HTRS WEC-IMSA 2024

Regulations of the championship "HTRS WEC - IMSA 2024"
                    (January 14 - December 15, 2024)

1. Introduction
2. Aims and objectives of the Competition
3. Rights to hold the Competition
4. Structure and calendar of the Competition
5. Officials
6. Requirements for Competitors, Pilots and Teams
7. Conditions of the Competition. Classification. Determination of results
8. Prizes and Awarding
9. Regulations
10. Protests
11. Judges
12. Annex 1
13. Annex 2
14. Annex 3
15. Annex 4

1. INTRODUCTION

• These Regulations ( further referred to as the Regulations) define the procedure for organizing and conducting the championship of virtual circuit racing "HTRS WEC-IMSA 2024" ( further referred to as the Competition).
• The Competition is held on the racing simulator "Assetto Corsa" for PC with the use of add-on cars (GT3 and Hypercar) and tracks, which are absent in the standard content of "Assetto Corsa".

2. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CONTEST

• The competitions are held with the purpose of:
• development of automobile sport;
• popularization of the discipline of circuit racing;
• development of simracing;
• preparation of participants for participation in real competitions on automobile ring races;
• entertainment and recreation of participants.

3. RIGHTS TO HOLD THE COMPETITION

• Organization and holding of the Competition is the responsibility of the organizers of the group https://vk.com/htracings (further referred to as Administration): Andrey Korotkov (https://vk.com/andkorot)

4. OFFICIALS

4.1. The Administration may appoint and ensure the presence of the following officials at the Competition rounds and ensure the presence of the following officials:

• Race director
• Race commentator
• Chief race judge

5. REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPANTS, PILOTS AND TEAMS

5.1 Persons registered through the registration form are allowed to participate;

5.2 When registering, the Participant must use a first and last name written in Latin characters. They must match the name used in the Simulator;

5.3 There are no age requirements for Drivers participating in the competition;

5.4 Change of the car during the championship is possible an unlimited number of times, with a penalty in the form of forfeiture of all previously earned points;

5.5 In the championship it is possible to take part in both individual and team competitions;

5.6 There can be no more than 4 participants in a team;

5.7 There can be no cars of different classes and models in one team. One team - one car.

5.8 All pilots planning to take part in the race must attend the briefing. The briefing will be held in the Telegram channel of the championship: https://t.me/htracings.   

5.9 The date and time of the briefing will be published in advance, on the day of the race in the group in VK.

6. COMPETITION CONDITIONS. SCHEDULING. RESULTS.

6.1 Server Settings:

• ABS – factory.
• TC – factory.
• Autoclutch – allowed.
• Tire warmers – on (65° С, warm-up lap simulation).
• Stability control - off.
• Damaging – 100%.
• Fuel consumption is from 100% to 300%, depending on the stage.
• Tire wear - 100% to 300%, depending on the stage.
• Temperature and wind - On.
• Dynamically variable track - On.

6.2 An official Competition will be deemed to have taken place if more than half of the declared stages are actually organized and run.

6.3 A competitor who has taken part in a Stage is a competitor who has started a race. A competitor who actually takes part in at least one of the races of a Stage is considered to have taken part in the Official Competition.

6.4 Race conduct order:

• Pre-qualification is held to divide into 2 (or more) groups (no more than 50 competitors in each group);
• Each Stage consists of qualification, practice and race;
• Those who have not passed qualification (not a single qualification lap) are not allowed to participate in the Stage (exceptions are possible in case of force majeure);
• The positioning on the starting grid of the race is based on the results of qualifying. If several competitors have the same time in qualifying, the competitor who has shown the same time first has the advantage.

6.5 The duration of the stage qualification is 6 days. A participant can log on to the server at any convenient time and pass the qualification. Time and number of laps are not limited. The rules of qualification are described in Annex 1.

6.6 The duration of each race is indicated in the Competition calendar. The rules for the races are described in Annex 1.

6.7 The start of the race shall be made from a place. The formation on the starting grid of the race is formed by the administrator.

6.8 Training, qualifying and racing shall be conducted in accordance with the Rules.

6.9 In a race pilots are classified in the order of crossing the finish line, taking into account the number of laps they have completed; counting is based on the number of fully completed laps.

6.10 Only those drivers who have completed at least 70% of the race winner's distance will be classified.

When calculating the number of laps of the qualifying distance, incomplete laps will be rounded down.
6.11 In the event of force majeure and server communication failure, the course of the stage shall be further determined as follows:

- In case of a communication failure on a distance of less than 50% of the race, a restart shall be announced on the same day of the Stage. At the restart the distance of 75% minus 2 laps shall be completed. The positions on the restart shall be according to the qualifying formation. In case of impossibility to restart on the same day, the Administration appoints another restart date.

