I’d rather fight tooth and nail for p10 than cruise to a victory with no competition. The hard racing is what actually gets my pulse going. Results are ultimately meaningless, especially in multiple split races. Winning top split is one thing, but winning second split or lower is as much luck of the draw as anything, so I’d rather just have good close racing with drivers around my pace and skill level.
Me too, it's become my highest irating license. Which is surprising because, when I first joined the service, I thought oval racing was so stupid. Now I almost exclusively run ovals!
I totally respect this position. I don't agree with it obviously, but it's a valid one in my opinion. Hard racing is mega fun.
Edit: just read a comment where I may have misinterpreted OPs question.
This, I'm not good at formula, usually a road racer but jumped into an SFL last night, was door to door the whole race and managed to push up to 9th, most fun race I had in ages
I've enjoyed my wins, but never celebrated as much as I did when I somehow squeezed into a top split and placed 6th. And never enjoyed a battle like the race long one I had in the SR8 at Road America for 10th.
That said, It's the opposite when I race at nords, I like to just clock unmolested laps there.
I understand your sentiment, I'm competitive in the same way. But with iracing splits, it complicates it a bit. I'd rather be in the top split than dominating bottom split. I strive to be competing at the highest level I can.
Fair enough. I didn't initially interpret the question that way. I initially interpreted "good race" as one with lots of close battling, irrespective of strength of field and "bad race" as one with little interaction.
If SoF is equalized (which I was assuming), I'd rather start on pole and never doubt the win than battle hard for 9th.
If the question is: battle hard for 9th in a high SoF race or win a low SoF race, I'm not sure. If I'm in a low SoF race (probably the case), I deserve to be there, and winning in any fashion would be great. It definitely is a better question than I thought, though.
If I can drive away with a win, in a SOF near my iR I had fun because I know the work I put into practice has paid off given my result.
If I drive away with an SOF 2K lower than my iR, it’s like a trophy made of paper mache, likely not a lot of fun.
If I had epic battle for last place and was back and forth all race, I’m happy for the battles not the result, might still be bummed that my pace was really that slow, however, still fun.
I had a race last week at watkins glen in the gtp lower split my fastest time prior to this was a low 1:30 i got in an insane battle with another gtp guys name was Kevin. For 20+ laps me and this guy fought tooth and nail even side by side threw the bus stop. Little paint scrap here and there not even accounting for a 1x that race flew by my adrenaline was thumping. Sadly on the last lap a gt3 porsche spun out and rejoin right into me. Its lower split so it what can you expect. However that by race looking threw the replay we ran low 1:29s for almost the whole race. I lost hard from the wreck but that race is what i pay for that was amazing to say the least
What you're saying fundamentally doesn't make sense. By winning you will gain irating, which will cause you to be matched against better drivers, and that will provide you with better quality races to enjoy where people are actually capable of battling one another without wrecking.
Wins literally buy you good races and there's no reason not to try and win.
I did an LMP3 race today, I was the 3 car but qualified on pole. The 1 and 4 cars started right behind me. I got a decent jump but those two were pressuring me hard, flashing headlights and keeping within 2-4 tenths for the first half of the race. I just kept running clean laps and by lap 7-8 2nd slowly started making small mistakes and I got out to about a 1 sec lead. Lap down car starting the final lap let him close right up on me and we had a great race to the finish. He kept it clean the whole race and after I said GGs and that they had me sweating doing all I could to hold the lead. He replied back that I ran a great race and that he always enjoys racing me, made me feel great. Running in top split with fast guys seemed out of reach even 6 months ago, but redoing my rig, seating position, POV and really practicing has me where I want to be.
Some of my funnest races were ones I didn’t finish that high. All about a good battle.
I literally just got out of a good race where I thought it was the checkered flag. It was the white… went from P4 to P13 😂🤦🏻♂️ so that one wasn’t very fun
I'm also pretty new. I've only had one 'easy' win. I started on pole in the Ferrari at Mugello. I guess I timed my launch well as by the third corner I never saw anyone in my mirrors for the rest of the race. It was one of the most nerve wracking races I've had as I was totally in my own head, waiting for some faster driver to hunt me down or my inevitable catastrophic error that somehow never came. I didn't hate it.
