Team Oppo Competes in the iRacing Before the 24 - Photo Gallary

"bwp240" (bwp240)
01/15/2017 at 15:10 • Filed to: Team Oppo, iRacing, Sim Racing, Roar Before the 24

After picking up our Miata off Craigslist, Team Oppo came to Daytona on Saturday and competed in the iRacing Roar Before the 24. We were gridded 45 out of 60 cars and roughly 14th out of 22 Miatas. Ahead was 2.4 Hours (144 Minutes) of racing. The competition was tough. Not only were we competing with the other Miatas, but there were also Kia Optimas and Mustangs out on course running their own race. Below is a photo gallery of our event. I might need to mark this NSFW because there is a lot of pounding on the back end.

On the Grid

As we come to the green flag, the classes spread themselves out. We then go thundering into the first turn.

And 400 feet into the race we have been smacked in the rear. So much for that straight bodywork.

The first part of the race was very tumultuous with everyone stacked together. A lot of drivers were trying to get as many positions as they could. This naturally lead to much contact.

Bump drafting is one way to get around us

Well there went the fender.

Another tap in the rear

Some people believe that going forward is for squares.

At this point the Kias (the fastest group) had caught us. 20 Kias catching 20 Miatas at the same time is terrifying. The Kias are roughly 30 seconds per lap faster than the Miatas which means they catch them very quickly.

3 Wide into Turn 1. This should go well.

The biggest thing to happen to everyone during the race was a massive server fault. I want to thank my CAT6 Ethernet cable and Google Fiber for keeping me in the race during this time. This helped eliminate some of the competition; although not really fair, I will take it.

Whoopsies

My Big Mistake

I made one big mistake during this event. As shown in the picture above, I was leading a draft of Miatas when a Kia came up. This was approaching Turn 1 and I didn’t see them coming. I looked up in time to see the Miatas dive down. As I began to move low, I saw the Kia dive down. I panicked and shifted back up the track. Needless to say, the rear of the Miata got rearranged.

Pow! Right in the Kisser

Slippy Slidey Time!

Good things these traffic cones were here to slow me down.

That will buff out...

As you can see, this mistake did cause quite a bit of damage. I had no idea the trunk had been redesigned. Thankfully the fuel tank was not punctured. There was significant aero damage which put the car about 2 seconds off pace. However, the engine seemed fine and the car tracked straight.

Well that is one way to get people out of my way

Hey, this is not Tokyo Drift

Time to bring the car to the attention of the Oppo crew.

The Miata could make it roughly 99 minutes on a tank of gas. My strategy was to fill the car with enough gas to make it to the 90 minute to go mark, then stuff the car full gas and tires and run it out. Unfortunately, I added some body work to the pit stop which the crew did a marvelous job of repairing. After nearly a 90 seconds of putting gas in the tank and hammering the trunk back down, the car was ready to go back.

And back on track we go...

The slight delay in body work repair put me back out a little bit behind where I was. However, it was fairly quiet with little traffic. This is where I hung out most of the rest of the race. It was a nice Saturday afternoon drive.

Excuse me, coming through

The end of the race saw a great battle between another driver and I fighting for position. With 2 laps to go, a bit of positional and psychological trickery resulted in the other driver going wide in Turn 1 and I ran away with the position.

I will take that position, thank you.

And across the line!

After 2.4 hours of racing, Team Oppo came home 6th place in class. It was a decent run; even given my massive screw up. The car and the setup were pretty good, and really the only thing that held us back was my poor road racing abilities.

The 2.4 Hour event is a great challenge for road racers. The race distance is enough to make drivers enter an endurance racing mindset. Strategy and patience are crucial, far more than raw speed and aggressive driving. It enables drivers to adapt to constantly changing situations. It rewards attrition and consistency.

Below you will see the state of our glorious Miata before and after the race.

Left: Car Before the Race; Right: Car After the Race.

DISCUSSION (12)

B/Xmrrmvr > bwp240
01/15/2017 at 15:28

20 Kias catching 20 Miatas at the same time is terrifying.

QOTD

bwp240 > B/Xmrrmvr
01/15/2017 at 15:31

I need to get my video capture software to work. It was like being passed by fighter jets, except those fighter jets were C-130s.

That and being in a split with lesser skilled drivers, the fast cars did not have much patience.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > bwp240
01/15/2017 at 15:36

I can’t say I recommend 2.4 hours of constant racing. Ah forget it it’s great. Awesome write up too

bwp240 > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
01/15/2017 at 16:17

Having done 24 Hours once, 2.4 doesn’t seem that bad. I will admit after the 120 minute mark, I started getting a bit drained. However, I think most of it was because I was around cars I was not battling for position, so I was pretty much cruising. Thanks to the traffic though, I did catch the people in front of me and had a nice battle at the end.

Flavien Vidal > bwp240
01/15/2017 at 16:54

What was the SOF for your race?

bwp240 > Flavien Vidal
01/15/2017 at 18:55

SOF: 1213, 5th Split

My Road iR is just north of 1500, I was car #3.

EL_ULY > bwp240
01/17/2017 at 13:47

WOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Way too cool!!!!!!

Amazing work! Much appreciated buddy.

Much respect, very epic, wow

StingrayJake > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
01/17/2017 at 13:48

If a race lasts more than 2.4 hours, consult a doctor.

Plankton - Maybach in the streets, AMG in the sheets. > bwp240
01/17/2017 at 16:54

Nice write up mate. Excellent drive!

bwp240 > Plankton - Maybach in the streets, AMG in the sheets.
01/17/2017 at 17:01

Thanks, if I hadn’t killed the rear of the car and had to ride around damaged for a half hour, I probably could have pulled a 4th place finish. A podium might have been doable, but I am an oval racer, the concept of brakes and right turns confuse me.

For those wondering, I am not fast. Going into the race I was ~2 seconds off the fast times. Best I could run were 2:14s, hot laps were in the 2:12s.

bwp240 > EL_ULY
01/17/2017 at 17:01

The Oppo crew saved my ass. Literally...

Plankton - Maybach in the streets, AMG in the sheets. > bwp240
01/17/2017 at 19:15

Its still a damn fine showing. If endurance racing has taught me anything, its that speed isn’t always preferable to consistency