timwheatley.org

Yesterday I had (what felt like, anyway) my worst ever race in iRacing (click here to view the race report). I got 15 incident points in a single event.

I don’t know why but it seemed like everyone was trying to block and as I’m someone who will only normally overtake on the main straight at Lime Rock Park, I found myself getting thoroughly involved in problems I felt were not of my own making. My Safety Rating after that race went down to Class C 2.21 - I think the lowest it has ever been. I’ll upload race reports from yesterday/today’s races tomorrow.

I felt like I learned a little bit yesterday because after the Skip Barber Race Series event at Lime Rock Park, I ran a Formula Mazda event at Infineon. I made quite a few mistakes (9 incidents), but to my great surprise I gained Safety Rating (up to Class C 2.31). I then realised that while it may be easier to lose safety rating in Class C - it also seems easier to gain it at times. I had a chat with Alison Hine after the race and she told me to cool down and said that she is driving well within her limits in order to preserve her safety rating… During the race I had been passing her then spinning and I kept repeating that pattern over and over while she consistently lapped away… I knew what I was doing, I felt I was pushing 101% and realised that by doing that, I’m making myself look a lot worse of a driver than I know I can be…

After the Mazda race (I was feeling pretty low), the iRating threw me a ‘pity win’. I ran a Skip Barber Race Series event at Lime Rock Park and found myself in quite a commanding position. I won by 10 seconds… (Read the race report). I went to bed with mixed feelings over my racing events that evening.

Today, I decided to run a Skip Barber Race Series event first. I had an awesome race and had some great battles. I’d also lapped fairly cleanly and my safety rating went up to Class C 2.46. I finished 7th while I was iRated (and predicted) to be able to run for about the 12th place!

After that race, I joined a Formula Mazda race and to my total shock and surprise I had fun - In the Mazda! I have quite clearly stunk in this car, absolutely stunk. I’d actually go far enough to say that I hated this car. Like I said to Alison after the race last night, it feels like it’s too fast for me (even though I know it’s relatively slow) and it feels too ‘big’ for the tracks. I described it in the chat as like ‘threading a needle’ trying to keep the car on the black stuff. Taking Alison’s advice I toned my driving down a bit and decided not to ‘experiment’ with lines and braking zones like I normally do during races. I convinced myself to be happy with my laptimes and to finish, where I finish.

The race went very well and apart from an off track -> loss of control on lap 7 I ran a perfect race! Did you hear that? I managed to run a Formula Mazda race with just a single error! Not only that, but I found myself in the most wonderful three-car battle for 5th-place… After the race, my safety rating was Class C 2.70, a gain of 0.49 in just four races (two good ones). Something that was really pleasing was that when I felt I was driving at 95% of my proper pace, I was lapping (at best) 1s per lap faster than I had when driving as fast as I felt I could… Weird, huh?

This video is well worth a watch as we battle hard for position:

Unfortunately, I’m seeing an awful lot of reaction based upon the people up for election rather then policy, party or even politics. How stupid are those people? Very stupid.

During the John McCain VP announcement they showed a person in the crowd that said: “VETS for a Veteran”. So, let me get this straight, you think he would make a good President, because he spent time in a cage? By that logic, we should all employ Ex-Cons to look after our children rather than that nice girl down the street.

I should point out, perhaps, that if you vote for McCain, you are voting for the Republican Party. If you vote for Obama, you’re voting for the Democrats. You’re not voting for McCain or Obama - they are puppets who will do whatever the party line tells them to (or, to put it in a more explanatory manner - whatever makes them the most friends in the Senate who will then side with them on future votes).

Please, please, please. Vote based on policy and politics, not the people. McCain’s VP candidate might be pretty, she might have had a down syndrome kid, but that does NOT mean she would make a good VP, does it? Considering just how much time McCain has spent lashing out at Obama about Foreign Policy and his lack of experience, I would have thought her a pretty poor choice compared to Obama’s choice of VP…

Anyway… NOTHING you have heard about Barack Obama or John McCain tells you they would be a good President - you will find this out over the next four years and then make a change, I hope. Vote based on the values you have and which party fits those best… PLEASE!

