Blog A Day: Day 3 - My 2025 iRacing Year In Review

Prologue What. A. Year.

What an absolutely unbelievable, record-breaking year 2025 has been - upon starting this year there are things I’ve achieved I never thought I’d ever achieve.

2024

Upon ending 2024, I broke my personal best iRating record set earlier in the year in August.

To go from 1169 iRating (worst of 2024) to 1351 iRating in just over two weeks was a sensational surge to end the year.

2025

The plan was to continue the surge into 2025 buuuuuut that didn’t exactly happen - but more on that later.

As said in the prologue, 2025 has been an amazing, record breaking year, with some amazing moments and memories to cherish...and of course, some races to forget. A Quick Summary Of The Four Seasons

S1, 2025 Season 1, 2025 was very much a season of two halves. Road, and Oval. Oval "New Year, New Me" I said - and in 2025, I said I wanted to try oval racing - but the rookie racing I experienced...left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. I'll admit, I dreamt of racing door-to-door, inches apart, milliseconds between 1st and 10th in the stereotypical NASCAR fashion. Naturally, at the "bottom" rung of the ladder, things didn't quite look this way. and sadly, the Rookie Legends Car struggled for participation - and grids were always lacking cars. But, for me - the camel that broke the stick's back- Yeah, trying to do this at midnight wasn't a good idea... The stick that broke the camel's back was the fact I realised I’d have to buy A LOT of content for a category I wasn’t heavily into - and the Rookie Legends car being swapped for a much beefier variant mid-season, I let oval racing - and my legends car disappear into the undergrowth. Road On January 5th, 2025, I hit the (virtual) track for the first time during 2025 - racing at Watkins Glen in the IMSA SportsCar Endurance Challenge. After a thoroughly enjoyable year in 2024 racing in both of the IMSA Endurance series, 2025 was no different. 2025 saw me stick with the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for another year, racing in the: IMSA SportCar Endurance Challenge (GT4 VS LMP3) and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (GT4 VS TCR) Like Road Atlanta, Watkins Glen is one of my all-time favourite circuits - with plenty of overtaking opportunities and fast, flowing corners. I don't know what it is, but Watkins always seems to offer a spectacle - in my first two races of the year (x2 timeslots of the same race) - I had some very entertaining races: R1 (00:00) Q: 32nd (19th in GT4 Class)

R: 17th (5th in GT4 Class)

R2 (20:00)

Q: 29th (18th in GT4 Class) R: 20th (10th in GT4 Class) What's the advantage of racing in two time slots? It just doubles your chance of scoring more championship points - and if there's an opportunity for more points - it's worth taking it! (Only best result of weekend counts!)

ROAR/PMR Week

Besides my birthday, January is always a jam-packed month on iRacing - starting with the first race of the year (tick!), followed by the ROAR Before The 24 and iRacing Daytona 24 Hours. Before the Daytona - and indeed the ROAR too - is my favourite week on iRacing I've dubbed the "PMR" Week - the Purr, Meow and ROAR races.

Unfortunately, this year luck was absolutely not on my side - me only managing to finish the ROAR Before the 24 - and that race in particular being a little dull. Purr (FalkenTyre SportsCar Challenge - 30 Minutes Of Daytona) Q: 21st (12th in GT4 Class) R: DNF Heading into turn 1, I was on the inside, braked as late as I dared, unsettled the car by clipping/braking on the grass on the inside of turn one, out-braked myself and bowled through a field of GT4's trying to navigate turn 1. Oops.

I entered stage left, and exited "in style" stage right.

Meow (IMSA SportsCar Endurance Challenge - 2 Hours Of Daytona) Q: 31st (No Lap Completed) R: DNS From "skill issues" to technical issues - the internet cut out moments before I was due to race (I believe I only just put in a qualifying lap, but it didn't register) I rejoined the session and attempted to start the race (from the pits) but the internet cut out again on the following lap, resulting in an unfortunate retirement. ROAR (2025 iRacing "ROAR Before The 24" (2 hours, 24 minutes) Q: 26th (14th in Class)

R: 22nd (13th in Class) I legitimately had to look back over the replay to see if there were any highlights I could pick out from the race, here's what I managed to gather: - Started 14th - Collected aero damage along the way didn’t help matters - especially as it was as clumsy as out-braking myself (rear-ended a Porsche) In the iRacing Daytona 24 Hours itself, my team would finish a strong 16th position after starting 49th overall and 34th in GT3 class (NSX Acura). After a string of bad luck in previous iterations of the D24 - this was a big relief. This would be my last special event until June. Rounding out January, I'd claim my first podium of the year at a 2hr GT4 race at Barcelona after a hilarious - and rather entertaining race.

