Sim Racing Moments

[Ghoults]

Hard to pick one moment. Haven't won any championships or won big races. Have had lots of fun races, close racing, met some good people, funny incidents and fails and lucky moments and have learned lots of new skills and have become interested in things I sometimes thought I could never even do. Like 3d modelling. But for one of my favourite moments I'd guess I have to go back to gpl. First time in that sim. Everybody complain about how difficult gpl was when they first tried it. It was not easy peasy for me either but it was instantly very controllable and fun. The cars slide and not spin instantly when you do so. That was so amazing and new at that time in sim racing. And was new for many years.

While gpl did not really make me a sim believer it was the game that made me buy a wheel. I'm glad that I gave the game a go. Had things gone little differently I may have never downloaded the demo and never tried it. On deeper level it really taught me that never dismiss anything until you have tried it. There are so many disciplines in racing that it makes no sense to focus just one. You are not going to like all of it but until you try it you can never say for certain you won't like it. Be that certain type of racing or certain type of car or racing system.

 

[Brandon Wright]

That time when we all decided to just embrace each other as fellow sim racers, act like adults and stop getting into childish forum arguments about which sim has the greatest simulation value. Ahhh, memories.



Wait, what? That hasn't happened yet? Oh, guess I'll check back in a few years...

 

[STP]

Terrific idea for a thread!

The first thing that came to mind was when GT Legends was released and Simbin hosted multiplayer races. This was my first venture into racing with other living breathing drivers and there were maybe 12-15 regulars who were there every night tearing around in Minis, Mustangs and Abarths, having a great time and racing amazingly fairly. It was wonderful knowing you could trust everyone around you, while at the same time not taking it so seriously that you couldn't have a load of fun. Well-mannered racing is the best kind and it was sad when Simbin closed and the server died. Such happy racing days and such good people to race with. Thanks a lot guys, I hope you're all still at it.

 

[Eagle Racer]

For me, it has to be winning my first major series race in the WCSLeague GP series. I beat some pretty big names that day; Laurent Keersmaekers, Menno Klont, Danny van der Niet, Roy Schroten, Wopke Hoekstra, Lorenzo De Ciutiis, etc. I also signed a contract with NetRex GP that night and am now their test and reserve driver in a number of series. All at 14 years old!

 

[Cosimo]

Lots of GP2/3/4 fans here, nice

Plenty of nice moments, including last week Group C race at Monza here at RD.
I spent a few years learning how to properly drive historic F1 cars in rF2 thanks to SR4L, amazing gang.
Then a few seasons in PrestoGP with faster modern openwheelers, but one of the most epic simracing achievements has got to be my first GT-AM class win at the VEC 24 Hours of Le Mans a few seasons back. Fantastic to just get to the finish after 24 hours of team effort to get there.

 

[Lars Hansen]

Plenty of moments to choose from, but I picked two both from the RD Club races.

First one was in the SCE F3s (I think). Early on in my 'career ' and I had spent my first many, many races being all alone in the back. But finally there was someone just slightly slower than me, and after 5-6 laps I'd actually caught up to him.
At which point I distinctly remember thinking: "Okay, now what do I do?"
Never had to overtake anyone before, so that was a bit of a puzzle.

Second one is also from the SCE Club, this time in the Minis.
A glorious 4-way fight that just stretched on and on for something like 12-15 minutes.
For the honor of P11.
Ended up getting spun out, but man oh man those were some fun 15 minutes.

 

[Andy-R]

A similar one to a guy on the first page springs to mind for me, back in my console days playing GT5. Racing around Monza with a group of guys with mics watching. I came around the final turn and ran out of fuel and coasted over the line for a very close win to the guy in second with the guys watching going crazy on their mics. That and the peak of ALOOG1 in AC with Minorating keeping the worst drivers out. It is a stark contrast to now where I can spend an evening browsing the server list without finding anything to join and have to settle for the odd hotlap or make skins instead.

 

[mantasisg]

That time when we all decided to just embrace each other as fellow sim racers, act like adults and stop getting into childish forum arguments about which sim has the greatest simulation value.

I don't think we need to stop discussing that, on the contrary we need more and more technical discussions about that. But I agree we don't need anything childish in there.

Having a nice discussion without crashes is always nice, I'd include that to best moments of simracing. Especially if that is about physics and technical stuff. That doesn't happen often, so when it happens it is always a nice feeling.

@Andy-R You should be able to have frequent quality racing in Sim Racing System, but it won't compare to having your own server with well known regulars and less regular but still well known simracers.

 

[motoliser]

My best sim racing experience was simultanialy the worst ever...first time with VR!!! It was a WOWWWW....HARGGGGG moment. Thanks to the blury mess that still hasnt been sorted regardless the headset.

 

[Pauli Ahonen]

The best memories are always the fastest laps after getting full confidence.
And the victories.

 

[TylerDurden4321]

Not my fondest, worst or best memory, but I'll share this:
I had a wheel for 2 months and only ever played GT6 and FM5 with it. PCARS1 came out on out on console and I decided to do some online racing: "PCARS is new, I play against controller players, most of them will be as bad as I am at this, right?".
So, I am sitting in a lobby and some guys that were already waiting in there all pick Renault Clio Cups, I do the same. Right before the race starts, two guys suddenly pick way better cars. The race starts and most people just quit because of the two jokesters. I stay because two other Clio guys stayed as well. The guy in the Huayra (I think it was a Huayra, not even sure anymore) is far ahead of us when it starts raining heavily. Most people start spinning out and leave, but I don't (even bad FFB can be very helpful). When I overtake the guy in the Huayra everyone but us 2 had left, but he is spinning out of just about every corner. Then he pits and starts catching up to me with less than 2 laps to go (it was a short race anyway). I finished the final lap with him coming out of the last corner onto the finishing straight. Tortuise beats Hare.

