TORA Spec Cup Season 5: Rules & Regulations

General Rules & Driving Etiquette

Single series 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. During a race meeting, each time the track limits are not adhered to, a warning will be given. Each driver are allowed five warnings of all four wheels leaving the track via the inside of a corner, at any part of the circuit. If a sixth and subsequent "corner cutting" occurrences happen within a race meeting, then that driver will lose a position for each corner cut. Again, if a corner is cut to avoid a collision, this would not be given a warning.

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.


TORA Spec Cup - Season 5 - Rules and Regulations

The TORA SpecCup Series will take place Wednesdays between 7th of June and 9th of August 2017 in a ten meeting championship. The series will have three championships up for grabs.

Drivers' Championship

The Drivers' Championship will be won by the driver who scored the most points over the course of the championship.

Teams' Championship

The Teams' Championship will be won by the team who collectively scored the most points over the course of the championship.
Teams' points for each meeting are determined by the two highest scoring members of that team. There will be one dropped round for the lowest scoring round in this championship.

Privateer Championship

The Privateer Championship will be won by the highest scoring driver entered as a Privateer into the series.

Points

The points for both the Sprint Race (Race 1) & the Feature Race (Race 2) will receive the same amount of points for both races with a possible total of 200 in one round. With the points for each race listed below.
100-99-98-97...
There will be one dropped round in this series..

This is in regards to drivers that qualify and do not make the race, drivers that do not finish a race (DNF) or drivers that quit a race.
-If a driver qualifies and are not able/cannot make the race, that driver will get half points for last place in the last lobby no matter where the driver qualified. If more than one driver qualifies and does not make the race, as stated before they will all be placed in last place of the last lobby with the quickest driver placing higher than the next quickest and so on.

-If a driver makes either both races, just the first race or second race and does not finish (DNF) due to lag out or other circumstance. The lap that the driver dropped from the race will be recorded by the race Marshal and that driver will be placed last for that lobby and given full points for that lobby. (ex. Driver in Lobby B drops on lap 6. That driver will be placed last and get points for last place in Lobby B NOT the last lobby as per qualifying and not racing.) If more than one driver drops in the same lobby, the race Marshal will record which driver dropped when and those drivers be placed last in the field of that lobby. The driver that dropped first will be placed behind the driver that dropped next and so on. If two or more drivers drop on the same lap, the race Marshal will determine who dropped first and place that driver in one spot lower that the driver who dropped next. All drivers that drop will receive FULL points for that lobby.

-If a driver quits a race due to getting angry or their race is not going well, those drivers will receive NO POINTS for that race. It is up to the race Marshal to determine if the driver quit the race or just lagged out.


Driver Substitutions

Driver substitutions are allowed. The limitations are any driver can only be substituted for once for the entire series. The substitute driver will get no points for the driver he is replacing. The points that he/she earns will only count toward team points. If the driver that is designated as a substitute is already signed up in the series as a Privateer, that driver will not receive any points for themselves as they were entered as a substitute.


Weather Settings

With regarding the weather settings, TORA will announce 24 hours prior to each race meeting what the forecast will be.
The data will be based on a forecast sourced for the real world racing venue.

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 both 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 50MPH 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 tires 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.

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. 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. Three invites 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. Please be sure that your network settings are correct before getting online.

Settings

- Qualifying will be set to 15 minutes
- Damage will be set to Off (because Collisions can't be turned off)
- Tire Wear and Fuel Usage will be set to Real
- You are starting from the pits, so you must find your own space on track.
- ABS,TCS,STM are allowed

After the Qualifying is done, the Host will take all the times to determine the Grid order for Race 1

RACE

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 5 minutes of the race lobby invite has been sent may not be able to take part in race. We will try our best to accommodate you if there are technical connection issues - it may result in dropping a lobby.

Races will take place over a pre-determined amount of laps. Please see the Season Calendar for further details.

This series will have two races in an evening (Race 1 will last around 20/25 minutes and Race 2 around 30/35 minutes).

Race meetings featuring two races consist of a Sprint and a Feature Race. The Sprint Race will take about 20 to 25 minutes on a usually smaller/shorter layout of the track while the Feature Race will take about 30 to 35 minutes on the main circuit/bigger layout.

Endurance Races consist of one race lasting about 1 hour and will be held on the main circuit/biggest available layout of the track.

Grid Ordering
Race 1 (Sprint/Endurance Race): will form up on the grid in the order in which drivers qualified.
Race 2 (Feature Race): will form up on the grid in reversed order as finished in Race 1.

In each races the lobby will perform a parade lap to set the field and will start from a standing start. Once the field has performed the parade lap and comes back to the starting grid to line up, the race Host/Marshall will call out a time anywhere from 15-20 seconds to start the race.  Also, once the field is lined up ALL, drivers are asked to stop talking so the race Host/Marshall can be heard.

Sprint Races will have NO mandatory pit stops!
Feature Races we will have 1 mandatory pit stops!
Endurance Races will have 2 mandatory pit stops!

The pit window will be announced in the Calendar thread!

In case the amount of participants of a meeting does not exceed one lobby...

...the lobby settings may be adjusted by the Host/Marshal so that Qualifying and Race 1 can be held without setting up a new lobby in between. In order to allow the drivers a time to "cool down" from the Qualifying - they normally would've had while waiting for their race invites - a Warm Up Period of 10 to 20 minutes (majority decides) will be added. Also the damage will be set to Full already at the Qualifying session.

Even though it is possible to leave and rejoin the lobby during that phase, we are asking you not to do so to avoid any unwanted changes in the grid ordering from the Qualifying session saved by the game.


Settings

- Collisions during all races will be on, and set to Full Damage.
- Tire Wear and Fuel Usage will be set to Real
- Tuning is not allowed!!

Racing Etiquette

- Single series racing is defined as a non-contact sport but a certain level of door rubbing and panel bashing is inevitable. With Full Damage set to 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.

There is one thing that I would like to add to the rules:

In the previous season I found the idea to open the lobby approx 30 to 45 minutes before 20.00 BST with a practice session..

Everybody will get enough invites to join this lobby..

With this we can all practice a little bit before the qualification starts and that we can try to make sure we can start in time to prevent any delays