Everyone please read the changes to the penaltys as follows:
(These changes should have been made last season when we doubled the points structure)
SNAIL PITS Penalty Guidelines
These guidelines are taken from the SNAIL Penalty Guidelines 1.3 and modified to suit the Project International Touring Series.
Level 1 (2 - 8 point penalty) - Likely caused by a lapse of concentration.
* A bump
* Shortcutting the track boundaries (1 pt. /incident)
Level 2 (10 - 16 point penalty) - Showed a lack of situational awareness.
* A shove
* This may be the result of carrying too much speed into a corner or braking too late, causing moderate to major contact.
* An unsafe track re-entry & use of "reset to track" also falls here (6-8 pts. cannot be halved for concession)
Level 3 (18 - 24 point penalty) - Demonstrates a lack of good race craft.
* The offending driver was likely too aggressive in a pass, creating a situation where his car met another at a drastic difference in speed.
* Excessive blocking or weaving.
* This is the lowest level that a dive bomb pass attempt would be penalized at.
Level 4 (26 - 32 point penalty) - Clearly showed a lack of judgment and a disregard for the tenets of good race craft.
* This is an incident from which complete recovery is realistically impossible.
* The offending driver likely came on an overtly aggressive line or made a move that directly put others in jeopardy.
Level 5 (34 + point penalty) - Intention may be believed or even known.
* Incidents of this caliber are race-ending and reputation-scarring.
* This level of penalty would require extensive discussions by the Stewards, and would be open to any penalties as we see fit up to and including placement on the last chance list, suspension from SNAIL events, or removal from SNAIL.
Failure to make a pit stop during each of the races will result in being DQ'ed from each race where a pit stop was not performed.
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- These levels are guidelines for us and you, and other penalties may be assessed as deemed necessary.
- Any of these penalties except for level 5 and unsafe re-entry could be halved with the proper concession after the fact during the race. Shortcut violations can be eliminated with proper on track concession. Penalties will only be assessed in whole point values. Example: A driver receives a 7 pt. penalty and makes a proper concession, they would be assessed a 4 pt. penalty (7/2=3.5 rounded to 4).
-A proper concession consists of a separate and deliberate act on the part of the offending driver to return any position gained or to negate any time gained during the incident. Ending up in the grass or sand trap and losing time because of your own action is not considered a concession.
-If a driver chooses to report a violation of the SNAIL PITS OLR that they committed themselves, that action will serve to cut the value of the penalty in half, provided the offending driver has met all prerequisites. This would apply to all penalties including unsafe re-entry to the track. This would still not apply to any level 5 penalties.
- Each of these penalties will bring about a probation period based on the level. A level 1 penalty will bring a 1 week probation period; level 2 brings 2 weeks, etc. The probation period doubles the effect of any incurred penalties.
- Multiple penalties in one week will be added to create a longer probation period: i.e. Level 1 + Level 3 penalties = 4 week probation.
- Multiple penalties during one week will not multiply the penalty points for that week.
- Drivers earn their way off of probation by racing without a reported incident for a full race night. Each night raced will remove one week of probation. In order for a night to be considered a full race night, a driver must race both races in that weeks event.
- Penalties for corner cutting will be totaled for each race. Four shortcuts in one race would equal a Level 1 penalty worth four points. Five shortcuts in one race would equal a Level 2 penalty worth 5 points. Any time an OOB violation is reported, the stewards will have the option to look at that driver's entire race for other possible violations.
-Stewards have the ability to assess penalties that are found during race reviewing, but we will not actively look for things to penalize (except in rare instances and only by decision of the chief steward). Any violations discovered by the stewards during review will not be subject to the filing deadline for race complaints.
Last Chance List Policy
-Once a driver reaches the maximum six week probation period or receives one level 5 penalty an automatic stewards vote is triggered to determine if the driver goes on the last chance list.
-Once on the last chance list, any penalty would trigger another vote by the stewards to determine what action should be taken. Those options will be: no action, suspension of a duration to be determined by the stewards, or a ban from SNAIL PITS. In addition to these options the stewards will have at their disposal the use of any other stipulation to membership that they wish to assign to a driver on a case by case basis.
-If a driver is found to have used a glitch or cheat while racing the stewards will have the option to place that driver on the LCL, suspend the driver for a duration to be determined by the stewards, or ban the driver from SNAIL PITS upon the first offense.
-During any stewards vote, the stewards would have until 9:00pm Eastern Time on the first racing Sunday after the vote was triggered to cast a vote and the majority of those voting would make the decision.
-In order for a driver to work their way off the last chance list, they must race without incident for how ever many number of weeks of probation they have.