Friday, December 4, 2015

iRacing Stats App Update

I've been able to get a bunch of work done on my stats app over the last week. Here's a dump from the change log:

  • sync process: improvements to the way the progress bar is updated
  • sync process: improved logging, display % completion of results collection
  • changes to hide / show timing when updating a tab to avoid flickering
  • fixed bug making previous / next buttons on all tabs not work
  • general tab: updated html layout to match updated GUI layout
  • corners per incident graphs now start at 0 like all others
  • fixed crash bug with stats button on all tabs
  • removed a bunch of debug code
  • general tab: series list entry for each car if MC
  • general tab: skip graphs with no content, reformatted general stats
  • fixed bug where All Oval/Road Series menu option displayed when not required
  • refactored messaging between sync thread and main GUI process
  • fixed bug with normal completion of sync
  • only update track and car lists if counts are diff
  • improved aborting sync
  • kill sync threads on close, disable sync button during sync, enable on complete
  • threadify sync process
  • warn user of things that can take a while
  • fixed installer not creating appdata folder
  • fixed main process left running on close of window, added exe version info
  • fixed how multiclass races are detected and fin pos in mc events
  • packaging complete; app installs into program files, user files are in appdata
  • fixed uploading to blogger; moved to new version of google api lib
  • db filename now uses custid
  • new build system, fixed avg fin pos graph for MC events

    I'm now able to easily create a user friendly and well polished release version of the application, packaged up with a simple installer. I've done significant testing for fresh installs and brand new users. I'm pretty chuffed with how things are going. I feel like there isn't much more user testing required before I make a version available for wider use. One thing that definitely needs some work is the branding.
  • Wednesday, November 25, 2015

    Road 2015 Season 4

    Here's a dump of the stats from my initial come back races. I had a few ugly incidents as I got back into the swing of things, which took a large chunk of safety rating and dropped me back down to B license. Oops.

    SeriesRacesWinsAvg PTSAvg Start PosAvg Fin PosAvg iRAvg SR
    Mazda Cup 102413.83.53-0.14
    Production Car Challenge 41355.26.2-00.04
    Skip Barber Race Series 10514.015.0-105-0.08
    Grand Touring Cup 21289.08.0-40.07
    Ruf Cup 3193.08.3-28-0.06

    LicenseB
    Safety Rating1.51
    Corners Per Incident22.16
    iRating2882
      
    Total Driving Time4 hrs 34 mins
    Race Starts10
    Race Finishes6
    Disqualified0
    Disconnections4
    Qualify Sessions10
    Time Trials0
       
    Wins0
    Podium Finishes2
    Top 5 Finishes4
    Average Finish Postion9.3
        
    Total Laps112
    Incidents55

    Saturday, November 7, 2015

    I'm Back!

    After a longer than expected hiatus I've finally got my sim racing rig back up and running. I was dreading that any skills I had built up would have withered away, but I was quite happy to find that I with only a few laps of practice I was able to secure a third place in a top split MX5 Cup race.

    I also turned a few practice laps in the Ruf with the Team Ruf guys and was somewhat amazed that I was able to post a very competitive time around Lime Rock.

    I'm very eager to get some seat time in the new cars I'd purchased but hadn't had a chance to drive yet; the Aston Martin and the Kia.

    Friday, June 12, 2015

    2015 Season 2

    Season 2 of 2015 is complete except for the Week 13 craziness. I'm missing out on that fun and also missed out on Week 12, as my gaming PC and wheel were packed up and shipped off to Australia. Sadly I won't see them again for roughly 12 weeks, meaning I'm going to miss out on virtually all of 2015 Season 3.

    It also means that I don't have a PC to run my stats app on, so I can't even post up my pretty graphs for 2015 S2.

