Do you just fire up the simulator and wonder what the difference between the official and unofficial races is? Do I have to join an official race or would the unofficial one suffice?
There can be some confusion on what the difference is and what impact it will have on your racing.
To prevent you from making the wrong decision, here’s a quick guide.
Table of Contents
iRacing Official Races
To have any iRacing event called “official” there is a criterion, where a minimum number of six drivers have to register for rookie events in order for those races to be considered “official” again and for level twelve drivers to register for professional level iRacing events.
So that’s essentially the only difference. If the race has six or more drivers, then it is an official race.
What you need to know about official races is that they come four times a year, meaning that there are iRacers every week who can partake in numerous races through out the week with full-event fields that grapples sim drivers from all corners of the globe. What’s that? You get to race against drivers from all over the world in official events organized by iRacing. That’s cool.
iRacing Unofficial Races
Unofficial in the game, are all those races that do not satisfy the six driver need for an official race; this may be that there are not enough drivers or that some drivers have already abandoned the race before its beginning.
It shouldn’t be considered an iRacing sanctioned event. However, this doesn’t mean that they’re not worth racing in – unofficial races can still be a lot of fun and competitive too.
3 types of iRacing unofficial races
There are three types on unofficial races.
- Races in official series that don’t meet the minimum drivers participation number to be considered official;
- Races in unofficial series (carb cup, dallara dash, pickup cup). These are just fun iRacing series that don’t really count;
- User Hosted races. Anyone can host their own race with their own settings are considered unofficial.
Are unofficial races less competitive?
one might be misguided to conclude that they are not as competitive as official ones.
According to my observation, unsupported bears more or the same contest as supported does regardless of this undisputed desolation of not being classified as an official contest.
The most notable distinction is that non-official events are not sanctioned by iRacing and will not reward you with any standing or points.
Should I join an official race or an unofficial race?
While it is up to you either way, we suggest that if you are in the beginners, it is a good strategy to go for few unofficial races first, in order to practice, and then once most of the practice is complete, one can focus on the official races.
Do unofficial races count towards safety rating?
There won’t be an effect, yes, none of the unofficial races which are sanctioned will have any impact on your safety iRating.
Do hosted races affect iRating?
No, these do not. You cannot affect your iRating through non-sanctioned races.
However, keep in mind that your iRating is differentiated by class. Your iRating in a certain category will only be impacted by official Race sessions in that distinct racing category.
How many cars do you need for official race iRacing?
In order for an official race to be deemed “official,” they need 6 cars present.
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