NET CODE Meets Up With DIGITAL COURAGE - IndyCar iRacing Challenge & SRO's GT Rivals eSports

NTT IndyCar Series Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh Rookie Alex Palou streaks toward the start/finish line in his No. 55 Dallara Honda during the Firestone 175 at Twin Ring Motegi, the fourth race in the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge. Image Credit: Chris Graythen (Getty Images) via NICS

NETCODE Meets Up With DIGITAL COURAGE - IndyCar iRacing Challenge & SRO's GT Rivals eSports

Let's be honest around here - digital racing is only racing for those with digits on the electronic messaging input virtual "steering wheel" and not much else.

Those who strive to remain connected to motor racing culture are left with the very inadequate yet colorful familiar impressions of a laser coded two-dimensional racing venue.

In recent successive weeks we were treated to event races, featuring truly professional drivers from IndyCar and IMSA/SRO Series, broadcast online or cable television from places like Watkins Glen, Barber Motorsports Park, Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, Super Speedway Michigan Raceway, Danika Patrick's favorite track outside of the United States Twin Ring Motegi, and a very international circuit in San Marino, Italy Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

When the headlights of big events go out, the passion for engines remains on. As in other important sports facilities, in addition to national and international competitions, Misano World Circuit opens its doors to "Misano Circuit Tour", the program that offers the opportunity to visit the circuit named after the great Marco Simoncelli. Image Credit: sporttravelworld.com

Almost sounds exciting, almost like a travelogue, doesn't it? Well, it is not.

Interesting? Yes - but not exciting.

The expressions of NETCODE and DIGITAL COURAGE are very real functional (or non-functional given one's point-of-view) and potentially the Achilles heel elements of a gaming presentation, in a replacement motor sports event, no matter how good the graphics and on-air talking head ,via ZOOM or Skype pop-up window, color might be.

DIGITAL COURAGE (first put forward in the IndyCar iRacing Challenge Round 1 from Watkins Glen by announcer Townsend Bell) is the recognition that no real consequence happens to a driver or the repair-ability of the car when a competitor becomes too aggressive at Race Start, or within the game other than some program template consequence.

If a digital colorful blob slides off the track due to a move that could be classified as DIGITAL COURAGE, instead of having the "track" come under a Full Course YELLOW (FCY), the colorful blob is simply placed back onto the Pit Stop area of the digital race track and a time assessment of having to wait x-seconds, then the competitor can proceed back onto the track "fully repaired" and resume the fray. This process brings forward just a bit of disconnect for the viewer as well as the competitor because the calculation for a consequence almost goes on completely missing.

We are going E-Racin’! Who likes my setup for this weekends @RoadToIndyTV eRace at @roadamerica? It’s definitely got some character! 🤣👌🏼

Not the most flashy or high performance setup, but it will do for now! #TeamCooperTire #RoadtoIndy #eSports #iRacing #SimRacing pic.twitter.com/N5SenyuOpg

— Hunter McElrea (@HunterMcElrea) April 15, 2020

NETCODE is technology disconnect of a different nature and can happen even if somehow there was an element of "skin-in-the-game" (like a fee in advance before competition starts in order to bring forward the concept of prize money).

Wikipedia defines NETCODE as a blanket term for anything that somehow relates to networking in online games; netcode is a term most commonly used by gamers when discussing synchronization issues between clients and servers. The actual elements of a game engine that can cause so-called "netcode issues" include, among other things, latency, lag compensation or the lack thereof, simulation errors, and network issues between the client and server that are completely out of the game's hands. Netcode as a term tends to be used only in the gaming community, as it is not recognized as an actual computer science term.

The net effect of a NETCODE issue - if this is an issue that remains localized to the individual competitor/driver - is the ultimate consequence of not being able to compete/play at all, making the experience for both fan and participant unsatisfactory in a way that seems more blasphemous than any real world non-compete definitive occurrence.

This NETCODE "bug" could pop-up at almost anytime in any game and is probably a bigger issue now that most neighborhoods across these United States are under a shelter-in-place order. Since everyone is at home all day, people are online so as to blunt the speed of the Internet as well as infections from a pandemic virus labelled COVID-19 ... which led to the broadcasting of these digital motorsports racing events in the first place. Otherwise ... who'd care?

