New to the League? Welcome !

Please take the time to read everything on this page. I know it is long, but you have to do it only once.
Thank you!

It is important that you get familiar with the rules at:
http://www.igpfun.com/information/league-rules/

Every week you will receive a Private Message pointing to the race briefing published on this website.
Read it carefully, there are often special rules for the track.

Every driver must join our discord server, where league communications happen.
There are also help sections on iRacing, hardware, set-up, tracks etc.
The discord server acts as a ‘F3 officials discord’, with discussion on F3 officials, calendar and more
Please join at
https://discord.gg/pAduK2q

General informations at https://www.igpfun.com/information/ , details on liveries, how to join a race and more are in the information tab of our website.

Races are ~45-50 minutes long, laps are set. No pitstops are necessary.

General philosophy

iGPFun is always praised for the clean and respectful racing. Accident happens, but they are not the result of really dumb or aggressive moves. We ask to race with the spirit of F1 drivers of the ’60s, when an accident often resulted in death; it seems weird when talking about online events, but it results in much more enjoyable racing.
Always give racing space: do not block, do not try to squeeze others off-track in the corners and do not dive bomb; the goal of the first laps is to get the field sorted, not to take risks that can cause a huge crash in a 50+ cars field. Keeping a constant gap from the cars in front and avoiding speed differentials does wonder to avoid the first lap shenanigans so much dreaded in officials.
New league drivers are statistically more involved in crashes. The sooner you understand our racing philosophy the mor enjoyment you’ll get.

Take it easy at race start

Each track has a ‘no pass zone’ in lap 1, defined in the weekly briefing. The goal is to avoid huge crashes that wipe out the field, causing nothing but anger and frustration.
You must not look for passing opportunities at race start.
You can pass a car on ‘the other lane’ if that is the safest action, maybe because it had a slow start, but you must not try to outbrake anyone for the first few corners.
Passing a car in your own lane is only ok if required for safety, for instance because the car ahead stalled.
No sudden lane changing either. Keep to your side of the track until after the first corner or until the first straight, then get in single file when safe.
The idea is to keep a constant gap from the car in front and avoid sudden braking or change of direction. Braking relatively early and gently, preparing to brake more when the field bunches up for a tight corner, is the safest action. Late braking trying to gain on cars or early, heavy braking are both dangerous and often cause crashes.

The more predictable we can be the safer the start.

Early race overtakes are not forbidden beyond the no-pass zone, but think hard if it is worth attempting them.
Beyond strategic considerations not exposed here, you must pass only if it is clearly safe. We must avoid accidents when 50 cars are still packed together.

Attempting a 3-wide pass in lap 1 is, instead, strictly forbidden.
As above, passing a very slow car or similar is ok, but you should not actively try to gain places by going 3-wide.

Early Race

Incidents in the early race are particularly frowned upon.
Be careful not to lose the car, an accident in a large field can be disastrous.
Avoid risks early on; it is a long race and you will have chances to pass.
The idea is simple: if in doubt, do not do it.
You will get a better opportunity soon enough.

No Dive Bombing

Generally speaking, you must be alongside the other car (wheels at helmet level) before turn-in to have right to the corner, otherwise the car in front can close the door and any contact will be your fault.
Conversely, the defender cannot close to the apex but must, instead, leave sufficient racing space if it has a car alongside before turn-in.
It is recommended to leave as much space as possible when driving side by side in order to minimize netcode issues.
Similarly, you should avoid following someone very closely into a braking zone unless you are planning an attack. Netcode contacts tend to happen in heavy braking zones. The safest course of action is to be staggered from the car in front or to be at a safe distance.

No Blocking

Blocking, defined as moving in reaction to the car behind trying to impede its progress, is harshly penalized.
Even a single move can be blocking.
Generally speaking, moving before the car behind is defending. Moving after it is blocking.
Blocking results in heavy penalties. Race and let race, it is more fun for everyone.
A block penalty is decided answering two questions. i) Did the driver move after (in reaction to) the car behind? ii) Did he hinder the car behind? If the answers are yes, the blocking driver is penalized.
Think about motorway driving: if there is a car slight behing you in a lane next to yours, you cannot move and occupy that lane.

