iAm Headed Down a Dark Road: iRacing Blog, Day 3
By trace 10 Comments
Day 3: May 27th, 2013
My testing and training continues in iRacing, and I continue to be generally unsatisfied with my performance. I’ve finally become reasonably comfortable with the 360 controller, but pulling off consistent laps without incident is still largely impossible with twitchy steering. For now, the shoddy control is acceptable, and I’ve been working on learning the racing lines for the four courses involved in the Mazda Cup. Hopefully the practice pays off, and I can attain some level of success and springboard my career to the next level.
When I haven’t been testing or blankly staring at the ceiling, I’ve been compounding my iRacing mistake into an even greater mistake, as I enter the world of recording and streaming. Here, have a Day 3 rundown of Lime Rock:
At some point, screenshots alone will not be enough to illustrate my testing and race performances. This is where a short-term investment into XSplit comes into play.
…fucking hell, I could become one of those livestreamer types now. That’s a little unsettling.
Regardless, the brunt of my testing continues to be focused on Lime Rock, in the hopes I can reach (and perhaps breach) the one minute barrier. This may not be the wisest choice, especially given that Lime Rock might not be the first track next season, but it’s the track I’m struggling at the most. Whereas Laguna Seca, Okiyama, and Summit Point tend to be more of a mix of straightaways and sharp turns, Lime Rock has a constant flow of turns and steering to it. There’s also not a great amount of areas where I’d feel comfortable passing, which means I need to be fast in order to setup a pass in turn one. Failing that, it would help to qualify well so I don’t have to pass as often, and hopefully I won’t be slow enough to get run over by more aggressive veterans.
There’s a lot of worrying in my head about the inevitable first race, as you can tell.
As the video shows, I have a lot of work left to do. My regular lap time is still two to three seconds slower than it needs to be for a good run. I still haven’t found a comfort zone in my turn-in points for every turn. Once I establish that consistency, I think my times should begin to slowly drop.
Meanwhile, the wheel is slowly on its way. I think the latest email I received means they’re thinking about shipping it out within the next week or so.
There is a small chance I’ll turn into some awkward livestreamer, but until that catastrophe unfolds, the goal remains the same: Pick up speed at Lime Rock.
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