    There were only 3 things which mattered anyway and they are:

  • I'm still B licensed, with a Safety Rating of 3.34
  • My iRating is 3052
  • I finished 11th out of 1089 Mustang drivers in the Grand Touring Cup

    I could have been promoted to A License, but decided not to complete the MPR. I have no interest in racing the Williams Formula 1 car, so there simply isn't a need for me to worry about going to A.

    I'm very proud of getting my iRating up over 3000, as my goal for this season was just to stay above 2000 and try out some new cars. Obviously I fell in love with the Mustang and really struggled to get a feel for the Ruf C-Spec. I basically gave up on the Ruf Cup mid way through the season as I didn't have the time to practice and increase my skill enough to feel comfortable in races.

    At the start of the season I had no plans on shooting for a good overall finish in the GTC, but it became clear that I was decently quick in the Mustang and I really enjoyed racing it. By the end of the season I was bummed to miss out on the final week's races at Road Atlanta. That absence saw me slip from 9th to 11th in the overall results and from 3rd to 4th in division 2. When I get back up and running I'll be looking to improve on those results and get firmly into the top 10 Mustang drivers.
  • Monday, May 25, 2015

    Flying Mustangs at Mount Panorama





    Triple Screens

    I've purchased a new video card and 3 matching monitors in order to get iRacing up and running in a triple screen setup.


    I knew that it would be an improvement, but oh boy I didn't fully comprehend just how awesome running iRacing at a 143 degree field of view would be.

    One side effect was that I could not longer use my iRacing Session Info application in the same way I had in the past. Previously I ran iRacing in windowed mode on my main screen and other applications on my 2nd screen; Session Info, iSpeed.

    I didn't want to be alt-tab'ing in and out of the iRacing application rather than warming up before a race, so I worked out a solution.

    As you can see in my photo above, I have my android phone attached to the center of my steering wheel and display the speed delta and fuel info from iSpeed on it. I now also use an android app called Remote Launcher which I use to run a batch file that executes my Session Info app. When it finishes collecting all the data from the website it plays a wav file letting me know. Session Info now includes a feature to output to a html file and I run a simple webserver on my PC called Mongoose which allows me to load up that html file on my phone and check all the info out.

    I'm doing final testing on all this at the moment and as soon as I'm confident it is all super solid I'll update my Session Info page with the new version and details.

    Thursday, May 21, 2015

    Grand Touring Cup (FR500) 2015 Season 2

    Current championship standing: 7th out of 907 drivers

    Avg PointsAvg Finish PosAvg IncAvg iRAvg SR
    76.843.820.50.04

    Weekly Average Per Race
    WeekTrackRacesWinsTop3PtsFin PosiRSR
    1:Phillip Island3231111.347.30.12
    2:Okayama Full4331182.239.00.06
    3:Homestead Miami Road A313952.032.70.00
    4:Brands Hatch GP4231242.226.5-0.00
    5:Road America Full8461224.421.10.04
    6:Summit Point7461011.928.60.15
    7:Monza GP10471084.226.6-0.03
    8:Canadian Tire7041144.3-2.40.00
    9:Watkins Glen Cup302977.7-12.0-0.00
    10:Mount Panorama20110311.5-18.50.15
     
     
     
     
     

    Wednesday, May 13, 2015

    Road 2015 S2 Week 8

    SeriesRacesWinsPointsAvg StartAvg FinAvg iRAvg SR
    Grand Touring Cup @ Canadian Tire701141.94.3-20.00
    Adv Mazda MX-5 Cup @ Interlagos GP10986.02.048-0.02

    LicenseB
    Safety Rating3.27
    Corners Per Incident39.71
    iRating2944
      
    Total Driving Time4 hrs 40 mins
    Race Starts8
    Race Finishes8
    Disqualified0
    Disconnections0
    Qualify Sessions6
    Time Trials0
       
    Wins0
    Podium Finishes5
    Top 5 Finishes6
    Average Finish Postion4.0
        
    Total Laps132
    Incidents36

    Road 2015 S2 Week 7

    I thoroughly enjoyed racing the Mustang at Monza this week. While it is a very simple track, I found that much like Montreal the mix of long fast straights and tight chicanes led to some very exciting battles. My first 4 races there for the week weren't very productive points wise and since I was enjoying the racing so much I ended up putting in a total of 8 official races for the week. I then ran a couple of races in the Solstice in the Grand Touring Cup and found that Monza was almost as much fun in the slow little turtle as it was in the big pony.