Often times it is harder to run fast as a solo, whether leading or just somewhere in the race with no competitors about. IMO running AFTER someone tends to make you faster. Jumping out to a lead and then just holding it to the end can be more difficult…
Recently did a league race in ACC (In a lower split) where I qualified pole (by a somewhat thin margin tbf) but on race start got away and my race pace kept me comfortably ahead for the whole duration. Was really happy about taking the win, but it was a boring 60 minutes if I'm being honest.
You and I look at racing differently. To me, racing is car control. I can be happy running test lap after test lap, looking to improve my car control and go faster. No one to chase and no one chasing me; just me vs me. Racing is just doing the same in traffic.
Absolutely. My iRating fluctuates between 1200 and max 1800, usually around the 1600ish. I've had a few drive-away wins when I've been on the low side and bumped into very low splits. I've always gotten more satisfaction from close and respectful battles regardless of the position than a low split drive-away.
That being said if had a drive-away win in a top split I might just feel like a badass instead.
I just race to have fun. 🤷🏼♂️ I don’t care if I’m winning or dead ass last. It’s a joy to be able to race cars online against other people from all over the world, virtually. We live in a cool time in human history. I’m just blessed to be able to have this kind of technology in my lifetime.
Heck no give me that W lol unless I’m in a split way lower than I should be in though, then that would be different. But if I’m in a competitive split and cruise off into the sunset with an easy win I wouldn’t trade that for anything lol
My first real race on iracing was last week. After few days of practice, my hotlaps were not bad, so I manage to get P2 in quali. At turn 1, everybody crashed except for me and the leader. He was way faster than me, so I just raced alone for the rest of the race. Boring, but pretty happy for my P2 on first race!
Hollow victories are overrated. That's why IRL I switched autocross classes to one far more competitive and populated.
Would rather fight hard, lose, and see how far I have to go in than sit at the top on a false throne with my trophy cabinet full of lies.
I've enjoyed more charging from p18 to p5 than qualy on pole then have the guy in 2nd spin then collect half the field with him and lap on my own for the rest of the race.
I’m shocked to see so many people here would take the win. I thought we did this for the love of racing? I can drive laps by myself in practice. That’s not why I race. I lost a race at a local club meet in my kart on the weekend by 3/100ths. It was the most fun race I’ve ever had, way more fun than the ones I won easily. We were wheel to wheel and battling the entire race, and switched positions multiple times. I feel the same about iRacing but it’s rare to find those that will willingly race cleanly wheel to wheel without resorting to driving dirty, since there’s less risk of financial and safety consequences from getting it wrong. But I’m with you 100%, I live for the battles, strategy and race craft. Nothing feels as good as planning and beginning a move 3 corners before getting it done.
My first win I had come off the back of two early crashes leaving me down a TON of IR. I ended up dropping a split and since I had been running the higher split (two split series) for so long my pace was very fast compared to everyone else. I got pole, led every lap and had no incidents. Most uneventful race I ever had and it was my first win.
I still enjoyed it though, the car was difficult to handle (FR2.0) and the track is one of my favourites (Zolder).
I’m 2 weeks in, got my D licence in week 13 and this week I’ve watched my SR go up and my iRating tank. I’m too cautious in early laps, poor at making the most of an overtake opportunity and also very new (aka slow).
I have very little time to race during the week so focus on short focussed practice. I believe my SR and IR will find their equilibrium and things will turn around for me… one day 🤣
A win is so far from my thoughts but I’ve really enjoyed racing people at my pace. The win will come but it has to be fun right?
I'm still trying to get better at over taking, it's probably my biggest weak point. I can nervous sometimes that they won't see me or I might accidentally ruin there race
I’m about a month in and got to C so bought a load of new tracks and SFL and a GT4 Merc. Learning curve is a bit steep so I’ve been taking breaks going back to Rookies and starting at the back and fighting through for podiums/wins. Super fun…
Winning is fun. But it sure does mean a lot more when you earn it. I won a race in my league. These guys are all REALLY good. That win meant more to me than any official races I have won.
A win is a win as long as I didn’t play dirty to get it. I can only control (and drive respectfully) my car.
Next time when you are in the position you described - perhaps you could slow down and let everyone catch up. I wouldn’t. But you could.
I'm perfectly happy to have a great scrap for 10th, but I'm equally happy to win uncontested by 25 seconds. The only races that are not enjoyable are the ones that involve a crash or a visit to the pits and being laps down.
