Time Trial League--Replaced by RACE4Sport Fair Chance

R= Reciprocal  (see Additional Info below for more explanation of Reciprocal Altruism)
A=Altrusism
C=Cooperative
E=Excellence

We race according to the SIMPLE RULE:

Never take any intentional action that might harm or in any way slow down, or diminish the performance of another driver.

Think of it as the Golden Rule with Do No Harm added. With the belief that racing does not need to be a "Zero Sum" game. 

Membership requirements are:

1) Must share setups .sto and hot lap replay .rpy  files with other league members.

2) Must help other members with driving tips when asked.

We welcome ALL people without discrimination--AS LONG AS THEY AGREE TO ABIDE BY THE SIMPLE RULE above.

We welcome members with various skill and experience levels from Div 8 to Div 1. Unlike many leagues, we have no minimum iRating.  We would however, hope your SR is above C3.0. 

When racing in RACE4Sport Eagles Events, the application of the SIMPLE RULE is interpreted to include: A) A prohibition against positioning your car on the inside line approaching a turn where you cannot complete a clean pass or at least be in the lead before the braking zone; B) A prohibition against blocking or any "defensive" or "strategic" car positioning EXCEPT to protect a lead position during the last lap of a race, for the win; C) Use best efforts to maintain "racing room" defined as one car length behind and one car width beside another car. 

When racing in "open" iRacing events, or leagues that do not require adherence to the SIMPLE RULE the application of the SIMPLE RULE for RACE4Sport Eagles League Members is interpreted to include the same interpretation as above EXCEPT the following is allowed: A) A reciprocal action to regain and hold a position lost to a competitor that positioned their car on the inside line approaching a turn where they did not complete a clean pass or at least be in the lead before the braking zone--in other words to regain a position lost because the other driver passed using a late braking maneuver causing you to have to slow to avoid contact; and B) A "strategic" or "defensive" car positioning, according to iRacing Sporting Code, is allowed to maintain your current position against any competitor that is reasonably expected to position their car on the inside line approaching a turn where they cannot complete a clean pass or at least be in the lead before the braking zone. 

The League will be using VRS and many other tools to help improve the performance of all participating League Members. The goal is for every member to be the "Best they can be".

While most of our activities will relate to Time Trials and Time Attack competitions, we will also sponsor racing events from time to time.  We encourage our members to compete in the "open" iRacing series races to utilize and display their enhanced performance. 

We will focus on Road Racing with the FR 2.0 as the primary car, but will also work with other cars that are "purpose built for racing" to include for example the Lotus L79 and the C7 Corvette Daytona Prototype. 



History/Additional Info:

I am a 67 year olf Economist and a Mechanical Engineer. I make my "living" as an Economist and as such, I am a student of economic and behavioral science.  My passion for more than 40 years has been the "science" of motorsports and vehicle dynamics.  I am also a devout Christian. I serve as a Chaplain with Racers for Christ, an organization that serves the motorsports community in real life. About Team RFC

All of my life I have studied and contemplated the philosophy of competition in human existence (Business, Sport, Politics, and Life in General) and how it affects general "happiness".  I love driving race cars and building setups. I am a competent setup "engineer" with quite a bit of real life racing experience--at high professional levels many years ago. (FIA Grade B and NASCAR Gold Licenses--Winston Cup and SCCA Pro TransAM in the 1980's) I am a reasonably quick 67 year old but with slower reaction times, stiff joints, and poor eyesight, I am pretty much middle of the pack, generally 1-2% behind the really fast younger guys. (rated "Senior" in the recent FR2.0 Time Attack.) But, wherever I finish, as long as nobody hits or dive-bombs me, I really enjoy the sport. 

The concept of Reciprocal Altruism comes from behavioral science. More Explanation-Click. Essentially, it is very similar to the "Golden Rule" that has been promoted as a desirable ethical standard all over the world in many different civilizations going back to Confucius around 500BCE- "What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others." More on the history of the Golden Rule  

Take the Golden Rule one further step in relation to differing views on human competition. Some see competition as a battle--all about winning--"2nd Place is First Loser".  Others see it differently, especially when applied to amateur "sport".  Add the concept of "Do no harm" to the Golden Rule and you get the picture. 

