Rules
Gavra Racing relies on drivers to compete with consideration and respect. Everybody wants close, competitive and enjoyable racing. To that end, please read and understand our rules and guidelines.
In situations where an Incident Review is needed, the Gavra Stewards Panel will look to this page as part of their decision making.
This page contains the following sections:
- Participation
- Do’s & Do Not’s
- Overtaking
- Blue Flags
- The Reset Button
- Replacement Drivers
- Practice & Qualifying
- Conditions For Race Completion Or Abandonment
PARTICIPATION
During the season, admin spends a lot of time and effort organising and reviewing races, tracking results, maintaining the website and trying to make racing events better for you. Likewise, your fellow competitors take racing seriously, plan to compete fairly in every event, and do their best to race clean and fair. So, before you enter a championship, please be prepared to respect everyone else involved by attending and competing every event possible during your championship season.
- Starting the season = finishing the season.
- Starting a race = finishing the race.
- If you cannot participate in an event, please make sure you arrange your replacement driver.
- Participation issues and quitting races can be penalised and will have driver ranking consequences.
- Maximum participation means maximum enjoyment for everybody!
DO’S & DO NOT’S
Do:
- Respect other drivers.
- Always leave driving room on the track for your competitors.
- Always have your Proximity Indicator and Race Spotter activated at all times.
- Under a blue flag, let the faster car pass safely and as soon as possible.
Do Not:
- Cut or swerve in front of other drivers.
- Message or talk during qualifying and racing (ensure your microphone is turned off).
- Race with or unduly delay drivers who are lapping you. Also, please let obviously faster drivers unlap themselves.
- Use the reset button to get back on track quickly.
OVERTAKING
Careless driving during overtaking situations can compromise or even end your race, or seriously affect others. There are some rules that drivers should respect:
- You must have the in-game Proximity Indicator and Race Spotter fully activated at all times during Gavra Racing events. These gameplay options greatly increase awareness about the cars around you, and they can help you avoid contact, race incidents and potential penalties.
- During a battle, every driver should do their best to hold their driving line while leaving room for nearby drivers.
- Driver should not change line suddenly, swerve or cut in front of other cars.
- When cornering, side-by-side drivers must leave each other room. Please err on the side of caution. If you suspect a car is adjacent to you, leave some room.
- You might gain a position because of unfair contact during a battle. Please give the position back to the affected driver. Fair driving conduct will help you to avoid penalties, and save your valuable championship and ranking points.
BLUE FLAGS
Probably the most problematic overtaking situation is under the blue flag. Understandably, no driver wants to lose time as every driver is in their own race for position. Some guidelines to help everyone are below:
Being Lapped
- The faster car has priority. Please respect the faster car.
- It is your responsibility to let the faster car pass as soon as possible.
- DO NOT race or engage with the faster car.
- The best place to give way is on a straight where you can safely get off the driving line, move to the inside of the track and slow down.
- The second best place to give way is to slow down and take the outside line of a corner.
- Drive smoothly and don’t swerve or slow suddenly.
- Flashing your lights can alert the lapping driver that you know they are there and you are preparing to let them pass.
Lapping
- Be alert and always take care when passing a slower car.
- Remember, slower cars have a right to be there too and cannot just disappear.
- If there is no harm done, don’t worry too much about small incidents.
- Complaining about blue flag behaviour on the messaging groups doesn’t help or fix any problems. See Incident Reviews page for the correct protest procedure.
All Drivers Please Consider
- Where a car already lapped might have fresher tyres, or a driver hitting some form, the faster car might be in a position to unlap themselves. In this case, the car a lap ahead should let the faster car pass safely. The general rule is, unless you are battling for position on the same lap, always give way to the faster car.
- Occasionally two or more cars are battling for position while being lapped. In this case, do not pass the car ahead when they make room or slow down to let the lapping car pass. This is very poor sportsmanship and you might be penalized.
- Remember, tires are losing grip, race pressure is high, and everyone makes mistakes. Please be patient and level-headed.