Well...yesterday [at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca GT Rivals eSports] had some ups and downs! Qualified P2 and pitted from P2. Then after rejoining in P8 and running my strategy, lap traffic decided to race me hard and we had contact that caused a spin. Then after circulating with damage I was P7 and got collected by a driver who let his car roll down the track unattended... Which totalled my car. Thankfully I finished in the top 25 which gets me reinvited to the next event. Hopefully next race is a little cleaner! On another note, learning a lot with setup and what makes a quick car, but also what makes a long lasting car. So much goes into the preparation for these events and to be your own "engineer" against others with more "resources" is difficult. But boy does it feel good to be competitive! I thank my wife @bydanikoch for being understanding during the days leading to these events. Hahaha. Image & Caption Credit: iRacing via Kenton Koch FB Timeline

Another less than satisfactory DIGITAL COURAGE element observed during the SRO World Challenge GT Rivals eSports platform second race of IMSA and SRO Series sportcar drivers held at Misano World Circuit. The race, itself, was very hotly competitive throughout the field but especially up front between the top three podium positions.

A bit past half way through, former Southern Californian Kenton Koch, signed in to his purple metallic No. 59 BSport Racing Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3 from North Carolina, was beginning to challenge for the lead with Sim racer Josh Staffin, when the race stewards assessed a Drive Through Penalty (from a passing incident that happened around 1:14:20) to Kenton.

This excerpted and edited from Sportscar 365 -

Sim Racer Staffin Wins GT Rivals Round in Misano
By: John Dagys - April 19, 2020

Staffin took his No. 230 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo to a 30.248-second win over the No. 90 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Kevin Boehm.

It came after incidents for both Bryan Heitkotter and Kenton Koch, who were in contention for the win in the 60-minute race.

Staffin, a 24-year-old from New Jersey, led every lap from pole.

Round 1 winner Heitkotter dropped from second to fifth in his Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 after contact with the curb in Turn 6 that sent him into the wall with less than 25 minutes remaining.

The former Nissan GT Academy North America winner finished fifth.

Koch briefly assumed second after Heitkotter’s incident but was handed a drive-through penalty for contact, which he did not serve and was disqualified.
[Reference Here]

The race stewards assessed the drive through penalty and one supposes that Kenton did not agree, or wished to discuss this with the stewards. He drove on and went beyond the two (or three) lap grace period while challenging for the lead and ...

... B O O M, just like that (at around 1:21:00), his Aston Martin, which was the focus of the broadcast at the time, was proceeding down the front straight in anger, at full acceleration, then it was showed parked in pitlane with the broadcasters, who were caught out by surprise as well, left to explain that Kenton Koch was disqualified.

People watching this could all have suffered a whiplash. Very unnerving to the fan who was interested in the "driving" during the competition.

Sportscar driver and coach, Kenton Koch's virtual racing rig. Image Credit: Kenton Koch via FB Timeline

One can only imagine what was going on in Kenton Koch's mind, to the realtime imagining, the feeling that he was actually driving, in his very fast Aston Martin, while sitting in a room somewhere, then suddenly he sees a view of being absolutely stationary on a track pitlane somewhere in Italy.

This has to give the sensation of an electric SHOCK with no electricity while sitting in a chair, looking at screens, in a room somewhere in North Carolina.

In the IndyCar iRacing Challenge Round 4 FIRESTONE 175 @ Twin Ring Motegi run this last weekend, DIGITAL COURAGE was also on display, but the most noteworthy incident, which did not have an effect on the outcome, came directly at race's end. The race was won by Team Penske's Simon Pagenaud for the second weekend in a row, followed by digital rookie Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, with lap leader Will Power filling out the podium.

Soon after crossing the Start/Finish line, and coming hard at full speed, Scott Dixon rear-ended Simon Pagenaud nearly disabling the digital Chevy Dallara he was in and throwing off the rear-wing and engine cover of his DXC sponsored platform.

What's worse, a now out-of-control Scott Dixon spins in front of a non-contesting Helio Castroneves who t-bones Dixon's Dallara and sails up into the fence to possibly deal Helio a digital career-ending catch-fence injury. Of course, this being digital where the most damaging thing to happen would be NETCODE because nothing is working out properly as planned or engaged, Helio Castroneves finished the race without one hair ever being out of place just like in reality.

