Rules

All information correct as of Season 10.

The following are the current Rules of the Grand Prix Games Super League.

Shapes
 You can choose between four shapes: the SMD ZG-01 or the SMD ZG-02 (including high and low nose versions) by Snake Motorsports. Download links can be found in the first post. The helmet shape is the Arai GP-5 RC 2008 shape by MDB_Snake. Download links can be found at the top of this page. 

Tyres
Teams can choose from five suppliers: Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, Dunlop & Pirelli.

Team allocation
 Teams may  NOT  be sold off, given away or ownership transferred by any means at any time throughout the series. When one existing team leaves the series, the next team entering the grid will always be considered a new team. The transfer of teams is no longer allowed. There is a grid entry waiting list for people who want to become a team owner. The first person on the list will get the chance to fill an open grid slot whenever a vacancy occurs. Grid slots are to be allocated to the first team on the waiting list. If the allocation is rejected, the application is sent to the bottom of the waiting list and the grid slot is offered to the next team on the list. Jumping the team allocation queue is disallowed in any situation.</li> The GPGSL will deny any joint ownership of a team.</li> The GPGSL will allow an existing team owner to appoint a temporary team manager for the duration and or remainder of one season only in the event of illness or other circumstances excluding removal by the GPGSL. At the close of the season, the team owner is to resume responsibility for the team. If the team owner does not resume responsibility for the team, the team is effectively wound up and the grid slot is made available to the next team on the grid entry list.</li> The GPGSL reserves the right to deny entry to the series.</li> </ol>

New teams
All new team entries will use the base perf;

[Team #00]

Name=*************

Performance=780,800,800

Team ownership
 A team owner may not race for his/her own team.</li> A team owner may not race for another team.</li> A team owner may test for his/her own team.</li> A team owner may test for another team.</li> A team owner can rename an existing team. The race-director is to be advised of any change one race in advance.</li> Teams and drivers must supply the GPGSL a livery and helmet. Pit box, pit crew and garage are optional, but encouraged.</li> If a team owner does not meet the Activity Rules and receives three warnings, the GPGSL will hand the ownership of the team to the No. 1 driver of the team for the remainder of the season. Should the No. 1 driver not assume responsibility for the team the GPGSL will allocate the grid slot to the next team on the waiting list. At the close of the season, the grid slot is allocated to the next team owner on the entry waiting list. The GPGSL recommends that the existing drivers of the now defunct team be given preference for seats.</li> Team name changes are not permitted during a season.</li> </ol>

Drivers and transfers
 New drivers will use the base perf: First Driver=21,Driver ******,16020,600,16050,600</li> Transfers can only be completed if both parties (team and driver) agree.</li> The Race Director and Race Steward require notification one race in advance of any driver transfers and changes. Driver changes should be sent to the Performance File Editor (Stoopid). If you don't do that, it's your own fault if your driver changes are not implemented for the next race.</li> <li>Drivers must supply the Race Director with their helmet. Helmet updates are permitted throughout the season. Game ready files must be sent to Stoopid.</li> <li>Teams are allowed a total of three driver changes throughout a season.</li> <li>It is prohibited for two team bosses to drive in the same team.</li> </ol>

Engine Rules
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>Any real or fictional engine manufacturer may be used.</li> <li>Engine BHP is capped at 810Q, 830R</li> <li>New team entries will use 780,800,800 which is the base perf.</li> <li>Using team bhp boost, a team can exceed the engine cap limit.</li> </ol>

Livery and advertising
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>Tobacco advertising is not permitted. Some European countries do not allow the uploading of images containing tobacco advertising.</li> <li>Livery updates are at the discretion of the Race Director. Livery updates must also have a one race notice. Game ready files must be send to Stoopid.</li> </ol>

