With the Covid situation, I managed to entice my brother back into Sim Racing (Yey), and his chosen poison is Assetto Corsa Competizione, so I've been playing this sim with him over the last couple of months.
My favority poison remains Assetto Corsa, but if you like GT3 (& Now GT4) racing, it's really very very good.
So my brother purchased some setup's off Coach Dave of the Driver Academy for his favourite car the Porsche, which used to be my favority as well, but I've gone for pastures new. Now (well ok, maybe before as well) the young upstart (He's a year younger than me) is regularly 1/3 of second quicker than me on a hot lap (NOT ALLOWED).
I'd recently started to use the Bently, and decided to stick with it, and purchased some setups for it from the Driver Academy as well. (Smaks of desperation setting in I know. My AC setup tweaks only go so far in ACC.)
Then a couple of weeks ago email came though from Coach Dave with a new league he is involved in / promoting, The Sim Grid. I really wanted to enter the Endurance Championship, but you need 3 drivers, and we were a driver short. (Man, I absolutely loved those 1 hour races we use to run on Live for Speed. Not quite Endurance, but for the time not far off, and manageble on a week night.) I asked the usual guys who run regularly here (AC) but no one was interested. (yes I should have posted here asking if anyone fancied it, and sorry Wayne, I did mean to ask you....oops)
So we both entered the Sprint Championship.
After the seeding process, we both managed to get into split 2 (my brother about 10 places ahead of me Grrr) but I was very pleased to A. Not get in the top split, and B. to do so well/
And yesterday was the 1st round, Zolder. Two 30 minute races.
**Jump head a paragraph, if you with to avaoid tails of Woe**
The Sat before the race, I'd managed 1.28.8 to 1.29.1 lap times, but was over braking a little, and "tweaked" the load cell adjustment on my brake peddal, then promptly lost .4 to.5 sec a lap (EFFING DISASTER). Finally the day before the race I was fairly sure I'd (FINALLY) fixed the issue, but wasn't completely sure.
Some come race day, 1st Qually 1.28.7 (OMG where did that come from). But holy moly, this field was is so competative, 1 tenth would have seen me 4 or 5 places up. 17th position on the grid of 30.
Race start good, then oops punted someone at the first chicane as group ahead went stupid multiple cars abreast brake to stand still ahead. (10 sec penalty came later) then I was having a good dice with drivers around holding my own in 15th when someone else's issue became mine. Crunch into stoppped car, oh dear, that's mine pretty broken, so finished in 22nd place. (24th After Penalties were applied) :sad:
OK, refresh, race 2 quallifying....wow, the track is fast, a 1:28:4 new PB by a mile.......oh, 17th AGAIN.
Race start good, made up some places at turn 1-2, lost them again at turn 4-5 (doh), when.......BLOOMING HECK my pedals decide that 70% throttle is the new 100% thottle. Stop safely, unplug pedals, re-plug, off we go again in 21st place. Lonely race to the end. (oooo 19th after penalties were applied) Decent lap times though. (NO CONSOLATION).
So, reslts after round one, bother position 8th, me position 22nd (Bugger).
Deetz.
So should I continue my tales of woe (& maybe of joy to come), or just shut up, let me know what you think.
It just seemed the racing section was a little bare of posts other that Seany's weekly update of the AC Combo, and I'd try to stir up some posting action.
Catch you all on track. :thumbsup:
good to see you are still racing, i am in the process of running a team in f1 2020, which is actually good fun, being the driver and the owner. But please continue with the write ups from your new found race series sounds like you are having fun, even in 21st place ;-)
Great Post mate keep them coming
Absolutely keep them coming, always fun to read stuff like this from community members, imo. I just picked up a wheel and stick from Smite, hoping to get into some racing myself soon too, maybe see you online down the road.
Yeah, interesting to hear the tales of league racing, so keep the reports coming Deetzie.
