http://127.0.0.1:32034/gotesting?local=yes&launch=yes&customerid=YourCustomerId

appended with other parameters that for example identify the track and validate the session call, with all calls done by the official members’ site at http://members.iracing.com/

Unfortunately, in these days of permanent cyber security red alert, the hardware and/or software that users have, can cause the game to NOT launch at all, for multiple reasons, the most basic being a firewall blocking the request.

I was a victim of the “game won’t start” problem, but because of a less trivial issue, related to my network configuration. Basically, when more than one Internet access is available, the user must make sure that:

- iRacing traffic is always routed by the same access;
- if there is a chain of devices between the Internet access device and the [router] device directly connecting to the PC clients, the proper port forwarding rule must be set in place.

In my case,

(1) since the first device that the iRacing servers connect to is NOT the router that indeed connects to the iRacing PC clients, that first device had to configured to do a port forward to the second device.

I found that iRacing local server is always listening on port 32034, so my forward rule, set on the device with direct connection to the desired Internet access, is doing a “single port forward rule” for UDP traffic from port 32034 to the IP address of the second device, e.g.

single port forward all UDP traffic from/to port 32034 to the device at IP <the local network IP address of the device that connects directly to the iRacing PC clients>

And that did it for me.

(2) At a point, I was forcing the clients’ end router – which supports multiple WANs – to route all traffic to iRacing servers to the desired WAN, of more than one available:

the iRacing North America servers are in the range
69.25.205.241 .. 69.25.205.249

But this never worked properly and was more complicated than (1), which is a solution, alone.

2011-05-01 : Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg (D)
2011-05-15 : Circuit Park Zandvoort (NL)
2011-06-05 : Red-Bull-Ring Spielberg (A)
2011-06-19 : EuroSpeedway Lausitz (D)
2011-07-03 : Norisring (D)
2011-07-17 : Show event @ Olympic Stadium Munich (D)
2011-08-07 : Nürburgring (D)
2011-09-04 : Brands Hatch (GB)
2011-09-18 : Oschersleben (D)
2011-10-02 : Valencia (E)
2011-10-23 : Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg (D)
2011-11-06 : Shanghai (CN)

To feel some of the old F1 magic, that once got me out of bed to watch the Asian Grand Prixs at 05:00 AM and earlier, I drove the 1993 William Renault and the 1991 Ferrari, on rFactor. Great fun.

Above, from the “1993 F1 L.E.” mod, for rFactor, a snapshot of the Williams Renault.

Above, from the “1991 F1 L.E.” mod, for rFactor, a snapshot of the Ferrari.

The review mentioned that “F1 1966” for GPL was yet another very interesting game modification, so I decided to try them both, starting with “F1 1966”.

GPL is a 1998 game, that I played with a pair of 3DFX Voodoo cards, back then.

The day I installed Windows XP, the game stopped working for me and I uninstalled it. Today, I know that the issue was/is with the the NTFS file system: “indexing” must be on for all the game files.

I missed GPL. Now, years later, it is very easy to understand how ahead of its time this game was!

Playing the “F1 1966” mod required me to:

(1) get most indications from where to download the related files and what to do with them here:
http://1966gpl.speedgeezers.net/index.php?p=downloads

Regarding the tracks’ installation procedure, maybe a newbie, like myself, would have found helpful, to know that you either copy the uncompressed track folder to your gpl\tracks folder or – more often – you just activate the supplied “TrackInstall.exe” file, from the uncompressed files’ folder.

Unfortunately, some links for the tracks, were/are dead. Surprisingly, I managed to find mirrors, for all those cases.

The URLs I used are:

http://gplmz.bcsims.net/tracks/eastlndn_GPL.zip – for the 1967 East London track.

http://gpltd.bcsims.com/tracks/reims_gpl.zip - for the 1967 Reims track.

http://dixierunners.speedgeezers.net/brands1967/ - for the 1967 Brands Hatch track.

http://www.zenadsl5531.zen.co.uk/Tracks/Oulton/ – for the 1967 Oulton Park track.

http://www.dixierunners.speedgeezers.net/monza10k/ - for the 1967 Monza track.

1967 Syracuse track, from the “GPL Alternative Track Database”, which requires you to register & login.

(2) if and when having issues with Windows XP, this page might help:
http://eaglewoman.rscsites.org/gpl/faq-xp.htm

(3) in order to activate the “1966 mod”, the GEM software is required.
Get it here: http://gem.ebi-service.de/downloads.html

Along this process, I found some other interesting links, not required though:

http://gplmz.bcsims.com/index.php?showtopic=2287 – forum post regarding the “alternative track DB”.

http://andre-gpl-texture.speedgeezers.net/ – Andre is a creator of fine GPL tracks.

http://www.drivingitalia.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=37764 – General indications regarding the installation of the 1966 mod.

http://gpl.pc-gamers.eu/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=8 - Same as above.

http://speedgeezers.net/ – Central point for many GPL related resources.

http://onlinecircuit.de-blog.jp/main/ – Related japanese blog.

http://www.trilon.com/bapom/ – GPL posters.

live transmission (2008–12–14, from 14:30 Portuguese/CET time):
http://live.freecaster.tv/roc/

This year’s ROC is *not* live on Eurosport… it is live on the Internet!

Machwerk’s twisty bumpy road surface, half regular asphalt, half granite cubes, with two railroad crossings (!), isn’t F1 friendly at all – more for rally cars –, but the 1000 horse power 1985 Mclaren Porsche, makes it extra hard, with a delicate response at low revs and a power explosion from them on.

I always drive with no aids, except for minimal traction control, so there is plenty of wheel spinning opportunities, which easily throw the car’s tail away. Regarding the turbo powered F1s from the 1980s, drivers described their handling as “point and shoot”…

A fast lap around Machwerk should take 6 minutes. All it takes is a proper setup. Will I ever do it?

It is simply wonderful! I just love it! For those who can understand the physical side of sim racing, just try the Limerock track. This is a relatively short circuit, where the A.I. cars lap below 00:37 seconds. There are two types of tarmac and a famous up/downhill section that can make the car jump, if you approach the preceding corner with a knife stabbing the throttle foot to the pedal, and lots of fingers crossed…
Racing the computer here is fast and very furious. In order to keep pace with 100% strong adversaries, one needs to be in great shape.

Here are some screenshots:

Above, me driving (flying?) the 2006’s Renault F1, at Limerock, USA.

Above, a section from one track where real F1s will never race: Mount Panorama, Australia, where top speeds exceed 300 kph…

The replay is available: saleen_spa_2m12s799s.exe (1715 KB)

The Saleen isn’t the fastest car, but I love its handling!

Today, I took it out for many spins and one successful race, on the Porsche Cup championship, at rFactor’s Toban Short racetrack.

To win after all these months, without training (I race against opponents set to 100% strength), was very enjoyable, but the most interesting moment was a sequence of laps below 1 minute.

My personal best lap, set during the race, is now 59:789.

You can download a video of that lap (3230 KB).

arturmarques_dot_com_toban_short_59s789.avi

Above: yet another spin…