SRF Server Rules
To promote inter-league racing, SRF and it's community of Leagues use a common set of Rules. These rules are meant to provide a consistent "rules package" no matter what night you may race. SRF and it's community of Leagues are committed to provide sim racing at the highest level while maintaining courtesy and respect for every driver on the track. We are all here to have fun and enjoy ourselves, please read and familiarize yourself with these rules.
Any variations from these Rules will noted on the League's website and mentioned at the Drivers Meeting when a new driver is present.
The Rules will be applied equally and fairly to all members, including Admins. There will be no "favorites" or exceptions for anyone competing at SRF.
All of these rules are "common sense" rules and there are no "tricky" or "hidden" rules.
Several of these Rules may be amended or waived completely for certain events and/or series. These will be announced at the Drivers Meeting.
1. General:
a. Any new member will be required to have cable, DSL, or better. A wheel and pedals are also required.
b. Competitors are expected to behave and drive in a respectful and professional manner at all times during any event. This is to include practice and after the race is completed. This includes but is not limited to such things as speeding down pit lane, intentional crashing, and driving in the wrong direction.
c. While in the SRF server, we would prefer that you use your real first name and at least your last initial. Nicknames that have been used for some time and are preferred by the driver are OK too.
d. Misrepresenting yourself or racing under an alias as to disguise your true identity is grounds for immediate and permanent dismissal from the SRF.
e. It is required that you join any SRF event via the SMS Lobby and that you also connect to the SRF Voice server, both must remain active throughout the event.
f. There will be "zero tolerance" for flaming of any type. This will include comments like "thanks a lot", "what was that", and similar comments. This also includes the common auto-chat of "Thank You", commonly used when passing, if it is used in a manner that could be interpreted as sarcastic or "flaming".
g. Members are expected to behave in a respectful and professional manner both on and off the track. This includes any correspondence with fellow members and/or Admin Teams.
h. No in game chat is allowed during qualifying, including auto-chat messages.
i. Only auto-chat messages are to be used in-game. The only chat allowed on the open voice channel is the Admin of the race. All other chat must be "private" chat messages or "private" channels on Team Speak.
j. Paybacks are not a part of racing at SRF. You may be penalized and/or suspended for this.
k. Using cheats of any kind is grounds for immediate and permanent dismissal from SRF.
l. It is highly recommended that ALL drivers save the replay of the race. You may be asked for a replay for an incident review or other reasons the following week. After that time period, you may delete the replay. For assistance on how to save replays, ask during the drivers meeting or contact your Admin.
2. Connection:
a. Each of us is responsible for our connection. There will be no corrections made for missed laps due to warp, it is simply too difficult to confirm in some cases and cannot be done in game when it should be done.
b. If you are warping badly in practice, do whatever possible to correct the situation before the race starts. If it cannot be corrected, consider starting at the back of the field. If it continues during the race, you may be asked to park it for the night.
c. If you are disconnected at any point in the race, you will be allowed to rejoin the race once. If disconnected again, you must not rejoin the race.
d. Warping under caution or in heavy traffic is a common problem. This is how we expect it to be handled. The warping car should move to the inside lane of the track with the following cars moving to the right lanes. While under caution the following cars should not close the gap that the warping car had occupied, he may reappear at any time.
3. Server Failure:
Server failure is extremely rare and will be handled under these guidelines.
a. Races that are under 50% complete will be re-run, including qualifying.
b. Races that are more than 50% complete will be considered official. If the finish order cannot be determined, the race will be re-run, including qualifying.
4. Starts and Restarts:
Start Procedure
a. Single file starts will be used for all events except super speedway races.
b. It will be the leader's responsibility to maintain the proper pace speed while approaching the green flag. This is defined as the time from when the pace car leaves the track, till the green flag is thrown. During this period, the leader must maintain the proper pace speed with NO acceleration or deceleration, whether it be gradual or sudden, prior to the green flag. The proper speed shall be defined as the pace car speed. The allowance is plus or minus 5 mph of the pace car speed. This speed must be maintained by all competitors regardless of their position on the starting grid. Drivers "jumping the start" will be assessed a 1 lap penalty. The penalty will be waived for all except the leader if those drivers in violation do not improve their position.
c. On the initial start, the leader must pass over the start/finish line first. If you do beat the leader to the line, let him have the position back within the first lap. Failure to do so will result in a 1 lap penalty.