    This week also saw the MX5 at Mount Panorama in the Advanced series. I managed to run 3 races and they were all very awesome, especially the race with Hollis and Mick.

    SeriesRacesWinsPointsAvg StartAvg FinAvg iRAvg SR
    Grand Touring Cup @ Monza GP1041084.64.227-0.03
    Adv Mazda MX-5 Cup @ Mount Panorama301075.03.7420.11
    Production Car Challenge @ Okayama Full211058.56.040-0.02

    LicenseB
    Safety Rating3.46
    Corners Per Incident44.91
    iRating2913
      
    Total Driving Time8 hrs 30 mins
    Race Starts15
    Race Finishes15
    Disqualified0
    Disconnections0
    Qualify Sessions8
    Time Trials0
       
    Wins4
    Podium Finishes8
    Top 5 Finishes11
    Average Finish Postion4.3
        
    Total Laps189
    Incidents58

    Saturday, May 2, 2015

    Catch Up

    I'd slipped out of the habit of posting weekly stats and a wrap up on Tuesdays. I've just dumped stats for the 4 weeks I missed.

    The general overview is that I've continued to thoroughly enjoy driving the Mustang in the Grand Touring Cup and putting in solid results. I'm currently sitting 4th in the series, though that isn't exactly "true" because a number of the very quick guys have already missed a week or two. I'd say that all in all I'm currently in the top 10.

    I have especially enjoyed the Mustang at Road America and Monza as both of these tracks have led to some incredibly tight races. I loved turning laps at Brands Hatch and Summit Point, but races at those two tracks didn't result in many passing opportunities.

    Along with the GTC I've continued to run in the Ruf Cup, slowly learning how to tame the beast. Unlike the Mustang, I really haven't clicked in the Ruf C-Spec yet. I still feel as though I'm constantly on the edge of losing control, yet I'm always 2 seconds or more per lap off the pace. Its obvious that I need more practice, but I'm finding it difficult to muster up the motivation to dedicate seat time to the Ruf over the Mustang.

    Road 2015 S2 Week 6

    SeriesRacesWinsPointsAvg Start PosAvg Fin PosAvg iRAvg SR
    Grand Touring Cup741011.61.9290.15
    Ruf Cup30328.312.3-72-0.10
    Mazda Cup20729.08.0-12-0.01
    Production Car Challenge10857.07.043-0.08

    LicenseB
    Safety Rating3.48
    Corners Per Incident45.52
    iRating2441
      
    Total Driving Time6 hrs 22 mins
    Race Starts13
    Race Finishes12
    Disqualified0
    Disconnections1
    Qualify Sessions5
    Time Trials0
       
    Wins4
    Podium Finishes6
    Top 5 Finishes7
    Average Finish Postion5.6
        
    Total Laps202
    Incidents45

    Road 2015 S2 Week 5

    SeriesRacesWinsPointsAvg Start PosAvg Fin PosAvg iRAvg SR
    Grand Touring Cup841221.44.4210.04
    Ruf Cup20722.58.5-25-0.07
    Production Car Challenge111181.01.0870.11

    LicenseB
    Safety Rating2.92
    Corners Per Incident41.82
    iRating2440
      
    Total Driving Time6 hrs 29 mins
    Race Starts11
    Race Finishes8
    Disqualified0
    Disconnections3
    Qualify Sessions5
    Time Trials0
       
    Wins5
    Podium Finishes7
    Top 5 Finishes8
    Average Finish Postion4.8
        
    Total Laps181
    Incidents75