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iRacing
Service Advice for New Drivers
version1
–May2009
Prepared for Western Canada Club
Interpretation by
Jody Haddow, if you feel important points are missing or info
contained here is incorrect please contact me.
haddow@uvic.ca
1)
Read the sporting code
Read the sporting
code. Sounds boring but since iRacing is doing this much
differently than any other sim to date it makes sense to
understand the structure.
a.
The sporting code indicates how licenses work, how you
graduate through the system.
b.
It also explains championship point system.
c.
Safety rating calculation basics.
d.
iRating calculation basics.
e.
How fields are split when there are more drivers than
allowed max field size.
f.
And lots more, just read it, it won’t kill you!
2)
Safety Rating(SR)
a)
SR is all that is used to advance a license level so be
mindful of it. I have noticed a number of drivers become
obsessed with it and it ends up ruining all of their fun. These
people work hard to increase it and then are crushed emotionally
when they have a bad race and “because of someone else’s fault”
they loose a bunch of SR points and get discouraged. Maintain
it but don’t dwell on it.
b)
It is supposed to fluctuate a bit.
c)
SR will automatically increase if you can drive a stable
and predictable line and if you race smart and use common sense.
d)
It does get fairly tough on you as you advance license
levels. Incidents cost you more later in your career, get used
to avoiding them.
e)
You will likely take a SR hit at some point and want to
blame another driver for something they did on track that was
“stupid” in your opinion. If the event is in violation of the
sporting code and frowned upon, then protest. But no matter what
always think of a way how that incident could have been avoided
if you had changed your role leading up to the incident (even as
innocent bystander of course, wink).
f)
SR bottom line, you need a 3.0 at the end of the season
to advance. If you have less than 2.0 you are demoted. So you
really only need to keep it just above 3 (if you desire to get
promoted).
g)
When you are promoted at the end of the season you will
loose 1 full point of SR (1.0 -1.5 loss) and then have to build
it back. You have 13 weeks to get it to a level of 3.0 if you
are happy with your current license level and are not trying to
advance you need to maintain a 2.0 and that’s it.
h)
SR only displays up to 4.99. You can however go higher it
just won’t show in your stats etc.
i)
Don’t disconnect from races. Discouraged because of a
first turn wreck? Stay in the race, you would be surprised how
many positions you might gain over the course of the rest of the
race. (especially in higher level races that lack the ability
to “reset” the car). SR is calculated by incidents and number of
turn/corners. Staying in a race and running clean to make up for
early race incidents will ease the damage to your SR.
j)
Incidents are “no fault”. Sucks sometimes but get used to
it (see point b).
k)
As your SR increases and the number approaches the next
whole number (2.0, 3.0, 4.0 etc) you get an approx 0.4 bonus.
That will explain what is happening when one day you see a crazy
jump in SR in a single race. The bonus prevents you dropping
back below say 3.0 in the very next race. If you do eat up that
bonus SR and drop below a whole SR number, the system takes back
the 0.4.
3)
iRating(iR)
a.
you cant see it as a rookie but it is being
calculated.
b.
you start at 1600 as a rookie (but hidden from view).
c.
as a general rule top half of field will gain iR and
bottom half will loose iR at the end of a race (but there is
more to it than that). Overall each race is a “net zero
situation’ so for all the points the top finishers gain, the
others in the race have to lose some points.
d.
In theory you should NOT have to worry about your iR. As
more members join and race fields split, you should end up with
drivers of your skill level and your iRating should reach a
level where it levels off and then just varies slightly around
your current skill level. As you get faster and more consistent
you can increase your SR by finishing well in races.
e.
iR Is used to seed you into split races. High iR drivers
are seeded into the higher/highest SOF races. (see strength of
field below).
f.
Don’t disconnect from races. Last place loses the most
iRating so stay in it and try and gain as many positions on
track as possible.
g.
Don’t register for a race and then not show up, that is
the same as finishing last.
4)
Race Splits and Strength of Fields
a.
The home page of each series lets you know details on
number of drivers per field etc.
b.
Rookie races need 6 drivers to be official.
c.
Rookie maximum is 12 drivers.
d.
More than 12 and the race “splits”.
e.
People close to you in rank (iRating) will usually end up
in your race.
f.
Points are paid out based on strength of field (SOF).
g.
A field with drivers with high iRating will have a high
SOF.
h.
A win in a high SOF race pays more points than a win in a
low SOF race.
i.
Races with no split (less than 13 drivers) can have a
huge range of driver skill.
5)
Disconnecting from Races
a.
Don’t do it.
b.
It hurts your iRating and SR.
c.
Remember you can’t see your iRating as a rookie so it
easy to not know you are killing it by disconnecting or
registering for a race and then not starting.
6)
Minimum requirements to advance
a.
Get in 4 official races OR 4 official time trials.
b.
Not a mix of two of each, 4 of one or the other.
c.
Time trials require incident free laps. If you have to
run 10 laps at Lanier for an official session to be scored and
you get a 1x on lap 9, you need to start over. Unless you finish
all the required laps incident free, the session is not official
and won’t count towards your advancement requirement.
d.
You DON’T have to finish a race for it to be official, as
long as it has the minimum required number of drivers (6 in
rookie) and you take the green flag, that is good enough.
e.
Racing in a series (or TT) up one license level also
counts.
f.
You need a SR of 4.0 to race up one level.(ie a Class D
driver with SR 4.0 CAN race the Class C car).
7)
The cost to advance
a.
Each license level requires you to race in a certain
series (or race up a level if you have a SR4.0 or higher).
b.
Each new series will require a car purchase.
c.
Most series above rookie will require tracks that you
won’t own.
d.
You only need 4 sessions and you can do these all in one
week if you want at one track that way you don’t NEED all the
tracks unless you WANT all the tracks.
e.
You also do not have to fulfill the license promotion
requirements if you are happy with where you are and the cars
and series that you can currently run.
8)
Qualifying.
a.
Some people don’t qualify so they can start at the back
which is a decent strategy if you are seeing lots of first turn
wrecks or feel more comfortable at the back etc.
b.
Once you get quicker it is advantageous to run the best
qualifier you can to start near or at the front.
c.
Starting mid pack can be a work out so it is up to you on
how to approach qualifying.
d.
Your single best qualifier seeds you for the entire week
at that track so you can try and improve as often as you want,
therefore there is no worry about running a slower qualifier
than your pervious attempt.
9)
Don’t be afraid to protest
a.
If you see questionable ethics do not be afraid to
protest, there is a system in place and a dedicated employee to
handle protests. Refrain from bitching in the forms if you are
not prepared to protest
b.
All violations of the sporting code are worthy of protest
if it is ruining the competition and fun
10)
Forums
a.
Stay away from the General discussion board LOL
Just kidding but take all of the chat there with a grain of
salt!
b.
There is a Regional forum that only drivers in your
region can see
c.
There is a club forum which only club members can see
d.
These are good for discussion you wish to keep to the
club or region.
e.
PLEASE drop by the forums and say hello
f.
The Club forums are slowly growing please participate
g.
There is a forum for each car type and these have the
best content of all so have a read.
h.
To stay on top of new news the forum is often more
informative than the iRacing main website, I have learned who
the iRacing admins are and have added them to the “forum watch
list” so I see notifications when they post in the forums.
11)
Watching stats and adding friends
a.
When you see a friend or someone of interest in a race
result, if you hover your mouse over their helmet you get a menu
to add friends (or “studied”) this allows quick access to these
peoples info on the stat page.
b.
Adding friends is one way to help seed you both ion the
same race in case of a split but you still have to be close
together in iRating as well.
12)
Customize your cars, helmet and suit
a.
Go to “myRacing” on the main site
b.
From there you can paint using templates, the
possibilities are actually very good
c.
No white cars allowed, not true actually but new drivers
are assigned white cars so liven yours up.
13)
Join iRacing World
a.
We are trying to establish a community and this is a good
place to start.
b.
There is a link to this site on the main page.
c.
It is like facebook to some extent.
d.
Make contributions.
Racing Advice
A lot of this advice was taken from
posts in the general forum. I have tried to cite/reference the
people I have taken direct comments from when possible.
1)
Don’t worry about being fast....be smooth
2)
concentrate on keeping the car on track
3)
pay attention to the cars around you
4)
use the F3 Key to see where others are on track and who
is close to you
5)
Put in a lot of laps so you can get smooth in the corners
6)
Start with a "slow in, fast out" method of cornering
7)
Safe overtaking is the responsibility of the OVERTAKING
driver
8)
Holding a consistent line is the responsibility of the
SLOWER driver
9)
http://www.drivingfast.net/techniques/track_corner.htm
10)
Most important thing by far is.....HAVE FUN!
“1st step, turn off anything that tells you
your lap times. Don't worry about them or how fast you're going.
Instead, go out on the track for this week's race and work on
running consistently. For ovals, 1st practice the low line and
once you can string some laps together where you're in control
the entire lap, work on the high line. You'll need to run both.
Specifically the high line for times when you need to let the
leaders pass.
Once you can handle both lines consistently, jump into a race
and watch how other folks are racing...not the ones that are
spinning out, but specifically the leaders. This may entail only
being behind them for a few laps at a time as they go by, but
watch how they handle the turns and the different lines. You do
have to take it with a little grain of salt because of latency,
but you'll get the general idea.
After a few races and whatnot, then turn back on the lap time
indicators and start working on getting your times lower. But
remember, fast lap times don't mean a damn thing if you can't
keep the car from spinning.”
Doug
Gegenheimer
“When learning a corner, always start by taking a late apex.
This will prevent you from driving off the road at the exit.
Once you learn the corner you can start to move the apex as
appropriate.
If a corner is followed by a long straight then you want to be
on the throttle asap. For example, at Road America the final
turn leads onto a very long straight. If you are not on full
throttle by the apex of that turn you will lose a lot of time
down the straight.
