Blog A Day - Day 6: My 2024 iRacing Year In Review

I can’t lie, it’s been a difficult old year.

Following the ROAR Before The 24, I moved out and only returned to the sim in May 2024.

Whilst I was out, I missed:

The release of both rain (iRacing) and Le Mans Ultimate

in addition to: - 2 GT4 iRacing leagues (RTA & Motorsport UK GT4 leagues)

- Week 13 & the start of Season 2, 2024.

-V8 Supercars At Le Mans (first time in 4 years!)

And several special events including:

• 24 Hours of Daytona (Jan)

• 12 Hours of Bathurst (Feb)

• 12 Hours of Sebring (Mar) (Rain debut)

• 24 Hours Of Nurburgring

My Return

After a record-breaking 128 days (4 months, 1 week) away from the sim, I made my grand return at Spa - and in all honesty - it was a bit of a test run to ensure everything was working as it should....

mostly, all went to plan - there was just one glaring issue: my internet connection.

After qualifying 13th in class, a fellow Robin, Robin Riederich created a wonderful rendition of the Spa 1998 pile-up at Eau Rouge - paying a beautiful homage to David Caulthard

As I slowed to a stop to let those ahead sort themselves out, I fell to 17th - and emerged at the top of radillion in 13th.

Unfortunately, the driver of the pink car (ahead of me at the time) would spin right in front of me at Les Coombes - I'd have to take avoiding action/stop - and those behind re-passed me - and I'd fall back down to 17th.

The difficulty with my internet was that I couldn't get close to anyone as (on my screen) they were flickering - and I didn't know how close I could get without hitting them - or my game thinking I hit them - and they would have the exact same issue with me - on their screen I'd be flickering like a mad-man - and they couldn't get close to me either - incredibly annoying for both parties.

Through other driver's mistakes, I'd make my way up the field to 14th by the end of the first lap, then:

12th, before falling to 13th as I had no way to defend the faster car behind.

On lap 8, my prayers were answered and I gained 2 positions after an LMP murdered one at Radillion - and another GT4 just piled in, unsighted.

By the 10th lap (of 13) I somehow found myself back in the Top 10 - and after 10 long laps behind Mounce, I FINALLY passed him on lap 11...and then again (for good measure) on the penultimate lap.

I was on for an 8th place finish, but of course, I blinked at the final chicane, Mounce hit me and managed to sneak through - it was still a well-earnt 9th place.

And that's about as good as it got. The 1568 iRating I got out of this race was my best of the year.

June

Following Week 13, I had a streak of 5 iRating losses in a row:

12th June - FalkenTyre SportsCar Challenge - 12th (-23) (Oscherslaben)

19th June - FalkenTyre SportsCar Challenge - 14th (-40) (Watkins Glen)

22nd June - IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge - 21st (-5) (Watkins Glen)

26th June - FalkenTyre SportsCar Challenge - 15th (-24) (Misano)

29th June - Creventic Endurance Series - DNF (-23) (Misano)

<3rd July> - FalkenTyre SportsCar Challenge - 6th (+50) (MOSPORT)

<6th July> IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge - 14th (+27) (MOSPORT)

July

The Mosport week absolutely sort my iRating out - behind Spa, I had managed to get my 4th best iRating of the year behind Spa FalkenTyre, ROAR and Oscherslaben.

The following week the Ringmeister combination was Rallycross cars at the Nurburgring Nordschliefe - What an absolutely SPLENDID way to completely ruin all the hard work I put in at MOSPORT.

Unsurprisingly in the two races I did (one with a qualifying lap, one without) I didn't finish either - and instead ended the weekend -129 iRating less than I started with.

The 1401 iRating dipped me below the worst of 2023 - and lower than the best of 2022 - the last time I had an iRating this low was December 2023. Yikes. And I wasn't done yet.

I always feel very confident in the Aston at The Green Hell (Nordschliefe) - but it wasn't to be as I retired from the Nurburgring Endurance Series race - I was now at 1338 iRating - and my descent wasn't slowing.

Then there was the Spa 24 Hours - I won't go into details, but despite gaining +19 iRating, the mark left by that race undid any joy bought by iRating gain.

It was business as usual at the following FalkenTyre SportsCar Challenge race as I got kicked from the session due to a poor internet connection. (-51 iRating lost).

I was able to re-connect, but the damage had been done and there was no getting back 2 laps lost.

This was my worst iRating of the year - and at the time I was 261 iRating off where I had been just in May that year (two months prior)

My flatmates were also getting pretty annoyed/bothered by the poor internet signal, so we all asked our landlord for our own broadband (as opposed to using the one next door) and I wasn't quite expecting the results in iRacing to come so quickly with the arrival of the new broadband...

After over a month and a half of misery and iRating loss - I finally saw a glimmer of hope at Road America.

Somehow, I qualified on pole for my class - this gave me a huge sense of relief - as all I had to do was keep up my qualifying pace - and lead the pack to a nice, smooth, easy (?) podium - and that's exactly what I did - scoring my first podium in over a year!

I ran a conservative strategy - whilst this meant I finished with enough fuel (something I worry a lot about), It cost me 2nd place by 0.4s

From there, my luck sort of...fizzled.

August

I tried to do that weekend's IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race - but ended up accidentally doing another FalkenTyre Race - luckily not all too much damage was done.

The following week was Hockenheim - and I was put in top-split/the only split that was racing - and the average iRating of the field was 2,200...yikes.

After a rather uneventful race at VIR (FalkenTyre), I've had four occasions in which a podium was well within my grasp...but just never close enough.