I would eventually finish Season 1, 2025 in 6th in the IMSA Sports Car Endurance Challenge - after forgetting to take into consideration that my two lowest scores were dropped. The optimal strategy is to not for two weeks (so two lowest scores are 0) I forgot to do this - and had to deduct my lowest score of the season (not 0), as opposed to "dropping" both races.

(/6 Weeks)

W1 - 3rd (VIR)

W2 - 5th (Watkins Glen)

W3 - 10th (Mugello) (Rain)

W4 - 8th (Philip Island)

W5 - DNF (Mosport) - (Rain)

*Was just barely holding on on dry tyres, then crashed)

W6 - Dropped due to drop-weeks. Season 2, 2025

Season 2, like Season 1 - was bittersweet. The Bitter: Open-Wheel Racing "Jump-Start" After a 4-year hiatus from open-wheel racing, I decided that in Season 2, 2025 I'd try my hand at some Formula 3 - to see if I still "had it" after my 2021 successes.

Unfortunately, I didn't take into consideration the fact that the open-setup Formula 3 series is a little...dead (no participation) I stuck it out - despite not hugely enjoying that aspect of the season, waiting to race in the fixed series in Season 3, 2025. W3 - 10th —> 5th (F3 @ Nordschliefe)

W4 - (Accidentally raced fixed series)

W5 - 16th —> 16th (Interlagos)

W6 - 7th —> 4th (Fuji) (Crashes)

W7 - 5th —> 6th (Jerez)

W8 - 1st —> 2nd (Hockenheim) (Crash)

W9 - 1st —> 1st (Navarra)

W10 - 3rd —> 3rd (Daytona) (7 cars)

W11 - 12th - DNF (Sebring) (15 cars)

W12 - Didn’t race The Sweet: Road Racing in Season 2, 2025

It was also an absolutely phenomenal season in terms of race results - in fact, in Season 2, 2025 (excluding the Nurburgring Endurance Challenge) I finished in the Top 5 a whopping 13 times (in Sports-Car Racing!), scoring 5 podiums! ( I- = IMSA) -> 4th - I-SportsCar Endurance Challenge (Road Atlanta) - Q: 18th (20/04/2025)

-> 2nd - FalkenTyre Sports Car Challenge (Nurburg' Nords')Q: 1st* (22/05/2025) -> 3rd - I-Michelin Pilot Challenge (Nurburg' Nords') Q: 1st* (24/05/2025) -> 8th - I-SportCar Endurance Challenge (Belle Isle) Q: 17th (01/06/2025) -> 1st - Keep Reading! (Nurburgring Nordschliefe) Q: 2nd (06/06/2025)

*Separate qualifying - you can enter the race without qualifying, those who have times/attempt times are put at the front. The FalkenTyre SportsCar Challenge race at the Nordschliefe (22/05) was particularly entertaining with 16/40 making it to the end of the 30-minute race, only 2 of which being LMP3's (out of a 9-car LMP3 field!) 2025 iRacing Nurburgring 24 Hours In early June 2025, something miraculous happened. My team won the 2025 iRacing Nurburgring 24 Hours, it was a perfect combination of well-practiced drivers, quiet split (Race start: 00:00 BST) and quiet class - and a saying I like to use Luck happens when preparation and opportunity meet It was a briliant race - a race which ended up with us all having an obsession with bees - to the extent we almost missed a pit-stop due to "BeeGate"! At the start of the race, we had a very close duel with two GT4 competitors - NUTS Racing Team and Rogue State racing. With just under half the race to go, just Rogue State Racing remained on the lead GT4 lap - NUTS was in 3rd a lap down, behind them, BNL Endurance Team, 3 laps behind them. With 9 hours left in the race, we pulled out a 1-lap advantage over P2, Rogue State. With less than 5 hours to go, Rogue was still 1 lap behind, but NUTS in third had dropped two laps down. With less than 2hrs 30 minutes left in the race, Rogue managed to catch up - and get back on the lead lap - things were heating up in the dying moments of the race. Shockingly, Rogue must have crashed in the dying hours of the race - as Rogue dropped behind NUTS Racing - we now had a 3 lap lead in GT4 Class, and NUTS had a 3-lap advantage over Rogue State. Despite everything, there were only 4 retirements in the GT4 class at the end of the 24 hours - this including - surprisingly - one disqualification. At the end of the day, It was an absolutely cracking team - I couldn't have asked for a better squad. Both skilled, and very easy to get on with - we got on like a house on fire, and we definitely need to try and defend our title in 2026! Season 3, 2025 Season 3, 2025 was very much split into three sections: Formula 3 (Fixed), PEC (Production Endurance Challenge) and my regular IMSA Endurance Series (ISEC & IMPC. ISEC and IMSA were - as usual, very fun. In Week 1, IMPC headed to Watkins Glen (a favourite of mine) and I was able to finish 18th after starting 23rd.