THE RESET BUTTON
The reset button can be used to gain an unfair advantage by limiting any loss of time off track or inconvenience as a result of an accident. For this reason, the use of the reset button is prohibited and will be penalized in every case. The Gavra Stewards Team has the discretion to apply any penalty they consider appropriate, and the severity of the penalty could vary according to the circumstances of the reset event.
REPLACEMENT DRIVERS
Teams can choose to arrange substitute drivers before the season, or arrange stand-in drivers as needed during the season. We encourage the organisation of substitute drivers before the season starts. Teams can have a maximum of two substitute drivers prearranged. Drivers arranged pre-season are referred to as contracted drivers, and drivers called in as required after the season starts are called casual replacements. Substitutes can earn race points for individual drivers, but contracted drivers will have a points-earning advantage.
Contracted drivers must be declared to race organisers before the first race of the season. If not, any substitute driver will be considered a casual replacement.
The points table for each championship will show the points available to contracted drivers and casual replacements.
- Substitute drivers can earn points in one quarter of the championship races for a two-driver team. After this, replacement drivers can continue to drive, but will earn no points for individuals, but can do so for the team.
- Teams get full points for substitute drivers.
- Contracted drivers can be available for as many teams as they want.
- The application of penalties is slightly different for replacement drivers. Please see the Penalties page for details.
- Replacement drivers can participate in qualification sessions and compete for grid positions.
Replacement drivers can be called in from outside Gavra Racing, but are subject to the same scrutiny as that for direct entry to Gavra Racing (bypassing the Academy). Please be prepared to prove the credentials of your externally-sourced replacement: publicly available performance and participation records in other leagues.
QUALIFYING AND PRACTICE
Usually, practice and qualifying are a short 10 or 15 minutes. This is enough time for at least three or four timed laps on most circuits, but drivers will have to be fully prepared before race day as there will be almost no time to use practice and qualifying to set up and test your car.
Short practice and qualifying really add tension to the sessions, and a little unpredictability to the grid. This in turn adds a bit more excitement, good racing and a more competitive season overall. Practice and qualifying is very interesting and entertaining for everyone, especially when broadcast. The qualifying sessions are like mini-events as there is real tension and excitement about what might happen during the session. The overall duration of the event becomes shorter, and drivers have to really focus on their session and run as mistake-free as possible.
Because of the shorter sessions there is more potential for having a lap affected by traffic, and it does happen occasionally that a driver doesn’t get to post a good lap. This has not been too much of a problem in past seasons because drivers have to get on-track almost immediately and be at their qualifying pace for the duration of the session. However, we ask drivers on an out lap, or who know that they are on a dead lap, be very considerate and make way for drivers who are on a hot lap. Also, slow cars and bottlenecks created by drivers constantly entering and exiting the pits during practice and qualifying is minimised.
Please keep in mind that everyone deserves a fair shot at a good lap, so fair play and consideration is a must. If you manage your pit exit and your on-track position in relation to other cars during out laps and dead laps, you will increase the chances of a successful qualifying session. However, it is inevitable that some frustration and disappointments in qualifying will be part of these championships, and must be accepted during the season.
CONDITIONS FOR RACE COMPLETION OR ABANDONMENT
6 drivers is the minimum number remaining connected in order to continue the event to full completion.
Race organisers and admin can choose to abandon a race event before start, or during the race. The decision will take into consideration obvious network problems or connection instability, number of connected drivers, number of absent drivers, or other factors they consider relevant. There are also minimum participation levels for races to be continued or considered complete.
Race Abandoned: No Start
It is at the discretion of race organisers and Gavra admin to abandon the race anytime before the starting lights go out (during practice, qualifying, at the pre-race screen or even on the grid!), and the event will be rescheduled. In other words, until the lights go out, abandoning the event is a judgement call by the race organisers and Gavra admin.
Once the lights go out and the race actually starts, the race can be called off under the following two conditions:
1. Race Called Off: No Result
If at any time BEFORE the first 5 laps have been completed by the first place driver and only 5 or fewer drivers are still connected, the race will be called off with no result and rescheduled. If an event is abandoned, it will be rescheduled preferably to the same day in the next available week, or next suitable opportunity. The event will be run under the exact same race conditions (in-game date/time, weather etc).
