From P19 to P16, one very committed rear-ender, and a track that refuses to be my friend.
The Race
Back behind the wheel for race number two after my extended hiatus – and this time the iRacing Porsche Cup Open Series took us south to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. A track I had never raced before in competition. What could possibly go wrong?
Qualifying & Start
Qualified in P17, which for a first-ever competitive lap around this circuit felt… acceptable. By the time the lights went green, I found myself shuffled back to P19. Not ideal, but plenty of Porsches ahead to hunt down.
The Race Itself
Let’s talk about the elephant on the circuit – or rather, the Porsche that couldn’t stop finding my rear bumper. Mid-race, I got tapped into a spin. Fine. These things happen. I did the responsible thing: parked up, checked my mirrors, waited for a car coming from the right to pass. Textbook stuff.
What I didn’t account for was the same driver who had just spun me deciding that one love tap wasn’t sufficient. While I was sitting there, stationary, minding my own business, he drove straight into the back of me. Again. That’s another 2-4 incident points I didn’t ask for. You really can’t make this up. 😅
Despite the unexpected demolition derby moment, I managed to claw my way back to P16 at the chequered flag. Three positions gained from my starting slot – I’ll take that as a win for the “rust removal” phase.
The Numbers
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Qualifying | P17 |
| Start | P19 |
| Finish | P16 |
| Incidents | 7x |
| Strength of Field | 2,889 |
| iRating Change | -17 (now 2110) |
| Safety Rating Change | -0.04 (now 2.5) |
The Track
Mexico City and I are simply not vibing yet. I couldn’t find a consistent rhythm, the braking zones felt off, and the whole layout just didn’t want to cooperate. Some tracks you fall in love with on the first lap. This one is playing very, very hard to get. We’ll be back though – unfinished business.
The Rig
As always, the full immersion setup was doing its thing: D-BOX Full Motion Simulator with the 57″ integrated display, Cubic belt tensioning system, and the VPG Porsche steering wheel. When you brake into Turn 1 and the whole rig pushes you forward into the harness – that’s the stuff sim racing dreams are made of. The gear is there. The pace and racecraft? Still downloading. Estimated time remaining: unknown. 😄
Final Thoughts
Two races back after a long break, and honestly – I’m just happy to be racing again. The results will come with time and practice. Mexico City might not have been kind to me, but I finished the race, gained positions, and had a genuinely great time doing it.
If you want to see the full race in action, check out the video on my YouTube channel. And if you’re not already, come say hi on Instagram – that’s where the behind-the-scenes chaos lives.
See you on track! 🏁
| Pos | Driver | # | Start | Interval | Avg Lap | Best Lap | Laps | Inc | Champ Pts | Div |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tobias F. Olsson | 1 | 2 | — | 1:42.719 | 1:41.874 | 15 | 9 | 175 | 1 |
| 2 | Mat Webb2 | 3 | 1 | +4.968s | 1:43.050 | 1:41.992 | 15 | 4 | 166 | 2 |
| 3 | Matteo Glösl | 4 | 3 | +8.853s | 1:43.309 | 1:42.379 | 15 | 2 | 158 | 2 |
| 4 | Joakim Drake | 7 | 4 | +15.412s | 1:43.746 | 1:42.693 | 15 | 1 | 150 | 2 |
| 5 | Ilya Lanevski | 10 | 7 | +22.287s | 1:44.204 | 1:42.982 | 15 | 1 | 141 | 3 |
| 6 | Levy Martins | 11 | 6 | +22.385s | 1:44.211 | 1:43.095 | 15 | 6 | 133 | 4 |
| 7 | Fraser Smith | 2 | 5 | +26.356s | 1:44.476 | 1:43.096 | 15 | 5 | 125 | 1 |
| 8 | Luca Uiterwijk | 5 | 12 | +32.425s | 1:44.880 | 1:43.462 | 15 | 5 | 116 | 2 |
| 9 | Kevin Dsouza | 8 | 13 | +35.150s | 1:45.061 | 1:43.271 | 15 | 0 | 108 | 2 |
| 10 | Gio Sheffield | 6 | 10 | +38.165s | 1:45.263 | 1:43.153 | 15 | 8 | 100 | 2 |
| 11 | Spencer Erwin | 9 | 14 | +38.293s | 1:45.271 | 1:43.282 | 15 | 11 | 91 | 2 |
| 12 | Paweł Donbij | 18 | 22 | +49.443s | 1:46.014 | 1:44.009 | 15 | 1 | 83 | 4 |
| 13 | Daniel Asp2 | 15 | 18 | +49.879s | 1:46.043 | 1:42.999 | 15 | 8 | 75 | 2 |
| 14 | Luca Houghton-Allen | 21 | 15 | +59.839s | 1:46.707 | 1:43.818 | 15 | 10 | 66 | 7 |
| 15 | Hellinger Attila2 | 19 | 16 | +62.669s | 1:46.896 | 1:44.159 | 15 | 5 | 58 | 4 |
| 16 | Philipp Geppl | 17 | 19 | +68.805s | 1:47.305 | 1:45.103 | 15 | 7 | 50 | 3 |
| 17 | Peng Jiao | 22 | 21 | +71.727s | 1:47.499 | 1:45.439 | 15 | 1 | 41 | 4 |
| 18 | Jason Stalker | 16 | 20 | +74.860s | 1:47.708 | 1:44.564 | 15 | 3 | 33 | 3 |
| 19 | Denis Andryukov | 20 | 9 | +142.962s | 1:52.249 | 1:44.446 | 15 | 21 | 25 | 4 |
| 20 | Mikhail Lapuka2 | 12 | 11 | +1 Lap | 1:50.756 | 1:44.403 | 14 | 19 | 16 | 4 |
| 21 | John Ply | 14 | 17 | +2 Laps | 1:59.843 | 1:45.195 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 3 |
| 22 | Gustavo Freitas | 13 | 8 | +2 Laps | 2:02.254 | 1:43.725 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 3 |