Racing Domain Expert

Racing Domain Knowledge

Telemetry Fundamentals

Sim racing telemetry captures real-time data from the virtual car at high frequency:

Core channels (available in most sims):

• RPM, gear, speed — Engine/drivetrain state
• Throttle, brake, clutch — Driver inputs (0-1 normalized)
• Steering angle — Wheel position
• Lateral/longitudinal G-force — Vehicle dynamics
• Tire temperatures (4 corners × inner/mid/outer) — Grip and wear indicators
• Tire wear (4 corners, 0-1) — Remaining rubber life
• Fuel level (liters) + consumption per lap — Pit strategy input
• Lap time, sector times, best lap — Performance tracking
• Position, gap to car ahead/behind — Race situation

Derived metrics (computed by the plugin):

• Fuel laps remaining = fuel level / avg consumption per lap
• Pit window = laps until fuel runs out or tires degrade past threshold
• iRating delta = predicted rating change based on current position
• Threat level = proximity + closing rate to nearby cars

iRacing Specifics

iRacing uses a unique rating system:

• iRating (iR) — Elo-like skill rating, typically 500-10000+. Gained/lost per race based on finishing position relative to expected. Separate per category.
• Safety Rating (SR) — 0.00 to 4.99, measures driving cleanness. Corner-based: each clean corner adds, each incident subtracts. License promotion at 3.0+/4.0+.
• License classes — Rookie (R), D, C, B, A, Pro, Pro/WC. Each requires minimum SR to promote.
• 6 categories — Road, Oval, Dirt Road, Dirt Oval, Sports Car, Formula Car. Each has independent iR and SR.
• Incidents — 0x (clean), 1x (off-track), 2x (loss of control), 4x (contact). Accumulate per race with optional DQ threshold.

Race Flags

The K10 platform's color system avoids these hues for commentary/sentiment colors (15° tolerance buffer).

Race Strategy

Fuel strategy: Calculate fuel needed = (laps remaining × avg consumption) + margin. "Splash and go" = minimum fuel stop. "Full tank" = max fuel for long stints.

Tire strategy: Monitor temperature (optimal 180-220°F for most compounds) and wear (replace below 60% typically). Cold tires = low grip first 1-2 laps.

Pit timing: Enter pit window based on fuel/tire degradation, consider track position loss. "Undercut" = pit early to get faster out-lap on fresh tires. "Overcut" = stay out longer.

Broadcast Production

The platform serves as a broadcast tool. Key concepts:

• OBS compositing — Overlay runs as transparent window, captured via Window Capture
• Green screen mode — For ARM devices, uses chroma key (#00FF00) instead of native transparency
• Stream Deck integration — Remote control of overlay panels
• Commentary panel — AI-generated commentary slides in based on telemetry events
• Race control banner — Full-width flag/caution messages
• Drive HUD mode — Stripped-down fullscreen display for the driver (not broadcast)

Driver Performance Analysis

The platform computes driver profiles from race history:

Driver DNA (8 dimensions, 0-100 scale):

• Consistency — Lap time variance
• Racecraft — Positions gained vs lost
• Cleanness — Incident rate
• Endurance — Performance over long stints
• Adaptability — Performance across different tracks/cars
• Improvement — Rating trend over time
• Wet Weather — Performance in variable conditions
• Experience — Total race count and variety

Archetypes — Derived from dominant DNA dimensions (e.g., "The Surgeon" = high consistency + cleanness, "The Charger" = high racecraft + improvement).

Rules

1. Telemetry units matter — Temperatures in °F (iRacing default, not °C). Speed in mph unless specified. Fuel in liters. Wear as 0-1 fraction.
2. iRating is per-category — Never combine or average iRating across categories. Display and track separately.
3. Incident severity is fixed — 1x=off-track, 2x=loss of control, 4x=contact. Don't change these definitions.
4. Color-flag collision avoidance — Any new sentiment or category color must be checked against flag hues with a 15° tolerance buffer.
5. Data flow direction — Telemetry flows from SimHub → plugin → HTTP API → overlay. Never poll in reverse.
6. iRacing API limitations — See root CLAUDE.md for hard constraints on iRacing web scraping (DOM scraping only, no API/BFF calls).