Car numbers & Pit garages
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>Cars are numbered as in F1 Team 1 = no's 1* and 2 Team 2 = no's 3 and 4 <li>There is no number 13 car.</li> <li>All cars must display their numbers, on the car nose and on the rear wing end-plates.</li> <li>A new team that enters after the season has started with be allocated 24 and 25. If those numbers have been taken, then it will be 26 and 27 and so on.</li> <li>Pit-lane slots are decided by the Constructors Championship.</li> <li>Team owners are encouraged to supply pit-crew, garage and pit box for inclusion in the series.</li> </ol>
 * No.1 car is reserved for the previous drivers championship winner. No.2 for his team mate.</li>

Race length
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>Race is set at a number of rounds reflecting 40 minutes of time, including ONE mandatory pit-stop.</li> <li>Qualifying session: Length of qualifying is 30 mins. 11 consecutive cars and 6 laps. This will give each driver 2 timed laps. Gpxset is used.</li> <li>The length of free practice is 30 minutes. Test sessions are run at the discretion of the RD, screens optional. The GPGSL occasionally runs NO POINTS feature events at the discretion of the Race Directors.</li> </ol>

No unfair advantage rule
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>To ensure that no cars have an unfair advantage, all teams have the same pit stop strategy, which will be set in the track magic data.</li> <li>The pit stop strategy is determined by GPGSLRS before the SEASON. All cars are required to make 1 pit stop in every race of season 9.</li> <li>When a driver fails to complete a pitstop within a race, he/she will receive a 12.5 second time penalty which will be added to the driver's final end of race time in all weather conditions.</li> <li>If the RD has set magic data (e.g. number of stops) incorrectly, RD has an option of a re-run prior to posting the race online. Otherwise time penalties will be applied to anyone that stopped only once. The RD does not have to avoid one stopper with a rerun, if MD has been set correctly. Race classifications and the perf points will be adjusted to reflect the time penalty. [RD = Race Director; MD= Magic Data]</li> <li>Any additional pit stop for changing the tyres will not be seen as unfair advantage as long as the magic data for pit stops is set correctly.</li> </ol>

Qualifying rule
If a race has to be repeated due to rules of article 11 or if its length is set incorrectly, and qualifying has already taken place, the qualifying results will be declared as valid. The race performance file is edited using Custom Grid Tool to place the drivers in qualifying order for the race.

Weather
With the exception of desert races (e.g. Dubai) - which will always have a 0 % rain chance - and usually wet tracks (like Spa or Silverstone) - which will have 75 % rain chances, the usual chance of rain value is 19 % for all other races. The value is set at the discretion of the GPGSL.

Activity
The spirit of the GPGSL is, that this series and thread is active and fun. Ideally not made out of "ghost" drivers or team owners. Therefore the following rules regarding activity were made. In the following rules, 'activity' is regarded as making a post. This can be done with a PR release, press conference, giving an interview or a simple comment. The sky is the limit, be creative.

General
Every fourteen days, the whole members list will be checked for activity. If a member of GPGSL has not been active for fourteen days or more, a warning will be issued. Both team bosses and drivers will be checked for inactivity. All warnings will be erased after the season ends.

Drivers
When a driver receives a warning, the team boss will be notified by the GPGSL. He will need to make sure his driver is active in the series, it is his responsibility. Warnings have the following consequences:
 * First warning: a 20 point perf penalty
 * Second warning: a further 20 point perf penalty + demoted to tester if a racer for 2 races
 * Third warning: forced retirement from the series for the remainder of the season. Members will be allowed to return the following season.

Forcing an inactive driver out of the series prevents the team owner from keeping on an inactive driver for perf purposes. If a driver receives a third warning, the driver leaves the series, whether he had a valid reason in retrospect or not. If the driver has a valid reason to be inactive, it’s up to the team boss to decide whether to let him back into the series in his old position or not.

Team bosses
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>All team bosses are checked for activity. From the commencement of Season 7, team owners that are inactive will receive the following penalties. </li> <li>In the event of the team boss being removed from the series, either by penalty or by any other means, the GPGSL will pass the team management to the first driver on that team for the remainder of the season. At the close of the season, the team slot will be allocated to the next person on the team waiting list.</li> </ol>
 * First inactive penalty: a 10 point constructors title reduction.
 * Second inactive penalty: a further 15 point constructors title reduction.
 * Third inactive penalty: Team forfeiture. The team will be passed intact to the number 1 race driver for management till the end of the season, whereupon it will then be passed to the first person on the team waiting list.

Prior notices
A team boss or driver can give prior notices for inactivity, for example a holiday or a known loss of internet connections. In such a case a driver or team boss will not receive warnings. The notices have to be given by the team boss or driver himself, others cannot do that for him/her! Also absences need to be reasonable in time and reason!

Off season
In the off season, activity is not checked. We feel that in the off season, not much happens and therefore you shouldn't be forced to post. After the last race, activity checks cease. The first check of the new season will be one week after the first race.

Errors
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>When a driver receives a warning, but has a valid reason that caused him not to be able to post in the thread, the warning and the perf deduction will be erased.</li> <li>When the GPGSL has given a driver a warning, but shouldn't have, the penalty will be erased and a boost will be added for next race.</li> </ol>

Example: Driver A says in the thread that he will be on holiday for two weeks. For whatever reason, that hasn't been considered by the activity checker and Driver A gets a warning. Along with the warning, he receives a perf penalty of 20. He races one race with the penalty before the mistake is spotted. This has given this driver an unfair disadvantage. To make up for this, Driver A will have an additional 20 boost at the next race. Obviously, his warning will be erased.

Why does the driver get a 20 boost at a) but not at b)? At a) it's the GPGSL fault for giving out a warning that shouldn't have been issued. At b) it's the drivers fault. He should have mentioned that he was away. Of course, it is not always the drivers fault. Internet can break down. But we can't cover those things as well. We only cover those things that are specifically our fault.

Additional Amendment: Drivers and team owners should notify 'in-thread' (as well as by pm service to the GPGSL), notification of future inactivity during an activity check period.

Drivers championship points system
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin; color:black"> <li>For S9, drivers championship points will revert back to S1-7 levels, but perf points will stay at S8 levels. Fastest lap – 1 pt Pole position – 1 pt Most places gained - 1 pt</li> <li>If two drivers gain the same amount of places, the driver who finished the race in the highest position will win the point.</li> <li>Points are only allocated to those drivers which GP4 classifies as having finished.</li> <li>On DNF, drivers are not eligible for points based on the finishing position or the point for most places gained.</li> <li>A point for Pole position and/or fastest lap is still awarded after a DNF.</li> <li>In the Friday Free Practise the following points system is used:

Qualifying/Race For S9, testers championship points will revert back to S1-7 levels, but perf points will stay at S8 levels. </ol>

Perfs
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>Drivers points are added to the performance and subtracted from the variance eg: If a driver scores 10 points his performance shall differ from 16020,600,16050,600 to 16030(+10), 590(-10), 16060(+10), 590 (-10)</li> <li>Perf system for teams Total driver points are subtracted from the variance. Total driver points are divided by six, then added to the BHP. When the outcome has a decimal, the whole number will be added to the BHP, the decimal will be saved until another whole number is reached. Example: A team scores 10 points. 14/6=2.3333. 780+2=782. The .3333 will be saved until the team gets the remaining 0.6667 to make a whole number. Example: The team scores 11 points. 11/6=1.8333. 1.8333+0.3333=2.1667. 782+2=784. The .1667 will be saved. <ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>Engine Caps No further points are added to the BHP once the engine cap is reached. Engine BHP is capped at 810Q, 830R</li>

<li>Driver Caps No further points are added to a drivers perf once the driver cap is reached. Driver Perf is capped at 16150 for the race perf and 16180 for qualifying. If a driver reaches a race perf of 16150, but has a qualy perf of 16170, only his race perf will be capped. His qualy perf will be allowed to improve to 16180. And vice versa. Perfs will still be calculated beyond the cap, just not added until after the last race for the following season's starter perf.