Restart Procedure
d. All restarts will be single file.
e. Damaged and off-pace cars on restarts: If you are a lap or more down and your car is no longer competitive (just logging laps) then you must drive through the pits on the third pace lap even if it is on the one to go lap. Several times a car is off pace and is in front of other cars that are trying to race for their lap back. Failure to abide by this rule can and will result in a disqualification and may even include a race suspension depending on the consequences of your actions.
f. With 10 laps or less remaining in the race, All lap down cars must at least drive through the pits at the earliest opportunity.
General Start and Restart Rules
g. There will be no passing allowed before the exit of turn 2 unless the car in front of you clearly signals you to pass him or is damaged and obviously off-pace. These passes will be reviewed and if found improper, a penalty will be issued.
h. Warming your tires is not allowed. This includes burnouts on the starting grid and "weaving" under caution.
i. We will race "at the green" when there are10 laps or less to go at the restart.
5. Pitting:
a. Drivers are expected to notify following cars when entering and exiting the track via auto-chat. The only exception to this rule is when under caution, if you drop to the apron of the track prior to pit lane, this will be accepted as notification that you are going to pit.
b. Speeding of any kind will not be tolerated on pit row. If you do speed, and the game lets you get away with it, we won't. When the front bumper of the pitting vehicle is even with the pit in line, which at most tracks is marked by double cones, speed may not exceed pit row speed by any more than 5mph at any point until the pit out line is crossed.
c, Cars may not spend an extended time on pit row. Anytime a car extends its stay on pit row past a reasonable time will be considered retired. If a competitor is black flagged due to a driver taking an extended pit stop, the driver taking the extended stop will be penalized.
d. After pit service, no stopping is allowed from the pit stall to the middle of turns 1 and 2 except to avoid an incident. Cars that violate this procedure will be penalized.
6. Passing and Being Passed:
a. Over aggressive and careless driving will not be tolerated in our leagues.
b. Keep in mind that it is the responsibility of the overtaking car to make the pass in a safe manner. If passing on the inside, make sure that you can control your car and not slide up into the car you are passing.
c. Aprons are not meant for racing and may not be used as such. If you do advance your position when on the apron, you must give the position back within 1 lap or face a penalty. The apron will be defined as the area below the painted line indicating the apron. Any portion of the tire making contact with the apron will be considered "on the apron".
d. Blocking : If the overtaking car places his nose inside your car up to the opening for the rear wheel, you must give him the lane. The lead car has choice of preferred lines. If an overtaking car changes lanes to pass, the leading car may block. If a second move to either side is made by the overtaking car, the lead car may not block. You cannot make two moves. One move is protecting your line; two moves is a block.
e. Lapped cars have just as much right on the track as lead lap cars and must be passed safely. If you are a lapped car and running off pace, you must yield to faster traffic by moving high and giving the preferred "racing line" to the faster traffic. Failure to do so will result in you being told to park your car for the evening.
7. Cautions, Lucky Dog Rule, and Wave Around:
a. There is NO racing back to the yellow flag. When the caution lights come on, the field is frozen.
b. If you are involved in the incident, or delayed by it, DO NOT attempt to regain your position prior to the incident. You should fall into the "pace line" as soon as possible in an orderly fashion.
c. After all cars have taken the yellow flag, the Admin will announce the "Lucky Dog" via chat. The "Lucky Dog" must not have caused the caution and is the leading car of the cars at least 1 lap down.
d. The "Lucky Dog" will then pit with the lap down cars. When the field receives the "1 to go" signal, the leader will guide the pace line into the upper lane, the Lucky Dog will then will drop to the low lane, drive around the field and pass the pace car. He will continue to the rear of the field for the restart. When the green flag is waved, the Lucky Dog will receive a Black Flag. The Admins will clear the BF as soon as possible. There will be no Lucky Dog with 10 laps or less to go.
e. Wave around: a driver may elect to use the "wave around" if 2 conditions are met. The first is that he may not pit at any time during the caution period. The second is that he finds himself between the pace car and the leader when the field receives the "1 to go" signal. When the field receives the "1 to go" signal, the leader will guide the pace line into the upper lane, any driver using the "wave around" will then will drop to the low lane, drive around the field and pass the pace car. He will continue to the rear of the field for the restart. When the green flag is waved, the "wave around" driver will receive a Black Flag. The Admins will clear the BF as soon as possible.