Unlucky with the event, but hey, next one can only go better! So typical for the sim hardware (hmm or is that just computers in general) to act up right when ya need it for some thing important :taz: :D
You never told me you sold your soul to buy a setup! Times must be desperate :D . Seriously though, that does show how much more depth / nuance / testing there must to creating nice setups for ACC vs AC? Given that the cars are all in the same class it would be easy to presume that setup creation would be easier than AC (which has wildly varying types of cars, as we know). Interesting stuff.
On the setup front, I gues mostly because the GT3 cars depend so much on aero, the setup tweaks I've learnt from AC dont really work.
Well they sorta do, but only up to a certain point. I guess it's also a confidence thing as well, I'm not sure if the changes are working as expected, so haven't really fiddled as mucha as should.
For example I raised the rear of the Bently, and generally liked what I felt, but the higher you go, the less effective the ground effects are, so I didn't want to go too high. Then I get the purchased setups, and the rear ride height change is 4 times the change I was trying, but had some extra rear wing to compensate.
I've just been racing some GT4, and they resopnd much more like I expect setup changes to, especilly in comparison to the GT3's.
Chaoshere if you like AC, then pop in to the dMr server anytime, Mon is generally conidered race night, Fidays, and odd Sundays praccy for race night. 8:15 to 9:45 ish generally.
Divers of all levels are usually about. Depending on the combo chosen, the server could be regularly occupied at other times (often when stock content is chosen, but you never can tell).
We'll always attempt he help if we can. Hope to see you on track soon.
If ACC is your poison, give me a PM, and we can see about popping on somewhere at an arranged time, or for a meet on discord.
Iv'e got most racing sims (excluding iRacing, I'm not paying that.), any questions feel free to ask. Myself (or any of the racing members) will always help however we can. At best some helpfull advice will sort an issue, at worst we won't make things worse... hopefully.:narnar:
Quote from: BrotherTobious;442373Great Post mate keep them coming
Wot 'e said :thumb:
Really enjoyed the post, Deetzie so do keep 'em coming please.
So, Sulky, I have to ask because it frankly drives me insane. I have f1 2019 rather than the latest, but tell me...
Is it possible to STOP all those cut scenes playing over and aver and over again. I had to stop playing because they were just driving me insane.
Me...mm I fancy some F1, i'll pop it on for a quick few laps....arrgghh, it's been 10 minutes and havent got on track yet.:ranting2:
I prefer my racing games a little more hardcore that the F1 series, but still enjoy a few laps every now and then.
:racing:
Yeah please keep them coming :) I like that. Just a few things which were sticking in my mind:
Quote from: Deetz;442368... and purchased some setups for it from the Driver Academy as well. (Smaks of desperation setting in I know. My AC setup tweaks only go so far in ACC.)
Unbelievable! I guess the purchased set is a little understeery for your taste?
Quote from: Deetz;442368(Man, I absolutely loved those 1 hour races we use to run on Live for Speed. Not quite Endurance, but for the time not far off, and manageble on a week night.)
Oh yeah me too. Such a pity that these times are gone.
Good luck for the next races!
The Sim Grid Pro Sprint Cup - Round 2 - Races 3 & 4 Misano
After the last race pedal issue. I'll admit it, I completedly over reacted.
'Hello, Mr Heusinkveld, please send me some of of your 'Sprint' pedals please. That'll be how much....ok, go ahead'
They arrived, I added to my rig, I fiddled and adjusted, had a race, swore a bit, adjust etc. worked out a heel tray, swore a bit more, in the end decided, 'sod it' heel plate from my old Fanatec Mk2 pedals, drilled and fitted.
The a week, of over braking, under braking, tweaking, MORE sodding over braking (repeat to what feels like endless overbraking) before I started to get some consistancy. Finally some Assetto Corsa racing with the dMr guys had some proper consistancy appearing. (Phew)
All this time I'm doing the 10 laps practice daily, sometimes twice daily, trying to find some lap time. Not always helped by my brother going (early on) 'I can get a 1:34:20, dunno how good that is' (Not bad at all it turns out. Displayed best time in game is a 1:33:2 or so by Aliens). Blooming heck I'm doing 1:35:60 (and struggling for that). A few days later, and I can hit a 1:34.6 but with little consistancy.