2. Race Called Off: Race Result
If at any time AFTER the first 5 laps have been completed by the first placed driver, 5 drivers remain connected, the race will be called off and considered complete. Half points will be awarded to the last 5 connected drivers according to their placing at the last lap completed by the leading driver.
Please note, ‘driver connections’ means all drivers still connected to the session regardless of their on-track status.
If you want to guarantee the review of an incident you must place a claim as described below.
PLEASE NOTE: The race group chat IS NOT the place to accuse or complain about race incidents. Please, DO NOT engage in blame and accusations in the chat. The ONLY place an on-track issue can be solved is by following the proper process.
This page contains the following sections:
- Claim
- Decision
- Important Notes
CLAIM
To make a claim:
- In any channel on the Gavra Racing Discord server, type the command ‘!claim’.
- You will be automatically given the role of ‘@Making A Claim’ and the ‘#incident-claims’ channel will become available to you.
- Please delay posting to the ‘#incident-claims’ channel to allow some time for careful thought and consideration regarding your claim. Prepare your claim, but please wait a few hours, think about and review your claim before posting to the ‘#incident-claims’ channel.
- Post your claim with a link to the video evidence from your replay and/or the video stream. Please note that video evidence is required; no video means no claim.
- Please make sure you provide the exact time of the incident in the video(s).
- Claims must be made within 48 hours of race finish.
- After your claim is posted, the ‘@Making A Claim’ role will be removed, and you will no longer have access to the ‘#incident-claims’ channel.
DECISION
The Steward team will view the claim and agree on the verdict. Further evidence or opinion may be sought from other drivers or commentators who saw the incident. If a claim is upheld, then the offending driver may incur penalties. It’s possible both parties will be found to share responsibility and both may incur penalties.
Everyone understands the problems with replays and online issues. Common sense and probabilities are taken into account with any verdict, but the decision is final. The decision does not need to be overly explained or justified, and will not be changed. Please remember, any verdict is not the opinion of just one person; it is an agreed decision between several senior Gavra Racing members.
IMPORTANT NOTES
- Occasionally a game bug is evident where there is no visible contact between cars on the replay or stream, but the cars look like they react to contact. There must be obvious visible contact in the evidence to support a claim.
- Please keep incident related discussion out of group chat. Accusations or abuse may result in your claim being dismissed, and you may also be penalized with an LLP penalty.
- To make a claim, you don’t need to be directly involved in the incident. Any member of the Discord group can make a claim. We encourage this.
- It is up to you to save video or collect evidence to support your claim. Any evidence is your responsibility.
- Please conduct yourself with professionalism on and off the track irrespective of what other drivers might do or say.
- The claim procedure does not apply to the official Gavra Racing stewards team. The stewards team does not have to follow the process described here, and can review incidents and apply penalties independently and at any time.
Gavra Racing stewards exercise common sense when considering racing incidents and imposing penalties, but it is important to note that car contact is treated very seriously by the incident review team. Drivers in Gavra Racing have some expectations of them, and all drivers enter championships and start races knowing that there are some minimum expectations and competence required of their driving.
This page contains the following sections:
- Things Drivers Know
- Types Of Penalties
- LLPs (License Level Penalties)
- RRPs (Race Result Penalties)
- Penalties And Replacements Drivers
- Other Penalty Issues
- Driver Conduct
Things Drivers Know
- Drivers know how to control their car. “My brakes locked up,” “It just started raining and I was still on dry tyres,” or “My front aero was damaged and only at 50%” are NOT excuses. Drivers are expected to have enough skill and awareness to compensate for driving conditions.
- Drivers know where nearby cars are on the track. “I didn’t know they were there” is NOT an excuse: drivers are required to have Proximity Indicators and the Race Spotter activated at all times.
- Drivers know how to drive appropriately under blue flag conditions.
- There are of course some exceptions under special circumstances, but in most situations these expectations will apply. Please see the Race Rules page for guidelines that all drivers and stewards use in Gavra Racing.
