How a league
actually works

What makes a league different

On a public server you join, drive and leave. There are no consequences: if somebody takes you out, nothing happens. In a league three things change everything:

• The same drivers, round after round. You know who you're racing and they know how you race. That alone cleans up 90% of behaviour.
• Points. Results feed a championship table, so finishing is worth more than gambling.
• Consequences. There's a written rulebook and somebody who applies it by watching the replay.

That's what makes it possible to race a centimetre from another car for half an hour without it ending in disaster.

Calendar and entry

A league is announced with a fixed calendar: dates, tracks, car class and race length. That lets people plan and practise the next venue.

Entries are usually limited, for a practical reason: a 20-car grid with a rulebook works; a 40-car grid with no filter doesn't. Signing up normally means picking a car number and, if there is one, a team.

Many leagues charge a fee. It isn't arbitrary: it pays for the dedicated server, the stewards' time and the infrastructure. In ours, the monthly fee is also the filter that keeps out anyone turning up for one afternoon to mess about.

The format of a round

The most common format, and the one we use:

1. Free practice — 20 to 30 minutes to get the car sorted.
2. Qualifying — 10 to 15 minutes against the clock. It sets the grid.
3. Race — 25 to 60 minutes depending on the round, with a mandatory stop in the longer ones.

The grid is closed: everyone starts together from the position qualifying gave them. Nobody joins mid-race, which is the main source of chaos on open servers.

What a sporting regulation covers

A decent rulebook fits on two pages and covers these points:

• Eligibility — who can race, how many places, joining and leaving.
• Cars and setups — which class, any ballast or restrictions, and what you're allowed to change.
• Format — session lengths, start type, mandatory stops.
• On-track conduct — the racing-room rule, track limits, overtaking, blue flags.
• Penalties — what's punished and by how much.
• Protests — deadline, format and who decides.
• Scoring — points, drop scores and tie-breaks.

If a rulebook doesn't clearly say what happens when somebody takes you out, it isn't a rulebook: it's a list of good intentions.

How an incident gets reviewed

The standard procedure, and the reason decisions hold up:

1. The protest. The affected driver files it within a short window after the race, giving lap, corner and cars involved. Never during the race and never in chat.
2. Replay review. Stewards watch the moment from several angles, especially from both cockpits. What matters is the relative position at the moment of turn-in, not who hit whom.
3. A reasoned decision. What happened, which rule applied and what penalty results, all published. Publishing it is what makes the standard checkable and consistent.

One detail that separates a serious league from an improvised one: stewards shouldn't be ruling on races in which they're personally fighting for position.

A typical penalty table

The exact numbers vary, but the principle doesn't: the penalty should be proportionate to the harm done to the other driver, not to intent. In sim racing almost nobody takes someone out deliberately; the damage is the same either way.

If you've never raced one

You don't need to be fast. You need to be reliable. The short route:

• Lap the next venue until you can do five laps in a row within a second of each other.
• Do a practice race in an open session to get used to traffic.
• On your first round, aim to finish. That's all. Points arrive on their own when others don't.

For the detail of our format, prices and calendar, see the servers page. And if you'd rather run your own, you can list it in the community directory.

Before your first round, the first-race procedure covers the basics you'll be expected to know.

Frequently asked