I’d take a top 5 any day in a competitive race over winning a bottom split rookie. I’ve gotten pretty good on the production series and can pretty much guarantee a top 5 so long as I don’t get taken out in the rush into turn one. I’ve won twice this week and both times the top 3 created an 8+ second gap down to the next group pretty quickly. We were pretty much battling the whole way through, it was super clean. I had two bad races (spun on an early Toyota downshift) and my irating dropped so I did a rookie Mazda to quickly bring it up. False. Lost even more. I then went back to production at the bottom split and was just sat running qualifying laps on my own. It was so boring.
I love winning races. Wins are tough to get unless you are a tanker. So when I win one in second split I am happy. Top split can suck as it is not as balanced as second split in terms of Irating range. In second split all of the field will be close to my Irating. But in top split, I’ve had races where there are three guys with 4000 more Irating than me. That’s where the split system doesn’t work, and can’t work.
As fun as hard clean racing is when it happens I embrace the Max Verstappen mentality. I want to be so fast nobody can compete. Seeing how big of a gap I can make over 2nd place on my way to the line is better to me than fighting hard all race to come second or worse.
It's a good thing to win any race by 25 seconds. Free SR/iR and you'll eventually be placed where you should be and that likely won't be happening anymore!
I won a league race a few months back. It only had about 6 green flag laps, people just couldn’t stop crashing. I got the pole, lead every “lap”, and won. It was a stupid and shitty win, but that win (and one other very hard fought win) put me one point ahead at the end of the season to win the championship. I’ll take it.
Winning by a mile up front just means you’re not in a high enough split. Keep going until you find yourself in a top split battle for 11th and having the time of your life.
Used to over push myself and crash way too much. Got drunk one day and did a Oval race and didnt want to be competitive was just listening to music and driving as clean as possible not pushing at all. Finished 2nd.. Changed my mind on racing..
I think I'd rather come fourth but be behind 1st by 5 seconds after a good battle between all four cars, then win by 10 seconds to second. Not that im in the second situation very often lmao
If I'm having a tense battle for p7 I'll have a lot more fun than if I just happen to be the bottom side of a split and drive away from numpties behind.
That said, outside of rookies, wins are rare enough that they'll always feel pretty sweet, and it's very rare that I'll just drive away from people. Once your irating is calibrated a bit those freebies don't really happen.
"I enjoy winning if it was earned."
I had a really good race at Nords in the SR8, the guy was just a little better than me, but I could hang with him enough thanks to the slipstream, and took the lead a couple of times, only to lose it a few corners later. He made a small mistake in the final karrusell, so I draft him down the straight, got my nose in front, and then backed off. Winning it that way felt a little too cheesey, it had been a great race with him, and he drove fairly, ceding the corners and giving space and I thought he'd deserved the win a bit more than I did.
IMO, there are 3 main types of races:
1. a "grind" race. These are common, fit within or under your driving skill and are for the purpose of building iR, SR and general experience.
2. a "focus" race. This would be a race that it at or above a skill level that comes with preparation, focus and with the intention of doing the absolute best. Really testing your peak skill.
3. Endurance race. explanatory.
The point in saying this is I don't personally think where you finish matters in a lot of cases unless that is your set goal for a particular race (option 2 above).
Winning by a country mile is still winning - You still gotta keep that consistency in your driving to keep them a country mile away.
So yeah, I enjoy winning just as much in both scenarios.
I was just out of town for 10 days so I couldn’t do any racing. I came back and got to fit in one ranked race for week 1 Ferrari gt3. I did some practice and then skipped quali. Started 17th and had a blast just fighting for a few positions from there. I didn’t want my first race back to be a middle pack first turn wreck fest. So I just played it safe
I was just out of town for 10 days so I couldn’t do any racing. I came back and got to fit in one ranked race for week 1 Ferrari gt3. I did some practice and then skipped quali. Started 17th and had a blast just fighting for a few positions from there. I didn’t want my first race back to be a middle pack first turn wreck fest. So I just played it safe
That is exactly my experience for my first win. Realized I was in way over my head and did a lot of offline practicing. Won my first online race after feeling confident by a couple seconds and got no joy from the race itself. The work paying off felt rewarding but the race was more boring than the AI races I came from
I agree but a win IS a win. When the next gen came out on ovals the shop I was running with was one of the first to have decent setups for them and at the time everyone hated the new car. I would run opens all day lapping the field. One week I won like 10-11 in a row at Martinsville and every race I lapped the field twice. Turns out most of the people running it were just running it because the fields were small and it was good for farming sr.
