A Rollercoaster Of A Day on iRacing!

Rarely I compete in four races a week - but the stars just so aligned that on Wednesday 16th August, 2023 - I ended up doing four races.

I'll be honest - in my two weeks on the mainland, I missed some absolutely cracking races, namely the:

- FalkenTyre Sportscar Challenge @ Road America

- Delta Motorsport League "SIMX-5" at Charlotte Road Course*

*Race didn't run due to numbers

- DML "SIMX-5" @ Laguna Seca (the following week)

- GTP VS GT1 VS Toyota GR86 @ Le Mans (iRacing Charity Special Event)

- Spa 24 Hours (back in July) - had work

- Nurburgring Endurance Championship (R6) - Had work

- Evolution Sim Racing League race at Donington Park

Wednesday

FalkenTyre SportsCar Challenge @ VIR (Virginia International Raceway)

I kicked off Wednesday with a 10am FalkenTyre SportsCar Challenge race at VIR (Virginia International Raceway). I won't lie, VIR is probably one of my least-liked circuits on the service - and having only driven it twice (officially) - it's a rare occurence to race/practice there either.

I had a pretty forgettable race - racing in the bottom of two splits, in an all-GT4 split.

After qualifying 16th, I'd come home in a pretty unimpressive 13th - however I was car #14 (had the 14th lowest iRating) so I was up against a tough field.

At the end of a tough 16 laps, I'd finish 13th and lose -5 iRating - not exactly the direction I wanted to be heading in.

It wasn't the most exciting race - and upon crossing the finish line, 13th was the highest I had been all race - one to forget really.

RingMeister - Aston Martin Vantage GT4 @ Nurburgring Nordschliefe

The moment I read that the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 was getting it's very own dedicated week in the RingMeister Series - it became a calendar date that I wouldn't miss for the world.

I absolutely love the Aston Martin (GT4) to bits and to drive the Aston at the Nordschliefe is always an unmissable event.

It was a bitter-sweet day. After my previous attempt at Ringmeister in the Ferrari and the Nurburgring 24 Hours - I knew a lot could go wrong - and whatever happened during the race(s) - I had to make up for some bad luck/skill previously shown.

Qualifying

On my previous RingMeister attempt - I gave the race two attempts - one whilst qualifying, the other without.

As soon as I set a qualifying time, this would be used for any attempts at RingMeister I...attempted.

For my first attempt, I would jump straight into the race without qualifying and somehow, I'd end up starting 4th.

As of Friday 18th August, 2023 - only 176 drivers have qualified this week (for the Aston) thus far.

In my first race, the pole-man didn't set a lap-time, therefore it's pretty safe to assume that none of the others qualified either (otherwise THEY would have been on pole).

Anywho, I was chosen to start 4th on the second row - I just had to keep my eyes out of the rear view mirror and I would be okay.

Race (No Qualifying)

4 Laps. 28 minutes. I just had to finish.

The start was...interesting.

Predictably, the top 3 ahead of me dissapeared off into the distance - behind me, I was under a fair bit of pressure until the driver behind me got a wheel on the kerb

on the straight before Hatzenbach, this pitching him onto the grass before spinning.

With P6 behind also getting caught up in this accident - I had a few seconds of breathing space.

The Green Hell's next victim was the pole-sitter as he went deep into Metzgesfeld, getting a wheel on the grass in the middle of the corner, before being sent hurtling towards the barrier out of control.

I'd make it until Brunnchen before P9 (who passed P7 and the wreck of P6 & P5 - and the pole-sitter too) caught up to the back of me.

With a sprinkle of slip-stream, he was able to power past me on the Dottinghoe Straight - but it was okay, I started 4th - and with a 9-second gap behind - it was likely I was to finish 4th too.

With nobody wanting to finish 5th (2 drivers crashing out from 5th - well, one crashing and one pitting) and a 14 second gap to the car behind starting the penultimate lap - I knew I had breathing space and could cruise home with little pressure - but I knew that I couldn't be so lucky in the second race.

Starting the final lap, the Top 3 were 8 seconds ahead, and the next driver behind was a further 19 seconds behind me - it was a pretty calm drive to the end.

It was a pretty impressive drive from Osacer Nasstrom who came from 11th to finish 2nd.

Being so long, the Nordschliefe always rewards safe drivers - and I was absolutely one of those drivers - being given a healthy +45 iRating for my 4th place - jumping from 1469 to 1514.

In terms of my overall performance (since 2019), I jumped 10 positions from 24th (one above my best of 2022) to 14th - and with my "qualifying race" to go - I wasn't stopping there!

Race 2 (Qualifying)

With lunch in my stomach, I went back to the Nurburgring Nordschliefe - I'll admit, I was apprehensive - a long-lasting saying of mine on the service is

"You Can't Out-Perfect Perfect"

meaning, if you've had a perfect race - you can't BEAT it there's only so well you can do.

But apparently I was wrong.

I somehow managed to qualify on pole. Sure, nobody else had qualified - but it was my first pole of the year, and first pole since November 2022 - once again at the Nordschliefe - and once again with split-qualifying.

Getting pole in F3 in Monza in 2021, meant that since 2021 - I've had 1 pole a year (2021 I had two) Nice.

Joining me on the front row was Alkema, Alkema starting the previous race (my non-qualifying race) on pole before crashing out.

The Race

To my utter surprise - only the front row got a clean start - P4 tagging P3 into a half-spin at the final corner starting the Industrifahrten lap layout.

Even more surprisingly, I was able to lead the first FROM Pole - probably my first ever lap lead at the Nordschliefe - with the exception of my 6 at the 2022 iRacing Nurburgring 24 Hours.

The opening lap was absolutely wild with: P4 firing off at the exit of Flugplatz, P3 firing off at Schwedenkreuz,

P6 starting from the pits and

P10 going from 10th to 3rd in less than a quarter of a lap.

Lap 2 started VASTLY different in comparison to the previous race - having both P2 & P3 on my exhaust - P2 managing to nip around the outside at Sabine-Schmitz-Curve before P3 managed a VERY daring move down the inside at the first corner of the Hatzenbach.

I'd stay 3rd until the next lap when P4 behind passed me into Kallenhard.

It was another solid day for the Aston:

Q: 1st R: 4th

Car No: #4

I finished the day with a solid 1568 iRating - the 6th highest of my career - returning to where I was earlier in the summer - and a great place to start September - the goal being a new record by the end of the year.

Being under 100 iRating from a new target, it should be possible - granted I have some luck.

DML (Delta Motorsport League) SIMX-5 @ Okayama Short

I've had mixed luck in the DML SIMX-5 series.

R1: 3rd & 4th

R2: 2nd & 3rd

R3 & R4: DNS

R5 & R6: 4th & 3rd

Race 1

Race 1 wasn't too entertaining, me passing Robert off the line and finishing 4th from 5th and last on the grid.

Race 2 was a little more hectic off the line (being a reverse grid race, but after everyone sorted themselves out it was a pretty quiet race.

It was rather...uneventful, but good to be back racing at DML.