Each team will have a maximum of two drivers both driving similar cars, and team change during the season is NOT allowed (because drivers might change cars to take advantage at particular tracks), except when team rearrangement is needed. Teams with only one driver may be merged into a 2-car team. No team change is allowed without the permission of the FMBLIA.

The FMBL5 championship will have 10 races. These races should take place every two weeks, but this can be changed if needed. For final race dates and times, keep an eye on the board.

For the final championship standings, only the 6 best finishes will count to compensate for drivers who cannot make it to every race.

In the case of server problems it has happened in the past that more than one race was run. Any race started without the approval of the FMBLIA will not count towards the championship. If people can't connect to the race in VROC, races where more than ¾ of people can connect, won't be restarted.

All races will be run in intermediate long mode, unless specified otherwise.

Several members are able to host races in this championship. Generally, the member with the best proven host present will host the race. A host shall not shut down his server in any case. Should this happen (for example due to a power outage) a new race will be started if and when we can get a new host.

The point scoring system is as follows:

There will be no points for pole position or fastest lap.

All races will have 30-minute practice sessions, except for tracks where the average lap time is over 2min30sec. Here the practice session length will be 45 minutes.

Dates are already defined on the official Schedule, but can suffer changes throughout the season.

Race times shall be decided by the drivers on the week before the race. It is chosen by vote of majority. If you can't race that time, don't whine about it. You will have your turn another time.

For the latest information on dates and times, go and have a look in the FMBL forum.

Free chatting will only be allowed BEFORE and AFTER a practice session or a race. Before you chatat the end of practice or the race, check if anyone is still on a flying lap or not finished yet.

During these, use only short messages to warn other drivers, for example "PI" (pit-in) or "PO" (pit-out), "SRY" (sorry) and "k" (okay), this kind of short messages.

Do not talk about the weather or yesterday's soccer match or whatever while most of the field is concentrated on racing or setting a flying lap. Doing so may cause you to be penalized (see Article 12).

Shift+R is allowed in practices or races unless specified otherwise.

NOTE! The "Shift+R" rule has been suspended for the Le Mans race, in an attempt to improve racing.

Cheating will be penalized, of course! We can't allow people to cheat as we're are here for fun, as we always said. "Shift+R" rule has been suspensed for Le Mans for example. Someone who will cheat about that rule, will be penalized, and maybe even banned for a few races.

Remember, fair play and gentleman racing!

FMBL is a place where people go to have fun while racing. It means you have to be careful when driving, but also polite when chatting in VROC or in GPL (although it's not really authorized, see Article 8). People who will insult others without any sense will be penalized.

For a good reference for behaviour on track, please read this website. Much of the information you'll read there is all too obvious, but time after time we find it's good to remind people of them - simply because racing according to these rules will prevent a lot of accidents.

1) Excessive chatting

The only chatting allowed during "active" sessions are short messages such as "PO", "SRY", "TY". Any excessive chatting during a practice or race session can be subject to penalty, so keep quiet! Keep in mind that reading other’s messages can be very distracting to other drivers, causing incidents. It is your own duty to check and make sure all drivers are finished their qualifying laps before you chat. If you have a story to tell, wait till the post race chat.

2)Using a car out of the defined specs

Cheating will be penalized (For example, using a Honda engine in a Brabham chassis). Any use of GPL, other than the pre defined specifications will result in severe penalties, including being banned.

3)Poor pit exit causing accident

Any incident caused by a driver improperly leaving the pits and not yielding to cars on course will be subject to penalty. The driver must declare his/her attention to leave the pit box, by typing "PO". But this does not give them the right to drive straight on course. They must proceed with caution, watching their mirrors for cars coming through on track. They are advised to stay completely off the racing line, until up to speed.

4)Bad track rejoin

It is the responsibility of any driver who is returning to the track,after an incident, to make sure they do not interfere with other drivers. Rejoining drivers should stay off the racing line and give way to faster cars until they are fully up to speed. Rejoining drivers should not attempt to keep anyone behind them until they are fully up to speed. Reversing, stopping or driving slowly on the racing line is not acceptable. Any driver who rejoins a race and, owing to negligence, causes another car to crash or take severe avoiding action, will be penalized.

