1/11/2024 – Fanatechnical Difficulties – Episode 0417
iRacers Lounge Podcast – Conversation Topics
Show Introduction
On the show today we will be talking iRacing and Indycar, officially this time. We give sad farewell to the iRacing membership site, and in the Hardware section talk about the what’s happening to one of the largest sim racing product companies.
And remember you can follow along with us on your PC or mobile device in real time as you listen to the show and see for yourself all of the great topics and products we’ll discuss by visiting iracerslounge.com and selecting show notes. Hope to see you there..
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Special Guest
Guest Name
General Questions:
- What brought you to iRacing and how did you hear about it?
- Which series do you normally run?
- What type of hardware do you use? (Wheels, Pedals, ect.)
- Software
- What gear did you use when you first started iRacing?
- Do you run Monitors or VR?
- How many monitors?
- What VR headset are you running?
- Are you part of a team?
- Do you participate in any leagues or is it just official racing?
- What is your most memorable iRacing moment?
Topics
Are Esports Failing?
D J YeeJ asks if Esports are failing in the realm of sim racing’s different genres
Three genres –
Simcade (forza, gran turismo)
Sim Racing (iRacing, acc, rfactor)
Official Titles (F1, wrc)
Season 2 Schedule
iRacing is taking input for the season 2 schedule
https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/54011/2024-season-2-schedule/p1
https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/54009/2024-season-2-schedule/p1
https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/54006/2024-season-2-schedule/p1
The Grass is Slippier
Albert Piskula asks if the grass is back to being icy slippery
https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/53778/is-ice-grass-back
Onboard Oval Refresh
iRacing posted a video with an onboard look of the new Oval Refresh in action and some explainations of how it has changed
IROC Changing Hands
the iconic IROC (International Race of Champions) brand has been aquired by NASCAR Hall of Famer Ray Evernham and venture capitolist Rob Kauffman with the intent to have an IROC racing event in 2024 with historic IROC race cars while exploring future opportunities.
iRacing Late Model Ready for 2024
iRacing’s Tyler Hudson is ready for his iRacing sponsored Late Model, where he will be moving up in a division.
When Opportunity Knocks
iRacing posted a video of Anthony Jones making a last second pass to take an improbable victory when the oportunity arrised
No Glitching in iRacing
D J YeeJ posted a short video of some of iRacing’s more extreme glitched
It’s Official!!
After the collapse of Motorsports Games and a few teases over the last couple of weekds, iRacing and Indycar have announced a multi year licensing agreement
https://www.iracing.com/iracing-and-indycar-sign-multiyear-license-agreement/
Broadcasts Can Resume
Drew Adamson tweeted that broadcasters are now permitted to broadcast races utilizing the following 3 cars again.
-Dallara IR18
-Dallara DW12
-Dallara IR-05
WoO Week 7
Aiden Forster claims first World of Outlaws Thrustmaster Sprint Cars win at Fairbury
Member Site Expiration Date
iRacing announced on the forums that January 16th will be the end of the run for the iRacing Member Site. Everything race related will now go through the iRacing UI
Shift Up Now
Ash Vandelay will be working with Shift Up Now. first up for them wil be a webinar for members on breaking down any entry barriers to iRacing – download, setup, going through the UI – everything explained.
11K and Counting
Aaron Vazquezz has hit 11,000 iRating and now has the top iRating in all of iRacing
Short Track Rules
NASCAR officials announce new 2024 rules package for short tracks and road courses. How will this effect iRacing
Fixed RTP
There has been some rumors about the iRacing Road to Pro Series going to fixed setups
Indy Details
Following up on yesterday’s exciting news regarding the renewed partnership between iRacing and INDYCAR, I am going to outline and expand on some of our plans for the relationship.
First and foremost, the return of the Indy 500 on iRacing. We are excited to bring back this iconic event. Given the calendar dates available, we will be running both the Open and Fixed setup version of the Indy 500 concurrently during the week of May 27th-June 2nd. However we will once again run them on separate weeks in 2025. We have not finalized the time slots as of yet but we will focus on limiting overlap as much as possible. Both events will once again feature unattached qualifying throughout the week.
We are also happy to bring back the year-long INDYCAR iRacing Tour (formerly the INDYCAR iRacing Series). We have been quietly working with the community to fine tune the concept. We are happy to announce that the series will feature full length races with the exception of the week of the Indy 500. That race will be shortened for the events happening within the series so as not to have competition for the Indy 500 special event.