Fortuitusly I'm watching a Neils Heusinkveld video on his impressions on ACC. (This release has fantastic timing for me) In the vid he states something which I had noticed, but not really paid too much attention to. 'With low traction control settings, when the rear is sliding, the car does not accelerate' mmmmmm full ponder mode. As Seany and Neys know, I like the car sliding at the rear a little coming out of corners, to get some extra rotation. Around Misano, the rear is sliding way too much... mmmm this is obviously loosing time.
OK, lets try some setup tweaks (to the Driver Academy set) lower the rear a couple of clicks, increase the rear anti roll bar to compensate. Now I have a car that is more neutral, but still as on the nose as I like, but deosn't side the rear everywhere. (ta daa, majic moment).
2nd or so practice after the changes, finially starting to find some good lines, and times. Wow .3 out of that turn .2 there, it all addsd up, holy moly. 1:33.8 (Cough invalidated lap) and two 1:33:9 valid, who hoo. (ring brother to share the moment, dance with joy etc.)
Now every time I practice, I'm getting low 1:34's consistently, with the odd high 1:33. This while emulating the race session seetings as much as possible from the practice server, but in Hotlap mode, almost no fuel, tyres that reset very lap. Every session I do quick lap times, and consistently. FANTASTIC.
A little spanner in the works....two 30 min races, one night race 11pm, and one late evening 8pm. For the night race though, the practice server has rain about half the time! Bugger, better practice some of that. Well 1:45.5 is about the best I can manage in the wet, which seem reasonable competative. Right, fingers crossed for race day.
Race 1 Qually (15 minutes, 30 cars)
Dry, thank gawd for that. but 15min isn't long, and 30 cars can get congested, and it's slippery. After my first run I'm no where, over braking again, 23rd of 26 runners, better get my act together, run two, ok 1.2 sec faster, and then some more, finially a decent lap, 1:34.3 9th place, who hoo. Starting ahead of my brother in 11th.
Race 1 (30 min)
Ok start, car behind sneaks past, two cars spin ahed, :-) 8th place. Some nice consistent laps, basically holding station, someone ahead drops away I don't see where, but 7th is excellent. On a good lap catching those ahead, bad lap slipping just a little, and I'm just gapping the car behind.
At about half distance, I can feel the tyres going off a little, but even so, I'm easing up to the guys ahead. With about 10 min to go, the car in gets ahead into 5th looses a position, and I'm imediately on the overtaken car, he is all over the place, a mistake and I'm past, up to 6th. But the tyre grip is changing a lot and I'm stuggling to adjust, running wide at two corners in succession, and I'm down to 7th. (Calm, I can live with that after the last round.) I pull myself together, find some consistancy and I'm closing the gap again and applying pressure, but it's too late, race ends, P7. Oh yes, I like that.
My brother has a nightmare race, gets blocked by the cars spinning ahead on lap 1, turn 1, then has a nutter divebom and barge the way through, gets car damage. Then he gets a penalty, and finally ends up last. He takes a look at the replay, ok, he can see where he got the penalty (only 5 sec, he grudgingly accepts, blood was up after being barged) But he'll make a post race appeal about the barging divebom.
Race 2 Qually
Tracks faster than the last race, but a bit slimy feeling. 1st run a 1:34:5 not bad...11th. Out for my second run, find breaking points, get into the groove a bit, a 1:34.1 nice. 8th place. (That'll do nicely.)
This time I'm behind my brother (1:34:0) in 6th.
Race 2
I make a reasonable start, a bit more jokkying, and another spin ahead, thankfully I sneak though ok, I'm behind my brother onto the first shorter straight, and get a good run on him to be alongside into the next turn, but he stays ahead. A minor wobble on the next corner, which leads onto the next bigger straight allows Mr aggressive (the Merc who beat me in the 1st race) to sneak up the alongside, putting me on the outside into the next couple of turns. I should have just ducked in behind, but as I try to hold onto the position, I loose onother place as another Bently sneaks by (bugger). So I'm in 7th (brother in 4th) I start running some nice consistant laps, concious of trying to drive a little more conservativly to keep the tyres in better condition for longer than in the previous race. I hear my brother swearing at the Merc driver, as he get's a number of love taps from behind.
