A
League with a Different Focus
by Donald Wayne Strout 09/12/2017
The concept of Time Trials and Time Attack attracts only a small group. Most want to do a little friendly "battling" in traffic. So--the RACE4Sport Fair Chance League is formed in Feb 2018.
During Season 3, 2017, iRacing introduced Time Attack. Dave Gamble, Staff Writer for Game Nexus calls it, “online racing for introverts”. Limited “focus group” research by others indicates it is a brilliant move by iRacing in that it recognizes an important “market segment” in the racing community.
First, while “introverts” may indeed be
attracted to racing alone, the true aspect of competitive “racing against the
clock” is not a sport just for introverts.
One example is major TV coverage of the well attended Indy 500 Time
Trials. Another is the popularity of SCCA SOLO Autocross where more than 1200
participants show up annually for the National Championships—representing the
best of the thousands who compete in the local competitions.
While it can be easily argued that the
majority of drivers and fans enjoy the “battles” seen in wheel to wheel racing,
there is also a real attraction by many to the drama of solo time trials, where
speed alone is the goal. To some, racing
should be like the epic chariot race depicted in the film Ben Hur. To others, racing
is like the dramatic competition of runners in the Olympic Games as seen in the
film Chariots of Fire, who not only
run to win without necessarily battling with runners in the other lanes, but
also to set new “world records” in competition with runners from the past that
are not even on the track with them. The drama is not about “Who will beat the
other guy?”, but rather, “Who will be the best?” and “How do I compare?”.
iRacing has even moved this form of
competition into the “Professional” realm, by offering serious prize money for
Time Attack in three series for 2017S4: Ferrari GTE, Xfinity, and 410 Sprints.
iRacing Leagues are a great way for
competitors with shared interests and values to form intimate “social”
communities and share friendly competition. That same benefit can be provided to those who
enjoy the dramatic competition of “racing against the clock”.
Recently, a new league named “RACE4sport
Eagles” was created. The main objective
is to form a social community of drivers who love driving “purpose built” race
cars—open wheel and prototypes. They will concentrate on the FR2.0, the L79,
and the Corvette C7 Daytona Prototype, running Time Attack and Time
Trials. League members of all skill
levels will share setups, hot lap replays and driving tips. (Thus reducing the
need for “fixed setup” Time Attack series.) It is predicted that more of these types of
leagues will be formed. Maybe, they will
not be “online racing for introverts” but rather, “online racing for drivers
who want to concentrate on speed without the distraction of traffic but who
enjoy sharing their experience with others”.
The RACE4sport Eagles have incorporated one
other, perhaps unusual concept: the idea that racing does not need to be a
“zero-sum” game. Members of the league agree to abide by a simple rule: Never
take any intentional action that might harm or in any way slow down, or
diminish the performance of another driver.
Think of it as the universal Golden Rule with ‘Do
No Harm’ added. While the league concentrates on Time Attack and Time Trials, it also
encourages members to race in the “open” iRacing series races, abiding by the
“simple rule” as an “example” along with a defensive concept called reciprocal
altruism, borrowed from the scientific/academic field of competitive game
theory.
