Race Talk

[vobler]

I was lucky to be able to join a hosted Skippy race yesterday. My first complete hosted session.

It was hosted by iRacing Danmark and it was Skippy at Brands Hatch GP. We started with a long practice, then 30 mins Qually and a 23 laps race. There where 15 people on the startlist but I think a couple missed it.

During practice most people did 1:41's. I also got a low 1:41 so I was happy, but during qually no matter what I did I could not replicate it. If I had a good lap I got a 1x and my lap was not counted. So I ended with 1:41.8 and 8 pos on the grid. The start went well but on lap 2 or 3 I was taking the inside line to T1 with too much speed so I slid wide and off the track. The car I was defending for had no where to go but in my gearbox. Luckily we both got only small damages and could continue without stop.
After that I tried to get in to a rhythm and the cars in front of me pulled away slowly. And a few guys that where faster than me got off the track and was pressuring me from behind. So I decided to let them go and drive my own pace. Half way in to the race I was 7 and the nearest car in front of me was 3-4 seconds away. I saw that if I pushed I could gain a few tenths on him per lap so I went for it. Slowly reeling him in. And with 2 laps to go I was very close, he then decided make a mistake and drive off the track so I could pass. Bad luck for him. In the end I ended 4. and was very pleased with that.

Hosting in iRacing feels as good as in any other sim so I hope to do more hosted races in the future.

In hosted races no SR or irating is in effect and anyone can drive any car/track as long as they own it. No need to be Class B+ to drive the Riley or Dallara if you wanted.

Now on to the Rolex 2.4. A big sim event this sunday. And please note that it is open to all iRacing members, regardless of license level. Drivers will qualify and be gridded into race sessions based on qualifying time and iRating.

If you own the Railey and Daytona just do a few practice laps and join one of the open practice sessions. Qualify when ready and join the race on sunday afternoon. Currently over 240 people have qualified so expect hundreds of people signing up with 5-10 server splits. With this amount of people signing in, almost everyone in the same split will be equal in performance.

If you have been looking for a long race, this is it.

[vobler]

Even though iRacing as a sim is developed at a pace never seen before. And people complaining about this or that feature. There are more to iRacing than that. We have big special events, Wourld cup etc. This post illustrates a little bit what they are doing.

Something positive from my viewpoint
Posted: Jan 28, 2010 7:42 PM    
By Scott Moore

I hate to interrupt the hand wringing party, but something hit me last night, something that I think has a lot of merit.

Does anyone else feel like we are actually part of something very special right now? We're standing right on the edge of seeing our (pick one: hobby, sport, pastime, passion) become something it has never been before. there are so many great things happening right now that to me, the small shortcomings tend to fade into the background. We have our drivers here getting coverage from the biggest American racing organization, race results being reported and those guys being recognized for what they have accomplished. We have great ambassadors for our sport crossing the line between real and virtual racing and blurring the division between the two. We have an event this weekend being run in conjunction with a huge real-world event, giving us a chance to be a part of something as special to the sim world as the Rolex is to racers all over. We've got the World Cup coming up- a first of it's kind. I think someday 4 or 5 years from now, saying you raced in the 2010 World Cup finals is going to carry some weight in this community, like someone saying they raced LeMans or the Indy 500 means to the current racing community.

These are small examples of what I think is the biggest growth sim racing has ever experienced in the public perception. We aren't over the hump yet, but there is no question we're headed in a uphill direction.

We're in a good place, even if we don't have animated pit stops and roof flaps.

[vobler]

Do you sometimes wonder if there is any activity at all in iRacing?

This was posted today in the iRacing forums

98 million laps and counting
Posted: Jan 29, 2010 5:26 PM    
By Tony Gardner

Actually past 100 million laps if you include the beta days. 98 million laps raced on iRacing since September of 08. Recently members doing about 300,000 laps per day!
------

[vobler]

I'm on a roll here so here is an opinion from insiderracingnews.com
http://www.insiderracingnews.com/Writers/DD/012810.html

January 28, 2010

By Doug Demmons

An announcement was made last week at the NASCAR R&D Center that has the potential to change the future of racing.

And it has nothing to do with yellow lines, restrictor plates, spoilers or bump drafting.

The announcement -- the launch of a new NASCAR iRacing Series -- got a collective yawn from the media that was there to get the official word that the sanctioning body was about to sanction whatever the drivers wanted to do at Talladega and Daytona.

For those who still yearn for the old days -- when NASCAR wasnââ,¬â,,¢t even on TV -- this is going to be quite a shock. IRacing -- which has been around a while and counts Dale Earnhardt Jr. among its most famous participants -- isnââ,¬â,,¢t contested on asphalt. Itââ,¬â,,¢s done on your computer against other drivers who could be halfway around the world.

And hereââ,¬â,,¢s the really shocking part -- one day drivers who cut their teeth on iRacing will be the cream of the NASCAR crop.

How is that possible? How can someone who races at his desk possibly become a top driver?

The answer is simple -- practice, practice, practice.

Itââ,¬â,,¢s the same reason that Magnus Carlsen has become the youngest person ever to be ranked No. 1 in the world in chess and a grand master at the age of 13.

