How to create a lobby in iRacing

How to create a lobby in iRacing

iRacing

iRacing is among the top platforms in sim racing. We will make sure that you know how to host your own races.

Photo Credit: iRacing

iRacing has gained a substantial number of subscribers over the last year. For many, however, the steps towards creating their own lobby to race in remain unclear. Today we will explain how you can rev your engines and create a platform for others to race in iRacing.

Step 1: Create a Hosted session

Hosted sessions might be the most common place for you to start if you want to create a lobby in iRacing. You can find it in the user-interface under ‘Go racing’ and then click on ‘Hosted sessions’

CREATE A HOSTED SESSION
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Hosted races cost $0.50 to create, so make sure the balance on your iRacing account is sufficient.

Step 2: Fill in the Race Information

Next up, enter the settings you desire for your lobby. Some of them might seem confusing, so let’s clear them up.

In the first stage there is a toggle button called Enable League Racing. If you run a league, you can activate it to have the hosted session as part of your league. Otherwise, this needs to be turned off.

FILL IN THE RACE INFORMATION
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Step 3: Edit the Server Details

The second category is there to identify which iRacing server is going to be used for the session. Here you should obviously select the server nearest to you.

EDIT THE SERVER DETAILS
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Additionally, you can select a date for the race to start. You can choose a time as well.

Step 4: Adjust the Time limits

Going to Time Limit allows you to customize the sessions by dragging a slider from one end to the other. It also helps you to select which kind of session you have planned.

ADJUST THE TIME LIMITS
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If you enable ‘Heat Racing’, the session will hold multiple short stints that are usually present in rallycross or dirt racing. This option is also only advised for these kinds of races.

Step 5: Define your Race Options

After that, it comes down to the meat and bones of every session – the Race Options. Here, you can define whether you want to have a strict or more informal session, which skill ratings are allowed, and if people can drive in teams. You can pretty much fully customize your event to your heart’s desire.

DEFINE YOUR RACE OPTIONS
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Generally speaking, this is the part of the session that requires the most fine-tuning. If you want to have the most realistic lobby possible, it would be smart to disable driving assists and be stringent with the rules as well.

Step 6: Select the cars

The Set Car section is exactly what it sounds like. You pick the cars allowed in the race. However, one detail is important. A small button on the top-right lets you fix the setup if one is there.

SELECT THE CARS
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After choosing a car, you can also adjust some things about it, like Fuel Capacity and such.

Fuel Capacity and such
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Step 7: Choose the Track Options

Next up is the Track Options section. Here, you can adjust a lot of things concerning oval races, such as the kind of pace car, or which type of restart will take place.

CHOOSE THE TRACK OPTIONS
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A usual road race is not impacted by most of the options. But the green button on the top-right will let you create a starting grid if your race is part of a league season.

Step 8: Look out for the Track Condition

Like the name suggests, the Track Condition category will let you influence the circuit state at various stages of the race. This option is especially interesting in dirt races, as the surface sometimes changes really fast.

LOOK OUT FOR THE TRACK CONDITION
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This concludes the setup of a lobby in iRacing. After you have set everything up, you will need to ‘check out’ and your session will be created. Of course, there is more to be discovered, so be on the lookout for additional tutorials soon!

What else would you like to know about iRacing? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg!