Moderator's Report
A relatively quiet Red Zone - which sets a false impression of what is to come. My most difficult moderation yet and as a consequence, I have to remind all drivers of their right to appeal any moderation, although they should bear in mind that penalties do not have to be reduced and can, in fact, be increased.
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Bernie loses the back under straight braking for the hairpin (I know how he feels ;)) which is unfortunate for Fran who gets collected whilst minding his own business...
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Maxime is trying to come back at Ronnie and brakes later and can only avoid a collision by locking up and spinning.
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Hardest incident I have ever had to deal with but not because of the incident itself. The details are actually fairly clear. In assessing any infraction, each incident is taken in isolation on its own merits. This incident is made harder by a history of incidents and patterns of behaviour that fall below the high standards expected which has led to some bad feeling. I have had to re-draft this mod upwards of ten times.
The incident itself: Martin has driven very wide and Sky has the inside line. Martin takes to the grass by choice (and that fact is key) and this gives Sky a 5mph speed advantage - Sky squeezes over on Martin and has 50% overlap BUT Martin has left the track so Sky has every right to do so. As Martin rejoins Sky's nose appears large in his cockpit and they collide heavily.
I have looked at this several times as tempers were somewhat heated immediately after the race. It is my job to remove that emotion and judge the incidents on the facts alone.
Unfortunately for Martin he has voluntarily placed himself in the wrong by leaving the track. No problem with that but once all four wheels leave the tarmac any driver is in a rejoin situation and must ensure that it is safe to do so. Sky moves to the left and then straightens the car and moves left again and straightens. He stays on track. Sky actually follows the track groove closely which kinks here. He gives Martin no room (which we would hope for but cannot insist upon). Martin attempts to rejoin but there is no way he can avoid a collision if he does so. Drivers cannot choose to take to the grass and continue racing heedless.
This is clearly, according to the rules, a bad rejoin from Martin. Although he is the complainant, in this case, he is the one to be penalized. There are two rulings that fit this, but I have chosen the lesser offence: "The rejoining driver drove straight back onto the track, but not the racing line, without checking for other cars and contact was made." Technically Martin does not get to the racing line.
This normally attracts a penalty of two places. The alternative is the Appallingly Bad Rejoin: "The rejoining driver was in full control and drove straight back onto the racing line without any consideration for other drivers and contact was made." This seems wholly disproportionate given that Martin tried to rejoin gradually and Sky contributed to the collision by jinking left at the last moment out of Martin's forward view. Martin was aware of Sky's presence but may have judged that there was more room than there actually was. He had no choice but to rejoin towards the racing line but should have let Sky go first. Although drivers are at liberty to use the grass and are not forbidden to race on it, once they have left the tarmac they must rejoin and do so safely.
My feeling is that that this was two cars racing side by side without either paying the other enough respect with regards to racing room BUT (and it is a big but, literally), as Martin was off track (and had CHOSEN to do so) it was his job to ensure that he did not interfere with any driver on the track.
I have used my discretion to reduce the penalty to that of an Inconsiderate Bad Rejoin: "The rejoining driver was in full control but nevertheless drove straight back onto the track without leaving enough room for other cars. Contact was NOT made but other drivers had to take avoiding action." This clearly does not fit as there is contact, but I consider that the offence falls somewhere between the two levels of Blatant and Inconsiderate.
Martin is therefore given a one place penalty. Sky is not blameless here and is guilty of unsportsmanlike driving as he could easily have chosen to leave more room although he is not bound to do so. What he is bound to do under the Etiquette regulations is to ensure that he drives in a manner that careful and respects others on track. I do not believe he did so here. He is therefore given a Warning as the rules do not exactly cover the penalties for such infringements, merely stating that driver may be penalised.
To sum up, Martin is clearly in the wrong here according to the rules but Sky could have helped here by choosing to leave more room, all without jeopardising his position. Neither driver covered themselves in glory. It is expected that drivers will make some room and avoid collisions, if possible. Either driver could have avoided this incident and I wish they had. Martin receives the penalty as he was off track and the rules are quite clear about that. I do not find that Sky deliberately drove into Martin which would, of course, be extremely serious. It is not expected, however, that drivers will make two moves when in close contact situations.
Both drivers appear to have forgotten the following, which is part of the recommended driver behaviour: "Avoid close racing when its not necessary... ...The general rule for the careful and respectful driver would be, not to unnecessarily drive too close to another, especially whenever there is no point."
There is NO PLACE for driver squabbles on track and there was not enough care and respect here which should be the watchwords in our community.
My job here, both as Moderator and Chief Moderator is to ensure that the rules are applied as neutrally as possible and without regard to history (which I am acutely aware of). I have endeavoured to do so.
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The time of this incident is indicative only and covers a series of incidents.
Sky spins several times on laps 3, 4 and 5 and has clearly lost concentration from Lap 5 he drives around erratically and mostly, very slowly. Whilst he largely stays out of the way, crossing from one side to the other at low speed is extremely unhelpful to all the other drivers. In addition this causes flags to be waved in error. If you are not racing you have no place on the race track. This is clearly in contravention of the Etiquette regulations and I have no hesitation in penalising him.
The rules have this "Any driver appearing not to be making adequate use of his rear view mirrors, or driving in a manner which even unintentionally appears to hinder or discourage a driver seeking to move one or more laps ahead may be penalised." In this case the infringement is extremely discourteous to other participants and merits exclusion.
In addition, it has been noted that Sky has accumulated 8 penalty points in Inters this season alone, prior to this race, and has a total of twenty altogether. This should act as a warning that driving standards need to improve. Although this specific penalty does not attract a set number of penalty points I am, in light of the accumulated penalty points, imposing a SUSPENDED ONE RACE BAN (suspended for three races). ANY infringement in ANY division before the end of the season will result in that ban being imposed IN THIS DIVISION. It is not a ban I wish or expect to enforce.
Drivers who wish to know how this works should look at the section on Persistent Bad Driving in the Penalty Guidelines page [url=https://www.ukgpl.com/index.php/rules/penalties]here[/url].