An official statement from the Vitesse Racing League.

Tonight should have been a normal race night in Baku. Instead, the Tier 1 and Tier 3 main races both had to be cancelled because of the standard of driving. Only the sprint results from the weekend will count.

This isn't an announcement about the league closing, tiers being removed or anything changing hands. VRL isn't going anywhere. But we need everyone's attention, because what happened tonight can't happen again.

How we got here

VRL has grown faster than anyone expected. We've welcomed 200 to 300 new members since last season, we're about to pass 500 members, and we're coming up to our first anniversary. That growth is something everyone in this community built, and we're proud of it.

With growth comes a bigger responsibility to each other. Silverstone showed what this league can be: close, hard, clean racing across all three tiers. Baku showed the opposite. Being a difficult track doesn't explain it. Too many drivers took risks they didn't need to take, didn't leave space, and turned races into a series of incidents.

The cost

This isn't just about lost points.

  • Drivers who raced clean have lost a race they earned.
  • Staff and admins have spent their evening dealing with the fallout instead of enjoying the racing they volunteer to run.
  • People have stepped away. Members have resigned from their roles, and some well-known drivers have left the league because of nights like this.

Everyone who runs VRL does it in their own free time, because they love it. Tonight, that was taken away from them. Our owner, Hazzk, said it simply:

"I love this league and the people in it. Genuinely guys, in the middle of 500 members and our one year anniversary? Sort this out."

What we expect from every driver

None of this is new. It's all in the rules, and it comes down to a few things:

  1. Race clean, to the best of your ability. Races are 50% distance. There is time to make a move properly. You don't need to win it on lap one.
  2. Leave space. If someone is alongside, they're entitled to racing room. Divebombs from a car length or more back are dangerous (rule 2.3).
  3. No retaliation, ever. Retaliation is 12 penalty points and an automatic race ban (rule 1.2).
  4. Rejoin safely. If you go off, wait for a gap (rule 1.4).
  5. Give positions back if you gain them by breaking a rule (rule 2.7).

What happens next

  • The stewards will review tonight's incidents. Penalties will be given under the rulebook, and repeat offenders should expect them to step up.
  • Report incidents properly. Open a report ticket on Discord with clear video, and the stewards will deal with it. Please don't settle it on track or in the chat.
  • Read the rulebook before Spain. If you're new to the league, this is the best time to do it. "I didn't know" won't count as a defence.

To everyone who races clean

Thank you. You're the majority, and you're the reason VRL has grown the way it has. We're sorry tonight cost you. Everything in this statement is about protecting the racing you show up for.

Let's make the Spanish Grand Prix a night we can all be proud of, and give this league the first anniversary it deserves.

The VRL Staff Team