This also left Simon to do his digital victory donuts in a very damaged looking car - not a pretty sight. Oh, but this did not stop Simon's wife Hailey, from popping the cork on a bottle of victory champagne.

Post Race Communications UPDATE:

Turns out there is another element involved with this brave new world of truly Professional 3-D drivers compeating in a 2-D world and it is in-race communications. This can be termed as being an equal partner to NETCODE and it would be NOT-TOLD.

Take the situation that happened in last Sunday's virtual motor sports event put on by sportscar racing sanctioning SRO GT Rivals eSports from San Marino.

Kenton Koch was running in the top three positions for most of the race when  Bryan Heitkotter running in the second position in his Nissan GT-R GT3 behind Josh Staffin in his Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo (who later went on to win). At around 2/3rds through the race Bryan Heitkotter had a miscue off of the track leaving Kenton in his BSPort Racing Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3 to chase down the gaming leader Staffin. Koch's car seemed the better for late race action given that it was gaining on the P1 of Josh Staffin when the race stweards decided that Kenton Koch came too close to lapped traffic cars when passing them on the track and issued a DRIVE-THRU Penalty.

The problem resulted in Kenton Koch being DISQUALIFIED since Kenton was NOT-TOLD and his car was placed in pitlane.

In a post race communication, this is what Kenton Koch had to say via FB private messaging about the DQ.

"I actually never knew I had the penalty... Sorry to burst your bubble [in my imaginary story telling above]. I just never got a notification in my field of view and was focused on driving. I'm new to the game, so apparently I needed to have different boxes checked or something to get the correct notification."

So now there are three things competitors need to be aware of when racing in virtual 2-D:

DIGITAL COURAGE | NETCODE | NOT-TOLD
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Last scatological thoughts on virtual motor sports racing events in relation to the everyday seriousness of living life and racing in reality:

2-D destroys the opportunity for awe.

2-D for too long creates the effect of numbness to the tactile effect and excitement of reality.

The longer this virtual shelter-in-place world goes on, hope deferred makes the heart grow sick.

In being a race fan watching digital racing, one begins to get the sensation of banging their head on a beam that's not even there.

... notes from The EDJE

Next Up?

IndyCar iRacing Challenge Rounds 5 & 6 ... the finale
The IndyCar iRacing Challenge returns on April 25 at Circuit of the Americas, and continues on May 2 with a non-NTT IndyCar Series track to be announced. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

SRO GT Rivals eSports
GT Rivals Esports Invitational returns to action on Sunday, April 26th from the south of France at Paul Ricard. Tune-in on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook for all the action.




TAGS: IndyCar iRacing Challenge, SRO World Challenge GT Rivals eSports, virtual, NET CODE, DIGITAL COURAGE, Simon Pagenaud, Kenton Koch, Aston Martin, Chevy Dallara, Team Penske, BSport Racing, The EDJE

ALMS at Long Beach 2011 - 12 cyl. power gives new meaning to muscle at "Muscle Milk"

Muscle Milk collected its first American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón win under the Aston Martin Racing banner Saturday as Lucas Luhr made an opening-lap pass on Dyson Racing’s Chris Dyson. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2011)

Tequila Patron ALMS At Long Beach - Rounnd 2
12 cylinder power gives a new meaning to the muscle at "Muscle Milk"

In qualifications, the lead for the start of the race changed eight times between the two fastest cars in the American Le Mans Series 2011 season and the only two cars in the LMP1 classification.

At race start the race was ended with a first lap pass by the Muscle Milk Aston Martin driven by Lucas Luhr on the series points leading Dyson Racing Mazda/Lola driven by Chris Dyson. After a long caution period which started soon (lap #3) after the turn #6 pass for the lead, the lead never change as the Muscle of the 12 cylinder engine of the Aston Martin pulled ahead by nearly a lap before a race ending crash with about eight minutes left had the race end on a Yellow Flag while the field took the Checkered Flag in parade behind a safety car.

Behind the two LMP1 class cars the story was very different, in that, the GT class was in a pitched battle in the first 31 laps as the Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMW's, the Corvette, and Patrick Long in the Flying Lizard factory Porsche duked it out while being as hooked-up as a train.

“My eyes were popping out of my head but that’s how street racing is,” said Joey Hand, driver of the RLL BMW M3 GT at the post race. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2011)

Full Audio Of Post Race Press Conference
(moderated by Bob Dickinson - ALMS Vice President Public Relations/Media Services - Running Time: 34min. 52sec.)