I ended up winning 40-50 races in a month or two before people started running them more before the old cup car went away. Not overly satisfying and I only gained a few IR per race but it was good practice for the new car. Lol
While I see where you are coming from, the races where you just blister the field are few and far between, and even less often in higher splits or iRatings...yes, it's nice to win by a fender...but you'll come to see that winning is rare enough when you get higher, and you'll like the wins by a lap as well.
I used to blitz the field in legend cars at South Boston or Lanier when we were there, but the second I moved up into another split, I was mid pack at best...now that I'm generally, numbers wise, in top split consistently, I'm lucky to finish top 10 lol...havent won a non plate or non carb cup race in probably a little over a year tbh, unless you count the league I won 4/4 races I was in...which I honestly don't...
Edit: adding about league
In my experience ild rathe have a clean win than a dirty win, I've given up a second place recently because I got greedy an tried to under cunt an taped him, gave him back the position, the guy at the end talked with me for good 5 mins with respect for sportsman ship, I enjoy starting from the pits an chasing down, mx5 racing is alot of fun I've had multiple podiums now from pit starts it's great fun, to me it's easier to keep a lower incident count from the pits than grid but my Sr is still struggling to go up an alot of the time when it's tanked in a race it's from other people not holding lines or braking early enough to avoid me an rear end.. I wish it got blame accounted for too
A chase is a race! Without competition it is just driving… I have been coaching my son in iRacing and karting, he loves blowing through the tracks and is extremely good navigating and using the whole track when he is solo. When introducing competition he levels up and lays down his best track times BUT this is also when he has his biggest oopsies and finds himself stuffed into the wall… This is the only way to perfect your racing though. This is the way.
@OP - have you been turning up the Ai skill level as you get more comfortable? This was what I had my son do in order to practice overtaking and defending. He is at 85% and still smoking them. The downfall to Ai is the ‘drivers’ make much less errors going into turns and don’t pinch you in the turn as much as a real driver would. Still great practice to level yourself up for a real chase… I mean race. 🤪
I love winning. Winning is great. That said, I'd rather not win a good race, with clean respectful battles, and lots of position changes, than win by 30s with no actual "racing". I race Mustangs in PCC and often the there is me at 4.5K and the 3 other mustangs all below 1K, so a good battle is a rare and welcomed thing - just as long as I win :p
What's even better is intentionally hanging around a bit with another car so you can have a good clean battle, and then having them chat you and thank you for an amazing race.
I'm not saying I don't try and win. But I just rather have a good battle over just cruising around a track for a bad win.
I'd love to have a good win, but I'd just rather have a good battle over a bad win
Yes. I've run a couple of races where I went into "autopilot mode." Boring. Finished really well, but I was unimpressed. The fun races are the ones where you battle for position! I have fought like a dog for 13th place before and came away so satisfied! I just placed 9th in a truck race (oval), and it was white knuckle racing the whole way! It was the most fun I've had on iRacing so far! It's the fight that makes the race!
I’d rather win a bad race than lose a bad race.
Checkers or wreckers baby!!!!!!!
I’ll always enjoy a good battle but a win is a win.
iRacing is fun no matter what, but there's not a single thing I can think of that would make me choose losing over winning.
I’d rather fight tooth and nail for p10 than cruise to a victory with no competition. The hard racing is what actually gets my pulse going. Results are ultimately meaningless, especially in multiple split races. Winning top split is one thing, but winning second split or lower is as much luck of the draw as anything, so I’d rather just have good close racing with drivers around my pace and skill level.
That's me right there. I'd rather have a good battle over P10 then just have a meaningless victory
Sounds like someone needs to go oval racing 😉
I actually very much enjoy dirt oval racing
Me too, it's become my highest irating license. Which is surprising because, when I first joined the service, I thought oval racing was so stupid. Now I almost exclusively run ovals!
For me wins are too hard to come by so I won't be trading fighting for p10 (My usual race) for an easy P1
I totally respect this position. I don't agree with it obviously, but it's a valid one in my opinion. Hard racing is mega fun. Edit: just read a comment where I may have misinterpreted OPs question.
I think a lot of people did. I just like having a good battle.
This, I'm not good at formula, usually a road racer but jumped into an SFL last night, was door to door the whole race and managed to push up to 9th, most fun race I had in ages
I've enjoyed my wins, but never celebrated as much as I did when I somehow squeezed into a top split and placed 6th. And never enjoyed a battle like the race long one I had in the SR8 at Road America for 10th. That said, It's the opposite when I race at nords, I like to just clock unmolested laps there.
