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.
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.
A driver is hit from behind - examples with typical penalties are here.
Cars make side contact either on a straight or in a corner - examples with typical penalties are here.
A driver tries to rejoin the race after an incident but interferes with another driver in some way - examples with typical penalties are here.
A driver resets and interferes with other drivers when his car respawns - examples with typical penalties are here.
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.
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.
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.
Due to the invariably catastrophic impact of first lap incidents (particularly start line incidents) they will attract an extra 1 place penalty.
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.
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.
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.
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. Examples with typical penalties are here.
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).
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 vary from division to division and they are covered in detail in the Sporting Regulations. However, the moderator will invariably apply a time penalty, as determined by the specific division, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
For reference, this is how penalties are actually applied to produce final race positions:
Note that when applying place penalties, no account is taken of where each driver finished on the road.
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.