Rulebook | PLP GP

PLP GP is a Formula 1 racing league run under the banner of podcast Pit Lane Parley. The following rules apply to the Xbox League commissioned by Matthew Hickey and owned by Pit Lane Parley. The below rulebook (v22) will not take effect until Season 6 begins. Otherwise, v21 takes precedence for the remainder of Season 5.

PLP GP Rulebook v23 (7-5-22)

Races are to be run hosted by Matthew Hickey, with Colin Taylor as a backup. The following metrics are to be used –

Safety Car Frequency – Standard
Flag Rules – On
Parc Freme – On
Car – Multiplayer
Weather – Dynamic
Forecast Accuracy – Approximate
Low Fuel Mode – Hard
Race Start – Manual
Formation Lap – TBD
Manual Pit Stop – TBD
Tire – Surface and Carcass
Distance – 50%
Car Damage – Standard
Car Damage Rate – Standard
Corner cutting stringency – Reduced
Start Time – Official
Setups – Allowed
Assists – Allowed
Collisions – On
Ghosting – Off
Safety Car – On
Unsafe Pit Release – On
Qualifying – One-Shot*

Standard Weekend Format

Races are to be held on Mondays. There will be two practice sessions followed by short qualifying and then the race. Race sessions will not be delayed longer than five minutes for tardiness unless we have been notified of tardiness or technical difficulty. A formal practice race will take place at 9pm EST on the Sunday before the race (see – ‘Practice Race’). The following format will be in place for Monday races in eastern time –

Practice 1 – 7:15pm (reduced damage)

Practice 2 – 8:00pm (standard damage)

Pre-Qualifying – 8:35pm (failing to show up in a timely manner will result in a DNQ)

One-Shot – Immediately Following Pre-Qualifying

Feature-Sprint Weekend Format

The Sprint Race will be 25% distance. *Grid order will be set by reverse grids outlined in the rulebook. The Feature Race will be 50% distance. All other rules will follow our league rules for both the Sprint Race and Feature Race.

The below table is a breakdown of where you would start in the Sprint Race based on your Feature Race result –

Points are as follows, with one point be awarded for fastest lap for each race (if you finish in a points paying position –

Schedule on Sprint-Feature night (EST) –

Practice 1 – 7:15 PM

Practice 2 – 8:00 PM

Pre-Qualifying – 8:35 PM (failing to show up in a timely manner will result in a DNQ)

Sprint Race – 8:45 PM

Feature Race – Immediately Following Sprint Race

Pre-Qualifying

The league will be capped between 26-28 drivers. For the first race of each season, the field will be set by the Top 20 in the championship from the previous season. If someone from the Top 20 cannot race, the next person up will take their place.

After the first round of the season, the current Top-12 in the championship will locked into the next race. All others will need to qualify for the remaining 8 positions in a one-shot qualifying session. If someone from the Top-12 cannot attend a race, their locked position will not be transferred to another participant. If there is a tie in timing and scoring from the pre-qualifying session, we will follow the order that timing and scoring has displayed as the tiebreaker. Those who are outside of the Top-8 positions will be bumped for that race.

For Sprint-Feature night, the pre-qualifying system will be used to determine the participants for both races, with reverse grids determining the starting position for the 20 participants in the Sprint Race.

Reverse Grids

The grid for Sprint Races will be set by the inverse of the driver’s championship. Tiebreakers in points will be determined by highest average finish.

If a driver’s first start of the season occurs during a Reverse Grid night, they will automatically be put at the rear of the field (aka – if the first round of the season has a participant that did not participate in the previous season, this participant will start last).

Practice Race

A formal practice race will be held the Sunday before each race for all competitors to take part in at 9pm EST. A driver not in the league may participate if Hickey approves it.

Drivers and Teams Championship

We will drop results from your season total to make up for absences. For a full season schedule, your four lowest races for points earned will be dropped (excludes Sprint Races). For a reduced season schedule, your three lowest races for points earned will be dropped (excludes Sprint Races).

The Teams Championship will be comprised of teams consisting of no more than two drivers. Both drivers’ results will count towards their team totals. For the first season that is comprised of a full schedule, a team will have their lowest eight results excluded from their total. For the reduced season, their lowest six results will be excluded. Sprint Races are not eligible to be dropped.

Teams are not permitted to have more than two active league members on their team at a given time. Only if a team releases a driver or the driver withdraws from the league may a team add another driver.

