Talk:Zack Scoular

Lock Page

This page needs to be locked to prevent the vandalism we are seeing from the iRacing Spa 24 Hours.

While I am completely against intentionally wrecking other competitors in iRacing special events, the continued vandalism of a drivers' Wikipedia page is unacceptable. JustCharlie99 (talk) 15:22, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

not vandalism if it's true...

2A02:A020:54D:AE8E:2CD3:16FF:FE4C:9A76 (talk) 16:13, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

It certainly isn't vandalism, there are sources included to confirm the embarrassing event Ker2x (talk) 16:26, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

I see those people readding that event again and again and I see it getting removed by more established wikipedia editors (if that's the right term, I'm sorry I don't know much about editing on wikipedia). I think it could help if an experienced editor would explain why this event shouldn't be part of this page. Maybe my fellow iRacers will then understand that their behaviour isn't okay. 92.211.142.153 (talk) 16:48, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Changes to Wikipedia pages need to be accompanied by citations to reliable sources that support the information that's being added. Primary sources (such as a video of the incident) are not sufficient; you need secondary sources (newspaper, magazine, etc. articles) describing the event. While it's acceptable to summarize viewpoints represented in reliable sources, adding your own commentary (e.g. "the team deserves a lifetime ban") is not acceptable. Sourcing requirements are particularly stringent for biographies of living people, such as this one.

Due to the repeated violations of the BLP policy, I have protected the page. However, if you are unable to edit the page directly, you may submit a edit request by drafting your suggested change here (along with the sources that support it). GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 17:28, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

The complete undoing of the edit, with no consideration of the author intent, was inappropriate and looked more like an attempt to hide the event than a fair attempt at maintaining a high quality article.

• Typo should have been fixed.
• Opinionated content removed or tagged.
• The quality of the source questioned.

Before Reverting

Before performing a revert, carefully consider the consequences of dismissing another editor's contributions, as well as any subsequent edits linked to the original change. Assess the specific elements of the edit that are problematic and contemplate the editor's intentions. Rather than reverting entirely, consider improving the edit to enhance the article's quality. If only a portion of the edit is objectionable, a partial reversion may be more appropriate; complete reversions should be used sparingly and are effectively executed using the undo tool.

Vandalism

The malicious removal of encyclopedic content, or the changing of such content beyond all recognition, without any regard to our core content policies of neutral point of view (which does not mean no point of view), verifiability and no original research, is a deliberate attempt to damage Wikipedia. Ker2x (talk) 17:51, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

In July 2025 Zack became infamous in the racing and sim racing community for intentionally blocking and wrecking countless drivers while competing with the team „00r0 Motorsports“ in the Virtual Spa 24 hours. Many people became aware of this after the Simracing streamer and YouTuber Basic Ollie posted a video exposing their behaviour. AnonymousName1 (talk) 17:52, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Please see my explanation above regarding sourcing. A YouTube video is not sufficient, per WP:RSPYOUTUBE. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 17:58, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Why my comment was flagged as AI generated ? This is absurd... Ker2x (talk) 18:01, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Because AI was used to generate the comment, which contravenes Wikipedia guidelines that talk page comments be written by humans. Regarding reversions, it is not only acceptable but required for editors to revert inadequately sourced contentious claims about living people; see WP:BLP. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 18:02, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

No it was wasn't generated by AI. I can write just fine without the help of a LLM, thank you. Writing "markdown style" is just an IT technical writer habits after writing thousands of page for a living.

