General

1.1 Introduction

The purpose of these regulations is to supplement, and not replace, the rules defined by the sporting code on iRacing (Official Sporting Code). By entering the championship, all members are expected to have fully read and understood both these regulations.

The regulations apply to any regularly scheduled session related to the championship, which are hosted by ARA.

Members of Race Control may participate in one or multiple events of the championship. When racing, they act as a driver and not as a member of Race Control. When working for Race Control, they act as a member of Race Control. Any member of Race Control whose team participates in an event will not be involved as a member of Race Control in investigations which involve an entry of their team during that same event.

This guide, together with the Official Sporting Code, Terms of Use and EULA, Privacy Policy, and Online Competitions and Contests Official Contest Rules form the body of rules and procedures applicable to all iRacing members and all iRacing events.

Each member must read, understand and agree to all iRacing Rules before participating in any ARA league event. The iRacing Rules form a contract between each iRacing member and iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations, LLC. An iRacing member may accept the iRacing Rules by accepting the click-through terms on iRacing.com, or registering to participate (or participating) in any ARA league event.

1.2 Series Rules Acknowledgement

By participating in this series, you agree and have understood that you consent to the following rules, entry requirements and fees outlined within this document.

As a participant, you hereby acknowledge and consent that, if any pertinent information is submitted or collected in connection with an ARA league/event — including without limitation the participant's name, image, photograph, likeness, animation, autograph, voice, or audiovisual recording — all such information may be used and processed by ARA, their streaming partners, sponsors and associates to administer and promote the series.

Without limitation of the above, you further hereby grant to ARA a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide, irrevocable, fully paid, sub-licensable (through multiple tiers) and transferable right, license, and permission (but not the obligation), in all forms and media, whether now known or not currently known, to use, adapt, reproduce, distribute, edit, exhibit, publicly display, publicly perform, and publish photographs, videotaped images and recordings, illustrations, reproductions or otherwise, including without limitation all intellectual property rights therein and thereto, of the participant's likeness for any lawful purposes whatsoever, including without limitation for promotional purposes, now or at any time in the future. By submitting an entry, you agree to these terms and conditions.

In the event of a conflict between any of the policies, terms of use, codes or rules listed above, the one that is the most protective of ARA shall govern and control.

Suggestions and ideas are welcome throughout the season. We always like to hear your thoughts so please let us know if you have any feedback you'd like to share!

1.3 General Code of Conduct (GCC)

The Almeida Racing Academy League is a fun racing series, with a wide range of driver experience and goals. Your primary goal, as a Team and a Driver, should always be to drive cleanly, safely and fairly while on track. All participants should strive to act professionally and demonstrate good sportsmanship at all times. We consider this to be mitigating misconduct on track, in chat, in the Discord server or anywhere else. Derogatory, offensive or otherwise inappropriate language is prohibited in all communication forums; ARA reserves the right to evaluate potential problems on a contextual basis.

The following are examples of (but not an exhaustive list of) a breach of the GCC:

• Bribing or attempting to bribe anyone connected with an event.
• Intentional wrecking or deliberately causing a collision during any official ARA session.
• Reckless driving that demonstrates disregard for other competitors.
• Ignoring, dismissing, or refusing to comply with instructions from Series Organisers or Race Control.
• Abusive, derogatory, discriminatory, hateful, or offensive language in chat, voice comms, Discord, broadcasts, or any ARA platform.
• Harassment, bullying, targeted intimidation, or personal attacks toward any participant, staff member, broadcaster, or partner.
• Trolling, griefing, or any unprofessional behaviour that damages the reputation or environment of ARA in any public or private forum.
• Attempting to subvert, bypass, or interfere with iRacing's anti-cheat systems.
• Using, exploiting, or sharing bugs, glitches, or unintended behaviours in iRacing to gain a competitive advantage.
• Coordinated team actions that manipulate race results or standings (e.g., intentionally slowing to block, manufactured incidents).
• Producing driving behaviours or manoeuvres that unfairly assist affiliated cars across classes or laps.
• Blocking, brake-checking, or intentionally impeding another driver beyond what is considered fair defensive driving.
• Intentionally ghosting, disconnecting, or retiring to manipulate session outcomes.
• Unsportsmanlike conduct during session restarts, race entries, grid procedures, or formation laps.
• Sharing another driver's personal information (doxxing) or violating privacy in any form.
• Creating, distributing, or sharing harmful, inappropriate, or offensive media using ARA branding or content.
• Attempting to impersonate ARA staff, sponsors, officials, or another competitor.
• Representing ARA in a negative or harmful manner on social media or public forums.

1.4 Contact Information

ARA has an official Discord server. Once you have downloaded and installed the app, click here to join the official ARA server. When you join the server, please make sure you have your name shown as it is on iRacing.