 

[Helldriver]

I´m old and can remember Indy500, NASCAR, GP Legends, etc very well. It did´nt take long and the first mass production Wheel was offered to the public, the Thrustmaster Formula T2:

At this time i played The Need for Speed a lot against my friends, connected with a serial cable.
When i first connected the wheel i started the coast Track with the Ferrari. As the car got faster my hands were getting sweaty and when i hit 300 km/h and the first real corner was coming up, i really got scared.
After this i was totally infected.

Since then, there were a lot of great memories. The next time i got scared again was with my Rift.
It´s just great, how Simracing (Hard- & Software) have evolved in the last 25 years. Stepping up from my T500 RS to a OSW-Wheel was also a major improvement.

I love simracing.

 

[Andy-R]

I don't think we need to stop discussing that, on the contrary we need more and more technical discussions about that. But I agree we don't need anything childish in there.

Having a nice discussion without crashes is always nice, I'd include that to best moments of simracing. Especially if that is about physics and technical stuff. That doesn't happen often, so when it happens it is always a nice feeling.

@Andy-R You should be able to have frequent quality racing in Sim Racing System, but it won't compare to having your own server with well known regulars and less regular but still well known simracers.

I've done the odd race on SRS but it isn't really for me. It is a great idea though, hats off to whoever came up with and executed it.

 

[Maxell]

This
I was driving green one with my friend literally on my back

 

[Alistair McKinley]

There are lots of things I love about simracing.

I always remember how I enjoyed my first ride in the Mini Challenge in Automobilista - that raw sound, the intense feeling of everything what was/is going on in the car. I'm still very impressed by how a computer and a toy wheel can evoke such feelings in me.

Or when I first played Assetto Corsa and enjoyed the feeling of that Abarth 500. I was so baffled because I just felt through my wheel what I had been looking for. That was a magical moment.

Or the online experience on track day servers in Assetto Corsa: I really love to join a public server with street cars and to just let the day end with a relaxed drive.

I could add hundred of magical/magnificent moments ... weather change in Project Cars, CLP and Sol for AC, real road in rF2, my first successful drifts in AMS and AC, first drive on the Nordschleife in Assetto Corsa ...

To sum it up: I had never been a car guy but simracing has woken it/him deep inside of me. I even visited the Nordschleife one and a half years ago and watched a VLN race - thanks to simracing. I would have never thought about that before 2014.
And I'm really glad that I have found this hobby for me.

 

[Rykers]

Brilliant thread.

GPL at Magny Cours, Mk 1 Escort vs a Frenchman in a Capri. The Capri had gone off ahead of me and rejoined just as I came along and there then followed one of the best races I've ever had the pleasure to take part in. Just the two of us, perfectly matched, gentlemen's rules, it restored my faith in other drivers as I was so used to being punted off by some idiot at the back of the field speeding up on the inside at the first corner to see what carnage he could cause. Just superb and I'll never forget it. It's a shame I can't remember his name.

I think he beat me but it didn't matter one jot, I was just happy to have been a part of it.

 

[Shovas]

I don't know about a single favourite moment but every time I end up in hard, close racing in regular, everyday iRacing races, and we race clean laps, lap after lap, right until the end, I'm reminded why sim racing is so intense and so fun.

Not all races are clean, especially if you haven't put in the practice, but the times that do work out make it worth it.

 

[NtsParadize]

My favorite moments in simracing were when I won. Simple.

 

[Menos]

Subscribing to iRacing is my best decision and my best moments have been on that sim.

Two moments that stick out for me are incredibly close races. Both on ovals.

The first one was a NASCAR Truck race on Daytona. I managed to take the lead after a late race caution and me and three other cars broke away from the pack. White flag flies and the guy in 4th manages to drive up to my door on his own. On the final stretch he keeps inching closer and closer until we're in for a photo finish. I take the win. By 0.006 seconds. I was shaking on adrenaline.

If you think that's close. It got closer. Recently I had an Indycar race on Indianapolis. With cautions the race took little under an hour. Again I managed to take a late lead. On the final straight the guy in second managed to slingshot me for a photo finish. The difference? 0.000 seconds. We crossed the line at EXACTLY the same time. iRacing gave him the win and put me in second. Maybe because he led more laps? I will never know. Either way it was a great race.

Close, clean racing is always on the top of my list with favorite moments. I don't care if it's for the win or for 15th. A good fight is amazing!

 

[Isaac Chavira]

I remember taking 10th in the Audi R8C in the game 24 Huers du Mans for the Sega Dreamcast. I did a compressed 24 hour race in 6 hours. I was in my barracks room and I just set it up and jumped it.

I wish I could replicate that feeling of being so intune with the car and the track. It was like I was hypnotized. I was hyper focused on what I was doing. I took a few bumps from Visteon and Rook Racing. It was a great site to see all of the 1999/2000 cars on the track. It sure was great especially since they had the Panoz cars and even the Lancia.

I used to be really into Endurance racing. I don't know why I fell out of it? Maybe because the cars became to 'Techy'. I sure wish one of these studios would release a full DLC pack of all of the 1999 or 2000 Le Mans cars.