Running a race

I am new here and I was looking for an answer to a question I cant find.  Do I physically have to be at my computer to run a race and qualify?  I have done all the contracts and checklist stuff and everything looks done.  I just don't know if I will be home when the race in my league is scheduled.  I can take my computer with me where I am going if I need to.  I just need to know wether I need to or not.  Thanks.

no, just do practice and quali does itself (cant do anything about that) however there are options to be at your computer in a race and control your drivers stratergy etc.
as long as you subscribe you can control the race/if you dont you just do practice but get to trial the 2d races

I may subscribe if I like it.  Just getting it all figured out first. 

If you subscribe then it is best to be at your computer when the race is running as the ability to control your drivers during the race is what you will be paying for.
But at the moment, as a free player, there is no advantage to seeing the live timings other than it may help you with future set-ups.  Not essential but it can be fun too, just to see how the race is going by watching the figures.

That's not entirely true - free players now have controls to change how hard a driver is pushing during the race and the ability to make unscheduled pitstops.

But the rest is right - once you've saved your setup and set your strategy then the qualifying and race will run just fine whether you're online or not. :)

Oh thank you Ham - I haven't been able to attend any races since the update so forgot about those changes.
Will check it out tonight.