Newcomers to iRacing often find themselves entangled in the intricate web of iRacing’s rating system, known as iRating. As you conquer races, your iRating ascends to new heights of success, leaving an indelible mark on your virtual racing career. In this article, we delve into the iRating system, exploring its mechanics, utility, and the subtle nuances that make it a double-edged sword
The Functionality of iRating
Picture a hypothetical race, the Global Mazda MX5 Cup, where a hundred eager racers sign up. The matchmaking takes over, creating splits of 100 drivers each based on their iRating. This ensures that, generally, racers of similar skill levels vie for victory, creating an environment conducive to close, thrilling races.
The beauty of iRating shines brightest in these lower license series. As a newcomer or a driver with a lower iRating, you’re in for an immersive experience. Your iRating acts as a benevolent guide, placing you among peers, fostering intense but enjoyable competition. It becomes a passport to races that challenge without overwhelming, setting the stage for personal growth and an affinity for the sport.
iRating’s Utility and Its Limitations
However, this utopian harmony begins to wane as iRating inches beyond the 3000 of iRating. Sim racing, despite its popularity, faces the challenge of sustaining split configurations that cater to the upper echelons. Consequently, once your iRating hits this range, you find yourself consistently in the top split.
The utility of iRating, as a matchmaking compass, starts to erode, and the dynamics of races change.
Here lies a paradox – higher iRating doesn’t guarantee a more enjoyable race. In fact, it might lead to a lack of diversity in skill levels, resulting in races that are less about the joy of competition and more about maintaining a specific pace. The shift from the thrill of close competition to a potentially more serious and focused atmosphere can be a jarring experience for those seeking the former.
iRating Doesn’t Mean Overall Driver Skill Level
Beyond its utility, iRating metamorphoses into a vanity metric, especially as you soar past the 3.000 iRating milestone. Devoting time to mastering a single car or series may inflate your iRating, offering a distorted reflection of your overall prowess. This is where the global nature of iRating becomes a double-edged sword.
iRacers, absorbed in the nuances of a particular car and track combo, may boast impressive iRatings. However, the lack of cross-compatibility among different series diminishes the metric’s relevance. The skills honed in one series may not necessarily translate into success in another, rendering the iRating a subjective measure rather than a universal badge of skill.
Why iRating Shouldn’t Be the Focus
The pivotal question arises: should sim racers fixate on iRating? The resounding answer, especially for newcomers, is a gentle no. Instead, focus on the essence of sim racing – the joy of clean races, the thrill of improvement, and the satisfaction of personal accomplishments.
Embrace the journey, savor the moments of progress, and find fulfillment beyond the numeric allure of iRating.
For those consistently finding themselves in the top split, where iRating may not align with the desired racing atmosphere, it becomes even more crucial to shift the focus. Racing isn’t just about numbers; it’s about the experience, and the sheer joy of the race itself.
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As I get better, my iRating keeps going down since I race in harder series. My target metric is keeping my A safety license and getting personal best lap times. I’d rather race in 4 series than spend the same time practicing for one.
I agree with you on that. I primarily race in the oval Nascar series but I also race just about every series in road and some Dirt.( I hold A licenses -Oval-Road and C in Dirt )
Now my Oval IR is around the 1800 to 2000 range now and I am at the bottom of some top splits and it is much harder racing here lumped in with guys that are 3k up to 7400k. I know unless the top guys make a mistake winning is not possible speed wise for me.
These guys seem to run flat out through out a full green flag pit cycle and they are perfect every lap.
They also use smart race craft and let the car behind them who is running faster then them pass with out losing time and burning up their tires.
Unfortunately mid-pack back they will defend from lap 1 like it is the last lap causing you to loss time the the fast pack and burn your tires off as you pass them only to have them dive bomb in under you and again both of you kill your tires, lose time and possibility wreck.
So until I can learn to run flat out with out losing the handle on the car and falling back into min-pack hell I guess I just drive for SR.
Racing like this is not racing its practice with other real people.
^this!!
