Edit: Free trial of iRacing disabled. Click here to see details of a reduced price one instead.

Ok, so it has been a while since I made any kind of blog post whatsoever. There are a myriad of reasons for that, not least because I got into using Facebook to express myself rather than my blog. I think I’ll probably get more into this again though and also try to find my interest in photography again, too.

So, what have I been up to?

Well, Sheila and I decided we’re moving back to Chicago at the end of October. She misses her family and friends a lot and of course, my marriage comes before my work. We (well, I) drove to Chicago in August and have found a great apartment which we’ll rent until we’re stable enough to buy a place.

I’ve also bought firstly a 10 gallon fish tank (in July), soon after progressing to a 55 gallon fish tank. I’m getting pretty addicted and learning so much about the whole process of keeping fish. I’m keeping Tropical Freshwater fish (most breeds come from Amazon River fish, but some come from Asian rivers). Really enjoying this and if you follow me on Facebook at all, you’ve probably seen photos of my fish on the Wall.

Thirdly, I’ve been working. It’s been an incredibly busy period for iRacing…

I’ve been involved with the setup of the new inRacing News Web site, which is a great site mixing iRacing news and real-world racing news from many different series.

I took over and then have been managing the companies Facebook page. I regularly post news items, screenshots – all the good stuff – there for people to share with their friends. It’s a way for iRacing members to keep in-touch, for ex/prospective-subscribers to see if iRacing now has that item they’ve been waiting for and also, it’s great viral marketing.

We sponsored Marcos Ambrose (one of my personal heroes as I have been watching him race since he raced in England, then followed him racing Aussie V8’s – a series I love) at Pocono. I got to go and now I’m probably ruined for attending a NASCAR race ever again. Why? Because I got to sit next to the crew chief on the pitbox and watch the race from there… It was an awesome experience and the level of interaction and access I had was just awesome. I shot and produced a quick testimonial from Marcos about the software and you can see that on the companies Youtube channel (which I’ve also been busy running)!

We also recently announced IndyCar will be coming to iRacing in the Fall of 2009. This is a huge deal for me personally and I’m extremely excited. During my school exams (when I was 16) my friend Kieron and I went back to his house (he had a PC, I didn’t) to play on my copy of (I owned it, he didn’t) Indy 500 – The Simulation. I had no idea who produced the sim, infact in those days I don’t think I knew there was any difference between a developer and a publisher. It’s now 20 years after that software was released and it’s incredible that I’m now working in the same office, just a few doors down from the man responsible. I had quite a part in the announcement (which took place at Infineon Raceway), as I was tasked with providing the first ever footage of the Dallara IndyCar in the simulation at nowhere other than Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I drove some laps in the very early version of the car available to me and put together a comparative video (meant for amusement and an indication of how far we have come) to be used in the press conference… Everybody seemed to find it almost as much fun as I did!

After the press conference, I was tasked with the duty of editing the press conference just like I had for the NASCAR press conference. I think I did a pretty good job with it and you can see the IndyCar edited footage here.

It was also pretty cool interacting with some people from IndyCar (and actually being recognized by someone from IndyCar by name who said they remembered me from RSC) while getting them the footage they needed to produce their own edit of the press conference. You can view that on their Youtube channel here.

Anyway, that’s pretty much what I have been up to recently. Now onto the thing I am up to now…

I’ve been trying to get a suitable ‘demo’ trial of iRacing put together for new members for a while and I finally managed to get it done. Until now, the only way to try iRacing without paying was either illegal and out-of-date by a long way, or provided you with two pieces of content that you would not be able to race in anger against others during your trial period. The Radical Sportscars promotion gave you your first month of iRacing membership, Silverstone Circuit, the Radical SR8 sportscar along with the basic content you normally get with a 1-month subscription, but as I said, the Radical is Class B – it takes longer than the trial period to be able to race that.

So what have I setup? Two new-member trials.

The first, aimed primarily at Papyrus simulation users who are still running Grand Prix Legends, includes a free first month, the Skip Barber Formula 2000, Virginia International Raceway and of course, the basic content normally included with a 1-month subscription (Pontiac Solstice, Legends Ford ‘34 Coupe, SCCA Spec Racer Ford, Lanier National Speedway, Lime Rock Park, Oxford Plains Speedway, Summit Point Raceway, South Boston Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca).

