Well I made it to Florida after ‘borrowing’ an F/A 18 for some fast paced flight action. That sped up the whole trip. After taking a Learjet for my final long haul into Miami I took to the skies in a Mooney Bravo for the final leg of my journey for now. I touched down at Lakeland Linder Regional airport this afternoon where I have left the kite for a refuel and I headed off to USA Speedway to turn some laps in the Late Model.

In other news, I got myself a Truck today. A nice new Chevy Silverado now resides in my iGarage and it is itching to take to the track for some action. Hell Im in Florida, Im sure this two headed Van Dieman racer can find some time to slip over to Daytona

Well season 3 was great fun and Im already looking forward to Season 4. I had great fun in the advanced legends and actually won my division in the road course series and won my TT division in the oval series.

From here it is time to step up to the Late Model series to take on the good ole boys in their own backyard. So move over, Im coming to get you - with a twist. You see I am also into Flight Sim 10 (or FSX) so I figured I would fly to each virtual round in a virtual plane. This week, being our off week, I am in the air spending my time actually getting to the United States. I am currently on the tarmac at Honolulu International airport. I left Launceston in Tasmania earlier in the week and flew to Melbourne. I then took a Jumbo to Hawaii via New Caledonia. I will hop from Hawaii to LAX where I think I might take to the sky in an F/18 and head to Miami. I then need to find Lakeland which is where Rd1 of the LM series is held. My aim is to be there by Sunday night (my time) in time for qualifying at USA speedway.

See you on the track

well isnt this a hot topic. My comments are going to be based on the topic. No talk about private leagues or teams. Just the world cup.

So who takes part in World cups? Im from a Cricketing nation so that is the first sport I think of. (and we win it) It is made up of not only ‘world powers’ of cricket like Australia, India and England (to pick 3) but also ‘noob’ nations like Canada and Namibia just to name 2.

What chance does Namibia have of winning?  I can tell you it is none. So why do they compete? To be on the world stage represeting their country cos thats what a World Cup is about. Namibia are not going to join up with Zimbabwe and South Africa and create a new team. England and Scotland dont combine forces for a Great Britain team. No. Players want to represent their own nation.

Lets move on to racing and look at A1GP. Those teams are made up of drivers who in some cases need a birth certificate to prove they are from the country they are representing. This is a little bit different as a driver who may get the gig with say Lebanon, would be way down the list for a drive with Australia (even if we are crap in A1GP). My point here is that A1GP would be simply another open wheel category except for the approach they have taken by having countries representein what is called the World Cup of Motorsport. How much gloss would that concept lose if drivers from Aus, NZ, Brazil, Sth Africa and Argentina had to team up in 1 entry called Southern Hemisphere?

Moving on to football (soccer). The mighty USA have a team that is so so. Are they forced to team up with Canada, Mexico, Panama and Cuba just because they dont have the ‘firepower’ on the field to take to the big footballing nations? Hell no. Players and officials from each country wants to do the best they can with what they have got. Here in Oz, we made the World Cup finals in 2006 for the first time since the 70’s but that hasnt stopped us trying each time the qualifiers are held. We came very close to getting in the finals in 98 and 02 but were beaten by a South American team at the final hurdle. We sure as hell dont want to combine with all the Pacific nations just so we have a better chance. We want to do well with what we have got.

iRacing needs to step back and take a good look at what they are calling a world cup. All of the USA needs to be combined as 1 country for a start. You cant fragment a country and call a competition a World Cup and have several regional teams from within 1 country. Each and every country that has a driver to represent it needs to be able to compete in their own right. If the USA walk away with the title and it is due to them having the best drivers, good on them. It is up to other nations to lift their own game.

