Moderating a Race
General
The purpose of moderating the races is to ensure the rules are adhered to for the benefit
of the drivers. This page details the moderating process and should help drivers understand
how moderating decisions are arrived at. There are several ways to moderate a race but only
three are covered here. The method employed will depend very much on the time available to
a particular moderator. When moderating there is a trade-off to be made between comprehensive
analysis and speed. It isn't in anybody's interests to ignore or overlook flagrant violations
of the rules and yet pontificating ad infinitum over a minor transgression may delay the
confirmation of a race result beyond the next race in a series. This is equally undesirable,
particularly at the end of the season, as drivers like to know where they are in the standings
at the outset of each race.
The method, or combination of methods, used to moderate a race is entirely at
the discretion of the moderator. However it is expected that races from
the lower divisions, particularly the Clubman's Cup, will be moderated more
thoroughly to ensure the drivers new to UKGPL are maintaining the required
standards.
Notes:
When reviewing a race it is useful to run GPL in a window.
That way you can still read the driver's incident reports and make notes
electronically as you review the race. To run GPL in a window edit the
core.ini file so that the fullScreen variable is set to 1 (i.e. fullScreen =
1). GPL only runs in 16 bit graphics so you will have to ensure your
graphics card is set to display 16 bit colour and nothing more (otherwise the
GPL window will probably appear blank or severely distorted).
The correct camera angle is vital when reviewing an incident. It is
very difficult to judge who did what if the moderator does not have a clear
view. It is possible to change the default camera views and there are
utilities available which simplify the process (e.g. GPL
Forever Camera Control Master). However some ready modified car cam angles can be
found here.
The overhead view is particularly useful when trying to determine how much
overlap a driver had at turn in.
Method 1 - Comprehensive Race Review
The moderator downloads the server replay and reviews the race from each drivers perspective
noting down any incidents and transgressions of the rules. Replaying the race from the chase
view at 8 times normal speed normally ensures all incidents are caught without taking too
much time. Each incident is re-reviewed from various perspectives to ensure a fair
interpretation of the event. The pit stop times are checked by noting the time the car stops
then fast forwarding the replay until the car starts to move, again a note is made of the time.
The length of the pit stop can then be calculated from the noted times.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Method 2 - Textual Reports from GPL Replay Analyser
The moderator downloads the server replay and processes it using GPL Replay Analyser.
The drivers lap times recorded in the "Complete Race Report" are
examined in order to identify any slow laps. If a driver's laps are
consistent to within a few hundredths of a second it is highly unlikely that he
has been involved in any incidents. For races requiring pit stops there
will be at least two slow laps, the slowing down and speeding up laps.
Whether the pit stop is included in the slowing down or speeding up lap will
depend on where the pit stop took place in relation to the finishing line.
A note is taken of all the laps which where significantly slower than the
drivers fastest lap (not the average lap time). What to regard as significantly
slower depends very much on the driver's ability. The most talented
drivers can keep a consistent race pace to within a few tenths of a second a lap
whereas the less experienced drivers may vary their lap times by a half or even
a full second on consecutive laps by simply by varying their braking points or
taking different lines. If two or more drivers are slow on the same lap,
particularly if they are several (or even tens of seconds) slower, this is
indicative of a potential incident. All the drivers slow laps and any
potential incidents are noted. The "Mechanical Race Report" can
be used to identify shift Rs.
The slow laps and suspected shift Rs are then reviewed manually using the GPL
replay facility. Any identified incidents are reviewed from various perspectives to ensure
a fair interpretation of the event. The pit stop times are checked by noting the time the
car stops then fast forwarding the replay until the car starts to move, again a note is made
of the time. The length of the pit stop can then be calculated from the noted times.
Advantages
Easy to identify catastrophic incidents.
Some rule transgressions identified easily (in the report analysis).
Most Shift-Rs are identified in the reports.
Can be reasonably quick, especially for a clean race.
Disadvantages
Minor incidents which don't result in a lot of lost time can be missed.
Some Shift-Rs are missed by the report generator.
Some rule transgressions, such as the Kyalami pit wall patch, can be missed.
Method 3 - Graphical Reports from GPL Replay Analyser
The moderator downloads the server replay and processes it using GPL Replay
Analyser. Either the "Graphical Race Report" is used directly or
the "Complete Race Report" is processed by a utility in order to
produce a graphical view of the race. A utility, written by Colin
MacDonald, which generates a Microsoft Excel chart from a "Graphical Race
Report" is available in the files section of the moderator's forum.
Unfortunately the utility is currently unsupported.
The charts are examined for the
tell-tail signs of an incident. For example where 2 cars are shown to
be close together and then one or both seem to loose a lot of time, could indicate an
incident has taken place. Where a car looses time on it's own it is more likely down to a pit
stop or it could be a simple driver error. Potential incidents are noted.
The laps containing potential incidents and suspected shift Rs are then
reviewed manually using the GPL replay facility. Any identified incidents are reviewed from various perspectives to ensure
a fair interpretation of the event. The pit stop times are checked by noting the time the
car stops then fast forwarding the replay until the car starts to move, again a note is made
of the time. The length of the pit stop can then be calculated from the noted times.
Advantages
Easy to identify catastrophic incidents.
Some rule transgressions identified easily (in the report analysis).
Most Shift-Rs are identified in the reports.
Can be reasonably quick, especially for a clean race.
Disadvantages
Minor incidents which don't result in a lot of lost time can be missed.
Some Shift-Rs are missed by the report generator.
Some rule transgressions, such as the Kyalami pit wall patch, can be missed.
Method 4 - Reported Incidents
The moderator downloads the server replay and reviews the incidents reported by
the drivers. Each incident is re-reviewed from various perspectives to ensure a fair
interpretation of the event. Once again the pit stop times are checked by noting the
time the car stops then fast forwarding the replay until the car starts to move,
again a note is made of the time. The length of the pit stop can then be calculated
from the noted times. The number of Shift-Rs needs to be checked, probably
using GPL Replay Analyser.
Advantages
Disadvantages
- Relies on drivers to report incidents.
- Rule transgressions easily missed.
- Some Shift-Rs are missed by the GPL Replay Analyser report generator.
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