Types Of Penalties
There are 2 kinds of penalties:
- License Level Penalties (LLPs).
- Race Result Penalties (RRPs).
NOTE: Both types of penalties are independent of each other, but both can be applied to the same incident.
Drivers License Penalties
At the beginning of the season, drivers are usually have an LLP rating of ‘0′ (zero). Drivers could have penalty levels added as a result of an incident review or direct action from the Gavra Stewards team. LLP points are removed if a driver runs a clean race.
License Level Penalties (LLPs)
LLPs added are applied at the discretion of the incident review panel depending on the severity of the incident. Typically +1 Level for a minor incident, and +2 Levels for a more serious incident. The penalties corresponding to LLP levels is listed below:
LLP0 – No Penalty
LLP1 to LLP4 – Practice and qualification session restrictions.*
LLP5 – Race Suspension
LLP6 – Championship Disqualification
* Please see the ‘Rules’ section on the page dedicated to your championship for the exact penalties as they apply in your championship.
The driver serves the penalty in the next race. For every clean the driver drops one LLP point. Once a penalty has been served, there is no need for any further penalty action unless new LLPs are applied. If there is another incident, the driver gets LLP points added and serves the penalty for their new level in the next race.
Round 01: Minor race incident (+1LLP) ->LLP1.
Round 02: Level 1 penalty served; Clean race (-1LLP) -> LLP0.
Round 03: Serious incident (+2LLP) -> LLP2.
Round 04: Level 2 penalty served; Clean race. (-1LLP) -> LLP1.
Round 05: Serious incident (+2LLP) -> LLP3.
Round 06: Level 3 penalty served; Minor incident (+1LLP) -> LLP4.
Round 07: Level 4 penalty served; Clean race (-1LLP) -> LLP3.
Round 08: Clean race (-1LLP) -> LLP2.
Round 09: Clean race (-1LLP) -> LLP1.
Round 10: Minor race incident (+1LLP) -> LLP2.
Round 11: Level 2 penalty served; Clean Race (-1LLP) -> LLP1.
etc…
The LLP a driver has at the end of a championship will be carried over to the next championship season, and must be served. Eg. If a driver reaches LLP3 as a result of an incident during the last race of the season, the penalty must be served in the first race of the next season. If the first race of the new season is clean, the LLP will be reset to ‘0’ (zero). If the driver incurs a penalty as a result of a first race incident, the LLP will continue.
Race Result Penalties (RRPS)
If a driver gains any advantage due to an incident they caused, a Race Result Penalty (RRP) can be applied as a result of a protest or direct action from the stewards.
In case of an incident with only one other car, the driver who causes the incident and gains advantage will get a one rank race result penalty (RRP1). For more than one incident or incidents involving multiple cars, the driver could be demoted multiple ranks accordingly.
If a driver finishes in 1st place with an RRP1, they get championship points for 2nd position. For a RRP2, they get points for 3rd position. With a RRP3, points for 4th position and so on. However, the RRP has a minimum of 2 points penalty on the previous level’s points to ensure drivers finishing low or even not finishing at all still receive a meaningful points penalty.
RRPs do not affect the points of other drivers. So if 1st place receives RRP1 points for 2nd place, the on-track 2nd place finisher still receives his full points for 2nd place; 25 points each.
If you gain a position(s) because of unfair contact, an RRP can (and should) be avoided by giving the position back on track immediately, regardless of the in-game penalty system.
The current points system showing RRPs for each finishing position up to RRP4:
Penalties And Replacements Drivers
LLPs
Replacement drivers gain or lose their own LLPs. Any LLP has to be served in the championship it was received. Eg. If a driver receives an LLP as a replacement, they must serve it as a replacement, but the value of the LLP is carried over to their own championship. For example, if a GT3 driver is running as a replacement in GT4, and incurs an LLP in GT4, he must serve the penalty next time he runs as a replacement in GT4, BUT the LLP from GT4 is added to his personal LLP level.
RRPs
Replacement drivers can be penalised with individual RRPs that will apply to their race result and reduce the points they earn on behalf of the driver they are replacing.
