RULES

Digital-Motorsports.com iRacing series is a professional esports league that offers the highest standards and quality environment for all of our drivers to produce fantastic racing, full of breath-taking moments for the fans. To make sure that everything runs smoothly, there must be certain rules in place. These rules are not here to bind participants down but to ensure ‘fair-play’ standards.

Appendix 60 Digital Motor Racing

1.0 GENERAL DIGITAL MOTORSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP REQUIREMENTS

1.1 To compete in the championship you will need an iRacing account with a grade D Licence or above.

1.2 The car used will be announced before each championship and the championship will take place in a league format.

1.3 The set-up will be fixed and will be available in Discord.

1.4 You will need a stable broadband connection that allows a constant ping to the iRacing server of no more than 200ms.

1.5 Participants must be 16 or over (criteria met with iRacing user account creation of over 13).
Users wishing to part-take in the championship under 16, must seek expressed permission from a guardian.
This can be submitted in the form of an email to racing@digital-motorsports.com

2.0 DIGITAL DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

2.1 The Championship will consist of 6 rounds, with 1 race per round.

2.2 All drivers must cover 60% of the leaders driven distance in each race to be classified in the official results.

2.3 Points will be awarded according to finishing position per official results.

2.4 Points will be awarded for the feature race.

2.5 Each Driver will drop their lowest full round score of the first five rounds.

2.6 Drivers must count their score in the sixth round.

2.7 Classified finishers will score points for each race as below.

Points Allocation

1st 100 points

2nd 80 points

3rd 70 points

4th 64 points

5th 60 points

6th 56 points

7th 52 points

8th 48 points

9th 44 points

10th 40 points

11th 38 points

12th 36 points

13th 34 points

14th 32 points

15th 30 points

16th 28 points

17th 26 points

18th 24 points

19th 22 points

20th 20 points

21th 18 points

22th 16 points

23th 14 points

24th 12 points

25th 10 points

2.8 Drivers must use their own iRacing accounts, under their real name and be active subscribers.

2.9 The Driver name and iRacing account ID used at registration must be used for the entire championship.

2.9 Organisers reserve the right to amend the rules at any time and without prior notification. These amendments will be made official for the following round and cannot be used retroactively.

2.10 Championship standings are sorted by the following criteria in order of importance.

            2.10.a Overall points

            2.10.b No. of wins

2.10.c No. of podiums

2.10.d Least number of penalty points accrued.

3.0 PRIZES

3.1 To be eligible for the standings and prizes, a driver must be classified as part of the final results (as per 2.2) for 60% of the Championship.

4.0 CALENDAR & EVENT FORMAT

4.1 All rounds of the Digital championship will have the following in server schedule.

  1. 75 Minute practice session.
  2. 10 Minute drivers briefing (completed in the final 10 minutes of practice)
  3. 10 Minute / 4 lap closed qualifying.
  4. 5 minute warm up
  5. A 60 minute feature race consisting of a mandatory pit stop.

4.2 Championship Event Calendar - Championship Races will be run on Wednesday nights with a start time of 7pm for practice and racing starting between 2030 and 2045 GMT.

    4.3 Drivers must achieve a qualifying lap within 110% of their class leader to be allowed to make a grid start.

    4.4 A driver who fails to meet the 110% time may submit an appeal to Race Control.

    4.5 A driver who fails to meet the 110% time and is not allowed by Race Control to make a grid start may be requested to make a pit lane start and at the discretion of Race Control be required to undertake additional practice before racing.

    4.6 Drivers must be on the Discord iRacing Voice Channel for drivers briefing as the information communicated in the Drivers Briefing is key to the smooth running of online events. Any driver who fails to attend Drivers briefing will be removed from the race, by race control. Screenshots will be taken of the discord channel as the drivers briefing takes place. This will be heavily enforced!

    4.7 Drivers must be in one of the Digital-Motorsports.com discord channels at all times during both the heat and feature races to allow race control to communicate with drivers if needed.

    4.8 Points will be released on Discord and via drivers email

    5.0 START / FINISH PROCEDURE

    5.1 The Championship series will use a short parade lap before a rolling start. 

    5.2 Drivers automatically line up on the grid in order of how they qualified.

    5.3 The only applicable grid penalty is starting from the back of the grid.

    5.4 Gridding is set to 2 minutes.

    5.5 Any technical problems (hardware and software) are considered as force majeure and it does not force the organisers to restart the race.

    5.6.1 When all drivers are on the grid, the pace car will lead the field, and then exit the track as late as possible and enter pit lane.

