V8THUNDER RULES

1. 'Weekend' Timetable

The start time for V8Thunder sessions is officially 60 minutes before the scheduled start of qualifying. Qualifying starts at 8pm GMT (GMT + 1 during summer months) for all series, therefore the server is open for practice at 7pm GMT. Note, it may be available before then, but this is not guaranteed.

NR2003: A ten minute (five minute in Short and Lites) Happy Hour session follows qualifying (for re-connects, smokes, last minute practice etc.). Note, at the admins discretion, Happy Hour may be extended to wait for drivers with connection problems.

iRacing: There is no Happy Hour following Qualifying, after Qualifying Gridding for the race takes place, have your smoke, toilet pitstop or reconnect before Qualifying please.

2. Weather

In all NR2003 series, weather will be 70°F, clear, with no wind.
Weather for iRacing is as per the server setting, usually 78°F, clear, with no wind.

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 break, 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 always 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 members of V8Thunder. Their decision is final. Appeals must be filed via Private Messages or e-mail.

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 in game, other than to eject an unwelcome driver. Requests for cleared black flags, yellows, restarts etc. will not be heard. Under no circumstances will a race be restarted after the green flag drops, barring a massive server failure.

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 off the pace or more than one lap down must not race lead cars in order to unlap themselves. Drivers about to go a lap down must not block and not overdrive to stay on lead lap. Drivers who are one lap down may race the leader in order to get their lap back within reason and only if safe. Complaints from leaders will be investigated and penalties handed out as the admins see fit.

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

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, unless the drivers in front tell them to do so by chat message. Racing for position under yellow will be penalized.

Lapped Cars (NR2003 ONLY):

Lapped car nearest Leader MAY be allowed to unlap itself, when SAFE.

When the caution flies, the leader may let one car past him/her - this will be the closest lapped car to him/her on the track, NOT the lapped car highest up the race standings. This will be at the discretion of the leader at ALL times - the leader is not compelled to give the closest lapped car a lap back. If the leader is happy to slow safely and let the car past, he/she will announce this by using the 'Pass LOW' autochat message. All cars (with the exception of the closest lapped car) should then move high allowing closest lapped car to pass low. If no such instruction is given, then ALL drivers (including closest lapped car) MUST continue to hold their position - lapped cars muscling their way past the leader WILL NOT be tolerated.

When the closest lapped car is being given a lap back, common sense must prevail at all times. The leader must not slow the field down excessively to allow the closest lapped car to pass. If the leader is too close to the start-finish line when the caution comes out, that's just too bad. The closest lapped car, having received instruction to pass, must pass the leaders (and the wreck if it is ahead of them) safely. Penalties will be given to closest lapped cars who endanger fellow competitors in an attempt to get their lap back.

Note, only one lapped car may get their lap back at each caution. Any cars caught taking a lap back illegally will be deducted one lap at the end of the race and placed at the end of the cars on that lap. Members must bring potential offenders to the attention of the admins either during the race or immediately after it.

Race Back To The Line (NR2003 ONLY):

RBTL allowed inside last 10 laps of race.

If the caution flag comes out within the final ten laps of a race, however, drivers may continue racing until they cross the start-finish line. At this point, current positions should be maintained. Racing back to line does not mean that normal driving standards go out the window. Indeed, the admins expect all drivers to show more care than normal during RBTL. All drivers are also expected to take great care when passing the scene of the accident. Contact between cars racing back to line and cars failing to slow for accidents ahead will all be penalised heavily.

Racing back is not allowed in iRacing events.

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. CR-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. Warp

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).

During the last lap under yellow, restart lines should be formed on the backstretch. Distance from the car in front MUST NOT exceed 0.5 seconds. After the pace car leaves the track, the leader MUST keep pace car speed until the green flag is shown. When the green flag is shown and the race is started/restarted NOT BEFORE, all cars should be inside the "pace +/- 5" speed. Exception - faster speeds are allowed for cars that are not in the restart line because of pit stops.

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.

At a restart, lapped cars MUST move forward and form the inside line if instructed to do so by their spotter.

15. Scoring

All races count towards the championship.

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 (NR2003 only)

Up to 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.

Car files should be emailed to the allocated Car Files Admin as indicated within the forum.

18. 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 (iRacing numbers are generated randomly when on server).

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.