General rules and driver conduct
1. Drivers must use their gametag in discord and in the game in order to participate in the competition.
2. To participate in the competition, the maximum allowed ping is 200.
3. Drivers with higher ping or a spiky connection may be asked to leave the server or may be removed from it by the event administrator.
4. All Drivers are expected to be ready to run at the designated time for official sessions. If a Driver’s meeting is scheduled all Drivers are expected to
attend otherwise they are excluded from the race.
5. Drivers are expected to have familiarity with the regulations of the championship, as well as the specific and relevant features and rules of the game platform used.
6. Drivers are expected to have read and understood the General Regulation
7. Only the race admins will decide whether a session should be delayed or restarted.
8. It is not allowed to push the vehicle of another competitor to assist him/her – in case he/she has run out of fuel or experienced a mechanical breakdown etc..
9. Bump drafting is also prohibited. Drivers shall provide ‘racing room’ to each other.
10. Unsportsmanlike conduct is subject to penalties. Any Driver attempting to wreck or intentionally ram another competitor may be banned from the session or even from GHR events.
11. Event administrators, Stewards and the Race Director will oversight the sessions. Administrators can report any misconduct to be reviewed by Stewards and the Race Director, and may lead to penalties or removal from the session and/or formal rebuke or ban.
Race rules and behaviour on track
1. The driver in front has the right to choose any line at any section of the track. The driver in front loses this right when an overtaking driver brings their front wheel to line up with the other driver’s head. At this point drivers are in a “side-by-side” position, and they both have to give each other at least 1 car’s width room.
2. Defending is allowed and accepted as a reaction by the driver in front. It is not allowed to defend if there is any overlap between cars
a) Following a racing line into a corner is not considered defence (unless cars are deemed side-by-side).
3. Both the passing driver and the driver in front are responsible for fair racing during the pass.
a) It is the passing driver’s responsibility to choose a safe timing for the pass.
4. Pass attempts at a turn is what causes most accidents. The preferred racing line through most corners is usually very narrow and sometimes it will be impossible for two cars to share tight corners side-by-side at full speed. For each corner, the right to the preferred racing line is decided at the turn-in point. A driver attempting to pass at corner entry has to be in a side-by-side position at the turn-in point to have a right to enter the corner side-by-side. If not, this driver must back off and give way to the driver up front.
5. Dive-bombing should be avoided and is subject to a penalty.
a) If the attempting driver was out of control and caused contact or time loss to another driver, the penalties applied may be harsher than normal.
6. Brake checking, unnecessary slowing through a corner, punting, bump-passing, cutting-off or chopping, whether there is contact or not, are not permitted and will be subject to penalty.
7. Blocking is not allowed and subject to penalty.
a). Blocking is defined as altering your driving line in reaction to another driver in an attempt to prevent a pass.
b). Weaving (continuously altering your driving line) to prevent a following car from drafting is considered blocking.
8. You are only permitted one change of driving line as a defensive maneuver.
9. If a driver spins while on track, they should immediately fully press the brakes until completely stopped, (even if still on the track), and hold the brakes on until they can wait for a clear opening on track to resume.
a) If a driver does not hold the brakes, the car may spin or roll in an unpredictable way and cause further incidents. A driver causing an incident while on track due to not holding their brakes will be held responsible for that incident.
10. Drivers who are off-track and cars which have spun on the track itself must resume the race in a safe manner. This may mean driving forwards and/or reversing to a safe area to first get turned in the direction of travel, then merging safely into the flow of traffic away from the racing line.
11. If for any reason a car becomes permanently disabled, either in pitlane, on track, or in a run-off area, the driver should use the “return to garage”
function to avoid causing a yellow flag in that area for the remainder of the race.
12. Drivers demonstrating unpredictable behaviour may be subject to penalty. Some common examples of unpredictability include, but not limited to:
a) A driver suddenly changes their driving line to get out of the way when lapping cars appear in their mirror or when the blue flag appears.
b) A driver brakes unreasonably early into a corner when another car is behind them or when the blue flag appears.
c) Not accelerating at a normal race pace out of a corner. When in an acceleration zone, lifting off the throttle is equal to applying the brakes but without the benefit of brake lights as a warning. The following car has nowhere to go.
