iRacing

Woohoo! Just won my first race in the godforsaken MX5!

On Lime Rock Park I started 2nd, but went down to 3rd in the 4th/5th lap as I didn't have a great exit from the last corner onto the main straight. The guy in first spun at the same corner a couple of laps later and I stayed within 2 seconds of 1st pretty much the whole rest of the race....

....except on lap 17 when he lost control at turn 2 and I overtook him. I gotta be honest nerves kicked in and he stayed within a second of me from then on, until a strange incident involving a back marker on the main straight on the penultimate lap. I lapped the guy quite near turn 1, and for some reason he didn't brake until really late and cut straight across 2nd place, which resulted in him losing control and spinning out :eek: it was just a case of not letting it get to me and just finishing without doing anything stupid. Also managed to get fastest lap, although I realise it's not that fast in the big scheme of things :p

http://members.iracing.com/membersite/member/EventResult.do?&subsessionid=10911062&custid=153523
 
Bought the new Dallara DW12 today and jumped in a hosted indy session and must say like this car a lot.

Im not a oval driver but enjoyed driving this car and looking forward to the road version.
 
Just got around to doing my MX5 cup race, did about 60 laps last Monday and then kept putting it off then had family down for the Thurs-Sun so left till the last minute.

Yet another race where in practice i'd spin every few laps, just pushing too hard, and then just like last week @ Okayama i managed to go the whole distance without a mistake (1 'off track' i dont even recall).
Qualified 2nd, gave it up into T1 and held 3rd and just wanted to be clean and not get caught up in anything. Front 2 were faster, started to pull away and then i'd close the gap when the leader needed to defend a line etc, 4th was a nice gap behind. Figured the 2 infront would slip up eventually, and if i could stick with them i'll just take the scraps, on around lap 10 they switched and by lap 15 4th had closed up but fortunately spun and disconnected leaving an 8sec gap behind so i started to push a little more, but was only quick enough to close the gap when they fought. Last lap the guy infront lost the car in T3 (T2? the long left hander from hell!) got onto the grass and managed to gather it but i just about had room to get past and avoid him by mounting the curbing and so got lucky and took 2nd.
Set a PB in there too, didnt expect to get into the 1:00's and ended up with a .690 without even spotting it
http://members.iracing.com/membersite/member/EventResult.do?&subsessionid=10919848&custid=38352

3 races in, 7th (with mistakes) & 1st at Oky, and a 2nd at Lime Rock and ive just been promoted to D with a 1729 iR :D

The only way is down though, cos im still not that confident around others, i overtook a few in Qual but i know if i was starting mid-pack and having to bob & weave i'd make mistakes, take people out, stuff like that, although im a fairly cautious racer anyway (less so in casual pickup races i guess).

Whats bothering me currently though is the other series, the 'cheapest' requires 8 tracks to be bought. Its like most they've selected 8 of the 12 most recently released tracks and theres no cheap step up from the Mazda Cup if i wanted to compete in the full series, So it'd cos about £64 ($120+ iirc for Global Challenge in CTS-V not Kia), and it'll be more if i broke it down into 3's for 10% not the 20% off for all 8.
I havent even looked what the tracks are, because its not like ive got a say in which tracks i'd like to buy, because theres so many and im new so they dictate what i need to buy. It kinda sucks really, there needs to be a couple of series for rookies/newbies after the Mazda Cup, which adds 3 paid tracks into the mix, so it doesnt become a $100 step up.
Theres also little point in buying any of the tracks now, because it'll change next season, so ive got to wait until around August for the schedule too. Its probably a safe bet getting COTA though.

Oh, The SRF series is only 7 tracks, and it seems like a car i could enjoy so that might be where i go next, though Tourers would be my preference, but slower cars which are easy & forgiving to drive would be preferred. Havent tried anything other than the MX5 Cup @ Oky and Lime Rock so far.
 
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EEeekkk!! C Spec Ruf at Oran park, blimey what a fast little flowing track that is, barely enough room to shake a cat nevermind the potential for a 20+ cars flying round it hehe.

Dropped COTA from last week, could not get it right no matter what i did, this week is a semi week for me, got a head surgery on Thursday so not sure if ill be racing the rest of the week, but im trying to get upto speed today, and race a few tomorrow.
Plus ive got a new brake mod for the T500RS, the basher brake mod, which is those skateboard bushings, totally made the brake pedal feel alien to me at the moment, but it is slightly easier to remember the pressure needed to get to a certain point.
 
