Right, I wasn't going to respond in any way to people complaining about penalties as I didn't want to seem like an argumentative little sod, but something that someone who will go unnamed has just said something that has actually quite angered me and made me think about this. So I'm going to tell you what I think (as a racer, not an admin, I don't admin iTCC before you ask) of the whole situation.
My problem is people comparing penalties from racing IRL to LFS. Now I'm sorry, but racing IRL to LFS regulations wise is and should be totally different. In real life you have a fear factor of damage to your own vehicle, the vehicles of your competitors and damage to yourself and other people. LFS dosen't have personal injuries or property damage that costs money, so else do you deter people from making dangerous moves that would be totally moronic in real life? You penalise. And that has to be heavier penalties than in real life for the simple fact that a slap on the wrist won't stop people wrecking in LFS, because they're not going to get hurt and can just shift+p it off and rejoin the next race.
It is simply the only way of getting people to FEAR the implications of contact. If you look at any real life racing series, ok so people aren't disqualified for their actions but not only can they not continue that race due to the obvious extra damage of the real world, but they are still penalised with points on their licences or points deducted from championship results. Look at the BTCC last season, people were excluded and a bloody lot of points stuck on drivers permenant records. Maybe that's what we need? Permenant records...
You want clean racing? Live with the consequences of your actions, however stupid they may be!
Thats my 2p, don't flame me all at once please big boys!