So, why did I choose the Skip Barber Formula 2000? Because it’s a lot of fun and out of all the iRacing cars it drives the most like a car from Grand Prix Legends. You can also reach a Rookie 4.0 license within a few hours of membership and this will allow you to drive this car in official races.

Why did I choose Virginia International Raceway? This track is like a cross between Spa-Francorchamps and the Nurburgring in Grand Prix Legends. This track needs to be tamed and it can give you that sense of exhilaration and achievement which you until now believed could only be gotten after lapping the ‘ring. It’s also a very important track for your career within iRacing (it is used all the way up the ladder) and comes with seven (yes, seven) track configurations.

Any Tips? Yes. The SB2000 is a school car, it is supposed to be driven in a technically correct manner. You need to either be on the throttle or brake at all times to keep it stable; If you lift off the throttle completely in the middle of a turn, it will likely spin out on you for example. Think about where the weight of the car is moving to, be smooth and try to keep even a little bit of throttle down in each turn to keep weight in the rear.

To claim your free first month new account ‘SB2000+VIR’ version, go here, use promo code: REMOVED DUE TO ABUSE

The second promo code allows Papyrus simulation users who are still running any of the NASCAR Racing simulations a free first month, the Chevy Monte-Carlo SS late model, Martinsville Speedway and of course, the basic content normally included with a 1-month subscription (Pontiac Solstice, Legends Ford ‘34 Coupe, SCCA Spec Racer Ford, Lanier National Speedway, Lime Rock Park, Oxford Plains Speedway, Summit Point Raceway, South Boston Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca).

So, why did I choose the Chevy Monte-Carlo SS? Because it’s a lot of fun. Secondly, because it’s a lot of fun (and I do know I said it twice). This is my favorite stock car. It doesn’t require you to be so precise and you can drive this car the way you want to drive it – and it rewards you every way. I drive this car with what I call ‘happy hands’, as I am constantly working the wheel and the feel the car gives is just superb. This car will show you just how far things have come since NASCAR Racing 2003 Season. You can also reach a Rookie 4.0 license within a few hours of membership and this will allow you to drive this car in official races.

Why did I choose Martinsville Speedway? because who could say no to this paperclip-shaped beauty? It produces close side-by-side and bumper to nose racing every time. This track is one of the few tracks on the late model schedule in iRacing that isn’t already given to you with the basic subscription, and although my favorite track on the schedule is Concord (a three-turn oval) I thought it better to give you Martinsville Speedway, which is used later in your iRacing career all the way up the ladder.

Any Tips? The late model, as I said before, is very driveable. The best way to drive it technically will be as smooth as possible, but the car easily accepts being sideways and has enough feeling to allow you time to recover it. Many say the late model series in iRacing provides the best quality racing available…

To claim your free first month new account ‘LM+Marty’ version, go here, use promo code: REMOVED DUE TO ABUSE

How the subscription works/things you need to know:

The promotion code creates a new account. Therefore, this cannot be used to add content to an existing account in any way.

A credit/debit card or Paypal account is required and will be needed to access the trial.

This is a free first month. You can cancel payment for the second (and onwards) months at any time. When logged into the members Web site, go to the My Account link, click cancel and cancel again. Regular monthly billing is $19 per month.

Some credit/debit cards (especially European banks) will not accept a $0 transaction. To get around this, we sometimes request $1 – which will show as pending, but this $1 will drop back into your account and will not be taken.

You can switch your trial to a 3-month, 6-month or 1-year subscription at any time. Go to the My Account link on the members Web site and renew the account. Any amount of time you purchase will be added to the time remaining on your trial.

If you buy any additional content on the trial account, but do not wish to continue the trial after the first month, the additional content will be waiting for you to re-subscribe at a later date along with all your racing stats and license.

At the moment there is no end-date for this promotion. But one is set in the system for 31st December, 2009.

If you have any questions about the trial, feel free to contact me by email or facebook.

Feel free to share this iRacing trial information on any other Web site or forum.