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Rules DOM 2008

Back to the German rules.

§1 Basics: General Behaviour

§1.1 A friendly, courteous  and polite behaviour is demanded at all times.
This includes drivers as well as and officials and everyone else involved in this league. Obscenity and foul language will be not tolerated and will result in exclusion from the respective event; in severe cases, offenders may be excluded from Virtual-Racing.org.

§1.2  VR-NASCAR can disqualify a participant at any point before and during an event if there is a strong suspicion that he will influence the event in a negative way.

§1.3 As all of our races are run on the same servers, every competitor is responsible for locating the grid he races in and joining the correct races and servers. Missed races cannot be run in a different grid.

§2 Participation in the Races

§2.1 Licences
Generally, a VR NASCAR license is required to race in the “Deutsche Online Meisterschaft”. These licences are issued by the Rookie Cup admins.

§2.2 Pre-Race Sign-Ups
In order to issue the necessary/correct number of wildcards, every driver is required to sign up for every single race he intends to participate in, which has to be done by joining the event's driver's list in the Trophymanager. The deadline for sign-ups is always Wednesday before the race at 6:00 pm CET.
Depending on the number of drivers, it will be possible to subsequently sign up in the sign-up thread of the respective race, which can be found in the DOM-NASCAR forum – and only there. This late registration ought to be possible until the server is started (the admin in charge will then forward the gridmail by PM; this may NOT be done by fellow drivers!)., but a possible wildcard for the respective race will expire. The number of sign-ups can be increased to either 40 or 60 drivers, depending on the number of regular sign-ups before the deadline. If exactly 40 or 60 drivers have signed up, late registrations will not be possible. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the admin in charge will notice the late registrations in any case, as he might be in a situation that allows him to launch the server without being able to access the forum.

§2.3 Wildcards
As the DOM grid consists of more than 40 drivers, a number of wildcards will be issued to the drivers who lead the points standings. The number of wildcards will be determined as follows:
- at least 20 wildcards
- additionally, up to 3 wildcards can be won in the official practice race on Wednesday evening. The 3 highest-finishing non-wildcard drivers in this practice race who did not receive any penalty points in their previous DOM race will receive a wildcard for the following day's DOM race.
- with more than 60 sign-ups for the respective race: number of sign-ups minus 40 (which is the number of drivers the pre-qualifying server can handle at most).
Wildcard owners are qualified for the DOM races (so they do not have to pre-qualify) if they have signed up in the Trophymanager and show up on the DOM server before 8:00 pm CET.

§2.4 Pre-Qualifying
All of the wildcard owners will join the DOM server with the password from the gridmail.
Drivers who do not have a wildcard will have to join the pre-qualifying server. Both servers will be online from 7:30 pm CET onwards. Wildcard owners have to join the server until 8:00 pm CET. Each missing wildcard owner will be replaced by a further driver from pre-qualifying (example: if only 17 wildcard owners have joined the server by 8 pm, 23 drivers from pre-qualifying will advance to the race). Wildcard owners who cannot join the race server im time (8:00 pm) will be allowed to join the pre-qualifying server (unless there are no slots left on it) in order to re-earn their spot in the main event by posting a sufficient lap time.
Wildcard owners who join the DOM server late (after 8:00 pm CET) will be penalized by a 40-points-deduction.
When the pre-qualifying session is over, the new password for the DOM race server will be announced by in-game chat and the drivers who qualified for the main event will join the race server, where the qualifying session which determines the starting lineup will be held at 8:20 pm CET.
All of the drivers who did not manage to qualify for the DOM race can hold either a fun race (10 min Practice,10 min Happy Hour, 50 % YON, real fixed weather) or a practice race (60 min Practice, 10 min Happy Hour, 30 % YON, 70°F clear, the following week's DOM track) on the pre-qualifying server, determined by majority vote.
Drivers who join the DOM server even though they are still in the pre-qualifying session or not qualified for the race will be removed from the server (or subsequently disqualified) and banned from the following DOM race.
Drivers who happen to be disconnected from the server before or during the announcement of the password for the DOM race are allowed to retrieve the password by messaging an admin or by posting a new thread in the forum.

§2.5 Live Broadcasts
In case of broadcasted races, the grid size can be varied due to the driver's slots required by the broadcasting team. There will be no pre-qualifying session for the final race of the season, instead the grid will be determined by the points standings.

§2.5 Participation
A race is considered as participated for a driver as soon as he has crossed the finish line for the first time during the race session.
In other words, joining the server, driving a lap during the practice session and leaving the server again will not be considered as a participation.
In order to cut back your penalty points as far as race bans are concerned, at least 50% of the race distance have to be completed.