Externally-Sourced And Non-Championship Replacements
Penalties applied to replacement drivers that are not currently participating in one of Gavra Racing’s championships will be applied directly to the driver they replace. This is because there is no responsibility or accountability for the replacement driver outside their role as a replacement.
Other Penalty Issues
External Factors
Sometimes other factors can impact the race and affect other drivers. Examples of this are things like lag and controller failure. In these cases, if other drivers are affected then the driver causing the incident will be reviewed in the same way as a driver responsible for a regular race incident. We take the view that drivers are responsible for all aspects of their conduct, performance, connection and hardware, both inside and outside the event, especially if it affects other drivers. We understand this is can sometimes be a bit harsh, but where innocent drivers have their races affected, there has to be some accountability. It also encourages you to ensure you are fully prepared for race events, both inside and outside the race event.
In-Game Bugs
Sometimes game bugs can affect your race it may be safer (and less frustrating) to sit out the race in the pits and rejoin for the last lap or so to qualify for 50% of race placing points. If you choose to quit or retire from the event, you must provide an explanation and evidence to support this decision. If no evidence of the issue is provided, then the retirement will be treated as a regular race quit, and may penalised accordingly. Please provide evidence as normal: within 24 hours of race finish.
Off Track LLPs
There are a few instances where a LLP may be applied outside of a race incident. These are typically for championship participation and inappropriate behaviour or abuse in official chat groups. Race quits, retirements and cars parked trackside for extended periods of time could also attract an LLP penalty unless a reasonable explanation is submitted to the race organiser within 24hrs.
There is an issue with Project Cars 2 that if a driver selects ‘Drive’ and doesn’t leave their garage, this can cause a blockage in the pit-lane and prevent drivers behind them from leaving the pits. If a driver is found to be responsible for this behaviour, the driver will have to serve an LLP3 level penalty in the next race. This will be applied outside of their current LLP level. So if a driver is at LLP1 and commits this offence the next race they serve an LLP3 penalty and in the following race resume their penalty status at the LLP1 level.
Driver Conduct
In difficult connection or reduced grid conditions, drivers should show patience, professionalism and good faith. Sometimes in order to get the race started for as many drivers as possible, connection and stability problems may have to be experienced by competitors during practice or qualifying sessions. The race organiser may ask a driver to stop trying to connect, or preferably, drivers experiencing connection issues should voluntarily withdraw from the event.
Drivers harassing the race organiser to call off the race, demanding the race be run, or otherwise complaining and agitating in the chat could result in LLP penalties. Race organisers and Gavra admin can be trusted to do the right thing by the majority of drivers, and the best thing for the championship and league as a whole.
DRIVER GRADING
So we can offer balanced and competitive championships, Gavra Racing grades drivers based on their performances in the previous season. This ranking system helps ensure that all championships are mostly populated by drivers of more similar ability, and in turn provides more closely contested and enjoyable championships for everyone overall.
A driver’s grade is based on several factors: season points, excellence of results, as well as accumulated on-track and LLP penalties. Different gradings control access to the two tiers of championships in Gavra Racing. The Tier system is explained in detail elsewhere.
Drivers are arranged into four groups:
- Elite Grade Ace (E1A): Drivers with a proven history of high performance and hold a permanent E1 grade.
- Elite Grade (E1): The top drivers in the league based on the previous season.
- Gavra Grade One & Two (G1 & G2).
E GRADE DRIVERS
- To determine which drivers are E1 for the coming season, the cutoff between E1 and G1 will be the top 20 or so drivers after any E1A qualifying drivers have been promoted. Exactly where the line is drawn is a judgement call by senior Gavra admin based on the points fall-off at about the top 20 mark.
- If a driver can maintain two consecutive seasons as an E1 driver in Elite Tier championships, they will earn a permanent E1A (Elite Ace) ranking.
- E1A drivers hold this grade permanently and are are exempt from the grading system.
- E1/E1A drivers can enter any championship without restriction or qualification, and have reserved places in the Elite Tier championships.
G1 DRIVERS
- Typically the largest group of drivers.
- Have access to limited positions in the Elite Tier championships through time trials.