Well a bit of chatter is around at the moment about what will happen with a Pro series at iRacing. Some say that it should be reserved for the best, some say each person should be able to be involved if they want to. Some say it will cost more, some say that iRacing costs too much as it is. People are crying out for monetary reward to recoup their investment through on track achievements. Rather than post my thoughts in the middle of a forum debate, I thought I would post them here. A bit like putting my thoughts in the middle of a desert rather than among the hustle and bustle of the inner city. No one will notice them either way

So my opinion is that of a driver who treats iRacing as more than a computer game without the delusion that I am the next Michael Schumacher. You see, Sim Racing is my hobby and iRacing is currently the best there is at the moment. Is it real?  Well yes it is. I am not pretending to be anything that I am not and I am competing on an equal playing field against my opponents from where ever they may be from. To me this is as real as playing chess against a player from the other side of the world rather than sitting in a park somewhere opposing them face to face. Internet racing does not have the cost or danger normally associated with motor racing. What it does offer is the opportunity for like minded souls from around the globe the opportunity to test their skills and reflexes against each other. It also brings together drivers from all over the world, increases comradarie (or not as is sometimes the case) and showcases via results who the best drivers are in the world of internet racing. I have been racing online for years and have seen first hand those who think they are some kind of god, those who think they are Schumacher and those who treat their time online as a computer game and think they are racing against in game AI. Reality is that Internet Racing is a legitimate sport that branches off Auto Racing but reality is that Internet Racing is at the bottom of the Auto Racing scale and no Internet Racer should think they are better than that harsh reality. Internet Racing gives  Go-Kart drivers someone to look down upon

So on to the question. Who should race in a Pro Series?  Well for me, that is easy. The best of the best should be competing in a series of races, probably in a car drivers like me can only dream of racing, and duke it out for the title of internet racing world champion. I would even go as far as saying that the cost to be part of any pro series should be substantionally more than anyone is paying now. Sponsors need to be found and funding extracted from their vault. The governing body of the series needs to be serious about making it a true Pro series and be prepared to pay out to those who compete. Put simply, iRacing needs to entice the best drivers to compete. To do that they need to entice them with major incentives. Ultimately drivers should be rewarded from the coffers of the corporate world as sponsors pay to put their driver on the grid.

For me as a driver involved in internet racing I can think of nothing better than to know that while I am toiling away in my little corner of the internet racing world, those that are way better then me are getting the opportunity to prove themselves. Like the world of motor racing, I should not be racing in Formula 1. Hell in iRacing I should feel lucky to be able to drive the Formula Mazda for my talent probably lies within the Pontiac Solstice. Truth be told i should feel lucky that one of my talent is allowed on track with others :)  So good luck to those who are good enough to race in whatever Pro series iRacing come up with. To those that dont get to be a part of it, know that you have choices as to what you do next. Dig deep and make sure you are part of it next time, realise your talent level and be thankful for that or you can piss and moan in forums about how unfair the system is. I realise my own talent level and that makes those rare times when I do something special on the track seem even better.

Well win #3 has come for me in the Advanced Legend series. It would be fair to say that Im not the most winningest person in the world (if that is even a word) so when they do happen, Im pretty happy. The win was at Oxford Plains Speedway, a track that I found very challenging. No straights to speak of, just 1 big bend. For 40 laps I felt like I was in turn 1.

After a solid qualifying I started from pole position and wasnt headed all race. I held a comfortable lead all race and ended up some 6 seconds in front when the flag fell.

In further news I got my Road Course SR to 4.99 this week and my oval SR toppled over the 4.0 mark just today. Things have been going well with my SR for a few weeks now and I feel that having the rating in the first place has certainly made me place a lot of focus on my consistency.

This week also saw the Lotus 79 announced. Now I dont plan for my blog to be the bearer of news regarding iRacing at all (everyone should know by now anyway) but this announcement warrants comment. Coming from a GPL background this is exciting ands encouraging for the future. I dont plan on racing it as I havent even tried a Formula Mazda yet, but it is a car to watch and those guys with the alien gene will be able to have some ripper battles I hope.