§2.6 Joining via IP
In order to join the VR race server, connect directly by entering the IP of the server instead of logging in on Sierra. The following servers will be used:

1st instance on VR-Server 10: 80.190.209.206:32950 (DOM main event, Open Series, Training)
2nd instance on VR-Server 10: 80.190.209.206:32900 (DOM pre-qualifying, Rookie Cup)

Each grid will use its respective instance mentioned above; only in case of server problems, different servers or instances will be used.
We highly recommend to download and install this address.ini file (unzip the file into your "players/your_name"-folder), which makes joining our servers easier.

§2.8 Provisionals
Over the course of the season, each driver will have 4 provisionals at his disposal, which means that he will be awarded 40 points for each DOM race he does not participate in even though he is eligible (i.e. not banned).

§3 Race

§3.1 Bump Drafting
If denounced by the bumped driver, intentional bump drafting will result in a warning and possibly a points deduction.
Intentional bump drafting resulting in a wreck will be penalized by disqualification from the respective event or even an indefinite ban from VR.org.

§3.2 Fuel Gauge
Staying on track when the fuel gauge or your crew's fuel estimation (F3) says  „empty“ or „0 projected laps“ is prohibited.
Causing a  caution by running out of fuel will be penalized by disqualification from the event.

§3.3 Blocking
Leaving your racing line in order to prevent the car behind from passing is considered blocking. This will not be tolerated and result in either a points deduction or disqualification. Limited blocking among cars racing for position is acceptable – but only in the 3 final laps of a race.

§3.4 Damaged Cars
Drivers who are significantly off the pace due to a mechanical failure or other damage will have to run as high as possible on oval tracks in order to let faster cars pass on the low line. On road courses, the racing line will have to be cleared for approaching faster cars asap in this case.

§3.5 Post-Race Procedures
After taking the checkered flag, every driver has to drive back to his pit stall before getting out of his car.

§3.6 Car Numbers
Every driver his obliged to use the name and car number he signed up with, otherwise access to the races will not be granted. Note: After disconnecting and rejoining the server, drivers may be assigned a default car and a car number in the 3xx range by fault. In such cases, they will not be affected by this rule, of course.

§3.7 Social Interaction
Insulting other competitors as well as swearing or flaming will result in immediate admin intervention. Depending on the severity, such behaviour will result in a warning, a points deduction or disqualification from the event. Particularly severe infractions may result in exclusion from the league and Virtual-Racing.org.

§3.8 Fixed Real Weather
For all of the GNL DOM races, fixed real weather will be used. This means that we will not race with the game's „realistic weather“ option; instead, fixed weather settings will be used according to the forecast for the real race track (2 pm local time for day races, 6 pm for night races). Links to the weather forecast for the different tracks can be found on the DOM schedule, as well as in the respective thread in the DOM NASCAR forum.

Please note:
„partly cloudy“ and better weather conditions correspond to the game's „clear“ setting
„mostly cloudy“ and worse weather conditions correspond to the game's „cloudy“ setting

§4 Pace Laps & (Re)Starts

§4.1 Weaving
Weaving during the pace laps in order to warm up the tires is strictly prohibited. Instead, a consistent speed (pace car speed +/- 3 mph in the final pace lap before the (re)start) and a straight line have to be maintained. This rule may be ignored whenever necessary to avoid an accident.

§4.2 Jump Start
Drivers may not simulate a (re)start before the green flag is waved. This includes, amongst others, sudden acceleration or hard braking (except of evasive action).
It is also prohibited to leave a large gap to the car ahead in order to gain some momentum during restarts, this will be considered a jump start. The gap stated in §4.3 has to be maintained until the green flag is waved.

§4.3 Gaps under Caution
The cars (incl. pace car) shall maintain a gap between each other of no more than 0.4 seconds. During double file restarts, this gap has to be maintained to the car AHEAD on the same line, NOT to the car above or below. Drivers that do not maintain the correct gap will be blamed and penalized for accidents caused in the process.

§4.4 Pace Speed
The race leader is responsible for setting the pace, whereby he is obliged to maintain pace speed. He may not accelerate until the green flag is waved. Any offense will be penalized.

§4.5 Double File Restart
During starts/restarts, passing inside (even moving out of line to the inside) is prohibited until the S/F line has been crossed. Passing on the outside is allowed, but a driver may not move out of line (to the outside) in order to prepare or execute a pass until the green flag is waved.
Note: During double file restarts, the two lines may pass each other.
Double file restarts are an opportunity for lapped cars to get a lap back. This does not include over-aggressive driving though. Impeding the leaders in a blatant way will result in a penalty for the lapped offender.

§4.6 Racing back to the Line (RBTL)
As soon as a caution is thrown, passing is prohibited all around the track.
Exception: Drivers who are one or more laps down on the leaders, so-called „lappers“, may pass lead-lap cars in order to re-lap.
This rule is to be ignored in the 10 final laps of the race.