Score Keeping and Championship Tiebreaks

Scoring for the championship will be done by Hickey on Excel after the conclusion of each race, provided Hickey is home to do scoring. If he is absent on a Monday, points will be updated as soon as possible, or backup duties will be designated. Results from the race will be posted with screenshots from the game on @PLP_GP as a way to share the results to the public, and as a record keeping mechanism for those to revisit if needed. Hickey will track points, average start, average finish, change in position, laps completed, wins, podiums, poles, fastest laps, team points, RAF, and career stats.

Competitors are encouraged to double-check the math and record keeping after a race to ensure accuracy and correct any potential errors.

Tiebreakers will not be enforced during the any round of the season apart from the finale of the season. Point ties at the end of the season will be broken for individuals and teams by the following criteria on the season in order:

Whoever has the most wins the tiebreaker. If even, then –
Whoever has the most podiums wins the tiebreaker. If even, then –
Whoever has the most top-five finishes wins the tiebreaker. If even, then –
Whoever has the most top-ten finishes wins the tiebreaker. If even, then –
Whoever has the most starts wins the tiebreaker. If even, then –
A coin flip will be done via Facetime with two witnesses to determine tiebreaker.

Appealing a Result

Games can at time glitch results at the end of the race. A formal investigation will be launched by Hickey after the race to determine if the game incorrectly scored someone. Otherwise, all results after the race are final.

Stewardship

Hickey nor the committee are not at liberty to suspend/punish a driver for reckless driving. However, Hickey is at liberty to remove someone from the league if they are a consistent problem to others or a detriment to the league.

Everyone joins this league freely and with the intent of taking part of a fun league with a great group of people. Clean, hard, and fair driving is encouraged by everyone, and issues between participants is encouraged to be resolved privately by those who have gripes.

Driver Changes, Team Changes, and Silly Season

Drivers can be removed from the league at the discretion of Hickey with the approval from the committee.

All team changes, driver changes, and driver number changes need to be approved by Hickey. The lowest car number (currently #2) is reserved for the current driver’s champion. A number may not be used by two-or-more competitors.

Hickey will keep the field apprised of how many openings the league has, and if part-time entries will be allowable when a full-time participant is absent for a race.

For their first race, a new driver will run under their own team name. After their first race, they may continue under their created team or sign with an existing team so long as that team has an opening. This rule excludes new drivers racing in the first round of the season. Part-time drivers will not have a vote to cast on league votes.

104% Rule

New entrants will need to be able to set a time within 104% of Hickey’s best time at three different venues. Currently, Hickey’s times are –

Bahrain, dry – 1:26:771, Spa-Francorchamps, dry – 1:42:987, and Brazil, wet – 1:17.710

Using the multiplayer car on equal strength, a participant must set the following times or lower at all of the below tracks within seven days to be allowed into the league –

Bahrain, dry – 1:30:242, Spa-Francorchamps, dry – 1:47:107, and Brazil, wet – 1:20.818

Attendance

Participants are to be expected to attempt to qualify for at least 50% of the races on the season, or they risk forfeiting their position in the league.

Seasons Schedule, All-Star Weekend and Other Non-Competition Weekends

We will effectively communicate how many rounds there will be in a season and if there will/will not be tracks removed based on league vote for the season. The first season of the game will be between 20-24 races (not including Sprint Races), and the second season will be between 15-20 races (not including Sprint Races). A venue may not be removed for two consecutive seasons. The number of venues up for addition/removal will be determined by the committee, but the number is to not exceed five.

The committee reserves the right to swap two events’ positions on the schedule. Ex – if Brazil is the desired finale, we would swap the old finale with Brazil. This would not remove the races from the schedule – it would simply switch their places on the schedule. A maximum of two swaps can be made by the committee. No swaps are allowed during the unedited full season schedule seasons. The committee will take opinions of the league for swapping races. We won’t swap races for the fun of it.

All All-Star Weekends will be determined by the board with League input. Announcements on rules of the All-Star Race will be made weeks in advance prior to the weekend.

The Kruse Rule – During the Vintage/F2 Draft Period, competitors will be given at least a 24-hour notice by Hickey for when the draft is taking place. Arrangements can be made to work around schedule conflicts (i.e. – appointing a proxy to pick for you or ranking the possible selections so that I can pick for you based on best available according to your rankings). If no pick is submitted after being on the clock for your selection for 60 minutes, you will forfeit your position and we will move on to the next participant.

