Absolute-beginners.com Racing Rules
(last update 26-07-2022)

This set of rules is always in effect. For some series different rules may be issued, but this will be expressed clearly at the time.

Used version Live For Speed
LFS S3 0.7D (see LFS main menu).
Update to the new version when it comes out.
The League uses the newest official version of LFS (this excludes test patches).

Starting Time of the Races
The starting time of the races can be found at the right side of the website under "Forthcoming events".

Be on Time
Log on to the server early enough so that we can start on time. When you are late and miss the qualification (or a part of it) or the start of the race, you are still allowed to participate in the race.

Server Name
Absolute-Beginners
The server is password protected. The actual password can be found at the website.

Races
Qualification: 20 minutes
Race: +/- 45 minutes. Number of laps depends on the track.
Every race starts with a standing start.

Pit Stops
All cars in the "fast lane" of the pit lane have right of way over cars exiting the pit box or garage. Heading in the wrong direction of the pit lane is strictly prohibited. If you miss the last pit box you are not allowed to turn around or drive in reverse. Instead you must exit the pit lane and complete another lap.

Pit Stop Windows
In the races there can be pit stop windows. During this window you must make a pit stop. If you don't serve this pit stop you will get a stop and go penalty which must be completed in the remainder of the race. Before the start of the race there will be a message with the pit stop window. The pit window can be seen with the !pitwindow command. Also you can see if the pitlane is open for your pit stop window / pit stop at the special pit board from LFSlapper and how many stops you still have to make. You always are allowed to make more pit stops.
If the Lapper-pit stop system is malfunctioning, it does not mean that there is no pit window. Please always watch the announcements made before the race about the pit window(s).

Pit stop Windows and Reversed Tracks
On reversed track layouts the start / finish line is often at the pit lane entry line. Take this into account when serving the mandatory pit stop!

Overtaking/Defending
When overtaking another car you must achieve any measure of overlap with the car you are overtaking in order to have the right to racing room. "Any measure of overlap" is defined as the front nose area (wing / bumper) being level with or beyond the rear wheel of the car to overtake. To have rights to "racing room" the overlap must be achieved at the normal turn in point of a corner.
During the race you are allowed only one move in order to hold someone behind you. You can change line one time and after that you have to wait and see if that was enough.

Scoring System
This is our scoring system:
1. 40 points
2. 34
3. 32
4. 30
5. 28
6. 26
7. 24
8. 23
9. 22
10. 21
11. 20
12. 19
13. 18
14. 17
15. 16
16. 15
17. 14
18. 13
19. 12
20. 11
21. 10
22. 9
23. 8
24. 7
25. 6
26. 5
27. 4
28. 3
29. 2
30. 1

2 points extra for the fastest lap.

The race results in LFS are the official results, unless someone has been disqualified. To score points you have to drive at least 50% of the race and you must finish the race. If you are not listed on the LFS score sheet then you score no points. The results on the website will be updated as soon as possible after a race.

If you have questions about the points (wrong points for example) you can send a pm to Mazdarati.

Championship
A championship season can be different in length. You can find the current schedules at the website. If two or more drivers have the same score, then the driver with the most wins, 2nd, 3rd, and/or 4th places and so on will get the higher position in the standings.

Flags
Always respect blue or yellow flags. If you get a blue flag, this means a faster driver will lap you. Please let this faster driver pass you swiftly and without any hindrance. The lapped driver must not make any sudden line changes which conflicts with the nature of the track. In corners, you don't have to leave your driving line, but let a lapping car pass as soon as you can in a safe position. The lapping driver must not force his way around the car to be laped and must act predictable while overtaking.

If you get a yellow flag some kind of accident has occurred in front of you. Be prepared to avoid car(s) ahead or even come to a complete stop. Passing another car under yellow flag conditions is prohibited unless that car was part of the accident. Position changes under yellow flag conditions may be protested and can be penalized. If you pass someone by accident while under a yellow flag, please be sporty and give the position back.

Bad behaviour around blue/yellow flags or incidents regarding blue/yellow flag situations may be filed to the BoT.

Crashing
If you crash your car or if you get stuck in the sand you may reset to the pits (shift P) and restart your race from there. However, you will lose all of you previously driven laps and so you will begin with 0 laps. It is up to you to decide and try to reach the 50% of laps you need to score points.
After being
A driver returning to the track must do this in a safe and predictable manner at all times. A driver who ignores yellow flags while arriving upon an incident scene, and hits a car behaving properly while in or recovering from an incident, is at fault.

Help After Crash/Incident
If a car is unable to drive (e.g. damaged, upside down, out of fuel) it is not allowed to push or bump this car onto the wheels or over the finish line. Pushing and bumping is forbidden and will results in a disqualification for both drivers involved.

Wrong Grids
Please be sure that you are on track (not spectate) when the race starts otherwise you may end up at the back of the grid. The start of the race will always be announced by the admin. However, if for some reason (bug or admin error etc.) the grid is wrong and you are at the wrong place, you can use the command !panic to display a message at the screen telling that the grid is wrong. When the 1st place driver has driven 3 laps, then this command is no longer available. Misuse of this command (for example a bad start or a crash) will be penalized by the BoT.