§4.7 Red Flags
The grid admin can abort a race at his own discretion, e.g. after a large number of drivers has been disconnected from the server. This has to be done before the leader has seen the checkered flag, though. Races which have been completed will be scored in any case.

§4.8 Aborted Races
If a race could not be completed for whatever reason, it will be re-run on one of the
four backup dates stated on the DOM schedule.

§5 Pit Stops

§5.1 Pit Rules
The pit rules can be viewed in the driver's briefing section. Infractions will be penalized by a 10 up to 40 points deduction, depending on the advantage taken of it.

§5.2 Pit Entry
Every driver may use the auto chat macros (§8.1) before pulling off the track to pit. On pit road, the high (right) line has to be used until about two car lengths before reaching your crew, followed by a sharp left turn and decelerating into your pit stall. Intentional blocking of the cars behind is prohibited, as well as pointless stopping on pit road. Infractions will be penalized, especially if they result in accidents.

§5.3 Pit Exit
Every driver may use the auto chat macros to notify the rest of the field about his pit exit. After leaving their pit stall, drivers have to move to the high line of pit road as soon as possible and stay there until they can merge onto the actual race track.

§5.4 Racing Line
Merging onto the racing line after exiting pit road is prohibited until race speed has been reached.

§5.5 Lawn
Using the lawn on pit entry and/or pit exit is prohibited.

§6 Cautions

§6.1 Yellow Flag is Out
Yellow flags and lights mean that an accident has occured somewhere on the race track. Every driver has to drive back to the S/F line carefully. As soon as a caution is thrown, passing is strictly prohibited (read §6.2 for exeptions).

§6.2 Re-lapping
After the spotter has stated that the "Yellow Flag is out", lapped drivers may re-lap. Re-lapping can only take place situationally, and lapped drivers have to back off if necessary. Drivers on the lead lap may not be impeded in any case!

§7 Accidents / Wrecks

§7.1 General Rule
Having an accident does not mean that you are allowed to take out the rest of the field. The general stance shall be: „Take care“, and not „I don't care“. Wrecking fellow competitors intentionally because you do not agree with their way of driving will result in exclusion from the league and Virtual-Racing.org.

§7.2 Turning
Every driver has to try and get his car off the track as soon and careful as possible after being involved in an accident. Turning the car back into the right direction is not permitted until the whole traffic has cleared the wreck. Otherwise, the tow truck has to be called.

§7.3 Tow Truck
After having damaged your car in a way that makes a safe return to the pits impossible, the tow truck has to be called.

§7.4 Merging
If calling the tow truck was not necessary after an accident, the respective driver shall stay down on the apron and accelerate carefully there. Watching the rear view mirror is mandatory, and merging is only permitted when the track is clear and you are back to race speed.

§8 Chat Rules

§8.1 Use of Chat
General (non-auto) chat is only permitted during the practice and happy hour sessions. In qualifying, any kind of chat is prohibited. During the race, only the following auto chat macros may be used (paste these into your player.ini):

[Autochat Messages]
autochat_01=Pitting this lap$
autochat_02=Exiting pit$
autochat_03=Pass LEFT$
autochat_04=Pass RIGHT$
autochat_05=
autochat_06=No$
autochat_07=End of longest line$
autochat_08=Heads up! Slowcar ahead$
autochat_09=Damaged and off pace...$
autochat_10=Slowing for caution$

§8.2 Beginning and End of Sessions
The qualifying session begins when N2003 switches to it; additionally, the responsible admin can post "***QA***" in the chat. The qualifying session ends when then happy hour is started, which can be supplemented by the admin's "***QE***".

The race session begins when the starting grid is opened for getting into the cars, possibly supplemented by the admin's "***RA***". The race is over when the status „Session Complete“ appears; additionally, the admin may chat "***RE***".

§8.3 Prohibition of Chat
Any kind of chat infraction will usually be penalized by -20 points per line.
If necessary, different penalties may also be issued.

§8.4 Exceptions
In situations that require intervention, admins and members of the rules committee („ReKo“) are exempted from the prohibition of chat.

§9 Penalties

§9.1 General Rule
Generally, every originator of a caution will be penalized by a points deduction.

§9.2  Penalty System

UoK (in German accident without contact)
UmK (in German accident with contact)

§9.3 Final Lap
Cautions which are thrown after the whole field has crossed the finish line and completed the race will not be penalized.

§9.4 Discretion
VR-NASCAR can issue an appropriate penalty for infractions not covered by the rules yet.

§9.5 Infraction against §1
Any infraction against §1 will result in the immediate disqualification from the respective or upcoming event; the offender can also be completely excluded from the league.

§9.6 Cheating
Any kind of cheating (manipulating the game to gain an unfair advantage) will result in the immediate exclusion from the league.