The addition of the event in this BLP isn't vandalism. It was poorly written, sure. It was in need of a partial editing, yes. Not completely removed and locked. Ker2x (talk) 18:17, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

If you say so, but the format, tone, and irrelevance of portions of the comment certainly twanged my AI sense. Regardless, I'm not sure how I can be clearer about the sourcing requirements for BLPs. Inadequately sourced contentious material needs to either be adequately sourced or removed. Continuous attempts to add inadequately sourced content to BLP articles necessitated page protection. If you would like to suggest an adequately sourced section, you're more than welcome to do so, as I've already explained above. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 18:20, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Considering this is a niche topic there are no public sources that I‘m aware of except for videos on the platform. As the video quite clearly contain concrete-evidence of all the claims above, why could it not count as source? This system seems to be working against Wikipedia being a universal knowledge platform and more towards only containing knowledge on already well known topics. AnonymousName1 (talk) 18:10, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

(edit conflict) If there are no sources besides videos, that is a strong indication the event is not sufficiently noteworthy to include in a Wikipedia biography. As for the idea that Wikipedia is intended to be a universal knowledge platform, see WP:ENCYCLOPEDIC. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 18:13, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

You‘re basically proving my point of Wikipedia not being a Website for smaller communities. AnonymousName1 (talk) 18:18, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

It seems to be significant enough to appears in Max Verstappen biography though. Max Verstappen#Sim racing Ker2x (talk) 19:59, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

It's not that the topic of sim racing is verboten on Wikipedia, it's that it (like anything) requires reliable sources. Because Verstappen's sim racing career has been described in reliable sources like Motor Sport, Autosport, etc. it's suitable to include in the article. If publications like that write about Scoular's sim racing, it should be uncontroversial to add the information to this article. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 22:58, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Given how new this issue is, it has taken little time for other media outlets to start reporting on the actions involved, including the tram official "response". For example, https://asianmotorsport.com/ 123.255.130.104 (talk) 00:58, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

Honestly, nothing in WP:RSPYOUTUBE applies to this situation.

BasicOllie is a reputable source of sim-racing information, and the video referenced is his primary-source coverage of the the situation from the event. 173.75.42.147 (talk) 18:12, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

+1

It's quite applicable. The exception at RSPYOUTUBE (Content uploaded from a verified official account, such as that of a news organization, may be treated as originating from the uploader and therefore inheriting their level of reliability) does not apply here, as the BasicOllie channel belongs to a single YouTuber, not a news organization or other entity with editorial oversight/etc that would generally qualify it as a reliable source on Wikipedia. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 18:16, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Context matters, you're asking for a news coverage of an esport event. This is an unreasonable expectation. Ker2x (talk) 18:36, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

There is no "esports carveout" for WP:RS or WP:BLP. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 18:43, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Independent YouTube videos are WP:SELFPUBLISHED. I have added the information now Asian Motorsport have published a full article on it. MB2437 02:17, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for the reply and I'm sorry you have to deal with this. 92.211.142.153 (talk) 21:27, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Ruining split #22 Spa 24HR

This weasel ruined multiple races on an racing sanctioned event “Spa 24H) 2604:3D08:EA76:9800:BC42:98C4:4643:A8BE (talk) 23:13, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

This is not vandalism

He intentionally took out multiple drivers in an important sim racing event. This is an objective fact and something notable about the driver. Vandalism would be changing his name to "Zack Poopy Buthole" or something like that. Writing an objective and sourced fact is not vandalism. 131.217.255.100 (talk) 00:05, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

Can you please read through the “Lock Page” talk thread and get some reliable news sites to write an article about it instead of insulting people who follow Wikipedia's rules? Thank you B0omClipZ (talk) 17:45, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

You're right, this is not vandalism. You do need to supply the source, however, per WP:ONUS and WP:BURDEN if you would like to include this info. If it's sourced improperly it would be a biography of living persons violation and grounds for immediate removal. — 🪫Volatile ^{📲T | ⌨️C} 19:17, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

Iracing

• What I think should be changed (format using {{[[Template:Iracing career

Reckless driving in a special event, spa 24 hours, in Iracing. Their team 00r0 Motorsport held up the whole field after crashing out of contention for a top position. Their were several laps down and trying to ruin the race for others.|Iracing career Reckless driving in a special event, spa 24 hours, in Iracing. Their team 00r0 Motorsport held up the whole field after crashing out of contention for a top position. Their were several laps down and trying to ruin the race for others.]]}}):

