In November the Gentleman Drivers Club held a series of test races to introduce our restricted cars and get some experience at organizing events. We are now ready to move on to our next phase. That is the introduction of our safety ratings. After that we will initialize the driver ratings for our members and begin official races.
Most drivers think that the definition of a "clean" driver is one who does not hit another driver while fighting for a position. But if a driver spins and gets hit by another driver then it is generally considered as just a part of racing. We in the GDC take a somewhat different attitude. Each driver owes it to his fellow competitors to maintain a "reasonable" amount of control of his car so that he does not ruin the races of his fellow drivers. I have seen a signiture that says "If you feel you are in control, you aren't going fast enough." We believe that if you are not in control then you are a menace to the other drivers. Going flat out is fun but if all the drivers are doing that then you will eventually become a victim of their exhuberance. Most drivers want the other drivers to be more careful while they continue to go flatout. We can't have it both ways. To them YOU are the other driver.
So the GDC is going to use a safety rating to try to reach a balance between excitement and safety. Drivers who keep their safety standards above a certain level will be rewarded with lighter cars whereas drivers who drive beyond their talents will have weight added to theirs. As in iRacing, each lap you drive adds to your safety rating. Each time you spin, or get all four wheels off the track, or each time you cause another driver to loose control by causing contact, your safety rating will go down. A driver will have the most success when he balances his aggressiveness with the need to maintain a light car. It will add a bit of strategy to the racing as well as making it less frustrating.
Since we will only accept gentlemen into our club, we will expect all drivers to officiate their own driving mistakes. Just as golfers are expected to report their violations of the rules, we will take responsibility for our errors. At the end of each race a driver will be asked to enter his mistakes. Each spin counts as a mistake. Each time a driver gets all four tires of the paved surface, it counts as a mistake. Each time he hits another car and causes it to lose significant time, it counts as two (2) mistakes. When a drivers spins and gets hit by another driver, it counts as two mistakes, not three. Spins and offs are counted as one mistake if they are all grouped together in one incident. Once you regain control then another spin or off is a mistake.
At the end of each race drivers will park their cars at the next corner after the finish line. The admins will then update the driver points and award safety points based on the number of laps completed. Then the admins will ask the drivers to enter their mistakes. A driver does so by going to the chat window and keying in "%sry N" (without quotes), where N is the number of mistakes. For example a driver with two spins would enter: %sry 2
Then a driver can type "%stats" and his new driver rating and safety rating will be displayed in the chat text along with his ballast for the next event. Except for the driver making his inputs, the calculations are all done by the GDC insim software.
Please visit the event page on our website.
-GDC Admins
Most drivers think that the definition of a "clean" driver is one who does not hit another driver while fighting for a position. But if a driver spins and gets hit by another driver then it is generally considered as just a part of racing. We in the GDC take a somewhat different attitude. Each driver owes it to his fellow competitors to maintain a "reasonable" amount of control of his car so that he does not ruin the races of his fellow drivers. I have seen a signiture that says "If you feel you are in control, you aren't going fast enough." We believe that if you are not in control then you are a menace to the other drivers. Going flat out is fun but if all the drivers are doing that then you will eventually become a victim of their exhuberance. Most drivers want the other drivers to be more careful while they continue to go flatout. We can't have it both ways. To them YOU are the other driver.
So the GDC is going to use a safety rating to try to reach a balance between excitement and safety. Drivers who keep their safety standards above a certain level will be rewarded with lighter cars whereas drivers who drive beyond their talents will have weight added to theirs. As in iRacing, each lap you drive adds to your safety rating. Each time you spin, or get all four wheels off the track, or each time you cause another driver to loose control by causing contact, your safety rating will go down. A driver will have the most success when he balances his aggressiveness with the need to maintain a light car. It will add a bit of strategy to the racing as well as making it less frustrating.
Since we will only accept gentlemen into our club, we will expect all drivers to officiate their own driving mistakes. Just as golfers are expected to report their violations of the rules, we will take responsibility for our errors. At the end of each race a driver will be asked to enter his mistakes. Each spin counts as a mistake. Each time a driver gets all four tires of the paved surface, it counts as a mistake. Each time he hits another car and causes it to lose significant time, it counts as two (2) mistakes. When a drivers spins and gets hit by another driver, it counts as two mistakes, not three. Spins and offs are counted as one mistake if they are all grouped together in one incident. Once you regain control then another spin or off is a mistake.
At the end of each race drivers will park their cars at the next corner after the finish line. The admins will then update the driver points and award safety points based on the number of laps completed. Then the admins will ask the drivers to enter their mistakes. A driver does so by going to the chat window and keying in "%sry N" (without quotes), where N is the number of mistakes. For example a driver with two spins would enter: %sry 2
Then a driver can type "%stats" and his new driver rating and safety rating will be displayed in the chat text along with his ballast for the next event. Except for the driver making his inputs, the calculations are all done by the GDC insim software.
Please visit the event page on our website.
-GDC Admins