iRacing

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Drum roll please!

I managed my first win in iRacing last night! Yay! Laguna Seca in the Rookie Solstice was the venue.

After beating my PB in qualification (1:51.4) I was placed in pole position a whole second ahead of the driver who was 2nd on the grid, however, being the start of the week, there were only 5 drivers who’d posted a qualification time so there were a lot of unknowns further back in the field.

I got off to a great start but being my first pole I realised that I had no idea where the brake marker should be into T1 and being careful took it far too easy allowing the gap to close up again. I have to admit I was pretty nervous, being in the lead for the first time in a Rookie Solstice race, not wanting to screw it up. I thought I had a bit of pace to spare so there wasn’t any point pushing too hard and risking an off, my SR isn’t as high as I’d like it in the road races so that was at the back of my mind too.

It became apparent that the guy in 2nd wasn’t actually any slower than me and the gap I expected to pull out just wasn’t materialising and I was really struggling with my braking through the corkscrew so he was able to inch closer and closer.

Even as I incresed my pace, the pressure started to build but too my relief he got a tyre off track out of T2 and half span allowing me to gain a vital few seconds. However, this also gave the opportunity of a clear run to the guy in 3rd who had come all the way through the pack from 10th on the grid. It became apparent that he was a fair bit faster than me and started closing the gap with 7 laps to go…

I responded pretty well, putting in my fastest race lap times to limit his gains but with 3 laps to go he was right on my tail and I was starting to sweat! Fortunately, he made a small mistake on the penultimate lap which gave me a bit of breathing room going into the last lap.

Whether it was nerves or the small gap making me feel a little too comfortable I was playing it far too safe on the last lap and making another hash of the corkscrew allowed him a chance to get right on my tail again.

Time to concentrate, there were only 2 corners separating me and my first win! He had a much better run out of the penultimate corner and it was a test of nerves on the brakes into the last turn! He decided to take the chance at the pass, outbraked me and went first, but deep, into the corner. I’d judged it just right though and was able to get the power down while he was still turning and powered past to take the chequered flag with a huge smile of relief!

Week 2 of my rookie season is under way, racing is at Lime Rock Park and Lanier National this week.

The experience gained from Laguna Seca in the Solstice last week is carrying over, my first race at Lime Rock was pretty solid apart from a HUGE off at T1, trying to carry a bit too much speed through. That was the only major error though so I gained a pretty good boost to my SR.

I then set a new PB of 01:05.183 in qualifying. I’m still a little way off the fast guys, I’d be very happy to post a 1:03, but it’s a big improvement on this track already.

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After week 1 of the rookie season here are my standings;

Rookie Solstice;

Season Standings 810 / 1130

Season Timetrial 283 / 830

Rookie Legends

Season Standings 676 / 1145

Season Timetrial 500 / 891

Definitely some room for improvement… I’m really disappointed at my position in the Solstice races. I have to admit I had a very poor start to the season with only one top 5 finish so I’ll have to improve for Lime Rock next week. At least my Timetrial position shows I have a some pace at least to take into week 3 when we go back to Laguna Seca.

I managed to pick up the points I’d lost at Laguna Seca yesterday but in very odd circumstances.

Sitting in 4th on the grid, I made a great start and moved up to 3rd but made a bit of a hash of T1 and ran a little wide as the driver in 4th came in a little tight. There was contact, I span, and ended up sitting in the gravel on the inside of the turn waiting for all the other to pass before I re-joined.

So I was expecting a heap of incidents, car contact, loss of control, leaving the track, but after a pretty good drive to move up to 6th at the chequered flag I left the race to find I had zero incidents reported against me. A bit of good luck after a run of bad!

This video shows a pretty quick lap around Laguna Seca in the Advanced Solstice.

I guess this is how it’s done, I think I’ve picked up a couple of tips to improve my laptimes