I've now got a Ferrari beind, but slowly start to gap him. He must make a mistake and a Lexus gets past and is now behind. We then trundle around in a procession for a while, when Mr Agressive in the Merc two cars ahead makes a mistake, and the Bently in front gets past him, I also nearly get by, but his rejoin of the track forces me narrow into the next turn, and he keeps enough momentum and hold his position. Somewhere in the next few laps another car dissapears from in front, so thats 6th (he he he, yippee)
A few more laps, then the two cars ahead colide, (Merc and Bently) and thats 4th position (Yes...). Only 7 or 8 minutes to go, I concentrate on keeping consistant, and ahead of the Lexus. He now right behind afer we all slowed when the Merc / Bently collided. He has a 15 sec penalty, so I should beat him regardless of him getting past, but if he hits me, I'm still stuffed.
Now I'm creeping up on my brother ahead, and am quite close on the last lap when I have wiggle out of the slow turn leading onto the big straight. I can see the Lexus positioning to have a lunge into the slow complex ahead, so I protect the line into a hairpin, 3 corners to go. My brother ahead is consentrating on fuel, as another lap could potentially be bad, he glances at fuel gauge, and with this momentary distraction the rear end starts to go round, after a tank slapper, me and the Lexus sneak through, to much swearing by my brother, but I don't care, THAT'S A 3RD PLACE FINISH.
Wow, what a difference to the first round. :yahoo:
Wow
Great write up mate, love it keep them coming!!
Thoroughly enjoyed reading that, Deetzy :thumb:
I'd have loved to be able to go back and fix the broken sentences, corrected the multiple spelling mistake and grammar etc.
I should really have stuck though a word processor before posting. It could have waited a day, instead of posting knackered at 1am.
:crying:
Don't worry, it's grand!
Very nice report...and a podium :yahoo:
Glad to hear you had a break through with the TC and how it was affecting your pace!
For those interested. Video of the top split races.
Reound 1 Zolder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbnvXhIkDLU
Reound 2 Misano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alZHcJbHMoY
The top guys are simply Aliens.
Deetz
Great write up Deetz and the videos are 'alien', agreed! Makes me regret not being able to find my wheel and pedals (a garage can swallow and hide an amazong amount of stuff).
Interlude. -------Insert soothing music here------
In complete contrast to the usual mad, extreme stress Sprint Cup races. Yesterday I indulged in a 1 hour GT4 race at Bathurst entitled: “GT4 Madnessâ€
Thankfully it wasn’t ‘Madness’ in reality.
I hadn’t entered, but on the day of the race, my brother who had entered, let me know that a number of places had become available. So when I got home from work, I checked to see if there were any places still remaining, and there were. A single driver slot was available in splits 2, 3 and 4. After checking with my brother to see which split he was in, I nabbed the last slot in split 2.
No practice, I just turned up at server session start. (though I had previously driven stints at Bathurst (love it) in the Mercedes AMG GT4, which is my GT4 weapon of choice.
A 15 min practice session, a 15 minute qualifying session, then the 1 hour race. Starting in the early morning dawn, where it was still fairly dark. (6am if I remember correctly.)
In the cold (for Bathurst) 19 degrees or so temps, it takes 3 - 4 laps to get the tyres fully up to temp, So practice was about finding the correct tyre pressures to use for the race.
Qualifying went well, a 2:13.0 lap. (Matching my PB) I could have gone quicker, I was on a better lap up about 0.25 - 0.3 when I caught a slower car ahead. I didn’t want to jeopardise his hot-lap, so I had to be happy with the lap I’d already done.
You’ve got to be happy with 5th place. (Of 35) The pole sitter did a 2:11. 9 or so, I wasn’t going to be matching that any time soon. Though it looks like the Merc is particularly quick round Mt. Panorama, as there were a number of them at the top of the field.
