Make iRacing work for you!

[Gunner]

So this year I have learned a little bit more about iRacing itself, and found a few tips that make it a bit more enjoyable for myself.  I usually end up doing most of my practice alone due to my busy schedule, but this stuff has made it much more enjoyable and productive to do so.  Some of you may already know these things, but some might not so here goes!

OFFSET YOUR GHOST

I used to never run with the ghost car on, as it was mostly an annoyance.  Turns out you can "offset" your ghost car, so when you cross the line, it pops up farther down the road ahead of you.  I set it to 1 second ahead, so I am constantly "chasing" down my best lap.  Here is how to do it!

-go do Documents, open iRacing folder
-open the app.ini file
-scroll down about 3/4 the way to the [SplitsDeltas] section
-here there will be a line ghostCarOffsetSec=0.000000  if you want a 1 sec offset, change the number value to 1.0, half second 0.5, etc
-save and done!  Your ghost car will now "start" 1 second (or a value of your choosing) ahead of you instead of always being "inside" you (gross)

CHANGE WHOS GHOST YOU ARE RACING

This one is a bit more involved, but a really cool "feature".  Turns out you can race against any of your friends ghosts in a test session as well!  If a person shares their "blap" or "olap" files (blap is best lap, olap is optimal lap), then you can race them.  If anyone has any interest in this, I can start sharing my blap and olap files along with a setup for each race.  I'm certainly not perfect, so if any fast guys want to share as well, feel welcome to do so.  Here is how to do it!

-open iRacing folder again, then open "lapfiles"
-select the track you wish to test against the ghost on (you may have to have existing laps ran on the course for the folder to be created.  If it is missing try that)
-now you will see files with an iracing ID infront of the car name.  Look for the formula mazda files for this series,like this   207637_formulamazda.blap   (the 6 digit # is MY iracing ID)
-download and save a blap or olap file for the chosen track
-now if you edit the name of their file and replace their ID# with your own ID you can race against that ghost (you will have to delete your own blap or olap file)

Done!  You are now trying to chase down a friend in testing!  Keep in mind if you use VRS you can get some blap and olap files from there as well.  I find this helps to see what lines guy take in corners, turn in points, etc etc.

If anyone has anything to add, feel free!  Also let me know if there is any interest in me running early laps at tracks to post my lap files along with a setup I have likely stolen from Micheal  :lol: 

Happy Racing!

 

[TRG]

This is clutch. Thanks for posting this.

Only comment I will make is that you need to pay attention to the file names. If there are circuits you've driven multiple cars at, there will be multiple blap/olap files, but they will have the car name appended to it. Just something to be aware of.

 

[Gunner]

This is clutch. Thanks for posting this.

Only comment I will make is that you need to pay attention to the file names. If there are circuits you've driven multiple cars at, there will be multiple blap/olap files, but they will have the car name appended to it. Just something to be aware of.

Thanks, edited to reflect that!

 

[jeromef1]

That's awesome! Can you create the same topic at the root of iRacing forum so the members of other championships can see it

 

[Carsten Quint]

This is awesome! Thank you!

 

[TRG]

New 'rule' effective immediately - Jefferson must post his blap olap files after each practice so we can figure out how to ascend to his level!

All joking aside, this capability will be very helpful to learn from eachother and likely result in better racing. In addition to this, posting a cropped replay will help as well as you can follow a line and braking points much closer.