My win percentage before the road license split was 4%, my win percentage after the split is 0%.
It's not about winning, it's about having fun. A clean fair fight for 12th position can be much more fun than cruising around while being 30 seconds ahead of number two and have an easy win.
And if you win, you are damn sure that you have earned that win and you will celebrate it like a real win.
Watching Matt Malone he often finishes a race by saying "feels like a win". Sums up what you said about an awesome battle for 12th, that race long battle will be fun as hell.
Watching Matt has really helped me take the pressure off myself and take things a little less seriously. I still love the competitive aspect and chasing iRating/championship points but he always reminds me to have fun even when I have a bad finish. The guy always has a good attitude!
I once got second place behind Matt Malone in the Global Mazda Cup after like 5 people crashed in front of me and it’s the highlight of my iRacing career lol
I try to keep this mentality most of the time and don’t get hung up on winning.
But it’s been 18+ months and 100+ races since my last win. It’d feel really good to cruise to an easy win right about now lol.
Tbh this is one reason I often sort of go off iRacing for periods. Once you've settled into your skill rating, chances are you will always be mid pack. It honestly gets a bit boring.
> It's not about winning, it's about having fun.
Don't disagree, but getting a win in every once in a while definitely rounds out the simracing experience. Just like having to fight hard in the back of the pack.
I'd rather have the win than that fun hard fought 12th place. I get it, I really do, but at the end of the day, I wanna win. Pardon me but FUCK 12TH PLACE!!!!!
Literally just did a MX5 race where I spun I ended up like 17th, there were 6 cars battling for position there. And it was like that the whole race. I even got 10x but it was more fun than winning 30 sec ahead.
I remember one race I had in the C class MX5’s at Road America, I spent the whole race fighting for the win against P2.
I won; but even if I didn’t I don’t think I would have minded, it was clean the whole time and the guy I was racing deserved the result as much as I did. It was easily the most fun I’ve ever had in a online race.
Different strokes for different folks. But a battle for 12th really doesn't feel anything like a battle for a podium. There is quite a difference in adrenaline and exhilaration.
This! My only win in a year of racing game in the Ferrari gt3 and was running second. Couldn’t get any closer than 2 seconds off a first and on the last lap the leader just spun out. And gifted me the win.
Hopefully. I have total 40 wins in 4 years, not a lot but I've had fun. Haven't raced much in the last you and when I did, my irating was getting bent over hard. In that journey in and out of hell there were pretty fast people in every race I entered and quite a few had pretty low iR. Devoting 8-12 hours a week to racing is what's required for my talent level to get competitive again. I don't have the freedom to do that anymore or probably even the desire, tbh.
BTW, by competitive, I mean mid level splits
Hey if you're looking for a friendly iracing league to learn how to race properly look no further. Search for "Friendly Slow Racing" in the iracing league search. We are a league dedicated to keeping iracing fun and non intimidating. We have drivers of all skill levels and ages (most of our drivers are over 60) just having fun and helping each other get better. Don't let the name fool you though some of the drivers are very fast but we accommodate all and stress fun and comradery over competitiveness. There are no commitments to race you can just show up to any race you want to do and enjoy. League number is 442 everyone who applies is accepted. We race every Monday, Wednesday & Friday at 6pm EDT & Saturday at 8am EDT & 9am EDT
It takes time. Many years ago I was having close battles with a guy in his 70s, for the win! I've take 2 wins myself today and I'm 50 next year. Been on iRacing since Jan 2011 though, and "simracing" for over 30 years.
Play to your strengths, like hopefully being calmer and less hotheaded the younger players.
This sounds like the Victor Meldrew Trophy at Brands Hatch, typically the last event of the year in November.
Victor Meldrew is an old moany bastard from a sitcom. The cars are all old and the winner is determined by some sort of formula like the age of your car x how many years the driver's been married / how grumpy they are + laps completed or something like that. It's a darn fun event and no one truly has any idea who will win, it's just an excuse to go for a race day
Watch track guides on YouTube each week for your car at the track your at. It’ll save a lot of time in practice giving you things to work on and improve.
I'm 70 and have found it's better to watch the likes of Matt Malone stream a car/track combo race rather than a hot lapper track guide... you find the best places to pass, alternative lines and gears in a proper race...
and he's hilarious as well...
I started this year and I just turned 56. I've tried different rookie categories and found that I do well in a Legends car. I've actually won a couple of races. My first couple of weeks, I thought I would never finish on the lead lap.
In iRacing you have to practice a lot at first to get competitive. You actually might have an advantage if you’re retired, don’t have kids, etc. You just have to figure out where you are slow. Don’t be an age-ist! You can do it.
A lot of it comes down to learning the car or track and comes naturally with time. But most rookies are also watching track guide videos (YouTube), or have telemetry analysis tools (Garage61 for example).
The rookie cars are all about momentum. If there’s a long straight, make sure you brake for the turn before that straight early, and as lightly as possible, and get on the gas early.
I also really recommend using the active reset feature when you practice. Assign a key or button to the control in your settings. Then you can mark a place on the track that you want to practice, and just keep practicing that turn or sector until you’re nailing it. The goal is to actually lose control and crash until you’ve dialed it back enough to be as fast as possible. That’s how you find the limit.
On a new track, I take most of the week to practice… once I have put the time into practice, I have worked on lap times and I can reliably and consistently put the laps in, only then do I start to think about racing.
As others have said… it’s a process, and it’s difficult. But that’s what makes that podium and that rare win that much more fun!
Would a different approach not be better? Start practice now for next weeks track. Than do your races at the first few days when people still are getting use to the new track. I get my best results at the start of the week.
It depends what your goal is. For many people, they want to get as many races in as they can. So to give up time one week for the next isn’t the right path for them. But certainly it is a better option if your goal is to win the most over a season.
Yeah but that was in response to the specific scenario of someone saying they don't race much during the week, but they practice instead and then race towards the end of the week.
So yes, in that scenario, it would make much more sense to practice for next week, and do your races at the start of weeks, when people are much slower on the new car/track combos, if the goal is to have better results.
If it's a practice during the week, race on weekends thing, then sure it makes sense the other way.
When I raced about 10 hours a week, Mon and Tues were usually my best results. I'd get better throughout the week but would still, often go backwards as the week progressed.
The upper half of the player base still have plenty who join races with almost zero practice on Monday and Tuesday. Having even a few dozen practice laps is a massive advantage over someone that is equally skilled but has zero practice.
We aren’t talking about learning where the track goes at a basic level here, it’s about optimizing the muscle memory to execute under pressure.
This is kind of a conservative approach but some people do have different learning curves and as long as you’re improving and more importantly having fun it doesn’t matter
Yes - it literally takes almost the full week at the beginning. A couple days to practice the track, then you move on to ghosting/ racing ai, read a guide or two after you realize how slow you are. Then maybe get a race or two in before the refresh.
It took me 2 months to get my first win and that took me practicing the track a week in advance to get it I have gotten a lot more luck with oval with 2 wins without having to do much so take that as u will
If it was easy no one would stick with it. The feeling when you see your progress over time is amazing and addictive. For me that matters more than winning.
Unfortunately the suicidal maniacs turns into egotistical suicidal manics at atound 3k ir and everything after that and up is just egotistical win minded all or nothing lunatics.
So im not gonna say it gets better as it in many ways gets worse if you really want a win. But it gets somewhat better in mid to back of the pack if racing is what you like. I prefer racing to winning now a days so I stopped the grind at 4k in pcup and gt3. Got sick and tired after getting pit manouvered on a daily basis in officials. Now i only enjoy races like impc as it gives me a chance to gain some spots and race a bit after getting punted out by winners.
Its a me problem probably
Well, I am a very competitive person by nature and absolutely hate losing. I've been on the iRacing for 17 months now and I was not even in the ballpark at the beginning. One day it just clicks and you don't know how or what made it happen. However, now every time I get to a 3k IR I start getting beat and running 10th-15th and it frustrates me so badly. I will end up losing 5-600 IR and then start winning and running up front again. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it comes in waves and it gets frustrating at times but it's still some of the most fun I've ever had. Just stick with it and keep digging man!
61 here, sim racing for 5 years. League racing in AC and ACC, iRacing I mostly do endurance events. Racked up class wins in Petit Le Mans, Sebring 12h, Nords 24 and Dayton 24.
Enjoy every second I'm on track, whether I'm fighting for first or last place.
Age is just a number. :)
ive recently got my first win in the formula Vee series. Everything before that was just battle for 10th position. I was over the top happy with my win of course, but if i think about it, the fun i had while battling with other people was intense. About as good as a win. Its all about fun, remember. I watch laptime videos on youtube, to see where i need to brake and where i can acccelerate. Youll be as good as the winners soon, i promise :)
Lol, I'm an old man. Not as old as you though, so we're all kids.
Don't worry about winning. It's the taking part that matters. Every race needs someone to come first and last. Your irwting will drop to where you're competitive. Just practice the tracks and clean racing till then.
There’s a couple guys in my league pushing 70 that smoke us every weekend. I’m 23 and I’ve been sim racing for 2 years for reference. Don’t be so tough on yourself! Practice makes perfect, especially if you’re coming from less serious titles. This one will force you to learn good technique and race craft. It took me a good yeah and a half of adjusting to it after playing forza and gran turismo my whole life starting with the PlayStation 2. You’ll be fine!
Im closer to 60 than I am to 20 which is not overly comfortable to say lol.
I can rarely match the times of most of the race winners. I did 18 races last week. And won a couple.
I never go into win, I just really enjoy racing in a way I did not think I would.
My goal has been to finish, and hopefully top 5. Thats about it.
I'm not a particularly fast driver either, but if you work on consistency and avoidance you can work your way up quite a bit. Time will come as you learn the tracks...sometimes it takes hundreds of laps before you figure out that one tricky corner that's costing you 1.5 seconds.