1.5 Definitions

• Driver Classification — A classification given by ARA of either Club or Premier.
• Race Control (RC) — A dedicated person or group of people in charge of making decisions about race procedures and penalties.
• Racing Line — The general or preferred line taken by most of the cars in the field around the track or through a specific corner.
• Racing Surface — The surface that makes up the boundaries of the track. The racing surface is generally defined by iRacing's off-track limits.
• Series Organisers (SO) — The group of people who run ARA.
• Entry — Any single car entered into a season.

Registration

2.1 Entries

A. Season 7 of the Almeida Racing League is exclusive to active Almeida Racing Academy GOLD membership holders only.

B. Anyone who wishes to participate in the league must be a member of the Almeida Racing Academy Discord server, in order to receive important information regarding details for the league.

2.2 To Register

A. In order to register for season 7 of the Almeida Racing League, please join the ARA Discord server.

B. Use the #✫│link-academy-to-discord channel to link your Discord account with the Almeida Academy platform. Allow up to 1 hour for the bot to update your roles.

C. Complete registration in the #📌│league-signup channel.

D. For any issues, open a support ticket in the #⁠submit-ticket-here channel for assistance.

2.3 Driver Classification

A. All drivers will receive a classification of Club or Premier. Club and Premier ratings are assigned based on pre qualifying.

2.4 Car Numbers

A. Numbers are allocated on a first-come first-serve basis. Numbers cannot start with "0".

B. The range of available numbers is limited for each class as listed below.

2.5 Car Liveries

A. Premade ARA Livery on Trading Paints: A ready-to-use livery is available on the Trading Paints showroom. Feel free to use it directly if you prefer.

B. Customizable Template: Design files, base paint, and ARA logos are included in the template pack pinned in Discord. Change the base colour, add patterns, or build your own livery from scratch.

C. Custom liveries cannot have logos you don't own or have permission to use. No offensive or inappropriate imagery.

Pre Qualifying

3.1 Purpose

A. Pre-Qualifying is used to determine grid eligibility and priority for the Almeida Racing Academy League. It ensures fair access based on on-track performance while maintaining competitive balance across the championship.

Participation in Pre-Qualifying is mandatory for all new entrants unless otherwise exempted by ARA.

3.2 Enrollment Period

A. Drivers must enroll for Pre-Qualifying during the following window: March 4th – March 23rd

3.3 Pre-Qualifying Period

A. The official Pre-Qualifying sessions will take place during the following dates: March 17th – March 23rd

During this period, enrolled drivers must complete their Pre-Qualifying attempts in accordance with the procedures defined by ARA.

3.4 Session Procedures

A. Pre-Qualifying sessions will be hosted through iRacing in the Almeida Racing Academy S7 League of which you will receive an invite after application.

B. Drivers must complete at least three consecutive clean laps. The average of the best 3 consecutive laps is your qualifying time.

C. You may complete as many laps in a row as you like. The best 3 consecutive laps will count.

D. You may compete in as many pre qualifying sessions as you wish throughout the week.

3.5 Exemptions

A. Exemptions are not guaranteed and are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

3.6 Reference Guide

A complete step-by-step guide for Pre-Qualifying participation is available at the following link:

ARA League Complete Guide

Drivers are responsible for reviewing and understanding the procedures outlined in the guide prior to participation.

Championships

4.1 General

A. The car used in this Championship is the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup, run using the fixed setup.

B. There will be 2 separate championships per split (Split 1 Premier/Overall, Split 1 Club, Split 2 Premier/Overall, Split 2 Club, etc.) allowing all members to have an equal chance at chasing an ARA League Championship.

C. The amount of drivers per split depends on the number of drivers that pre qualify.

D. The fastest half of drivers in each split (determined by pre-qualifying times) will be designated as Premier drivers, while the other half will be designated as Club drivers.

E. The champion in each class will be the entry with the greatest number of points across the championship in their respective class.

F. There will be 3 drop rounds. The 3 worst events will be dropped from each driver's total.

4.2 Race Formats

A. Qualifying is an open qualifying session.

B. Format A

Format B

4.3 Championship Events

A. The races will be run according to the below formats and dates.

4.4 Points Structure

A. For an entry to score championship points at the end of the race, the car must complete 50% of the laps the winner completed.

B. Ties at the end of the season will be determined by most wins, then most second place finishes, then most third place finishes and so on. In the case that does not resolve the tie, entries will be awarded the same position in the standings.

C. Points will be awarded according to the final classification of each car.

4.5 Prizes

A. Entering the league and completing 8 out of 11 league meetings will give you a coupon code to the value of 30% off a coaching session with a lead coach. This coupon code is one-time-use.