Work on the turns that will give you the most time gain first.
These are usually the ones that lead onto long straights”
Taken from forum, if you see from who
let me know
“Finding the correct line is not rocket
science like people may think, it is relatively straight
forward.
First things first. You NEED to find points of references for
all corners. What you use as your references could be anything.
Trees, advertising billboards, barriers, track surface texture
changes, bumps, corner markers. etc. etc. If you race in the
real world, you should not make your markers as something that
could move in time, such as spectators and shadows.
How many markers do you need for each corner? Its usually 3 -
one for braking, one for turn-in, one for apex. You will find,
that if you get the turn-in and apex right, the exit will take
care of itself.
At some tracks you may even need navigation markers, e.g the
blind chicane at VIR.
What’s the point of these markers? Quite simply, it allows you
to drive consistently, every single lap. To do the same thing
every corner of every lap is incredibly important during a race,
and should not be taken lightly, once you get the references
down, and are in a race, THESE REFERENCES ARE NOT FLEXIBLE,
stick to them like your life depends on them.
References are also used for judging things too. If you find
that for example, the turn in marker is too early, you can
adjust the entrance slightly by turning in slightly after the
marker, which means, you don’t have to have accurate markers,
but ones that can be used as references. For races, for example,
i try and brake slightly before my braking marker, because i
know if i pass the mark before braking due to slow reactions, i
will be arriving at the turn in marker too fast, and ruining the
entrance to the corner.
Now, the line:
First rule, DO NOT turn/straighten the wheel as fast as
possible! You should be transitioning smoothly. At turn in, you
turn the wheel smoothly, until the trajectory passes the planned
apex. As soon as you get to the apex, smoothly start unwinding
the wheel up until the exit, where the car should be traveling
in a straight line again.
Now, when considering the line to take, you must consider the
type of corner it is. If the corner is SLOW and the following
straight is LONG, you must do what is called, 'advancing the
apex'. What this means is, you must apex later, which will make
your exit line straighter, ensuring that you can put the
throttle down harder, and come out of the corner faster. With
this type of corner, you will have to brake, slightly later than
normal, turn in slightly later than normal too, and exit faster
than if you would take a geometric apex (an apex which is
exactly half way round the corner).
What is the best way of getting a Apex marker? Imagine a line,
cutting the car in half along the longitudinal axis of the car
(rear to front) imagine this line going straight up the screen
to the top. Now, when you get the car to the closest point of
the apex, look where this line is. E.g i am at the inside of the
track, the car is pointing straight at a tree, EXACTLY at the
closest point i get to the apex. But, you think to yourself,
'That apex is too early'. So, next lap, you do the same again,
but this time, when you get the car as close to the apex as
possible, your imaginary line should be PAST the tree,
indicating a later apex. Of course, to change you apex location,
you must change your turn-in location, but, because most people
understand turn-in, exit, i am ignoring the details of those, as
most people have difficulty with finding a good apex.
The only thing i would like to point out about the
turn-in/apex/exit is, if you turn in too early to a corner, and
apex to ealry, you will not be able to unwind the steering wheel
smoothly as soon as you get to the apex marker, you will have to
hold the steering at the same angle until the car is right on
the exit. THIS IS WRONG, its killing your exit speed, you must
be able to smoothly unwind the wheel after apex, if you can not
do that, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
Now, the problem is, how do i know i am apexing at the right
place? simple. Look at your exit speed at a reference point at
the exit of a track. Personally i use the end of the verb on the
outside at the exit, if there is one, if there is not, i try and
find another reference, such as a tree for example. If you
figure, that the exit speed is as high as it will ever get at
the exit, then, that is the best turn-in, apex combo. But, use
different lines for the same corner, until you can establish,
what is a fast/slow exit.
Take a look at the last corner at Road America, in the Mazda,
for example.
A reasonable exit speed would be roughly 100MPH. A good exit,
only if you get the line correct is 105MPH. Don’t expect you to
exit at 105MPH lap after lap, that will only happen if you can
do the whole phases of the corner picture perfect.
If there is a slow corner, followed by another slow corner, in
the opposite direction (NOTE: NOT a chicane, but 2 corners
separated by a very small straight) Then you must sacrifice the
first corner, so you can take the second one faster. If you take
the first corner like normal, you will be on a wrong line to
take the second, which if there is a long straight following,
will cost you a great deal of time. Exit the second faster, at
all costs, regardless of how much time you 'think' you are
loosing in the first. As everybody will have the same idea, you
really don’t lose any time at all in the first.
As for corners that are almost flat out, near maximum speeds,
you will need to take a more geometric apex. This type of line
does not need much explanation really, except you want to take
the entire corner as fast as possible from turn-in all the way
to the exit, because, advancing the apex here has no use,
because you exit at very high speed, so acceleration will be
significantly reduced at the exit. So the higher your average
speed around these fast corners the better.
I think thats about it.”
Frank Stewart
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