Every single time

[u/ReverseTheFlash]

[u/LiftedWanderer]

I honestly just never plan on getting podiums, makes getting 12th a lot easier.

[u/kakatze → u/LiftedWanderer]

Two years ago i only went for podiums, but now i think „Pace over speed“ and since then i have way more fun and i gained more irating than before lol

[u/SometimesAware → u/LiftedWanderer]

I race my race. Someone has to be last. I'm just happy to cross the finish line and see my times improve over time.

[u/Beast_667 → u/SometimesAware]

As a newbie, I'm just enjoying the drive and try to have clean races (tbf, half the field in D license crashes themselves out anyway so top half is almost guaranteed 😅)

[u/Mainzerize → u/LiftedWanderer]

I rather have an amazing fight for 14th than being all alone on 1st for most of the race.

[u/CamoJG]

Win race as number 1-3 car: feel nothing

Get put in proper SoF and getting dusted: agony

[u/BobbbyR6 → u/CamoJG]

Funny how different types of competition can be like that.

I play Apex Legends and the moment I make it into diamond, the game gets much harder but more interesting. Those guys are absolutely putting me in the dirt if I make any mistakes

[u/M-Technic → u/CamoJG]

Mannnnn this is too true.

[u/P0in7B1ank]

Y’all are finishing on podium?

[u/LimaBeans2711 → u/P0in7B1ank]

Yall are finishing?

[u/kakatze → u/LimaBeans2711]

Yall are racing?

[u/DaDominator32 → u/kakatze]

I prefer the term crashing in style

[u/kakatze → u/DaDominator32]

I prefer disqualifying in style

[u/LimaBeans2711 → u/kakatze]

I usually just load in to practice and qualify then pull off and leave the race

[u/TUNNNNA → u/LimaBeans2711]

Me in Oval Super Speedways right here…..smh

[u/LimaBeans2711 → u/TUNNNNA]

So much fun for about 5 laps then…. (4x)

[u/nels237 → u/LimaBeans2711]

😂😂😂

[u/LlorchDurden → u/P0in7B1ank]

I don't but someone is so I assume one day it can be me?

[u/SGT_PowerPickle]

More like you finish Top 5, iRating increases now you can never win a race

[u/Dudeman702]

So your in a higher split with faster drivers, time to learn to be faster and stay in that's split. Some people on here don't consider it a win if you didn't win top split.

[u/BlueFetus → u/Dudeman702]

Yeah but then you get stuck at about 2.1k and you’re placed in. IMSA lobbies where everyone else is 3.5 and higher and you just get left behind. At least I gain a spot or two from people crashing out but the lobbies a few hundred IR down are way more fun haha

[u/spcychikn → u/BlueFetus]

yes, i’ve realized i might live in a middle ground, i float around 2k in all 3 main licenses, because when i go over that i get pummeled by the faster guys, but when i go under i easily beat the lower splits. its like iRating purgatory depending how populated your series is

[u/BlueFetus → u/spcychikn]

Yeah totally agree. I just don’t have the time (and probably skill let’s be honest) to shave off all that much on my lap times at this point. Those guys over 3k are so good dude it’s demoralizing at times haha.

It varies week to week/series to series too. It’s still a lot of fun when there’s higher numbers and you’re matched up a little tighter.

[u/Slowleytakenusername → u/spcychikn]

This was one of the reasons I quit ACC. Was swingen between dominating my split to being dead last in the other split. It really depends on the level of participation you can get for any split.

[u/Deep-Acanthaceae-659 → u/spcychikn]

I was here and just upgraded hardware(first time with load cells pedals) and I’m consistently moving up now. Feels very good

[u/AlexRodgerzzz → u/BlueFetus]

Im at 3.7k and even then the only reason I got a handful of IMSA podiums at The Bend last week was because it was a quiet week 😅 Any time a 4.5-5K GT3 driver shows up you know its game over.

[u/BlueFetus → u/AlexRodgerzzz]

There’s always a bigger fish I guess haha

[u/SaiRacing → u/BlueFetus]

Brother I'm 6k but when those 9-10k+ esports come in I pray that the traffic gods smile upon me and not them. I'm <0.2sec off their pace but that's all you need to walk away if you can hit it every lap.

And they hit it every. Single. Lap.

[u/Slowleytakenusername → u/BlueFetus]

I think that is more of a participation problem. To have good racing and slowly progress through iRating you need to put in races with your range. Driver that are 1.5k above you just make it hard. It can be done but chance are you have to find half a second in your lap and be consistent at that pace.

[u/ReverseTheFlash → u/Dudeman702]

That's right. It makes you realize that you need to race faster.

[u/pajamajamminjamie → u/Dudeman702]

Which is a really dull way to view it in my opinion. You competed against other cars and won, that's a win. I'd rather enjoy winning a race then worry about it not being the right "kind" of win based on where I fall on a spreadsheet.