New Rules

New rules for the season will be discussed by the board and will require three votes of passage by the board before heading to a league vote, where 50% or greater number of votes are needed to pass the rule.

The Jack Rule – rules cannot be introduced in 21 or fewer days prior to the new season. Hickey will conduct surveys with the field about halfway through the season to get thoughts on the current season and what changes might be liked for the next season. The league will be notified of any rule changes prior to a season to have time to prepare. Failing to vote within 24 hours will result in a no-vote. If there is a no-vote, the majority will still win based on number of votes collected.

The current board – Hickey, Host Mike, Dinevski, C. Taylor, and Borros.

Post-Season Awards

Post season awards will be awarded after each season. These include some that are statistical:

Driver Champion, Team Champion, Rookie of the Year (beginning in S3, must be new to the league and complete at least 5 races), Best Avg. Start, Best Avg. Finish, Best Change in Position, Most Laps Completed, Most Wins / Poles / Podiums / Fastest Laps.

Some awards will be voted on by the league members at the end of the season:

Best Driver, Favorite Driver to Race, Favorite Race, Driver Most Likely to Wreck You, Best Team Principle, Funniest Driver, Driver With Zero Chill, Best ‘New Guy’, Favorite Livery, Most Improved, The Golden Cock Award for Stupidest On-Track Moment, Most Likely to Buy Insurance from Jake Neely

Hickey reserves the right to throw in a gimmick award or two per season.

Purse

A potential purse for the season points results will be communicated to the league prior to the season. Allocation and positions that earn money will be contingent on the commissioner and sponsor agreeing on the details.

‘No Block’ Rule

Active participants in the league are banned from blocking each other on Twitter. Users are encouraged to mute someone they don’t want to hear from. Blocking someone automatically removes them from the Twitter group chat, which is something we want to avoid. Blocking someone and refusing to un-block them will result in forfeiture of your place in the league.

Mass Technical Difficulty

If there is a single massive technical difficulty that impacts one-third or greater of the expected field after the race has begun (ie – roughly six to seven people at a minimum from a single event), the following circumstances will be implemented:

If this event happens 0% - 25% into the race, the race will be restarted on the same night as the original race began (given the issue is resolved). One-shot qualifying to be used for the second attempt if this situation happens.
If this event happens 26% - 50% into the race, the results will be frozen and half-points will be awarded.
If this event happens 51% - 100% into the race, the results will be frozen and full points will be awarded

Xbox Live Outages

In the case of a widespread Xbox Live Outage that delays the race start time by over 60 minutes and impacts six or more league members prior to a race, the race will be rescheduled to the following day given that Microsoft has figured their shit out. If it is not fixed by Tuesday, then it goes to Wednesday and so-on. Xbox Live Outages = Microsoft having issues that are confirmed by https://downdetector.com/ or @XboxSupport

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PLP 500 Rules - Forza 7

200 Lap Race in the 2019 IndyCar with 1 Lap to form-up into rows of three
Grid will be drawn out of a hat
The opening race start will be rows of three, with subsequent restarts being single-file
The leader will slow down to allow the others to pack-up. Hickey will serve as Race Director and will declare yellow flags and restart procedures. Please communicate to Hickey when there's an incident
The leader is expected to maintain a pace between 100-130mph leading up to the restart and can declare green flag anytime between the entrance of Turn 4 and the entrance of the pits
Once the leader declares green flag, overtaking is allowed
Hickey nor others are stewards for disciplinary action as a result of incidents. Players are expected to yield positions gained as a result of a jumped restart
Damage is off, but fuel usage and tire wear will be on, so pit stops will be needed.
There will be no cone clearance lap
Once a caution is thrown, another caution may not be called until 10 laps or more after the next green flag is waved. Once we reach 15 laps to go, a 2 cautions may be thrown up-to when we reach 5 laps to go
There will be no cautions thrown with 5 or fewer laps to the end of the race
Pits are to be closed once the caution comes out. Pitting when the pits are closed is a penalty
Lapped cars will be given wave around attempts under yellow
Setups are to be used based wheel/controller. Wheel users will need to use Borros' setup. Controller users will need to use Alan's setup. Failing to use the correct setup will result in disqualification