- G1 drivers gaining access to the Elite Tier via time trial are still classed as G1 drivers, NOT as E1 grade drivers. Please see OTHER GRADING NOTES below.
- Have access to any Gavra Tier championship.
G2 DRIVERS
- Have access to Gavra Tier championships only.
OTHER GRADING NOTES
- Drivers can take a season off and keep their grading. However, E1 drivers not racing for two consecutive seasons will have to rejoin at the G1 level. G1/G2 drivers will have to rejoin at G2. E1A drivers keep their E1A status.
- Academy Graduates will be independently assessed and placed in either G1 or G2.
- Drivers who qualify for an Academy bypass will be placed in G1.
- The only way to obtain an E1 grade is through on-track performance and results in Gavra Racing.
- The only way to get an E1A grade is to maintain an E1 grade over two consecutive Elite Tier championships.
DRIVER RANKING AND SPLIT TEAMS
Here in Gavra Racing we strongly support driving in, and developing team relationships. However, sometimes a team can be split by ranking at season’s end. This is only a real problem where the team is split between Elite and Gavra Tiers. So, if an E level/G1 split team want to drive in an Elite Tier Series we will waive the need for a time trial for the G1 driver in only well established teams (2 or more seasons together, and with a history of high performance in Gavra Racing). Basically the G1 driver will get a free pass and take one of the G1 reserve spots in Elite Tier.
HOW DRIVER GRADING WORKS
Drivers who achieve across several important areas such as championship success, clean and fair driving and participation will rise in the rankings based on the following factors.
(A) Championship points = driver grade base score.
- The more championship points you earn, the higher your grade will be at the end of the season.
- These will only include the points from the driver’s main championship.
- Points from driving as a replacement do not count.
- Losing championship points through penalties will directly affect your grade.
(B) Excellence in race results are weighted against pure championship points.
- IF at season’s end, a driver has a greater number of podiums than any driver above them, AND
- Is within 10 championship points of those driver(s), THEN
- They move above those driver(s) in the ranking.
(C) A top 5 season finish gets bonus points.
- Finishing in the top 5 an Elite Tier championship will earn +10 points.
- A top 5 finish in a Gavra Tier championship will earn +5 points.
(D) Drivers who incur 4 or more total LLPs over the season will lose 20 grading points (eg. LLP1 + LLP1 + LLP2 = total 4 LLPs).
(E) Drivers lose 1% of their grade for every 1 second of in-race (track limits etc) penalties remaining at the end of the race.
- This percentage is accumulated during the season and calculated at season’s end.
- Eg, if you have 223 total season points, and penalties totalling 12 seconds during the season, you will lose 12% of your season grade.
- Results will be rounded up; 223 season points – 12% = 196.24 = a grade of 197.
- Any time penalty applied for speeding in the pit lane will not be counted towards your season percentage.
Current championship points (A), is a useful indicator of ranking during the season, but the full and final calculation would be done at season’s end.
Season’s end procedure: (A) + (C) – (D) – (E) + adjustment (B) = E1, G1 or G2 rank for next season. When the new season begins, all driver’s points are reset to zero, and the process begins again.
Unless otherwise indicated on the championship home page, the points and weather systems for each championship will be as described below.
POINTS
Points earned by individual drivers are also credited to team totals.
In case 2 or more drivers (or teams) should finish the season on equal points, to determine the final standings we will take into account the factors below in this order:
- Most Wins
- Most Pole Positions
- Most Podiums
- Lowest Average LLPs
- Best Minor Placings
- Best Attendance
WEATHER
Weather on race day is set one week ahead of the race. The real-world weather at the real-world race location seven days before the race determines the amount of weather slots and their settings.
For example: A race at Brands Hatch on 18th May starting at 14:00 will have weather conditions determined by the real weather at Brands Hatch between 14:00 and 16:00 on 11th May. If the weather during that period changed, then weather slots will be allocated to the race to reflect the real weather changes.
Weather service Accuweather.com is used to determine the weather.
IMPORTANT: Always check your event schedule. Some races may have special conditions for points and/or weather. If so, conditions in the race schedule always take priority.