My brothers weapon of choice is the BMW, with which he qualified 13th.
The race, ahhh the race. So many great comparisons to the old LFS 1 hour races of old. Tyre grip / wear variations, car balance changes, it was really good fun.
I made a fair start, holding position, out dragging a Ginetta on the run up Mountain straight, then some conservative running holding my 5th place, gradually heating those tyres up. Then on lap 3 I made a mistake as I started to push. On the approach to the dipper the back end let go, and I crunched into the wall, left side, then right, collecting some damage and letting the Ginetta through. I was then under pressure on the run down Conrod straight, so I kept to the left protecting the line into the chase, but out braked myself, doh. A trip through the booneys ensued, and another 4 places lost. Damn it.
Ok, head down, wait for the tyres to normalise, get back to consistent running.
I cought and started applying pressure to an Audi ahead, which forced him into a mistake, and he run’s wide. That’s 9th place.
Next to catch is another Merc, which is running well. But I’m catching as he is being slightly held up by a BMW. So I'm on his tail and applying pressure, He makes a mistake on the exit of turn one, and I’m through to 8th great. I’m now on that BMW ahead, but am not quite quick enough to challenge for position. Then the Merc behind gets a good exit from the final turn, and makes a dive on the inside into turn1. I have to leave room, and he’s back in front again.
Gaa, back to the drawing board.
Then as we battle, a another, different Merc ahead slams into the wall in the outside of the cutting. The BMW ahead sneaks by, then both me and the guy I’m battling both get through later in the lap, And that’s 8th
I then spent the next few laps, trying to re-pass, with the odd half chance here and there, I’m applying lots of pressure. Everyone is well into their rhythms now.
Then the Merc ahead again makes a mistake running wide on at turn 1 and I’m back in front again. 7th.
The tyre grip is degrading and I pull away a little over the next few laps, with the car balance changing as well. Slightly earlier braking required pretty much everywhere. Again the race settles for a while. I’m slowly gapping the car behind, and am holding station with a Ginetta ahead.
My brother tells me that his BMW balance is now excellent with the car in a purple patch, loosing it’s mild push and becoming more neutral.
A few more laps, and the Ginetta is quite obviously in tyre trouble, his consistency is gone, and I quickly catch and pass.
That’s 6th place, I’ve nearly made up for my early mistakes. Then (another) Merc ahead pits, Yes…. Back to my starting position 5th.
This is where my progress ends. I hold station in 5th for the remaining 12 laps to the finish. The Ginetta behind holding station, then loosing another position, nearly falling into my brothers cluches.
What a fantastic race. It’s great to run in a pack of cars dicing for position, the track / car throwing in grip and balance changes for good measure.
My brother finished in 8th. The car balance shifting again, getting more taily as the race went on, but nothing too excessive.
:yahoo:
Apologies for anyone actually trying to follow my escapades. I was so al-mightily ****ed off after round 3, that I lost the incentive to post.
Anyway, the series has now ended, and I thought I’d better finish up for any glutton’s for punishment trying to follow along.
The Sim Grid Pro Sprint Cup - Round 3 - Races 5 & 6 Hungaroring
Round 3 ended up...â€It could have been worse = ACC League Racing - Life's up's and down's†very very much DOWN.
Practice had been, slowly eating away at the lap times, so that I was reasonably consistently getting 1:44.2 lap times, with a best of 1:43.9. These lap times probably were not quick enough to be properly competitive, but not too far off.
Race 5 Qualifying. Outlap and half way into my first hot lap, and my ‘wireless’ headset switches off, and wont power back on. (Panic) I swap to my wired headphones, and back into the car, half the 15 min session over, go out, do an and realise 1/3 way into first hotlap that I’m on the safe default (rubbish) with 60 litres of fuel, Gaa. Back to pits, load the correct set, out again, and get a 1:44.5, and get over the line with the time for one more, but a small mistake, and I’m not going to improve, so I’ll have to live with 16th place.
