iRacing - Dallara Indycar @ Lowes (Oval) - Jan 26

[popabawa]

Car: Dallara Indycar
Track: Lowes Oval

Practice: approx. 18:00 for 115 mins
Qualifying: 20:30 and is 4 laps (lone) (note: start time is 15 mins later than originally intended)
Race: 75 laps

Start: rolling
Re-starts: rolling
Flags: full course yellows (see below)

UNLIMITED 'fast tows' (resets) available for each driver (available by pressing SHIFT+R by default)

NOTE: All sessions protected by the main password, there is no seperate 'pre-event practice'

Starting Procedure

Once all drivers are on the grid, the pace car will lead the field around the track and exit the course as late as possible to enter pit lane.

As the front row of cars approach the start/finish line, the green flag will be shown, signifying the start of the race.

Drivers shall not pass cars in their own pacing line on the left hand side before the start/finish line. Drivers attempting to improve their position by passing on the left-hand side before the start/finish line will be assessed a black flag Stop-and-Go penalty by Race Control.

The leader of the second pace line may not pass the leader of the first pace line (pole position) before the start/finish line. Doing so will result in a black flag Stop-and-Go penalty.

Yellow Flags

The flag signals are the same as on the road course with the exception of the yellows;

Yellow Flag – When displayed, indicates caution, danger, no passing, be prepared to slow down. Line up behind the pace car as instructed by Race Control. Competitors may not pass until the Yellow flag is removed and the green flag is displayed, signifying a restart.

Restarts

A yellow flag will signal a full-course caution. The pacing order will be frozen at the moment the full-course caution begins. Cars involved in causing the caution or otherwise seen as out of control may, however, not be awarded a place in the pacing order until they are detected to be on course and under control. Race Control will instruct the leader to follow the pace car. All other drivers must line up in single file in accordance with instructions from Race Control. Up/down arrows will be shown to assist drivers in preparation for a restart. Failure to line up correctly by the time a driver attempts a pit entry or the race restarts will result in the driver receiving a black flag penalty.

While pacing during a full-course caution, Race Control will signify two laps to go, then one lap to go until the green flag restart.

When there is one lap of pacing to go until the green flag restart, Race Control may restructure the pace lines in preparation for the restart. If there will be 10 or fewer laps remaining in the race from the restart, the restart will be single file; cars that are not on the lead lap will be shuffled down the pacing order, behind cars that are on the lead lap. If there are more than 10 laps remaining, the restart will be double file if there are any cars not on the lead lap. Lapped cars will line up on the inside pace line, and lead-lap cars will line up on the outside pace line.

[popabawa]

I'll post some guidance notes for ovals noobs soon.

Some of the rules re. starts & restarts will depend on when we get the new build. i.e. whether we go single or double file.

This will all make sense at some point

[picnic]

Jolly good Pops, did my Rookie license upgrade because it was free but that's the total of my oval experiences. I will need help!

[popabawa]

NP Pete, i think there will be a few guys in the same boat.

Starting procedure added.

The upshot of the starting rule is that the pole-sitter starts the race and can go anywhere between the green flag dropping and the start line.

[popabawa]

Yellow flag rule added.

Once the yellow flag is out it can be a bit chaotic but if you follow the instructions from race control (audio and on-screen) you should be OK.

Don't slow down too quickly when a yellow comes out, you may catch the driver behind out.

It may be advisable for the leaders to indicate when they have caught the pace car ("Pace car in turn 3" or something) so other drivers know they'll need to slow down by this point and not go steaming into the leaders

[popabawa]

If you don't already have it turned on, I STRONGLY recommend you use the spotter for this event, he's very useful on the ovals.

You can find yourself running side-by-side for long periods of time and constantly checking the other cars position isn't always possible or advisable.

[Blunder]

Yep, set the spotter on 'chatty' I kid not!!

Hey Pops, can you clarify if it is possible, legally to pass a car on a restart before the start/finish line!?

I'm not clear on the rules?

Ta

M.

[popabawa]

I think the restart rule is the same as the starting procedure Martin;

"Drivers shall not pass cars in their own pacing line on the left hand side before the start/finish line. Drivers attempting to improve their position by passing on the left-hand side before the start/finish line will be assessed a black flag Stop-and-Go penalty by Race Control."

[ginsters sponsored]

Good work Pops. Never done an Oval, so got a completely open mind on this.

What does the quali (lone) bit mean? I guess its anti-drafting but how?

[picnic]

Thanks for the info Pops. Nervously looking forward to this!

[popabawa]

Each driver gets taken into a separate session where you get an outlap and then 4 laps to post your best time. There are no other cars on the track at all.

I *think* these sessions are open for 10 minutes but it will only take you a couple of minutes to do the 4 laps.

All the oval qualifying sessions work this way, if you haven't not one before, run a qualifying session in the Legends to get a feel for how it works.

[popabawa]

I'll definitely be setting up a practice session for this event. Probably the day before.

Running in the draft is very different from lapping alone, it can cause the car to react very differently and you don't want any surprise oversteer coming out of the turn at 210mph!

Lowes is quite a good track to start on from this perspective, it's got pretty steep banking so running the high line is much easier than at some other tracks.

So, if you've not got too much ovals experience please make sure you've done some drafting laps prior to the race. Buddy up with a few drivers out of the pits and see how long you can go for, try swapping places etc. Voice comms for practice is very useful.

Another very valuable skill is making sure you can consistently run the high line and the low line. Do some practice laps keeping high all the way and some keeping low all the way, neither is the optimal way around the track but you may be forced to do this when there are other cars around.

Practice your pit-stop. You will need to stop for fuel during the race. It's easy if it's under yellow but if you have to pit under green you're stopping from 210mph to 45mph pretty quickly and it's surprisingly easy to lose it under braking if you haven't prepared. Same with the re-join. Make sure you know where the pit lane is and join carefully.

[Blunder]

Talladega with the Silverado is on this week and is good practice for all this type of thing!.... awesome!

[Stewprovo]

What's a fair time round here? Did a 23.537 today with a full tank, will that get me on the back of the grid? Has anyone got any set-ups for here?

[Blunder]

Just did 20mins and did a 25.5 !?
I hope yours is a typo!!