Driver conduct & Expectations

No-contact culture

WRL is committed to it’s no-contact culture and maintaining a clean and safe place to compete

While we cannot prevent contact from our seats in race control, we utilize a variety of methods to ensure you and your car are able to compete in the safest environment possible. Our persistent driver tracking and strict policy on contact means that we work with drivers before, during and after events to improve in the event of non-egregious contact—if improvement isn’t realized we always act in the interests of the teams and drivers who are committed to racing clean. This combination of education and strict enforcement has built a wonderful atmosphere where teams across all classes work together towards the same goal—finishing races.

Below you will find our expectations for drivers that is sent out prior to every race, discussed in every driver’s meeting and enforced in the tower. These key tenants of WRL is what keeps the racing tight and clean, and one of the reasons many teams choose WRL.

It’s all about respect

Respect for your fellow racers is required. This means respecting your competitor's racing room on track, giving point-bys when possible and exercising patience as outlined above. Remember: we're all responsible for not only our own safety while racing but also the safety of our fellow competitors and their equipment. We do this for fun, we do this because we love this sport, we all recognize the risks—but at the end of the day the most important thing is that we all go home safe to our families and friends. While WRL attracts some of the best drivers in the US and abroad, this is still an amateur series and you will encounter a variation in driver skill. Being prepared for it and reading the "body language" of cars around you is critical to being safe and successful in WRL or any amateur endurance racing series. As the driver of a faster car in GTO or GP1, understand and respect that the driver in the GP2 or GP3 car is racing just as you are, and dive-bombing to steal an apex from 100 yds back is not respecting them as a competitor. As the driver of a car in a slower class you also must show respect to the faster cars by being aware.

Please don't slow yourself down or risk your equipment by needlessly racing/dicing with out-of-class cars or when several laps down. Be aware of who you are and are not racing for position - this is partially the responsibility of your crew/teammates to assist via radio.

Patience is the key to success

Endurance racing is a completely different beast compared to other forms of road racing. Most of the issues we see in race control are caused because a driver wasn't exercising one of the most important skills you can possess in endurance racing: patience. If you are in a faster car discretion is often the better part of valor. Brake a few feet earlier to follow a slower car through a corner instead of forcing your way through or attempting a last-second dive bomb. At best these dive bomb moves will slow both cars down through the corner as you drive side-by-side, at worst the few tenths you might have gained will be offset by a one-or-more lap penalty and the risk of driver probation. If you feel you are being blocked or chopped by a car ahead, do NOT take justice into your own hands or make a low-percentage move out of frustration - have your team notify a marshal and we will have the corners watch for blocking and warnings/penalties will be issued.

Unlike sprint racing, being just ahead or just behind a car (in class or out of class) at any given moment matters far less than assuming the risk of penalty for contact by making a low percentage move or blocking to keep position - especially early in the race.