MSA TORA NATCC Season 2 - Rules and Regulations

General Rules & Driving Etiquette

Touring 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 behaviour 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.

2013 TORA MSA TCC Championships

The TORA MSA TCC series will take place between the 5th of March and the 11th of June 2013 in a 24 round 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, all driving the same car in the same class. 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.


Team Driver Changes

From the start of the series, the full time driver line up may not change for the first half of the series. There will be a 'window' half way through the season in which Teams and Drivers can change as they please. When this 'window' closes there will be no more Driver changes to the line up for the remainder of the Season.

- 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 come from an existing team, privateer, or any other friend. 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 initial Sign Up. 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 half way stage of the season, where teams may change their car choice once without penalty. This 'window' will only be open for one week. This applies to Team Drivers as well, which is detailed in the Teams Championship section.

Race Rules

Safety Car Rules

There will be no designated ‘safety car’ vehicle utilised 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, utilising 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 severly 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 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.

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.

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 should no later than 5 minutes from the designated race meeting start time.

Settings
-Qualifying will consist of 4 flying laps (lap counter will be set to 6 laps)
-Collisions will be forced off
-Damage will be set to Limited damage
-There will be no roll off delay - you must find your own space on track.
-The Grid will be set to Random
-Once you complete all 4 flying laps you will meet in the first corner so that the lobby marshals can take down your qualifying time and conduct scrutineering if required.
-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. Races will take pace over a pre-determined amount of laps. Please see the Season Calendar for details.

There will be three races in an evening, and each will last around 15 minutes.

Race One will form up on the grid in the order in which the competitors qualified.
Race Two will form up on the grid in the order in which the competitors finished Race One.
Race Three will form up on the grid in the reverse order in which the competitors finished Race Two.

There will be no mandatory pit stops during the races.

Parade Lap and Standing Start
Competitors will perform a single Formation lap to set the grid positions, before a standing 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 100mph 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.

To achieve the standing start the competitors may be led by the lead car until they reach the start/finish straight. When the lead driver reaches the start/finish straight, the driver will form up in the relevant grid slot. Each driver behind must form up in their order in the relevant grid slots. When the driver in last position on the grid has formed up and is in their grid slot they must tell the lead car that they are ready. The Lobby Host will then confirm the grid is set and ready. The lead driver will pick a time on the overall Race Timer for when the race will start. The lobby host will then confirm the time chosen. The time that is chosen must be 10-15 second ahead so that the entire grid can prepare to start. When the timer reaches the chosen value the race will commence by all drivers accelerate from their grid slot. Jump starts will be investigated by the Stewards and will results in penalties.

Start Lines without Markings or not enough Grid Slots.

Drivers will line up in grid formation on the start finish line with the lead driver picking which side they wish to start on and will come to a stop as close as they can to the start line. Each driver behind will then form up in traditional staggered grid formation and will leave a 25ft gap to the car in front of them which can be seen by looking at the distance counter in the top left hand side of the screen. Each driver will do this and when the person in last is in position normal start procedure will take place.

The Lobby Host will check the overall formation of the grid, and if anyone is obviously out of position they will call a false start and the drivers quit the race and start all over again, which will lead to a delay of the night. The replays will be reviewed after the race and the Stewards will take action against anyone who is out of position or not at the correct distance.


Settings
- Collisions during all races will be on, and set with Limited 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.

Race Etiquette
-Touring Car racing is defined as non-contact but a certain level of door rubbing and panel bashing is inevitable. With Limited 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.