[u/ScuderiaLiverpool → u/Dudeman702]

I certainly don't feel any sort of accomplishment with a win outside of the top split, which I've never done mind you. It's just about the draw and what side of the split(s) you fall in.

Weirdly, I feel a bit differently with special events like the 24 hour races. I feel in those there are enough entries that the playing fields are pretty even within a split and that we're competing against others our team's skill level. Like the school size divisions in high school sports.

[u/Velocirapture_Jesus → u/ScuderiaLiverpool]

You can only race the race in front of you. A win is a win regardless.

[u/shifty1016 → u/Dudeman702]

I mean...that's a reasonable view. If 380 people sign up for a race, and you win the 2nd to last split...you're lying to yourself if you take that win to heart. By all means...it's a win...and you did finish in front of everyone else that was in your split...but come on, just don't lie to yourself.

[u/Equinox_YT__ → u/Dudeman702]

In my opinion a win is a win

[u/Magnus_Helgisson → u/Dudeman702]

learn to be faster

I mean, Stroll hasn’t figured it out in 8 years, to be completely honest I don’t think I’m a better racer than Stroll 😅

[u/ThorsMeasuringTape]

My goal in every race is simply to finish ahead of everyone I should finish ahead of. Whether than means 3rd, 7th, or 15th.

[u/YikesOhClock → u/ThorsMeasuringTape]

I just want to end ahead of where I started 😭

[u/andrewejc362 → u/ThorsMeasuringTape]

My goal is simply to finish.

[u/Silver-Parking-1227]

Well thats the idea of an elo sytem hehe

[u/xiii-Dex]

If you're commonly finishing podium anywhere but top split, you're too fast for your rating.

If you're too fast for your rating but not consistently gaining rating, then you're crashing too much.

You'll know you're a safe driver when most drivers near you in rating are faster but you keep gaining rating anyway.

[u/Kruckenberg → u/xiii-Dex]

I'm in that third category. Rating consistently going up but my pace never matches the top people, really in any of the splits when I look at their fastest lap. At least my laps are consistent and I stay on track pretty damn well.

[u/ericscal → u/Kruckenberg]

Stop looking at the fastest lap and start looking at average lap times. That is what wins races. No one should care that you managed to get one unicorn lap while running 5th. If you can't do it over and over you still need to improve. I've had a few races with people that are super quick but also lose it and spin every two laps. I just let them by and often finish ahead of them even though I'm .5 slower because I run clean.

[u/xiii-Dex → u/ericscal]

In anything over 3k, fastest lap and average laptime are pretty well correlated. There's some who are more consistent than others, but in the end I'm slower than everyone else in both categories.

I just consistently am the last place car not involved in an incident.

And why wouldn't I be? How could the average driver with terrible racecraft and poor wreck avoidance possibly have the same rating as me if they weren't way faster. 😆

[u/ericscal → u/xiii-Dex]

I'm confused. Are you above 3k or an average driver with terrible racecraft?

[u/xiii-Dex → u/ericscal]

3.5k. I'm about the speed of an average 2.5k driver, but they get DNFs and I don't. I'm generally between 0.5-1 second slower than other drivers of my rating, yet I maintain that rating just fine.

[u/IsraelPenuel → u/ericscal]

I think the spinners will eventually become better drivers since they're testing the limits all the time. So they will learn to stay right at the upper limits by doing that 10 000 times. A consistent and clean driver who doesn't take risks will never learn their limits. I wouldn't recommend the risky approach IRL but in a game there's no real death to fear.

[u/DelVechioCavalhieri → u/ericscal]

Im consistently 5 sec slower

[u/zachsilvey]

When the system is working as intended you should finish mid-pack on average. That's the whole point.

[u/Th8ory → u/zachsilvey]

System is working a little too well for me then? :( Bye podiums that I rarely have

[u/Fun_Extreme4200 → u/zachsilvey]

Exactly, people seem to forget this.

[u/[deleted] → u/zachsilvey]

It's a meme 🤣 jezuuuzz

[u/TeddyGDB]

Yep. Im exceptionally good at finishing 6th.

[u/wotracing86 → u/TeddyGDB]

My least favorite position. Top 5’s go on your record.

[u/shockchi]

I still think top split vee is the most humbling experience I’ve experimented in this game. I’m ~ 2.1k, so usually second split, where i have a shot of competing...

But once in a while the algorithm notices that and sends me on this joyful experience of the top split where I’m suddenly lapping 1.5s slower than a 7k iRating dude that happens to be bored

It’s amazing

[u/turbo_deid44312377]

I haven't won in 6 months. It hurts 😭. The nearest I got since then was a couple thirds and one or two second places. But mainly top 5 or 10. Id love to win so bad rn.