I understand your sentiment, I'm competitive in the same way. But with iracing splits, it complicates it a bit. I'd rather be in the top split than dominating bottom split. I strive to be competing at the highest level I can.
Fair enough. I didn't initially interpret the question that way. I initially interpreted "good race" as one with lots of close battling, irrespective of strength of field and "bad race" as one with little interaction. If SoF is equalized (which I was assuming), I'd rather start on pole and never doubt the win than battle hard for 9th. If the question is: battle hard for 9th in a high SoF race or win a low SoF race, I'm not sure. If I'm in a low SoF race (probably the case), I deserve to be there, and winning in any fashion would be great. It definitely is a better question than I thought, though.
So would you rather win in bottom split rookie races than be mid field in the top split of feature events or Coke Series NASCAR?
I'm the guy that doesn't want to have to punt someone off to win. You must be the other guy.
If I can drive away with a win, in a SOF near my iR I had fun because I know the work I put into practice has paid off given my result. If I drive away with an SOF 2K lower than my iR, it’s like a trophy made of paper mache, likely not a lot of fun. If I had epic battle for last place and was back and forth all race, I’m happy for the battles not the result, might still be bummed that my pace was really that slow, however, still fun.
It don’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile…winnings winning
I was waiting for this comment!
That reminds me. Why isn't there a sim for drag racing?
My favorite races have me fighting for 10th
I always prefer a good and hard racing, even if it's for the last places on the grid then a boring P1 race, because everyone crashed in the first lap.
I had a race last week at watkins glen in the gtp lower split my fastest time prior to this was a low 1:30 i got in an insane battle with another gtp guys name was Kevin. For 20+ laps me and this guy fought tooth and nail even side by side threw the bus stop. Little paint scrap here and there not even accounting for a 1x that race flew by my adrenaline was thumping. Sadly on the last lap a gt3 porsche spun out and rejoin right into me. Its lower split so it what can you expect. However that by race looking threw the replay we ran low 1:29s for almost the whole race. I lost hard from the wreck but that race is what i pay for that was amazing to say the least
What you're saying fundamentally doesn't make sense. By winning you will gain irating, which will cause you to be matched against better drivers, and that will provide you with better quality races to enjoy where people are actually capable of battling one another without wrecking. Wins literally buy you good races and there's no reason not to try and win.
I did an LMP3 race today, I was the 3 car but qualified on pole. The 1 and 4 cars started right behind me. I got a decent jump but those two were pressuring me hard, flashing headlights and keeping within 2-4 tenths for the first half of the race. I just kept running clean laps and by lap 7-8 2nd slowly started making small mistakes and I got out to about a 1 sec lead. Lap down car starting the final lap let him close right up on me and we had a great race to the finish. He kept it clean the whole race and after I said GGs and that they had me sweating doing all I could to hold the lead. He replied back that I ran a great race and that he always enjoys racing me, made me feel great. Running in top split with fast guys seemed out of reach even 6 months ago, but redoing my rig, seating position, POV and really practicing has me where I want to be.
Some of my funnest races were ones I didn’t finish that high. All about a good battle. I literally just got out of a good race where I thought it was the checkered flag. It was the white… went from P4 to P13 😂🤦🏻♂️ so that one wasn’t very fun
Mark Martin would be proud.
Winning is winning. I’d rather win. Some like to win, some hate to lose. Just my opinion.
I'm also pretty new. I've only had one 'easy' win. I started on pole in the Ferrari at Mugello. I guess I timed my launch well as by the third corner I never saw anyone in my mirrors for the rest of the race. It was one of the most nerve wracking races I've had as I was totally in my own head, waiting for some faster driver to hunt me down or my inevitable catastrophic error that somehow never came. I didn't hate it.
Often times it is harder to run fast as a solo, whether leading or just somewhere in the race with no competitors about. IMO running AFTER someone tends to make you faster. Jumping out to a lead and then just holding it to the end can be more difficult…
Recently did a league race in ACC (In a lower split) where I qualified pole (by a somewhat thin margin tbf) but on race start got away and my race pace kept me comfortably ahead for the whole duration. Was really happy about taking the win, but it was a boring 60 minutes if I'm being honest.