13. Track limits are determined by the game itself, utilising the in-game warning and penalty system for infractions. However:
a) Pit entry/exit lanes are considered part of the racing surface for the cars on track, unless Race Control state otherwise. Drivers using the pits have to stay within the pit entry/exit lines with all four wheels and are not allowed to cross over. Riding on the line is acceptable. Any penalty applied is made at the discretion of Race Control.
b) Going off track with all four wheels due to a mistake is part of racing, however repeatedly leaving the track at the same corner(s) may be deemed as gaining an advantage and drivers can expect a penalty from Race Control.
14. Gaining a position or advantage against a competitor by leaving the track in any way is against rules, regardless of any in-game penalty that may be handed out as a result. Unless the offending driver returns the position or slows down to compensate the time gained, the offending driver can expect a penalty from Race Control.
15. If a driver is involved in an incident they feel they may be responsible for initiating, it is encouraged that the offending driver apply the “Courtesy Rule”. This simply means that the offending driver safely stops or drives slower than normal until the position is returned to the other car.
16. Where Race Control clearly observes the “Courtesy Rule” being applied after an incident, the offending driver may receive a reduction in any given penalty.
Flag Rules
- Blue flags are advisory only; slow/lapped drivers do not have to pull aside, they can stay on their line. Use Caution and exercise sportsmanship.
1. A blue-flagged driver is not allowed to defend his track position against the lapping car and he/she should stay on his/her line.
2. Intentionally holding up or defending against a lapping car may determine the application of a penalty or even the disqualification of the driver by Race Control.
3. Drivers about to be lapped have to behave in a predictable way without sudden changes of direction or track position.
4. Lapping cars can report a lapped car to Race Control for blue flag violations if the lapped car has held the lapping car up for a minimum of 2 full laps
.
5. Lapped drivers are allowed to unlap themselves as long as they can pull away after passing the driver that has a lap advantage.
- Yellow flags:
1. Drivers must be cautious under yellow flags. Be prepared for slow, damaged or stationary cars on track.
2. Teams are allowed to swap drivers during the red flag situation as long as they request clearance from Race Control.
- Red flag Scenario information:
1. The server log, replay and other sources (e.g. RaceSync) will be used to determine the positions at the end of the last completed lap.
2. To be allowed to rejoin the race after a red flag period, your car must not have retired from the race prior to the server crash/restart point.
- Red flag scenario – The race is not restarted:
1. If the server crashes before the ¼ distance point the event will be abandoned and/or rescheduled, no points will be issued.
2. If the server crashes after the ¼ distance point has been reached, ½ points will be awarded based on the positions at the end of the last completed lap
.
3. If the server crashes after the ¾ distance point has been reached, full points will be awarded based on the positions at the end of the last completed lap
Qualifying
1. A qualifying session will be used to determine the starting grid for the race by taking the fastest time for each car.
2. Priority is always to be given to cars currently on flying laps. This means that cars on outlaps, inlaps or invalidated laps are expected to give way and not impede the performance of the passing car
3. It is the driver’s responsibility to find a suitable window to set their flying lap; approaching a slower car on its own flying lap does not give either driver priority. Whilst the slower car may choose to give way in a manner that is safe (e.g. lifting on a straight) they are not inclined to do so. The faster driver does not have the right to attack the slower driver, as an overtaking manoeuvre will impede their performance.
4. Teams must not allow more than 1 instance of their car to join the official qualifying session. If there are two or more cars from the same team entry on the server at any time, that car will not be allowed to qualify.
5. Any of the registered drivers of an entry may qualify their car.
Race Start
1. Formation lap and race start procedures are handled by the in-game system. Test sessions will provide opportunities for participants to practise and become familiar with the system. The game may hand out automatic Drive Through penalties for jumping the start or being out of position during the pre-green flag phase. Automatic penalties may be left in place or cleared at the discretion of the Stewards and the Race Director.