I need some advice

[roryg]

Hey,

I've only recently joined up here and haven't gotten to know anyone really but, I'm at a loss in this week's racing.

This first week of racing in the 2nd season has been incredibly frustrating in almost all regard. I think out of the 5 races I've driven I only finished 1.

I've been trying some new series like the Blancpain and ProtoGT.

My first race in ProtoGT went really well and it was fun to drive the HPD. However, my second race was disastrous. I spun out a couple of times and eventually was just driven off the road by some other guy, ending my race. 

Blancpain has been a "pain" all together, literally people running into me and taking you out of the race.

So at this point I thought, it's probably me. Let's go back to the good old Formula 2.0 where I can at least perform a bit better.
BAM, 8x out of the first lap, 16x and totaled after 5 laps when a guy cuts into your line and hits your front axis.

Overal my safety rating has gone from 3.55 to 1.55 in 4 races due to the above circumstances. 

So as far as I know (or have seen), most people here have been sim-racing for years.
I've only started in december last year but want to know... Is this normal? Is it normal to have these extreme dips in your overal driving experience and if so, how do you deal with it? Also, is it OK that I'm in the GBR group on iRacing with stats like these? Because I don't want to damage the name.

Sorry for the rant. 

[oldslowfred]

I have not raced many official series for a while now.
Largely due to time constraints but also because of the unpredictable fields of official races and subsequent impact on safety rating.
So mostly I have been focusing on a private series or two where you can become more familiar with the other drivers and also focus on driving one car well, or at least trying to. I also like to do the long endurance races where most other drivers have realized it is not a sprint race so there is a bit more patience, hopefully.
However, I did try an official Blancplain sprint race a few weeks ago and actually did not too bad, but it could have easily gone the other way , only because it was the same car I have driven in the private series for a while now was I able to escape the carnage.
If I tried to jump into other cars and official series without a lot of practice in that car I would likely not being finishing many if any races and my safety rating would go thru the floor.
Also I would not worry about racing with the GBR group on iRacing, it is good to have you there, more the merrier
I doubt the GBR name can be damaged by iRacing stats

[zero7159]

roryg, I have been doing iRacing official series racing almost every day for years now. The key is to find car(s) you are comfortable driving. For me, those cars are the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup car, the Xfinity NASCAR B car, the Camping World NASCAR truck, the DW-12 IndyCar, the Cadillac CTS and now the Porsche GT3 Cup car. Get comfortable with the car. Once you feel good about the car, make sure you qualify. Always. It will help get you higher up in the pack where you are safer. Keep an eye out for wreckers. If they want to pass, let them. If you see them edging towards the inside line to cut you off, let them go. iRacing official series racing is about survival, almost as much as it is about skill. To finish first, you must first finish. When you have an incident, fix the damage. Don't rage quit, always fix the damage and finish as many laps as possible so that you mitigate the damage to your SR.

If you follow these pointers, you should have a better experience and you will keep that SR where it needs to be.

[roryg]

oldslowfred:
I've never just jumped into a race with at least being able to drive the car and the track consistent.
I practice every car and track some time before I jump into official races. What are these private series you're talking about?

zero7159:
I enjoy the higher down-force cars and the GT3's the most as it seems. The Porsche I'm literally unable to drive, I admit.
I never drive defensive and in let everyone pass when they start tailgating. But some people try to squeeze themselves in places where I just can't move out of the way and then the wrecking usually starts.
I never rage quit unless the car is toast of course .

Anyway thanks for the tips!

[oldslowfred]

They are usually found on the iRacing forums.
The Autobahn series is at link
Other series is Pac Majors, this series is region based but they have been adding more regions with new seasons
link

[helios16v]

I think we are trying to get a Sunday morning (NA time) BSS group together. At least I know we were talking about it a couple weeks ago. That would put the race in the late afternoon - early evening your time. At least give you some ears to vent to.

Some of the popular series (BSS, GT3 Cup, FR2.0) can be a total crapshoot for quality of racing. Sometimes you get a lobby full of T1 warriors straight out of Forza, and sometimes you get a room full of drivers with something a bit more than airspace between their ears. It takes a lot of driving w/ 1 eye on the mirror to be sure. I've had several races where I've had to take to the grass to avoid getting punted off because someone drove in over their head. Mid pack is the worst...you're trying to go fast enough at the start to keep from getting run over, but at the same time trying to leave enough room in front for avoidance maneuvers for the inevitable T1 stuff up that will unfold in front of you.

It's something that just takes time, experience and a side of luck. Zed & I were at a particularly messy start in a Porsche race @ Okyama (I think) last season. There were big wrecks in T1 and again at T2 (including a car on it's roof in the run between T1 & T2). I got lucky and was able to zig & zag my way through it it. Zed wasn't as fortunate, though I think he avoided a lot of damage but lost a lot of time due to taking to the sandtrap. And he was only a couple rows behind me on the grid.


Once you find some guys you have confidence around though, the racing more than makes up for the frustrations.
These are from a league practice session w/ Snappy, Oldslowfred (Sheldon), and Brett (not a GBR member).

[roryg]

Yeah you summed it up pretty well Helios...

The Sunday sessions sound great!
I should be able to make it at those times.

Can you hit me up with a time, when you guys have decided?

[helios16v]

Keep an eye in this thread. gbr.proboards.com/thread/4383/iracing-season-2-2017

That's where we are talking about when we are going to run.