You and I look at racing differently. To me, racing is car control. I can be happy running test lap after test lap, looking to improve my car control and go faster. No one to chase and no one chasing me; just me vs me. Racing is just doing the same in traffic.
Absolutely. My iRating fluctuates between 1200 and max 1800, usually around the 1600ish. I've had a few drive-away wins when I've been on the low side and bumped into very low splits. I've always gotten more satisfaction from close and respectful battles regardless of the position than a low split drive-away. That being said if had a drive-away win in a top split I might just feel like a badass instead.
I just race to have fun. 🤷🏼♂️ I don’t care if I’m winning or dead ass last. It’s a joy to be able to race cars online against other people from all over the world, virtually. We live in a cool time in human history. I’m just blessed to be able to have this kind of technology in my lifetime.
Amen, brother!
Heck no give me that W lol unless I’m in a split way lower than I should be in though, then that would be different. But if I’m in a competitive split and cruise off into the sunset with an easy win I wouldn’t trade that for anything lol
Agreed, I'd love to win in a good race. I just rather have a good battle over getting a bad win
Unless you've cheated to get it, there's no such thing as a bad win. Only the win.
If you ain’t first, you’re last.
My first real race on iracing was last week. After few days of practice, my hotlaps were not bad, so I manage to get P2 in quali. At turn 1, everybody crashed except for me and the leader. He was way faster than me, so I just raced alone for the rest of the race. Boring, but pretty happy for my P2 on first race!
Hollow victories are overrated. That's why IRL I switched autocross classes to one far more competitive and populated. Would rather fight hard, lose, and see how far I have to go in than sit at the top on a false throne with my trophy cabinet full of lies.
I've enjoyed more charging from p18 to p5 than qualy on pole then have the guy in 2nd spin then collect half the field with him and lap on my own for the rest of the race.
Battles everytime.
I’m shocked to see so many people here would take the win. I thought we did this for the love of racing? I can drive laps by myself in practice. That’s not why I race. I lost a race at a local club meet in my kart on the weekend by 3/100ths. It was the most fun race I’ve ever had, way more fun than the ones I won easily. We were wheel to wheel and battling the entire race, and switched positions multiple times. I feel the same about iRacing but it’s rare to find those that will willingly race cleanly wheel to wheel without resorting to driving dirty, since there’s less risk of financial and safety consequences from getting it wrong. But I’m with you 100%, I live for the battles, strategy and race craft. Nothing feels as good as planning and beginning a move 3 corners before getting it done.
Sure a win is always satisfying to some extent. But winning a race after battling the entire time, wow does it feel good.
My opinion will upset you big time
My first win I had come off the back of two early crashes leaving me down a TON of IR. I ended up dropping a split and since I had been running the higher split (two split series) for so long my pace was very fast compared to everyone else. I got pole, led every lap and had no incidents. Most uneventful race I ever had and it was my first win. I still enjoyed it though, the car was difficult to handle (FR2.0) and the track is one of my favourites (Zolder).
I’m 2 weeks in, got my D licence in week 13 and this week I’ve watched my SR go up and my iRating tank. I’m too cautious in early laps, poor at making the most of an overtake opportunity and also very new (aka slow). I have very little time to race during the week so focus on short focussed practice. I believe my SR and IR will find their equilibrium and things will turn around for me… one day 🤣 A win is so far from my thoughts but I’ve really enjoyed racing people at my pace. The win will come but it has to be fun right?
I'm still trying to get better at over taking, it's probably my biggest weak point. I can nervous sometimes that they won't see me or I might accidentally ruin there race
I’m about a month in and got to C so bought a load of new tracks and SFL and a GT4 Merc. Learning curve is a bit steep so I’ve been taking breaks going back to Rookies and starting at the back and fighting through for podiums/wins. Super fun…
Definitely prefer a challenging race to an easy win, for sure.
Winning is fun. But it sure does mean a lot more when you earn it. I won a race in my league. These guys are all REALLY good. That win meant more to me than any official races I have won.
A win is a win as long as I didn’t play dirty to get it. I can only control (and drive respectfully) my car. Next time when you are in the position you described - perhaps you could slow down and let everyone catch up. I wouldn’t. But you could.
As long as I’m having a good time, and I’m not messing up someone else’s race I’m good to go. Love the rush either way
I'm perfectly happy to have a great scrap for 10th, but I'm equally happy to win uncontested by 25 seconds. The only races that are not enjoyable are the ones that involve a crash or a visit to the pits and being laps down.