The most recent being when Ringmeister ran GT4's at the Nordschliefe - and I was in 3rd on the final lap - with 4th breathing heavily down my neck - I missed my braking point into Fuchsröhre - went wide into the barrier and ruined a good shot at a Top 3 or 4.

Le Mans 24 Hours (Global COSPIT Tour)

Before we knew it, August 17th and the 24 Hours Of Le- sorry, The next round of the Global COSPIT Tour was upon us - and it just so happened to be a 24 Hour race at Le Mans in August.

With an all-Brit squad - we all raring to go.

raceday came and we were put in an incredibly bizarre split with only 8 fellow GT3 cars. To our total shock Xavier Williams was absolutely on pace in qualifying, managing an absolutely outstanding P2 in class in qualifying - this lad had pace.

After a conservative start, Xavier passed the leader before he'd even reached the Porsche Curves on the opening lap - from there it was about managing the gap behind.

On Lap 2, P2 would go a little deep into the Esses/Tetre Rouge - P3 was onto him on an instant - as P2 and P3 battled - we had a chance to inch open the small gap that had already been created. Kabort would begin to pull away - leading from lap 2-8, before P2 would catch up and pass.

At the end of Lap 12, the leader would dive into the pits - Kabort doing the same the following lap.

As Kabort pitted, P1 (THLF) would re-take the lead until Lap 19.

After getting caught up behind a slow/dangerous LMP2, THLF would spin at the final chicane, giving us a chance to escape.

The former leader's race went from bad to worse as just 3 laps later, The Mustang would over-correct a slide at Tetre Rouge and plough into the barrier. For us, this was a huge weight off our shoulders - the THLF Mustang was a huge threat.

This only left one other car on the lead lap - and with a a healthy 30-second gap to the car behind, Xavier could take things easy.

By the 3rd hour, we had lapped P3, and P2 wasn't a threat.

Kabort would eventually lead from laps:

2-8 (From race start to overtaken/pit-stop)

20-26 (In lead until pit-stop) | (Lap 26 - Hour 3 began)

34-81 (Taquito pitted from lead)

After not seeing P2 for a half-a-dozen laps or so, we began to grow curious/concerned - but on Lap 64, they emerged from the pits - us being 2 laps ahead of them.

After a 10+ lap 1-2 streak, disaster struck for the P2 car as it overcorrected at Tetre Rouge, got into a tank-slapper and was wiped out by an LMP2 behind - Team Lapped in 3rd (a further lap behind) had a chance at P2!

On Lap 70, we reach 4 hours in the lead with 4 and a half hours run. 6 laps later, on Lap 76 - our race finally began to unravel - as the hours went on - I did begin to think "is this going too well?"

I was tapped into a spin by an LMDH at the Porsche Curves and did moderate damage to the car - but we were able to resume with the lead we had.

On Lap 83 it happened - our race came to an end. Once again at the Porsche Curves, a LMDH tried to go around the outside, but cut in too sharply cutting across our nose, and firing us straight into the barrier.

Once the repairs were done, we continued on - purely for the driving pleasure/enjoyment of hanging out and driving.

The only positive was that we all gained a single iRating out of the event - had we retired earlier, the class result would have likely been the same, albeit with much higher iRating loss.

To finish Season 3, 2024 was a rather difficult weekend - it should have been easy enough, Lady Luck just wasn't on my side.

Ringmeister (No Quali) - got up to 12th, then spun it at the corner before karrousell - I've never spun there before, then a very poor rejoin from me.

Bathurst - Made it to Lap 10/15, car ahead went off, I slowed down, the driver behind tried to pass us both at the same time - wrecked both of our cars and races

Ringmeister (Quali) Started 3rd - stayed there until final lap before I went too hot/off-line into Foxhole and crashed - I was 1/4 a lap away from a podium. Ouch.

Interlagos - start incident, contact then more contact later on as someone tried to re-join.

With that, my season was over.

I did to the iTesting event but to no avail.

between 11th September and 17th October, I had no internet access and made my race debut after 44 days at Laguna Seca in the FTSC (FalkenTyre Sports Car Challenge)

as before, I was plagued by poor internet signal.

In the following week at Hockenheim, I experimented by putting my router slightly closer to my front door, I noticed an improvement, but not enough that I feel comfortable to do the Nurburgring Endurance Series which I intend on doing next year.

Next up was the double header at the Red Bull Ring - FalkenTyre and IMPC.

FalkenTyre went a bit south, getting wiped out on Lap 1, IMPC was a BLAST going from 32nd exiting the pits (pit-start) to 4th after 2 hours.

I've made a highlights video here, featuring all the best bits:

To finish the season, it was Sebring (11th --> 8th), a Zolder double header (FalkenTyre and IMPC - 2hr Michelin Pilot Challenge)

FTSC: 22nd --> 19th

IMPC: 34th --> 24th (Last after Lap-1 shunt)

Spa FTSC: Qualified 12th, Started from Pits, Fin 13th (Top-Split)

After the final race of the season at Spa, I ended the season at my 5th highest of the season.

Whilst things may look kind of bleak at the moment, I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks - especially Week 13 and Season 1, 2025 thereafter.

Whilst my iRating is nothing special at my 5th best of the season, it's a good, solid foundation to start next year's campaign at.

Beat the previous season and go from there.

2025 is lining up to be a classic with a few surprises along the way I'm excited to reveal in the coming days! Tomorrow's blog will also be rather interesting: A Road-Trip!

See you soon!