My 2023 iRacing Year in Review
- Kabort Motorsport
- Dec 24, 2023
- 13 min read
Prologue
My 2023 Year In Review begins in Week 13, Season 4, 2022.
For the first time in quite a few Seasons, the “Battle Of The Little Wings” series returns – a monoposto (open wheel) fun (unofficial) series which pitched the Skippy, F3 (Formula 3) and IR-04 up against one another.
I had an absolutely DOMINANT Week in the F3, taking trophies home at all bar one circuit (Lime Rock Park)
With Week 13 finished as quickly as it started, I wanted more – 12 Weeks more…but I had already done a season in both the Skippy (S1, 2020) and the F3 (S2) – all that remained was the IR-04… and after a single lap of testing – I was sold. My car for the season was chosen.
Using iRacing’s own car (based on a Formula 4 car) – the series went through a bit of an identity crisis – starting off as the “iRacing Formula IR-04 Challenge”, before being simplified to “Formula D” (D-Licence Series) before being further simplified to “FIA F4”/“FIA Formula 4” with the FIA Branding being added in mid-2023 – which clears things up a whole lot.
Due to Formula B & C (Formula 2 & 3) running an outdated car (2017, no halo) and Formula A (Formula 1) running ONLY the Mercedes W13 – The FIA were not able to licence/brand any further series.
Season 1, 2023 – iRacing IR04 Challenge/Formula D/Formula 4/F4
Season 1, 2023 was an absolute blast – sure, there were some lows – but they make the good races even sweeter.
After a hectic start to the year (in my real life), My IR04 race on the 14th January, 2023 marked my iRacing debut for the year.
The season could not have started on a stronger note – starting 8th and finishing 2nd - as I had the lowest iRating on the whole grid (skill level), this feat was all the more impressive – especially as I clinched 2nd on the very last lap.
Rudskogen Blog:
Long Beach continued very much in the same fashion – qualified 8th (same as Rudskogen), finished Top 5 (5th) – once again having one of the lowest iRating’s on the grid.
Long Beach Blog:
The Season Comes Undone…
Following two fascinating races – all my bad luck came at once.
At Monza, I had a Verstappen/Hamilton-esk crash at turn one, picked up damage – and then attempted to brake at my my normal braking point slid wide launched over a sausage kerb and ploughed head on into a barrier.
I was able to use a fast repair – but had to wait for tyres and fuel to be replaced first. Following this incident, I only made one further position.
Monza Blog:
Ironically, at Round 3 at Okayama, I picked up severe damage (from someone else’s accident) – remembered to unselect fuel and tyres…but forgot the fast repair – so drove around ¾ of the race with wonky steering – but at least I finished, unlike half the field. (10th)
Circuit De Gilles Villeneuve was next – and once again…another crash (driver tried to overtake into the hairpin, iRacing thought we touched – we didn’t – gave me a bunch of damage) – this time I remembered to unselect fuel and tyres – AND select “Fast Repair” – somehow, I managed to come home 10th/24th after absolute anarchy erupted throughout the field.
Canada/Circuit Gilles Villneurve/Montreal Blog:
Finally Some Luck…
At the end of the season, I had some much-needed luck – managing to finish a clean race at Oulton Park with only 3x (x2 Off-Tracks).
It was both amazing and devastating to see how high up the grid I could get without being wiped out – at Oulton (W10) I finished 6th, Road America (W11) I finished 5th – and as a big finale at Hungaoring, I was invited into the Top Split of two splits – but, unsurprisingly, I was uncompetitive but still managed to salvage an 11th/19th.
Pretty impressive considering I was the lowest iRating, and only one of 6 (or so) with under 2000 iRating.
Special Events
Outside of Formula 4/IR04/Formula D, I was also participating in iRacing’s Special Events – namely ROAR Before The 24, Daytona 24 and Bathurst 12 Hours.
Both Daytona and Bathurst went absolutely disastrously – us being heavily involved in start shunts and consequently were about 3 laps down by the 5th lap – heavily dampening team morale on both occasions.
From there, it was disaster after disaster – I was away on the weekend of the Sebring 12 Hours, retired from the Nurburgring 24 Hours – and between Nurburgring (May) and Spa (July) I got a job on the weekends – preventing myself from participating in any further Special Events until September (seasonal job)
You may have noticed I missed out the ROAR Before The 24 (or not), and quite rightly so – because it was an absolute ROARING success (Yes, I know.) – but despite only finishing 16th – it went SUPERBLY.
I’ve only done two ROAR’s – once in 2022, and this year’s one – both were set on vastly different backgrounds.