• Why it should be changed:
• References supporting the possible change (format using the "cite" button):

https://asianmotorsport.com/00r0-motorsport-apologises-after-iracing-spa-controversy-as-community-reacts-fiercely/

178.114.123.149 (talk) 18:56, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

I have added the content from this article in an encyclopaedic tone which adhere to Wikipedia's strict policies on biographies of living people. MB2437 02:19, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

I don't think there's a way to put this in prose that doesn't significantly skew the WP:WEIGHT of this article; an entire section on a single incident that took place on a video game (one with no live stewards, what do they expect is going to happen) supported by a single source which by and large regurgitates the content of the YouTube videos from those involved (thus biased) doesn't fly, imo. ―"Ghost of Dan Gurney" _(hihi) 14:40, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

His Formula Regional Oceania campaign definitely needs expansion. Asian Motorsport appears to be an WP:RS with the most comprehensive coverage I've seen of junior formulae in Asia. There is also an OverTake article on the incident now. MB2437 22:19, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

I added the incident under a new personal life section that covers his father's racing accident. I think this should resolve the weight issues, as it is only two sentences under a personal life section, not a separate heading or part of his career. I don't see why it isn't relevant to add, and the manner of how it is phrased does not add include any outrageous (forgot the wikipedia technical word for it- sorry) claims that would need to be supported by multiple sources. GalacticVelocity08 (talk) 00:57, 17 July 2025 (UTC) Striking, I don't feel comfortable adding this after reading through more of the back and forth. Would need another source to be comfortable. I apologize. GalacticVelocity08 (talk) 01:12, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

I'd say it would certainly warrant some sort of inclusion if a lifetime ban is handed out. Further sources will no doubt cover it and ameliorate any weight issues. MB2437 01:21, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

I'm not concerned about weight, just concerned about the reliability of Asian Motorsport; I don't think it's a horrible source, but considering it is a BLP, I'd rather be on the safer side. It's pretty iffy. GalacticVelocity08 (talk) 01:25, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

There is also OverTake.gg but, again, I'd expect it to gain wider coverage if bans are handed out. Most sources used throughout are of a similar quality to Asian Motorsport. MB2437 01:41, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

I wasn't aware of all the discourse/disagreement/borderline edit war when I added it originally (not reading talk page/history before adding stuff is a really bad habit of mine which is why I struck, not to mention yours was phrased a lot better. hopefully won't happen again... I'm working on it), but it is clearly a very contentious subject so I agree it is better to wait to see how it develops and/or if bans are given out. I'm concerned about the actual article (not the outlet) mostly just cites Instagram comments, with a bit of analysis and backstory. I might just be confirmation biasing myself, so feel free to disagree. GalacticVelocity08 (talk) 02:00, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

The majority of the edits have been either non-constructive or outright vandalism related to the incident. Even had people on Twitter emailing his sponsors to drop him—gotten way too out-of-hand. It is a very recent incident, so WP:NOTNEWS applies anyway. MB2437 06:31, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

It became a mess after the inclusion of the event was simply deleted & dismissed instead of being edited in order to make it a proper neutral BLP. An experienced editor said that the event needed media coverage to be credible (because a video showing the event wasn't enough). But now that it's covered by media, we get a NOTNEWS.

Many people get rightfully confused/frustrated about this.