Didn't race last week, 70 minutes at COTA didn't appeal at all.

I actually spent most of Sunday playing Gran Turismo 5.

Might do some practice for this weeks GT3 and maybe race later in the week.
 
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Quite looking forward to Laguna Seca this week, challenging but highly rewarding track. Last time I raced there was Season 1 13th week SRF and it was a lot of fun.

In the MX5....maybe not so much. Hopefully it grips better on this track than the last couple of weeks (LRP & Okayama).
 
I couldn't get below 2.12s at COTA so didn't even bother. Been focusing on the proto GT series lately because I like longer races but finding official races is hard in Aussieland. Found myself on a Euro server the other night which was a bit scary trying to put up with high pinging Italians
 
PaulC2K said:
Just got around to doing my MX5 cup race, did about 60 laps last Monday and then kept putting it off then had family down for the Thurs-Sun so left till the last minute.

Yet another race where in practice i'd spin every few laps, just pushing too hard, and then just like last week @ Okayama i managed to go the whole distance without a mistake (1 'off track' i dont even recall).
Qualified 2nd, gave it up into T1 and held 3rd and just wanted to be clean and not get caught up in anything. Front 2 were faster, started to pull away and then i'd close the gap when the leader needed to defend a line etc, 4th was a nice gap behind. Figured the 2 infront would slip up eventually, and if i could stick with them i'll just take the scraps, on around lap 10 they switched and by lap 15 4th had closed up but fortunately spun and disconnected leaving an 8sec gap behind so i started to push a little more, but was only quick enough to close the gap when they fought. Last lap the guy infront lost the car in T3 (T2? the long left hander from hell!) got onto the grass and managed to gather it but i just about had room to get past and avoid him by mounting the curbing and so got lucky and took 2nd.
Set a PB in there too, didnt expect to get into the 1:00's and ended up with a .690 without even spotting it
http://members.iracing.com/membersite/member/EventResult.do?&subsessionid=10919848&custid=38352

3 races in, 7th (with mistakes) & 1st at Oky, and a 2nd at Lime Rock and ive just been promoted to D with a 1729 iR :D

The only way is down though, cos im still not that confident around others, i overtook a few in Qual but i know if i was starting mid-pack and having to bob & weave i'd make mistakes, take people out, stuff like that, although im a fairly cautious racer anyway (less so in casual pickup races i guess).

Whats bothering me currently though is the other series, the 'cheapest' requires 8 tracks to be bought. Its like most they've selected 8 of the 12 most recently released tracks and theres no cheap step up from the Mazda Cup if i wanted to compete in the full series, So it'd cos about £64 ($120+ iirc for Global Challenge in CTS-V not Kia), and it'll be more if i broke it down into 3's for 10% not the 20% off for all 8.
I havent even looked what the tracks are, because its not like ive got a say in which tracks i'd like to buy, because theres so many and im new so they dictate what i need to buy. It kinda sucks really, there needs to be a couple of series for rookies/newbies after the Mazda Cup, which adds 3 paid tracks into the mix, so it doesnt become a $100 step up.
Theres also little point in buying any of the tracks now, because it'll change next season, so ive got to wait until around August for the schedule too. Its probably a safe bet getting COTA though.

Oh, The SRF series is only 7 tracks, and it seems like a car i could enjoy so that might be where i go next, though Tourers would be my preference, but slower cars which are easy & forgiving to drive would be preferred. Havent tried anything other than the MX5 Cup @ Oky and Lime Rock so far.
Click to expand...

It's an unfortunate reality that you will have to part with some cash to move on, but it's an investment in the long run. I'd suggest picking a series that interests you and just getting the tracks that you'll enjoy, being prepared to miss out on some weeks.

For my money, the Skip Barber is the most interesting way to move on from the MX5. The car is wonderful to drive and the series is very well-attended, you'll always find a race.

The remainder of the Skippy season is as follows:
Oulton Park - International
Laguna Seca - Full Course
Brands Hatch - Grand Prix
Zandvoort - Club
Mid-Ohio - Full
Sonoma Raceway - Long
Summit Point Raceway
Mount Panorama
Circuit of the Americas - Grand Prix

Of those, I'd skip Sonoma Raceway and Circuit of the Americas, the rest of the tracks are great fun.
 
chrismox said:
It's an unfortunate reality that you will have to part with some cash to move on, but it's an investment in the long run. I'd suggest picking a series that interests you and just getting the tracks that you'll enjoy, being prepared to miss out on some weeks.