- In case of communication failure on the distance from 50% to 75% of the race, the restart is not announced. In this case the pilots will be awarded 50% of the points.

- If communication is broken over 75% of the race, no restart will be   announced. In this case the pilots will be awarded 100% of the points.
6.12In case of force majeure of a pilot during any session his result is not restored on the server, even if the pilot continues the race on his local server.

6.13 Points scoring in the Championship standings:

In determining the championship winners and prizewinners for each race the drivers, in each class, shall be awarded points in the Official Competition standings according to the following scheme:

Points are awarded to all competitors according to a unified scheme, i.e. no matter how many teams there are (due to the large number of competitors and divided races), points are awarded according to the scheme above.

6.14 Additional points are awarded:

- in qualifying for positions

– for the best lap time in each of the stage races - 1 point.

6.15 The current status and final results of the official competitions are calculated in the "Standings" section of the current website.

6.16 In the Le Mans race double points are awarded.

6.17 The 2 worst races of the season will not be taken into account when drawing up the final results of the championship in the individual and team standings. Worst race also means non-participation or withdrawal. An annulled result (disqualification) cannot be deducted.

7. PRIZES AND AWARDING

7.1 The competitor with the highest number of points at the end of the Championship is awarded the title "HTRS WEC-IMSA Virtual Circuit Racing Champion for the 2024 season". The competitors who took the 2nd and 3rd places are called Silver and Bronze medalists of the Championship;

7.2 The team that has scored the highest number of points at the end of the Championship is awarded the title "Team (team name) - HTRS WEC-IMSA Champion of the 2024 season in virtual circuit racing";

7.3 The organizer and sponsors (if available or appear) have the right to provide additional prizes.

8. COMPETITION REGULATIONS

8.1 These Regulations are the main regulatory document of the Competition;

8.2 The Stage Regulations are issued for each stage and can be found in the official Championship group on "VK" (https://vk.com/htracings). If the rules of the Stage Regulations contradict the main Regulations, the Stage Regulations shall prevail;

8.3 The Organizer has the right to change the Regulations, but only with the approval (voting) of the Participants;

8.4 Notification of changes in the Rules is published in the group https://vk.com/htracings.

8.5 All notifications for foreign participants will be duplicated in English in the Discord group (https://discord.gg/N7hH94vEdD).

9. PROTESTS

9.1 Each protest shall be submitted in accordance with the form  in the appropriate protest thread within 48 hours after the end of the stage;

9.2  For the Participant to file a protest a replay is published by the organizer after the stage;

9.3 Judges will review protests, based on race replay;

9.4 The result of penalties is determined by the average of the penalties from all judges;

9.5 The decision made by the Chief Judge is final and not subject to discussion (exception - discussion is possible only on live broadcast during online review and consideration of protests);

9.6 All incidents occurring on the first lap of the race are considered by the Judging Committee irrespective of the protests filed by the Competitors;

9.7 Decisions on protests are published in the “VK” group: https://vk.com/htracings.

9.8 Decisions on protests will also be duplicated in English in the Discord group (https://discord.gg/N7hH94vEdD).

10. JUDGES.

• Maksimenko Roman
• Medvedev Dmitry
• Korotkov Andrey

 Annex 1

 RULES FOR FREE PRACTICE IN EVENTS:

1. In free practice there is no ban for using game chat, it is allowed to use an ESC button to return to the boxes, incidents and cuts are not judged.
2. Inappropriate behavior on the track is not allowed. It is necessary to pass if the pilot is on a fast lap, conscious blocking and contacts are prohibited.

RULES OF CONDUCT IN QUALIFYING:

1. It is forbidden to cross the Pit-Lane exit line in Qualifying.
2. It is the driver's responsibility to drive in such a way to avoid collisions and contact with competitors that could result in spin-offs, going off the track and/or damaging his car.
3. It is forbidden to drive the car in the opposite direction on the track.
4. Conscious cuts that resulted in gaining advantage over other competitors is forbidden (a cut is defined as a car with more than three wheels outside the track).

DRIVER'S BEHAVIOR ON THE TRACK:

1. It is the driver's responsibility to drive in such a way to avoid collisions and contact with competitors that could result in spin-offs, going off the track and/or damaging his car.
2. In case of cars moving parallel to each other (the overall part of one of the cars is within the overall dimensions of the other car) the competitors have equal rights in the choice of the trajectory and must not perform maneuvers that force the opponent to leave the track (further referred to as "clearance within clearance").
3. If before entering the corner the overtaking car has had time to move into the "passing clearance" position, competitors shall take the corner in such a way that both cars can remain on the track until the maneuver is completed.
4. Competitors must be especially careful on the first lap of the race as the cars are close together and the tires are not yet warm;
5. A competitor who has an accident on the first lap of the race will be judged more severely than on subsequent laps;
6. During practice or qualifying, a driver on the exit lap or on the lap returning to the boxes must pass a driver on a fast lap.
7. During a race, a driver who has been overtaken by a lap, within three corners of the blue flag warning, passes the faster car.
8. If a competitor cannot continue driving for any reason, he must place (if possible) his car to a safe place and keep it stationary there.
9. Intentional cuts, as well as cuts that resulted in gaining time or positions are not allowed. In case of accidental or deliberate violation of this paragraph of the rules, the pilot is obliged to pass the pilots he overtook by cutting the distance, or to slow down if there is gain in time. Otherwise the competitor will be penalized with penalty seconds to the finish time and penalty points (cutting off is defined as having more than three wheels outside the track).