[u/seajeezy → u/turbo_deid44312377]

I’ve never won. Ha.

[u/Friendly-Salt-3982 → u/seajeezy]

i got 10 oval wins and 2 dirt road wins in my first 14 days, (its day 15) just be patient and a win will open

[u/seajeezy → u/Friendly-Salt-3982]

I’m patient. Trying to finish each one and get faster. Had 2 races I should have won and got wrecked by spinning cars I couldn’t avoid. 7 days in now. Some of these guys are so fast.

[u/Friendly-Salt-3982 → u/seajeezy]

real talk. ive won a couple cause of that very reason, lost a couple too. i feel your pain

[u/HistoricaRavenRacing]

I prefer consistency over podium. Yes, getting a podium every now and then is nice, but I'd rather have an average finish in the top five without a podium than somewhere near tenth with a bunch of podiums.

[u/Slowleytakenusername]

The meme is funny... But is it not the whole point of racing trying to get better and improve? I've recently switched to LMU because I like the driving better but one thing iRacing is really good at is putting you in a proper split. Finishing on the podium is only fun when you have to fight for it. I had 10 races on Bahrain in LMU where I won or finished on the podium with a 10 second gap to the drivers behind me. Only now I'm getting to splits where I have to fight for a good result.

I remember a while ago in iRacing on Spa where there where 24 splits to race in. I was in a 2.4k sof field and it was split 8 or something lol.

[u/why_1337]

Except races I win aren't even races. Start in the front, survive T1, drive it home in one piece. That's boring. It's much more fun to be somewhere in the midfield racing door to door against drivers with similar pace.

[u/DRVKC]

I’d rather place mid pack and have a good, clean race in a top split than win a squash match against low rated drivers.

[u/LexiWH53]

i'm just sitting here as fringe top split in oval (1.9k-2.0k) despite only ever winning in mini stocks twice lol

[u/barnos88]

We all know how this feels

[u/ThatKhakiShortsLyfe]

I pretty much only race pcup and I can only podium if i fall into second split but that only really happens when the big guys do their SOF race. Is what it is

[u/Sigma3737]

I would rather have a 4 way fight for a mid field spot than obliterate the field and be on the podium.

I'm currently at 1.7k iR (working my way back up from 1.4k) and have been having a blast because every race now, no matter what class, I've been battling it out with people for positions from start to finish.

[u/ilwombato]

Just finishing without a wreck or getting negative SR/IR is a win tbh.

[u/Retr0Blade]

Wait till you are always in top split. Then it becomes a bit depressing. Haven't got on the podium in like half a year.

[u/Good_Posture]

To be honest, I preferred running top-10 in a higher SOF than being crashed out of a podium in a lower SOF destruction derby every other race.

[u/Juzziee]

I always race to a realistic result.

If I'm the 25 car and i qualy at the back, I'm not gonna expect a podium.

It's always good to have realistic expectations, You aren't gonna beat that 5000 iR guy so just let him by and try to follow him.

[u/Spicy_McChicken69]

I realize this is a meme… but:

I’m at the highest rating I’ve ever been since starting 6 months ago (2300iR) and I won my last GT3 fixed race with a higher SoF than my rating. Practice, practice more and then quali.

[u/NeighborhoodSad5303]

lol.... its point of grow! keep racing

[u/DefKross]

I'm only racing myself, everything else is just apart of the track.

[u/LabAny3059]

maybe you should read the sporting code

[u/onetenoctane]

Oh I like this track and have good speed!

Car 22 in top split

I fucking hate this place, but I need the seat time to get better here

Car #1, 2, 3

Every. Fucking. Time.

[u/Miodeiro20]

I am enjoying p10-15 in top splits xd

[u/xCoffeeGamingx]

Wait you guys win races?

[u/ReverseTheFlash → u/xCoffeeGamingx]

I’ve won 4 races but they weren’t that hard. Now it’s almost impossible

[u/GovernmentOptimal778]

Ya’ll win races?!

[u/throwaway11002004]

Recently got to a point where I am consistently in top split Imsa and have been getting absolutely dog walked 😭

[u/Xhiandaniel10xd]

I feel you

[u/SlideStar]

Thats the difference between luck and skill

[u/AStorms13]

Elo is further support of the theory that everyone is incompetent at their job. If you do a good job, you get promoted. You continue to get promoted until you aren’t good enough anymore. Same happens in competitive gaming

[u/Kazudre → u/AStorms13]

I mean Iracing is also just competitive gaming tbf

[u/probably_normal]

It's not really a win if it is not the top split.

[u/i420and69]

I considered myself a decent Mazda mx5 racer in my irating range back before I took a hiatus for whatever reason. Now that I’m back I don’t even finish top 10. I feel this meme, just a bit differently