For my money, the Skip Barber is the most interesting way to move on from the MX5. The car is wonderful to drive and the series is very well-attended, you'll always find a race.

The remainder of the Skippy season is as follows:
Oulton Park - International
Laguna Seca - Full Course
Brands Hatch - Grand Prix
Zandvoort - Club
Mid-Ohio - Full
Sonoma Raceway - Long
Summit Point Raceway
Mount Panorama
Circuit of the Americas - Grand Prix

Of those, I'd skip Sonoma Raceway and Circuit of the Americas, the rest of the tracks are great fun.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I always knew i'd have to buy a load of content, and its not too bad because i'd been planning on giving iR another try and they emailed ex-players a 1yr for $1 code when i'd been eyeing up a return, and ive just finished redecorating and building my Obutto R3v setup, so ive got in on the cheap to say the least.

I just wish, particularly for 'D' and 'R' classes, they had something in between, where you already have a compatible car and just need to buy 3-4 new tracks, rather than 7. Then by the time you're in 'C' class or some of the 'D' ones it'd require 3-4 more new tracks. Just so you could still compete in a full season, without having to shell out $100 to do so. Basically allowing you to build up your catalogue of content bit by bit.

My options seem to be:
Global Challenge (Free CTS-V, buy 8 tracks @ $117*)
Grand Touring Cup (Free MX5 or Solstice, buy 10 tracks @ $147*)
Spec Racer Ford (Free SRF, buy 7 tracks @ $105*)
Skip Barber (Buy SB @ $12, and buy 9 tracks @ $132*)
* no discounts applied, and is for the full season, so minus 1-2 paid tracks if I join mid-season

At least with the free cars i can try them and get a feel for them, typically they've all done either 1 or 2 visits to a free track in their current season, so that kinda screws me over as that means more paid tracks left in the season.

What i'd like to be doing in the end is the GT3 Challenge, and the multi-class WSCS or Prototype & GTC series (in the slowest car) so i'd prefer to buy the venues for these cars, which at the same time kinda goes against the fact that i'd rather be buying the tracks im less familiar with, rather than the F1 venues in every racing game which will feel boring and i'd be paying for that.
Theres a handful of US tracks i've not seen since the Papyrus Indycar days, and those appeal to me more than Silverstone, Spa, Suzuka etc Great tracks they might be, but they're overused and a change of scenery would be nice and i'd enjoy learning them far more. Sadly those 3 are likely venues for bigger series.

I think for now im just going to stick with the MX5 series, and i'll spend some time looking at those 4 series, trying the cars where possible, and possibly do the events where i own the content already, and get a feel for these competitions. As it is i've never raced with another rookie, ive always been in a high split (2/3/2 and always 7-8 splits) as the highest seeded rookie, so i dont think it'd be too hard to 'fit in' which is nice as im always concious of being a newbie, and if i'd only raced with other rookies i'd feel a little out of place i think.
I'm also annoyed i missed out on the discounted credits, i knew it was running but knew i wouldnt be signing up for a while and just left it, but i dont know how often they run these promotions, my guess is twice a year like the half price subs. At the time i didnt know if i'd sign up then not play it like past attempts, but if it ran today i'd buy $200 worth :(
 
Wait till next season mate to commit to a series then buy everything you need/want, If you want certain tracks now just buy them if you want a GT3 car buy it buy it all as a 6 pack. You have decided to buy content at a bad time really,

A: I-racing over the last 6-12 months as put out quite a few new tracks and cars. Due to this a lot of the new tracks have been put into the schedule and the series are all over the place.

B: Almost every season each season will have core tracks that are always on the schedule. Ie Radical runs these tracks almost every season Oulten park, Brand Hatch, Road America, Road Atlanta, Zandvoort, Silverstone, SPA, Mosport, Watkins Glenn. Buying those tracks will almost gurantee your be able to race the 8 tracks your need for a season.

C: COTA and Bathurst have just been put into the schedule so a lot of series are running these at the moment this will change next season.

D: Its the backend of the schedule, I-racing kinda work son a BI season track calendar. Come the end of this season all series will have that NONE CORE tracks looked at and changed. So come next season buy the tracks for the series you want to race in and your be good for 6 months.

