REGULATION

1. COMPETITION

The GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series is an Esports competition, based on the Assetto Corsa Competizione (PC platform) simulation developed by Kunos Simulazioni, dedicated to virtual Drivers. The GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series is organised by SRO Motorsports Group and AK Esports to create a truly engaging competition and to promote Esports racing. The organiser reserves the right to edit the regulations at any time. Any changes to the regulations will be communicated to all the drivers through the official SRO Esports Discord server.

2. TERRITORY

The GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series will be held online to find the best Drivers in Europe. All Drivers registered must meet the eligibility requirements in Art. 4 to join the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series.

3. DURATION

The series will last from the 1st of March, 2023 until the 23rd of August, 2023.

1. Qualifying for the Championship will begin on the 1st of March, 2023 and end on the 29th of March, 2023. After this point onward qualification for the Championship will no longer be possible.
2. The Championship will begin on the 3rd of May, 2023 and end on the 23rd of August, 2023. After this point, no further races will be scheduled.

4. DRIVER ELIGIBILITY

A “Driver” is any person who has registered through the official website during the registration time window. Drivers must meet the following requirements in their entirety to be eligible to compete:

1. Not be officially banned from any Esports competition managed by the organiser and partners;
2. Must be living within a country recognised as being the continent that is represented (Europe) and provide proof of residence within that same country;
3. Agree with the Terms and Conditions of this regulation;
4. Agree with the Sporting Code;
5. Agree with the Code of Conduct (Art. 8);
6. Meet the Hardware and Software requirements (Art. 5.1 and 5.2);
7. If qualified, pay the entry fee before the deadline of 19th of April, 2023;
8. If qualified, provide the replay files of the 10 fastest laps set on the qualification servers for Admin verification;

Drivers who do not meet these requirements will be deemed ineligible and removed from the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series. The organiser reserves the right to investigate Driver information when eligibility is in question. Drivers should be prepared to provide a copy of personal identification or other applicable documents to verify if all the requirements are met.

An Organisation is not allowed to have more than 2 Drivers competing under the same team name for each class unless authorized by organiser upon request, Admins have the authority to disqualify any Team or Driver that is believed to have been involved in collusion or foul play that intentionally influences the result of the race to benefit themselves or a teammate.

Drivers from regions not represented through the GTWC Sprint Series (Africa, etc.) may compete in any region in which they meet the ping requirements in Art 5.2.

5. PARTICIPATION

5.1 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

1. Own an original copy of Assetto Corsa Competizione by Kunos Simulazioni on Steam (PC version only);
2. Own an original copy of Assetto Corsa Competizione - 2020 GT World Challenge Pack by Kunos Simulazioni on Steam (PC version only);
3. Own an original copy of Assetto Corsa Competizione - Challengers Pack by Kunos Simulazioni on Steam (PC version only);
4. Own a Driver profile in-game with a real Forename and Surname (Art 5.3);
5. Own a Discord account with a real Forename and Surname;

5.2 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

1. Internet connection with a max ping of 150ms from race servers;
2. Wheel and Pedals set;

Exceptions will be permitted pending the connection is stable and not considered a danger in a racing environment.

5.3 DRIVER / TEAM NAMES

1. In-game Driver names must be the real ones and must not contain any of the following: nicknames, acronyms, obscene or suggestive language, corporation, company, sponsor or product. Drivers who attempt to change their in-game Forename and Surname during the event may be disqualified from the competition;

5.4 DRIVER CLASSIFICATIONS & QUALIFYING

5.4.1 PRO DRIVERS
Driver classification is decided by the Organiser using results data from previous competitions within the SRO Esports environment and outside analysis of non-SRO Esports competitions and events.

List of Pro classified Drivers

Event Organizers have the right to manually allocate the Pro status to any Driver coming over from another Esports Series or racing platform in the scenario where they would be considered competitive within the Pro field of Drivers. The Pro class will contain a maximum of 24 Driver slots across the course of the season, these slots will be allocated in two ways.

