I am however finding the layout and all the game settings a little confusing right now, i think its going to take a while to get familiar with everything. I am also scared to play online lol, I need to learn about how the rating system all works etc, and then setting up the car's etc not even sure if that's something i can grasp i just enjoy the driving, it all seems like a lot to take in at the moment tbh,
The good news is that you can use their AI racing with the MX-5 and it works exactly like the real races do. You have some practice time, then quality and then race. In rookies online you just need to race safely. So just hang back and let people wreck. After a few races or time trials if you can get your safety rating above 3.0 you will instantly be Class D.
iRacing has excellent AI racing. I don't use it much, but it is very powerful and you can adjust it quite a bit. However even with AI racing you have to buy the tracks or cars that you don't have.
For iRacing there are a number of great 3rd party apps.
You will want TradingPaints so you can pick liveries.
You definitely want Crew Chief if you don't already have it.
I'll stop there so I don't overwhelm you.
You can keep racing with the cars they give you, but you will end up wanting more tracks and cars. Typically the thing to do is buy the one car used in the Class D fixed series. Currently that is an M8. Then you have to buy the tracks and that is when this starts costing money. Sorry, but that is the reality.
For AI racing the Porsche Cup car is very good. For online racing you can't use that car until you have a Class C license. I believe Formula One requires a Class B ?
iRacing in action looks great in VR and the online racing is the best out there. No software is perfect, but it is as close to a real racing experience as you can get right now. That does not mean it has the best force feedback or best tire model according to many, and it can cost a bit but overall as an online racing platform it is the best.