Carlsen learned the game playing computer chess against advanced algorithms. Playing against algorithms wonââ,¬â,,¢t teach you much about opponentsââ,¬â,,¢ styles and quirks, but it does afford the opportunity to play a whole lot of chess. Carlsen, in fact, was able to play multiple games simultaneously.

And that fits in with the theory that what separates experts in just about every field from everyone else is 10,000 hours of practice.

Natural talent is important, but plenty of people have that. To truly rise above the crowd and achieve at the top levels of your field you must practice relentlessly. And numerous studies have concluded that 10,000 hours seems to be the tipping point.

Itââ,¬â,,¢s spelled out in the book ââ,¬Å"Outliers,ââ,¬Â by Malcolm Gladwell, who quotes neurologist Daniel Levitin:

ââ,¬Å"In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again. Of course, this doesnââ,¬â,,¢t address why some people get more out of their practice sessions than others do. But no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.ââ,¬Â

Nobody just climbs into a stock car with minimal experience and wins on raw talent alone. It takes lots and lots of seat time before a driver can reach the top levels of the sport.

Unfortunately, seat time is a precious commodity. Without a wealthy family you have to somehow catch the eye of a team owner willing to take a chance on you and bring you along for years.

Thatââ,¬â,,¢s where iRacing can change the equation. Learning on a computer simulator can fill in the gaps -- hours and hours and hours of them.

And iRacingââ,¬â,,¢s program is amazingly realistic. Tracks have been laser-scanned to reproduce all the bumps and dips and quirks. And competitors can adjust virtually everything on the car that the real teams can adjust.

That doesnââ,¬â,,¢t mean iRacing can substitute for the feel of the real thing. When you spin out and smack the wall in iRacing you can just hit the reset button.

Magnus Carlsen wouldnââ,¬â,,¢t have achieved the No. 1 chess ranking if the only opponent he ever psyched out was an algorithm. But the ability to work out countless scenarios over and over until it all becomes second nature makes a huge difference.

It makes a difference whether itââ,¬â,,¢s chess or music or basketball or auto racing.

One day a kid is going to set the racing world on fire and iRacing will be the match that lights it.

[vobler]

First to those that do not know what this is; it is a tenth of the Rolex 24 hour race at Daytona. In iRacing we drive the Daytona Prototype Riley with a 500hp V8. The race is 90 laps on Daytona.

The whole week has been a hectic week of preparation, practise and qualification. As the race was the first of iRacings World tour races no one knew how it would turn out. All we knew was that there would be a maximum of 40 cars in each "split" (server). Most people expected between 300-400 people signing up for this historic event.

During practice I did a few full tank runs and knew I could pull off a one stop strategy, but chose to do a 2 stop to be able to have a lighter car and better tires the whole race.
My qualtime was about 0.7 seconds slower than my best practise time so I was happy with that.

On race day I had this race in my head the whole day, and as the start was at 1700 gmt I had almost too much time worrying about it...

When signing up the counter stopped on 950 racer. 950 people signing in for one race! I knew this was going to be huge. I had one failed connection due to the servers taking too long to sort the splits but the second try I was in. In my split I got car number 32. That means that my rating was well down and that there where 30 people with better rating than me. I started at pos 26. With a rolling start the first lap went smooth with all people beeing real gentlemen and driving within their limits.

Soon the race settled down, a few people went off and I was in the mid 20's at one time. Then traffic set inn with cars all around you, At lap 30 or there abouts I was planning to pit, busy changing my fuel load. While I was doing that and letting a faster car by I hit the curbs in T1 and spun. No damage, just a slow spin. I lost a few positions, pitted and got out again still feeling great. The only other "big" mistake was in to the bus stop where I missed my braking point and had to cut the course, giving me a slow down penalty. Lost a few positions there too.

After my last pit stop at about 60 laps I found myself racing for position with three cars. I decided to floor it. Cutting one second of my laptimes I found that the guy behind me was falling behind and that the guy in front got bigger... Soon I was on his tailpipes and we where battling a few laps until he made a small mistake and I managed to pass. I still kept it floored and saw him dissapear i the distance as I secured a great 21 position in this historic race. My total position was in the 300 out of 950. Thats around the top 1/3 pos. Fits nice with where I think I am skill wise.

All in all this was a huge event. Surely the biggest I have taken part of. The iRacing forums are full of nice comments. The drivers where cautious and the whole thing just felt very good. It's really a pity that not more of you guys want to take part in this.

It was a huge event and it has been a real "team building" event for the whole iRacing community.

[OldBloke]

Nice report Vobz. Looks like you had a load of fun ... and that's what it's all about :thumb:

[Lameduck]

Well done Verner :yahoo:
2.4 hours? Yee gods. My 'plumbing' system is stressed for the one hour race on Thursdays :sad:

[vobler]

If you want to see more of what iRacing has to offer check out this review at insidesimracing.tv
http://www.youtube.com/user/simracingtonight#p/a/u/0/3Shd5Gb32Y8

[obsolum]

I'd rather see more of what Jessica Lopez has to offer :norty: