IN GAME CHAT

If the Sim you are using has an in-game chat, then using the in-game text channel chat during qualifying and after the start of the race is not allowed, if you do use during race grid waiting time,
Please be mindful there may be streams showing this so keep message clean.
Post race please wait till session is complete as you may be finished but others may still be racing.
Failure to comply to the above may result in a penalty warning from the stewards.

RACE REGISTRATION

Race registration for ACC and rFactor2 is done via Sim Grid
https://www.thesimgrid.com/hosts/transatlanticsimracing


FLAGS

Please familiarise yourself with motorsport flags in general, below are some specific requirements for our rules and sim racing.


YELLOW FLAG

Under yellow flags, drivers must drive cautiously and are allowed to overtake other cars if they are clearly offline and maybe spinning or re-joining. Please approach any incident with caution, anyone approaching at full throttle and not attempting to avoid the incident will be reviewed and may result in a warning from the stewards.

While the sim won’t penalise an overtake for position under yellow flag, you shouldn’t attempt to gain position of more cautious drivers by taking excessive risks,


BLUE FLAG

In a race, getting a blue flag means a car is about to lap you. When under blue flags, you are not allowed to defend from the lapping car when they attempt an overtake, it is up to the car behind to make a safe passing manoeuvre, and for the lapped car to assist in letting the faster car through. You should drive predictably and hold your line to avoid an incident with the faster car. As a blue flagged car, avoid taking the inside line as this can be construed as defending.

It is still advised that cars being lapped make it easier for lapping cars to pass them, as this most often leads to the least amount of time lost for both cars. A good way to do this is to lift a bit on a straight or brake earlier for a corner—but only if the lapping car is alongside.


WHITE FLAG

A white flag means there is a slow car ahead. Please take extra care as a car maybe re-joining with damage at a slower speed or a car on track which is not up to racing speeds. In some sim’s a white flag can also mean that it is the last lap of the race.


BLACK & ORANGE FLAG

In most cases, drivers are shown the black and orange flag when they need to pit for repairs or turn on their headlights. If repairs are needed drivers may attempt to drive back to the pits, where possible drivers limping back to pits should activate their hazard warning lights (left and right turn signals together) and do their best to stay out of the way and off the racing line for faster cars.

If drivers find they cannot safely drive back to the pits they can stop their car off track and where the Sim allows teleport back to the pits, this will result in ACC deleting their current lap and holding them in their stall for 5 ish minutes.
There is no additional penalty for teleporting to the pits.


RED FLAG

Red flag where supported is race suspended and will be restarted, where supported.
 
 ON THE TRACK
 

TRACK LIMITS

For track limits we let the sim handle warnings and penalties given for violating track limits. ACC issues 3 warnings and then a drive through penalty on the 4th over track limit. Raceroom uses a slow down method, other sims use a variety of systems which you should be familiar with if you race in them.

Drive-through penalties can also result from race start and pit stop infringements. As most TSR events we don’t have a live stewarding, drive-through penalties will not be cleared by stewards and need to be completed within 3 laps of them being issued.

Note: if a Drive through penalty is issued within the last three laps of the race and the driver does not clear the penalty by the end of the race; a time penalty decided by the Sim will be added to the race time.

There will be no additional penalties applied by stewards.


OFF TRACK GAINED POSITIONS

If an unfair advantage is gained from going off-track during an overtake (either as an attacker or
defender), the position should be yielded to the other car,
except if the off-track was made to avoid an incident, where it would be too difficult from a driver’s
perspective to understand what positions were gained,


PIT STOPS

When leaving the pits drivers are not allowed to cross the pit exit line (in most cases a white or yellow line), When a driver is clear of the pit exit line, they are free to race.
During practice sessions drivers exiting the pits must do so in a manner that does not interfere with drivers currently running hot laps.

On track drivers should leave a driver exiting the pits space to join the track. Drivers are not required to signal entering the pits (although it can be helpful at some circuits where the pit lane is close to last corner).


DEFENDING

The car in front can choose any line they like to drive if they are clear of the car behind. However, they are only allowed to change direction once before the braking zone to defend and the defending car is not allowed to move under braking.

It is allowed for a car to "squeeze" another car to one side of the circuit so long as they leave at least a car's width and be mindful of squeezing onto kerbing as that can throw a car back into the other cars direction.

When there is contact between cars side by side on a straight, the car that least follows the racing line is deemed at fault.

FLASHING LIGHTS

Flashing of headlights when in blue flag situations is acceptable but must be used reasonably. Excessive headlight flashing or flashing when not under blue flag is not permitted.


AGGRESIVE DRIVING RESULTING IN INCIDENTS

Stewards will take risky overtakes, risky defending (see squeezing), and forcing 3 wide situations into consideration when issuing penalties. Meaning that if an incident happens to you as a result of your risky driving, stewards may not penalize other drivers for causing the incident as you were considered partially at fault.