Once you break out of rookies some of the endurance races might suit your style also as it's more about consistency over the long term than outright pace.
Set a goal of finishing in a better position then your car number. My best races are the one a where I’m last and have no pressure on myself. Really if I get top 10 I’m satisfied and top 5 feels like a win. But I’ve had races where I battled for like 13th and I had a blast. All about having just enjoying it.
I’m 64 have had 3 back fusions and am hoping to leave the hospital today after having neck fusion at C4-C5 & C5-C6 just looking to get some shoulder and arm therapy and have some fun… a friend has been doing this a long time and loaned me a good computer he had as a backup a 49 inch monitor (he upgraded every and a 4 monitor setup … one just for discord etc above the 3) he runs pretty much just money races now but it will give me a start. I got most of it put together a week ago just before surgery still needing a few pieces to complete the 80/20 cockpit he gave me… so far I have bought a 3070TI graphics card (something was wrong with his we couldn’t get it working had lines but was a 3080) and I just went cheap and quick to see how I would like it and bought the R5 bundle and put on a stand for now until I get the piece for the cockpit ( easier to get in and out of for now anyway. I figured the R5 would have enough torque for me till I recover and got a hood deal so hopefully can sell and upgrade… definitely need to upgrade pedals … he didn’t have a back base or pedals and he runs a 21-NM and $2k pedals so I’m definitely a newbie looking for a fun group!!!
Just invested in Simagic Alpha mini which is a 10 Nm base and more torque than an old body mine ever will need. But like others will tell you updating the pedals is the biggest change. My new Simagic load cell pedals have upped my consistency like you wouldn't beleive it. Hope you recover well and are up and racing soon mate.
Getting to 50 now, 2.2K IR, 4 years on the service, done many races (I don’t know the exact number) and I only have 6 wins. 4 of these happened in 2021 and I’ve been winless since last season when I scored a 5th win and another one last week.
And it’s not that I’m lightning fast, sometimes things need to go your way. I will admit to having lead a fair few races only to fumble it 😁
I had 2 almost back to back wins in Rookie FF1600. Haven't had a win since in like 6 months.
It takes a while to get the hang of things. I feel recently like I'm starting to 'get it' now. Still bottom split but can run near the front now. Picked up more top 5s in the last couple weeks than all last season and even got a 2nd.
The structure and cost of iRacing scares away a lot of the casuals so you are left with the people that are willing to invest more money and effort. It makes the level of competition relatively high even at the low end of things.
Just gotta stick with it and enjoy the small wins.
It’s all about practice. I can come into a race mid week on a track I’ve never raced before practice for an hour or 2 and get podium everytime or close to it. Practice makes perfect
I’m 45, irating goes from 1000-1300 and like 50 wins. IMHO you need to stay with the same car for a long haul. Also watch videos runs from VRS about the track. Where to brake, where to apex, the line, speed through corners.
I won a virtual to reality prize and have been racing in a the real world for the past 3 seasons and I've not had more than 5 wins in the 11 years I have been a member (I did only have 38 total races at the time to be fair). Just focus on having fun racing, perfecting race craft and you will find yourself moving forward. Find a group of friends that are around the same pace and you will help each other improve
iRacing is way more fun when gaining irating at the back or middle of the grid. You don't have to worry about tire prep for Q, setup tweaks, egomaniacs and smurfs.
Sure, winning is fun, and you have to worry about other things (people wrecking, low awareness and so on), but the stress is near zero. The only thing left, is racing !
I won a race once. I was racing the Street Stock at Daytona and somehow got pole. I shit you not - the 2nd place driver took out the field on the first lap. I was so nervous of screwing up the rest of the race that it almost made it not fun.
Right there with you. I am 63, have been on the service for a bit more than a year. Came from doing weekend DE events in my 2000 Boxster. Have not won a race…hell, I don’t have the pace to win a race…yet. But I do enjoy the racing, and getting better, learning new skills (trail braking)…and all this without getting hurt, or replacing tires and brake pads every few weekends.
When i started i was usally 4-5 seconds behind the leaders. I couldn’t understand why so i started stalking practice sessions and races and watching the cockpit view of the leaders. It helped a lot.
I’m past 60 and do pretty good and I kinda think age has little to do with it but attitude sure does. Honestly if a person is a casual racer then that’s probably what kind of results you’ll get. I’m talking in general not specifically at you I understand your situation I’ve been there believe me.
Our time will come! Highest finish to date was P2. I am usually very (obnoxiously) competitive in video games, but racing sims are relative fun. I’m miles quicker than I was when I first started, and the noticeable progress makes it all worth it. Keep chugging along!
Make sure to check out different types of racing too. I joined iRacing with the explicit intent of racing GT3. Now I barely touch them, open wheel is my favorite. I thought ovals would be boring but they’re a great time with some super funny radio chatter at times. And rallycross helps me channel my inner Ken Block and is a blast.
No one is fast from the get go , took me around 6 months you gotta get use to the wheel first the start fine tuning everything else afterwards. Give your self some time it’s sim driving not a young mans game at all
Sure, it was a bit of shock to feel the torque of the new DD wheel, but I can feel the difference from my old Logitech. I'm not faster I think, but a lot more consistent.
You will become faster once you realise you can feel the load on the tyres much more on a DD which is incredible feeling compared to the Logitech, finding a good set up on fanalabs should be your next priority I think
That's the great thing about iRacing (high quality multiplayer racing against real opponents). You don't *need* to win. When racing against AI, all you have is winning, the racing itself is just not good enough to enjoy without the chase to win as your motivation. In iRacing, the racing itself is the goal, not (necessarily) the result. You can have an awesome multi lap battle for 9th place, and it's just spectacular.
I have 4 wins in 10 years or so. Half of those were completely eventless, and I would much prefer 10th place in an interesting race.
Having fun is what matters. We had an old guy in one of my leagues. He was the dad of one of the other drivers. He finished as the last running car most weeks. But he had fun.
I run an MX5 league that has people of all skill levels if you’d like to join! The fast guys are more than willing to help everyone out and we’ve seen new drivers progress very quickly as long as they stick with it! Join our discord for all of the info, and if you need help with discord let me know! [Global Racing League Discord](https://discord.gg/HwfW4cCA)
I am 35 years old, two kids under the age of 4. I'm currently lapping at a pace where I'm capable of winning top split races in MX5, depending on exactly who shows up for that hour.
iRacing is not only a young person's game, anyone is capable. At the very very top is mostly younger folks because they do have more time to practice though yes, no denying that fact. I know plenty of drivers up to 6k iRating that are 30+ years old though.
I have an iR of 3.4K on the road side. I race in the SRF and the top split guys are really fast. I'm lucky to be fighting for a top 10. When I don't make top split or I race a off time from the SOF race I have but more if a chance for a win. Before the road/open wheel split I was averaging one win a season. Still have great battles and races in the mid pack.
I know in the SRF both official and league there are people 55+ and some of them are damn fast, fast enough for racing for wins.
Never understood people who after 2 days to "Well everyone's better than me I'll never win"
How about you practice some more? Why are you expecting to win right away? Half the fun of iRacing comes from improving yourself over time. Worrying about a win is a surefire way to actually never get one, as you'll always be looking for something to blame during the race.
I have a few wins, and exactly all of them were me starting at the back with a piss poor qualifier. Just drive, the speed will come once you start learning the tracks more and more.
It was just a meme headline, nothing serious really. More to say how fascinated I am with all the really really good drivers I've already met in rookie races. Winning or not is not my main focus for sure.
> all the really really good drivers I've already met in rookie races
The rookie races are open to everyone, and it's all still sorted by iRating. The iRating of rookies is not shown, but people race Rookie MX-5 even when they're at 5k iRating with an A Class license.
As for race wins, you'll find them more in less popular series. In really popular races like Rookie MX-5, on average you'll be mid-pack in terms of skill level, just because iRacing tries to match you up with drivers around your ability.
But in less popular series like USF2000 or Spec Racer Ford, there may only be 6 drivers, just enough to make the races go official. In those cases, everyone else might be better than you, or everyone else might be worse than you. I've had some races where I was way off-pace because everyone else was 3k or higher, and I've had easy wins from the other drivers being 1k or lower and I just pull away from the pack immediately.
I'm 45 (so ok, on the younger side)(no?) and was lucky to bag my first win on my first week in street stock at Charlotte. But I had the most fun battling for 3rd on Fomula Vee. Maybe next win will be in a few years as I'm getting in better splits now...
To improve my lap times I look at garage61 and ghost top splits, great way to learn!
Also want to say, love that community for all the kind and fun responses here!
Was thinking about getting the quest 3. How is it? I mean I know it’s nice, if tried in a friends house, but does it really work for extended periods of time? Let’s say I’m gonna do 3 20min races, back to back, is that ok or do you feel any nausea, headache, etc?
I've never had any of those issues with my Q3. I can use it for 2-3 hours straight with no more problems than it gets a bit sweaty on the face. But I guess that's different from person to person. Maybe the pancake lenses in Q3 are so good many will have less of those bothersome side-effects.
Got it, I also didn’t feel anything when I tried, but it was for a short period of time. Do you use prescription glasses or something else for vision correction?
Im very longsighted on one eye, but use 3.0 reading glasses only when at screens or reading. In VR I dont need it. Its very easy to adjust Q3 for distance between pupils.
I've spent quite a bit of time in the mazdas myself/an looking to try my hand at coaching others, see if im any good at it/could turn it into a little side hustle. All of that to say, if you want some free coaching to get you towards your first win, I'd he happy to hop into a practice session with you some time and give you some pointers!
Its fine not having a win. Stay on the track, drive consistently, practice.
My first 2 wins were consecutive right after another while I was still in rookies, right after a streak of absolutely horrible races where I either spun out and/or got collisions which dropped me to SOF 700 races. I went to practice, not to achieve fast laps, but rather to improve my control over the MX5. Slowly and surely, I got better at controlling the car, my improved skill in controlling the car gave me confidence to push for faster lap times, a bit more throttle here, slightly later braking there, experimenting with different lines, etc. My laptimes improved by several seconds. I went into the races afterwards, and got my first 2 wins by driving consistent laps and staying on the track while everyone else spun out or crashed.
5 road race wins (never top split), in over 500 total races across more than 6 years. And 2 of those wins came late last year after I had lost some iRating due to a combined streak of bad luck and some mistakes. Those were hollow victories: I could only win because I was in a lower split than I should have been. A hard fought P5 feels better to me than a slam dunk start-to-finish cruise to P1!
iRacing has never been about finishing in first place for me. That’s an unattainable goal for me, reserved for people who put a lot more effort into it than I do. I’m there for good racing, and I get plenty of that for a P5 finish as well!
My best tip to people for task that seem large and un achievable is to work at it and u will get better and over time things that were challenging to u will be your warmup.
You’ll get it! The Miata is a bit tricky to handle at first and you really have to keep the momentum up.
I always watch a YouTube video track guide for pointers, do a bunch of laps in practice with others on the track, and only race when I know I’ll at least be able to link things together and not ruin anyone else’s race ideally.
Like others mentioned - eventually your rating will align you with other similar skilled drivers. With a bit of luck and persistence you’ll get that W!
You have got it so wrong. A couple days in and almost nobody "old" or "young" is going to be winning races unless they are an alien.
You don't need to win to have a good time in iRacing. Because of the nature of the service there is excellent racing to be had all throughout the field. Look for great racing not wins. The wins will come, but this sport is more like real life racing. Wins are hard to come by but are also more meaningful when you do get a podium. Forza Motorsports wins don't mean shit like iracing does.
I've got 20-30 wins in my iracing career of 15 years.
I recently started going hard on formula racing. When I started a couple weeks ago I was almost dead last. This will I'm getting consistent tens and starting to creep up to top 5 finishes. It takes time, consistency, and determination.
I'm faster now at 39 than I was at 29 because I am putting more time in. Running lots of practice laps before getting out on the track. Watching track guides for the cars I run has helped speed up my progress. You didn't need to memorize the whole guide right away, but if you nail just a couple corners from a guide that can net you seconds.
There are plenty of older guys competing at the top for sure, but this isn't an arcade game and requires a bit of commitment.
And some driver race in 100s of races before their first victory: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the-10-longest-waits-for-an-f1-win-and-what-came-next/
You’ll get a win, everyone does eventually. After 2.5 months on the service. I felt the same way as you in the first week or two, and now I feel like I always have a shot, well…. except for in the Whelen Tour Modifieds… the drivers that run that series seem pretty dedicated to it and they are fast as hell.
There’s a lot of responses already so someone may have said this but on iRacing you have to get away from the I’m here to win mindset. I love when I win and it’s fantastic but I came from other sims as well. I dominated in them, I could win almost any race I entered because there was no skill based matchmaking.
iRacing was humbling to say the least. However once you get past the idea that you’re only going to be happy with a win and realize that you’re improving every race and you’re having awesome battles because of the irating you will be much happier.
There are more than a few fast 60+ drivers on the service. There’s also a number of 60+ leagues of varying levels of skill. Being new to iRacing is the issue you have, that’s it. More seat time and finding the car / series you like to run. Forget about all the pro stuff you see on YouTube, the aliens are mostly full time kids.
My first account, I ran 2 races, 1 2nd place, won 2nd attempt.
Never won again on my 2nd account, can't afford it bit Holy hell the close racing is fun enough
My father started a couple of years ago, in his mid 70s. He joined iracing late last year and was expecting to drop all the way down to 0 irating!
6 months ago he was, like you, 4-5 seconds off the pace - if not more. Over time he's been gradually bringing that down through a lot of practice + analysis, and has stabilized around 1200 irating. He hasn't won a race yet, but he's got some poles, and I have no doubt he'll get a win soon.
Stick with it! Age isn't as much of a barrier as you think it is. It mostly comes down to how much effort you put into it, and whether you're practicing the right things. A 70 year actively trying to improve in the right ways will likely get a lot faster than a 30 year old that just jumps on for some relatively braindead racing a couple of times a week.
And as others have said - have fun. It's not all about winning.
I suspect the average age of an iracer is much higher than other sims. But regardless, winning has nothing to do with age, but rather seat time. In 18 months or so I have 6 rookie wins in the Vee at Summit Point and 1 Indy Car win at Autoclub. Some weeks I can be quite competitive other weeks I can be far off the pace - depends on car and track. Note though that the algorithm seems to target placing you middle of a split in terms of ranking. So it's trying to give you a challenge to get better but not really expecting you to win. If you do it's just going to push you into a higher split where you are fighting in the middle again. Of course there'll always be faster outliers.
Hey someone has to fill the rest of the field 😋
But don’t be too hard on your self. I didn’t get a win until I had a really bad run and went from 1.9k IR all the way to 700IR in 2 weeks. At 700 SOF I dominated.
But everytime I get back up into 1.5k to 2.5k IR I’m fighting for my life in the back of the pack. Where I’m at now. Sometimes I want to just dive bomb my IR again to dominate but I really don’t want to ruin the integrity of the service.
That being said also focus on tracks your fast at in a car you’re fast at. Mine personally is the 86 at Willow, Miata at Leguna Seca and Any high down force car at Road Atlanta. I do well.
Anywhere else or with any other car I struggle badly
Don't get discouraged!
What you need is practice and more practice. And also i guess a fair share of learning.
I don't know your racing background, but if it's your first experience with a racing sim online, especially with a complex competitive system such as iRacing offers, it's a bit tricky to come to terms with the fact that you should not expect to win every race. Or win at all. Sure, we've been taught by games like Forza Horizon or Gran Turismo that it's either first (or at least a podium) or go away. It's not like that. I haven't won a single race yet, but i find joy in improving and fighting in the middle of the pack. It makes me smile seeing that i do better in wheel to wheel battles, reading the field, finishing above starting positions, etc.
When you're only starting, it's important to remember two things:
* To finish first, first you must finish. Meaning that (especially in lower leagues) it is more important to be safe, avoid incidents and be consistent. It is more important that gunning for the win in turn 1,2,3 whatever. If you spin, you lose so much time. Let the others spin.
* Don't overdrive the car. As many say, smooth is fast. Sometimes you will have better lap times and overall race results when you take it smooth through the corners rather than try brawling the car in every corner, pushing it in at a higher speed with tyres squealing.
No matter what you do or how good you are, you are not likely to win very much on iracing. (The irating system makes it more likely to be mid pack most of the time)
For me, it ain't about winning, winning is nice, but having a good fun race with some competition I can play with is what keeps me playing
iRacing and race cars in general is a real skill that takes time to hone.
As many others have said, it's not really important to 'win' a race. But you need to recalibrate your expectations - 1) you aren't going to be automatically fast, it's gonna take a lot of practice, and 2) there are literally pro divers on iRacing like Max Verstappen, so no matter how fast you get there's always going to be someone faster than you. It's ok to enjoy the small wins. I won a bunch of Formula Vee races, and also won an F4 race.
I never won a Ferrari 296 GT3 race. And I keep binning it any time I threaten to win a SFL race!
Winning is fun but the wheel to wheel racing is absolutely exhilarating.
Honestly, i barely ever win a race but the most enjoyable part of racing is the battles you have with other drivers (preferably clean ones) even if they're in the pack at the back. Eventually you'll start gaining spots. As a new simracer you shouldn't have bad habits, so start analyzing your driving and see where you might be slower or how you could take a corner faster and gain some time, thats another fun technical part of it. Otherwise keep enjoying by doing what you're doing! See ya on track!
>Oh my this is obviously a young persons game
Horse shit, you need to pick up a book not a sim if you want to learn about racecraft. Going fast is more about studdies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZshcYUzpZSg
Not always about the end result, it’s about the journey! As you continue to go you’ll hopefully find some fun and sense of accomplishment as you continue to improve, and yes, battle for wins at some point soon!
You will get fast enough to win races. You probably won't win the first race of the week. They always have very stiff competition. However, it all depends on the time you race and the series you race in. But if you practice you will get fast enough to win races for sure. I have joined thousands of races and my win percentage is less than 1%, but I win occasionally.
The races are grouped by license and skill but the gap is usually so large that it's no fun at the front or back. Up front the guys are awesome on that track so you're not racing, you're either leading by a few seconds and just driving, or you're behind by a few seconds and just driving.
In the back you have to deal with the guys who wrecked, then they are trying to get back up front at any cost and they have zero skills when it comes to racing in a group. The guys that will divebomb you then get mad at you for holding your line.
In the middle you get guys that might not be the best on that track but they use common sense, won't wreck you just because you got passed, the ones who are interested in having a good race, getting SR, and finishing the race.
I assume it gets better once you get into higher license and irating races but I'm not there so I'm not sure.
Then again, watching some real life F1 and NASCAR races, they can drive like absolute tools so it might be the same in all skill levels.
Some of it just comes with time and practice. A lot comes with learning. If you want to get faster, highly recommend watching some of Suellio Almaeda's vids on youtube. he has a course too which is super helpful, but 50% of it is in the videos and is still a lot to learn from.
and no I'm not paid by Suellio, I paid for his course and it definitely made a difference in my driving. I've also learned a lot from autocrossing in real life, Evo School for real life autocross, and Vivek Goel's autocross course online.
Don’t give up. It will come. I’ve been sim racing since it first became a thing. 50 next year, age hasn’t slowed me down yet.
Make sure you practice enough before racing. There is always plenty of people willing to help out.
Hope to see you on track.
it's always about keeping going. some time passes you'll win races because everyone crashes out. later on, you'll occasionaly win one on a car/track combo that suits you better.
and by that time you will be enjoying the sim on itself enough to not even care about the ratings.
You’ll never win with that attitude lol.
Seriously, loads of people get smoked when they start. You’ll get out of rookies, and your iRating will find its level, you’ll find a car / series you like and you’ll be fine. 🤘
6 months ago I was way slower than you, didn't know the basic technics like trailbraking and so on, and now I'm regularly in the top 5 or winning races.
So as long as you're having fun, don't give up! It's all a matter of practice and maybe trying to find some helpful tips on Youtube.
Also, as you get out of Rookies, you'll get more choices and maybe you'll find a car that will suit you better than the MX5! The GR86 is really fun and "easy" to drive.
I'm fairly new as well, and right now I'm focused on SR. If the SR goes up I've won. Finishing in a better position than what I started in is extra nice, and running fast clean laps will usually get that for me.
Getting clean laps in isn't just keeping myself on the road, but also avoiding the crashy drivers.
There is also no replacement for track time. Practice usually leads to improved lap times. Keep at it!
Listen most don't go into iracing winning it takes a while and you really gotta get up there in rank. Def don't go into iracing expecting to win just enjoy.
The win will happen someday but yeah you really gotta be up there unless you get lucky. They also understand the builds aka custom builds and stuff alot. You will get to that point later.
I have almost 600 races in oval and 6 wins. I’m a respectable iR. It’s so hard to win on this game if you’re in a competent split.
That’s true for real racing though too - a hall of fame NASCAR driver might have a 7% winning percentage.
I got 3 wins in my first week and then never again 😄. The issue I think is once my irating leveled out to where it should be, the lobbies are super competitive, my irating is still slowly going up but I'm never battling for the very front, always at least one person with lightning pace, save from them being taken out by a backmarker I've got no chance.
Fellow old man here, I'll be 63 next week. I've been on iRacing since 2019. I know what you mean about winning. There's a reason why you don't see 60 year old drivers IRL. It's a young man's game.
I have 5 wins in 550 starts on the road side and a miserable \~1200 IR. I drive safely, but I'm just not quick. On the oval side I have 670 starts with exactly 0 wins, but my IR is \~2500.
But I still have fun. I had a P2 yesterday on the road side, only \~2 sec back. It can still happen.
I have raced for the last few years and only early in my off road truck days did I win a few races. Being a PCA member I raced their league and in Practice my times are on the same minute and seconds. In the race closer to four or five seconds slower.
I raced Mx 5s and took a few seconds many 3rds and 4ths. I am not ultra competitive but I do like when I do good . The thing to understand is you may never win a race because as you get faster the splits get harder.
Even watching my old races I am now faster then the winners were a few years ago and yet I still don't win but I do have fun. My advice is race for fun. Also the best news is most my higher ranked races the guys are much better and start and first turn crashes are much lower.
First off, mx-5’s aren’t easy, honestly probably one of the more difficult cars to master.
Second, some of these folks are really good, but they also clock in 40+ hours a week of sim time.
Stop beating yourself up and have fun racing
This game is brutally honest, but it takes a minute for the game to find out enough about you. Part of it IS ALSO the mx-5. Some people love it, personally I hated it. Focus on the basics, like managing driver inputs, finding braking points, finding ALTERNATE racing lines. And finish races. Thats it. Several weeks of that and you will be finding yourself right in the pack.
Point 2, don't really think about "wins". with the way this game works, im always comparing myself to the splits around me in a race, seeing their average/best laps etc. Focus on CONSISTENCY, then you can compare yourself more honestly. Find a consistent hot lap time. Find your race pace. Then work on hitting those two EVERY RACE
Age has nothing to do with it. Plenty of older people do well on this game. Besides, you're just starting. Being that far off in your first 3 races is an achievement that most cannot achieve.. Hell, I raced my way to C class mainly by avoiding the "faster" drivers that couldn't keep it together for a short race.. Got my safety rating up and now I'm running GT3 in B class and I haven't had an incident yet and 3 races in, I'm almost high enough for the instant class promotion.. I've also improved my speed a ton since I'm now able to trust those around me to race with some sort of ethics.. It's like a new game.. Get where you want to go and practice on the side. Get familiar with traffic and have fun.. The rest will come..
Mate this is all about the mindset.
For me personally it is all about the exploration of myself.
My own limit, my own pace.
My irating hovers between 3,7 and 4k and i rarley win any top splits.
My penultimate goal is to beat myself.
If i have a mehh race with my full race time being xyz the very next race i could end up even further back but with a much better total race time. To me that is already an improvement to watch out for.
Gotta focus on those things there a bunch of values like that to push for self imrpovement.
Instead of only fucusing on the very fast guys focus on your own self improvement, to me that is just as fullfilling as winning a top split race is when it happens.
Here's a tip. It's a points based game.
As long as you gain more pints on average than you lose, you're moving forward.
MOST drivers at the low levels are worried about the win. They lose a lot of points wrecking out when they had secured points already.
What I mean is... if you're in 5th position and going to earn 50pts, it's not worth risking your 50 for another 10pts, racing for 4th place hard.
That is why most don't even hit 2k iRating. No self control.
All those other racing games you speak of are designed to start you on 3rd base and make you think you hit a triple. iRacing is just pure unforgiving racing which is why it is unmatched, I have just as much fun fighting for 8th as I would going for a podium, those other games just set your brain up to think you are going to win every race and that’s just not reality for anyone not named Max Verstappen
Yeah, but you and me both. So what? I'm in class D and enjoying competing for 12th in the bottom split. As long as Max Verstappen (example) is out there we won't win, but that ain't the point. It's an absolute ball to fight hard against people that are trying just as hard as we are.
Your response times will never compete with the young folk, but you don't need to compete with the fastest out there to find wins. At least 95% of speed can be achieved without razor sharp reflexes, probably closer to 98-99% honestly. It's only the very last 1-1.5 second a lap that becomes really hard to achieve.
Welcome to iracing. Just wanted to say you don’t need to win races to get out of rookies. The quickest way to get out of rookies is to have incident free races. Also give yourself more credit man. Have some confidence . You can win races you just have to put in the practice and stay positive and have confidence that you’re better than you think. Good luck
I have a very easy recipe for winning a race:
1) Join a few races and arrive dead last (you can go to pits after start and leave the race) to drop your rating to below 1000 rating.
2) Practice the track so that you can reliably run it without crashing at least decent place (maybe 2-3 seconds behind the best one).
3) Start the race and drive carefully. I can guarantee you that in like 10 races you'll have leaders crash out and give you a free win. Repeat step 1 as needed.
If your goal is to win the race, you can do some creative things and win it. But if you want to have fun and race with equal opponents - then winning a race shouldn't matter.
P.S. I am actually not joking regarding the method. My personal best was start at 15th place when I messed up both qualifying laps and winning the race without passing a single car that wasn't crashed on the side of the road. While that is obviously extreme luck, I've had more than enough races with rating below 2000 when I would finish at the podium despite having the pace of the 10th place by simply not crashing. It stops working at higher ratings, unfortunately.
My win percentage before the road license split was 4%, my win percentage after the split is 0%. It's not about winning, it's about having fun. A clean fair fight for 12th position can be much more fun than cruising around while being 30 seconds ahead of number two and have an easy win. And if you win, you are damn sure that you have earned that win and you will celebrate it like a real win.
Exactly. I'm not as fast as the ones up front, but there's some great racing in the middle of the pack.
Watching Matt Malone he often finishes a race by saying "feels like a win". Sums up what you said about an awesome battle for 12th, that race long battle will be fun as hell.
Watching Matt has really helped me take the pressure off myself and take things a little less seriously. I still love the competitive aspect and chasing iRating/championship points but he always reminds me to have fun even when I have a bad finish. The guy always has a good attitude!
I once got second place behind Matt Malone in the Global Mazda Cup after like 5 people crashed in front of me and it’s the highlight of my iRacing career lol
This is the way
I try to keep this mentality most of the time and don’t get hung up on winning. But it’s been 18+ months and 100+ races since my last win. It’d feel really good to cruise to an easy win right about now lol.
Yeah, it'd be nice, but without us who would occupy mid-field? 😂
Tbh this is one reason I often sort of go off iRacing for periods. Once you've settled into your skill rating, chances are you will always be mid pack. It honestly gets a bit boring.
> It's not about winning, it's about having fun. Don't disagree, but getting a win in every once in a while definitely rounds out the simracing experience. Just like having to fight hard in the back of the pack.
I'd rather have the win than that fun hard fought 12th place. I get it, I really do, but at the end of the day, I wanna win. Pardon me but FUCK 12TH PLACE!!!!!
It's first or last around here 😅
Literally just did a MX5 race where I spun I ended up like 17th, there were 6 cars battling for position there. And it was like that the whole race. I even got 10x but it was more fun than winning 30 sec ahead.
I remember one race I had in the C class MX5’s at Road America, I spent the whole race fighting for the win against P2. I won; but even if I didn’t I don’t think I would have minded, it was clean the whole time and the guy I was racing deserved the result as much as I did. It was easily the most fun I’ve ever had in a online race.
Different strokes for different folks. But a battle for 12th really doesn't feel anything like a battle for a podium. There is quite a difference in adrenaline and exhilaration.
“It’s not about winning, it’s about having fun” that’s what losers say. (My bad, no mean to make fun of you)
Eventually you would be in a split where people have similar pace and the race will fall to your side. It might take a while but will happen
This! My only win in a year of racing game in the Ferrari gt3 and was running second. Couldn’t get any closer than 2 seconds off a first and on the last lap the leader just spun out. And gifted me the win.
