Two years ago, iRacing had a surprise in store for its members, and it was unexpected in all the wrong ways.

They teased the mid-season release of a previously unannounced car, which sent imaginations racing. Whether rationally or not, many people assumed it was the car they most wanted, be it a Ferrari, a Porsche, or a modern LMP1.

It was later revealed to be the Audi 90 GTO, which was on pretty much nobody’s radar. To make matters worse, they couldn’t even pull off a seamless unveiling, as some clever sleuths discovered the car’s image assets on iRacing’s website before it was officially announced.

Because so many people hoped for so many different things, pretty much everyone was left disappointed, especially since few racers were clamoring for an historical GT car.

One week later, they doubled down with another surprise announcement that wound up being the Audi’s cousin in history, the Nissan GTP ZX-T. That car was received slightly more favorably, either because a sleek prototype is sexier than a boxy Audi or because the first announcement had brought everyone’s expectations back down to earth.

In any case, both cars attracted some interest for a few weeks before their newness — if such a thing exists for a pair of nearly 30-year-old cars — wore off and participation dwindled.

Some disappointed drivers never gave them a first chance and few gave them a second one, which is really too bad since these two cars represent one of the greatest eras in endurance racing.

The all-wheel drive Audi made headlines for its innovation — driver Hans Stuck discovered that leaving his foot on the throttle while braking kept the turbocharger spooled up and gave him an incredible launch off of some corners. The Nissan and its fellow Group C cars also made headlines, usually for breaking speed and lap records around the world.

Tough Customers

Perhaps it’s an example of millennials ruining yet another once-popular thing, but the Audi and Nissan running together in iRacing’s Kamel GT Championship quickly fell to Lotus levels of popularity.

As I prepared to travel back in time to race amongst these motorsports legends, I was impressed to see just how passionate and well-organized their small community is on iRacing. Similar to the Lotus 49 drivers, they’ve set up their series like a league, designating a few set race times throughout the week while hosting and coordinating practice sessions ahead of time.

Setups are shared, tips are offered, and conversations are generally friendly and constructive. They’ve fostered the sort of environment that should make their series accessible to interested new drivers.

For me and, I imagine, others in such a position, the biggest barrier to entry may be the cars themselves. The Audi and Nissan aren’t exactly modern GT cars or prototypes, and without creature comforts such as tons of downforce, traction control, and anti-lock brakes, they’re certainly not as easy to drive.

And for those who shun shifting and clutch aids, the transmissions on both cars can be another hurdle to overcome. Going from my familiar paddle shifters back to an H-pattern gearbox would take some getting used to. Sure, I used it in the Solstice earlier this season, but I was only shifting a couple of times per lap in that car.

For the 60-minute Kamel GT races last week at Summit Point, I would be shifting 14 times per lap and more than 700 times in the entire race. That was 700 chances to screw up from shifting alone.

The Comeback Trail

The first of four pre-arranged official time slots came on Thursday night, so I joined that race with hopes of adjusting to the car and traffic in a low-participation environment — just 6 Nissans and 5 Audis were in the field.

Of course, that posed a different risk. As the #1 car in a small field, anything less than a win would likely result in an iRating loss. After qualifying in third, that seemed like a very real possibility.

Those chances only went up in the opening laps. Maybe it was from nerves due to being in a race situation. Maybe it was stress from driving around other cars for the first time. Or maybe it was due to the weather or track conditions, which were considerably cooler and cloudier than anything I practiced in.

Regardless of the cause, at the start of the race, I was out of my element. On lap 2, I missed a shift exiting the first turn and lost a position. The following lap, I clipped a kerb and spun in a place where I hadn’t had any issues in practice. Those two mistakes cost me more than 15 seconds to the race leader. Fortunately, I still had plenty of time to turn things around.

With clear track ahead of me, I started getting into a rhythm and clawing back the second- and third-place cars. The first round of lapping Nissans briefly disrupted my concentration, but the two cars ahead of me seemed to get the worst of the traffic, so I closed in even more.

By the midway point of the race, they were just a few seconds ahead. They both made their pit stops before I caught them, which I thought was an ideal chance to run some quick laps with a low fuel load and exit the pits ahead of them.

But I didn’t. Nissans caught me in some bad places and I started overdriving while trying to make up time. In addition to the traffic and having to manage more than a dozen perfect shifts per lap, I had an extra distraction. I hadn’t been closely tracking my fuel usage, so I had to do some mental math to figure out how much I should take on my pit stop.

I waited as late as possible to stop, mainly to buy myself some extra time to run the numbers in my head. After my stop, I came back on track right behind the second-place car but I was catching him, so the race was still on.

However, my chase lasted all of one lap. With 10 laps to go, a Nissan spun just ahead of me in turn 1 and I couldn’t avoid him. I hit the side of his car, which didn’t seem to affect mine. It did cost me several seconds, though, and with the laps winding down, I would need a miracle to make up that much lost ground.