The 2013 GPGSL Starter perf for new drivers & teams: [Team #00] Name=XXXXXXXXXXX Performance=780,800,600 First Driver=21,Driver XXX,16020,500,16050,500 Second Driver=22,Driver YYY,16020,500,16050,500</li></ol></li>

<li>Carrying over of perfs to the next season for drivers At the end of the season: As of S9, all existing driver variance numbers are reset to 500

The starter performance file is progressive. The performance file of the previous season is the base for the next by adding the points gained during the seasons divided by 2,3 or 4 (depending on the number of races driven) and a following preseason adjustment (see further down in this paragraph. The outcome builds then the next season's starter perf which then again serves as a base for the subsequent season.

e.g. Driver A. scores 100 race performance points, and 121 qualifying performance points this season. First Driver=5,Driver A,16051,500,16081,500 is his starter performance, therefore:

Driver A. 16051+(100/3), 16081+(120/3) = 16084,500,16121,500 will be his following season's preliminary starter performance file. The divided number rounded to the nearest whole point. 27.4 = 27 27.8 = 28

10-14 races per season = Divided by 2. 15-19 races per season = Divided by 3. 20+ races per season = Divided by 4.

To prevent the top drivers from extending their advantage season after season over the base performance, a further adjustment is made to close up the competition. The very best driver cannot start the following season with a higher performance than 16065,500,16095,500. To achieve this, the base performance value is subtracted from the top driver's starter performance. Both the race and qualifying value is then divided by 45 (this number is obtained by the top driver's desired performance value of 16065 minus the base performance value of 16020).

e.g. Taking the previous example, Driver A being the top driver: Driver A race starter perf 16084 minus race base perf 16020: 16084-16020=64 Divide by 45: 64/45=1.422222222222222 (Race Adjustment Value) Driver A qualifying starter perf 16121 minus qualy base perf 16050: 16121-16050=71 Divide by 45: 71/45=1.577777777777778 (Qualifying Adjustment Value)

The following adjustment is then made to all drivers. Example 1, Driver A:- (16084,500,16121,500) Step 1, Subtract base perf, Race: 16084-16020=64, Qualy: 16121-16050=71 Step 2, Divide by adjustment value, Race: 64/1.422222222222222=45.00000000000001, Qualy: 71/1.577777777777778=44.99999999999999 Step 3, Round numbers to whole points, Race: 45.00000000000001=45, Qualy: 44.99999999999999=45 Step 4, Add base perf, Race: 45+16020=16065, Qualy: 45+16050=16095 Driver A starter performance: 16065,500,16095,500

Example 2, Driver B:- (16061,500,16089,500) Step 1, Subtract base perf, Race: 16061-16020=41, Qualy: 16089-16050=39 Step 2, Divide by adjustment value, Race: 41/1.422222222222222=28.828125, Qualy: 39/1.577777777777778=24.71830985915493 Step 3, Round numbers to whole points, Race: 28.828125=29, Qualy: 24.71830985915493=25 Step 4, Add base perf, Race: 29+16020=16049, Qualy: 25+16050=16075 Driver B starter performance: 16049,500,16075,500

Example 3, Driver C:- (16023,500,16052,500) Step 1, Subtract base perf, Race: 16023-16020=3, Qualy: 16052-16050=2 Step 2, Divide by adjustment value, Race: 3/1.422222222222222=2.109375, Qualy: 2/1.577777777777778=1.267605633802817 Step 3, Round numbers to whole points, Race: 2.109375=2, Qualy: 1.267605633802817=1 Step 4, Add base perf, Race: 2+16020=16022, Qualy: 1+16050=16051 Driver C starter performance: 16022,500,16051,500 </li>

<li>Carrying over of perfs to the next season for teams. Team's gained BHP however will be added to 780,800,800 formula, and all gained(although unused because of the cap) BHP this year divided by number of races (16 or less, if there are in breach of no unfair advantage rule). Previous season's BHP are scrapped. So in theory differences between teams will be 7 bhp ( to team 807 and last 800 at the start of every season.) The divided number has to be over 0,5 to get 1 BHP and so on.