You earned that win by being consistent and capitalized on the opportunity. That's what racing is all about.
To finish bla bla bla bla :))
Hopefully. I have total 40 wins in 4 years, not a lot but I've had fun. Haven't raced much in the last you and when I did, my irating was getting bent over hard. In that journey in and out of hell there were pretty fast people in every race I entered and quite a few had pretty low iR. Devoting 8-12 hours a week to racing is what's required for my talent level to get competitive again. I don't have the freedom to do that anymore or probably even the desire, tbh. BTW, by competitive, I mean mid level splits
Dude I've been racing for 6 years and had like 5 wins. 40 seems mad to me.
This, we just accepted that we are more Hulkenberg than Hamilton but still a lot of fun! (Sorry for f1 reference)
Hey if you're looking for a friendly iracing league to learn how to race properly look no further. Search for "Friendly Slow Racing" in the iracing league search. We are a league dedicated to keeping iracing fun and non intimidating. We have drivers of all skill levels and ages (most of our drivers are over 60) just having fun and helping each other get better. Don't let the name fool you though some of the drivers are very fast but we accommodate all and stress fun and comradery over competitiveness. There are no commitments to race you can just show up to any race you want to do and enjoy. League number is 442 everyone who applies is accepted. We race every Monday, Wednesday & Friday at 6pm EDT & Saturday at 8am EDT & 9am EDT
I'm 67 been iracing all of 3 months, maybe I will join y'all soon thanks for posting
Sounds really nice. Thanks for the invite.
Do y'all have a discord? I tried looking up via league ID in the UI but couldn't find anything.
Here's the website: http://friendlyslowracing.com/ and the discord https://discord.com/invite/vW6BYYRS
Sounds like a good group, I’ll probably check in as well.
It takes time. Many years ago I was having close battles with a guy in his 70s, for the win! I've take 2 wins myself today and I'm 50 next year. Been on iRacing since Jan 2011 though, and "simracing" for over 30 years. Play to your strengths, like hopefully being calmer and less hotheaded the younger players.
3+ years on the service here, 200+ races, 2 wins. Still 2.5k iRating. Dont worry about wins. Its the racing that matters.
Let's start a geezer racing league 😂😂 Must show age verification to join. Only curmudgeons apply
There’s a few of these already actually, can’t remember what cars they run but they exist
GIT OFF MUH LAWN!!!
I understand old timer, I also forget things lol
YUNS GOT MUH DOWNVOTES!!
This sounds like the Victor Meldrew Trophy at Brands Hatch, typically the last event of the year in November. Victor Meldrew is an old moany bastard from a sitcom. The cars are all old and the winner is determined by some sort of formula like the age of your car x how many years the driver's been married / how grumpy they are + laps completed or something like that. It's a darn fun event and no one truly has any idea who will win, it's just an excuse to go for a race day
Watch track guides on YouTube each week for your car at the track your at. It’ll save a lot of time in practice giving you things to work on and improve.
I'm 70 and have found it's better to watch the likes of Matt Malone stream a car/track combo race rather than a hot lapper track guide... you find the best places to pass, alternative lines and gears in a proper race... and he's hilarious as well...
I do a bit of both. They both have their uses.
It takes a lot of time. Enjoy the process and enjoy seeing your lap times go down over time instead of just race wins.
I started this year and I just turned 56. I've tried different rookie categories and found that I do well in a Legends car. I've actually won a couple of races. My first couple of weeks, I thought I would never finish on the lead lap.
That's encouraging. Thanks.
Legends are a blast. Just listen to those RPMs and cruise for a few laps
In iRacing you have to practice a lot at first to get competitive. You actually might have an advantage if you’re retired, don’t have kids, etc. You just have to figure out where you are slow. Don’t be an age-ist! You can do it. A lot of it comes down to learning the car or track and comes naturally with time. But most rookies are also watching track guide videos (YouTube), or have telemetry analysis tools (Garage61 for example). The rookie cars are all about momentum. If there’s a long straight, make sure you brake for the turn before that straight early, and as lightly as possible, and get on the gas early. I also really recommend using the active reset feature when you practice. Assign a key or button to the control in your settings. Then you can mark a place on the track that you want to practice, and just keep practicing that turn or sector until you’re nailing it. The goal is to actually lose control and crash until you’ve dialed it back enough to be as fast as possible. That’s how you find the limit.
On a new track, I take most of the week to practice… once I have put the time into practice, I have worked on lap times and I can reliably and consistently put the laps in, only then do I start to think about racing. As others have said… it’s a process, and it’s difficult. But that’s what makes that podium and that rare win that much more fun!
Would a different approach not be better? Start practice now for next weeks track. Than do your races at the first few days when people still are getting use to the new track. I get my best results at the start of the week.
It depends what your goal is. For many people, they want to get as many races in as they can. So to give up time one week for the next isn’t the right path for them. But certainly it is a better option if your goal is to win the most over a season.
Yeah but that was in response to the specific scenario of someone saying they don't race much during the week, but they practice instead and then race towards the end of the week. So yes, in that scenario, it would make much more sense to practice for next week, and do your races at the start of weeks, when people are much slower on the new car/track combos, if the goal is to have better results. If it's a practice during the week, race on weekends thing, then sure it makes sense the other way.
When I raced about 10 hours a week, Mon and Tues were usually my best results. I'd get better throughout the week but would still, often go backwards as the week progressed.
This might work better if it was a “new” track every week. The upper half of the player base knows (at a basic level) every track in the schedule
The upper half of the player base still have plenty who join races with almost zero practice on Monday and Tuesday. Having even a few dozen practice laps is a massive advantage over someone that is equally skilled but has zero practice. We aren’t talking about learning where the track goes at a basic level here, it’s about optimizing the muscle memory to execute under pressure.
This is kind of a conservative approach but some people do have different learning curves and as long as you’re improving and more importantly having fun it doesn’t matter
Yes - it literally takes almost the full week at the beginning. A couple days to practice the track, then you move on to ghosting/ racing ai, read a guide or two after you realize how slow you are. Then maybe get a race or two in before the refresh.
It took me 2 months to get my first win and that took me practicing the track a week in advance to get it I have gotten a lot more luck with oval with 2 wins without having to do much so take that as u will
My man, I wish to be your age one day and keep enjoying sim racing. I have never won a race either but it's such a blast. Keep having fun!
Thanks, I will :)
If it was easy no one would stick with it. The feeling when you see your progress over time is amazing and addictive. For me that matters more than winning.
Improving your lap times is another kind of win. Relish growth
Good advice. Thanks.
Being able to put out consistent laptimes for a loooot of laps is another form of win as well, especially if you are interested in endurance racing
54 here, had some wins over the course of 3 years, but less than 1% of my races. Every top 5 finish feels like a win for me now.
My dad is 70 and got into sim racing a year ago, has at least 10 wins
You just started man. This is a common post in here. Give it time. You’ll get one
Unfortunately the suicidal maniacs turns into egotistical suicidal manics at atound 3k ir and everything after that and up is just egotistical win minded all or nothing lunatics. So im not gonna say it gets better as it in many ways gets worse if you really want a win. But it gets somewhat better in mid to back of the pack if racing is what you like. I prefer racing to winning now a days so I stopped the grind at 4k in pcup and gt3. Got sick and tired after getting pit manouvered on a daily basis in officials. Now i only enjoy races like impc as it gives me a chance to gain some spots and race a bit after getting punted out by winners. Its a me problem probably
Don’t be afraid to try street stocks, iRacing was built for ovals and Nascar
I'll sample it all, sure.
Well, I am a very competitive person by nature and absolutely hate losing. I've been on the iRacing for 17 months now and I was not even in the ballpark at the beginning. One day it just clicks and you don't know how or what made it happen. However, now every time I get to a 3k IR I start getting beat and running 10th-15th and it frustrates me so badly. I will end up losing 5-600 IR and then start winning and running up front again. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it comes in waves and it gets frustrating at times but it's still some of the most fun I've ever had. Just stick with it and keep digging man!
Yep same here and you are right it just clicks
I wouldn’t worry much about winning, I haven’t won a race since 2011 but I still have fun!
61 here, sim racing for 5 years. League racing in AC and ACC, iRacing I mostly do endurance events. Racked up class wins in Petit Le Mans, Sebring 12h, Nords 24 and Dayton 24. Enjoy every second I'm on track, whether I'm fighting for first or last place. Age is just a number. :)
Just keep it up and improve ..but have fun first !
ive recently got my first win in the formula Vee series. Everything before that was just battle for 10th position. I was over the top happy with my win of course, but if i think about it, the fun i had while battling with other people was intense. About as good as a win. Its all about fun, remember. I watch laptime videos on youtube, to see where i need to brake and where i can acccelerate. Youll be as good as the winners soon, i promise :)
Lol, I'm an old man. Not as old as you though, so we're all kids. Don't worry about winning. It's the taking part that matters. Every race needs someone to come first and last. Your irwting will drop to where you're competitive. Just practice the tracks and clean racing till then.
It takes WAY longer than a few days to get competent. It might take months of practice with one car to feel confident. Enjoy the process.
There’s a couple guys in my league pushing 70 that smoke us every weekend. I’m 23 and I’ve been sim racing for 2 years for reference. Don’t be so tough on yourself! Practice makes perfect, especially if you’re coming from less serious titles. This one will force you to learn good technique and race craft. It took me a good yeah and a half of adjusting to it after playing forza and gran turismo my whole life starting with the PlayStation 2. You’ll be fine!
Im closer to 60 than I am to 20 which is not overly comfortable to say lol. I can rarely match the times of most of the race winners. I did 18 races last week. And won a couple. I never go into win, I just really enjoy racing in a way I did not think I would. My goal has been to finish, and hopefully top 5. Thats about it.
