At this point, we have been very pleased with all of the simulators, we have laughed at many situations, and we have anticipated positive changes in each of them. We have received significant amounts of “love” from the fanboys of each title in each of these incursions, always accusing us of being on the side of the other, because pulling the newspaper archive and contrast is not their thing. So, with this introduction and content, I hope to arouse enough indignation to be directed at those who deserve it, rather than at those who express their views or bring the issue to light.
After making the necessary preparations and before the topic cools down, I write for the purpose of documenting the issues involved in all developments and competitive environments. This weekend, iRacing screwed up again with the dispute of the 24 hours of Spa, and this time it was a big screw up like those of the past.
To set the scene, after the brakedragging exploit that had been used for many months, giving many top people an advantage in the standings, comes the grassgate dippinggate or whatever it is called. This exploit involves running tires through the grass during the race to cool them down and increase grip in other areas of the track. The Belgian Spa Francorchamps circuit, with its long straights, appears to be an ideal environment for putting two tires on the grass while maintaining speed and gaining a whopping half a second per lap.
This indecency, which had been visible on social media for about three weeks, hatched in a dantesque spectacle in the official broadcast of the iRacing top split of the Spa race, where the commentator had no idea where to get into to explain to the neophytes what they were seeing.
Simon Viklund – Break The Rules
aka @iRacing Spa 24 Hour Top Split Theme song pic.twitter.com/CDijWIIZJR— Pip (@philippaboquida) July 27, 2022
So, in a race full of “professionals” (I exclude the drivers) and major sponsors, the images and videos that remain are of a line of cars constantly “preparing the tires” in each straight to gain that extra time. It was interesting to see the iRacing staff’s passivity at all times, as they never suspended the test, delayed the event, fined live, or did anything other than wait for everything to happen directly on the air.
We retired our cars from the @iRacing Spa 24h as we didn’t want to make use of an exploit in the Sim that makes you at least 5 tenths per lap faster. We really had high hopes for the race and feel bad that one of the highlights in 2022 end like this. @RaceSpotTV pic.twitter.com/RGwf7P4cUc
— URANO eSports (@URANOeSports) July 23, 2022
Of course, after the race, they sanctioned those involved in the top split for a week and apologized profusely, indicating that they already have several ideas to eliminate this stupid advantage. Before, accounts were closed (explicitly stated in the Sporting Code) for taking advantage of an unnoticed bug, and monetary apologies were made to the remaining users.
It was only a matter of time before iRacing began to dehumanize as a result of its growth, constant influx of money, and lowering of the average age of its users, where lack of maturity is constantly demonstrated and hormonal competitiveness is the only thing that matters without consequence for the aggressors, increasingly cornering those who just want to enjoy the track and have a good race.