– The limits of the track are marked with white or yellow lines on the edges of the track. Visible lines behind the inner boundary markings are not track boundaries.
– In the absence of white (or any other) boundary lines, the inner sides of the kerbs or the edges of the asphalt surface are the track boundaries.
– The Stage Regulations may have their own cut-off rules, established only for the current stage.

1. When defending a position, it is allowed to return to the braking trajectory while driving in a straight line if there is no rival within the car's dimensions.
2. A driver who has gone off the track is obliged to let approaching rival cars pass, which are within sight or hearing. When returning to the track, it is forbidden to return to the track when other cars are approaching you. If the maneuver can be done safely and does not slow down other competitors, it’s allowed.
3. When leaving the Pit-Lane it is forbidden to cross the solid line separating the exit lane from the main road, as well as to interfere with approaching cars.
4.  It is also forbidden, and violation is punishable by disqualification:

– Unjustified emergency braking on a straight line in front of a competitor (brake check);
– Blocking of a trailing competitor by repeatedly changing the trajectory on a straight line with a noticeable and significant difference in speed (waving);
– Driving on the track in the opposite direction;
– Return to the track during a race after using the ESC key to return to the boxes.

13. When there are obvious signs of an accident, such as:
    - Loss of control, sudden deceleration or stopping within or adjacent to the racing surface;

- heavy smoke;

- Yellow flags,
competitors must stop fighting and concentrate on safety. A competitor who continues to compete and overtakes a car not involved in the incident in the incident area shall regain his position. A competitor who is overtaken in the yellow flag area and does not regain his position may file a protest.

 Annex 2                   

PENALTIES:

A pilot who has received a warning automatically issued by the game must comply with the game's instructions.

The following types of violations and their corresponding penalties are established:

1. Warnings - remains during the whole championship (in case of more than three warnings from the judges, the penalty of driving in the pit lane (Drive-through penalty) is applied);
2. Ten-second stop in the boxes (Stop&Go) - drive to the pit lane, stop for 10 seconds near his box. It is forbidden any kind of maintenance of the car;
3. Drive-through for the first three laps of the next race;
4. Starting from pit lane in a race;
5. Adding penalty time to the race time (by the decision of the judging committee, as well as accrued by simulator);
6. Disqualification from the session - the pilot finishes the session and his result in the session is canceled. In case of disqualification during the qualifying session, the competitor may start the race only with the permission of the Judging Committee;
7. Disqualification from a stage - the pilot is disqualified from the current stage, all results of the current stage are canceled;
8. Disqualification from the championship - the pilot is disqualified from the championship, all results are canceled;
9. Disqualification for several stages of the championship. In case of repeated violation during the conditional period - disqualification for the remaining period of conditional disqualification, including the stage where the repeated violation was recorded;
10. Disqualification for the next stage.

Annex 3

WEIGHT HANDICAPS:

The weight handicap is linked directly to the competitor.

The weight handicap is calculated according to the position of the competitor at the end of the last stage. No ballast is charged on the first stage.

1st place - 25kg;

2nd place - 20kg;

3rd place - 15kg;

4th place - 20kg;

5th place - 5kg.

Ballast is not summarized. Maximum weight values are specified.

Annex 4

1. General Information.

1. A competitor may be penalized for incidents in any race session;
2. A competitor who accumulates 7 penalty points in one race is disqualified from current race;
3. Penalty points accumulate.
4. If a competitor accumulates 10 penalty points, he will not be allowed to participate in the next race;
5. If 15 penalty points are accumulated, the competitor is disqualified for the current Season;
6. A competitor who repeatedly accumulates 10 penalty points is disqualified for the current Season.
7. A competitor who fails to accumulate 7 penalty points in the last race of the Season but accumulates 10 points in total is disqualified from current race;
8. A repeated identical violation in the following races will result in an increase in the penalty points awarded;

2. Accrual of penalty points.

3. Penalty Point Write-Off.
4. Penalty points are carried over to the next season;
   2. Penalty points are saved for 9 races (after the 10th race, the points received 9 races ago are deducted).
   3. After receiving 10 penalty points and disqualification for the next stage - 10 points are deducted.