Penalty Guidelines
In order to help drivers understand how penalties are determined we've
decided to publish a set of guidelines used by the moderators.
Penalties are assessed as a number of places lost rather than a fixed
points penalty. This will be implemented by actually moving the driver down
the finishing order, shuffling other drivers up (much the same as a time
penalty in real world motorsport).
Only incidents reported by drivers are assured of a moderator's
attention. Resets and pit stops will in all cases be checked.
Definitions
- Exclusion (DQ)
- The driver is removed from the race results and scores no points. Penalties may still be issued for incidents for the purposes of the yellow card system.
- Retired at point of offence
- The driver is treated as having retired at the point where the offence
was committed, and their position adjusted accordingly. They may still
score points. Penalties may still be issued for incidents after the point
of retirement, for the purposes of the yellow card system.
Typical Incidents
Most incidents encountered in GPL can be assigned to one of the typical
categories listed below. However, no two incidents are exactly the same
and consequently the moderator has some discretion when awarding a
suitable penalty. In general moderators will be lenient when a driver
has tried to do the right thing and harsh if a driver has shown total
disregard for his fellow competitors. The sort of factors and scenarios a moderator is
likely to consider are detailed below along with typical penalties or rulings.
Rear End Shunt
A driver is hit from behind - examples with typical penalties are here.
Side by Side Contact
Cars make side contact either on a straight or in a corner - examples with
typical penalties are here.
Bad Rejoin
A driver tries to rejoin the race after an incident but interferes with
another driver in some way - examples with typical penalties are here.
Bad Shift R
A driver resets and interferes with other drivers when his car respawns -
examples with typical penalties are here.
Blocking/Weaving
A driver can take a defensive line (normally the inside line on the approach
to a corner) in order to deny a following car of a simple opportunity to
overtake. A driver may not continually change his line (i.e. weave) in
order to prevent (i.e. block) another car from overtaking -
examples with typical penalties are here.
Ambitious Overtake
The overtaking driver has a responsibility to ensure he makes a clean
pass. Drivers who are reckless and attempt to overtake where there is no
clear opportunity will be penalized -
examples with typical penalties are here.
Lack of Care Approaching an Incident
Drivers can cause total carnage by careering into stricken cars and
generating a mass pile-up. Drivers who fail to take account of yellow
flags will be penalized -
examples with typical penalties are here.
First Lap Incidents
Due to the invariably catastrophic impact of first lap incidents (particularly start line
incidents) they will attract an extra
1 place penalty.
Failure to make Mandatory Pit Stop
A mandatory pit stop is one that is decreed before the start of a race rather
than as a consequence of an incident in the race (i.e. a S&G due to a
shift-R is not a mandatory pit stop). Typical mandatory pit stops are
those designed to even-out the chassis. A driver who fails to make a
mandatory pit stop will be excluded from the results.
Short Mandatory Pit Stop
If a driver makes a short mandatory Pit Stop, the moderator will apply a time penalty equal to 3 times the number of
seconds short.
Incorrect Pit Stop
If a driver makes a pit stop (either mandatory or a S&G due to a Shift-R)
but fails to bring the car to rest in
the stalls. The moderator may decide an unfair advantage has been gained
and consequently a time penalty may be applied equal to 3 times the number of
seconds gained. Where the number of seconds gained cannot be determined with
any confidence, the moderator may decide to impose a standard 5 second
penalty. This is cumulative so a driver making a late pitstop and failing to stop
close enough to the pit wall may incur two 5 second penalties during the one stop.
Railriding and Corner Cutting
Railriding is when a driver uses track side objects, typically armco barriers
to control the car. Clearly a driver is not using his skill to control the
car and will not be allowed to gain an unfair advantage as a result of his
actions. Corner Cutting involves a driver persistently placing all four wheels
off track through corners. Examples with typical penalties are here.
Ignoring shift R restriction
Some divisions limit the number of shift-Rs a driver is allowed to take
during a race. In such cases, should a driver exceed the number of allowed
shift-Rs, they are retired at the point of offence (i.e. their finish time in
the results will be amended to the time they exceeded their shift-R limit).
Failing to take Stop & Go after Shift-R
In general, every time a driver has to make a shift-R as a
result of their own actions or as a result of mechanical failure then they must
perform a Stop and Go in the pit lane. The specific rules are covered in detail in the Sporting
Regulations. However, the moderator will invariably apply a time penalty each time a driver fails to make a Stop
and Go after a shift-R. Examples where the time penalty may be rescinded
are detailed here.