Regarding the INDYCAR Series (or the Open Series as a lot of people call it), we are not mandating any changes. We are excited that the community can vote on the real world tracks again which only adds to the authenticity of the series. We have been in discussion with the community to work on keeping the overall race session at or under 1 hour to make it more palatable to more members. Hopefully, with the addition of the full length series, this will be understood as a step to bring in more drivers.
We are also going to be adding a supplemental series to the open series with INDYCAR Series – Fixed. This series will also run at the B level and will follow the same schedule as the open variant. However these races will be of the sprint variety similar to that being used with Super Formula. These races will not overlap with the open series. Once again, the goal here is to bring in new drivers and give them an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the Dallara IR-18.
Lastly, the C level series will also move to the B class and will be renamed INDYCAR – Oval. With the addition of fixed setup series that follows the open series, we are going to make sure that those wanting that open wheel oval experience have a dedicated home. The series will run 12 weeks of ovals moving forward and may use any oval available.
Schedules requests for these series will be posted shortly. We look forward to seeing everyone on the track!
The new fixed series will be pure sprint races that are about 15 minutes in length. There will be no pitstops. We still have the open setup series and the full length race series to let this car shine through multiple strategy usage. The fixed series is just to get folks in the door.
https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/comment/460934#Comment_460934
The 2024 Indy 500
https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/54124/indycar-update-details-indy-500-series-expansion
Season 1 Patch 3
https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/54176/2024-season-1-patch-3-release-notes-2024-01-10-01
SFE Simexpo 2024
JOIN US! at the 4-day annual sim racing event where you can test-drive the latest sim racing gear and cutting-edge technologies from international leading brands – all under one roof. Take the wheel, be the first to engage with new releases, witness demos, push your skills to the limit in onsite competitions, gain valuable insights at the seminar, and watch the SFE 2024 Super-Final and podium ceremony of the European Championship up close in the sim arena.
Coke Schedule 2024
https://www.enascar.com/news-media/2024/01/11/24cocacolaschedule/
The Roar in ’24
Daytona 24
https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/53748/special-event-2024-daytona-24-powered-by-vco
Podcast Housekeeping
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Hardware/Software
Customer Service Hell Pt3
Danny Moffat released part three of his Fanatec customer support issues. This is just the biginning of a litany of Fanatec customer support and product problems.
Here we are again unfortunately with another faulty wheelbase. It’s one of a faulty batch from last year that won’t detect when a podium hub is attached
He lives in Macau, near Hong Kong, so he bought it from his supplier and not directly from Fanatec. Well, fanatec will not honor their warranty because of that…
They also should have ‘recalled’ the plastic qr, he says it is defective, and there should be a recall where they replace it with the metal one.
He bought a package, base, formula wheel, rally wheel. He got everything but the base. Found out recently that Sony has yet to grant the licensing to Fanatec and that is why they are not shipping it.
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Fanatec has delayed the release of its upcoming ClubSport DD+ racing wheel base due to a slow licensing process at Sony, the company has told customers awaiting the product. Originally expected to arrive with customers in December, the DD+ is now in a limbo until Fanatec can square it away with the console giant.
“The ClubSport DD+ is the first product on the market incorporating Sony’s new security electronics,” an email sent to pre-order customers from Fanatec says. “Consequently, the product approval procedures are comprehensive and time-consuming. Initially we expected to receive this approval sooner. To date, we are still waiting for it, which is why we are currently unable to ship your order.”
“We hope to have an update on the matter by mid-January and are doing whatever we can to expedite the approval process and deliver this exciting new product to you as quickly as possible.”
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Today I received an apology email from Fanatec Customer Support. I’m assuming many others got it as well. Once again they are blaming their slow response times to “system and process” issues instead of just admitting they have sub par customer service and it needs a major overhaul. I don’t know about you but I don’t feel like this is the best way to address the situation and Fanatec customers deserve better in my opinion.