    5.6.2 Drivers on the inside line cannot overtake cars on the outside until they have passed the start line. The lead driver can slow to enable trailing cars to bunch up, however this slowing cannot be excessive to a point which would give the leader a distinct advantage.

    5.6.3 Drivers shall not pass cars in their own pacing line on the leading side before the start/finish line. Drivers attempting to improve their position by passing before the start/finish line will be given a black flag Stop-and-Go penalty by Race Control. The leader of the second pace line may not pass the leader of the first-place line (pole position) before the start/finish line. Doing so will result in a black flag Stop-and-Go penalty.

    6.0 RACE CONTROL

    6.1 Race Control is responsible for the general conduct of the event in accordance with the regulations. The authority of Race Control shall be final subject to the right of Appeal to the Appeal Judge.

    Race control will:

    6.2 Ensure that each driver/car is properly identified and eligible to take part in the event.

    6.3 Ensure that Drivers have properly qualified for the race.

    6.4 Collect reports from the race stewards, the Broadcast and commentary team concerning race incidents and take the appropriate actions. Drivers may submit reports of Race incidents for review, which must be submitted within 2 hours of the race ending.

    6.5 At his/her discretion enquire into allegations of improper driving and take appropriate action.

    6.6 Impose penalties as outlined below in section 9.

    6.7 Declare the final results of the Heat and Feature race together with any penalties imposed.

    7.0 DRIVING STANDARDS

    7.1 Drivers must remain conscious of the series sponsors and also ensure they have full approval for any skins or logos they are using.

    7.2 Pits Stops are mandatory to refuel and voluntary to change tyres during the race. Drivers cannot cross the line at the pit lane entry or pit exit and they have to control their pit lane speed. Car setups are fixed but brake bias adjustments are allowed, no Parc Fermé regulations are in place.

    7.3 The organisers or Race control may announce some additional rules in cases where it would help to make the race safer. These rules will be made official for the following round and cannot be used retroactively.

    7.4 Drivers need to show respect to Race control and demonstrate a sense of "fair play" to their fellow drivers and represent the series in a positive light.

    7.5 During Qualifying drivers will not attempt to heat their tires prior to making a qualifying attempt at any track. This includes nosing up to a retaining wall, doing doughnuts on any surface, or sitting on pit lane doing a burn out. Methods not explicitly listed in this section will be reviewed by race stewards/officials and a determination will be made as to if an advantage was gained.

    7.6 It is understood that incidents will happen during a race and frustration levels may rise, however negative voice chat on the radio during the race will not be tolerated. Drivers should not get on the radio to curse, blame, or threaten another driver, a member of race control, a viewer or a commentator. Any driver who does WILL be subject to a penalty from race control. This rule also extends to the discord chats and if also reported any personal messages. Drivers are implored to submit an incident if they feel they were wronged during the race.

    7.7 A driver who is deemed to have caused an intentional or malicious accident or behaves in a reckless manner on track to affect another driver WILL be receive a temporary or permanent ban from racing.

    7.8 Repetition of serious mistakes or the appearance of lack of control over the car, may entail the imposition of penalties up to and including exclusion of the driver concerned.

    7.9 If being lapped, be considerate and let the faster car through as soon as it is safe to do so.  Maintain your racing line and assist the faster car as much as possible. Most importantly always be predictable and make your intentions clear.

    7.10 Drivers that fail to hold their brakes after being involved in an incident, and roll into oncoming traffic, may be subject to a penalty.

    7.11 A driver who causes 3 or more incidents in a round, which results in penalties will be disqualified from the next applicable race of the Championship.

    7.12 Should a car leave the track for any reason; the driver may re-join. This may only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any advantage. Re-joining the track in a dangerous manner which impedes another driver or causes an incident WILL be subject to penalties as outlined below.

    7.13 Incidents resulting in contact may be the responsibility of any driver involved and may incur penalties.

    7.14 A driver must always drive in a manner compatible with general safety. Drivers are expected to behave in a manner respectful of fellow drivers and the series. Any misbehaviour may be subject to penalty, a suspension or the driver being banned from competing.

    7.15 Overtaking, according to the circumstances, may be carried out on either the right or the left.

    7.15.1 A driver may not leave the track while overtaking but the defending driver may do so if given no racing room. The overtaking driver must facilitate the re-join by leaving room for the opposing party to re-enter, failure to do so may result in a penalty.

