Touring Masters Rules and Regulations

Welcome to the 2016 Touring Masters. This championship will be contested on Forza Motorsport 6 on Xbox One and will consist of 8 rounds. 4 Feature Races (roughly 45 minutes long) and 4 Sprint Races (a series of 3 races each roughly 15 minutes long)
Before you decide to enter the series, please take the time to read the rules & regulations very carefully.

By registering for the series, you agree to the rules and regulations as written in this thread. TORA reserves the right to alter the rules & regulations as necessary, for the purpose of fairness and clarity in the competition.

For your convenience we have highlighted red rules and other vital information new for this series. Please make sure you have read and fully understand them before signing up for this series.


GENERAL RULES AND DRIVER ETIQUETTE

Motor racing, as defined by TORA, is a non contact sport. It is understandable that on occasion some contact may occur as a consequence of incidents caused by either party; for instance "lag". At TORA lag is defined as sudden high internet latency or ping causing visual inconsistencies between players.

Competitors with lag issues will not be penalized, but will be asked to improve their connection for future participation in TORA’s events. If the issue is persistently hindering other competitor’s experiences, or you cannot join lobbies (see rule 14.0), please perform a speed test on your connection via http://www.speedtest.net. Once you have completed this, see the connection section via this link:

http://forums.theonlineracingassociation.com/t1312-xbox-live-connectivity

TORA expects every competitor who partakes in our championships to behave in an appropriate and respectable manner. Insulting comments or behaviour towards fellow competitors, race stewards, lobby hosts and staff is unacceptable and will be dealt with severely by TORA Staff. Respectable on-track etiquette is expected of all competitors. This includes on-track battles, track limits, dirty driving etc. All TORA members must read the TORA Sporting Regulations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ysnqudu2efF2Kxo-wh3zqbh_e-cdVGuZnWVBWSf73eM/pub

TORA expects every competitor who partakes in our championships to behave in an appropriate and respectable manner. Insulting comments or behaviour towards fellow competitors, race stewards, lobby hosts and staff is unacceptable and will be dealt with severely by TORA Staff. Respectable on-track etiquette is expected of all competitors. This includes on-track battles, track limits, dirty driving etc.


DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP

This will be a championship fought by each driver for themselves. The total amount of points at the end of the series will be determined by their overall points obtained from every race they have competed in, minus the lowest scoring round from each of the feature races and sprint races (i.e. 2 dropped rounds).

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

A team will be made up of a minimum of 2, and maximum of 3 drivers, all driving the same car/s. This championship will be scored by the total points scored by the top two team drivers at each round over the course of the championship. There will be no dropped rounds for the team championship.

FEATURE RACE CROWN

This title will be scored by the a driver's overall points in all the feature races. There will be no dropped rounds for this title.

SPRINT RACE CROWN

This title will be scored by the a driver's overall points in all the sprint races. There will be no dropped rounds for this title.

FEATURE RACE POINT SYSTEM

1st; 225 points
2nd; 218
3rd; 212
4th; 208
5th; 206
6th; 205
7th; 204...
 

SPRINT SERIES POINT SYSTEM

1st; 80 points
2nd; 75
3rd; 72
4th; 70
5th; 69
6th; 68...  

BONUS POINTS

Qualification Pole; 2 points
Race Lobby Win; 1 point (Sprint series only)


TEAM DRIVER CHANGES

From the start of the series, the full time driver line up may only have 1 driver swap in the lineup. Additional drivers may be brought into your team if you didn’t start the series with the full allocation of 3 drivers.

SUBSTITUTE DRIVERS

Substitute drivers are not allowed in this series.

CAR CHOICES

There are no car limits in this championship. Only ONE car change is permitted for any team once the first meeting has commenced.*
*The first meeting is deemed to have commenced at (insert date).

PARADE LAP AND ROLLING START PROCEDURE

Competitors will perform a single parade lap in order to set the starting order. We ask all competitors to listen to the lobby host for what speed they should drive on the parade lap - around 80mph maximum. Competitors are asked not to move until the lobby host reads out the grid order and confirms when they can move off. We ask that competitors do not race one-another in the formation lap as to not interfere with the starting order, any resulting infringements will be reported to the race director and penalties may be given.