Could have been better, it’s so tight in the pack, that a small improvement would mean a number of position forward, but for the circumstances it’s ok. Into the race. Starting Position 15th, someone ahead must have dropped out.
After lap one’s dicing for position I end up a position down, and run in 16th for a number of laps, bottled up behind a couple of cars that I’m (slightly) quicker than, but can’t get passed. That turns in 15th as an Audi hit’s tyre troubles and starts haemorrhaging positions. The race has settled down, two cars ahead clash, and that’s 13th and although I’m still a little quicker and gaining on the car ahead, 13th is likely where I’ll finish…...until, with about 6:30 remaining, when my race engineer pipes up with something along the lines of “your running out of fuel and will need to make stop†WHAT!! Sure enough I check and find I’ve under a lap of fuel remaining, with about 3 or 4 laps left to run. OMG how did I get the fuel calc so wrong.
(After the race I check my fuel calc spreadsheet, and find that the race time is set to 22 minutes instead of 30 minutes...Doh. Obviously missed this in my earlier panic.)
I dive straight into the Pits, fiddling to get the correct stop type selected…...FAIL, the tyres get replaced (didn’t need them) but no fuel. DAMN. I crawl round another lap, at half throttle and make it back round. I’ve selected a stop which will put in 12 Litres of fuel, phew……….. hold on, that’s the stop finished and NO FUEL. AARRGGHHH pit glitch.
DNF.
Qualifying for race 6, starts well, a PB 1:43.8 and 7th position, after the 1st runs, and I make the decision to sit the second half. Bad decision, as I end up 15th. The track was obviously fast, and has gripped up as the session went on.
Race start ok, defend my position from a Lexus on the run to turn 1, braking quite deep, turns out to be perfect, and I'm tight in behind an Audi, when boink, I get hit from behind. This pushes me into the Audi, that's ok, we all survive, but it pushes me wide, and means I can’t avoid a Ferrari broadside across the track ahead. Crunch, and that’s me last.
I squeeze past another Audi which had also been mixed up in turn one shenanigans. Only to find at the next right hander, that the car is pretty damaged, and doesn’t want to turn right. In last place I trundle round at the back until the end. Though I’m surprised to be catching up to a pack of backmarkers near the end. At the finish I find that I actually finished 16th. (I’d been 21st lap one.) So others must have also hit trouble.
Still overall the round has pretty much been a disaster.
I slope off to cry into a beer or two.
Round 4 Brands Hatch, Races 7 & 8 (in the Wet.)
Brands is a track I know pretty well. So I hoped but didn’t expect to do better than in previous rounds.
Practice had gone reasonably, when, with two days to go by brother tells me that it’s going to be two wet races. I’d been practising in the dry. So it’s back to the drawing board. Still after some practice, my pace seems decent. Well, against my brothers times anyway.
Race day.
Qualifying for race 7, and I manage a decent 1:29.5 and 7th place. Cant grumble at that.
I’ve set myself to be slightly conservative in the race. Being a touch cautious will be better than going off potentially loosing multiple position, and loosing 0.1/0.2 here and there is better than 0.6/0.7 running wide, presuming I don’t actually fall off.
My brother qualified 5th, so he’s right in front of me on the grid. (LOL, ok, no mad braking into turn 1.)
Race start is fine, a lot of jockeying for position, but I hold station, but I’ve a Ferrari right up my chuff, very aggressively trying to get past, but I’m holding position. My brother made a place lap 1, but looses it again on lap 2, and now he’s directly ahead. I ease up behind, lapping a little quicker. (He’s trying to conserve tyres after a practice race showed his tyres go off after 20 minutes. (loosing up to 3 sec a lap.!!)
