Failure to drive through inside 15 laps to go will result in a post race penalty.

In the event that you find yourself stuck in the lead lap cars at the restart, either through not pitting or by circumstances beyond your/admin control, it is advisable to do as much as possible to avoid slowing the lead lap cars behind you at the restart, in these circumstances, you should drop low at the restart an stay as close as possible to the car in front, allowing the lead lap car behind to minimize their time loss, the admins will take this into account when assessing post race penalties.

9.5 Racing Back
Racing back is only allowed inside 10 laps to go. As a result there is no Free Pass inside 10 to go.

All incidents under yellow will result in a penalty
It's very easy to hit a car when under caution - you must stay sharp at all times. Hitting another car accidentally under yellow flag/caution may result in a penalty. Please note that such accidents must be reported to the admins for review.

10. Corner Rights (for guidance mainly).
10.1: You must establish substantial overlap with the car ahead before they reach the corner’s turn-in point to have the right to drive up their inside, or to expect them to leave inside room for you. Substantial overlap means at least that the front of your car is up to say the driver’s position in the ahead car - and that’s at the very least. You probably should have more overlap in some circumstances. The ahead driver has the right to be fully committed to the racing line of their choice without any interference if there was no substantial overlap before he turned in.

10.2: If sufficient overlap is established before the turn-in point, then the behind driver has the right to sufficient side room. The ahead driver must then leave sufficient side room for the behind driver.

10-2A: The car on the outside has the right to outside room all the way through the corner – right up to the exit point. They should not be squeezed against the outside towards the exit point.

10.2B: The car on the inside has the right to inside room all the way through the corner - right up to the exit point. They should not be squeezed against the inside towards the apex area. The ahead driver can still battle for the position of course but must do so while maintaining side room for the behind driver. The practice of going up the inside of an ahead car after they have already turned in, and where there was no established substantial overlap before the turn-in point, is sometimes referred to as barge passing, ( I.e. you barge your way past ). Understand that barge passing is a high risk manoeuvre for both you and others. You have no rights what-so-ever as a barge passer. Should you cause an accident from a barge passing manoeuvre you’ll likely receive the penalty in post race analysis.

10.3: 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. E.g. - If the ahead driver brakes too late and drifts out wide of the apex and then has to reduce speed etc. This would be a valid passing opportunity regardless of whether there was pre-existing overlap. However, there is still substantial responsibility on the overtaking driver to take all necessary care to avoid contact. Small errors by the ahead driver may not be sufficient to justify an attacking passing move however. Just because the ahead drivers gets a bit out of shape at times doesn’t give you an automatic right to pass uncontested by them or a right to room. You still have to judge if their error provides sufficient opportunity for a safe pass to take place.

These guidelines will always be taken into account when reviewing incidents.

11. Blocking
Any deviation by a driver from his or her direct racing line, which substantially impedes the forward progress of a following/challenging car, is considered blocking. This is a Minor Penalty offence by protest.

12. Yellow line rule for Superspeedways (Talladega & Daytona only).
A driver should not advance their position by going below the yellow line (wreck avoidance doesn't count). If a driver advances his position they must give it back within a reasonable period of time (approx 1 lap). If it is not possible to repay place because the offended driver has pit etc. then no penalty will apply. This rule is only enforceable by protest, therefore if a protest is received and and the offended (normally protesting) driver deliberately slows to avoid taking the position back (being unsportsmanlike) then the appropiate unsportsmanlike conduct penalty will be applied to them.

The definition of passing below the yellow shall be where the at least left hand wheels go over the line onto the apron, for the benefit of argument if any part of the left hand wheels remain on the yellow line, this is considered a legal pass.

The Penalty for passing below the yellow line will be a Minor Penalty by protest. This rule does not apply if the person doing the overtaking was pushed or forced below the yellow line.

Should a protest be filed and it later found the driver being overtaken made insufficient attempts to retake the position after invitation, then the penalty will be moved to the protesting driver, only a "victim" may protest a Yellow line overtake or blocking incident.

Passing below the yellow line & bocking incidents will only be investigated if a protest is filed.

