Competition and racing rules clarifications

[NassimFTW]

The incidents and subsequent penalties have been a hot topic in the discord recently regarding the racing rules and the contest/appeals system. This topic will cover the former, while a separate topic will cover the latter when we decide what to do about the racing rules.

My main concern is the uncertainty of how the rules are applied and the big "gray areas" they leave. The source of all the confusion it seems is about item 5.1 which to my understanding states:
"The car in front has the right to choose its racing line. In the event of an attack, if the car behind (the attacking car) overlaps its front tires with the rear tires of the car in front (the defending car), then the car ahead is obliged to comply with the racing line and give space to the car behind, and the attacker must also comply with the defensive racing line of the car in front (no cutting of or pushing by both pilots). Any accident caused by not following this concept (whether it is the car in front or behind) will be penalized depending on the nature of the crash (in case there is an impact)."

The main discussion is about the incident between Samuil Ivanov and Dimitar Kabakchiev, where Samuil makes a late braking move into turn 3 to overtake him. The response is mixed, roughly 50/50. The purpose of the opinions given here are not to stir up any conflict or say what's right or wrong, but simply to provide nuances and examples as to why the current rules perhaps aren't clear enough. In my opinion Samuil's move is legal and valid because he achieves overlap just as the turn-in phase of the corner begins. This in my opinion is enough to force the defending driver ahead (Dimitar Kabakchiev) to comply with Samuil's racing line, and vice versa. However, other drivers, as well as Boss Ivan Stefchev, clearly believe that Samuil deserves punishment, with the main argument seeming to be that he came from way too far back and/or that the overlap was achieved too late, or that it was a divebomb and therefore illegal. This clearly stems from a different understanding and interpretetions of the rules and what they mean.

My proposal to amend this confusion is to elaborate on when overlap must be achieved. I think that overlap must be achieved at or before the turn-in phase of a corner begins, but let's have a discussion about it!
Example 1: 5.1.1. Overlap must be achieved no later than the turn-in point/phase of a corner begins. If the attacking car fails to do so, he will be punished for any collision or pushing of the defending car.
Example 2: 5.1.1. If the attacking car doesn't get overlap before turn-in begins, the defending car no longer is obliged to comply with the attacking car's racing line/trajectory, and the attacking car is responsible for any incidents.
We must be careful not to allow stupid divebombs. This can be combined with a general "dangerous driving" rule that stops dangerous weaving, moving under braking and divebombs.

Another topic I want to discuss is how lag affects penalties. For example, in the incident between Samuil Ivanov and Ivan Leonov during the sprint, from the footage we have available, it seems to me that even though Leonov has achieved sufficient overlap, Samuil cuts across Leonov causing him to spin. Despite this, it seems the votes are against any punishment for Samuil. However, Samuil defended himself by saying that he "had lag and Leonov's car was bugging and teleporting. I didn't leave a place because it wasn't there for me....". Similarly, an incident between Bozhidar Stoyanov and Samuil Ivanov happened where on Stoyanov's screen, there was no contact, yet Samuil was spun round.

I therefore think in addition to a potential change to rule 5.1 that each driver should be required to save full race replays in order to verify if any lag or netcode helped cause the incident. This change can be implemented to item 5.8.
Example 1: 5.8. Lag/Netcode Crashes: This can be a major problem due to the inefficiency of some internet connections. If you experience lag during the race weekend with any of the other drivers, it is recommended to use wider overtaking zones to minimize the chance of lag incidents. In the event that an incident caused by lag or netcode, and the Authority determines that this is the case, the penalty can be avoided; however, if a pilot is found to be using lag to his advantage to break the rules, he will be penalized depending on which rules he broke. In order to prove that lag or netcode caused the incident, the drivers MUST SAVE THE FULL RACE REPLAY.

[Nikolai Karakolev]

I am happy with these changes, nothing else to add.

[samuil0501]

Same (but remove my penalty).

[ROS71O]

Absolutely happy with the changes that are suggested nothing to add

[NassimFTW]

Update: With these current changes 5.2.1 should be moved to a section under 5.1 as they are very related.

[bojo12]

I agree