Back in 2022, I headed into the ROAR with a measly 987 iRating – and proceeded to absolutely smash the event (minus an incident with a cone) – finishing 4th in bottom split.
In 2023, I was entering with 1431 iRating and was subsequently put in the 21st/24th split.
In 2022, the Strength Of Field (SOF)/Average iRating was just 818.
2023? 1490. I had the 6th lowest iRating.
After multiple close-calls…and some not-so close calls – I finished in 16th after visiting the very back of the grid TWICE.
On the first occasion, I got too comfortable with the rear bumper of the BMW ahead – and spun at turn one, falling to 41st (from 24th)
And on the second, I missed my pit-crew and had to do a lap on just over half a tank of fuel – somehow I managed to find him the next time around…and not run out of fuel.
After the first scare, 29th to 16th was more than I could have asked for.
1000 Words in and I haven’t even finished January. This is going to be a looong review.
Season 2, 2023
In 2022, after driving the McLaren 570s GT4 at ROAR, I decided, for Season 4, I’d do a season in it to really push it to its limits.
In 2023, with no University commitments, I decided to do the same – Aston at Roar, Aston in Season 2, 2023
Ironically, back in Season 2, 2022, I DID drive the Aston during half-term (April) – and thoroughly enjoyed it – EXACTLY a year on (and a year to fall even more in love with the Aston), I was back in the British seat…but with a twist.
With my unbridled love for the Ferrari 488 GT3, I decided to do BOTH the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (GT4 VS TCR) and the IMSA Endurance Series (GT3 VS LMP2) – Spoiler alert: I didn’t.
In both March and May (not April), I only managed one race due to other commitments – and somehow managed to do every series other than the one I set out to do.
(Racing in EES, VRS E, NEC and even talking about GES) – it was all worth it though as I raced in the IMPC (IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge) during Week 12, the very last week of the season – this race marking my only Solo-Race of the Season
Week 13
Battle of the small wings
Season 3, 2023
Heading into Season 3, 2023 – I was scratching my chin at what I wanted to do next season – and I was pretty settled on trying to race in IMSA/IMPC (Michelin Pilot Challenge) again – and then some news caught my eye – a brand spanking new series – LMP3 VS GT4 – the name was a bit of a mouthful (FalkenTyre Sportscar Challenge) – but 30 minute races with multiclass sounded like my sort of chaos.
“Fuck it – I’ll do all three!” I said to myself…before getting a weekend job – shortening my availability to just FTSC (FalkenTyre Sports Car Challenge) and leagues.
FTSC was absolute CARNAGE and I loved it – just as the GT4 pack had settled down and ordered themselves, a barrage of LMP3’s of all different skill abilities would come firing from behind, left, right, centre, over…. This series was an instant hit for me.
I suppose all the series needed now was a bit of a boost to participation – both Week 2 and Week 3 have been absolute LMP3 fests with GT4 barely filling a single split. (for context, LMP3 had both Top-GT4-Split and an entire split of their own)
At Long Beach (W2) and Mosport (W3) I was in the Top Split against the best drivers of that hour.
In Week 4 the FTSC headed to the Club variant of Zandvoort – and being only a 1-minute lap-time for GT4’s, we (the GT4’s) saw the LMP3’s pretty darn often!
By the end of the 30 minutes, I ended up -4 Laps down (the winner of GT4 ended up 3 laps down)
Nurburgring Triple Header
Usually, every week, the track changes – but new for 2023, iRacing introduced the Ringmeister series – where the CAR changes weekly, and the track (in this case the Nurburgring Nordschliefe) stays the same.
In Mid-July, it was the Ferrari 488 GT3’s turn.
As it was my favourite GT3 car, I decided to give it a go to see what the fuss was all about…
Aaaand it didn’t end so well. In the first race, I made it to the very last corner before the Dottinghoe before someone launched it up the inside, I tagged their left rear, and then spun them around – the driver behind also getting wiped out.
In the second race (where I qualified), I qualified 5th, clouted the kerb on the inside of Hatzenbach and then fired into many barriers. It was absolutely a weekend to forget.
Despite a good race at the Nurburgring GP circuit, finishing 6th, my good run was short lived.
At Jerez I was battling for a Top 10 finish, when a fellow competitor wiped me out – I lost 4 positions with less than 5 laps to go.
I would then disappear for 3 weeks – in that time, two of my favourite circuits appeared on the calendar back to back – Road Atlanta and Imola.
Over a month after the Ringmeister disaster, it was next the turn of the Aston Martin Vantage GT4, and unsurprisingly it went absolutely stellar.
