[Filip Stoyanovich]

I don't know, Filip, I really don't want to come across as I am the only one who is doing things right, because I certainly am not. Here is my strategy, anyway:

1. I  DO NOT enter a race for a car/track combination for which I am not on par with AI 100%. Racing is not for practicing - racing is for racing, and racing clean. Before you enter a race, you have to know the car/track really well. If I do it, why can't the newcomers do it too?

Nah, that's all on point, Pete. We all wish more people would think and do as you do, and you've proven it. I was referring to the other fact that often you'll be on track racing with someone you don't know. You both can come prepared for the race, everything calculated etc. Sometimes it helps to run a couple of laps or even races with someone to get to know what to expect from them in the future, braking points, the speed. But we don't have that here because these are not closed classic weekly league races in one season with a stable 20ish drivers/cars field. It's just the qualy, race and in the end the results. No practice and warmup, plus the format is with pretty short races mostly. That's one side of the problem, and that's why if you're not among the fastest to run away out of reach, it's not realistic to expect clean racing from this many different people, but it is realistic to expect trouble if you stick your nose a bit, sometimes even when backing off considerably or starting from the midfield or even upper grid or the back. Not to mention the joys of occasional server hickups or sometimes inevitable lag moments for any driver which can cause havoc, but hasn't got anything to do with clean or dirty racing on any side. You just get those incident points. And the other and worst thing is, that system as harsh and strict as it is, is not really represented properly for the newcomers which ends badly for them AND the regulars. You can't warn new people about this enough.
I hate how it works but it is what it is. But then, as someone suggested, it should be used to separate people with low incident rating from others. Then possibly, on server 1 people will have much better races. Currently, it often goes from meh to appalling.