Pit stops.....

[jon157uk]

Is there such a thing in iRacing ?
So far every race I've watched in iRacing, I've not seen, or maybe just not noticed anyone perform a single pit stop. Is there no need for pit stops in this sim ? I find that difficult to believe and highly unrealistic, or is it only in long races where they come in to play ?

[8vvduecevv8]

Yes, once past rookies mainly.

Oval racing has pitstops.

Some road racing has pitstops. All the road racing endurance events naturally have pitstops.

Many league races have pitstops, including things like steward controlled yellow flags, fuel limits for example.

Some of the issue with official races is the realistic fuel tank size. For example the V8 supercar will run for almost an hour without needing a stop. So to have a pitstop race we would need to run for an hour to an hour and a half to have a pitstop race. I think some series are hoping to move to limiting starting fuel and thereby force pitstops while keeping a race under an hour.

Had many races where calculating fuel to within 100ml, fuel saving, balancing tyre fall off vs track position and others strategy. Great fun. Watch this race.

V8 race with pitstop

[jon157uk]

8vv... I've just watched the whole of that race and it was bloody fantastic, what great racing from those guys and it quite clearly shows how pit stops can indeed change the whole aspect of racing, brilliant stuff thanks for posting it up.

[Cat Toaster]

On my last race with the FW31 F1-Car at Donington I had three Stops in a 95minute races, as I ruined my front wing in Turn1 and needed a new one plus two more stops later for fuel and tires. The entire distance could be done with just one pit stop (but that´s a must) but you´re way slower being so heavy that a two-stop strategy is paying off for most. And me having the extra stop in Lap 1 still made it from P17 to P6 in the end.

Shorter races can be done with 0 Stops, but you´re maybe faster doing one. Maybe not. On some tracks I enjoy doing 0 Stops and passing many cars while they lose time doing there 35s costing Pit-Stops. Also way less risky than overtaking on the track.

So Pitstops are there, sometimes necessary and a tactical element as in real racing.

[jon157uk]

Originally posted by Cat Toaster:

On my last race with the FW31 F1-Car at Donington I had three Stops in a 95minute races, as I ruined my front wing in Turn1 and needed a new one plus two more stops later for fuel and tires. The entire distance could be done with just one pit stop (but that´s a must) but you´re way slower being so heavy that a two-stop strategy is paying off for most. And me having the extra stop in Lap 1 still made it from P17 to P6 in the end.

Shorter races can be done with 0 Stops, but you´re maybe faster doing one. Maybe not. On some tracks I enjoy doing 0 Stops and passing many cars while they lose time doing there 35s costing Pit-Stops. Why less risky than overtaking on the track.

So Pitstops are there, sometimes necessary and a tactical element as in real racing.

I'm pleased to see that pit stops are actually widely used, I'm new to this sim and the one thing that would have put me off is racing with no pit stops, very unrealistic, I can't think of any motor race that doesn't have pit stops along the way somewhere... nice stuff thanks guys.

[8vvduecevv8]

Careful what you wish for. iRacing can be painfully too realistic and punish you for every mistake. Start, inlap, outlap, setting your fuel, tyres, reset bias, saving fuel, overheating tyres. pit limiter, cold tyres, different weather or wind. You name it, it will bite you at some point :) Much more to come later this year with improved tyres and dynamic track surfaces (rubber buildup)

Pretty hard to not watch that whole race once you start right. Possibly some of the best broadcasted sim racing you will find anyway.

Glad you enjoyed it. Be sure to check out the next event this sunday.

http://www.v8scops.com/