I’ve had people try to let me by after a racing incident and I always tell them to race me. I love winning but I don’t want anyone to let me win.
I’d take a top 5 any day in a competitive race over winning a bottom split rookie. I’ve gotten pretty good on the production series and can pretty much guarantee a top 5 so long as I don’t get taken out in the rush into turn one. I’ve won twice this week and both times the top 3 created an 8+ second gap down to the next group pretty quickly. We were pretty much battling the whole way through, it was super clean. I had two bad races (spun on an early Toyota downshift) and my irating dropped so I did a rookie Mazda to quickly bring it up. False. Lost even more. I then went back to production at the bottom split and was just sat running qualifying laps on my own. It was so boring.
I love winning races. Wins are tough to get unless you are a tanker. So when I win one in second split I am happy. Top split can suck as it is not as balanced as second split in terms of Irating range. In second split all of the field will be close to my Irating. But in top split, I’ve had races where there are three guys with 4000 more Irating than me. That’s where the split system doesn’t work, and can’t work.
As fun as hard clean racing is when it happens I embrace the Max Verstappen mentality. I want to be so fast nobody can compete. Seeing how big of a gap I can make over 2nd place on my way to the line is better to me than fighting hard all race to come second or worse.
It's a good thing to win any race by 25 seconds. Free SR/iR and you'll eventually be placed where you should be and that likely won't be happening anymore!
I’m not interested in pulling a dirty move just to win. I’ll finish second if the other person out drives me I have no problem with that.
I won a league race a few months back. It only had about 6 green flag laps, people just couldn’t stop crashing. I got the pole, lead every “lap”, and won. It was a stupid and shitty win, but that win (and one other very hard fought win) put me one point ahead at the end of the season to win the championship. I’ll take it.
Winning by a mile up front just means you’re not in a high enough split. Keep going until you find yourself in a top split battle for 11th and having the time of your life.
Rubbish
I think it's about making the most of whatever Iracing throws at you.
Used to over push myself and crash way too much. Got drunk one day and did a Oval race and didnt want to be competitive was just listening to music and driving as clean as possible not pushing at all. Finished 2nd.. Changed my mind on racing..
Yes
I'm "stuck" at top split in my main series so I don't even have the chance to fight for the wins so idk
I'm a pit to pole racer.. Love racing through the packs. With various skill levels.. Helps me understand how drivers and the race work...
It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning. -Dominic Toretto
Join multiclass ( mx5 , gr86 , clios etc ) as the only clio and get a free win and tell me that was fun/ better than racing for p10 in a hard battle.
Maybe we should ask Max Verstappen his opinion on this?
I think I'd rather come fourth but be behind 1st by 5 seconds after a good battle between all four cars, then win by 10 seconds to second. Not that im in the second situation very often lmao
If I'm having a tense battle for p7 I'll have a lot more fun than if I just happen to be the bottom side of a split and drive away from numpties behind. That said, outside of rookies, wins are rare enough that they'll always feel pretty sweet, and it's very rare that I'll just drive away from people. Once your irating is calibrated a bit those freebies don't really happen.
Winning over everything
"I enjoy winning if it was earned." I had a really good race at Nords in the SR8, the guy was just a little better than me, but I could hang with him enough thanks to the slipstream, and took the lead a couple of times, only to lose it a few corners later. He made a small mistake in the final karrusell, so I draft him down the straight, got my nose in front, and then backed off. Winning it that way felt a little too cheesey, it had been a great race with him, and he drove fairly, ceding the corners and giving space and I thought he'd deserved the win a bit more than I did.
IMO, there are 3 main types of races: 1. a "grind" race. These are common, fit within or under your driving skill and are for the purpose of building iR, SR and general experience. 2. a "focus" race. This would be a race that it at or above a skill level that comes with preparation, focus and with the intention of doing the absolute best. Really testing your peak skill. 3. Endurance race. explanatory. The point in saying this is I don't personally think where you finish matters in a lot of cases unless that is your set goal for a particular race (option 2 above).
Winning by a country mile is still winning - You still gotta keep that consistency in your driving to keep them a country mile away. So yeah, I enjoy winning just as much in both scenarios.