Spinning and Unsafe Rejoin

When you spin, immediately lock the brakes and then hold still until you are clear of traffic, even if you are sitting in the middle of the track.
It is much more difficult to avoid a moving car rather than a still one. Let incoming drivers worry about avoiding you, it is easier and safer. If you need to turn around, try do so off-track if at all possible.
Always yield to traffic when rejoining the track. Wait patiently for a safe gap; use the relative box information (F3) to help you as needed.
Never rejoin crossing the track or perpendicular to the racing line.
In real life crashes after rejoining are extremely rare. They are very common in online racing. Once again, drive realistically and races will be much more fun for everyone.
Causing an accident by an unsafe rejoin is heavily penalized.

No Team Games

No team games, such as giving each other a draft in qualify or, even worse, hindering your team mate rivals in the race.
Play it fair, it is more fun and nobody gets upset.

Lapping and Being Lapped

Lapping requires patience and sensible driving. The single most important thing is being predictable.
Do not rely on voice or text chat (eg pass left): many drivers have the chat disabled when racing and chat is forbidden in iGPFun.
I may not look at the chat but I will always look at your car, so make your intentions clear and don’t do anything sudden.

Lapping should always happen on a straight; it is safer and more efficient for both cars.
Lapping in the middle of a corner costs time and carries a risk of contact.

If you are lapped, you must help the leaders through as soon as it is safe to do so.
This does not mean stopping, slowing down a lot or going off track. Safe usually means the first straight you encounter, and ‘help’ usually means lifting a little bit on the straight.
Do not lift on corner exit. It is unexpected and thus dangerous. Furthermore, cars are on the limit of control on exit and the lapper won’t be able to adjust his line to move around you.
Do not aim to be lapped in a braking zone, either. The lapper will have to take the corner on a sub-ideal line so he will be slower, and you too will be slow behind it.
Aim to be lapped in the middle of a straight. When the lapper is getting closer, move off-line to indicate your intentions and lift a little bit. After the car has passed you can move back on the racing line, but be careful not to hit the other driver into the braking zone.
This is the fastest and safest way to be lapped for both you and the lapper. Time can actually be gained, rather than lost, when things are done right.

Think ahead. For instance, if you have somebody approaching on the start straight, try to help him by before reaching a twisty section where passing is much more difficult and dangerous.
A typical mistake is slowing too much to help one car, only to find yourself very slow in the middle of the corner when other cars are approaching. This is done out of kindness, of course, but can be very dangerous.
Always be aware of the situation around you. You should know if there is an isolated car or a train of cars coming up to lap you.
Ideally, lapping should be concluded with the minimum speed differential between lapper and lapped.

If you are lapping, be aware that cars are not required to slow down a lot immediately and let you by as soon as you are approaching. You need to get reasonably close to the other car, typically in draft range, and wait for a safe opportunity.
At times the leaders will have to sit behind a slower car for a few corners, waiting for a safe passing spot. This is not the end of the world, just learn to deal with it. You might even use lapped cars to your advantage, but we won’t get into that here.

Keep the race situation in mind.
For example: if there are two laps to go, you are leading with a 10 seconds advantage and are approaching two lapped cars battling for position, then it makes a lot of sense to sit back instead of trying to pass the lapped cars.
Conversely, if you have a 20 seconds gap to the closer car and two battling leaders are approaching you, it is a good thing to get out of the way and slow down a lot to let them lap you safely without affecting their battle.

Unlapping yourself
Overtaking a car one lap ahead of you is not strictly forbidden. However, it must be done only if extremely safe and only if the lapped car is clearly faster. Crashing into a car one lap ahead of you is simply not acceptable.
Keep the race situation in mind and decide if it is really worth risking a crash to pass a car that is not fighting with you for position. Similarly, consider letting a lapped car through if it is clearly faster than you.