Lap 3 and my brother goes wide out of T3 (Graham Hill Bend)and has to be gentle on the throttle, both me and the Ferrari slip by. I spend the next few laps fending off the Ferrari behind. Lap 7, and it’s my turn to run a little wide on the exit of turn 3, and the Ferrari is up alongside and I have to give room on the inside of T4 (Surtees), he gets a bit out of shape on the brakes and gives me a little nudge, loosing momentum, so I get clear and retain the position. His loss of momentum allows my brother alongside and he tries to go round the outside on the following right hander (Hawthorns) at the end of the straight, but ends up having to concede on the corner exit. Still, it’s taken the pressure off, and means I can run the right lines to pick my pace up a little, opening the gap up to 1.5 then 2 seconds.
Lap 10 and the Lamborghini ahead makes a mistake and I’m up to 5th. :-)
The next lap my brother tells me the Ferrari has spun, one less to worry about, and he’s up to 7th.
I’m slowly pulling away from the Lamborghini behind, and run cleanly to the end, finishing 5th. It’s almost 4th place, as a Bentley ahead spins on the last lap, but I’m not quite close enough to capitalise, finishing right on his bumper.
Excellent race, I’m very happy with 5th.
My brother does have some late tyre troubles, and ends up finishing 9th.
Qualifying Race 8.
Another respectable lap, another 1:29.5 and this time it’s 8th place…. Until two buggers, (one of them my brother) get good laps late on, so I end up in 10th place.
My brother managed a 1:29.3 and 6th place.
Race 8
Down to turn 1 I manage to get to the inside and am holding a tight line when there is a spinning car ahead. Thankfully although I hit it, it’s a gently hit which only sightly damages the car, and I get through without loosing multiple positions. So at the end of lap 1 I’m in 8th, with my brother behind me. (he’d been tagged in T1) and there’s a bunch of 4 cars ahead all squabbling for position, headed by the Ferrari from the last race. As they settle down the group starts pulling away at about 0.3 sec a lap, but I’m no too bothered, I’ve mostly learned how to drive with the slight damage, and don’t want to risk trying to drive quicker. Behind me my brother lost a place to an Audi who he’s quicker than, (and who’s pace has been very erratic, lots of spins in qually etc.) and he’s annoyed. The gap behind is now 10 second gap, with no one closing in.
The race now settles for a bit, a Lexus from ahead pit’s, so that’s 7th place. Lap 10, and that Ferrari is now ahead, and I start closing in. My pace hasn’t changed, but those ahead have lost some pace I become last in a train of 4 cars.
Lap 15 and the Ferrari spins at turn 3, that’s 6th place. Now I’m slowly dropping of the back of the cars ahead, but the gap behind is 11 seconds and growing, so I just concentrate on maintaining a reasonable pace, and that’s where I finish.
My brother hasn’t had such a good time, mistakes spins, dropping back, fighting his way back up through the grid, getting hit 2 or 3 times loosing position again etc. A lot of those he’s racing end up with penalty. With pushing his tyres do go off, a spin on last lap increases his misery, and he finishes 14th.
Can’t bust my bubble though, a 5th and a 6th, I’m well happy.:D
What a difference from the previous round.
Round 5 Zanvoort Races 9 & 10.
Well, practice was different to usual, where my brother sets a lap time. I’m about a second off, and have to struggle to get within 0.3 of. This time it’s me ahead, and him struggling to catch up. I’m managing 1:35.1 best and regular 1:35.2 or .3 and he’s doing 1:36.1 laps.
Finally the day before the race, he’s matching my times. (Boo) The Aliens are of course in the low 1:34’s.
Race 9 qualifying
A good first stint sees me in fourth with a 1:35.7 but I’m sure there is more to come. Second stint, and I go 2nd with a 1:35.301, a smidge behind pole on a 1:35.289, it’s so close, the top 5 are all 1:35.3 laps, and the top 7 below 1:35.5 My brother has managed a 1:35.367 in 4th.
Race 9
I make a good start, a little cautious into turn 1, the Ferrari on pole runs deep, and we run side by side into the following chicane where he sneaks back ahead, the Ferrari ahead is then very cautious into the braking zones on the remainder of the lap, and this catches me out braking for the final chicane, he brakes very early, and I over brake and take evasive action to avoid hitting him, and run wide into the chicane, over the kerbs, this allows a Merc to slip past, and I’m down to third, bugger, head down. I’m still cursing at myself I make another mistake on the next lap, hitting an inside kerb pushing me wide onto the grass on the outside of an infield right hander. Another two cars slip by. Damn, damn, calm down..