5.4.2 PRO QUALIFICATION
First, each manufacturer participating will be asked to nominate up to 2 Drivers to compete in the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series. Then, after the manufacturers have made their selections, any remaining Pro Drivers may register for the qualifying process to compete for the remaining Driver slots in the Pro class.

Qualifying for the Pro class of the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series will be held as a hot lap qualifying. Each Driver will be required to set hot laps on a qualifying server at 2 different circuits, for the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series the tracks will be Monza & Barcelona. At each track, the 10 best lap times are used to create an average lap time, the average lap time from each track will then be added together to create a total lap time, and this time will be added to a leaderboard. The top drivers come the end of the qualifying window will be eligible to compete within the Pro class of the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series.

There will be a minimum requirement of at least 1 car from each available manufacturer for the Pro class. Thus, if the Driver slots for the Pro class were to be filled by Drivers that would not meet the minimum quota, the slowest Drivers will be overlooked in favour of the fastest Drivers using the missing manufacturers.

5.4.3 SILVER DRIVERS
Driver classification is decided by the Organiser using results data from previous competitions within the SRO Esports environment and outside analysis of non-SRO Esports competitions and events. The Silver class will contain a maximum of 24 Driver slots across the course of the season, these slots will be allocated through one method.

5.4.4 SILVER QUALIFICATION
Qualifying for the Silver class of the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series will be held as a hot lap qualifying. Each Driver will be required to set hot laps on a qualifying server at 2 different circuits, for the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series the tracks will be Monza & Barcelona. At each track, the 10 best lap times are used to create an average lap time, the average lap time from each track will then be added together to create a total lap time, and this time will be added to a leaderboard. The top 24 drivers come the end of the qualifying window will be eligible to compete within the Silver class of the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series.

There will be a minimum requirement of at least 1 car from each available manufacturer for the Silver class. Thus, if the Driver slots for the Silver class were to be filled by Drivers that would not meet the minimum quota, the slowest Drivers will be overlooked in favour of the fastest Drivers using the missing manufacturers.

6. FORMAT OVERVIEW

6.1 HOT LAP QUALIFYING COMPETITION

Cars allowed:

• Aston Martin AMR V8 Vantage GT3;
• Audi R8 LMS Evo 2;
• Bentley Continental GT3 2018;
• BMW M4 GT3;
• Honda NSX GT3 Evo;
• Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020;
• Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo;
• McLaren 720S GT3;
• Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo 2020;
• Porsche 991 II GT3 R 2019.

Drivers & Teams that have selected or qualified in cars that may be updated or succeeded by newer versions after the qualification period has ended will be required to change to the new car, this means your current car will be ineligible and you must run the new version of the car for the remainder of the season.

• Driving Assists: please refer to Art 6.1.13;
• Car Setup: no restrictions;
• Participants must always save the telemetry of the qualifying and race sessions and always be ready to send them to the organiser if requested.
• On points equality, the Driver who scored more of the highest finishes receives the advantage. On the equality of the number of highest positions, the Driver with the higher number of their second highest position and so on;
• If all positions show equality, the highest qualifying results are compared.
• If all qualifying times are equal, then whoever finishes ahead in the final race of the season will be deemed to be the winner.
• Organiser reserves the right to change the mix of silver and pro cars before the start of the competition.

6.2 CAR LIVERIES

1. Drivers are allowed to use fully custom liveries (Tutorial) or in-game custom ones;
2. Drivers who are using in-game custom liveries must use the Fanatec windscreen banner and Fanatec sticker on the rear spoiler;
3. Drivers who are using fully custom liveries must comply with the rules pointed out in the Sponsor and Sticker regulations document (WIP);
4. Car liveries must be submitted in the correct format to Admins; a. Deadline to submit custom liveries to Admins: Monday 18:00 CET, of the week before the first race.
5. Default official liveries are okay to be used as long as it also includes the Fanatec banner per 6.2.2
6. Car liveries can be changed only 1 time during the championship, in case of additional request, the organiser reserves the right to deny the request

Liveries submitted in the incorrect format or with errors in the format or textures themselves may be rejected by the Admins without the possibility of resubmitting until the next deadline.

