As an experienced ChampCar Endurance Series racer, I want to share the main concepts I learned along the way to getting started in iRacing and running a ChampCar iRacing event. I'm not going to explain how to do all these things, there are YouTube videos and plenty of internet articles for most of this stuff. However, I did not locate a master checklist or walkthrough that was direct and explained what was possible without all the details. So here goes:
Getting started checklist:
* Its important to know what you want to do with iRacing - what type of racing you want to do, what tracks you want to race on, how much $ you want to spend. All this stuff will affect your decisions. (at the start my goal was to work on driver development for Rachel and me. It has since expanded to include doing some sim racing with ChampCar and getting my D license for road and oval racing)
* Realize that this is a computer simulation of driving and racing - which means the physics is not going to be perfect, and people are not always going to behave the same as in real life.
* You are going to be paying for the iRacing subscription, and eventually you will want to buy tracks and cars - so you'll need a little extra $ for that. In the digital world this may seem expensive, but in real life all of this would cost a lot more
* Get a gaming PC (check iRacing site for minimum requirements) I am not an expert but if I were to upgrade anything it would be the video card
* Get a monitor (I used an old PC monitor to start - want to figure out what I want before I make a big investment. Most TVs now will accept input from PC)
* Get a steering wheel and pedals (Thrustmaster T150)
* Get some speakers (optional - can use headphones or earbuds)
* Decide where to put your racing setup (I advise a temporary setup as you will change your mind on what you want after you use it)
* Set up the PC (regular PC stuff - connect everything, initial configuration, download updates)
* Install the drivers for the wheel and pedals
* Go to iRacing website, sign up
* Download iRacing software. Download updates (you can use the website or the beta app. I find the beta app to be decent so I am using that mostly at the start)
* Get familiar with the cars and tracks offered with your subscription - know what they are and how to see them
* Get familiar with these activities: test, practice, time trial, racing
A test is just you in your car and the track. Great learning tool, does not count toward your safety or iRating
A practice is you in your car with other drivers on the same track. Again great learning tool. Best I can tell does not count toward safety or iRating
A time trial - well I see it listed there I don't know what it is yet
Racing is you and other drivers going through a sequence of activities: practice session (see practice above), then a practice within the event, followed by qualifying, entering the gird, then the actual race.
You can race against AI drivers which is another great way to get up to speed without wrecking your safety rating
* Get familiar with how the iRacing interface works
* iRacing has a license based rating system and a performance based rating system, which are not related. These ratings are kept separately for four categories of racing: road, oval, dirt, dirt oval. (seems relatively structured like SCCA or NASA)
* license based is your Safety rating. Safety rating is used to determine if you are eligible for the next level license. You start as a rookie, and can move up to D, C, B, A, etc. It monitors the number of times you go off or have contact as compared to the number of turns you have completed. If you do well you gain points.
* performance based is a rating of how good you are and is called iRating. In races with large # of entrants they will use this number to group you with similar rated racers. This is not very relevant at the beginning.
* I've experienced delays in getting the safety rating updated after races
First test:
* calibrate the wheel and pedals to the game
* it takes quite a while to get used to virtual driving, so don't get discouraged if you crash a lot. Just learn from your mistakes and soon you will understand the limitations of the car and you will improve. It's like learning to walk all over again. Treat it like you are driving someone elses car you had no input on setups, tire choice, etc and learn what it can do for you.
First practice:
* There is no driver meeting! There are rules: no speeding on pit road, stay below the blend line when entering the track - they will black flag you
First race:
* Be sure to choose a race that will/will not count toward your safety rating as you prefer. A column on the race selection menu tells you.
* Make sure you can hear your crew chief
* When you sign up for a race, it will automatically redirect you to a practice session.
* After the practice session, you will go to a very short practice, then qualifying, following by grid, then the race itself. Along the way it will tell you hundreds of people have signed up but don't worry they just put a small number of you in an event and they run multiple races off the same sign up.
* When the green rectangle at the top starts counting down to grid, it means you have that much time to press the button to be put on the grid. if you fail, the race will start with you in your pit stall. Once the pace car comes by they give a short countdown and you can go on track. If you are focused on safety rating this is a legitimate way to avoid start of race melee that often ends up wrecking cars and affecting your safety rating.
* If the race has a rolling start your spotter will instruct you which line you are in (inside or outside) and who to pass and who to follow. Be careful on the ovals you can get lulled into speeding up to the field then rear end someone as the pace car is fairly slow
* In each race there is a maximum number of safety violations allowed. They start counting this as soon as you get on the grid. Accidents during the pace lap count. Wheels off, loss of control, contact with other vehicles. Once you exceed the max you are disqualified from the race.
* iRacing spotter is OK but sometimes late to give you information. Can't rely on it exclusively. Also when wrecks are ahead it will try to guide you but the advice is not always great
Sim racing upgrades beyond the basics:
* Get the crew chief app:
https://forum.sector3studios.com/index. ... hiny.2516/
* Get the iRacing manager app:
https://youtu.be/w1GLdEAiu-I this will allow you to start Crew Chief app automatically when you start iRacing. Set this guy up to bring up iRacing Manager, then set up Windows to bring this buy up minimized when booting up the machine
* Learn how to access the in game menus. Controls pit stops - refueling, tire changes. Also can see tire temps, relative position in the field. Default for fuel is F4 and tires is F5
* Allow someone to spot for you. To do this you have to go into your profile and allow it. I have made this change to allow my friends in iRacing to get in with no password
* Program key functions into the buttons on your steering wheel
* Explore other overlays - overlays are programs that you run when you are in iRacing to assist you with various things. For instance I have one that in addition to showing my position on the track and gap to cars in front and behind, it shows the drivers iRating and safety rating. This info can help you understand the probabilities of being able to race close or negotiate a safe pass.
* custom setups. like Forza, Gran Turismo console based games you can modify car suspension setups. There are tutorials and even access to baseline setups for a vehicle at a specific track that can be obtained if you do some searching
* Join a league
Getting involved with ChampCar iRacing
* get your D license and keep your safety rating above 2.0
* apply to join the league
* go on forum.champcar.org and learn the schedule
* get on their Discord as you can learn about practice sessions they have days before the race
For the record, it was 11 days from the time I purchased my PC until my first ChampCar iRacing event. While my finishing results were not great, I finished and did not need to make repairs on the car.
Things I think I still need to do:
* Get a gaming headset or a microphone/ method to communicate
* Finish configuration/cables on 3 monitor setup to expand field of view for better peripheral vision
* how can people watch iRacing
* set up a league for our group
* find out if private races count toward safety rating
* investigate apps - position tracker
Note: I will update this as I learn more/have time