7. Race control/Penalties

7.1 General

1. All race sessions will have live Race Control, consisting of multiple members monitoring on-track activity.
2. Race Control will award penalties to drivers who fail to drive in a clean, fair manner, act recklessly, or otherwise affect the spirit of competition within the series.
3. Race Control may remove drivers off the track if they feel that their speed/lap times are too slow, or if they pose a risk to other drivers due to their driving, internet connection, or equipment. In this case, a driver will first be warned and given time to correct this. In the event the issue persists, the driver shall be ordered to retire from the race and be replaced by another driver from the team in the car.

7.2 Incident review procedure

1. Race Control may review incidents when:
   • its members witness an incident live or are made aware of an incident;
   • iRacing registers a car contact or loss of control (2x or 4x);
   • a team reports an incident.
2. The stewards aim to interview all involved parties when necessary. Teams must have at least one team represenative available for this purpose at all times. If a team does not reply in a timely manner, their perspective will not be considered.
3. The Race Director informs the entry of the infringement and penalty. The decision is also published on the digital notice board (opens new window).
4. Any incidents within the last 10 minutes of the race are reviewed post-race. If a penalty is given, the duration of the penalty will be added to the total race time according to art. 7.4.5. Exceptions to this rule can be made by the Race Director.
5. Appeals may be filed against any decision made by Race Control where a penalty has been issued. This may be done after the chequered flag has been waved at each event and up to 24 hours after. After a race and upon request from a team, Race Control may be requested to provide more information on the reasoning behind a decision.

7.3 Reporting an incident

1. Teams may report incidents to Race Control.
2. Official reports may only be made by entries who are directly involved in the incident.
3. The report must be submitted within 30 minutes of the incident occurring on track.
4. Teams are encouraged to review the digital notice board before reporting an incident. Race Control may already have noted the incident.
5. The report should be submitted in writing and must contain the following information:
   • car(s) involved
   • the nature of the incident
   • timestamp for the incident (timestamps can be found in the replay toolbar)

Note

Incomplete or incorrect reports are discarded without notice.

7.4 Penalties

1. The following penalties may be imposed by Race Control:
   • Disqualification from qualifying
   • Starting from the pits
   • Time penalty
   • Lap penalty
   • Drop of positions in the classification
   • Warnings
   • Any other penalties at discretion of the stewards
2. Penalties are awarded to the car number, meaning the penalty is awarded to the entry and not to individual drivers. The Race Director can make exceptions to this (e.g. regarding driving behaviour).
3. All penalties must be served under green flag conditions.
4. Time penalties must be served within 100 minutes after the entry is informed about the penalty. If a team does not respect the time frame, the penalty time will be doubled.
5. Time penalties received during the last 100 minutes of the race:
   • Each Penalty > 30 seconds: Must be served before the finish of the race. If not served by the entry, the penalty will be doubled and converted into laps at the discretion of the Race Director.
   • Each Penalty ≤ 30 seconds: If not served before the finish of the race, the penalty time will be processed post-race and added to the entry's total race time. These time penalties will not be doubled.
6. Race Control shall not reverse penalties generated by iRacing itself (e.g. cutting the course or speeding in the pits), except for force majeure.
7. A time penalty may be combined with a regular pit stop (taking fuel, tires, driver change, or repairs).

7.5 Penalty procedure

1. After being informed about a penalty, the entry must acknowledge receiving the notification from Race Control.
2. To serve the penalty, the car stops in the designated penalty area. The penalty time starts the moment the car comes to a complete stop. Only after the completion of the time penalty may the car leave the penalty area and continue on to the pit box for regular service.
3. It is the responsibility of the team to see that the time penalty is carried out correctly: within the time limit, in the correct place and for the correct time. Race Control will only check if the penalty has been served correctly after it has been served.
4. After serving the penalty, the entry must notify Race Control through a text message in Discord.
5. Race Control will check if the penalty is served completely.
   1. Race Control uses the iRacing video timer to time the penalty.
   2. Teams are allowed a tolerance of 0.1 seconds.
6. Time penalties served incorrectly, will be treated as not having been served.
7. The designated penalty area will be pointed out in the drivers briefing document.
8. Multiple time penalties may be served at once, as long as they are served within the timeframe defined in article 7.4.4. For the purpose of article 7.5.6, the penalty that was issued first will be served first.
9. Penalties given by iRacing (e.g S&G or S&H) must be served within three laps after receiving the black flag. The team must make sure to follow the instructions from iRacing, otherwise the car will be disqualified.

7.6 Post race protest

1. A post race protest for an incident not previously reviewed can be filed after the chequered flag has been waved at each event and up to 24 hours after.
2. The stewards will review the incident and their decision will be published on the digital notice board. The Race Director will notify the penalised team.
3. The 24 hour deadline for appeals as described in art. 7.2.5 starts when the penalised team has been notified of the post race penalty.