f. Regardless of the time of the yellow, causing an incident under the yellow will be dealt with harshly, there is no excuse for this happening. The penalty will be in accordance with the severity of the incident and may range from a warning to a one race suspension.
g. If two cars are side by side when the yellow waves, the inside car shall be given the position. Having your nose under the other car is NOT side by side.
h. After getting the yellow at the line, you are required to close up on the Pace Car, leader, and/or the car in front of you as soon as possible. A gap of .5 sec between cars is the preferred distance. Failure to do so penalizes the cars behind you that are going to pit.
i. When coming to the green, maintain a maximum of .5 second (preferably less) interval between cars, including the interval between the leader and the pace car.
j. There is to be no contact between cars and no warming of tires during pace laps.
k. If an incident is caused by a driver locking his wheels to prevent a spin and he is hit from behind, the fault shall given to the driver locking the wheels and not the trailing car.
l. Causing an intentional yellow flag is grounds for a penalty.
m. Intentionally pulling out of line and passing cars, or passing the pace car while under caution may result in a DQ for that event at the discretion of the race director.
n. If you are involved in an incident, whether it be your fault or not, it is your responsibility to re-enter the track in a safe manner. You may use the mirror, change views, or use the F2 screen to see if and when the track is clear if needed. Jerking your car off the wall or simply pulling back onto the track with no regard for your fellow drivers will not be tolerated.
o. SRF Leagues use a "Three Strike" Rule. This is how it works:
You are allowed 3 "strikes" a race.
A solo spin causing a caution is 1 strike.
Causing another car to spin because of contact is 2 strikes, even if it does not cause a caution.
3 strikes and you must park your car for the evening.
This is a "self-enforcing" rule and if it is determined that you failed to park your car when you should have, you will receive a penalty and/or a correction in scoring.
If the offending driver causes an incident, or his actions, results in harm to a fellow member after failing to disconnect, the penalty may be increased.
IMPORTANT ...... If there is a doubt as to who is at fault in causing a caution, CONTINUE to race. This will be taken into consideration when the race is reviewed.
p. Although the game allows it, tows for crashed cars will not be allowed in SRF events. If your car is so badly damaged that it requires a tow, you are done for the evening and must retire. Do not wait for the tow truck. Towing is allowed for a vehicle running out of gas.
8. Missed Races:
a. There will be no penalty or punishment for missing races. You are welcome to race as often or as seldom as you choose.
b. Under no circumstance may a substitute driver be used in any League event.
9. Penalties:
No one enjoys receiving or giving a penalty, but some times it may be necessary.
Penalties may range from a written warning, to a suspension or dismissal from SRF.
When giving a penalty the following factors will be considered:
1. Your prior penalty history.
2. The amount of damage to another member that resulted from your actions .
10. Appeals and Protests:
a. If you feel you have been wrongly penalized, you may submit an appeal within 48 hours of the penalty being received. Submit the appeal to an Admin of the League from which the penalty was issued. In the appeal state your reasons you feel you were wrongly penalized and include your replay of the incident. If you wish, a meeting will be scheduled on Team Speak so you may personally present your case.We must have the replay as it provides information such as your throttle, brake, and steering actions at the time of the incident. No replay, no appeal.
b. If you feel you have been wronged by another driver, you may submit a protest by e-mail within 24 hours of the incident to the Admin of the League in which the incident occurred. You must include a replay and a description of the incident. Again, no replay, no protest. Please do not hesitate to use the protest procedure. The race director cannot catch everything that occurs during a race. In fact, once a League "settles down" after the beginning of each season, we rely on the protest procedure to "self-police" the League.
All penalties, appeals, and protests will be given and/or acted upon by no later than the next race the following week.
11. Items not covered in the Rules:
When incidents happen that are not specifically covered in the Rules, the Race Director or Admin will make their decision based on the SRF principles of respect, fairness, and equality for all drivers.
12. Action Detrimental to the League:
Competitors may be penalized or dismissed from SRF for actions that are detrimental to the league.
These rules may be amended at anytime.