I pretty much stopped racing around the time COVID-19 caused a massive influx of new members, most who seemed to have all gone to the same ‘how to block every corner’ course.
It’s not even racing, it’s a boring, repetitive process where the slower driver who can only compete by making every corner a ‘slowdown’ for a clearly faster driver behind. It goes one of two ways, frustration builds until either there’s enough pressure on the 100% defensive driver ahead to make a mistake, or for the frustrated driver behind to end up hitting the rear of the blocking driver because they have to always sit so close to them to have any chance of passing.
iRacing needs to change this, it ends up causing more trouble than good, with many more incidents per race caused by these types of drivers. Yes, it’s legal in real world, but it’s borderline unsportsmanlike, and completely kills the fun. for everyone.
race-craft does include defensive driving, but it cannot be the only tool a driver has to use – that just shows a lack of skill and confidence in racing, and it’s all tied to this stupid iRating number that truly needs to be hidden or changed as it’s ruining the sport.
I think having iRating visible is a hindrance to people’s participation. Once it gets to a certain level it absolutely makes people not want to race – whether it’s “I haven’t practiced enough this week” or “I don’t usually drive that car so I’ll lose iRating”, it really does stop people from racing. Also, people will probably rage a little less when they get into an incident, their fault or not. People seem to forget that crashes happen IRL no matter how good you are, and also forget that there’s no injuries, repair bills, or time out of the sport.
I would pay more attention to iRating if it was further subdivided into racecar specific ratings.
They can spend 10 yrs on developing rain that nobody gives a crap. Spend the time making the core of your sim better. Completely scrap the oppressive system for safety and irating. Please
I agree with Dan. After a certain license level, we should have car-specific ratings. I don’t see why specializing in one car means you’re “inflating” your rating. Is Verstappen padding his stats because he focuses on f1? I think the right way to enjoy iracing is to focus on one car for at least one season or even one year at a time.
I’d like to be matched with people who are of my skill level in the car I’m driving. Lucky for me, it feels like very few people dip their toes into pcup (what I run now) casually, so the problem mostly solves itself.
Yep this makes a ton of sense. Maybe do that car specific iratings but maybe use lap times, podiums and wins.
Clean racing should reward more points too.
Far to often being stuck in top split with pros and legend iRacers 7k+ IR range kinda sucks when you in that 1 year 2500k+ range.
Most of the time you are lucky to finish on the lead lap.
I had to take a few weeks off because racing wasn’t really fun anymore. I have to spend many hours practicing and experimenting just to do that.
The handful of times I was in a split with a full field that was not seperated by 750 IR either way I had the opportunity to competitively race and win or at least have a chance at top 3s and top 5s. That is fun.
I think people should lose points if they don’t qualify.. or gain points if they qualify. I’m tired of being near the front of the pack at the start only to be passed by the faster people who didn’t qualify in the back.
Granted I haven’t been on Iracing for years despite being one of the early beta testers or whatever it was called. So in addition to the existing system , why not have options that allow you to select official races based on various criteria of the drivers you’d like to race with instead of iRacing deciding everything? Could be average lap times at that track/car. Maybe also allow you to secretly mark racers you do not want to race with based on bad experiences or or actually reason? But again I’ve been away for a long time and it’s probably changed a lot. I’ve only been practicing Nascar cars by myself at WWT (Gateway) for 500 laps or so before doing a (formerly Rusty Wallace) Racing Experience and man does that help to dial you in! Turn one is tricky their and at first my spotter was telling me to slow down before that turn but I did not and braked much later than they wanted. But after a little while they could see I knew what I was doing and after 50 laps I got a “Great job #32!” 😀 And BTW due to talking to them before hand, they knew it was partly because of my past (much shorter/$$ drives there) but mainly my iRacing practice.
However strangely enough there is no Nissan GTR model of in iRacing
We all waiting on assetto corsa 2 iracing is not the problem the ppl on it are,u have try hards wit no real life on it 24/7 and the newbies who think they skilled,I will give up iracing in August its has become very annoying