iRacing – First Year Advice for New Members

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iRacing is one of the most demanding sims in the market, where your first steps can be one of the most frustrating experiences if you are not prepared enough. Greg West, iRacing Staff Member, wrote some advices for new members. Check it out!

This is a post from Kurt Van Wagenen. It is great advice and we couldn’t have said it better. All new members should check this out!

There are always a lot of posts from new racers in this forum asking how do you deal with working up from rookies, or out of D class, and so on. How do you deal with the idiots, or the ragers, or how do you contain your rage. There seems to be more of these the last couple weeks, I’m guessing as northern summer is freeing up time for some people.

A lot of times those posts are answered by 5 or 8 or 10 year veteran players with simple things like ‘Drive better’, or ‘stop worrying about iRating’ etc, and really these are valid responses, but aren’t useful or relatable to a guy who has a grand total of a week in iRacing and maybe 10 starts. So since my memory is a little more recent, as I am just finishing my first year, I thought I’d talk a bit about things I have learned and and done, and maybe it’ll help some new guys. You old salty dudes, probably don’t need to read this.

1) Have a thick skin.
Especially in Rookie classes, but true at all levels – There is always someone in your race who believes he is the second coming of <insert deceased champion driver name here>. It is especially bad in Rookie because everyone shows up thinking they are the only one who knows how racing is done. And this guy (or maybe he is you?) will scream obscenities at anyone who doesn’t drive exactly as he does. Ignore these guys. They don’t matter, and they will probably rage quit in two weeks anyhow. Just let it roll off you. Drive your car, drive clean, and don’t get sucked into their circus. Don’t take the bait. Better to keep your mouth shut and let them assume you’re an idiot than to open your mouth and prove them right.

2) If you’re going to talk, keep it friendly.
One thing you’re not going to realize in your first few weeks is that a lot of the names you’re racing against are going to be racing with you a year from now. Some of them are new, just like you, and others are very experienced and might be useful to be friends with. Don’t burn bridges by spewing hateful words at people just because they accidentally tapped you out. It happens, its racing. Relax.

3) Sometimes it really is your fault.
Admit when you screw up. Drop your pride, because the fact is you are not the second coming of <insert deceased champion driver name here>, you are in fact a guy at a computer driving a fake car on a cartoon racetrack. The only thing real is the people and the competition. And people (that means YOU) screw up. If you find yourself always blaming others, you will never improve, you will never seek out your weaknesses and fix them. It is a road-block to your success. Look for fault within yourself before you start pressing that talk button.

4) iRacing is as expensive as you decide to make it.
Yeah, its a subscription service, but you knew that when you signed up, and yeah, the cars and tracks are expensive but you knew that when you signed up, and yeah, some of the hardware is expensive too, but you at least have some control over that. You can learn to be competitive on almost any hardware. So only spend what makes sense for you. You don’t need every car and track, pick a couple series and race them, get only what you need for those. If you decide to change, then get the car you need for that. It doesn’t need to cost you a mortgage payment to enjoy iRacing (but it can if you want).

5) You can win races, but you can’t win iRacing.
iRating is not a ‘score’, there is no point in chasing a high rating. What you need is a rating that sorts you into drivers you enjoy racing with. If you find your rating is low and you dislike your competitors, take a long hard look in the mirror, because they are you. Your rating is the same as theirs because you’re driving like they drive. If you don’t like it, then change how you drive. But if you insist on jamming your way into gaps that don’t exist, you’re going to be racing against guys who jam their way into gaps that don’t exist (same guys from item 1 on this list, for what its worth). You don’t need a 5000 iRating to have fun. Well, some people probably do, but they are also the same guys who know how to drive like someone with a 5000 iRating, again, go check with your mirror about it.

6) Internet latency
Its not ‘net code’ its the speed of light. If you’re racing a guy on another continent you are probably out of sync with each other by about a quarter of a second. A quarter of a second at 150mph(240kph) is 60 feet (20meter), if you are going into a braking zone and you’re 3 feet off the tail of that guy from another continent you will likely hit him when he brakes for entry. Net code tries to smooth that out by predicting these things, but you should have it in your mind at all times, especially if you, or the other driver clearly has a bad connection. Raging out about ‘net code’ usually just makes you look silly. The internet is a fickle beast. We all have the same handicap.

7) Use Hosted Practice sessions
If you see a user hosted session for your series (or someone announces one on the board) do it! You will get more time to learn the personalities than you ever will if you only race in official sessions. You might find out that some of the people you were yelling at are actually pretty nice people dealing with all the same headaches as you are. Turns out some of the other drivers are good dudes (not all, some really are that idiot from the #1 point above). Also, be a capital fellow and host a practice session for your series from time to time. People usually really appreciate having a weekend practice for next weeks track!

8 ) Relax and have fun
If you’re angry, you’re doing it wrong. If you’re tense, you can’t be fast. When you can run good laptimes and be as relaxed as you are when you drive to the store, thats when you’ve got your chosen car figured out. Drive slower to get faster! If you’re holding on for dear life and sweating every corner, you’re not learning, you’re just reacting. Use practice time to drive at a comfortable pace to master a line, then start ticking it up a little at a time until you are where you need to be… But be there comfortably. It takes time. (TT sessions are helpful for this, and of course offline testing). I have noticed in my lap times, that my fastest laps are always the ones where I’m just enjoying the lap. When I feel like I’m trying, my times suffer. Your mileage may vary. But again, if you’re not having fun, why are you here? Relax.

9) Honor Blue Flags
When the leader is running up behind you, just let them by, its not a position car, you don’t gain anything by holding them up, and someday that leader might be you, and you might need the favor back. It is very rare that you get a blue flag and you’re actually faster than the leader. If that happens you’ll clear the blue by running away from him, but be honest with yourself.. There is a reason you’re getting lapped. Don’t mess up everyone else’s day.

10) Use the report system as it is intended.
Everyone asks ‘is this reportable?’… Everything is reportable, but not everything is enforceable. You could file a report against a guy for driving a blue car if you wanted to. You’d probably be the one that gets the heat for that report though.. Still, sure, you could report it if you’re really dumb. That having been said, if someone deliberately wrecks you, makes excessive blocking moves, or is verbally abusive, report them. Nobody wants them around anyhow. But if someone rear-ends you because they misjudged a braking zone, be realistic, thats racing, not wrecking, it happens. Use common sense. Most people aren’t driving to deliberately ruin your race. But if someone is, report that guy.

I’m going to wrap it up here, There is of course LOTS more, and I’m sure people will add to this with their own thoughts, or tell me how wrong I am about something or whatever, that is fine… Just try to keep it in the spirit of helping out some new guys, rather than bashing anyone.

Take care.