You can run practice sessions at any level so even as a rookie you can run GT3 practice sessions and you can also GHOST race. Practice practice practice, by next season you no some of the core tracks in the series of your choice and can get straight into racing.
 
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You make a few interesting points there, some i'd forgotten about and some i'd wondered about. I originally thought i'd be jumping in at a decent point, with Season 2 starting but even that i ended up late to and would have been no use to me anyway because i wouldnt have the license to make use of to begin with anyway.

A: This is something i kinda expected, new content will always be promoted and pushed into suitable series to encourage sales and because people will want to make use of it if they've bought it. Its understandable and it benefits both sides.

B: Thats something i need to look into, because part of me wants to buy the lesser known tracks to experience something new, yet common sense says buying the tracks with higher FIA grades are probably more likely to feature where i'd like to end up, whereas the lesser known tracks are less likely to go there. So i wouldnt mind figuring out which car i like (MX5, SRF or CTS-V) and looking into comments on the Skippy, and then assess which are regular venues for that series and pick up a selection then, maybe going with tracks which havent ran in the current schedule, in case they're dropped for a new track come August.
Those core Radical venues seem pretty much perfect to me though, plenty of smaller venues in there to get to know, and i love the Radical in pCARS although open setup will make it tough cos 'loose is fast' and for me 'loose is off' :D

C: Im not a fan of Bathurst, im in awe of it just like Nordschleife but not sure about racing around it. So that not being in the schedule would be a plus :D COTA ive not been around yet, but i wouldnt mind trying it and at least its F1 graded, its new so likely to feature, and its a new venue (even if i know it, unlike many of the US tracks).

D: Seems like im best waiting and only buying stuff knowing its either a core venue or somewhere im buying just for me, but its good to know they dont change too much, season to season as that was one concern.

I'd forgot about ghost racing, i read about it somewhere (possibly mentioned in an Empty Box video) but i hadnt seen how it was possible but that could be entertaining at least, more so than simply practising on my own which is what i was thinking would be all i could do.
 
The Radical in pCARS is a lot easier to drive than the one in iRacing. I'm not trying to out you off, just letting you know. I loved the Radical in Race 07 and so when I got my C licence it was the first car I bought. I've turned quite a few laps in it, but never had the guts to race.

COTA isn't a great track for anything other than F1 cars, so I'd hold off buying that until you really need it.

Bathurst is a surprisingly good track once you get a few hours practice in.
 
MrKnifey said:
Are the MX5's lapping slower or is it just me?
Click to expand...

Yeah, they're a little slower now.

MX5 Cup S1 W12
Anticipated Pole: 0:58.749
http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3247855.page

MX5 Cup S2 W03
Anticipated Pole: 0:59.749
http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3253530.page

So looks like they're roughly 1sec/min slower, through whatever they've changed since last season. People seem convinced that it drives nothing like the real thing though, so whatever they updated hasnt improved opinion it seems.
 
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barmyllama said:
The Radical in pCARS is a lot easier to drive than the one in iRacing. I'm not trying to out you off, just letting you know. I loved the Radical in Race 07 and so when I got my C licence it was the first car I bought. I've turned quite a few laps in it, but never had the guts to race.

COTA isn't a great track for anything other than F1 cars, so I'd hold off buying that until you really need it.

Bathurst is a surprisingly good track once you get a few hours practice in.
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Yeah that doesnt surprise me about the Radical, and its always been the slower of the 2 ive preferred anyway, and im sure i could set a half decent lap, but doing that consistently is an entirely different matter so like yourself im not sure how i'd feel racing it.

What i find disappointing about iR is that you cant test drive anything. I dont see how it could be exploited really. If they limited you to say 1h test driving content per month, its not like you'd create multiple accounts (subs) to exploit extra access, and maybe whats stopping some people is not knowing whether they'd find the car fun, tracks you kinda get bullied into and arent so important, but knowing if you'd enjoy driving a car or not is quite a big thing IMO.
 
Last time I tried the Radical in pCARS it was, comparatively, very understeery, which by the sounds of it suits your driving, in iRacing it's much more lively (which suits me) so probably isn't the best for you.

The same kinda applies to the Skippy, although not tried it on the latest variant of the tyre model it was always very tail happy (but on entry more than exit of the corners), SRF always used to drive similarly as well.

If you prefer the more understeery cars then things like the Star Mazda and RUF Track would probably suit you more...

I agree they should have some trial stuff, even if it was an hour offline test only that'd be far better than nothing at all.
 
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