I assume you already know, by now, that rain is scheduled for March. iRacing, a competitive system, makes controlling conditions more critical than ever. Managing an environment that doesn’t inherently favor anyone and that no one can predict. We’re not talking about running a race in Project Cars 2 to see what happens when you throw a storm in the middle of the desert. That’s cool, but it’s a completely different concept from iRacing, a global competition system.
For me, Assetto Corsa Competizione has the best rain simulation so far, but this article isn’t about technical matters. I want to address something more fundamental: the attitude toward changing and unexpected track conditions. We’ve already seen what usually happens when a game offers the possibility of rain. People shy away from it, especially in more hardcore simulators. It seems that the more competitive the environment, the more reluctant people are to face the unknown.
But rain is a fundamental part of the racing world. Adapting to changing situations is crucial. So far, iRacing has dynamic weather affecting wind, clouds, temperature, and fog, but not rain. Why? Rain is more important than all of that. Two raindrops can change more than a temperature shift. Dynamic weather in iRacing has been present for years in official races and is vital to the experience.
Weather forecasting is crucial in real races. Before the race, drivers know if the track will be wet, if it might rain soon, or if the sun will shine. This knowledge influences strategy and preparation. But in iRacing, this doesn’t happen until 10 minutes before the race. This limit is essential, marking the moment you commit.
Time is not the same in iRacing and real races. In iRacing, commitment is almost immediate, while in real races, you sign up weeks before. The key is commitment, knowing the conditions after you commit, not before.
The arrival of rain in iRacing raises essential questions. Should we know the forecast before signing up? Should iRacing have series with a 0% chance of rain? Or maybe series with a 100% chance of rain? Should we exaggerate the rain odds in unlikely places? And, most importantly, how will the arrival of rain affect the experience in iRacing?
Leaving these questions in the air, I believe the arrival of rain will be positive for iRacing. The uncertainty will add a new level of challenge and excitement to the races.
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I strongly believe that iRacing will not go the way of artificial weather simulation, either random or dependent on some averaged data from a given race circuit and time of year. For me, the only correct way is to assume real weather in real time using data obtained from local weather stations. I think more advanced flight simulators apply this kind of model. It would mean that drivers have to monitor the weather forecast (even from sources outside the game environment), as they do it before and during real races. This model would have only one major drawback. Because motorsport is an outdoor sport and cannot be ridden in all weather conditions, it is more of a seasonal sport. Certainly no one would think of running a real-world race on the Nordschleife in January, for example, because the temperature is likely to be below freezing and the cars will need studded tyres. This would need to be sorted out in the case of taking over the real weather. Either by selecting tracks that can actually be raced on at certain times of the year, or more likely by adding some fixed temperature value (e.g. +10 degrees) and possibly changing snow showers to rain showers.