Blancpain Championship

[Jarrod Keen]

Hey guys, I've yet to join the Iracing crowd but the Blancpain content makes it very tempting. I'd love to have someone cut straight to the chase and tell me if i BEGAN IRacing now, could I participate in the Blancpain races? What does that Blancpain content cost (i know there's a $5 subscription special for 3 months)?

Could I race there even though I'd be a rookie? If not, I'd appreciate some undersantanding of how to gain access to the Blancpain class of racing as that's mainly the only one I'm interested in.
What's the cost after the subscription to get the blancpain content? Would I have to buy all 4 cars or can I just buy the one I want to use?

Thanks so much...

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

blancpain sprint means you have to be at least a level b player. levels are attained by playing safely, not by being quick. It will cost you about 2 to 4 weeks to go from rookie to level b if you never race for win but always play it safe and stay out of trouble (for more details, read my longish post here: http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/iracing-noob-question.103272/ ).
for content you would have to get one of the four cars on offer for this series ($11.95) and some tracks. we are now in week 5 of a twelve week championship, eight weeks of which will count to your overall result. If you are quick and join in week 7, you'd have to buy all but the last of the tracks at $14.95 each. if you buy six items in one bunch, you will get a 20% discount if i remember correctly. you'd also probably have to buy two more tracks to run in the grand touring cup (level d) and the advanced mazda cup (level c) which would get you up to the desired spot using base content cars (the pontiac solstice and the mazda miata). all in all the additional content would clock in at sth. like 100 to 120 bucks plus your base subscription.

oh, yes, you could also run the blancpain endurance, which runs twice a week and involves teams of at least two players (unless you want to play several hours alone ...). This is level d, so you could get there in three days or so, just getting out of rookie. however, finding a partner as someone with so little experience might prove difficult. tracks are the same as in blancpain sprint, if i am not mistaken.
just checked some results there, and people actually do the three hour games alone (!!!) and win. ok, so you might try this first, before advancing to b-level. it would save you the two tracks for the intermediate series, so about 30 dollars less.

 

[Jarrod Keen]

Thanks for that very in depth evaluation.

I race in the USA eastern timezone of GMT -5. Are a lot of races ran in the late evening/night times for GMT -5? Meaning 1:00 to 4:00 gmt? How is the overall attendance per race? 20-30 cars or 10 cars per race? Sorry, these are very newbie questions.

I will thoroughly read your other thread. Thanks.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

found this on iRacing forums, thx to j.groeneweg:



i just participated in my weekly race, three grids of 26, me - as usual - on slowest grid two self-inflicted spins exiting turns, no bonnet for most of the race as a consequence, still had two great fights with not a bit of paint swapped.

 

[Jarrod Keen]

Wow, that's good attendance!

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

yep, and with the aston martin in the pipeline, things will not slow down for quite some time. they really hit the bull's eye with this one.
did i mention: there is a 50% off offer atm for new subscriptions (just saying ...)

 

[Jarrod Keen]

I think my video card is a half step below minimum requirements. I'm good on all other parts of the requirement except the card. I think I have the 6850 or 6950 and the min says the nvidia 7200. I will check and report my exact card but u fear this'll require a new computer as its long overdue anyway. Honestly this is sweet spot for me and it looks as if they've created something that may have some longevity. Thanks for all the info.

Edit:
I was wrong, I have an amd... see below, and please help.

 

[Jarrod Keen]

I have the AMD Raedon 5800 (i think it's the 5850) and It seems like that is enough for this game. Any advice? My computer was a monster computer when I built it in 2010 and that card was new then.... Is that enough?