6.3 RACE FORMAT

Practice - 30m @ 19:30 CET
Driver's Briefing - 15m @ 20:00 CET
Practice 2 - 10m @ 20:15 CET
Qualifying - 30m @ 20:25 CET
Grid - 5m @ 20:55 CET
Race - 60m @ 21:00 CET

• One mandatory pit stop - pit window with fixed tyre swap;
• During the pit stop every Driver must change tyres;
• Pit window duration: 20 minutes;
• Pit window opens 20 minutes after the start of the race and closes 20 minutes before the end of the race;

6.4 SCORES

Drivers will be assigned the following points based on the order of arrival at the finish line of every championship race. Points are awarded per class, not overall, meaning Pro & Silver drivers receive the top 15 and pole position points separately.

• P1 - 35 points
• P2 - 30 points
• P3 - 25 points
• P4 - 21 points
• P5 - 18 points
• P6 - 15 points
• P7 - 13 points
• P8 - 11 points
• P9 - 9 points
• P10 - 7 points
• P11 - 5 points
• P12 - 4 points
• P13 - 3 points
• P14 - 2 points
• P15 - 1 point
• Pole Position - 1 point

6.5 BALANCE OF PERFORMANCE

The Organiser will apply a custom BoP to the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series.

1. Teams competing in the championship nominate a Driver to test the BoP, OEM Teams may nominate an additional Driver but it is not mandatory;
2. Test Drivers may drive any car on the BoP Testing Server, the Driver does not need to be competing in the championship to allow Drivers in the championship to focus on the Series;
3. BoP Testing Server opens 3 weeks before the Race and is open for 1 week, afterwards, the Drivers will send us feedback on the results and can attend a non-mandatory Test Race if desired;
4. Once the data has been collected it will be compared to the original proposal by the Organiser and the BoP will be adjusted based on the results of the Testing Server and Driver’s feedback;
5. The data collected will be publicly available for Drivers & Teams so that when changes are made to the original proposal they understand the decisions made;

Additional details on the in-depth process will be provided to the Test Drivers, Test Drivers may be substituted across the season but only between rounds and under the condition of Organiser approval.

7. DRIVING ASSIST

• Traction Control: allowed
• ABS: allowed
• Stability Control: not allowed
• Ideal Line: not allowed
• Automatic Gearbox: not allowed
• Engine Start: no restrictions
• Wipers: no restrictions
• Lights: Automatic only
• Pit Limiter: no restrictions

8. CALENDAR & TIMES

• Qualifying opens at Monza & Barcelona: 1st of March @ 17:00 CET
• Qualifying closes at Monza & Barcelona: 29th of March @ 23:59 CET
• Round 1 - Monza: 3rd of May @ 21:00 CET
• Round 2 - Paul Ricard: 24th of May @ 21:00 CET
• Round 3 - Spa: 21st of June @ 21:00 CET
• Round 4 - Nurburgring: 19th of July @ 21:00 CET
• Round 5 - Barcelona: 23rd of August @ 21:00 CET

*(dates and times may be subject to changes)

9. CODE OF CONDUCT

Respect for the Code of Conduct is a fundamental aspect of every Esports competition. Every Driver who doesn’t respect the rules of the Code of Conduct will be considered ineligible to participate in the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series and, if an evident breach of the following rules of the Code of Conduct will happen during the event, the organiser may remove the guilty Driver.