If a driver who has participated in season 1 does not get a seat in season 2 f.e. and since there is a Friday test »series« in season 2, but he consciously decides that he will not be a part of it, then there is no excuses. He'll take season 2 starter perf file in possible season 3.

If he somehow misses it due to no fault of his own or there isn't a test series in season down the line, the factor that multiples his previous season efforts is his average.

Driver x,16038,600,16038,600, his season 2 starter, so he scored 18 formulated perf points in season 1, so another 18 would be counted in for season 3. We implement the average in it.

16038,600,16058,600 +18=16056,600,16076 would be his starter season 3 formula.

Team's BHP are divided by number of races (that are within the no unfair advantage) rule. So if a team gains 39 BHP in the season/divided by 10 races is 3,9, thus to the closest whole number 4, which is added to the default 780,800,800. It goes from 780,800 to 784,804. for next season. The divided number has to be over 0,5 to get 1 BHP and so on.</li> <li>Team Boost Team boosts are allocated to the teams in regards to their championship position in BHP points Team 1 +12 BHP Team 2 +14 BHP Team 3 +16 BHP Team 4 +18 BHP Team 5 +20 BHP Team 6 +22 BHP Team 7 +24 BHP Team 8 +26 BHP Team 9 +28 BHP Team 10 +30 BHP Team 11 +32 BHP

These boosts will be used in every session of a weekend. The boost will increase the teams speed, but also decreases the reliability. Team owners are in control of their own boost strategy, so only the team owner can send in the boost application unless special permission for one of the drivers has been granted by that team owner, only in case the team owner can't send it in himself for various reasons, i.e. on vacation, sick.

By using a bhp boost a team can exceed the set engine cap limit.

Boost for Round 2 can be submitted after Round 1 Friday Practice. Boost for Round 3 can be submitted after Round 2 Friday Practice etc. Deadlines will be posted for Boost submissions as usual by Stu.</li>

<li>Boost Spread Teams can spread the boosts over the season in the way they prefer. There is no minimum or maximum of boost BHPs that have to be used (but it can’t exceed 24 obviously).

The corresponding failure rates are:

29-32=8000

25-28=7000 21-24=6000 17-20=5000 15-16=4000 12-14=3500 11=3000 10=2500 9=2000 8=1700 7=1500 6=1300 5=1200 4=1100 3=1000 2=900 1=800</li>

<li>New teams that enter the series after the season started will not be allocated their full BHP boost. They will be allocated boosts according to the following formula: (Amount of events passed / total amount of events on the calendar - 1)*24.</li> <li>Driver Boost Drivers will receive 100 extra performance points for six race weekends they can choose themselves, the boost will be sent in by PM to GPGSL acount and in advance, before the deadline, of the coming race. Info on which drivers have boost will be posted together with the performance for that race by Stu (Stoopid). Boost will affect both qualy & race points. No boost is permitted for Round 1. If a driver enters the series after the 3rd race, the driver will get 5x100 points to set. If a driver enters the series after the 6th race, the driver will get 4x100 points to set. If a driver enters the series after the 9th race, the driver will get 3x100 points to set. If a driver enters the series after the 12th race, the driver will get 2x100 points to set. If a driver enters the series after the 15th race, the driver will get 1x100 points to set. Minimum or maximum boost at once is always 100 points. If a test driver becomes race driver, he/she does not get any new boost, the boost will just be used in qualy/race instead of free practice. Boosts can be submitted at any time during the season, but not after the deadline for the respective race has passed. Deadlines will be posted for Boost submissions after the end of the previous race. As of S10, all boost submissions must use the subject line stipulated in the boosts announcement e.g. "Team Boost - (team's name) - Silverstone". Any boost requests not using the required subject line will be rejected.</li> </ol>

Protests
Teams and drivers have 24 hours after the race results have been posted to notify the race director of any dispute or protest.