This excerpted and edited The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón -

MUSCLE MILK SCORES LONG BEACH WIN AHEAD OF EPIC GT BATTLE
Opening lap pass gives Luhr/Graf win while BMW makes it two in a row in GT

Shortly after Luhr’s pass for the lead, attention turned to a furious GT battle led by Joey Hand in the BMW Team RLL BMW M3 GT. While leading the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Patrick Long and the Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R of Oliver Gavin, Hand was caught out by teammate Bill Auberlen, who spun in Turn 2 just before the 30-minute mark and blocked the course as the GT leaders came back around. Gavin seized the moment, promoting his Corvette into the lead on lap 44.

“My eyes were popping out of my head but that’s how street racing is,” Hand said. “The incident with Bill was interesting. I went to the right and he went to the right. It wasn’t his fault because he couldn’t see me.”

GTC traffic came into play next when Long attempted to use one of the slower cars for a pick on Gavin in an attempt to take the lead 10 minutes later at Turn 7. Hand, who had fallen to third, anticipated the move and passed both Gavin and Long to move back into the GT lead. Long used the Porsche’s power to get back around Hand coming out of the final turn but that lead was short-lived. On lap 31 and after dispatching the Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia of Scott Sharp - which had just completed its first pit stop - Long made contact with the Turn 9 wall, damaging the suspension and sending the car to pit lane and an eventual retirement. Hand retook the lead, and a flawless pit stop for the BMW Team RLL ensured Dirk Mueller was in position to take the team’s second consecutive win.
----
The full-course caution came out with less than eight minutes remaining in the race after two GTC Porsches made contact on the backstretch, leaving a car stranded at Turn Nine and a trail of fluid on the course.

The No. 4 Corvette finished second in the hands Magnussen, who set a new GT race lap record of 1:20.552 . Third place went to the hard-charging Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia driven by Toni Vilander and Jaime Melo. The team was forced to start the car from the back of the grid after an accident in qualifying prevented Melo from entering a flying lap.

“If you don’t like ALMS GT racing, you don’t like racing,” Hand said of the thrilling GT race. “If I was a spectator, I’d love to see what is going on out there. At one point I was in third and Long was going to the inside of Gavin into a turn and I was thinking, ‘This isn’t going to work out for them.’ I race to put on a show for people watching at home, and I think that’s what we all did.”
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In LMPC, polesitter CORE autosport faced off against Intersport Racing. The pivotal moment came on lap 56 when Gunnar Jeannette’s ORECA FLM09 passed Kyle Marcelli for the lead in Turn 1. It was the first win for the new LMPC team and defending Cooper Tires Prototype Lites championship team but the second in a row at Long Beach for Jeannette. Finishing third overall with Ricardo Gonzalez, Jeannette also set a new LMPC race lap record at Long Beach, a 1:18.620.

“I’m so happy to be up here for CORE autosport’s first win,” Jeannette said. “Ricardo did a fantastic job today and put in a monster first stint. We decided to take tires under green, and props to our guys for being able to do a four-tire change under green and get us out behind the Intersport car. I could catch him pretty easily and made the move. It’s never easy to win here at Long Beach and any street course in the ALMS. To have two wins here in a row, I have to pinch myself.”
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Completing the LMPC podium with Intersport’s Marcelli and Tomy Drissi were Eric Lux and Elton Julian in the Genoa Racing ORECA FLM09.

Black Swan Racing, which had a rough debut at Long Beach last year, navigated the treacherous streets like veterans this year for its second straight GTC win of the season with Tim Pappas and Jeroen Bleekemolen behind the wheel of their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry.
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Level 5 Motorsports the LMP2 winner, though the team elected to park the Lola-Honda coupe piloted by Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut after 45 laps.

“We’re running Le Mans and going to the Test Day next Sunday,” team owner Tucker explained. “One of our goals here was bringing the coupe, which is leaving in two hours. We decided this was the best thing to do in the overall picture.”
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MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge honors went to LMP1 winner Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing and GT winner BMW Team RLL.

The Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach will be broadcast on ESPN2 from 5 to 7 p.m. ET on Sunday. Following the ESPN2 broadcast, the race will be available on demand at both ESPN3.com and americanlemans.com.