1. All Drivers are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects positively on the Organiser and shall not engage in conduct considered harmful to the business, reputation or relationships of an individual or their partners;

All Drivers agree to avoid the following behaviours online and offline:

2. Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour: Drivers must not use language that is deemed by the Organiser to be obscene, vulgar, insulting, threatening, abusive, libellous, defamatory or otherwise offensive or objectionable, or promote or incite hatred or discriminatory conduct, at any time, off or on the broadcast. Drivers may not use this type of language on any social media or during any public-facing events such as streaming;
3. Harassment: any kind of harassment is strictly prohibited;
4. Discriminatory language: any kind of discriminatory words, phrases or gestures offending the dignity or integrity of a private person, a group of people, a team, a brand, a sponsor, or a country through contemptuous or discriminatory words or actions on account of race, skin colour, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, financial status, birth or any other status, sexual orientation or any other reason, are strictly prohibited;
5. Trolling: posting inflammatory, extraneous or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, blog, or any social media, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion, is strictly prohibited.
6. All Drivers shall not offer or accept any gift or reward to or from anyone for services promised, rendered, or be rendered in connection with the event;
7. Betting or gambling by any Drivers or anyone connected to any participant is prohibited. Moreover, no Driver or related person may benefit directly or indirectly from any betting or gambling;
8. Drivers must be respectful of the staff involved in the tournament by the organiser, sponsors, and/or their partners at all times;
9. Drivers must remain respectful in official Discord chats against other drivers, organizers, and race controllers;

Drivers posting negative, disruptive and brand-damaging content on social media about the organiser, the game, SRO Motorsports Group, Kunos Simulazioni, and their partners in general and/or any other participant, including but not limited to images and videos of game faults, may result in the participant disqualified (Driver removal) from the Event.

9.1 FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY

At any point during the Competition, the organiser has the right to exclude the Drivers in
the event of:

1. Alteration of the results, times and video files relating to the online phases;
2. Hardware modification: any modification made to a piece of hardware allowing it to function in a way the manufacturer did not intend;
3. Software modification: any modification made to Assetto Corsa Competizione and third parties’ software, allowing them to function in a way the developers did not intend;
4. Exploiting game glitches: intentionally using any in-game bug to seek an advantage;
5. Impersonation (including playing under another Driver’s Steam account) – to be understood as playing under another Driver’s account or soliciting, inducing, encouraging or directing someone else to play under another Driver’s account;
6. Collusion: any agreement among two (2) or more Drivers and/or other persons to affect any competition or race and/or opposing Drivers;
7. Any other behaviour as determined to be cheating, gameplay, gamesmanship or gaining an unfair advantage in any way by the organiser.

Drivers must notify the Organiser of any unfair exploits that they become aware of. Any Driver who is deemed, in the sole determination of the organiser, to have cheated or behaved in any way as described above may be penalised and/or disqualified from the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series.
Any conduct that is considered in violation of this Code of Conduct is punishable at the sole discretion of the Organiser and may result in disqualification from the GTWC Esports Europe Sprint Series. The Organiser also has the right to replace the excluded or disqualified Driver or who has abandoned the race by performing a repêchage.

Across the season the Organiser reserves the right to perform a Teamviewer check on any competitor within the championship. The Organiser will request the driver to give them access to a remote check of their PC, the driver has 10 minutes to allow the Organiser access, failure to do so will result in disqualification for the competition.

The check exists to verify that the integrity of the software being used is maintained and that drivers are not using software to hide their identification or location. A full break down of the application and the process can be found here [LINK TBC].

10. OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS

All Drivers must be connected to the official Discord server. The official GT World Challenge Esports Discord server shall be considered the main channel of communication between the Organiser, Race Direction and Drivers.
Every Driver must join the official Discord server with their real Surname and Last Name to be aware of official communication, participate in the mandatory Driver Briefing and let admins coordinate all the different racing sessions and communication.

11. ZOOM

All Drivers participating in an official round (qualifying and race sessions) must be connected to the video streaming conference call in Zoom (from a PC or a Mobile device) with the Driver’s face and part of the screen visible when they are racing.
If a Driver uses a VR headset he/she needs to contact an admin before the start of the Free Practice session. Connection details of the conference call will be communicated by the admins before the start of the event.