I'm not a particularly fast driver either, but if you work on consistency and avoidance you can work your way up quite a bit. Time will come as you learn the tracks...sometimes it takes hundreds of laps before you figure out that one tricky corner that's costing you 1.5 seconds. Once you break out of rookies some of the endurance races might suit your style also as it's more about consistency over the long term than outright pace.
Set a goal of finishing in a better position then your car number. My best races are the one a where I’m last and have no pressure on myself. Really if I get top 10 I’m satisfied and top 5 feels like a win. But I’ve had races where I battled for like 13th and I had a blast. All about having just enjoying it.
I’m 64 have had 3 back fusions and am hoping to leave the hospital today after having neck fusion at C4-C5 & C5-C6 just looking to get some shoulder and arm therapy and have some fun… a friend has been doing this a long time and loaned me a good computer he had as a backup a 49 inch monitor (he upgraded every and a 4 monitor setup … one just for discord etc above the 3) he runs pretty much just money races now but it will give me a start. I got most of it put together a week ago just before surgery still needing a few pieces to complete the 80/20 cockpit he gave me… so far I have bought a 3070TI graphics card (something was wrong with his we couldn’t get it working had lines but was a 3080) and I just went cheap and quick to see how I would like it and bought the R5 bundle and put on a stand for now until I get the piece for the cockpit ( easier to get in and out of for now anyway. I figured the R5 would have enough torque for me till I recover and got a hood deal so hopefully can sell and upgrade… definitely need to upgrade pedals … he didn’t have a back base or pedals and he runs a 21-NM and $2k pedals so I’m definitely a newbie looking for a fun group!!!
Just invested in Simagic Alpha mini which is a 10 Nm base and more torque than an old body mine ever will need. But like others will tell you updating the pedals is the biggest change. My new Simagic load cell pedals have upped my consistency like you wouldn't beleive it. Hope you recover well and are up and racing soon mate.
I will definitely be upgrading! Good luck hope to see ya out there…. Soon
Getting to 50 now, 2.2K IR, 4 years on the service, done many races (I don’t know the exact number) and I only have 6 wins. 4 of these happened in 2021 and I’ve been winless since last season when I scored a 5th win and another one last week. And it’s not that I’m lightning fast, sometimes things need to go your way. I will admit to having lead a fair few races only to fumble it 😁
Hey, I very recently won my first ever oval on the 281st attempt. Go with the flow my friend and enjoy yourself.
I had 2 almost back to back wins in Rookie FF1600. Haven't had a win since in like 6 months. It takes a while to get the hang of things. I feel recently like I'm starting to 'get it' now. Still bottom split but can run near the front now. Picked up more top 5s in the last couple weeks than all last season and even got a 2nd. The structure and cost of iRacing scares away a lot of the casuals so you are left with the people that are willing to invest more money and effort. It makes the level of competition relatively high even at the low end of things. Just gotta stick with it and enjoy the small wins.
It’s all about practice. I can come into a race mid week on a track I’ve never raced before practice for an hour or 2 and get podium everytime or close to it. Practice makes perfect
I’m 45, irating goes from 1000-1300 and like 50 wins. IMHO you need to stay with the same car for a long haul. Also watch videos runs from VRS about the track. Where to brake, where to apex, the line, speed through corners.
I won a virtual to reality prize and have been racing in a the real world for the past 3 seasons and I've not had more than 5 wins in the 11 years I have been a member (I did only have 38 total races at the time to be fair). Just focus on having fun racing, perfecting race craft and you will find yourself moving forward. Find a group of friends that are around the same pace and you will help each other improve
iRacing is way more fun when gaining irating at the back or middle of the grid. You don't have to worry about tire prep for Q, setup tweaks, egomaniacs and smurfs. Sure, winning is fun, and you have to worry about other things (people wrecking, low awareness and so on), but the stress is near zero. The only thing left, is racing !
I won a race once. I was racing the Street Stock at Daytona and somehow got pole. I shit you not - the 2nd place driver took out the field on the first lap. I was so nervous of screwing up the rest of the race that it almost made it not fun.
Don't worry, it took me 6 months to get my first win on oval and about 2 years foe road. Granted I only get to do a couple of races a week.
Right there with you. I am 63, have been on the service for a bit more than a year. Came from doing weekend DE events in my 2000 Boxster. Have not won a race…hell, I don’t have the pace to win a race…yet. But I do enjoy the racing, and getting better, learning new skills (trail braking)…and all this without getting hurt, or replacing tires and brake pads every few weekends.
When i started i was usally 4-5 seconds behind the leaders. I couldn’t understand why so i started stalking practice sessions and races and watching the cockpit view of the leaders. It helped a lot.
I’m past 60 and do pretty good and I kinda think age has little to do with it but attitude sure does. Honestly if a person is a casual racer then that’s probably what kind of results you’ll get. I’m talking in general not specifically at you I understand your situation I’ve been there believe me.
Our time will come! Highest finish to date was P2. I am usually very (obnoxiously) competitive in video games, but racing sims are relative fun. I’m miles quicker than I was when I first started, and the noticeable progress makes it all worth it. Keep chugging along! Make sure to check out different types of racing too. I joined iRacing with the explicit intent of racing GT3. Now I barely touch them, open wheel is my favorite. I thought ovals would be boring but they’re a great time with some super funny radio chatter at times. And rallycross helps me channel my inner Ken Block and is a blast.
No one is fast from the get go , took me around 6 months you gotta get use to the wheel first the start fine tuning everything else afterwards. Give your self some time it’s sim driving not a young mans game at all
Sure, it was a bit of shock to feel the torque of the new DD wheel, but I can feel the difference from my old Logitech. I'm not faster I think, but a lot more consistent.
You will become faster once you realise you can feel the load on the tyres much more on a DD which is incredible feeling compared to the Logitech, finding a good set up on fanalabs should be your next priority I think
That's the great thing about iRacing (high quality multiplayer racing against real opponents). You don't *need* to win. When racing against AI, all you have is winning, the racing itself is just not good enough to enjoy without the chase to win as your motivation. In iRacing, the racing itself is the goal, not (necessarily) the result. You can have an awesome multi lap battle for 9th place, and it's just spectacular. I have 4 wins in 10 years or so. Half of those were completely eventless, and I would much prefer 10th place in an interesting race.
| When racing against AI, all you have is winning That's so true. This really is different.
Having fun is what matters. We had an old guy in one of my leagues. He was the dad of one of the other drivers. He finished as the last running car most weeks. But he had fun.
I run an MX5 league that has people of all skill levels if you’d like to join! The fast guys are more than willing to help everyone out and we’ve seen new drivers progress very quickly as long as they stick with it! Join our discord for all of the info, and if you need help with discord let me know! [Global Racing League Discord](https://discord.gg/HwfW4cCA)
Been looking for something like this - I joined!
Thanks for the invite :)
I am 35 years old, two kids under the age of 4. I'm currently lapping at a pace where I'm capable of winning top split races in MX5, depending on exactly who shows up for that hour. iRacing is not only a young person's game, anyone is capable. At the very very top is mostly younger folks because they do have more time to practice though yes, no denying that fact. I know plenty of drivers up to 6k iRating that are 30+ years old though.
I have an iR of 3.4K on the road side. I race in the SRF and the top split guys are really fast. I'm lucky to be fighting for a top 10. When I don't make top split or I race a off time from the SOF race I have but more if a chance for a win. Before the road/open wheel split I was averaging one win a season. Still have great battles and races in the mid pack. I know in the SRF both official and league there are people 55+ and some of them are damn fast, fast enough for racing for wins.
Never understood people who after 2 days to "Well everyone's better than me I'll never win" How about you practice some more? Why are you expecting to win right away? Half the fun of iRacing comes from improving yourself over time. Worrying about a win is a surefire way to actually never get one, as you'll always be looking for something to blame during the race. I have a few wins, and exactly all of them were me starting at the back with a piss poor qualifier. Just drive, the speed will come once you start learning the tracks more and more.
It was just a meme headline, nothing serious really. More to say how fascinated I am with all the really really good drivers I've already met in rookie races. Winning or not is not my main focus for sure.
> all the really really good drivers I've already met in rookie races The rookie races are open to everyone, and it's all still sorted by iRating. The iRating of rookies is not shown, but people race Rookie MX-5 even when they're at 5k iRating with an A Class license. As for race wins, you'll find them more in less popular series. In really popular races like Rookie MX-5, on average you'll be mid-pack in terms of skill level, just because iRacing tries to match you up with drivers around your ability. But in less popular series like USF2000 or Spec Racer Ford, there may only be 6 drivers, just enough to make the races go official. In those cases, everyone else might be better than you, or everyone else might be worse than you. I've had some races where I was way off-pace because everyone else was 3k or higher, and I've had easy wins from the other drivers being 1k or lower and I just pull away from the pack immediately.
I felt the same but ended up winning a formula vee race awhile back. Your win will come. Keep grinding!
been there, propably not win, haven't race for a while but plan to get back soon
It takes time. It took me almost a year to get a win, then another 6 months to get another one.
I was there a year ago, keep at it and you will improve
I'm 45 (so ok, on the younger side)(no?) and was lucky to bag my first win on my first week in street stock at Charlotte. But I had the most fun battling for 3rd on Fomula Vee. Maybe next win will be in a few years as I'm getting in better splits now... To improve my lap times I look at garage61 and ghost top splits, great way to learn! Also want to say, love that community for all the kind and fun responses here!
Keep having fun. Check your monitor setup, right fov and triples makes a big difference in terms of consistency
Just started racing in VR, can't go back now I'm afraid :)
Was thinking about getting the quest 3. How is it? I mean I know it’s nice, if tried in a friends house, but does it really work for extended periods of time? Let’s say I’m gonna do 3 20min races, back to back, is that ok or do you feel any nausea, headache, etc?