To perform a rolling start the pole position driver will lead the field 2-by-2 into the final sector. The lead driver can commence the race any time after the penultimate corner. When he chooses to accelerate he cannot change his mind and he also does not need to announce his intentions to commence race proceedings, it is for the following pack to determine whether the race has started. Once he has accelerated after the penultimate corner the race has begun. Overtaking can take place before the start/finish line on the rolling start. Jump starts will be investigated by the Stewards and will results in penalties.

SAFETY CAR RULES

There will be no designated ‘safety car’ vehicle utilized in our championships. Due to the limited nature of online race lobbies. However TORA does operate general safety car regulations which provide a similar outcome, utilizing the lead vehicle in the lobby to slow the cars to a safe speed whilst any obstruction is cleared from the circuit, or allowing affected competitors to repair any damage and catch up with the rest of the field.

WHEN THE SAFETY CAR IS USED

The Safety Car will only be deployed if an incident or incidents occur between two or more competitors that causes damage to a driver involved. Only a driver involved in the incident may request the safety car, and make the request to the Lobby Host. The Lobby Host may seek the opinions of other competitors, before making the decision to activate the safety car period.

The Safety Car may not be requested during the final two laps of a race.

FORMING A SAFETY CAR

In the event of a safety car period being called, the lead car takes the role of the Safety Car or Pace Car. The Safety Car must not exceed 60MPH and the pack must form in current race position in single file.

CONDUCT DURING SAFETY CAR PERIOD

Drivers involved in the incident should form at the back of the pack, in order of relative position before the incident, unless there is an obvious instigator. Competitors must keep a reasonable distance during the Safety Car Period. Brake testing during the Safety Car period will not be tolerated and may lead to penalties, either race meeting or championship. Warming of tyres is permitted but must be undertaken in a safe manner with due consideration given to other competitors. Competitors who leave the track by their own volition during the Safety Car period may be passed by the rest of the pack and the competitor will form at the back of the field.

The safety car period will be 3 laps to enable drivers involved in the initial incident to pit for damage and catch back up to the pack. After 3 laps the lead driver will recommence the race as a rolling start in single file order (see rolling start procedure)

RACE MEETING SET-UP

QUALIFYING

We ask that all competitors are on Xbox live 15 minutes prior to the start of the race meeting, and appear online. Where necessary, if each competitor could post "In" in the relevant race meeting thread on the TORA forums. Anyone who wishes to race without posting "In" will need to wait the race meeting organizers confirmation before being allowed to race.
TORA’s ‘Live Timing’ system will be updated prior to the race meeting with who your lobby host will be for qualifying, and will be updated during the meeting with the results. One invite will be sent out to all race entrants. This invite will also denote your qualifying lobby.

If a connection issue is apparent please contact the race director or lobby host as soon as possible and they will do their best to ensure you can connect to the qualifying lobby.

Competitors who are not connected to the host’s room at the start time without reason stated before the start time of the race meeting will not be able to take part in qualifying. The qualifying session will start no later than 5 minutes from the designated race meeting start time.

QUALIFYING LOBBY SETTINGS AND PROCEDURE

Qualifying commences at (insert date) prompt.
Feature Races - You will be given 15 minutes to qualify. (The lobby will be set to 25 mins)
Sprint Races -You will be given 10 minutes to qualify. (The lobby with be set to 20 mins)

-Collisions will be forced off
-Damage will be set to Simulated damage
-There will be no roll off delay - you must find your own space on track.
-The Grid will be set to Random
-Once 10 minutes are left on the lobby timer you are to complete the lap you are on and stop at turn 1 for the lobby host to take down your qualification time.
-Times will then be uploaded to the Live Timing application by the chief marshal of the meeting
-Clean laps take preference over Dirty laps. A slower clean lap will qualify in front of a faster Dirty lap.

FEATURE RACES

TORA’s ‘Live Timing’ system will be updated after qualifying has taken place to update you who your lobby host will be. We ask that all competitors remain on Xbox live for the start of the race. ONE invite will be sent out to all race entrants. This will denote your race lobby. If a connection issue is apparent please contact the race director or lobby host ASAP and they will do their best to ensure you can connect to the race lobby.

Competitors who are not connected to the host’s room, or contacted a race official to explain a delay, after 10 minutes of the race lobby invite has been sent will not be able to take part in race.