The history of the Olympics illustrates the development of this standard or goal for amateur "sport" competition.  Ethelbert Talbot was the Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Pennsyvlania.  He was attending an Anglican conference in London in 1908 that coincided with the Games of the 4th Olympics in the Modern Era. He preached a sermon at a chuch attended by many of the officials and participants of the Games. His most memorable line was "..though only one may wear the laurel wreath (of victory) all may share the equal joy of the contest."  Full Article about Talbot

Essentially, the Golden Rule can be applied to racing in a way that does not discourage aggressive driving---"clean, hard racing" may only mean no intentional contact, but every other tactic to beat the other guy, including steps to slow him down or force him to make an error is seen as acceptable.   This is the feeling of the vast majority of the motorsports community. 

There are a few that take the Golden Rule one step further where any action that is harmful to another is prohibited, except in order to defend oneself (or others) from violence or aggression. Racers that hold to this philosophical view (Golden Rule and Do No Harm) see racing as a contest of skill in the mastery of the machine to achieve the fastest speed possible. 

The philosophy of the RACE4sport Eagles League is not about religion--it is about a form of secular competition that allows many to more enjoy the joy of competition without conflict. It is not self righteous or judgmental--simply a different point of view. For those that are interested in my Christian message, I maintain a weblog about that at Follow the Son Racing that covers my "journey" and points of view. 

The videos from three great movies below illustrate....

League Forum--Private at Proboards

A League with a Different Focus

A League with a Different Focus   

by Donald Wayne Strout   09/12/2017 

         

The concept of Time Trials and Time Attack attracts only a small group. Most want to do a little friendly "battling" in traffic. So--the RACE4Sport Fair Chance League is formed in Feb 2018.

During Season 3, 2017, iRacing introduced Time Attack.  Dave Gamble, Staff Writer for Game Nexus calls it, “online racing for introverts”.  Limited “focus group” research by others indicates it is a brilliant move by iRacing in that it recognizes an important “market segment” in the racing community.

First, while “introverts” may indeed be attracted to racing alone, the true aspect of competitive “racing against the clock” is not a sport just for introverts.  One example is major TV coverage of the well attended Indy 500 Time Trials. Another is the popularity of SCCA SOLO Autocross where more than 1200 participants show up annually for the National Championships—representing the best of the thousands who compete in the local competitions.

While it can be easily argued that the majority of drivers and fans enjoy the “battles” seen in wheel to wheel racing, there is also a real attraction by many to the drama of solo time trials, where speed alone is the goal.  To some, racing should be like the epic chariot race depicted in the film Ben Hur.  To others, racing is like the dramatic competition of runners in the Olympic Games as seen in the film Chariots of Fire, who not only run to win without necessarily battling with runners in the other lanes, but also to set new “world records” in competition with runners from the past that are not even on the track with them. The drama is not about “Who will beat the other guy?”, but rather, “Who will be the best?” and “How do I compare?”.

iRacing has even moved this form of competition into the “Professional” realm, by offering serious prize money for Time Attack in three series for 2017S4: Ferrari GTE, Xfinity, and 410 Sprints.

 iRacing Leagues are a great way for competitors with shared interests and values to form intimate “social” communities and share friendly competition.  That same benefit can be provided to those who enjoy the dramatic competition of “racing against the clock”.

Recently, a new league named “RACE4sport Eagles” was created.  The main objective is to form a social community of drivers who love driving “purpose built” race cars—open wheel and prototypes. They will concentrate on the FR2.0, the L79, and the Corvette C7 Daytona Prototype, running Time Attack and Time Trials.  League members of all skill levels will share setups, hot lap replays and driving tips. (Thus reducing the need for “fixed setup” Time Attack series.)  It is predicted that more of these types of leagues will be formed.  Maybe, they will not be “online racing for introverts” but rather, “online racing for drivers who want to concentrate on speed without the distraction of traffic but who enjoy sharing their experience with others”.

The RACE4sport Eagles have incorporated one other, perhaps unusual concept: the idea that racing does not need to be a “zero-sum” game. Members of the league agree to abide by a simple rule: Never take any intentional action that might harm or in any way slow down, or diminish the performance of another driver.  Think of it as the universal Golden Rule with ‘Do No Harm’ added.  While the league concentrates on Time Attack and Time Trials, it also encourages members to race in the “open” iRacing series races, abiding by the “simple rule” as an “example” along with a defensive concept called reciprocal altruism, borrowed from the scientific/academic field of competitive game theory.