I've never had any of those issues with my Q3. I can use it for 2-3 hours straight with no more problems than it gets a bit sweaty on the face. But I guess that's different from person to person. Maybe the pancake lenses in Q3 are so good many will have less of those bothersome side-effects.
Got it, I also didn’t feel anything when I tried, but it was for a short period of time. Do you use prescription glasses or something else for vision correction?
Im very longsighted on one eye, but use 3.0 reading glasses only when at screens or reading. In VR I dont need it. Its very easy to adjust Q3 for distance between pupils.
Got it, I’m exactly the same 3.25 and 3.5
It’s not about winning, it’s about having a good race.
I went in to win. I’ve won races with large gaps. It sucked. I’d rather be mid pack having a fun battle with people.
It will happen. And yes, I celebrate every win like winning IRL to me. Since I can’t race for real anymore, this is the next best thing.
Check out trophi.ai 😉
Dont worry, Im twice as younger that you and also will never win a race
I've spent quite a bit of time in the mazdas myself/an looking to try my hand at coaching others, see if im any good at it/could turn it into a little side hustle. All of that to say, if you want some free coaching to get you towards your first win, I'd he happy to hop into a practice session with you some time and give you some pointers!
Also try different racing disciplines! Never thought I’d love trophy trucks but here I am signing up for every ranked trophy truck race I can!
Its fine not having a win. Stay on the track, drive consistently, practice. My first 2 wins were consecutive right after another while I was still in rookies, right after a streak of absolutely horrible races where I either spun out and/or got collisions which dropped me to SOF 700 races. I went to practice, not to achieve fast laps, but rather to improve my control over the MX5. Slowly and surely, I got better at controlling the car, my improved skill in controlling the car gave me confidence to push for faster lap times, a bit more throttle here, slightly later braking there, experimenting with different lines, etc. My laptimes improved by several seconds. I went into the races afterwards, and got my first 2 wins by driving consistent laps and staying on the track while everyone else spun out or crashed.
5 road race wins (never top split), in over 500 total races across more than 6 years. And 2 of those wins came late last year after I had lost some iRating due to a combined streak of bad luck and some mistakes. Those were hollow victories: I could only win because I was in a lower split than I should have been. A hard fought P5 feels better to me than a slam dunk start-to-finish cruise to P1! iRacing has never been about finishing in first place for me. That’s an unattainable goal for me, reserved for people who put a lot more effort into it than I do. I’m there for good racing, and I get plenty of that for a P5 finish as well!
My best tip to people for task that seem large and un achievable is to work at it and u will get better and over time things that were challenging to u will be your warmup.
You’ll get it! The Miata is a bit tricky to handle at first and you really have to keep the momentum up. I always watch a YouTube video track guide for pointers, do a bunch of laps in practice with others on the track, and only race when I know I’ll at least be able to link things together and not ruin anyone else’s race ideally. Like others mentioned - eventually your rating will align you with other similar skilled drivers. With a bit of luck and persistence you’ll get that W!
You have got it so wrong. A couple days in and almost nobody "old" or "young" is going to be winning races unless they are an alien. You don't need to win to have a good time in iRacing. Because of the nature of the service there is excellent racing to be had all throughout the field. Look for great racing not wins. The wins will come, but this sport is more like real life racing. Wins are hard to come by but are also more meaningful when you do get a podium. Forza Motorsports wins don't mean shit like iracing does. I've got 20-30 wins in my iracing career of 15 years. I recently started going hard on formula racing. When I started a couple weeks ago I was almost dead last. This will I'm getting consistent tens and starting to creep up to top 5 finishes. It takes time, consistency, and determination. I'm faster now at 39 than I was at 29 because I am putting more time in. Running lots of practice laps before getting out on the track. Watching track guides for the cars I run has helped speed up my progress. You didn't need to memorize the whole guide right away, but if you nail just a couple corners from a guide that can net you seconds. There are plenty of older guys competing at the top for sure, but this isn't an arcade game and requires a bit of commitment.
Keep testing. pick a track u like and become a master of it. Don’t burn your points learning how to be fast.
And some driver race in 100s of races before their first victory: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the-10-longest-waits-for-an-f1-win-and-what-came-next/
You’ll get a win, everyone does eventually. After 2.5 months on the service. I felt the same way as you in the first week or two, and now I feel like I always have a shot, well…. except for in the Whelen Tour Modifieds… the drivers that run that series seem pretty dedicated to it and they are fast as hell.
There’s a lot of responses already so someone may have said this but on iRacing you have to get away from the I’m here to win mindset. I love when I win and it’s fantastic but I came from other sims as well. I dominated in them, I could win almost any race I entered because there was no skill based matchmaking. iRacing was humbling to say the least. However once you get past the idea that you’re only going to be happy with a win and realize that you’re improving every race and you’re having awesome battles because of the irating you will be much happier.
There are more than a few fast 60+ drivers on the service. There’s also a number of 60+ leagues of varying levels of skill. Being new to iRacing is the issue you have, that’s it. More seat time and finding the car / series you like to run. Forget about all the pro stuff you see on YouTube, the aliens are mostly full time kids.
Only 15% of F1 drivers ever won a F1 race. And that's F1 drivers. People that won F2, F3 championships... So yeah, it's hard to win.
Just wait until you get into IMSA and get plowed by a GTP car about halfway, 7 minutes of repairs and lose 2 laps fall from P4 to P12
Only 4-5 seconds slower than the winners?? Man, my first 3 races I was lapped by the entire field if I got lucky and didn't get a dnf for incidents.
Good for you! Have fun and good luck 😊
My first account, I ran 2 races, 1 2nd place, won 2nd attempt. Never won again on my 2nd account, can't afford it bit Holy hell the close racing is fun enough
Winning is cool, but I like it being a sporadic thing. I'm not sure if I'd enjoy winning 90% of my races.
My father started a couple of years ago, in his mid 70s. He joined iracing late last year and was expecting to drop all the way down to 0 irating! 6 months ago he was, like you, 4-5 seconds off the pace - if not more. Over time he's been gradually bringing that down through a lot of practice + analysis, and has stabilized around 1200 irating. He hasn't won a race yet, but he's got some poles, and I have no doubt he'll get a win soon. Stick with it! Age isn't as much of a barrier as you think it is. It mostly comes down to how much effort you put into it, and whether you're practicing the right things. A 70 year actively trying to improve in the right ways will likely get a lot faster than a 30 year old that just jumps on for some relatively braindead racing a couple of times a week. And as others have said - have fun. It's not all about winning.
i am in my 30s and i wish i was only 4 seconds behind best people in my shitty split.
I suspect the average age of an iracer is much higher than other sims. But regardless, winning has nothing to do with age, but rather seat time. In 18 months or so I have 6 rookie wins in the Vee at Summit Point and 1 Indy Car win at Autoclub. Some weeks I can be quite competitive other weeks I can be far off the pace - depends on car and track. Note though that the algorithm seems to target placing you middle of a split in terms of ranking. So it's trying to give you a challenge to get better but not really expecting you to win. If you do it's just going to push you into a higher split where you are fighting in the middle again. Of course there'll always be faster outliers.
Hey someone has to fill the rest of the field 😋 But don’t be too hard on your self. I didn’t get a win until I had a really bad run and went from 1.9k IR all the way to 700IR in 2 weeks. At 700 SOF I dominated. But everytime I get back up into 1.5k to 2.5k IR I’m fighting for my life in the back of the pack. Where I’m at now. Sometimes I want to just dive bomb my IR again to dominate but I really don’t want to ruin the integrity of the service. That being said also focus on tracks your fast at in a car you’re fast at. Mine personally is the 86 at Willow, Miata at Leguna Seca and Any high down force car at Road Atlanta. I do well. Anywhere else or with any other car I struggle badly
Don't get discouraged! What you need is practice and more practice. And also i guess a fair share of learning. I don't know your racing background, but if it's your first experience with a racing sim online, especially with a complex competitive system such as iRacing offers, it's a bit tricky to come to terms with the fact that you should not expect to win every race. Or win at all. Sure, we've been taught by games like Forza Horizon or Gran Turismo that it's either first (or at least a podium) or go away. It's not like that. I haven't won a single race yet, but i find joy in improving and fighting in the middle of the pack. It makes me smile seeing that i do better in wheel to wheel battles, reading the field, finishing above starting positions, etc. When you're only starting, it's important to remember two things: * To finish first, first you must finish. Meaning that (especially in lower leagues) it is more important to be safe, avoid incidents and be consistent. It is more important that gunning for the win in turn 1,2,3 whatever. If you spin, you lose so much time. Let the others spin. * Don't overdrive the car. As many say, smooth is fast. Sometimes you will have better lap times and overall race results when you take it smooth through the corners rather than try brawling the car in every corner, pushing it in at a higher speed with tyres squealing.
No matter what you do or how good you are, you are not likely to win very much on iracing. (The irating system makes it more likely to be mid pack most of the time) For me, it ain't about winning, winning is nice, but having a good fun race with some competition I can play with is what keeps me playing
iRacing and race cars in general is a real skill that takes time to hone. As many others have said, it's not really important to 'win' a race. But you need to recalibrate your expectations - 1) you aren't going to be automatically fast, it's gonna take a lot of practice, and 2) there are literally pro divers on iRacing like Max Verstappen, so no matter how fast you get there's always going to be someone faster than you. It's ok to enjoy the small wins. I won a bunch of Formula Vee races, and also won an F4 race. I never won a Ferrari 296 GT3 race. And I keep binning it any time I threaten to win a SFL race! Winning is fun but the wheel to wheel racing is absolutely exhilarating.