With three laps to go, something happened that turned the battle in my favor, although I’m not sure whether it was divine intervention or a mortal miscalculation.

Entering Summit Point’s tricky back section, the car ahead of me stayed on the right entering a fast kink to let a Nissan pass on his left. However, the Audi touched the grass and darted off the track, clipping the Nissan in the process. I was able to sneak past both of their spinning cars and take second place.

It certainly wasn’t a satisfying way to end the race, and given my early issues, it wasn’t a result I particularly deserved, especially with the winner more than 30 seconds ahead of me at the finish. Without sharpening my skills, I knew I’d be in trouble against a larger and likely stronger field the next day.

Crash Course

After studying some onboard laps from the race winner, I discovered a few areas where I could improve, both to find more speed and to be more consistent. Those changes seemed to make a difference, as I qualified fourth in an impressive field of 11 Audis for the Friday afternoon race.

I lost a position at the start because the leader’s lane, including the fifth-place car behind me, got a better jump at the green flag. But I was still prepared to settle into a top-five run and hopefully gain a few positions through better traffic management and making fewer mistakes than the drivers in front of me.

Instead, though, I had to fight back from yet another mistake of my own early in the race. Entering the slow turn 5, the cars ahead of me jumped on the brakes earlier than I anticipated. I could have either run into them or run off the track, so I chose the latter and drove through the dirt outside of that corner.

It cost me three positions and a few seconds to the frontrunners, but it could have gone worse. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before it did.

Until then, though, I was actually enjoying myself. I found myself in another battle with my star-crossed opponent from the previous night, and this time, I got to pass him fair and square with a clever if slightly daring move following a Nissan through the same kink that ended his chances in our last race.

But the Nissan that opened the door for me to make that pass was about to close it right in my face. A few turns later, he spun and his car was sitting sideways in the middle of the road. I began to veer onto the grass, but instead of holding the brake, he rolled forward directly into my path.

It was the sort of hit that would have left a driver severely injured or worse back in 1990. The only pain I felt was disappointment from a race ended so soon and dread about the iRating hemorrhage I knew was coming.

After the car was towed to the pits and repairs were completed, I decided to get back on track since I needed to complete only four more laps to gain a position on another fallen Audi. When I rejoined the race, I found the car surprisingly drivable but obviously down on top speed, and my lap times were nearly two seconds off of my earlier pace.

For the rest of the race, I mainly tried to stay out of the way, and I managed to do so accumulating only one additional off-track, although that was little consolation as the damage to my iRating and safety rating were already done.

Since I wouldn’t be able to race in the broadcasted Saturday afternoon time slot with the week’s largest field, I would have to end my stint in the time machine that is the Kamel GT Championship after two races wondering what could have been.

It’s not the first time I’ve had such a rueful introduction to a car. Last summer, my two races in the V8 Supercar were plagued by botched starts, missed opportunities, and a frustrating inability to drive around other cars. Like the V8, the Audi is a car I now want so badly to be good at — a feeling that’s only amplified by my experiences this week.

Series Status

I certainly can’t let my own mistakes affect my view of this series as a whole. Despite its limited number of drivers, the Kamel GT Championship’s longevity is a credit to its community. They’ve seemingly embraced their niche, and thanks to the organization and openness among the regulars, the series is outwardly positive and inviting to newcomers, even if the cars are a bit intimidating.

For anyone accustomed to more current cars, the Audi 90 GTO will offer some challenges, but with some practice and patience, they can be overcome. Although it’s hard to call any part of this car forgiving given its pedigree, the Audi’s behavior is at least fairly predictable, which makes it a decent option for anyone jumping into an historical race car for the first time.

To the credit of both the car and its drivers, the other Audi competitors I encountered this week mostly seemed well-practiced, capable of controlling their cars, and aware enough to know their own limits.

The same can’t be said for some of the Nissan drivers. While I understand that it’s a difficult car to drive — hence why I didn’t choose it for my debut in the series — even some of the frontrunners seemed to have trouble keeping their cars on track.

Worst of all, their mistakes affected others, including me. A pair of spinning Nissans effectively ended my building battle in one race and altogether ended my chances of contending in another.

It’s a harsh criticism but a fair one, I think, especially after some of the comments I heard from a couple Nissan drivers.

”I told you I would crash,” one said.

”I should have never signed up for this race,” admitted another.

That puts a series like the Kamel GT Championship in a tough position. With such limited popularity, it’s hard to turn down drivers, but if they can’t control their own cars and jeopardize others, are they really contributing anything?

Put another way, if a car spins on an empty racetrack and someone is around to hit it, does it make either one of them any more likely to drive in that series again?

Those are questions I will have to ponder at another time. For now, a different series and another stop on my Summer Road Trip awaits. It’s too bad iRacing doesn’t have a DeLorean, because after a week of driving cars from the past, it’s time for me to get back to the future.