Racing ships is popular. It would be great if race coordinators could predefine starting lines, check points, and finish lines in an editor similar to the PCC mission editor.

And then have a rudimentary in game race sign up. Such as /joinrace 1234 optionalpasscode
The game would then deliver race data to a channel defined in the race editor. Race data would include specific racer times at checkpoints and their finish time.

The race coordinators (they could be predefined in the editor) could start the race countdown with a command. Like /startrace 1234 . The countdown would be automatic and visible to all coordinators and racers. The countdown would also be sent to the race channel, so observers would know.