OVERTAKING

It In general, it is the responsibility of the car behind to choose a safe point to attempt an overtake, and to do so without causing an incident. the behind driver must establish substantial overlap with the car ahead before a corner's turn-in point to have the right to keep his line and attempt the overtake.

Substantial overlap means that at least the front of the car behind is up to the driver's position of the ahead car so as a guide half way between the front and rear wheels,
Divebombs can result in a warning or a penalty at the discretion of the stewards. Once overlap is established, it is only broken by one car being completely ahead of the other car. This ensures that drivers leave space for each other through a corner.

An exception to this is where an ahead driver has clearly made a sufficient error to warrant a passing move. For example, they brake too late and wash out wide of the apex and have to reduce speed etc. This would be a valid passing opportunity regardless of whether there was pre-existing overlap. However, there is still substantial responsibility on the overtaking driver to take all necessary care.


BLUE FLAG AND IMPEDING

During qualifying if you receive a blue flag and you are on a hot lap then you have the right to continue your lap, it is up to the driver behind to create sufficient gap for their lap, that said if your lap is already down on delta then being a good sport would be to let them pass,

During a race if you are shown a blue flag, you should be prepared to concede the position when it is safe for both parties to facilitate the overtake, The slower driver should not at any point try to engage in racing or defending with the faster car or prolong the overtake longer than is necessary To let a faster driver through it is recommended to move off the racing line and lift off the throttle towards the end of a straight, doing this on start of a straight will cost more time for you, however you let them through make it clear and don’t jump out of the way at the last second, if you have directional indicators/flasher mapped it is helpful to indicate to the side of the track you are going to move to.

The default for letting a driver through is 3 opportunities this can be straights or turns, and the standard penalty for impeding is 5 seconds, but this can be adjusted based on severity.
 

UNLAPPING

During a race, drivers are allowed to unlap themselves from cars that are laps ahead. This should only be done if you are sure that you are faster than the car ahead and can pull away from them. After you have unlapped yourself, remember you are now in a blue flag situation so you should try and pull away out of blue flag conditions within a few corners if you can’t pull clear after a lap you should return allow the car behind back past.

INCIDENT DURING THE RACE

If you are involved in an incident, please be cautious about oncoming cars. If you lose control of your car due to an incident or self-inflicted spin, hold your brakes so you don't accidentally roll into other drivers. The goal is for you to be as predictable as possible, so other drivers do not crash into your car, or you roll into them.

If you are off-track, you must return to the track in a safe and predictable manner off the racing line.
Not holding brakes and unsafe re-entries will result in a penalty at the discretion of a stewards.
 

PENALTIES

Penalties are reviewed by multiple stewards and are announced in a weekly incident report on the discord channel. Penalties remain subject to appeals until the next race. Please be patient with our volunteer stewards as they take time out of their busy schedules to carefully review all reported incidents.

Any on track retaliation of any kind will not be tolerated. Any retaliation may result in a disqualification or next race ban. This includes post-race ramming (remember drivers with strong DD wheels can get injured from being rammed),

Lap one incidents will normally carry a larger penalty,

PENALTIES GIVEN

The range of penalties will be in line with the below:

• [Racing incident] None of the drivers involved were found at fault for the incident.
• [NFA] No further action. The offending driver was at fault, but they were the only one disadvantaged by the incident.
• [Warning] When the offending driver was at fault, but there was not enough damage and/or time lost for to warrant a time penalty.
• [5 second time penalty] For causing minor contact where an advantage is gained, and for causing a collision where the position is not returned.
• [10 second time penalty] For causing minor contact where an advantage is gained, causing a spin or off track excursion for the other driver.
• [15 second time penalty] For causing a collision that results in damage and/or position loss for another driver. This usually involves a spin.
• [30 second time penalty] This penalty will be given for severe incidents typically involving severe damage or heavy contact with multiple cars.
• [Disqualification] When a car is deliberately causing contact with other cars.
• [Next Race Qualifying Ban] We hand out this penalty at our discretion, usually where a driver causes a multiple car crash and retires from that race so a time penalty.
• [Race Ban] This penalty is also given at our discretion, for example when a driver still causes incidents after being given a qualifying ban.
• [Points Deduction] Can be issued by the stewards where they deem an incident was serious, and that a time penalty will not be appropriate enough a penalty.
  
  Stewards can use a combination of penalties if and when required.
  
  RETURNING POSITION
  
  If you cause an incident and gain a position and then choose to return the position gained, this may not stop a penalty altogether, but will reduce the penalty when review by the stewards, however in the spirit of sportsmanship you should really return a position if gain illegally.