B. PDF certificates will be awarded to drivers who finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their respective splits.

C. Other community or improvement based awards may also be awarded.

D. Further prizes may be awarded at the discretion of ARA. These prizes may be provided by ARA and/or sponsors.

Race Events

5.1 Time Table

A. Each event will follow the same schedule. All times are listed as UTC.

5.2 Event Sessions & Procedures

A. Free practice sessions will be a password protected hosted session.

B. Qualifying and Race sessions will be held in the invite only Almeida Racing Academy League on iRacing.

C. All races will have standing starts.

D. All sessions will have dynamic weather. All sessions will have weather generation based on the ARA lap guide; rain will be a possibility in some races if it is also a possibility in the official schedule.

E. Starting track state will be set to 100% at the launch of the Free Practice sessions. It will be a randomised % at the launch of the race session. During the race session the track state will be carried over from the previous session with marbles and dust cleaned between each session.

F. Fast Repairs will only be enabled in Format B with 1 repair per race.

G. Setups are fixed.

5.3 Practice

A. Drivers are encouraged to use the Free Practice sessions to prepare for the races.

B. Practice sessions are to be treated with the same quality of procedure as a race. To that effect, drivers will be expected to follow the rules and regulations in practice as though it was a race session. Race Control reserves the right to penalise drivers who are disruptive or unsportsmanlike in practice sessions. Penalties that are issued by Race Control for incidents during a practice session, will be applied to the race that the practice session pertains to.

5.4 Race Starts

A. All races will have a standing start.

B. Once the pace car pulls into the pit lane, the pole sitter will control their group and decides when to start the race. Pole sitters must maintain a predictable and relatively consistent pace car speed until starting the race for their group. Repeatedly increasing or decreasing speed before the start to spread the grid or cause check ups while the grid is approaching the s/f line can be cause for investigation by Race Control; advantage gained or incidents resulting from these actions may be penalised.

5.5 Classification

A. To be classified in a race, a car must have completed 50% of the laps completed by the winning car.

Penalties

6.1 Penalties

A. The following is a non-exhaustive list of penalties and corresponding Penalty Points (PP) that may be issued. The listed penalties and PP amounts serve as guidelines only. Race Control retains full discretion to apply alternative penalties or PP values as deemed appropriate. Adjustments may be made in consideration of factors including, but not limited to: the level of safety and situational awareness demonstrated by the driver; any mitigating actions taken to correct or minimise an error; the severity of the incident's outcome; and sportsmanship.

6.2 Penalty Points

A. Every penalty issued to a driver will include Penalty Points (PP).

B. Penalty points do not affect drivers' championship point totals. Instead, they are tracked separately to ensure that no driver reaches the suspension threshold.

C. Any driver who exceeds a total of 8 PP will receive a one-race suspension.

D. Any driver who reaches or exceeds 12 PP during a single race will be disqualified from that race, and their championship points for that event will be removed in addition to being assigned a one race suspension.

E. When a driver both scores championship points and receives no PP in a round, their total PP will be reduced by 4 PP. A driver's PP total cannot drop below zero.

F. For every 3 races started without exceeding 8 PP, remove 2 PP.

G. After serving a suspension, a driver will return to competition with 4 PP.

H. Suspended drivers who participate in a Pit Party will have their PP reset to 5, making them eligible to start the next round.

I. Stewards reserve the right to intervene in incidents displaying any form of intentional wrecking, cursing, abusive behaviour, or anything else similar to these matters at their own discretion, without requiring a protest submission.

J. Within the race events themselves, an incident limit of 17x will be set for each session. Reaching or exceeding 17 incident points will result in a drive-through penalty. If one reaches or exceeds 34 incident points, another drive through penalty will be applied, and so on.

K. The qualifying scrutiny is set to "Moderate", ensuring no foul play, exploits, or tricks are used to gain an unfair advantage in qualifying.

L. Penalties and Black Flags assigned by iRacing will not be cleared except when requested outside of extreme circumstances deemed necessary by Race Control if one is present.

M. When serving a slow-down-penalty issued by iRacing you are expected to pull off the racing line and not defend your position or impede another car.

6.3 Protests

A. Incidents will only be reviewed by the stewards if they are submitted through our protest form, found on the ARA website league page. Alternatively follow this link: Protest Form

B. Drivers must submit their protests no later than 2 hours after the event has finished. Incidents will not be reviewed if not submitted by the driver(s) involved or wrong info is submitted.