Race - Grid will be the results of the qualifying session. All drivers with "clean" laps in qualifying will be before all drivers who set "dirty" laps. Races will take place over a pre-determined amount of laps (roughly 45 mins). All drivers are to make 1 mandatory pit-stop during the race (not during last 2 laps). Please see the Season Calendar for details.

SPRINT RACES

TORA’s ‘Live Timing’ system will be updated after qualifying has taken place to update you who your lobby host will be. We ask that all competitors remain on Xbox live for the start of the race. ONE invite will be sent out to all race entrants. This will denote your race lobby. If a connection issue is apparent please contact the race director or lobby host ASAP and they will do their best to ensure you can connect to the race lobby.

Competitors who are not connected to the host’s room, or contacted a race official to explain a delay, after 10 minutes of the race lobby invite has been sent will not be able to take part in race.

Race 1 - Grid will be the results of the qualifying session. All drivers with "clean" laps in qualifying will be before all drivers who set "dirty" laps. Races will take place over a pre-determined amount of laps (roughly 15 mins). Please see the Season Calendar for details.

Race 2 - Grid will be determined by the results of Race 1. Drivers that finished Race 1 in 1st, 2nd and 3rd will receive a 5% power handicap. Races will take place over a pre-determined amount of laps (roughly 15 mins). Please see the Season Calendar for details.

Race 3 - Grid will be determined by the results of Race 2. A random number draw will be used to reverse the grid from position 5-10. Drivers that finished in the top 3 position in both Race 1 and Race 2 will keep their 5% power handicap. Races will take place over a pre-determined amount of laps (roughly 15 mins). Please see the Season Calendar for details.


ASSISTS

- Collisions during all races will be on, and set with Simulation Damage. Driving Line and Normal/Simulation Steering are the only allowed driving aids that may be used. TCS, ABS, STM, Auto-brake and Auto-gears are prohibited. Manual gears must be used but it is up to the competitor if they wish to use the clutch or not.
- The race will be set to a pre-determined amount of laps which the lobby host will make aware to the competitors in the lobby.


STEWARD INQUIRES

Standard SI rules in force please refer to sporting regulation handbook


CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR

The championship will race on the dates as listed in the calendar thread, linked here:
http://forums.theonlineracingassociation.com/t16701-touring-masters-uk-schedule


ENTERING THE LOBBY

The host or Lobby Marshal will invite each driver to the lobby they will be Qualifying or Racing in. They will send each driver one invite to the lobby. If the driver cannot join, the host or Lobby Marshal will send a maximum of two extra invites before the meeting is due to start. If the driver cannot join the Qualifying session in time, they will start at the back of the grid in the race. If the driver cannot join the race session, they will score 0 points for that race.


POSTPONED MEETINGS

Sometimes a meeting may have to be postponed. The meeting may be cancelled, or pushed back on the calendar. The entirety of this rule is at the discretion of the series organizer.

Some of these rules may need to be amended, as they did not match the instructions we were given in the lobby, such as the paired rolling start and passing before the start line.

Dominic Mako wrote:Some of these rules may need to be amended, as they did not match the instructions we were given in the lobby, such as the paired rolling start and passing before the start line.

My fault for the 2x2. In Preseason, we did single file, and while my name is on the post, I did not write that amendment nor did I know of it myself.

For the record, I prefer the single file start. With some of the sprint events requiring three starts, side-by-side increases the likely hood of accidents before the start, necessitating another restart. Single file seems to reduce those issues, and also places a greater emphasis on qualifying well.

Flyin Mikey J wrote:To perform a rolling start the pole position driver will lead the field 2-by-2 into the final sector. The lead driver can commence the race any time after the penultimate corner. When he chooses to accelerate he cannot change his mind and he also does not need to announce his intentions to commence race proceedings, it is for the following pack to determine whether the race has started. Once he has accelerated after the penultimate corner the race has begun. Overtaking can take place before the start/finish line on the rolling start. Jump starts will be investigated by the Stewards and will results in penalties.

I can say with experience that this has been the single-most starting procedure I've been a part of on TORA. So you're telling me that the only way that I'm supposed to know when the start is is by following the gap meter in the lower corner of the screen? Are you all [Censored] mental?

This. This is the manufactured paranoia that leads to cars 3-wide well before the race actually starts.

I know. I know.