Many other living pilots (including F1 pilot) have their eSport carrer in their Bio. Ker2x (talk) 07:50, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

The citing of NOTNEWS boils down to it being a news event that does not need rushing to add to the article. I'm in favour of inclusion once iRacing respond and the matter is closed, but was merely stating that there is no rush here. It is not our job to report current affairs, rather what has been covered in reliable, secondary sources. Many of those other drivers have their sim racing careers discussed because they have won or contested major events which have been covered by such sources, not because they were involved in a controversy in split 22 that upset a few people on Reddit. Max Verstappen's sim racing section doesn't cover every time he's punted someone off in an open lobby. MB2437 07:57, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

agreed :) Ker2x (talk) 13:38, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

I personally would oppose inclusion even if iRacing "responds" because in addition to WP:NOTNEWS we're also dealing with WP:RECENTISM bias here; 6 months from now, let alone 6 years, no one will remember this. It is utter trivia in the purest form. ―"Ghost of Dan Gurney" _(hihi) 15:42, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

I strongly disagree with the notion that no one will remember this if a professional racing driver is perm banned from iRacing—it would be one of the standout moments in sim racing history, regardless of what level it happened at. It has already caused considerable discourse and now been covered at-length by four independent publications. Ultimately, if this reaches Autosport or the like, avoiding inclusion would then become a WP:DUE concern with the rest of the article's racing content. I also don't believe the incident warrants this much of a reaction, it's childish behaviour on a competitive video game and nothing more, but the fact is that reaction exists and this incident has attracted significant media coverage relative to the rest of his career. MB2437 17:13, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

To be frank, I find the notion that this could possibly reach Autosport to be laughable. Of the four links you provide, 3 of them are dedicated solely to video games, and the fourth is a regional publication. "Professional racing driver" is also a stretch used by the publications (and the clickbait YouTube videos they repeat) to draw views; this subject is a 17 year old junior who competes at Formula Regional-level. He's not Scott Speed, and that article has zero mention of his iRacing ban because there is little coverage of it beyond when it happened. ―"Ghost of Dan Gurney" _(hihi) 18:06, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

Well, Speed's incident was featured in Autoweek, and he didn't even receive a permanent ban. He has a widely successful career across multiple disciplines; comparing the due weight of the instances is apples and oranges. All of the sources used throughout this article are subject-specific and/or regional, so their use would still satisfy due weight. MB2437 18:13, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

Yes, it reached Autoweek in that instance because (and only because) it was Scott Speed!

Do you think an article titled 2025 iRacing 24 Hours of Spa split 22 controversy or similar would meet GNG based on those articles? I would hope not. The coverage at this point in time (including Asian Motorsport, which has an anonymous byline) is purely sour grapes over an incident in a video game and is simply not worthy of inclusion in an encyclopedic article. Simulation Daily admits that ...albeit the actual presence at the wheel of Scoular is a point of contention, as you’ll see below. It's trivial, and leads into WP:CSECTION issues and BLP issues. ―"Ghost of Dan Gurney" _(hihi) 18:26, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

Like I said earlier, let's just see where this goes. I covered the BLP issues with the text itself in my suggested version. MB2437 18:37, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

• You're free to call it "laughable", "clickbait", "sour grapes", "not worthy", but it's not helping.
• "Professional racing driver" is not a strech. He's registered as a "pro" driver.
• The "clickbait video" keeps being mentioned because it shows the actual replay, all the names, and is verified by testimonies.
• It seems you're greatly underestimating the effect of esport as a gateway to the world of motorsport, or a training method for a specific track by both amateur & professional drivers. (be it formula, GT or rally)
• Esport pilot become racetrack pilot (or even national champion) is becoming a common occurence.

I don't have a vested interest in this whole event. I'm on the racetrack every 2 weeks (as an official though, not as a pilot) and thinking that "it's just a game" is a glorious misunderstanding on your part.