Racing early on in the week, in both the race I didn’t qualify, and the race I did, I started in the Top 4 in both.
First, I tried a race without qualified and started 4th to come home 4th
After qualifying on pole (or being the only one in the race to qualify), I came home in 4th – a solid result despite stiff competition.
I would end my season at Aragon with another Top-Split race.
(In Class)
*Almost my x4th 5th place of the season
In terms of podiums – on the official side of things, it’s been pretty quiet – with only a podium from NEC (Nürburgring Endurance Championship) in late April (ironically Round 2 – the same race I scored a podium in back in 2020).
One interesting part of my year that I didn’t mention, was somehow managing to do 9 back-to-back races (in a row) in the Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
Sadly, on the 22nd May, I decided to ruin this streak by racing in a launch event for QRT’s partner “Sausage Dodgers Racing”.
Had I not, I could have stretched this out to 12 - my next three races following this were all GT4 events (League races from: QRT, DML and VRG) – this being QRT’s penultimate race.
At one point I was racing in GT4 on: Tuesday (QRT),
Wednesday (DML)
and Thursday (VRG).
Sadly, stars only align for so long, and the start of June saw the collapse of all three series.
On the 30th May, QRT had their GT4 series finale at Hockenheim.
On the 5th of June, I started a new GT3 league on Monday’s (Formula Racing League – FRL)
On the 15th June, VRG had their final “official” race at Suzuka, before the league collapsed
And finally, on the 28th June, 2023, DML had their final race – the last of the GT4 leagues I was running.
(MON) Formula Racing League (FRL) would run a THRILLING GT3 league from early June until late August. They would try and host a GT4 league, but to no interest.
(TUE) QRT would run a GT3 league between June and July.
(WED) After an incredibly successful GT4 season, DML (Delta Motorsport League) would hold a Mazda League between Mid-July and late August.
By September, every league I had participated in had completely dried up/finished their events for the year.
One highlight of Season 3, 2023 was seeing Lime Rock Park appear on the VRS Endurance Schedule – I can’t imagine that went well!
Nurburgring Endurance Championship 2023
R1 (08/04/2023) – DNF
R2 (22/04/2023) – 3rd
R3 (03/06/2023) – 7th
R4 (24/06/2023) – DNE
(Busy Weekend – R1 of Global Endurance Series, Gumi unwell, IMPC, Canoeing)
R5 (15/07/2023) – DNE (Started work)
R6 (05/08/2023) & R7 (26/08/2023) – Ditto
R8 – Day before due to leave for Spain (IRL)
Special Events
ROAR – Good but seriously missed opportunities with major fuck ups
Daytona 24hr – 3 laps down at start
Bathurst 12hr “ “
Sebring – DNS
(Road America 500 – Lars did it)
Nurburgring 24 – Clusterfuck
June: Weekend Job, Watkins Glen 6hr (GTP – Manny, Lars, Lorenzo)
July – Spa – Will & Matt. ("sister team")
(BMW GT3) - FUCKING P5!!!! GET FUCKING IN THERE!!!
Aug – Race For More/Charity Event (No KBM Entries) GT1, Toyota GR86 GTP
Aug - Le Mans – Nope (Manny, Tom, Arron, Spencer)
Sept – Bathurst - DNF (Only entry)
Oct – Petite – Nope (DNE due to prior commitments)
Oct. – SCCA – Only home on weekend, when Finale race was
Nov – Fuji 8hrs – Nope - Race Of Remembrance/Out
Nov - Brscc festival (Solo Event)
Week 13
In early September, iRacing announced the new Ferrari 296 GT3 would be coming to iRacing, this would be the successor to the 488 GT3 and take its place in iRacing’s GT3 series.
The moment I turned on the Ferrari 488 GT3 it was absolutely love at first sight (or drive?) – so I was nervous but excited to take this new model for a spin. And spin it did I…
Usually the Ferrari GT3 Challenge is a bit of a wreck-fest and best to be avoided – during Week 13 however? That’s a death-wish. Removing splits removes any chance of safety.
I had a HUGE ego. Having not driven in the Week 13 Ferrari GT3 Challenge since this time last year, I thought “I’ve improved since last year, I’ll know how to avoid the carnage…I did not.
W1 & W2 (Spa and Zandvoort) were recovery drives
W3 (Road America) I had aero damage from a start-line shunt
W4 (Lenedon) I got disqualified from (didn’t pit for repairs)
W5 (Chicago) I got to know very well – and then proceeded to plough it into the barriers
W6 (Okayama) - went astonishingly well starting 4th and finishing 6th.
It was then the Bathurst 1000km I proceeded to blow my engine up in the first hour. Yikes.
