Nürburgring 24h iRacing Special Event Overshadowed by Exploit – Team Redline Withdraws Cars
The iRacing Special Event (Nürburgring 24h), which is currently still underway, has been overshadowed by an exploit incident. Read on to find out exactly how this happened and how the team around Max Verstappen, currently arguably the best Formula 1 driver, was able to gain an unfair advantage.
The exploit – sequence of events and effects
The spectators of the official streams, and likely the other drivers on the grid, were stunned when three cars pulled over to the right on Döttinger Höhe immediately after the race start and retired to the pits.
- Team Redline #71 – Gustavo Ariel, Edoardo Leo & Enzo Bonito
- Team Redline #69 – Sam Kuitert, Luke McKeown & Cooper Webster
- BMW M Team Redline #20 – Chris Lulham, Florian Lebigre & Diogo Pinto
On closer inspection, it quickly became clear why Team Redline had decided to send three cars back onto the track with a deficit of around 1:30 minutes by resetting them in the pits. The rain tyres fitted on the starting grid were the solution to the puzzle. In combination with what was most likely minimal fuel, these allow the car to be set lower due to their slightly larger diameter. On paper, this provides an advantage over legally set-up vehicles over the race distance.
Ultimately, this approach results in a vehicle that is actually illegal because its setup is too low. In the race, the advantage of the lower vehicle height became apparent, albeit not as clearly as initially thought. Team Redline managed to gradually make up the deficit caused by the tactic.
The response from IRacing.com – Team Redline withdraws cars
Somewhat surprisingly and unusually, iRacing.com responded during the race. iRacing chief steward Nim Cross used the race control function on the Top Split server to comment, albeit rather vaguely, on Team Redline’s actions.
8.1.1.4. Cheating – Members may not cheat or otherwise engage in conduct deemed by iRacing to be in conflict with the spirit or Sporting Code.
<Nim Cross@RACECONTROL>
8.1.1.9. Nefarious Tactics – Drivers may not use nefarious tactics to gain an advantage in qualifying or racing.
iRacing.com will determine what constitutes an advantage.
After a few laps, all three Team Redline cars were in the pits at the same time, and the situation quickly became clear. Team Redline’s behaviour was obviously not in accordance with the rules, and iRacing responded accordingly behind the scenes. The real reason why Team Redline ultimately pulled their cars out of the race is not officially known at this time.
No statements from iRacing or Team Redline have been released yet.
The views of the community
The incident did not remain hidden from the iRacing community for long. Even during the start phase, speculation began about why Team Redline was returning the cars to the pits and what advantage this would bring. However, everyone quickly agreed and recognised the exploit for what it was. Top driver Lasse Bak was one of the first to comment on the incident on Platform X:
As is often the case, the iRacing community on Reddit was quick to respond. The topic surrounding the exploit quickly garnered several hundred responses: https://www.reddit.com/r/iRacing/comments/1l5li0v/team_redline_using_exploits/
Exploits – a growing problem?
This year’s Nürburgring 24h iRacing Special Event is not the first special event in recent history to be overshadowed by an exploit:
- Spa 24H Tyre Cooling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKcSf7ZaReQ
- Daytona 24H Track Limits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR7X7MxKITw
- Daytona 24H ALT F4: https://youtu.be/OJ8n6Aqrlrg?t=15414
Many of these incidents immediately raise the question: Is this just the tip of the iceberg? What other exploits are there that have not yet become public knowledge? Nowhere else in sim racing are there as many top teams and drivers as in iRacing. So it’s not surprising that exploits are found and exploited. But iRacing must also face the question: Is too little being done to combat the exploits? What is your opinion? Does iRacing have an exploit problem?
Loading ...