Wait and see if this event is becoming "part of history" or if it will be forgotten as you think it should be. Ker2x (talk) 07:50, 18 July 2025 (UTC)

iRacing's "statement" was to quell what they called "targeted harassment" of this subject. I think we're done here. Also I've been an iRacing member for 12 years. It's just. A. Game. ―"Ghost of Dan Gurney" _(hihi) 15:31, 18 July 2025 (UTC)

iRacing suspended all drivers involved in this incident, as evidenced by a post by the official iRacing X account:

https://x.com/iRacing/status/1946275842746708462 Lavachemist (talk) 15:11, 20 July 2025 (UTC)

References

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Where should the content be included? — 🪫Volatile ^{📲T | ⌨️C} 19:13, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

Inclusion of iRacing (not related to the incident)

I'm at the moment not filing this as an edit request, because I'm frankly not sure whether or not this would be accepted considering the flurry of activity after his disruption to the iRacing event and my (following) source's reliability, but would a general inclusion that he participates in iRacing be acceptable?

I think that the mere inclusion that he participated in iRacing is a relatively non-contentious addition. There is one source I've found that ties 00r0 Motorsports to both a real life motorsports team, and the iRacing team (under the same name), at https://www.sodiwseries.com/en-gb/teams/00r0-motorsport-26111.html (I'd doubt this will suffer from link-rot, but an archived version can be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20250721052015/https://www.sodiwseries.com/en-gb/teams/00r0-motorsport-26111.html), which lists "Scoular Zack" (probably Last-First, not First-Last) as a member of the team, which lines up with 00r0 Motorsports (iRacing) apology, which lists Zach Scoular in the apology, and the team names line up (both are 00r0 Motorsports and the logo seems to line up).

My main concern with making this an edit request is that I'm not sure whether or no the SODIWSERIES website is a super reliable source, and the flurry of activity after the 24h of Spa incident, as mentioned above.

Approval, further comments, and/or clarification are all welcome and appreciated. ProjectHSI (talk) 05:35, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

It would fail WP:DUE if we were to mention that he competed without mentioning that he was permanently banned. SWS is reliable but covers a range of non-noteworthy series that wouldn't determine the notability of the content or person involved. MB2437 06:53, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

I see. And of course, the mention of the permanent ban is currently in dispute (as seen above), so, can't add that either (without waiting for further approval). :P ProjectHSI (talk) 06:58, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

Add Wikimedia comment (I.E. to potential editors, not on the page itself) clarifying Wikipedia's current stance on the 24h Spa Incident

Only 24 hours after the page was unprotected, an anonymous user under the IP address "193.28.204.44" had edited the page to include that he is an "Absolute shithead on IRacing"[sic], which (in my opinion) is highly likely to be related to his 24h of Spa misconduct.

While I'd say that the flurry of activity to this page has died down, I'd feel like something that's not super visible to average readers (I.E. a <!-- --> style comment) would be at least somewhat warranted here. I think I've seen this before on some other Wikipedia page but I'm not sure which one (I think it was Mario Party DS (relating to the faked "Anti-Piracy", see the "Legacy" section), but I can't find a revision to back this up)...

I'm by all means a "beginner Wikipedian/Editor" so I'm not experienced in this kind of "edit-war prevention", nor the best way to add a disclaimer like this. Since the page is unprotected now I would be able to make this change myself, but I'm not sure if my wording would be good, it wouldn't be on the page itself (because it's in a <!-- --> comment), but I'm still concerned if I'd word it in an impartial manner (with respect to Zack Scoular).

Another topic for discussion is where to put this disclaimer, considering the <!-- --> comments are positioned. My vote is for the "Personal Life" section (where the iRacing stuff is usually placed). ProjectHSI (talk) 00:20, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

Not against it, but keep in mind that vandals (such as that IP) will disregard it and add anyway. Nil🥝^Talk 01:01, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

Agree with Nil; the intention does make sense, but vandals will not care about invisible comments. Could work for good faith additions, but unsure how useful it would be (especially considering the invisible note isn't visible across the whole article). GalacticVelocity08 (talk) 01:26, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

Added this, but placed it near the top of the article, feel like it's slightly more visible there. ProjectHSI (talk) 23:57, 25 July 2025 (UTC)