    7.15.2 More than one change of direction to defend a position is not permitted. Any driver moving back towards the normal racing line having earlier defended his position off-line may do so excluding when a driver has taken that space.

    7.15.3 If the overtaking driver has front axle to B-pillar overlap between the start of the braking zone and the corner apex, A collision at the apex is entirely the fault of the defender. Both drivers must leave racing room.

    7.15.4 If the overtaking driver has only the front wheel of his car alongside the defender’s rear wheel between the start of the braking zone and the corner apex, A collision at the apex is entirely the fault of the attacker. Both drivers must leave racing room.

    7.15.5 Once the attacking car has the overlap outlined in 7.15.3 both drivers must give one another a car width racing room.

    7.15.6 If the overlap required in 7.15.3 occurs after the Defender has already moved toward the apex the collision is the fault of the attacker and is seen as a dive.

    7.15.7 Intentional door to door contact to force the other car off line during an overtake is the fault of the instigator.

    7.16 Slow downs given by the iRacing service need to be served off the racing line, drivers cannot block their competitors while serving the slow down. Any driver seen to be blocking will receive a penalty.

    7.17 Track limits are controlled by iRacing and in general the kerbs are not considered as an expansion of track limits. In case of an accident, a driver may exceed these limits but may be subject to a slow-down granted by iRacing.

    7.18 If a driver causes an incident and wants to allow the innocent party back through, they can but be aware that race control may still apply a penalty to the offending driver.

    7.19 If a faster class car encounters a situation whereby they are on the same lap as the lower class but behind the field, they will be expected to go through the field safely without hindering the slower class. Failure to do so, may result in a penalty.


    8.0 INCIDENT Submissions

    8.1 An independent Driver representative will be nominated for each race. The name of such person shall be notified at Drivers Briefing. The Driver representative shall receive any appeals against decisions by Race Control and, if correctly submitted, adjudicate upon them. Race Control will nominate a driver from the grid to represent drivers and assist with any appeals and decisions.

    8.2 Any post-incident report must be submitted within 2 hours of the event. Submit your race incidents using the official online incident form.

    The form can be found here: https://bit.ly/34M0LV9


    The incident report must contain the following information:

    - Drivers involved

    - Lap Number

    - Corner Number

    The incident must include an iRacing .rpy file to be processed. Incidents received in any other form or after 2 hours of the race ending will not be processed.

    8.3 Drivers are limited to submitting 2 incident form inputs per race.

    9.0 RACE PENALTIES

    Race control will impose the following penalties on the outcome of an incident: (Point deductions stack along with any bans given)

    9.1.a - Driving incident – No penalty

    9.1.b - Minor incident (innocent party loses 1-5 places) – 5-point penalty.

    9.1.b.1 - 3 minor incidents will result in a qualifying ban in the next round the driver participates.

    9.1.b.2 - 8 minor incidents in a round will result in a race ban for the heat race of the next round the driver participates.

    9.1.c - Moderate incident (innocent party loses 6-10 places) – 10-point penalty.

    9.1.c.1 - 5 moderate incidents will result in a full round ban for the following round the driver participates.

    9.1.d - Major incident (innocent party loses 11+ places) – 15-point penalty.

    9.1.d.1 - 2 major incidents will result in a round ban for the following round.

    9.1.e - Any abusive voice or text chat WILL result in an unappealable 10-point penalty. This includes drivers, race control, viewers and commentators.

    9.1.f - Intentional wrecking WILL result in a 2-round ban.

    9.1.g - A second case of intentional wrecking WILL result in a permanent ban from all Digital-Motorsports.com series. This covers the calendar year

    9.1.h - Any re-join where the offender is seen to be in control of their car when an incident occurs will be given a 5-point penalty on top of the penalty given in 9.1.b, 9.1.c and 9.1.d

    9.1.i - Making more than 1 defensive move and then a move back to the racing line (weaving) will result in a warning the first time, from every incident of weaving there forward a 5-point penalty will be applied.

    9.1.j - On the final round of the championship, the following rules will be used instead of bans.

    9.1.j.1 -  3 minor incidents – Extra 5-point penalty

    9.1.j.2 - 5 minor incidents – Extra 10-point penalty (stacked with 9.1.j.1)

    9.1.j.3 - 3 moderate incidents – Extra 10-point penalty

    9.1.j.4 - 5 moderate incident – Extra 20-point penalty (stacked with 9.1.j.3)

    9.1.j.5 - 2 major incidents – 20-point penalty

    9.1.j.6 - Intentional Wrecking – 100-point penalty

    9.1.k - All drivers MUST complete a mandatory pitstop in every race, failure to do so will result in exclusion from the race results.