Season 4, 2023
I won’t lie, this season has gone a bit…tits up.
Week 1 at Le Mans went phenomenally – exactly to plan – starting 4th and finishing 4th
And from then on, I’ve just been having poor results.
*Went off on formation lap 😐
It was a shame because Week 4 & 5 were two of my most favourite circuits on iRacing (Road Atlanta and Imola.)
*Didn’t race COTA (W6) as it was Monday and was already doing Ringmeister
Ringmeister did return in Season 4, 2023, but as I only returned home on Monday (final race-day of the week) everyone and their gran had already qualified – so I started from 8th (no-quali) and 9th (even with qualifying) and finished 15th (no quali) and 7th. (w/quali)
iRating
Could 2024 see a brand new Top 10? From 39th starting the last week of the year it's going to be a tall ask!
Evolution Sim Racing
PS = Pre Season
Week 13
In the blink of an eye, it was Week 13 once more - and as before, I had a rather easy decision to make - Lambo GT3 (Shiny New Shakedown) or Formula 3 (Battle Of The Little/Small Wings)
With 10 Week 13 Podiums to it's name, the decision was simple - Formula 3 any day!
For this season in particular, the Lotus 79 would be joining us! (the Lotus 49 also got the new damage model - would be cool to have that join us too!)
Sadly Week 13 was...tough this season - I don't know why, but I just kept making very silly mistakes under pressure and threw a lot of potential podiums/wins away.
W1 - Oulton (5/12/2023)
I qualified 6th, the leaders went off and I took the lead for 2 laps, before 2nd overtook me. I tried to keep up with the leader (whilst defending from massive pressure from behind) and just kept making small mistakes - and ended up finishing 4th due to going off...a number of times.
W2 - Okayama (6/12/2023)
Qualified 4th before getting involved in this clumsy accident
W3 - Mugello (7/12/2023)
Mugello was probably the best day during a bleak Week 13.
To begin with, the series schedule displayed Week 3 as VIR (Virginia International Raceway) - but to my utter delight, changed when the new updates installed on the Wednesday (W2) I don't know why, but I always seem to excel at brand new circuits - and the same applied for Mugello.
Mugello was the brand new content/track for that season and in an incredible turn of events, I ended up finishing 2nd after starting 4th.
W4 - Red Bull Ring (8/12/2023)
Things returned to normal at the Red Bull Ring as I managed to take the class lead, before taking a chicane too fast (was in 4th instead of 3rd) - and then spinning out all by myself. This was the second POTENTIAL win/podium I threw away.
After a long recovery drive, I managed to salvage 4th after starting 4th.
The Lamborghini Huracan GT3 was released on this day in 2020
On the 9th, BOSW (Battle Of The Small Wings) returned to Mugello and I headed to the mainland for the day (or it was supposed to be for the day) for a friend's award ceremony before heading back to the Isle Of Wight on the 10th for that weekend's Zolder 23 Hours.
Things over-ran and I ended up trying to get the first ferry of the day but over-slept and managed to return to the Isle Of Wight/my rig just moments before the start of the Zolder 23 Hours.
Myself Will and Dominik Gahlow drove the Aston - I was terribly off-pace, and emerging from the pits for my first stint I sped in the pit-lane.
Due to my error and the tough competition we stayed nearer the back of the field, which meant we avoided getting penalties (being a charity event, you could pay for a competitor to get a penalty)
We'd eventually finish 8th after starting 13th and last in class.
W7 - Monza (11/12/2023)
The 11th was a long day.
It started at about 3am/3:30am, I woke up and half an hour later, I jumped on the sim ready for the 4:30am Battle Of The Small/Little Wings race at Monza.
Murphy was having an absolute field-day.
The one track I COULD NOT get aero damage at was Monza...and as fate would have it, I picked up just that before turn one. Brilliant.
Season 1, 2024
3/12/2023
In a weird cross-over period, Week 1 of the FalkenTyre Sports Car Challenge (still in December 2023) was at Monza - but Monza without the First Chicane - and was a thrilling race with battles aplenty.
Lap 1 was particularly amusing jumping from 10th (in class) to 7th thanks to a monumental start pile-up.
I finished the race in 8th from 10th on the grid (in class)
Week 2 (Twin Ring Motegi) was a tough pill to swallow - under-fuelling the car (I also had a lot on my mind besides the race) and a pit-stop plummeted me down the order, and plummeted my iRating too - but a new year is waiting for us in less than 3 weeks - so luck can change at any time.
But I've learnt that 13 laps isn't enough for a 15 minute race!!!
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