The following weekend, the ISEC (IMSA SportsCar Endurance Challenge) headed to Okayama - and I had a blast cutting through the field from 15th to 8th with GT4's and LMP3's flying left, right and centre. On the subject of "flying left, right and centre", the following week RingMeister ran GT4's. RingMeister is a series on iRacing where the cars change every week, instead of the track - at the end of the season, the driver with the most championship points is the RingMeister - or RingMaster - as they can master the Nurburgring in any car. Waffle. Being only slightly obsessed with the Aston Vantage GT4, any opportunity to take my beloved to the 'ring is a good one. When it comes to RingMeister, I always give the race two attempts - one without qualifying, and then one with qualifying. Non-Qualifying Attempt

Started: 29th Finished: 19th Qualifying Attempt Started: 14th

Finished: 15th Totally unbeknownst to me, in less than a month I would be taking a 4-month hiatus - but back in mid-July, everything seemed perfectly normal and hunkydory.

I will touch upon my Formula 3 antics here, as on July 9th, I had my best result of the season - a totally rare - and out of the blue 4th position after starting 10th on the grid. In mid-July, I really found my "mojo". During Week 2 of the season, the IMPC headed to Mosport. After qualifying 28th, I managed a strong result, finishing in 17th. 2025 iRacing Spa 24 Hours Following a typically disappointing PEC Race (and low finish), it was the 2025 iRacing Spa 24 Hours. Despite qualifying 41st - we were in all high spirits - as we knew we had 24 hours ahead of us to fix our slight qualifying "blunder". Unfortunately, I am unable to recall events during the race (being back in July)

But by the half-way point, we were up to 24th. After 24 Hours of solid racing, Lapointe came around the final corner to claim 13th position - from 41st - it was an amazing feat. We had a very solid team of drivers. After the next two races at Donington Park and the Nurburgring Nordschliefe (NEC), things started to go rapidly downhill. At this point, my personal best 11 iRatings are all from 2025. I, admittedly lack pace in the PEC series - so to do two back to back (Summit and Virginia) was absolutely detrimental. At VIR, I thought my pace was slower than normal, but didn't think overly much of it. Following that, it was my final week on the sim to date. After noticing "phantom input" on my brake pedal (braking input when my foot was nowhere near nor touching the pedal) - I tried cleaning the pedal, restarting my PC and any other fix I could think of. But nothing worked - and the IMSA SportsCar Endurance Challenge race at Silverstone went about as badly as imagined.

I'd start in 15th and finish 13th. You think I would have learnt my lesson about racing in PEC by now - but - for some reason, I gave it one last shot - racing at Road America, retiring before lap 10 due to a sheer lack of pace - and motivation. If I was that far behind, there was simply no point in continuing on. To finish the season - and indeed the year, I raced once more in the NEC - just to try and pick up any last points I could scavenge. I'd start 9th and finish 8th - picking up 28 points - this only securing 17th as opposed to 18th in the championship standings.

Season 3, 2025 - Formula 3 (Fixed)