He advised they changed warehouses and that is where the issues started and have snowballed, he doesn’t think a company can recover their reputation for the coming years…
Results
NASCAR iRacing Series
Thursday open –
- Justin- Winter NiS series Recap real solid week, Open Series I ran 2 races a P5 and a P9. Fixed series i ran 2 races also and came up with a P15 and a P1!!! WINNER WINNER. So with those races In the Open series it put me to P1 in Points with a 30 point lead. Then in the Fixed series this puts me tied for P1 in points. North Wilkesboro Speedway is going to be tuff this week. Short tracks are one of my weak points. Wish me Luck
Friday Open – Mike -. P25 – top split was running at highest top five for a while, but then ran into the back of a guy who just kind of stopped in the corner and I had damage and the car was never the same sense later on. I ended up spinning twice on my own.
Official Series
Ellis–
- Draft masters, 87’s at Daytona. Got wrecked P18.
- I was running fifth and they got wrecked from a guy on the outside of creamed the wall and took me out finish P 23
- Wrecked out on third attempt
- Wreck out on the fourth attempt
- Fia F4- tsukuba – qualified 10th finish fourth great race
- DraftMaster GEN four at Daytona – got dumped on lap six finished P 16
- GT Sprint VRS – Daytona started p12 finished p13. Had good pace and made it into top 10 but had not ran this series in a while and took too much fuel on pit stop. Gave up at least 2-3 spots with that error.
Kerley Draft Masters P8. Good clean race except for the 563 wrecks. I actually avoided all of them but had to slow down to avoid them and could not catch anyone.
- Brian – Atlanta. Qualified 4th and jumped out to the lead early. Led the first 10 laps but quickly learned I was pushing too hard. Settled in and rode in 4th until pit stops. Did a better job of managing tires from that point. P2
B Open
John P13. I’m pissed. Was running 5th and moving up and some jerk that got in a wreck drove off the apron and hit me three times. We were in the last 15 laps when this happened. That ruined my race. I was fast and could have won . What can I say.
C Open
John P6. Was in the mix the entire race. Great close racing the whole way in the top 10. Top 6 pulled away with 10 to go and we had a dogfight and it was a blast. One of the cleaner races I’ve had in awhile.
IMSA
Brad – P4 after starting p12. Survived the first few lap heroes and worked my way up to p5. Had pace but p6 was quicker till stopping for fuel. Came back out ahead of him and the remainder of the race was a yo-yo of gap between the two of us. It really depended on how and where I was when the GTP cars caught us to pass. Really caused me to try and set them up to pass me at the most opportune time for me.
League / Hosted Races
Winter Series League –
- John – P0. Had a meeting and missed the race.
- Brad – p 25 Started p12 and had very good pace until getting caught up in an accident not of my own doing. Someone got turned on the front stretch and drilled me into the outside wall. Tried to get repairs without losing a lap but the car was never right after the accident. Looped it late in the run and pounded the inside wall. Night was done.
- Justin P24 really not much to say was running mid pack most of the race and a lap car got into me and i was done
- Mike- p P 17 I ended up spinning on the first caution, bringing it out by myself. I pitted at that time and got off sequence with the leaders ended up staying out with everyone else. Put it under green was high as P2, but eventually settled into finish P 17.
Final Thoughts
Words Spoken in Closing Audio Clip -“”Thank you for listening to the iRacers Lounge podcast make sure to go subscribe to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Google Play, Facebook & Twitter, See You On The Track .”
TITLE
- Fanatechnical difficulties
Description
On the show today we will be talking iRacing and Indycar, officially this time. We give sad farewell to the iRacing membership site, and in the Hardware section talk about the what’s happening to one of the largest sim racing product companies. So sit back, relax and join us on the iRacers Lounge Podcast.
iRacers Lounge Podcast is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play Music, Spotify, Soundcloud, Podbean, Spreaker, Podbay, PodFanatic, Overcast, Amazon, and other podcast players.
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Hosts:
Mike Ellis – twitter.com/MikeDeanEllis
David Hall – www.twitch.tv/mixmage
Greg Hecktus – twitter.com/froozenkaktus – www.twitch.tv/froozenkaktus
Brian Maccubbin – www.twitch.tv/MacRubbinsRacin
Kyle Pendygraft – twitter.com/LoudPedalGaming
Tony Rochette – twitter.com/TonyRochette
Tom Dreiling –
Donnie Spiker – twitter.com/Spikerman19
Bobby Jonas –
MacKenzie Stevens – https://twitter.com/MackStevens48
Justin Pearson – https://twitter.com/big7bang_
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