American Iron Rules and Regulations

General Rules & Driving Etiquette

Stock Car racing, as defined by TORA, is a non contact sport. It is understandable that on occasion some contact may occur  that is not expected by either party, for example due to lag. Competitors with 'lag' issues will not be penalized, but may  be asked to improve their connection, if the issue is persistently hindering other's experiences please see connection section.

TORA expects competitors who partake in its championships and meetings to behave in an appropriate and respectable manner.

Insulting comments or behavior towards fellow competitors and race stewards is unacceptable and will be dealt with severely.

Competitors who are being followed on a straight part of a track by another car may move their position on the track ONCE to defend, any further sufficient movement outside of cornering will be deemed as weaving and you may be reported to the race director or head steward after the race.

If a competitor leaves the track at any time, it is advised that extra caution is taken not to impede other drivers when rejoining, please check and look before rejoining the track. Common courtesy stipulates that a driver in a dangerous position on the circuit should alert oncoming drivers of their position to avoid additional incidents, (essentially the yellow flag rules.)

Track Limits

The track limits are determined by the solid white lines either side of the track. At all times, two wheels must remain on this part of the circuit, unless of an occurrence where it is near to impossible to keep two wheels on the track, like avoiding a collision. The track limits must be adhered to in the event of gaining an advantage whilst having an on-track battle. If a driver overtakes a driver by getting all four wheels off the track, the driver must give that position back before they may continue the race. If the driver which was overtaken backs off heavily either through incident or "mechanical" failure, then the position will not need to be given back. Excessive or persistent cutting will be penalized  be Stewards.

2016 TORA American Iron Championships

The TORA American Iron series will take place between the 4th of February 2016 and the 8th of September 2016 in a 6 Meeting championship. The series will have two championships up for grabs.

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP

This will be a championship fought by each driver for themselves. The total amount of points at the end of the series, minus the lowest scoring round from their overall points will be their final points total and will result in their position in the overall drivers standing at the end of the year.

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

A team will be made up of a minimum of 1, and maximum of 3 drivers. Each team driver MUST compete in a different car from the same Corporate Manufacturer. "Differences" include year and/or model. Example a 1992 Mustang and a 1969 Mustang are considered "different" cars. 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 Drop Round for Teams' Championship.

Corporate Manufacturers:
FoMoCo: Ford and Mercury
GM: Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac
Mopar: Dodge, AMC, and Plymouth

Team Driver Changes

None.

- Substitute Drivers

For the length of the entire series, a team may make use of substitute driver if a full time driver cannot make a meeting. This substitute driver is eligible to score points for the drivers championship, and towards the point for the team they are driving for that meeting. A team has a maximum of 2 substitutes per season. Any further substitutes, and the replacement driver will not score points for the team they are driving for. Substitute drivers must be made aware to the series runners before commencing the race meeting itself.

The substitute driver can not come from an existing team. A substitute driver may only score points for the team they are driving for in any particular race, and must remain in a single car/team for an entire race meeting.

Car Changes

There will be no allowed Car Changes after the start of Race 1. Once you have signed up with your team you are 'locked-in' with your choice and current Driver line up. There will be a 'window' at the third race of the season, where teams may change their car choice once. This 'window' will only be open for one week.

Race Rules

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 three or more competitors that severely impairs all competitors race. Only a driver involved in the incident may request the safety car, and make the request to the Lobby Captain. The Lobby Captain 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 Period

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.

Drivers not involved in the incident may pit during a Safety Car Period, but will resume the race at the back of the field.

If the grid has not formed by the time the pole sitter reaches the pit lane entrance, the safety car may continue for another lap. It is YOUR duty to ensure the safety of your fellow competitors.

RESTART PROCEDURE Everyone is expected to give a reasonable gap of 40 feet to the preceding car and maintain as steady a speed as possible heading to the starting line on restarts. DO NOT "lag back" to gain space in an attempt to jump the field. DO NOT restart closer than 40 feet from the car ahead of you. This way, the cars will all be grouped together nicely when the leader hits the starting line, which is when the race resumes. No passing before the Start Line.

ALL RESTARTS WILL BE AT THE START/FINISH LINE.

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 organisers 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 host.

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.

Settings

-Qualifying will consist of 2 flying laps (lap counter will be set to 3 laps)
-Collisions will be forced off
-Damage will be set to Simulation Damage
-There will be no roll off delay - you must find your own space on track.
-The Grid will be set to Random
-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.

RACE

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.

All races will have a Reverse Grid, meaning the fastest car in the Lobby will start from the rear of the grid. "Passing Points" will be awarded, one point per finishing position gained from starting position.

Races will take pace over a predetermined amount of laps. Please see the Season Calendar for details.

There will be one race in an evening, and will last around 45 minutes.

Race will form up on the grid in the order in which the competitors qualified.

There will be no mandatory pit stops during the races, but you may have to stop for fuel, tires or damage during the course of the event.

Parade Lap and Rolling Start

Competitors will perform a single Formation lap to set the grid positions, before a rolling start on lap 2 begins race conditions. 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 grid order, any resulting infringements will be reported to the race director and penalties may be given.

Due to the inconsistency of XBL lobby communications, and to avoid extra restarts, this is the Official Start Procedure:

Everyone forms up in their grid position via rows of two, at the designated area (per in lobby pre-race instructions) at the designated pace lap speed for that circuit (per in lobby pre race instructions). As YOUR ROW hits the start/finish line, you may commence racing. Jump starts will be investigated by the Stewards and will results in penalties.

Jump Start.

If a driver accelerates before the Start Line, then a Warning is given out. If a Driver receives another warning within Two Meetings (Six Races) then a Five Place Grid Penalty for the next round is issued.

Decisions may be appealed if there is substantial proof (at least one more Replay other than the one used to make the decision) is provided to show the decision is incorrect.

Settings

- Collisions during all races will be on, and set with Limited Damage. TCS, ABS, Driving Line and Normal/Simulation Steering may be used. 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 predetermined amount of laps which will be posted in the American Iron Schedule thread.

Race Etiquette

-Stock Car racing is defined as non-contact but a certain level of door rubbing and panel bashing is inevitable. With Simulation damage on please take care when racing with each other so you do not ruin other people's races as well as your own. If you are found to be causing incidents that were avoidable then action will be taken by the stewards. Please see the Steward Handbook for details on the action and penalties that may result.