§9.7 Caution Reports
Every incident that caused a caution will be viewed and judged upon by three grid stewards („ReKo“). The caution report for the respective DOM race will be generated from their decisions and posted as soon as possible. This report is not challengeable!

§9.8 Absurd Protests
Obviously absurd protest, e.g. ignoring or being unaware of basic rules, will be penalized by a 10 points deduction.

§9.9 Unsportsmanlike Behaviour
The ReKo may investigate and penalize unsportsmanlike behaviour unrequestedly.

§10 Consequences of the Penalties

§10.1  Penalty Account
Every competitor will receive a penalty account. After exceeding 120 penalty points, a 1-race-ban will be issued, and after having served the ban, 120 penalty points will be removed from the penalty account.
Penalty points are solely removed from the penalty account; all of the points standings remain untouched.

§10.2  Deletion of Penalty Points
In order to set your penalty account back to 0 points, at least 4 consecutive races without receiving a penalty will have to be completed. 50% of the race distance will have to be completed in each of these races. Missed races and races without a penalty, but a completed distance of less than 50% may interrupt this sequence.

§10.3 Eligibility
Every driver is obliged to check whether he is eligible to race in the DOM database.
Joining a race server in spite of serving a ban will result in expellation from the server. Participating in the race (i.e. presence on the starting grid) will result in expellation from the server, the race will be scored as 'not participated' and a ban for the following race will be issued.

§10.4 Progressive Race Bans
If a driver is banned more than once during a season for exceeding 120 points on his penalty account, the duration of the ban will double each time. This means: the first ban will sideline you for 1 race, the second one for 2 races, the third one for 4 races and so on.

§11 Team Formation and Scoring

§11.1 Scoring Requirement
Every DOM driver is eligible for the team championship. Each team has to consist of at least 2 drivers at the date of scoring, and at least 2 drivers have to have achieved a race result. If one of these conditions is not fulfilled, the team will not score any points for the team championship.

§11.2 Points System
For the team championship, the 2003 NASCAR points system will be used.
The sum of the driver's points achieved by the 2 highest-scoring drivers of each team on a race day will be divided by two. The result will be the team result of the respective race.

§12 Rookies

§12.1 Definition: Rookie
Every driver who has participated in no more than 6 DOM and / or Open races is considered a rookie.

§12.2 Rookie Standings
For the rookie standings, the 2003 NASCAR points system will be used; the eligible rookie driver who has scored the most points by the end of the year will be crowned Rookie of the Year.

§13 Car Design

§13.1 Brands/Models
Only the brands and models used during the 2003 Winston Cup season are eligible to race in the DOM. These are:
Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Ford Taurus, Dodge Intrepid and Pontiac Grand Prix.
Within a DOM race team, every driver may use a different brand.

§13.2 File Names and File Size
Car files can be uploaded in the driver management section on the website.

The file name has to be chosen according to the following formula:
"GNL" + three-digit  car number (if below 100, add zeros up front to make it three-digit) + initials of the driver. GNL, car number and initial shall each be separated by an underscore.

Example:
John Doe with car number 9: GNL_009_JD.cup.car

Car files must be zipped before uploading them, and the file size may not exceed 800kB.

§13.3 Sponsors
Every driver may choose his main and co-sponsors freely.
Foul language, swearing, obscene elements and political symbols are prohibited.

§13.4 Team Change
Once uploaded, car designs cannot be altered or changed during a season.
After changing teams or joining a team, only team stickers may be attached or replaced.

§13.5 Templates
All car files have to be based on the official VR templates, which can be found in the VR GNL downloads section.
These templates include the GNL logo (replaces the NASCAR race car logo) and the Cup logos (which replace the original Cup logos)
The correct cup logo has to be added to your paint scheme.
The templates also include 5 contingency sets you can choose from.

§13.6 Car Design
As far as the alignment of the different elements of your stock car is concerned, please keep in mind that the following specifications will be mandatory:

The coloured areas mark the elements of the stock car. Starting numbers must be placed in the light blue areas and shall be easily readable.
In the red areas, as well as above and below the car numbers, no writings or sponsor stickers are allowed.
The in-game pit crew has to be painted in a way that matches the car's paint scheme. A template for the pit crew is also provided in the download section.

§13.7 Rookie-Stripes
Drivers who advance from the Rookie Cup into a higher grid will have to put rookie stripes onto the rear bumper of their car. These stripes make ROTY contenders easy to spot.
This rule affects every driver who participated in no more than 6 races during the 2006 DOM/OPEN season or former seasons.

§14 Fees

§14.1 Entry Fee
The VR server payment fee will be demanded after receiving the NASCAR License and joining a league above the Rookie Cup. The transferred fee grants you access to all of the VR sim leagues, not only to the GNL.