Robin Rocks Rudskogen! (Again!)

Released only last season, Rudskogen is quickly becoming a firm favourite track of mine.

Myself and Rudskogen had a bit of a shaky start - me not even making it to Turn 1 during the Week 13 of it's launch. (Sept. '22)

During S4, 2022 (Nov.) - I headed to the Norwegian Circuit in the McLaren GT4 (GT4 Challenge) and had a pretty successful outing going from P14 - P7 (due to others struggling but it was in the open-wheelers where I really shined.

Week 13 (Formula 3)

Starting Week 13 (on Tuesday), whilst iRacing was down, I tested the Formula iR-04, iRacing's Formula 4 car - and found it to be criminally under-rated - very few people praising it - I loved the way it sounded, looked, gargled (heh), handled - and it was quite literally a baby F3 car, being slightly easier on the brakes.

That Week 13, I raced in the Battle Of The Little Wings series - a fun Week-long series which puts the F3, F4 and Skip Barber up against eachother on track.

I chose the F3.

After Week 1/Day 1, which was Lime Rock (relatively successful - 4th --> 5th), Week/Day 2 was Rudskogen.

I had never driven Rudskogen in an F3 before, so it was all pretty new to me when I hit the track. It later turned out that Rudskogen would be my secret weapon.

By the end of my first (midnight) practice session, I was sitting 2nd fastest with a 1:15.949 - now I just needed to replicate that in the race!

And replicate I did! Posting a 1:16.516 in qualifying, enough for a solid 2nd place start (pole had beaten my personal best, so I wasn't concerned in that department)

Things only continued to go my way in Formula 3 as I came home to finish 3rd - holding on to 2nd for 3 laps, before dropping to 4th, but picking up 3rd due to a post-race penalty.

I absolutely loved my time in F3 - and I wanted to continue it, but I had already done a season in F3 (and had also done a season in Skip Barber) - so, it was a choice between the GT4 Challenge (in the Aston Martin Vantage) and the F4.

My thinking was that I could do an Aston frenzy the following season (S2, 2023) - racing it in both the GT4 Challenge and Nurburgring Endurance Championship (with Dominik) and race the F4 in this season. So I did.

To ease confusion - and almost "aid" a ladder, iRacing changed the name of the series I'd be participating in from "Formula iR-04" (shortened to Formula 4/F4) to "Formula D" - due to you needing a D-Licence to race in the series

F3/Formula 3 has changed to Formula C

Formula Renault 3.5 to B

Formula 1 (Mercedes W13) to "Formula A"

Season 1, 2023 (F4/Formula iR-04/Foruma)

Straight off the bat, the very first week of the F4/Formula iR-04 season was none other than Rudskogen. I already my braking points from the F3, I could just shuffle them back slightly due to the decreased power/speed of the F4.

This nifty little trick (of not learning the track from scratch) worked wonders - and I finished practice with a 1:20.297.

Come qualifying, I'd qualify a respectable 8th/11 (a further 6 behind this didn't complete laps, rounding out the grid of 17 cars.

Off the line, I was a bit bewildered at how quickly the F4's (I know, FD's) got off the line and had to take avoiding action from someone taking a slower start.

I'll admit, my line through turn 1 wasn't optimal, but with only two positions lost, it wasn't all over - and coming down the hill after turn 2, someone made a big error, and I - in theory, had only lost a single place. This was cancelled out when I passed another slow car, and a further 3rd car pitted at the end of the first lap, promoting me up into 7th - but 8th was looking competitive after a great run out of the last corner.

Through the first two corners, I swapped two positions - overtaking then-P8 (who went for a lunge, overshot and had a slow-down, but at the same time being passed by P9, returning me nicely back to P8.

On Lap 2, I gained two positions - former P5 having a spin at turn 8, the driver in P6 going off wide to avoid him.

