Archive for the ‘Dallara Indycar’ Category

2011 iRacing Indy 500 Race Report

Sunday, May 29th, 2011

This weekend saw the second running of the iRacing Indy 500, a race I was very eager to finish following last years DNF after just 17 laps. By way of coincidence, I managed to achieve almost exactly the same qualifying performance as last year. Last year I qualified 193rd of 636 competitors. This year was also 193rd of 638! Both a similar number of qualifiers, as well as exactly the same qualifying spot!

A final total of 975 racers took to the track and my race split was the fourth race split, as determined by qualifying time. As always, my race objective was to make it to lap 200 and see where things lined up, and stay at the back of the field if I had to. I started the race from the pit lane and managed to avoid a few of the early wrecks as things got settled out amongst the field.

Unfortunately I didn’t come close to finishing (yet again!) and again it was through no fault of my own – on lap 31 two cars collided down low and as I slowed and moved high to drive past one car slid up to the highline and collided with me, sending me into the wall with race ending damage.

Looking through the other splits it seems that most races have less than ten finishers at the end, so I suppose a winning strategy next year is to sit in the garage for 100 laps to pass before taking to the field. That won’t get me a win, but a top 10 is almost guaranteed!

2011 iRacing.com Indy 500 results (iRacing members only!)



Started :
23rd of 32
Finished : 25th DNF, 169 laps down, 27 points (6 incident pts)
iRating : -81
Safety Rating : A/4.99 (no change)

The next race in the iRacing World Tour is the Michigan 400 (NASCAR Sprint Cup) on June 18th.

The Second Annual iRacing Indy 500

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

This weekend brings the next event in the 2011 iRacing World Tour, with the second running of the iRacing Indy 500 event. Last years event (my race report is here) saw a combined total of 759 racers take to the grid for a full length virtual recreation of this prestigious event.

This time last year the iRacing Indy 500 was the very first World Tour event where the grids would be set by qualifying speed alone (not iRating as per usual). This has since been adopted as the standard way of assigning race grids in World Tour events and it has worked out pretty well.

My race last year was cut very short with just 17 of 200 laps completed (I was wrecked under caution!) so here’s hoping I can go the distance this time around. Here’s also hoping the iRacing servers can hold out, as I expect we will surpass last years registration count of 759!

Wrong place, wrong time at the Indy 500

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

A lot of luck is needed to get through these iRacing special events as anything can happen at any part of the track and at any time. The guys who make it to the end of, let’s say the iRacing Daytona 500 for example, demonstrate both a measurable level of skill as well as a good amount of sheer luck.

My split for the Indy 500 saw me start the race 5th. A very decent starting position, given that it meant that any mishaps would ‘probably’ take place behind me. And so it turned out, as the early cautions were safely away from me.

However one of the more risky aspects of racing here is the need for cars to catch up to the pace car under yellow. The track is so long that people regularly accelerate to 200mph (even under yellow) as they strive to catch the pace car as quickly as possible. This can cause absolute chaos when people catch the pace line and realise they have to slow down – immediately.

Unfortunately despite my ‘safe’ race position it didn’t help me in the following incident (a race ending incident for me). A competitor made a large error of judgement when catching the pace line and ploughed through a number of cars, with me being the final car. I didn’t notice any damage initially, but once under green it was clear my race was over as the rear wheel was knocked out of alignment and the car was undriveable. A shame to end the race, one day I’ll finish one of these oval special events…

iRacing.com Indy 500 results (iRacing members only!)



Started :
5th of 33
Finished : 24th, 183 laps down, DNF (4 incident pts)
iRating : -58
Safety Rating : A/3.23 (-0.24)

The next race in the iRacing World Tour is the Nationwide Impala at Road America – definitely looking forward to this one! With three DNFs from the last three oval World Tour events I’m relieved to be back racing a road event!