13. Netcode and Warp
At V8Thunder we use enhanced netcode, details of which can be found here. The use of this netcode is mandatory for all events.

If you do not use the netcode then at best you will probably warp a lot while on track, and at worst will be ejected by the server for data throughput falling too low - this usually happens because of an incorrect value in the core.ini file and will result in your connection dropping when you click Drive, if this happens over and over, please DO NOT keep reconnecting to the server, check your core.ini file before reconnecting, connecting with an incorrect netcode over and over can cause instability and warp for other drivers who are connected to the server, as a result you may be ejected if your constant connecting and disconnecting causes problems.

Where it is reported that a driver is experiencing persistent warp (i.e. warp reported/confirmed by more than one competitor, over a number of laps), the driver experiencing the warp should drop out of the draft and and take up a safe position towards the rear of the field. Drivers experiencing warp should not defend their positions when challenged, until the situation resolves. Failure to comply can lead to the race director issuing a black flag stop/go penalty or, in extreme cases, disqualify a driver from the race. Accidents which occur as a result of persistent warp (where server replay shows that the warp is indeed persistent, and the recorded server chat log shows that the driver was made aware of their warp, yet the driver made no attempt to rectify it) will be penalised just as if contact had been made as a major penalty. This will be in addition to any penalties handed out by the race director on track.

14. Restarts
Under caution, all drivers should run a steady pace. Simulating restarts is not allowed. Catching up must be done carefully.

The leader of the pace line must run at pace car speed. Catching up to the pace car has to be done gradually, and in normal situations speed should never differ from the pace car's speed by more than 5mph (henceforth "pace +/- 5"). Exception - faster speeds are allowed when the pace car is more than 5 seconds ahead of the leader (i.e. if everyone has pitted under yellow).

Laying back in order to gain an advantage will be considered a jump start and a Minor Penalty issued, if the leader goes before the green flag is displayed this will also be considered a jump start.

Note, these rules also apply to race starts.

15. Scoring
All races count towards the championship, provisionals may be posted for races which you cannot attend, provisionals should be posted in the appropiate forum thread before the race. The scoring matrix used for the Cup series is to be announced.

16. Grievances
Grievances with another members driving may be submitted to any of the V8Thunder admin team by specifying the lap(s) in which the problem(s) occurred, along with description(s) of alleged offence(s) in confidence. Replay examples are necessary.

17. Car Skins
Two car skin per member per season (per series) can be used, they should be submitted before the start of the season. Any paintjob you see fit is permitted, as long as it is not X-rated or obscene. Your car should clearly show your racing number, and this must correspond with the number you race as.

18. Entry Fees
An Entry fee of of €5 is payable per driver entry.
Payment must be made by 20th March 2011, or within 14 days of lodging your entry if entering after 6th March 2011, this entry fee will cover the 2011 Cup Series and any subsequent or additional series run during 2011. All funds will be used to maintain the V8Thunder Website/Hosting & Online Servers, entry fees are not refunable. A link will be included in the Welcome pack for making the payment by Paypal, to pay by other means, please contact a member of the Admin Team (any forum member listed in red).

19. Miscellaneous
Real names must be used when racing unless agreed in advance with the admins. Names and numbers must NOT to be changed during season.

Members must not chat/talk/send messages during qualifying; during a race only messages relating to racing are permitted, i.e. : "Pass high, going low, thank you, sorry" etc. Similarily, no spoken communications in "Race Chat" channel should occur during qualifying. During the race, only race-related communications are allowed (see above).

Leave the decision as to who was to blame for the incident to the Admin Team member who is doing the race analysis AFTER THE EVENT, not during the event.

Members must not, under any circumstances, "flame" or send abusive, insulting, derogatory chat/messages to other drivers whilst using the server - AT ANY TIME! This includes spoken communications in Ventrilo, while in the "Race Chat" channel, additional penalties/suspensions may be applied for offences.

Any evidence of cheating or intentional wrecking will result in dismissal from the league without leave of appeal. Unnecessary/deliberate wrecking in practice or happy hour for which the admins receive a complaint can be penalised with a minor awarded to the wrecker(s) for that night's race.

Members understand that server is for members use only and must not disclose any passwords to non-members.