Justin Wilson, former Formula One driver and current Indycar driver talks about his hobbies, including his time spent racing with iRacing. The Interview is a ‘Podcast’ and available here.

This panoramic image of the City is intended to show you the enormity of the Cathedral and the commanding position the Castle had over the surrounding lands.

Please note that I have a 360° panoramic photo from the inside of Lincoln Castle, too. You can view it here. (Java required).

If you would like to go straight to the main photo gallery, please click here.

Otherwise, here’s a few photo I wanted to show off before you view the main gallery…

This 360° panoramic was taken in the grounds of Lincoln Castle. Lincoln is obviously the city Lincolnshire (the county I come from in England) is named after. Lincoln castle was originally a roman settlement and the castle has been built and modified over the last 1900 years. The oldest portions of the castle currently standing are thought to be around 900 years old. Photo was taken in May, 2008.

I honestly can’t believe this was an official race… I joined with about two minutes to go and became the seventh entrant - making it official. For some reason two of those who had registered forfeited and went to do something else and that left five of us in the server - for an official race!

I hadn’t bothered to qualify (I actually wanted to run the SK Modified, but at this time in the morning everyone seems to be running the Skip Barber Race Series). I would start fourth.

I got a bit of a slow start and dropped behind a slower car. This lost me about three seconds over the first five or six laps until I passed him. Once I did I had to work really hard trying to close down the two cars that were now ahead and this actually was a lot of fun! Trying to get my lines right each lap, trying to eek away 0.1s per lap to close them down actually made the race interesting for me…

Anyway, I wound up finishing third. I was the fastest man on the track and set a best lap of 21.003. I’m slightly dissapointed about my poor start because I could have been right with those guys and made it an even more interesting race - but nevermind!

Late Models at Martinsville

I ran an absolutely clean race. I do remember brushing the wall once, but it didn’t result in a safety rating penalty.

I ran a qualifying session yesterday, setting a best time of 59.999. I felt way off the pace and knew I would be very lucky to have a competitive week.

I joined the 9:15am race session and was in an eighth-place starting position. I got a good start, being very careful into the first turn (like everyone else). I swapped position between eighth and ninth a few times as others spun or passed me until finally, on lap six of thirty-one, a huge wreck happened ahead of me.

I JUST managed to squeeze by on the grass and made five positions! I went right up to fourth! I stayed there until the end of the race too, so finished well above where I was otherwise capable of doing.

I had four incident points from the race, two off track incidents and one loss of control (a slide in turn one). My fastest lap was 59.722 and that was done on lap ten.

Thermaltake 80mm case fan. (12v 0.4a).
PCI USB Card. (gives you an extra 2 external and 1 internal USB ports).

Soundcard:
External USB Creative SoundBlaster Live!. (With remote control).

RAM:
256MB PC3200 400Mhz. (Two available).
512MB PC3200 400Mhz.
256MB PC2100 266MHz.
256MB SDRAM 133MHz.

Please bid and buy if you’re interested in any of them.

You can now sign up at iRacing.com. Requirements include a steering wheel and other applicable hardware (such as a capable graphics card) - full details are on the Web site.

One of the really cool things is that the software apparently also works when Windows XP or Vista are installed, via Bootcamp, on a capable Mac, too.

In addition to the general launch, a referral program was announced. You can enter the account email of the person who referred you and they receive $10 of iRacing Dollars (credit towards the purchase of cars, track and their subscription).

This year should be steady growth, next year will be big! Expect an update to the software by the end of the current “2008 Season 3″.

Will County Fairgrounds Demolition Derby

One of our friends ran in the Will County Fairgrounds Demolition Derby last night. She did really well, but unfortunately she got stuck on the logs at the track edge and even though she took hardly any damage - couldn’t continue. She would have easily won, but I guess she learned from it and will be back! She’s the red #11 in the photo gallery. As always, the gallery will be available in the post and the photo gallery page.