5)Bad Shift-R

It is the responsibility of the driver using the Shift-R to stay out of the way of other drivers and off the racing line while getting back up to speed. Drivers should take every precaution to make sure they rejoin the race without interfering with any other drivers. This means waiting until there is a sufficient gap in the traffic before using Shift-R, use your mirrors if possible and also listen for the sound of other cars coming through. When GPL prevents the driver from using the Shift-R command because "the track is not clear", it is a bad idea to repeatedly press shift-R. Wait patiently until the the track is clear.

6)1st lap accident

All T1 and first lap incidents will be reviewed. This will take place even if no formal protest is made by anyone. If a first lap incident was deemed "avoidable", then the driver in question will face penalty. On the first lap cars are on cold tires, so expect early braking into corners. It is your responsibility to anticipate this, and not rear end cars in front. Please drive carefully on the first lap to let the field spread out, after that an incident is less likely to cause a multi-car incident.

7)Blocking while being lapped

If you repeatedly block a car which is lapping you, you are subject to penalty. When being lapped, the faster car will gain on you at a rapid rate, use this as an indication and be prepared. Also, you can be certain it is a car who is a lap ahead when you see blue flags from the marshals. Do not make any sudden moves, drive carefully and yield to the car when it is safe. This is most easily done by moving over on the straight, once the car is beside you, hold your line until it is safely past.

8)Blocking/Weaving when defending position

The classic zig-zag maneuver, when used to defend your position will cause penalty. You are advised to chose a line and stay on it throughout that track section. If you move your car in reaction to the car behind you, you will also be classified as blocking. Also make sure you are in control of your car when being followed, a car that is being over-driven and moves all over the track can also be seen as a blocking maneuver.

9)Rail Riding

If you use the aid of a wall, railing or barrier to navigate a corner while battling for position, you are subject to penalty. If this occurs and you continue racing and fighting for position, it can be seen as un sportsman like conduct. It is best to yield that position when safe, and continue the battle once again.

10)Reckless driving

Maneuvers like throwing your car into another competitor, over ambitious corner entry causing incident, driving in the opposite direction of flow, etc. can and will be punished with penalties. This section will cover general driving behavior, and any conduct that is outside of the acceptable limits can be subject to penalty.

A protest may be filled for any serious driver infractions. The protesting driver must submit the protest, detailing the incident, to the FMBLIA within 24 hours from the checkered flag. It is the protesting driver's responsibility to provide the (server) replay of the incident in question, as evidence. A 3 person panel will analyze the incident in detail and decide the outcome of the protest. This panel may not consist of any driver involved or their teammates, in order to be impartial. The panel will be chosen using this criteria, from a pool of selected volunteers. The panel will come to a decision that is final and not appealable.

As most crashes can be classified as "racing accidents" where it is quite hard to find any single driver to blame, please very carefully consider the incident before filing a complaint. You may yourself be found guilty! This is especially true in online racing, because warping and limited visibility are factors that you have to consider in the incident.

Any protest will be handled as follows. After the driver in question has submitted his protest to the FMBLIA (bear in mind the size of a replay - these may be sent via MSN or be uploaded somewhere), the protest will be made public in the FMBLIA Notes and News thread by Marcel Thomassen, along with the protesting driver's comments and a link to the replay file. The other driver(s) involved in the accident are thereby requested to submit his/their view(s) of the accident to the FMBLIA within 24 hours of the publication of the protest. The replay and all descriptions will then be spread to the selected RATs for analysing and they will agree on a verdict. The outcome of the protest will then be made public in the same thread as soon as possible.

Any protest or explanation submitted outside the times mentioned above will be ignored in order to be able to handle protests quickly.

For future reference, the RATs shall keep a record of any protests and their outcome.

A penalty’s severity will be based on:
- severity of the incident
- scope of the incident
- avoidability of the incident

As an outcome of a protest (article 12b), the following penalties may be applied to a driver (least severe to most severe).

1)Time/Position Penalty

2)Points Deduction

3)Probation ( A probation will last for 3 future races. If another serious incident occurs within this time, then the driver will receive a race ban.)

4)Race Ban

A committee has been formed (Replay Analysing Team) to analyse any complaints people may have following an incident in a race, as pointed out in article 12b. After voting, the group of RATs looks like this:

A new group of RATs will be elected for FMBL 5