The Continuing Incompetence at iRacing

Before I get going I'd like to say that I don't enjoy writing this sort of thing. I would much rather be writing about how brilliant sim racing is and what a great weekend it was with real-world F1 and GT3 drivers participating, but things like this have to be pointed out. You can't pat them on the back when the same simple mistakes are made time after time. Anyway, onwards!



So another iRacing special event has come and gone. This time, it was the turn of the Spa 24 Hours, and boy, what a shambles it was.



The corresponding race last year suffered from a decision to not introduce an incident limit, despite being warned about what would happen. Sure enough, teams racked up thousands of incidents by using the swathes of runoff available at Spa. Even individual drivers topped 1000 incidents. That race led to iRacing introducing incident limits to special events at venues that really didn't need them.



One year later, we arrive at Spa with a 300 incident limit set for the race. Fantastic! It may not be perfect, but it'll stop rampant abuse of track limits. Only iRacing didn't know the maximum number of incidents their own system could handle. Rather than the 300 incidents, the 01:00 GMT timeslot got a very rude awakening - 44 incident points!



For those that don't know, Spa is a track that is highly inconsistent with its track limits. Some places you can run well over the white line and be OK, others you get an off-track while a good chunk of the car is still within the white lines. The worst thing about Spa off-tracks? There is no visual reference for where the limit is, for the most part, making it difficult to run clean lap after clean lap, should you dare to push the limits even slightly.



In the end, 26 teams were disqualified from the first timeslot for hitting the incident limit. I'm sure they were all very dangerous and deserved those disqualifications.



So, with this being another huge iRacing event and people panicking, wondering if the issue would be fixed for the 13:00 GMT timeslot, you'd think there would be some communication. Two posts were made by one staff member... around eight and a half hours apart.



The second post came along stating the race would now run without an incident limit due to a "deep backend issue". The suspicion from some members is the incident limit error was integer related, as can be seen here - https://imgur.com/a/aG16vMs



So, to recap, you have staff barely communicating what is happening, staff that don't know the limitations of the system they are using and a system that was never designed to be used in this manner. That left most people completely unaware of what the limit would be when loading into the race session.



The result of having no incident limit was fairly predictable - drivers using every bit of tarmac they could, racking up hundreds and thousands of incident points. You can't even complain about it, because iRacing set the precedent last year by letting it go.



"But ethics" some scream. Ethics don't come into it I'm afraid, as much as you'd like it to. It is up to the organisation to set the limits AND enforce them. Rules and regulations are there to keep people in check. If you aren't prepared to have clear rules and/or apply those rules, this is what happens. Top-level racing drivers are expected to take every chance to go faster, whether you agree with that or not. Did it look stupid? Yes. Questionable ethically? Sure. But there is only one place to lay the blame - iRacing.



While a bigger overhaul of the incident system is required, there is something available to iRacing if they really want to sort this out in the short-term - slowdowns. I know, they are a nuisance when you get them, work somewhat inconsistently in how much time you need to give up and can create dangerous situations. However, if they want an actual deterrent to running wide, it works. They are used effectively at Le Mans at the exit of high-speed corners and on the inside of other corners. It stops rampant cutting/track extending. It's also fairly easy to work out what is and what isn't OK, because there is a guide showing you the limits.



Back on the subject of incident points; this is the fifth time (that I'm aware of) there's been a screw-up in the last 12 months. The decision to not implement one after being warned about what would happen at the Spa 24 last year. Then we had 50x for the first timeslot of Le Mans last year when it should have been 100x. That was followed by iELMS Sebring having 100x when it should have been 50x. Le Mans this year didn't have a limit after it was stated it would be 100x. Finally, we have the shambles of the Spa 24 this past weekend.



Add in constant errors in the season schedule and not advertising timeslots correctly (in the case of iELMS), I get the feeling there is a severe lack of attention to do detail at the moment. Why? Who knows, but there are basic errors happening on the series/race admin side of things that are not acceptable. Let us not forget, people are, potentially, paying $110 a year to use this service, on top of whatever cars and tracks they have to buy to race in particular series.



I could also go into the lack of stewarding in top-level events where you can win a healthy chunk of money, but I think the Porsche Esports Supercup tells you all you need to know on that front.



And if that isn't enough, you have the ever-present shambolic netcode that shows up in just about every race:

https://streamable.com/q6u79 https://www.twitch.tv/natelupson/clip/EntertainingPluckyPizzaBIRB



For sim racing in general, it was probably a really good weekend, what with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris competing in and winning the Spa 24 (a massive shoutout to their teammates, Max Wenig and Max Benecke, who were outstanding), but for existing iRacing members? What an absolute joke.

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