Weekly Briefing


Discord – must join

Most league communications and pre- post-race discussions are in discord nowadays.
All drivers must join our server, for instance to receive notes about penalties. Thank you
Failure to join the server may result in removal from the league.
Please join by clicking here https://discord.gg/pAduK2q

New Driver? Welcome !

Welcome to all the new members and thank you for joining us !
It is very important that you familiarize yourself with our rules and philosophy.
Every week you will receive a race briefing via the iRacing message system, usually on Sunday.

There is a section with track specific rules that change every week and must be learnt.

It is very important that you read the information at Race Briefing – General Info (click) and the links within to League Rules (click) and Information for New Drivers (click)
Thank you for your patience.
Ask if anything is not clear.

Races on Sunday
Donors can join the server at 20:30 Central Europe (1830 GMT during summer time and 1930 GMT during winter time).
Non-Donors can join the server at 21:30 Central Europe (1930 GMT during summer time and 2030 GMT during winter )
Qualify starts at 22:00 Central Europe
Race starts at 22:30 Central Europe

League members can see the start time in your local time zone at:
https://members.iracing.com/membersite/member/LeagueSessions.do
or in the ‘league sessions’ page of the iRacing UI

VERY IMPORTANT
Donors can enter the server as soon as it launches, so they are guaranteed a place if the server fills up.
Non-donors must not enter until 1 hour after it has launched.

Messages appear on our discord when the server is open for donors/non donors.

BRIEFING – Hockenheim

30 Laps , 137.1 km
43.5+ Liters suggested. Always check with your own driving

4.57 km per lap, ~1.31 Liters

  • No active overtakes until after Turn 4 Left, magenta in the map above.
  • Very important – approximately 15 minutes before the end of the free practice we will have a wet-start practice.
    I will call out in voice and text chat.
    Everybody will have to line up before the start line, in a position similar to the proper race start and standing still.
    I will then say ‘1st gear. Red. Go’ to start our simulated race. Please drive at least until after the turn 6 hairpin.

  • Causing an accident up to the Turn 6 Right hairpin, cyan in the map, will be treated just like a start accident and may be heavily sanctioned.
    No 3-wide attacks for the entire lap 1, as usual, no matter how tempting it might be.
  • First rain in the wet. We will have to be extra careful, especially under braking in lap 1.
    Let’s try to be gentle and predictable. Do not brake on the puddles, and do not force people onto them. Somebody going straight under braking in the first lap would be a disaster.
  • Try a start on the wet in free practice. Importantly, remember that we have a no pass rule. No reason to take any risk at race start. Just think about getting going without losing control.
    Being single file (staggered but with no attacks) before Turn 2 would be great; difficult but great.
    Turn 1 has puddles both on the inside (near the curb) and outside. Be careful and do not force people into awkard positions.
  • Be careful of the concertina effect into the slow corners. Avoid speed differentials in the early race, unless you are attempting to overtake. Do not try to be faster or slower than the cars around you; keep a constant gap to the car in front; avoid sudden and abrupt movements. No lane changes, no hard braking. Brake early and gently; early and hard is bad, just like braking late.
  • Dive bombs are particularly tempting on this track. Please be aware that they are illegal and can be penalized post-race, even if they do not cause a crash.
    Remember also that you must leave racing space when side by side, including corner exit. Do not take the track away from your opponents. This also can be penalized post race.
  • Voluntarily driving off-track to gain an advantage is illegal. Gaining/defending a place thanks to off-track driving is also illegal and penalized post-race.
    Aim to avoid driving off-track (1x), especially in Turn 1 right, but do not be overly worried about them. If you get a 1x in the same place lap after lap, it is an indication that you must adjust.
    In turn 1, driving very wide will result in a penalty if done just a few times (undisclosed number). Getting a 1x by being just a little bit over the limit is not particularly worrysome, unless done almost every lap.
  • If you get a 1x in Turn 1, do not attempt to overtake into Turn 2. It will be considered gaining an advantage by driving off-track


Penalties and Safety Points

Post race incident reports and penalties (hopefully none) are communicated in discord.
You can read philosophy and details in this page.

The Last race incident report is at this discord link, only visible to registered members.
Just scroll down to the latest message in the discord channel.
Have a look also at the #race-school-videos section, if you mind.

Rules

  • Take it easy at race start.
    The goal is to get going safely and get in line. You must not attempt to gain places.
    Do not try to get a great start on the lights, it is unnecessary risky
  • No lane change at the start, at least until the first corner and longer if necessary.
    Stay in your lane and try to maintain a constant distance from the car in front. No sudden braking, do not drive faster than the cars ahead of you.
    If by doing so you pass cars in the other lane, perhaps because they had a slow start, it is fine. However, you must not attempt to outbrake others or take advantage of the situation to gain places
    Always go for the safest action. If a car in front of you has a very slow start, it is ok to pass it.
  • Be careful about the concertina effect braking for slow corners in the early race.
    Try to be as smooth as possible, with gradual braking and no sudden changes, but expect to have to slow down a lot, especially later in the field.
  • No 3-wide attacking for the entire lap 1
  • No blocking
  • No dive bombing
  • If you get a black flag slow down, you must serve it off-line without hindering other cars.
  • Please remember that driving off track voluntarily (1x) is strictly prohibited.
    You can receive a time penalty post-race for having too many off-tracks (undisclosed number). There is also an automatic slow down in race if you have too many incident points. However, we do not aim to penalize errors. Just play it fair and all will be fine.
  • Always stay on-track on corner entry. This means that two wheels must always be fully within the track boundaries (usually white line). Exceptions are noted in the weekly briefing. Failure to stay on track on corner entry results in heavy post-race time penalties.
  • Any intentional contact is heavily penalized. This includes bump drafting.
  • Respect blue flags – which means helping the leaders through, but do not expect lapped cars to immediately pull over
  • No unsafe rejoins
  • Stay on the racing surface
  • No team games, such as giving each other a draft in qualify. Not everyone has a team, let’s make it fair for all.
  • No chat in qualify and race, it is welcome in practice sessions
    More details in the League Rules page

Broadcast

Every race is broadcast live on Youtube.
Donations are unfortunately needed to cover the cost.
Details on how to donate in our discord and website, thank you for your help !

Every Sunday we get together in discord to watch the race broadcast, starting at midnight Europe, 6pm US East Coast. Join us if you have the time.

Every race of the season in these playlists (click to open):
TBA


Previuos seasons:
2024 Season 2 – Youtube Playlist JPBroadcasting
2024 Season 1 – YouTube Playlist JPBroadcasting
2023 Season 4 – YouTube Playlist JPBroadcasting
2023S3: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWkW3a2ybd2j60Nw7xItdZIUsUG8ZPECk

Live video broadcast for this week is below – links are usually available 24 hours prior to the race start