On the grid, I said to myself "A Top 5 would be absolutely amazing" - although I knew it would be a tough challenge as I was Car #17 (lowest iRating) in Split 2/3 (first time not in bottom split!)

After then-P9 (Car #9) overtook me - I knew it was game on - so as carefully, yet aggressively as possible, I chased him down for the next 5 laps.

Two laps later, I saw we were catching the lead group - things were about to get interesting...

On Lap 7, Car #9 (Now-P5) made his first move on the car ahead - it was an easy pass, and now I was stuck with a slower P4 through the esses.

To my total shock and surprise - former P2 had just spun out up ahead - just as I was going up the inside of P4 (left the door wide open), so I snuck through and took 2 positions in one!

Through the smoke, Truswell leaves P2 (#5) and P4 (#4) in the dust!

Now the challenging task...I was in P4, all that lay between me and a first-race podium was a speedy little McLaren-liveried #9 machine.

Unfortunately for me, the racing gods wanted me to play the long game, and I got a slowdown (had to slow-down for 1 second or so) - I tried to decrease it by lifting and coasting - but the time just wasn't coming down, so I lifted on the straight - and P5 behind came streaming past.

Unbeknownst to me, there was still 8 Laps left - but with the slow-down cleared, I pushed on like every lap was my last.

Using the exact same move I used on now-P4 the previous lap, I once again nipped down the inside at Turn 7, where he left the door wide and welcomingly open.

The hunt for P3 was back on.

To my total surprise, P2 left his braking for turn 3 too late, the pendulum of the shift of weight swung the back out and around - sending him far, far from the racing line - far enough for both #9 and myself to swoop in and claim his position. I'd take a podium any day of the week - but as the 8 Laps prior had already shown - it was anyone's for the taking - and a mistake was just a corner away!

On Lap 11, P2 too threw his F4 car into a half-spin, but kept going - but his safety-net of a gap was decimated instantly.

I - or he - solved the problem of the gap, I just needed to find a way past - and the fact that we were trading lap-times wasn't helping my case either.

This battle raged on until the very penultimate lap - even if a dodgey line through one corner helped him open up the gap slightly.

#9 made the smallest mistake...but ended up losing him 2nd place - going into the penultimate corner just a little too hot, catching a tyre and then have the back step out was all it took to completely ruin his line out of the final corner and onto the straight. I was watching him like a hawk - every input - every turn of the wheel. And then it happened. A rare mistake - I couldn't let this opportunity go to waste - having a perfect run out of the final corner, I overtook the struggling P2, and took the position for myself. All that now lay between me and a P2 finish (from 8th, with the lowest iRating might I just add) was 14 corners just waiting to take me out - P2 right on my tail. To calm my thumping heart - I told myself that there was realistically only two real opportunities for a pass (maybe there were three or four - but I had to calm myself)

Despite braking as late as he dared, I made it through the first turn without conceding the position - slipstream wasn't strong enough to help him on the run to turn three - the esses were also a no-go zone.

By turn 10, the gap was big enough to not worry about a dive there either. Slinging through Turn 12, I knew his last chance was if I made a massive blunder at the final corner/final straight. But I did not. I took P2 at my debut F4 race - and my second race at Rudskogen - and oh boy what a fucking feeling it was - I don't think I've ever celebrated that hard before - podiums are best when you know the odds are against you.

Without even a click of a button, the little furious F4 became a beautifully functioning smoke-machine.

Post-race (and post champagne!) I was scared to look how much I had gained... I don't know why, I just like a big reveal - and BIG reveal it was too - a whopping +90 iRating - sending me soaring into the heights of the 1400's - numbers not even seen by my rookie days.

This truly is the start of something - and I couldn't have picked a better car to do it in - I'll have good races and I'll have bad races - but the most important thing is that I have FUN races - no matter the iRating associated with my account.

I suppose the question now is: How high can I go? Stay tuned to find out.

What a way to start the season.

Ain't she a beaut?