LFS is all about online racing. I love it - 30 cars competing on a known track.
But there are people out there who trash their cars for the fun of it - ruining an online race - or take risks that certainly wouldn't occur "in the real world" with real racers. There are also those that jump into the BMW Sauber on their very first go and wonder why they took out 10 racers in the first corner.
Secondly, it IS possible to "nudge" racers in front of you off the track, while continuing on for a win yourself. In a real race, your license would be revoked.
So there has to be some sort of system that you guys can create to ensure "fairness" in all aspects of racing. Heres some aspects to consider :
1. Money. If you trash the car, you pay for it. Ensuring that pit stops cost $$$ will help here. Have an online account that starts, say, at $50,000 and allows you to buy a car and go racing. When the money drops down, then you have to "refill" your credits. This should be able to be done a couple of ways -
a. Real money ! Heres a way for the authors to actually charge money for the game on an ongoing basis ! $5 will get you $50,000 or something like that.
b. Time ! Have the players drive lower-level cars at "mickey mouse" tracks for training purposes. Either that or training sessions - something that requires the player to spend time at the wheel without other racers on the track. Each hour in training gets $500 credit - including "hot laps".
c. Winning races and Sponsorship - just like the real world, if you win races, you get "approached" by certain online sponsors and their skins are provided on your car - again, you get paid based on your success with these skins. Each car "owned" costs money to "purchase"
2. Race Experience Points and "fame". Every second spent behind the wheel equals 1 point. Each blue flag takes away 100 points. Each black flag (driving the wrong way) and major incident also takes away points. Each victory, depending on "class" and number of drivers on the track adds points. Publish the most famous drivers on lfsworld.net - and publish their "winnings" and "sponsorships"
With both of these in the foundation of the game, you will end up rivalling "true life" racing with a massively multiplayer system.