12. CONTACTS

For any additional information please refer to the following contacts:

● Email: esport@akinformatica.it
● Discord server: http://discord.gg/rg9TEEK5S7

13. PRIZE POOL - ENTRY FEE

The top 10 drivers for each class of the final championship standings will get access to dedicated prize money. The entry fee for the series will be €250 for Pro and €100 for Silver. All entry fees will be redistributed as prize money, with a minimum guarantee of €12,000 cash for Pro and €6,500 cash for Silver divided as follows:

PRO CLASS
CASH PRIZE POOL: 12,000 €

• P1 – €3,360
• P2 – €2,520
• P3 – €1,800
• P4 – €1,080
• P5 – €840
• P6 – €720
• P7 – €600
• P8 – €480
• P9 – €360
• P10 – €240

SILVER CLASS
CASH PRIZE POOL: 6,500 €

• P1 – €1,820
• P2 – €1,365
• P3 – €975
• P4 – €585
• P5 – €455
• P6 – €390
• P7 – €325
• P8 – €260
• P9 – €195
• P10 – €130

SPORTING CODE

1. General Rules & Driver Conduct

1. Drivers must use their full name in the game in order to participate in the competition. 
2. To participate in the competition, the maximum allowed ping is 150ms. 
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 or Race Director. 
4. All Drivers are expected to be ready to run at the designated time for official sessions. 
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 Regulations 
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 the GT World Challenge Esports Europe - Sprint Series.
11. Event administrators, Stewards and the Race Director will oversee 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.

2. Qualifying/Hot lap Competition

1. Drivers must achieve their fastest lap without exploiting external factors. It is forbidden to gain an advantage by exploiting other players on the track, such as bump drafting or driving too close to opponents in front.
   Such behaviour will result in a warning or even a penalty for the race session, which may include removal of the best lap time set or the obligation to start at the back of the grid. Slipstreaming may be allowed only if the aforementioned factors are not violated. 
2. Lap invalidation resulting from leaving the track is entirely handled by the game. 
3. It is strictly forbidden to stop on-track to teleport back to the garage. Teleporting to the garage may only be allowed from exit routes and other tarmac off-track areas (not grass or gravel), where they cannot disrupt the qualifying of other Drivers. Any transgression will be severely penalized by the Stewards, and repeated offenders may receive a formal rebuke or may be banned from the event. 
4. Drivers on the outlap must let other Drivers on their fast lap past by moving out of their way. The in-game blue flag system assists Drivers in that. Ignoring the blue flag and holding up another Driver on their fast lap are conducts that may be penalized by the Stewards. 
5. Exiting the pitlane must be done by exercising caution in order not to disrupt the timed lap of other Drivers. It is strictly prohibited to cross the white line / veer and jump onto the ideal line; any violation may result in severe penalty from the Stewards. 
6. Approaching a Driver on his/her fast lap and overtaking is forbidden. The Driver behind must make sure that there is ample space in front before starting the timed lap while predicting potential pace differences, so that he/she does not disrupt the qualifying lap of the car in front. Drivers who disturb another Driver on a fast lap from behind may be penalized by the Stewards and repeated offenders may receive a rebuke or ban from the event.
7. During official qualifying sessions Drivers must always engage the pit limiter in the pit lane. Drivers caught taking an advantage by not engaging the pit limiter in the pit lane will be disqualified from the race or the championship.

3. 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. 
2. Tyre and brake warming (accelerating and slowing abruptly or weaving) is prohibited in the pitlane and during the double-file phase of the formation lap. Tyre and brake warming is permitted during the single-file phase of the formation lap. Drivers not adhering to this rule may be penalized by the Stewards during or after the session. 
3. During the formation lap, opponent cars are ghosted (collisions are disabled). Collisions are re-enabled at the Green Flag, or when any car coupling is disengaged after the Green Flag.

4. Track Limits

1. Track limits are determined by the game itself, utilizing the in-game warning and penalty system for infractions. More on this can be found in the Assetto Corsa Competizione Drivers’ manual. 
2. Pit entry/exit lanes are considered part of the racing surface for the cars on track. Drivers using the pits must stay within pit entry/exit lane 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.
3. Going off of the track with all four wheels due to a mistake is considered part of racing. Repeatedly leaving the track at the same corner(s) may be deemed as gaining an advantage and a penalty may be given either by the in-game penalty system or the Stewards. 
4. Gaining a position or gaining an advantage against a competitor or gaining track position (gaining time) by leaving the track in any way is against the rules, regardless of any in-game penalty that may be handed out, and the Stewards may apply penalties because of that, unless the Driver gives back the position immediately or slows down to compensate within the same lap.