Board of Trusties
At Absolute-beginners we have a special board of trusties. The Board of Trusties consists of a few experienced drivers. After each race, you have the whole next day to complain about some accident or something else that happened during the race. You can file for a complaint by sending a PM to one of the admins by stating the lap in which this happened and what happened. The Board of Trusties will then decide via a poll about penalties. These penalties usually are deduction of points. In some cases a pit lane start for the next race can be handed out. If one of the BoT members is involved in an incident he will not take part in the decision making of that incident.

Allthough the BoT will not actively search for incidents it has the rights to investigate any incident, reported or not. Investigations will always be posted on the forum.

Possible Penalties
1. - racing incident - no penalty
2. - warning - no deduction
3. - mild infraction 25%* of points
4. - reckless driving 50%* of points
5. - very serious infraction 100%* of points (DSQ)

*The percentage of penalty points will be deducted from the points collected by the racer at the end of the race or at the moment the incident took place, whichever is higher. Incomplete numbers will be round up above to a whole number.

A pitlane start (for his next race) will be handed out to any driver that causes a severe lap 1 incident where he failed to adjust his speed and/or line to the cars around him.

A driver that received 2 warnings in a season will get a 10 points deduction. Every warning after the 2nd warning will result in 10 penalty points. Warnings will be registered per league (e.g. S3 League, Formula League, Le Mans League) in the Race incidents / complaints section of the forum. At the end of each season all warnings will be set to zero.

Oval Racing Rules
For oval races there are some rules that differ from the normal road track rules:

Single Car Qualification
First driver goes out on the track, second driver has to wait at the end of the pit lane.
First driver does 2 laps (outlap, hotlap).
As soon as the first driver starts his hotlap, the second driver starts his outlap and the next driver goes to the end of the pit lane.
Right after your hotlap you hit SHIFT+S or SHIFT+P.
The names will be announced by an admin.

When a player obstructs another player during his out and/or hotlap he/she will be disqualified from the qualifying session without a warning.

Start Procedure
The start will be a rolling start behind the safety car.
As soon as the lights go green the whole field starts driving at a slow pace and with all drivers behind each other.
The safety car will go to the front of the field as soon as possible.
The first full lap is behind the safety car at a speed of around 120-180 km/h (depending on car).
On the second lap the safety car will switch off the lights and "SC in this lap" will be displayed on the Pit board or as a chat message and as a yellow race control message.
The safety car will go into the pit lane at the beginning of the last straight of the circuit and from that point the pole sitter decides the pace of the field.
Overtaking, or driving side by side, is not allowed until the finish line is crossed.

Race
During the race it is not allowed to bump draft.

Safety Car Procedure
During the race the safety car is standby at the end of the pit lane. As soon as an accident happens the safety car CAN be deployed (this will be decided at the moment itself) and will pick up the leader. As soon as "Safety car deployed, NO overtaking" is displayed on your screen you may not overtake people unless they are part of the accident or when they drive into the pit lane. The leader of the field catches up on the safety car and one or more laps will be driven in formation. It is allowed to make a pit stop during safety car periods.
In case the safety car was unable to catch up the leader or lapped cars are in between cars which are one or more laps ahead, the "Lapped cars may now overtake" message can be shown. When this message appears lapped cars (with one ore more laps down to the leader) may safely overtake the field and take position at the end of the field. These cars may catch up 1 lap and rejoin at the back of the queue. Don’t pass other cars which are in the same lap during this procedure, position changes are not permitted while under safety car conditions.

Accidents
When you have been in an accident you are allowed to drive (use the inner lane of the circuit and be careful) to the pits and get your car repaired. If you can't make it to the pits you have to spectate (SHIFT+S). In oval races it is not allowed to rejoin the race.

General Rules
In the first lap of a race it is allowed to vote for a restart. This is only allowed when a LFS or Lapper bug occurs of some kind, for example a wrong grid, or when there is a big crash in the first lap. To have a restart, 70% of the racers must vote for this. After the first lap voting is forbidden and impossible.

We race for fun, so we should consciously try to drive as fair as possible. We are human so mistakes can be made, but don't swear at someone else when you are out of the race. All drivers are expected to race in a safe an considerate manner. Any driver who drives in an unsafe or overly aggressive manner my be penalized for unsportsmanlike behavior.

It's your choice with what kind of hardware you will race (keyboard, mouse, joystick or steering wheel). It is allowed to race with the external view and the cockpit view.
It's allowed to use your own setups, trade or download them from the internet.
It's not allowed to use a cheat code or some kind of hack to make your car go faster.
If we determine that you are cheating, you will be banned and removed from the league.

It is not allowed to race with a car skin that is offensive, racist, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, or you will be banned and removed from the league.

By starting in any official Absolute-beginners.com event a driver automatically states he is familiar with above racing rules. Memorization is not required, but a familiarity and knowledge of critical procedures is required.