If a driver makes more than one shift-R on a single lap a
separate Stop and Go would have to be taken for each shift-R. Obviously
each Stop and Go would have to be taken on different laps.
If a driver makes a shift-R on the last lap then, depending on
the layout of the pit lane and position of the finish line, it may be possible
for a driver to take the Stop and Go at the end of the last lap and cross the
finish line in the pit lane. If this is not possible or the driver elects
not to do it then the moderator will apply a time penalty. If the cause of
the last lap shift-R warrants a longer penalty for a missed Stop and Go, the
moderator may waive this in favour of the shorter time penalty on the basis that
the driver did not have sufficient opportunity to perform the Stop and Go.
Ignoring Blue Flags
Lapped drivers must not interfere with the leaders, the blue flags indicate
to the slower driver that he must allow the faster driver through. Failure
to move over promptly and allow the faster driver though will probably incur a
penalty. However it can be a difficult issue to moderate since the blue
flags do not appear in the replays. Examples with typical penalties and
occasions when they may be rescinded are detailed here.
Warp Incident
Internet lag is a fact of life in on-line racing. Sometimes cars can
appear to move erratically or even disappear and reappear at various times in
the race. This phenomenon is generally referred to as warp and can be
responsible for a variety of collisions. Typical examples are detailed here.
Other Situations where Penalties may be Awarded
Infringement of Technical Regulations
The technical regulations are there to ensure the racing is fair.
Whilst cheating may be too strong a term, it is self evident that anyone
ignoring the technical regulations is likely to gain an unfair advantage over
the other competitors. The types of infringement are many and varied;
moreover they do not need to be moderated. If a driver is found to have
infringed the technical regulations there is no room for discretion by the
moderator. The types of penalties awarded for infringements are declared
along with the technical regulation.
Contravention of Sporting Regulations
The Sporting Regulations are there to ensure the racing runs smoothly and to
guard against the unique problems that can arise in on-line racing.
Possible contraventions are many and varied but they are quite likely to
manifest themselves as an incident which would be dealt with in the normal
way. Consequently, there is generally some room for discretion by the
moderator. The types of penalties awarded for infringements are either declared
along with the regulation or detailed here.
Yellow Card system
A tally will be kept of all the warnings and penalties accumulated
by the drivers. The more you get, the more automatic additional
penalties you will incur. A detailed worked example is here.
The idea is to make warnings and penalties progressively more
expensive so as to deter drivers from committing them in the
future. In theory the moderators have tried to do this in the past but
it was implemented in different ways by different moderators. This system
means everyone knows what to expect, the moderators can be consistent
and hopefully the drivers will make every effort to avoid even
warnings.
Application of Penalties
For reference, this is how penalties are actually applied to produce
final race positions:
- Any time penalties are applied to the drivers' road positions, and the
positions re-ranked.
- Drivers with place penalties have their finishing position changed. At
this point several drivers may be tied, as the final positions have not yet
seen drivers "shuffled up" to fill the holes where penalized drivers have
been moved down.
- The drivers are sorted based on finishing positions; where equal, the
driver with the smallest penalty is ranked highest.
- The final finishing positions are then ranked according to the resorted
list, and points allocated accordingly.
Note that when applying place penalties, no account is taken of where
each driver finished on the road.
Race Bans and Suspended Race Bans
Single Incidents
A caution, warning or penalty will normally be sufficient admonishment, however
in exceptional circumstances it may be necessary to award a race ban or suspended
race ban. Where a driver picks up a penalty whilst racing under a suspended ban,
the moderator will use their discretion to decide whether or not that driver should
actually pick up the race ban.
Persistent Bad Driving
If a driver amasses a huge number of penalties then clearly the yellow card points
system is not a sufficient deterrent and a race ban may be necessary. As a general
rule anybody with 10 or more yellow card points who picks up another yellow card
point will get a suspended race ban (suspended for 3 races). Any yellow cards picked
up (in any division) during the suspension period means a race ban in the division
that invoked the suspension. When the suspension has expired, another yellow card
point will invoke another suspended race ban (again suspended for 3 races).
The moderators do have some discretion as to applying Bans or Suspended Bans and factors
that can be taken into account are a driver’s willingness to improve or demonstrated
improvement and accumulations in fully moderated divisions. Initially alternatives,
eg starting form the back of the grid, a drive through or a X sec pitstop are also
options which can be considered.
Ultimately, if the application of the racing ban system does not produce any improvement,
the moderators can then apply a season ban leading to an eventual extreme of a lifetime
ban. This hopefully unrealistic example illustrates the principle.
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