    Penalties: Further Information


    9.2 Drivers who receive more than 25 incident points in a race will receive a pit drive through penalty. Should a driver reach 35 incident points in a race, a penalty of exclusion from the race will be imposed. 

    9.3 Drive Through Penalty may not be combined with any service stop. Any breach of this rule will incur further penalties.

    9.4 Penalties under 9.1 b and 9.1 c must be served before the 3rd time the Start/Finish line is crossed. Penalties not served within the allowed period will incur a disqualification automatically by iRacing.

    9.5 Any driver deemed to have left the track to gain an advantage may be penalised.

    9.6 All drivers must have Race Control audio channel open and be able to monitor text chat for messages from Race Control during the race.

    Incident points are as follows. 

    Track Cut 1 point

    Loss of control 2 points

    Car contact 0-4 points

     

    9.7 Penalty points are applied to the drivers’ overall points total and not each individual round. As a result a round where penalties were received can be used as a drop round, but any penalties received will still be included.

    9.8 Any round in which a driver is banned cannot be used as a drop round and will count as a 0-point round in the standings.

    9.9 If given a qualifying or race ban, a driver must do the following to prove participation:

    9.9.a In the case of a qualifying ban compete in the heat race they are unable to qualify for.

    9.9.b In the case of a race ban, compete in the feature race of that round.

          Failure to follow these rules will result in the ban being carried over to the next round.

    9.10 If a driver completes qualifying while having a qualifying ban, they will be disqualified from the round taking place and must serve the penalty in the next round.

    9.11 If a driver completes a race while having a race ban, they will be disqualified from the round taking place and must serve the penalty in the next round

    10.0 POST-RACE PROTESTS AND APPEALS

    10.1 Official results, including any decisions from Protests, will be posted no earlier than 24 hours after the conclusion of the race(s).
    10.2 A driver may appeal a penalty imposed by Race Control to the nominated Appeal Judge. The Appeal Judge will review the incident independently and may uphold the appeal, confirm the penalty imposed by Race Control or impose a greater penalty. The Appeals window will be open for 24 hours from the time the incidents are posted.

    10.3 The Appeal Judge will have 24 hours to review and give their opinion on the incident. When answering the appeal, the appeal judge must reference the rules and give reasoning for the escalation, reduction or they can maintain the penalty

    10.4 If the appeal judge fails to give an account on the incident within 24 hours the appeal will be void but, the driver appealing will not lose 1 of their 3 appeals.

    10.5 In case of a gross misconduct or another significant incident, drivers can be disqualified from the race or even from the whole championship without a refund.
    10.6 Decisions of the organisers, race stewards and driver’s representative on appeal are FINAL.

    10.7 Appeals must be submitted to racing@digitalmotorsports.com, appeals submitted in any other form will not be accepted. For an appeal to be counted as valid the driver must include the following points only:

                10.7.a The race e.g. Heat or Feature.

                10.7.b Lap no.

                10.7.c Drivers Involved.

                10.7.d The rule or rules the driver is using to prove innocence.

                10.7.e A sentence explaining why the penalty proves innocence.

    An iRacing .rpy replay file may also be submitted to further explain the appeal. No other form of media will be accepted.

    10.8. Appeals are only checked once the appeal window has closed and as a result any drivers whose appeals do not follow 10.7 must suffer the consequences of the initial penalty

    Example of Appeal

    Hi,

    I would like to appeal the following incident:

    Heat Race

    Lap 6

    Driver A and Driver B

    7.15.4 If the overtaking driver has only the front wheel of his car alongside the defender’s rear wheel between the start of the braking zone and the corner apex, A collision at the apex is entirely the fault of the attacker. Both drivers must leave racing room.

    I feel that at the beginning of the braking zone Driver B had no overlap and only got axle to axle overlap as we got to the apex, this means that the contact we had at the apex was the fault of Driver B and not my fault as shown in 7.15.3

    Thanks,

    Driver A

     

    11.0 PAINT POLICY

    11.1 Drivers are encouraged to use personal paint schemes. To create your own team or car livery the car template can be found under the “Paint” section of the iRacing website. As the races are broadcast live, there are strict rules regarding branding and brand release. Trading paints is used to upload paints.

    11.2 In particular, any sponsors on team / driver cars MUST have written approval. No use of tobacco, alcohol, or political sponsors are allowed. This is not exhaustive and the decision on any skins in use in the series is at the discretion of the organisers.