On Track Conduct

7.1 Rejoining the Racing Surface

A. Drivers must use the F3 black box throughout the race or use a spotter, especially when rejoining the racing surface or coming out of the pits. A general guideline to a safe rejoin is to make sure your car is parallel to the track prior to rejoining the racing surface with appropriate momentum. Cars that rejoin the track safely should not attempt to impede the progress of another car, and should maintain a predictable track position until they are up to race pace. It is the driver's responsibility to control their car when re-entering the racing surface: losing control of the car in the attempted rejoin resulting in an incident, will be considered the fault of the driver attempting to rejoin. Do not cut across the racing line. Remember you can reverse.

B. A car which is at race pace but is not fully within track limits must yield to cars on the racing surface when reentering the racing surface.

C. A driver who has lost control of their car is expected to mitigate the consequences of the ongoing incident as much as possible. For example holding the brakes or minimising the unpredictability of the path of their car, preventing the car from rejoining the track until control has been regained.

D. When serving a slow-down-penalty issued by iRacing you are expected to pull off the racing line and not defend your position or impede another car.

7.2 Track Limits

A. Track limits will be defined by iRacing off track limits.

7.3 Passing

A. It is the responsibility of both drivers to ensure safe passing.

B. When two cars are alongside each other with ANY OVERLAP AT ALL, each must permit the other adequate racing room.

C. In the event of a "divebomb", the passing car must have an overlap BEFORE THE REASONABLY EXPECTED TURN IN phase of the lead car.

D. Under normal racing conditions drivers are not allowed to exceed the racing surface to complete a pass.

E. Drivers who are shown blue flags do not have to yield immediately, but once the passing driver has tried to initiate the pass, the driver being passed must aid in facilitating the pass. The rules above still apply.

Communication

8.1 General

A. ARA has an official Discord server. Once you have downloaded and installed the app, click here to join the official ARA server. When you join the server, please make sure you have your name shown as it is on iRacing. All official communication must be communicated through Discord.

B. Updates will be posted in #academy-announcements channel.

C. Contact the staff via #submit-ticket-here for any issues or questions.

D. The server is the social backbone of our community and events, providing a way for participants to interact with one another, exchange information and build friendships. Disagreements are part of the landscape, but in order to maintain a pleasant environment for all community members, participants must not use rude or hostile language. Posts that attempt to publicly confront, accuse, or attack another participant/member are forbidden. Those who engage in a pattern of such behavior will face penalties that may include revocation of admission to any event without refund.

8.2 In/Pre/Post-Race Communication

A. Within the race events themselves, along with in public or private messaging groups afterwards, drivers are expected to uphold the standard of the Academy, to ensure it remains an environment where others feel comfortable, in order to foster a positive learning environment.

B. Discussions that center around blame or personal criticism don't contribute to learning or improvement and can create an environment that discourages drivers from developing their skills. We want to ensure that all discussions remain constructive and focused on learning. If conversations begin to target individuals or become overly negative:

C. Examples of Appropriate Questions:

• "In the last race, there was a crash between Car A and Car B at Turn 5. From my perspective, it looked like a late-braking issue. Could we discuss what each driver could have done differently?"
• "I saw an incident where Car A and Car B made contact in the braking zone. It seems like a racing incident to me, but I'd love to hear different viewpoints. How would you interpret it?"
• "I'm trying to understand the league's racing etiquette better. In an incident like the one between Car A and Car B, where one car was ahead but the other had the inside line, how do we determine who had the right to the corner?"

D. Examples of Inappropriate Questions:

• "Why does Car A always cause crashes? Shouldn't they be banned from the league by now?"
• "Here's yet another example of Car C ruining someone's race. When will they learn how to drive?"
• "Look at this disaster caused by Car H. No surprise there."

Weekly Academy Content

9.1 Workshops

A. Focusing on one main concept every other week, one coach from the academy will be hosting bi-weekly workshops for league members to enhance their overall driving technique.

B. Two workshops will be hosted every other Monday, in order to accommodate different time zones (Europe–US). Workshops will be hosted at 6:00 PM UTC and 12:00 AM UTC.

Workshops will take place on Discord, in the ⭐│Almeida Auditorium

9.2 Challenges

A. Separate from the core 20 Academy Trials, new Challenges will be released every Monday based on the car/track combos for the upcoming league race.

9.3 Pit Parties

A. Hosted by ARA Coaches, Pit Parties allow racers to practice their racecraft in a fun and safe environment, while preparing for that week's league race. Two Pit Parties will be hosted every Friday during the league season, at 6:00 PM UTC and 12:00 AM UTC.

9.4 Official Flash Mob

A. Due to the league following the official iRacing SRF schedule, it allows for fun, impromptu "Flash Mobs", to further practice for the league events, alongside fellow teammates and competitors.

9.5 Official Practice

A. Open to any ARA Member, the official practice is an organized session used to compare times, and have open discussion. Official practices will run every Wednesday from 3:00 PM UTC to 2:00 AM UTC. Password: ARA321