The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón will take its traditional break for those teams preparing to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and return for Round 3, the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, on July 9. The race will be shown live and in its entirety on ESPN3.com in the United States and internationally on americanlemans.com starting at 1:05 p.m. ET. ESPN2 will provide television coverage from 1 to 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 10.

Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach
Long Beach street circuit, Long Beach, Calif.
Saturday’s results
1. (2) Lucas Luhr, Monte Carlo; Klaus Graf, Dornham; AMR/ Lola Coupe B08 62 (1, LMP1), 83.
2. (1) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, Bracken, Yorkshire; Lola B09 86/Mazda (2, LMP1), 83.
3. (3) Ricardo Gonzalez, Monterrey; Gunnar Jeannette, Salt Lake City, UT; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 81.
4. (4) Tomy Drissi, Los Angeles, CA; Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, ON; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 81.
5. (7) Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Dirk Mueller, Monte Carlo; BMW M3 GT (1, GT), 81.
6. (8) Oliver Gavin, Yardley Hastings; Jan Magnussen, Roskilde; Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 (2, GT), 81.
7. (28) Toni Vilander, Kankaanpaa; Jaime Melo, Milan; Ferrari F458 Italia (3, GT), 81.
8. (11) Wolf Henzler, Nuertingen; Bryan Sellers, Braselton, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (4, GT), 80.
9. (6) Eric Lux, Jacksonville, FL; Elton Julian, Santa Monica, CA; Oreca FLM09 (3, LMPC), 80.
10. (15) Tommy Milner, Leesburg, VA; Olivier Beretta, Monte Carlo; Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 (5, GT), 80.
11. (17) Jon Bennett, Fort Mill, SC; Frankie Montecalvo, Highlands, NJ; Oreca FLM09 (4, LMPC), 79.
12. (16) Bruno Junqueira, Brazil; Cristiano da Matta, Belo, Horizonte; Jaguar XKR (6, GT), 79.
13. (9) Bill Auberlen, Redondo Beach, CA; Dirk Werner, Kissenbrück; BMW M3 GT (7, GT), 79.
14. (26) Seth Neiman, San Francisco, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT), 78.
15. (19) Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Jeroen Bleekemolen, Monte Carlo, ; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 77.
16. (13) Ed Brown, Las Vegas, NV; Guy Cosmo, West Palm Beach, FL; Ferrari F458 Italia (9, GT), 77.
17. (20) Bill Sweedler, Westport, CT; Leh Keen, Dublin, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 77.
18. (5) Miles Maroney, Topanga, CA; Alex Figge, Denver, CO; Oreca FLM09 (5, LMPC), 77.
19. (23) John Potter, Salt Lake City, UT; Craig Stanton, Long Beach, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 76.
20. (21) Dominik Schwager, Eisenhofen; Nicky Pastorelli, Rijswijk; Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 (10, GT), 75.
21. (27) Scott Blackett, Avon, CO; Nick Ham, Evergreen, CO; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (4, GTC), 71.
22. (12) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Ferrari F458 Italia (11, GT), 70.
23. (25) Brendan Gaughan, Las Vegas, NV; Dion von Moltke, Coral Gables, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (5, GTC), 70.
24. (14) Sascha Maassen, Lontzen; Bryce Miller, Summit, NJ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (12, GT), 68.
25. (29) Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Christophe Bouchut, Paris; Lola Honda (13, LMP2), 45.
26. (22) Duncan Ende, Los Angeles, CA; Spencer Pumpelly, Mason Neck, VA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (6, GTC), 36.
27. (10) Patrick Long, Bellaire, FL; Joerg Bergmeister, Langenfield; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (14, GT), 31.
28. (18) Paul Gentilozzi, Grand Ledge, MI; PJ Jones, Torrance, CA; Jaguar XKR (15, GT), 2.
29. (24) Bret Curtis, Valencia, CA; James Sofronas, Newport Beach, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (7, GTC), 2.
30. (30) Luis Diaz, Mexico City; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Lola Honda (8, LMP2), 0.

Another great race for the books and history that is the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach event. Two open-wheel races (IZOD IndyCar and Firestone Indy Lights) and two full-bodied multiple class races (Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series and Pirelli World Challenge Championships) make for a very memorable modern era rite of spring here in Long Beach during its 37th year of hosting this motor culture event icon.

... notes from The EDJE