5. Flag Rules

1. Yellow flags are enforced and Drivers must respect the “No passing when under yellow” rule. Drivers must be cautious and prepare for slowing down to avoid any incident ahead. Yellow flags are indicated by the game to the player on the game HUD and in-car safety device.
2. If any Driver ignores yellow flags, it is within the Stewards discretion to apply a penalty. Drivers not respecting yellow flags and causing additional incidents may receive a severe penalty from the Stewards.
3. Blue flags are advisory, slow/lapped Drivers can stay on their line but must facilitate the lapping car by lifting to make sure they reduce the time lost to the faster car. Blue flag rules may be enforced more strictly in shorter Sprint races, where time loss may be more crucial to the faster cars.
4. 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. Intentionally holding up or defending against a lapping car may determine the application of a penalty or even the disqualification of the Driver by the Stewards. Drivers about to be lapped have to behave in a predictable way without sudden changes of direction. Drivers in front must not stay ahead of a lapping car within blue flag (1.5 seconds of) distance with the car behind closing in for more than one full lap. The blue flag distance is determined and indicated by the game on the player’s HUD and in-car safety device. The lapping car may use the flashing lights to indicate intention to pass or indicate the passing move.
5. Lapped Drivers are allowed to unlap themselves as long as they can pull away after passing the Driver that has a lap advantage. It is at the discretion of the car in front to facilitate the move. The car with lap advantage is not required to allow the lapped car back in front and the car behind has no right to attack the car in front unless the move is facilitated or suggested by the car ahead by using indicators, lifting the accelerator or keeping to one side of the track. Depending on the race format, each driver should be able to gauge the necessity of the unlapping manoeuvre. 
6. In shorter formats, the lapped car should not interfere with the race of the faster car, while in longer endurance races the car in front might be at a pace disadvantage and should allow the lapped car to retake the lap. Racing intelligence should decide how these situations are to be resolved, incidents resulting from lapping incidents may be punished by the Stewards in light of the situation and depending on whether or not the points above are respected.
7. Black/Orange (meatball) flags might be shown when a player has excessive damage. Not responding to the warning and staying out on track may result in Disqualification by the game or the Stewards;
8. In the event of server stability issues, a Red Flag may be called. Red Flag rules apply as follows: 

1. Drivers must follow the instructions issued by Race Control via the in-game chat and Discord; 
2. If less than 70% of the race duration is completed, the race will be restarted;
3. If more than 70% of the race duration is completed, the race will not restart and the result taken from the standings of the last lap completed by the leader;
4. In case of a race restart, the race duration will be reduced according to the race time already completed by the leader on the lap before the Red Flag; 
5. In case of a race restart, the grid order is determined by driver positions at the end of the last full lap completed by the leader before the Red Flag;
6. In case of a race restart, teams that have retired from the race will not be allowed to return to the race.

  6. On Track Behaviour

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 rear wheel. At this point drivers are in a “side-by-side” or “overlap” position, and they both have to give each other at least 1 car’s width of 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. Note that 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. 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 without establishing sufficient overlap before the turn-in point should be avoided and may be subject to a penalty. If the attempting Driver gets out of control and causes 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 a penalty. 
8. Weaving to break a draft is considered blocking. 
9. Out-of-control or spinning Drivers should lock their brakes to make it easier for other Drivers to predict their movements. After a spin, the driver must keep the brakes pressed to make sure the car does not roll forward or back in order to not create an unpredictable situation for cars passing by. Rolling back to or recklessly re-entering the racing line and causing additional incidents may be subject to severe penalty, whether or not the offending car was the source of the initial incident.
10. Drivers who go off track limits, if they can keep their cars under control, should slow down or wait for traffic to clear and re-join in a safe manner. 
11. Flashing of lights is permitted to alert the Driver ahead you are about to pass or Driver ahead will give way to help the pass. It cannot be more than 3 repeat flashes.
12. During official race sessions Drivers must always engage the pit limiter in the pit lane. Drivers caught taking an advantage by not engaging the pit limiter in the pit lane will be automatically penalized by the game and may be disqualified from the race and the championship.