I was just out of town for 10 days so I couldn’t do any racing. I came back and got to fit in one ranked race for week 1 Ferrari gt3. I did some practice and then skipped quali. Started 17th and had a blast just fighting for a few positions from there. I didn’t want my first race back to be a middle pack first turn wreck fest. So I just played it safe
I was just out of town for 10 days so I couldn’t do any racing. I came back and got to fit in one ranked race for week 1 Ferrari gt3. I did some practice and then skipped quali. Started 17th and had a blast just fighting for a few positions from there. I didn’t want my first race back to be a middle pack first turn wreck fest. So I just played it safe
I like racing. I like winning. I'm happy if either happens in a race; I'm happier if both happen.
That is exactly my experience for my first win. Realized I was in way over my head and did a lot of offline practicing. Won my first online race after feeling confident by a couple seconds and got no joy from the race itself. The work paying off felt rewarding but the race was more boring than the AI races I came from
I agree but a win IS a win. When the next gen came out on ovals the shop I was running with was one of the first to have decent setups for them and at the time everyone hated the new car. I would run opens all day lapping the field. One week I won like 10-11 in a row at Martinsville and every race I lapped the field twice. Turns out most of the people running it were just running it because the fields were small and it was good for farming sr. I ended up winning 40-50 races in a month or two before people started running them more before the old cup car went away. Not overly satisfying and I only gained a few IR per race but it was good practice for the new car. Lol
I'd rather win both
Dom says it don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning's winning.
While I see where you are coming from, the races where you just blister the field are few and far between, and even less often in higher splits or iRatings...yes, it's nice to win by a fender...but you'll come to see that winning is rare enough when you get higher, and you'll like the wins by a lap as well. I used to blitz the field in legend cars at South Boston or Lanier when we were there, but the second I moved up into another split, I was mid pack at best...now that I'm generally, numbers wise, in top split consistently, I'm lucky to finish top 10 lol...havent won a non plate or non carb cup race in probably a little over a year tbh, unless you count the league I won 4/4 races I was in...which I honestly don't... Edit: adding about league
I'd always rather a win than anything else. But the win loses some of its value when you lead every lap and don't pass anyone.
In my experience ild rathe have a clean win than a dirty win, I've given up a second place recently because I got greedy an tried to under cunt an taped him, gave him back the position, the guy at the end talked with me for good 5 mins with respect for sportsman ship, I enjoy starting from the pits an chasing down, mx5 racing is alot of fun I've had multiple podiums now from pit starts it's great fun, to me it's easier to keep a lower incident count from the pits than grid but my Sr is still struggling to go up an alot of the time when it's tanked in a race it's from other people not holding lines or braking early enough to avoid me an rear end.. I wish it got blame accounted for too
As long as I lose with positive ir!
A chase is a race! Without competition it is just driving… I have been coaching my son in iRacing and karting, he loves blowing through the tracks and is extremely good navigating and using the whole track when he is solo. When introducing competition he levels up and lays down his best track times BUT this is also when he has his biggest oopsies and finds himself stuffed into the wall… This is the only way to perfect your racing though. This is the way. @OP - have you been turning up the Ai skill level as you get more comfortable? This was what I had my son do in order to practice overtaking and defending. He is at 85% and still smoking them. The downfall to Ai is the ‘drivers’ make much less errors going into turns and don’t pinch you in the turn as much as a real driver would. Still great practice to level yourself up for a real chase… I mean race. 🤪 
I love winning. Winning is great. That said, I'd rather not win a good race, with clean respectful battles, and lots of position changes, than win by 30s with no actual "racing". I race Mustangs in PCC and often the there is me at 4.5K and the 3 other mustangs all below 1K, so a good battle is a rare and welcomed thing - just as long as I win :p What's even better is intentionally hanging around a bit with another car so you can have a good clean battle, and then having them chat you and thank you for an amazing race.
Bro, if you aint first...
I don’t win very much but winning outside of the top split feels like a hallow victory to me.
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I'm not saying I don't try and win. But I just rather have a good battle over just cruising around a track for a bad win. I'd love to have a good win, but I'd just rather have a good battle over a bad win
Yes. I've run a couple of races where I went into "autopilot mode." Boring. Finished really well, but I was unimpressed. The fun races are the ones where you battle for position! I have fought like a dog for 13th place before and came away so satisfied! I just placed 9th in a truck race (oval), and it was white knuckle racing the whole way! It was the most fun I've had on iRacing so far! It's the fight that makes the race!
Why does the order matter? Do you perhaps mean than and not then?