Someone who gets one 5-second penalty for cutting a little too much should not be disqualified. That is pouring out the baby with the bathwater (i.e. overkill).
Instead, the root cause (the possibility for giant cuts) should be removed.
Level designers need to put in either blocking geometry, or invisible triggers that reset the car when it tries to make an unusually large cut. This requires identifying the places where huge cuts are possible and putting a blocker OR a reset trigger in there (same thing that happens when you hit spectators).
Fixed.
I am only suggesting this apply to the time trial mode. In all the other racing games I have played, if track limits are exceeded, that run does not get entered into the global leaderboard.
I agree that the penalty system needs to be tweaked for championships and club events. The solution in this post, only attempts to address time trial mode.