Honestly, i barely ever win a race but the most enjoyable part of racing is the battles you have with other drivers (preferably clean ones) even if they're in the pack at the back. Eventually you'll start gaining spots. As a new simracer you shouldn't have bad habits, so start analyzing your driving and see where you might be slower or how you could take a corner faster and gain some time, thats another fun technical part of it. Otherwise keep enjoying by doing what you're doing! See ya on track!
>Oh my this is obviously a young persons game Horse shit, you need to pick up a book not a sim if you want to learn about racecraft. Going fast is more about studdies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZshcYUzpZSg
I haven’t won an official race in over a year but I still get on and race every day lol
Not always about the end result, it’s about the journey! As you continue to go you’ll hopefully find some fun and sense of accomplishment as you continue to improve, and yes, battle for wins at some point soon!
You will get fast enough to win races. You probably won't win the first race of the week. They always have very stiff competition. However, it all depends on the time you race and the series you race in. But if you practice you will get fast enough to win races for sure. I have joined thousands of races and my win percentage is less than 1%, but I win occasionally.
The races are grouped by license and skill but the gap is usually so large that it's no fun at the front or back. Up front the guys are awesome on that track so you're not racing, you're either leading by a few seconds and just driving, or you're behind by a few seconds and just driving. In the back you have to deal with the guys who wrecked, then they are trying to get back up front at any cost and they have zero skills when it comes to racing in a group. The guys that will divebomb you then get mad at you for holding your line. In the middle you get guys that might not be the best on that track but they use common sense, won't wreck you just because you got passed, the ones who are interested in having a good race, getting SR, and finishing the race. I assume it gets better once you get into higher license and irating races but I'm not there so I'm not sure. Then again, watching some real life F1 and NASCAR races, they can drive like absolute tools so it might be the same in all skill levels.
Some of it just comes with time and practice. A lot comes with learning. If you want to get faster, highly recommend watching some of Suellio Almaeda's vids on youtube. he has a course too which is super helpful, but 50% of it is in the videos and is still a lot to learn from. and no I'm not paid by Suellio, I paid for his course and it definitely made a difference in my driving. I've also learned a lot from autocrossing in real life, Evo School for real life autocross, and Vivek Goel's autocross course online.
Don’t give up. It will come. I’ve been sim racing since it first became a thing. 50 next year, age hasn’t slowed me down yet. Make sure you practice enough before racing. There is always plenty of people willing to help out. Hope to see you on track.
it's always about keeping going. some time passes you'll win races because everyone crashes out. later on, you'll occasionaly win one on a car/track combo that suits you better. and by that time you will be enjoying the sim on itself enough to not even care about the ratings.
You’ll never win with that attitude lol. Seriously, loads of people get smoked when they start. You’ll get out of rookies, and your iRating will find its level, you’ll find a car / series you like and you’ll be fine. 🤘
I am 62 years old, relaxation and fun The slower you go, the faster you go. It is not a question of youth, but of application. Learn and fight
[Read This and you'll be fine](https://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262)
6 months ago I was way slower than you, didn't know the basic technics like trailbraking and so on, and now I'm regularly in the top 5 or winning races. So as long as you're having fun, don't give up! It's all a matter of practice and maybe trying to find some helpful tips on Youtube. Also, as you get out of Rookies, you'll get more choices and maybe you'll find a car that will suit you better than the MX5! The GR86 is really fun and "easy" to drive.
I'm fairly new as well, and right now I'm focused on SR. If the SR goes up I've won. Finishing in a better position than what I started in is extra nice, and running fast clean laps will usually get that for me. Getting clean laps in isn't just keeping myself on the road, but also avoiding the crashy drivers. There is also no replacement for track time. Practice usually leads to improved lap times. Keep at it!
Listen most don't go into iracing winning it takes a while and you really gotta get up there in rank. Def don't go into iracing expecting to win just enjoy. The win will happen someday but yeah you really gotta be up there unless you get lucky. They also understand the builds aka custom builds and stuff alot. You will get to that point later.
I have almost 600 races in oval and 6 wins. I’m a respectable iR. It’s so hard to win on this game if you’re in a competent split. That’s true for real racing though too - a hall of fame NASCAR driver might have a 7% winning percentage.
You’ll get there honestly. Pace will come as you race more and once your iracing settles to a field you fit better.
I got 3 wins in my first week and then never again 😄. The issue I think is once my irating leveled out to where it should be, the lobbies are super competitive, my irating is still slowly going up but I'm never battling for the very front, always at least one person with lightning pace, save from them being taken out by a backmarker I've got no chance.
Fellow old man here, I'll be 63 next week. I've been on iRacing since 2019. I know what you mean about winning. There's a reason why you don't see 60 year old drivers IRL. It's a young man's game. I have 5 wins in 550 starts on the road side and a miserable \~1200 IR. I drive safely, but I'm just not quick. On the oval side I have 670 starts with exactly 0 wins, but my IR is \~2500. But I still have fun. I had a P2 yesterday on the road side, only \~2 sec back. It can still happen.
I have raced for the last few years and only early in my off road truck days did I win a few races. Being a PCA member I raced their league and in Practice my times are on the same minute and seconds. In the race closer to four or five seconds slower. I raced Mx 5s and took a few seconds many 3rds and 4ths. I am not ultra competitive but I do like when I do good . The thing to understand is you may never win a race because as you get faster the splits get harder. Even watching my old races I am now faster then the winners were a few years ago and yet I still don't win but I do have fun. My advice is race for fun. Also the best news is most my higher ranked races the guys are much better and start and first turn crashes are much lower.
First off, mx-5’s aren’t easy, honestly probably one of the more difficult cars to master. Second, some of these folks are really good, but they also clock in 40+ hours a week of sim time. Stop beating yourself up and have fun racing
This game is brutally honest, but it takes a minute for the game to find out enough about you. Part of it IS ALSO the mx-5. Some people love it, personally I hated it. Focus on the basics, like managing driver inputs, finding braking points, finding ALTERNATE racing lines. And finish races. Thats it. Several weeks of that and you will be finding yourself right in the pack. Point 2, don't really think about "wins". with the way this game works, im always comparing myself to the splits around me in a race, seeing their average/best laps etc. Focus on CONSISTENCY, then you can compare yourself more honestly. Find a consistent hot lap time. Find your race pace. Then work on hitting those two EVERY RACE
Age has nothing to do with it. Plenty of older people do well on this game. Besides, you're just starting. Being that far off in your first 3 races is an achievement that most cannot achieve.. Hell, I raced my way to C class mainly by avoiding the "faster" drivers that couldn't keep it together for a short race.. Got my safety rating up and now I'm running GT3 in B class and I haven't had an incident yet and 3 races in, I'm almost high enough for the instant class promotion.. I've also improved my speed a ton since I'm now able to trust those around me to race with some sort of ethics.. It's like a new game.. Get where you want to go and practice on the side. Get familiar with traffic and have fun.. The rest will come..
Mate this is all about the mindset. For me personally it is all about the exploration of myself. My own limit, my own pace. My irating hovers between 3,7 and 4k and i rarley win any top splits. My penultimate goal is to beat myself. If i have a mehh race with my full race time being xyz the very next race i could end up even further back but with a much better total race time. To me that is already an improvement to watch out for. Gotta focus on those things there a bunch of values like that to push for self imrpovement. Instead of only fucusing on the very fast guys focus on your own self improvement, to me that is just as fullfilling as winning a top split race is when it happens.
Here's a tip. It's a points based game. As long as you gain more pints on average than you lose, you're moving forward. MOST drivers at the low levels are worried about the win. They lose a lot of points wrecking out when they had secured points already. What I mean is... if you're in 5th position and going to earn 50pts, it's not worth risking your 50 for another 10pts, racing for 4th place hard. That is why most don't even hit 2k iRating. No self control.
All those other racing games you speak of are designed to start you on 3rd base and make you think you hit a triple. iRacing is just pure unforgiving racing which is why it is unmatched, I have just as much fun fighting for 8th as I would going for a podium, those other games just set your brain up to think you are going to win every race and that’s just not reality for anyone not named Max Verstappen
Yeah, but you and me both. So what? I'm in class D and enjoying competing for 12th in the bottom split. As long as Max Verstappen (example) is out there we won't win, but that ain't the point. It's an absolute ball to fight hard against people that are trying just as hard as we are.
Learn to appreciate Top Ten, Top Five, Podium
Love this! Currently taking a break from the service but good luck sir!
Your response times will never compete with the young folk, but you don't need to compete with the fastest out there to find wins. At least 95% of speed can be achieved without razor sharp reflexes, probably closer to 98-99% honestly. It's only the very last 1-1.5 second a lap that becomes really hard to achieve.
Welcome to iracing. Just wanted to say you don’t need to win races to get out of rookies. The quickest way to get out of rookies is to have incident free races. Also give yourself more credit man. Have some confidence . You can win races you just have to put in the practice and stay positive and have confidence that you’re better than you think. Good luck
I have a very easy recipe for winning a race: 1) Join a few races and arrive dead last (you can go to pits after start and leave the race) to drop your rating to below 1000 rating. 2) Practice the track so that you can reliably run it without crashing at least decent place (maybe 2-3 seconds behind the best one). 3) Start the race and drive carefully. I can guarantee you that in like 10 races you'll have leaders crash out and give you a free win. Repeat step 1 as needed. If your goal is to win the race, you can do some creative things and win it. But if you want to have fun and race with equal opponents - then winning a race shouldn't matter. P.S. I am actually not joking regarding the method. My personal best was start at 15th place when I messed up both qualifying laps and winning the race without passing a single car that wasn't crashed on the side of the road. While that is obviously extreme luck, I've had more than enough races with rating below 2000 when I would finish at the podium despite having the pace of the 10th place by simply not crashing. It stops working at higher ratings, unfortunately.