7. Incident Reviews & Penalties

1. Official Race sessions will be reviewed by race Stewards live in conjunction with the Race Director. 
2. Reviews will be conducted by a minimum of two Stewards and the Race Director. Warning/penalty decisions will be issued by the Race Director. 
3. Live Race Director or Steward(s) will have authority to assign in-session penalties. 
4. Penalty criteria is as follows:
   – Unavoidable contact or action: Racing incident, no penalty.
   – Avoidable contact or action: Warning, TP (Time Penalty), DT (Drive Through Penalty), SG (Stop and Go Penalty – 0 to 30 seconds in length), DQ (Disqualification from results)
   – Unsportsmanlike conduct or any other misdemeanour: Warning, Disqualification or Ban from the event/championship determined by the Administrators and the Race Director.
5. Receiving 3 warnings in a single round (qualifying and race) will result in a 15 seconds time penalty;
6. Serving penalties: In-session penalties (DT or SG) must be served during the course of the race with the exception of penalties handed out during the final lap. 
7. Receiving a DT or SG penalty in the final lap will add an appropriate time penalty to the Driver’s final result, depending on severity of the penalty (30 to 180 seconds).
8. Time penalties (TP) may be handed out during the race session if deemed necessary by the Stewards in conjunction with the Race Director.  
9. Race Control will post warnings or other messages via the chat message window during the race
10. Other penalties given by live stewards and the game itself will be displayed as RCTRL messages at bottom or right-hand side of your screen (DT, SG, TP) once assigned. 
11. If a Driver makes an avoidable contact and causes another Driver to spin, lose positions or sustain heavy damage, the offending Driver can expect a DT as a minimum. 
12. Repeat offenses will receive SG penalties with gradual severity. 
13. Stewards will exercise reasonable judgement at all times and particularly when reviewing light contacts, taps, bumps. 
14. The Stewards will note and review all incidents that happened during each session. During a race, teams have the right to submit a protest through the official form shared by the admins prior to the start of the qualifying session. Incidents not filed via the Protest system may not be reviewed by the Stewards. 
15. Incidents where insufficient time or evidence prevents an in-session penalty to be handed out will be dealt with and communicated after the race. Post-session penalties may be post-race time penalties, disqualification from the race results or even ban from the event/championship.  
16. The final results may be issued only after the Stewards have reviewed all incidents and applied the corresponding penalties. The final results will include any post-race penalty applied by Race Direction.

8. Protest

1. Participants may be allowed to send protests from event start up to 30 minutes after the race session is concluded in a dedicated section named “protest” on the official Discord;
2. A dedicated form available after each race will be posted by admins in the protest channel
3. A message will be posted by an Admin to confirm the closure of the 30-minute window. Protests not sent in this timeframe will not be accepted and examined. Protests sent with the wrong format or incomplete may be discarded by the Stewards without considering their content.

9. Additional Rules on the Server

1. In-game CHAT window must be enabled for all official test and event sessions in the game’s UI settings. The organiser will not accept any complaints about messages missed when sent using this chat. 
2. No in-game text chatting by players is permitted during Qualifying and Race sessions. Players not complying to this rule may be warned or penalized during or after the session. Repeated offenses may receive a penalty affecting the participant’s race result or standings in the series or even a ban from the championship. Inflammatory or personal comments in the in-game chat will be handled with extra severity.
3. During the Drivers Briefing, players are required to return to the garage and stay there for the duration of the Briefing. Players circulating on track while the Drivers Briefing is underway may be disqualified from the event’s Qualifying session or even the Race at the Organizers’ discretion. Repeated offenses may be severely penalized.