iRacing have confirmed they have banned self-confessed hobby cheat Callum Cross2 in the ongoing saga which came to light when our emails were peppered with revelations which we went on to publish, with Sam Tomlinson uncovering a murky world of information and disinformation.
The entire investigation under a cloud of abuse from iRacing loyalists having the audacity to claim that this site is inventing the story. We started this site in good faith to serve the community with news about the hobby/sport we love. This affair and the aftermath has ambushed us.
I personally have over 30 years in real life motorsport media – on both sides of the fence – but never have I experienced such a toxic environment in which to work in. But the abuse only serves to make us stronger and dig deeper and more ferociously for readers who might just want the truth about their investment in the professional sim racing platform. And it’s not only iRacing.
Someone needs to be accountable for cheats. Someone needs to audit iRacing if tweaking the code is as simple as knowing how to do it as Callum Cross2 did so and got caught out. Had he been more subtle he would have got away with it as he had iRacing fanboys rooting for him and defending him!
Some deluded enough to suggest that we are inventing this entire caper.
Is it really that easy to forge results in iRacing? How many people are doing it?
iRacing have repeatedly ignored our emails on matters about cheating which suggests they are hiding something very serious in a worst-case scenario. If it is not an issue why the stone-walling?
Tony Gardner admits that in 2014 the service banned 40 users, that was no one knew what iRacing is. Today since the Corona-boom its big business and questions have top be asked about integrity. If they banned 40 then how many in 2019, and so far this year?
We have asked the question but to no avail. Here is the first time>>>>
Back to Callum Cross2 who brazenly boasted about his prowess and the fact that he does it for a laugh with some, clearly irking the community of largely wannabe race drivers who will never be, and believe their game is beyond reproach.
Brazilian iracer and real race driver Bruno do Carmo officially queried Cross2’s antics on iRacing and received the reply below:
Thus Callum Cross2 does exist on iRacing, and he was banned as a result of Bruno’s revelations:
Gotcha ;)! Callum Cross2 was banned from iRacing! It’s been 9 years using the service, and that’s the first time i encoutered something real fishy on track. Scary times… @DramaSim @SimRacingNewsBR pic.twitter.com/orihwpRtbc
— Bruno do Carmo (@doCarmoBruno) October 9, 2020
We applaud drivers for making this public, and anyone else with suspicions of irregular driving on any sim platform feel free to inform us as many have been doing with these explosive stories. We thank everyone who has contributed and look forward to more.
Should we not all ask iRacing to respond to this? Questions asked repeatedly but to no avail:
We are here to stay despite the threats and bad blood generated by our uncomfortable questions. This one has not run its course and we could not do it with the community that grows around our cause to expose cheating in all forms of sim racing. We owe it to serious simmers such as us. (Paul Velasco – Editor in Chief)
Everyone does it in all other media, why not us when reporting sim racing?
Open source, you want to argue with us then put your name to it like we do
I caught sight of this news story and come back to see how it had developed but jeez dude, you don’t call out your readers’ tweets on your articles thats insanely unprofessional, no matter what they say
Your coverage of this might be a perfect example of why iRacing deals with these things privately. First, you dragged Nim though the mud, and now this is devolving in to calling out readers and members for their reaction, none of which helps to catch or prevent cheaters. The instance that their silence means they’re hiding something is simply a misunderstanding of their philosophy on how they deal with cheating. You may not agree with the philosophy, but it is not proof of a conspiracy.
Worth noting that in 2014 there was no EasyAntiCheat software running alongside iRacing. For all we know it could be much more difficult to cheat than it ever was.
I still have the subscription in progress, but in recent months the rumors and the confirmations of cheaters have made me pass the desire to run on iracing, that they run like this.
That first tweet/reply chatting shit about bad grammar and whatnot, he goes and says ‘you’re sight’ 😂😂😂
As with all walks of life iRacing attracts all kinds of people – the best and the worst. I guarantee you that there will be more members who are grateful that a cheat got removed from the service than there are people who would prefer if such behavior wasn’t exposed and action taken by iRacing as a company to remove them.
As a long time supporter of GP247 I’m pleased you guys are looking at sim-racing and taking an interest in ensuring a level playing field for all participants.
I remember all to well how cheats ruined numerous 1st person shooters – compared to those days, services like iRacing have taken some great steps to ensure that the platform is fair for all – but when those measures get transgressed its appropriate to flush them out and nip it in the bud.
I wonder how many smarter cheaters are clever enough to gain few tenths instead of be blatant stealer caught this time. “é-sports” are and will always be a scam.
A good question might be: why do you refuse to inform your paid community how you deal with cheats, e.t.c.