A few examples:
– If you are being lapped and have a car close behind you on a straight you should never lift (or brake!). This will cause the other to crash into you. You can, instead, move off the racing line and gently ease off the throttle.
Please be aware that drivers will stay behind you as long as possible to exploit the draft.
The car behind starts gaining speed due to the draft when it is ~0.7 seconds away.

– If you are gaining on a slower lapped car approaching a corner, do not brake late and dive to the inside at the last moment. First of all it is not expected so the lapped car may simply close on you. Furthermore, lapped drivers often have less car control than the leaders, you don’t want to put them in a difficult situation and see them spinning just in front of you.

– A lapped car sees the leaders approaching just before a set of difficult corners (the Esses at Road Atlanta, for instance). The best thing to do is to stay on the racing line and let the leaders pass only after the corners. If it will cost the leaders a second… so be it.
There is nothing worse than leaving the racing line to help a leader, lose control and end up crashing into it (it happens!).

– Lapping should always happen on a straight, never in the middle of a corner.
Side by side through a corner costs a lot of time; by contrast, passing on a straight has minimal impact.
A good strategy is for the lapped car to exit the corner normally and then lift slightly (possibly off the racing line), helping the leader through.
Do not lift on corner exit! The car is at the limit of adhesion on exit and the leader will have a hard time trying to change line to avoid you if you slow down.
Do not force the leaders to take an unusual line into a corner (side by side). It will cost time to both of you. Much better to lift earlier, on the straight, as written above.

No Chat during Qualify and Race

Chatting is more than welcome in practice.
No talk during qualify and race, instead, not even to say ‘pass left’, ‘thank you’ or ‘sorry’.
Briefly using chat to warn about a problem, like a driver blinking, is ok.

Give Way in Qualify

Traffic can be an issue in qualify, make an effort to help your fellow drivers.
Pay attention and do not hinder incoming traffic when exiting the pitlane.
If you are not on a fast lap, get out of the way of cars coming up from behind.
Contrary to the race, you must move away and lift when a car is approaching; do not wait for it to be close.
If you are setting a time yourself you don’t have to worry about faster cars behind you, instead.

Incident Points (1x)

Voluntarily driving off-track to gain an advantage is strictly forbidden.
Post-race time penalties will be assessed to drivers taking advantage of off-tracks.
Going off a few times by mistake is not a problem at all. Disregarding the track limits and getting a lot of 1x in places like Spa or CotA is often punished, instead.
The idea is to drive without thinking about off-tracks. Do not exploit them, do not be afraid of them. If you get 1x lap after lap on the same place, it means that you are doing something wrong and need to adjust. Otherwise it is not a big deal.

If you overtake a car by driving off-track (1x or racing surface, see below), you must slow down and give back the position, otherwise you will likely be penalized post-race.

No Driving Outside the Racing Surface

The racing surface is delimited by solid paint lines, usually white.
Voluntarily driving outside such lines to gain an advantage is against the rules and punishable (usually post-race), even if the driver does not get a 1x.
Exceptions are allowed and specified in the weekly race briefing. For instance, driving on the outside entering the final corner at Interlagos is allowed.
Driving on the grass/sand is always illegal and will result in disqualification.
The above does not apply to corner exit, unless clearly specified in the track briefing.
The purpose is to avoid exploits, not to punish mistakes.

Penalties and Safety Points

Please read the information at this page by clicking on this link

Broadcasts and Donations

Every race is broadcast live on yotube.
This is very expensive, unfortunately. Donations are required to cover the costs.
I am really sorry having to ask for this and deeply thank any donor.

Please read the details here:
http://www.igpfun.com/donations/

Donors can

• enter the race server before other drivers, having precedence if the server is full.
• access a private set up section of discord. Sets can be requested there.
• access the iGPFun VRS telemetry team (no paid subscription needed), where you can compare your data to other iGPFun members
• download the iGPFun Motec project. Very nice, comprehensive and easy-to-use telemetry tool (and more), prepared by Juan Gonzalez.
  

Briefly: if you want to donate, use paypal or direct bank transfer to Luca Varani;
donations in USD can be sent via paypal to Andy Flint;
if you use any other currency I recommend ‘wise’; it is significantly cheaper than paypal.

Thanks again for your support!