 

[Steve O'Malley]

Jarrod, you should be warned the GT3 has all the ingredients to be a great series but its a crash fest that often leaves you angry after a race. I have been trying it for the last week or so but the standard of driving is abysmal and makes a mockery of the license system. Last race, a guy hit me from behind and punted me off the track. He said I braked too hard. He carries on to finish third I limp around with a damaged car.
Race before that, plenty of the usual messages by people saying take it easy on the first lap and be careful at turn 1. This was at Silverstone and guess what we didn't even make turn one before the first multi car pile up.
There are some decent people in IRacing and some decent cars but there are also plenty of people happy to smash into anything that gets in their way. IRacing need to re evaluate the license system so it makes it harder to drive the faster cars, but they won't as they will sell less content.
The Skip barber series used to be good but races run every hour, so people race every hour which means they don't spend any time practising - result is more crashes.
In case you don't know the set up heres a brief summary; If you take the plunge you will start in an MX5 with a Rookie license. You need to improve to a D before you can drive anything else. You are awarded points SR (safety rating) after every race which are determined by how many off tracks and collisions you have. Drive round at the back and keep out of everyones way and you will soon progress to the next license, then they can sell you another car. You can then participate in a series but if you want to run the whole season you will have to buy some more tracks. There are 12 weeks per season and with the current schedule you will need to buy 8 or 9 tracks to run the whole season - these will cost you about 11 -15 dollars each.

Not trying to put you off but you should know what you are getting into.

 

[William Levesque]

I have the AMD Raedon 5800 (i think it's the 5850) and It seems like that is enough for this game. Any advice? My computer was a monster computer when I built it in 2010 and that card was new then.... Is that enough?

You can run iRacing with a potato just fine, so yes.

I've got a i5 3470, GTX660Ti and 8GB of ram and I can run the game at 100-200 FPS with a full field at decent graphics.

 

[Jarrod Keen]

Thanks Steve, last night I paid the $5 for 3 months and am going to give it a trial. I haven't seen or heard much about the blancpain series being a crashfest, that's good to know. I've raced mostly gt cars so getting used to that MX car was challenging last night. I am planning on doing a ton of offline practice and then some time trial to get my safety rating up a bit and then will try to fight through rookie class asap. I know the sprint series requires series B license which could take a bit of driving but I'm sure I'll enjoy that process. Hopefully I can get that all done in time to get a few tracks this season so I can test the GT cars... and that'll tell me whether I really want to stick with it into next season and more importantly.. past my 3 month trial. Thanks for all the info guys. BTW... my computer seemed to handle the game quite well however I've yet to be in a server with 25 other drivers so I won't declare victory quite yet.

 

[Steve O'Malley]

If you want to experience good clean racing and a lot of fun try the spec ford series.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

running my third blancpain/gt3 season now and i must say the level of crashing i usually experience is far below what you describe. maybe it's because i am always in the lowest grid where some of us know our limits. 90% have been fun nights. i do agree, though, that offering a race every hour certainly makes players more prone to take unnecessary risks.

 

[Steve O'Malley]

Eckhart, have you ever raced the SRF? slow but fun and clean.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

i keep it in the closet for a time when the skip, the gt3 and the oval races have become a bit stale. that seems like lightyears away, lol. btw, good to meet you again, steve.

 

[William Levesque]

GT3 is perfectly fine at the top in the Euro prime-time top split, it's a bit "interesting" in the midfield the one time I got there due to damage, people drive harder than their skills allow, but nothing a bit of preventive driving won't cure.

 

[Decenten]

GT3 is perfectly fine at the top in the Euro prime-time top split, it's a bit "interesting" in the midfield the one time I got there due to damage, people drive harder than their skills allow, but nothing a bit of preventive driving won't cure.

I have never had any real problems from GT3 tbh. I have started everywhere from pole, mid pack and dead last on the grid. Really it depends on your skills as to whether you involved in any shenanigans. The only problem I did have was a race at Road Atlanta where the guy I was battling for the lead with was a half a second slower and fighting like his life depended on it. I ended up with the win but lost SR. That was my first win in a B class race so I put all on the line there. You just need to race smart. If a guy cant hold a line just sit back and put the pressure on. He will make a mistake eventually and you can get by cleanly.