After the total "flop" of the Open-Setup Formula 3 series in the Season prior, in Season 3, 2025, I raced in my regular endurance series (+ The new series "PEC"*) in addition to the fixed-setup Formula 3 series. (*Will discuss in a moment) I'll try and keep it brief, as I know adding another licence/series adds to an already VERY long blog. In 3/5 races raced in, I finished in the Top 10 with a personal best finish of 4th at Sebring in early July. Besides from that, I was finishing Mid-Pack. My last F3 race to date was Zandvoort - during this race, I noticed a technical fault with my brake pedal input. PEC (Production Endurance Challenge) In July, I had a trackday (in real life) with a team called "PowerDrive" in a BMW 1-Series race-car, we got nattering, and the team-boss/organiser said that the BMW M2 is the closest thing (on iRacing) is the BMW M2. With the new season around the corner - and coincidentally the BMW M2 being added to the new endurance series the "Production Endurance Challenge" - I thought "what a perfect opportunity to shape up for my trackday!" Turns out, I was well off the pace - and proceeded to torture myself for the rest of the season. This begs two questions - Is it the car - or is it just me? The 1-Series handled nothing like the M2 (though apparently similar power) - but if I'm that badly off-pace in the M2 - will I struggle that badly if I were to race in real life? Well, good thing I've booked another trackday for next year to find out - this one being organised by the "750mc" so I should be able to work out where I am compared to other racing-drivers - but this being my first dive into this whole world, I'm absolutely managing my expectations. The BMW was just such a blast earlier this year, I wanted to push it to the limits at a track I'm familiar - or semi-familiar with. Anyway. Waffle Over. Excluding Formula 3 (different licence) and PEC (off-pace) - the season generally went pretty well until my pedals started malfunctioning.

Nurburgring Endurance Challenge (S2 - S3 2025) In 2024, I moved out of my parents house in January, moving in May. Unfortunately this meant, I had to sacrifice and attempt at the Nurburging Endurance Challenge (got new job). As I had settled in in 2025, I thought there was no better time to gun for my division Championship (in GT4 Class) - And in the first four races, I put up a solid fight:

R1 - 4th

R2 - 4th

R3 - 5th

R4 - 4th By this point, I was 4th in the driver standings - aside from the weather, there was only one thing that could stand in my way: my own gear. On the Week of 28th July, my pedals finally had enough of my abuse. During my weekly Formula 3 race (on Wednesdays) at Zandvoort, I couldn't work out why I was so off the pace... That weekend, the problem (that lost my pace) only got worse. on full-throttle (and lift off) my brake pedal detected "phantom input" - I ensured my foot was nowhere near the pedal, but the brakes kept flickering. With a weekend of solid iRacing tracks coming up - I had no other choice but to bite the bullet and force my way through the weekend. ChatGPT (best source) estimates about 20% - 30% of the Nurburgring Nordschliefe is flat out in a GT4 car. I already have one hand behind my back not being as skilled or as fast as the other drivers - now with a blipping brake pedal on throttle - I was up against an impossible task. I'd eventually finish Round 5 of the NEC in 8th. With some real-life commitments to attend to, and then a bit of a "financial crisis" I wouldn't return to the sim for the next season or 4 months.

It really was a shame, as Season 2 had been such a strong season - and I can only imagine (with working pedals) what Season 3 could have been like... I'm just so glad my pedals decided to last for the Nurburgring 24 Hours - as that was a once in a life-time opportunity - and one can never predict when they'll get the opportunity to lead or win a special event like that again. Highlight Of The Year

As cliche as it sounds, reaching 1738 iRating.

I know it may sound "basic" but nothing beats validation. I remember back in 2020 being baffled by my team-mate’s 1700 iRating.

And now to be there (or to have once reached the 1700's) is pretty special.

It's having something to show for the hard work, being able to compete against ever more competitive drivers and still holding out my own has been a massive confidence boost.

As great as N24 (Nurburgring) and Spa was, they were both team efforts - so it was nice to see that I, myself as a driver have potential too in these series. And it'll be great to go chasing the 1700's again - and just see how high I can get. Records will be broken in 2026! The End Of Year Stats In terms of the stats, Season 2, 2025 was certainly the my highlight of my year. Just everything about it went beyond my wildest expectations.

• On 1st June, I set my personal best record iRating for the year and season

• I had my "safest" season, spending 22 Days at A (4.99) (Max Safety Rating) As Of S3, 2025:
  

• My Top 14 personal best iRatings are all from 2025 (S3,

• In the past 12 months (7th December 2024) I've gained +270 iRating (+430 if at 1700
  

• I had my best season in terms of championship points in my 6 years on iRacing. (Division) GT4 Championship Standings (S2, 2025):

  2nd ISEC

  8th IMPC (GT4 VS TCR) -

  7th NEC (at the time) Season 2, 2025

"Currently I’m sitting in 8th overall - and am hopefully aiming to push to the front by the end of the year." Oh my sweet summer child...

2023's Record was 30 Days...

The (Open Wheel) iRacing record set in Season 2, 2025 was 1636. I beat this iRating record twice.