Last lap DNF
In the event of a car visiting the pits on the last lap of a race (for whatever reason), the Grand Prix 4 produced race results will count and will be added to the race results tables and performance files as per usual. The dynamics of Grand Prix 4 force AI drivers into the pits and the finish line is not crossed, thereby resulting in a DNF. While this is a pity for the affected driver, this situation is governed by the AI behaviour of Grand Prix 4, hence being the fairest overall solution under these circumstances.

Bugs
A known AI issue is two drivers from the same team pitting at the same time. This may result in one or both drivers of the team being prevented from finishing the race. In this instance half of the points are awarded by the race director based on the drivers positions before the first pit stop of the race or at their last known positions prior to the first pit stop.

Helmets
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>Race and test drivers require a helmet prior to the start of a season.</li> <li>Submit helmet files (tga format please) download link to Stoopid.</li> <li>Updates are permitted throughout the season.</li> </ol>

Entries
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>All new entries, (teams, test and race drivers) are to be approved by the GPGSL before they can sign on to the series.</li> <li>The GPGSL governing body reserves the right to deny entry without explanation.</li> <li>This rule does not affect current teams, test and race drivers already on series participation contracts.</li> <li>Ghost accounts/entries are not permitted.</li> </ol>

Calendar
The calendar has 14 tracks. The following 8 tracks are always on the calendar: Interlagos, Melbourne, Monza, Spa-Francorchamps, Montreal, Silverstone, Hockenheim and Emmelord. For the remaining 6 venues all participants of the GPGSL can vote with a top five of their choice. The 6 tracks with the most votes will end up on the calendar, unless another track of this country is already in the calendar. In this case this track is skipped. Melbourne is Round 1, Emmelord is Round 14, the remaining venues are chosen at random. Oval tracks and tracks with known bugs will be excluded from the calendar.be excluded from the calendar.

Driver contracts
Contracts are defined as unwritten agreements between parties. As such they are a Gentleman's Agreement and therefore binding. The GPGSL will, if asked to do so, mediate on contract disagreements.

Note: The following rules have been defined to allow all parties entering into contracts to be aware of their obligations and to uphold their agreements in the spirit of the GPGSL series.

<ol style="list-style-type: lower-latin;"> <li>Duration of any contract is by agreement of all parties.</li> <li>Contracts are valid and binding as soon as both parties have agreed to it. Contracts do not have to be announced immediately, but teams must announce their driver lineup prior to the first race of the season and are requested to do so as soon as possible to avoid confusion for other team managers and to allow sufficient time for the GPGSL to build the mod.</li> <li>Once a driver has entered a contract to drive for a team for any duration, that driver cannot drive for another team during the specified contract duration without approval from their team owner.</li> <li>If a driver breaks off a contract and drives for another team without the agreement of the team owner, that driver will receive a 40 point qualifying and race performance penalty.</li> <li>If a team owner breaks a contract and dismisses a driver without the agreement of the driver, the team will receive a 20 championship point penalty. Exception for inactivity on behalf of the driver.</li> <li>Team owners are not permitted to poach drivers directly. Poaching of drivers will incur a 20 point championship penalty.</li> <li>The duration of driver loans and swaps is to be clearly defined in any contractual agreement between teams and drivers. Teams removing drivers, or drivers exiting from loan or swap prior to the end of a contract without agreement from all parties will incur a team or driver penalty.</li> <li>The GPGSL is to be given one round notification of driver loans and swaps to allow time for mod and perf changes to be performed.</li> <li>The GPGSL will impose contract breach penalties when a clear case of a breach can be proved.</li> <li>A contract between a team and driver is null and void when the GPGSL or a team owner removes a driver from the series for inactivity.</li> <li>Penalties are defined as 20 championship points for teams and 40 perf points for drivers.</li> </ol>