Anyhow, enough of that. I got a win

Well it has been a few weeks since I picked up the iQuill but then I haven’t had much to say. Things have been going along quite nicely for me and I am still having a blast. Racing a Legend on the road courses has been the highlight for me these last few weeks. This series is only raced on 1 day of the week and it happens to be on 1 of my days off work. These things are not only a hoot to drive but they also bring a sense of comradarie I haven’t seen in other iRacing series before. When I turn up at 10.15am local time I recognise at least half of the field. At the end of the race we part with a ’see you next week’. It has a league feel about it even though the racing goes on all day. Numbers are down in this series so most drivers know roughly what time they are likely to get enough numbers to make a race out of it. A couple of posts ago I was kissing my SR goodbye but after 5 rounds I have only racked up 8 incident points. The racing has been clean and I have surprised myself with how consistent I have been able to put down my lap times. I could do with some speed to catch some of these guys (average finish is 6th) and it is this series that I am keeping half an eye on the standings. Highly recommended.

Side note - I tried the Legends mod for rFactor that came out this week. Very well made but iRacing  has got it by the short and curlies for immersion and the feeling of actually driving a ’scale’ race car.

The below quote was written by one of my RRE teamies. I responded with my thoughts in our private forum but wanted to share here.

“I’d got all caught up with how much fun I’m having and forgotton that it’s a long term thing”

When we first got hold of the Skippy and we went to Infineon I was off the pace with the base setup. I downloaded the GH set and was quicker but it needed tweaking for my style.

That was when the ‘long term’ thing hit me. I hope to be driving the Skippy for a long time. Does it really matter to me if Im a second or more off the pace from other guys if Im using a setup that I have created and tweaked? For now, no it doesnt. Every click I have made on the setup Im using has been from past experience on setups and reading about setting up this car. So far that has only been tyre pressure and track bar.  Seat time will also find me more ‘tenths’ I have no doubt.

I think back to GPL and how long it took me to go negative at Monza. I tried every set I could. GH, PJ, WW etc. Eventually I got there and was thrilled. That was years ago, before I joined ATR. About 6 months ago I reinstalled GPL and wondered if I still ‘had it’ at Monza. about 6 laps was all it took with the base setup to post a negative time. It was like riding a bike and showed me that the setup isnt so important.

So given the long term plan to drive iRacing, I will continue to create my own setups, gathering any and all advice given freely both here and elsewhere. I dont expect world domination with what I come up with but I expect to get better as time goes on.

This I was happy to see and I dont really know why. When I first got the Adv Legend in iRacing, I took it onto the road course and it was fun. I sucked but it was fun. But that was all I did. I didnt do any Titans racing during week 13 so I dont really know why Im excited. Maybe I just know it will be fun.

iRacing have announced that the road course series will be 1 day per week folllowing the Skippy schedule. Suits me. I only have to learn 1 track and I can still concentrate my focus on the Skippy. I did a couple of laps in the Legend at Infineon. Looks like I can kiss my Safety Rating goodbye LOL. I did manage to do a timed lap and it isnt much slower than the Skippy. Should be fun. Oh and its also great to get wheel spin on pit exit. Something the Skippy wont do.

Had my first race for the week in the Rookie Legend. Finished 6th out of 10 and my SR went backwards. Thats what you get I suppose. Was great fun though.

Well after a day off work with a head cold, my new PC arrived. Well did I get over my cold pretty quick or what

quad core HP media centre type thing, 22″ monitor and Vista and Im away again. The graphics card holds it back a bit but I am running solidly above 80fPS in a custome mode between class 2 and 3. Im pretty pleased with it.

So now Im keen to get into some racing, particularily the Skippy. We are having some good setup discussion inside RRE and our laptimes are falling. Pretty soon we will only be 4 seconds off the pace instead of 7 LOL

Im looking forward to Series 3 and plan on racing the Late Models (on the tracks I own. Im not made of money you know. Im short 3 tracks) and Skippy as my main series. Im also keen to help out the new guys and make up the numbers in the rookie series as well. should be fun.

well I gave back my borrowed dual core PC and have been running iRacing off my laptop. Well that died last week and my old P4 3.2 just doesnt cut it to race on. Its ok for time trials (class 6 graphics) but I get a lot of frame rate loss when there is another car on the track.

So, a new PC has been ordered and should be here in a couple of weeks. I will be out of action for those couple of weeks so I guess its bye for now, see you soon.