As I got older I continued to find that the only person crazy about auto racing, was me. When the internet came along it allowed me to find other people with similar interests at last and finally allowed me to find other people who raced simulations.

Until the Inaugural A1GP event at Brands Hatch in 2005 I had only ever seen any racetrack in either a racing game or on TV, I was so shocked to see just how different that fantastic British track was, compared to those games and the 2D image TV had given me.

I’ve been lucky enough during my time with iRacing to be sent to a number of racing facilities (as scanning team backup coverage in a scheduling emergency) and every single one of them I have been shocked by. Those little intricate details that are finally captured and used by the production team after they’ve been captured by the scanner, they’re all things that (having a photographer’s vision) I’ve analysed, trying to figure out how it’s going to affect the cars as they drive it.

This year I’ve been on two scan trips, both of them ovals. Each one amazed me for different reasons and gave me a whole new respect for what those who race on them actually do…

The first track had pretty high banking and as I was standing, gripping hard on the safer barrier for support, I actually realised that if I slipped, I was going to really hurt myself. The greasy sheen that the surface had (because it had newly dried from rain) meant that my sneakers gave me no grip whatsoever. I actually ended up coming down the banking each time with one foot tucked beneath my butt as I just scraped and controlled the inevitable slide down to the apron using my hands. The scale, just the sheer scale, left me in total awe.

So, as someone who isn’t actually afraid of heights, I had a pretty good appreciation after that. I realised that some of these ovals are the modern equivalent of the Roman Colloseum because - even if their life depended on it - some people just could not save themselves from competition or the location itself.

I’m sat in a hotel right now as I post this, I fly home tomorrow. I’ve been at another track this week which frankly looks lifeless and simple on TV, yet I’ve seen now a lot of the little elements that must make this track one of the most challenging facilities around. I think with the level of detail and the magic wand of those guys in the production department, this place could actually become my favorite track within the service.

As crazy as some events might look on TV, they are most certainly a sanitised version of what you see when standing beside the track as a fan, and they cannot possibly compare to the experience within the cockpit. I think that the level of track surface detail you have experienced after racing at Daytona in the Chevy Silverado with iRacing, finally gives fans like me and you a closer appreciation than we could get from standing in the infield. I know that each track I have helped the production dept. with, I have watched the next race there in a totally different way.

What you need:
1. A Mac that meets minimum system requirements.
2. Apple’s Bootcamp.
3. Microsoft Windows XP or Vista.
4. Steering Wheel.

You should be aware that if you screw things up, that’s your fault, not mine. You’re taking full responsibility for your actions.

Firstly, you need a Mac that meets the minimum PC system requirements that are listed on iRacing.com. Currently you can go to iRacing.com and there is a link in the footer straight to them.

If you meet those requirements, you should then try to find out if anybody using your Mac model has experienced problems with running Windows XP natively. Apple do make minor changes to hardware to make them work better with their software. I have heard that some graphics cards fans always run slowly (causing overheating) when XP is running on a Mac. Check things out first, better safe than sorry.

Next, if you are going ahead with the installation, you need to use Apple’s bootcamp and install Windows XP or Vista (there’s lots of guides around explaining how to do this). Make sure you have all the relevant drivers installed. (Mac’s are basically PC’s on the inside, there should be Windows drivers for everything in your Mac).

So, now you have a working installation of Windows, right? Go to iRacing.com and subscribe as if you had a PC all along…

Make sure you get a good steering wheel.

Isn’t it a little bit scary that stories of her not performing well have been surfacing on a regular basis from the town (where she was mayor) and state of Alaska, saying how bad she was at those jobs, yet people elsewhere really do seem prepared to potentially make this woman the president of the United States, should something happen to McCain.

Honestly, it’s scary. I recently saw an amateur movie (made with Palin’s approval - before she was announced as VP) which showed Palin has an Israeli flag in her house, when asked she said she “likes Israel”. Ya - good one… I’m sure that will really help with the security of the United States. Israel is not full of angels and unfortunately the U.S. media are so pathetic that most of the population have no idea just how badly the United States is thought of, even in parts of the world they consider friends.

I really think that if the U.S. population are stupid enough to vote a particular way (the same way) this time, they are going to find a world population giving them very little respect. For me, it’s a mark of poor media, bad education and general ignorance. I hope things don’t turn out badly or the rest of the world will be thinking of the U.S. in an even worse light than that!

One of America’s most historic road courses, Sebring International Raceway, is now available to all members of iRacing.com. Sebring is the first of three Panoz Motor Sports Group facilities that will be offered to iRacing members.

Built on the site of a World War II bomber pilot-training base in Central Florida, Sebring has since 1952 been host to an annual, 12-Hour sportscar endurance race. The facility includes three configurations, the 3.7-mile circuit used for the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring round of the International Motor Sports Association’s American Le Mans Series, as well as the shorter test loop and the club circuit. All three configurations are available to iRacers for $25.

Tradition hangs in the air at Sebring like the scent of the neighboring citrus groves, and if iRacing’s version of the track were any more authentic, you could walk next door and pick the oranges.

For me, X³: Reunion had no bugs on release, but I know many people found themselves with an unplayable game for a little while. Hopefully, because this Terran Conflict title is an update of the Reunion game engine, most of those bugs will not rear their heads this time.

There’s some new features in this game which should make things even more interesting. Being able to train marines so they can go and attack then capture another ship, for one. It all sounds very cool and I can’t wait until release!

I haven’t seen any announcement whether a Mac version will be made available. If it’s anything like the Reunion release it will be a few months before conversion is completed.

Here’s the details as posted by Egosoft:

We can now officially confirm that X³: Terran Conflict has gone GOLD! That means that the release version of the game has been approved for production. It also means we are now finally able to confirm release dates for X³: Terran Conflict!

The English language version of X³: Terran Conflict will be available from retail outlets on October 3rd, and you can pre-order from the Egosoft Online Shop NOW. X³: Terran Conflict will also be available for pre-load from Steam starting on September 25th.

Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have some celebrating to do…

System Requirements
Minimum Requirements
* Microsoft ® Windows ® XP (SP-2), Vista SP1™
* Pentium® IV or AMD® equivalent at 2.0 GHz
* 1 GB RAM
* 256 MB 3D DirectX 9 Compatible video card (not onboard) with Pixel Shader 1.1 support
* Soundcard (Surround Sound support recommended)
* 10 GB free hard disk space
* DVD-ROM Drive
* Mouse and Keyboard or Joystick (optional support for force-feedback) or Gamepad
Recommended Configuration
* Microsoft ® Windows ® XP (SP-2), Vista SP1™
* Intel® Core™ 2 Duo or AMD® equivalent at 2.0 GHz
* 3 GB RAM
* 256 MB 3D DirectX 9 Compatible video card (not onboard) with Pixel Shader 3.0 support
* Soundcard (Surround Sound support recommended)
* 10 GB free hard disk space
* DVD-ROM Drive
* Mouse and Keyboard or Joystick (optional support for force-feedback) or Gamepad