The car ahead is brother in his bright Yellow Porsche, and behind is a Lexus.
Basically I run behind my brother for the rest of the race, never more than a second behind, and usually somewhere between 0.3 and 0.6 behind. I have a couple of half attempts to pass into turn 1 on the brakes, but am never given a proper opportunity to get past. We half drop the Lexus behind, 1.5 to 2 seconds, but when the leading Ferrari starts making mistakes, drops to third ahead of my brother, and starts holding us up. The Lexus closes in again, making the odd half attempt to get past me, but I only really feel pressured on the last lap, where the Ferrari has made another mistake and backed us all up again, and the Lexus gives his all trying to get by. He doesn’t manage it and we all hold station to the flag.
Still, I’m happy, A) being properly competitive, and B) finishing 5th.
Race 10 Qualifying
The Track is warmer and faster than for the 1st race, and after my first stint I’m in third with a 1:35.1, pole is currently a 1:34.9
Second stint, and near the end I put in a PB, a 1:34.926 just grabbing the lead (2nd is a 1:34.932) and am praying no one improves, when I hear my brother yelp with joy...bugger, he’s done a 1:34.836 for pole. Still no one else improves, and it’s the brothers on the front row.
Race 10
The lights go green, my brother looks to be slightly out of position, alongside rather than ahead on the run down to turn 1. Conscious of not out braking myself into the gravel trap at turn 1 I’m a little early on the brakes, but come out of them a little as I head into the turn, it looks like I could be slightly ahead, I’m just trying to make a clean run round the outside and perhaps grab the lead into the following chicane, when bang, I’m hit on the side and round I go, facing backwards in the gravel on the outside of turn 1.
My brothers cursing up a storm, ranting about the Lamborghini behind dive bombing him into turn 1, using his car as brake etc. I’m last and fuming.
Driving angry, I gain two places in the first lap as others trip over themselves.
Then having to take avoiding action as cars in front swerve about jockeying for position, and I’m in the grass again, and loose the positions I’d gained to be last again.
The next lap the car ahead thumps the Aston ahead of him, and the two are off track, and I’m past. I close up behind another Aston over the remainder of the lap, and start putting lots of pressure on him, trying to force an error, so I can pass.
I succeed, and he’s off into the grass on the first chicane exit, but although I run high and wide into the following hairpin as he carriers out of control back onto the track, he collects me, smashing me into the barrier, and spinning me round.
I recover and head off, only for an almighty crunch as my suspension collapses or something, and I’m spat into the barrier again, from where I retire.
Still muttering to myself, I start perusing the replay to see what happened. It’s only a few minutes later when I think, ‘I should have tried to crawl back to the pit’s, points for finishing rather than a DNF, those points could have been important’.
Well, it’s too late now.
As the final standing are totted up, I’ve finished 10th overall in split two, and my brother is 4th.
If (and it is a big if) I’d managed to get the car back to the pits and finished last, the extra points would have made me 5th.
Still, what ifs and buts don’t count, so 10th it is.
So ends my Sim Grid Sprint Race Pro event. It’s been…..an interesting challenge, I can’t say it’s really been fun, though it had it’s moments… Plenty of up’s and down’s.
Deetz.
*waves*
First of all, apologies for going off radar for a few years! Lots going on! Just popped back to see what was happening here and found this thread......
Deetz.......I'm the Lexus from race 9!:D This is the problem with having 'nicknames', I never know when I may actually come across you guys elsewhere:roflmao:
In the nicest possible way, I was glad you and your brother hit trouble in race 10, it meant I could get P3 in the championship. Had some good battles through the series though. Strange how now I think back to it, your driving styles did seem familiar!
I'm also assuming:
Agressive Merc = Scot muscat? (Way too agressive, never got past him on track without an accident apart from sideways through dingle dell in one of those wet races)
Irratic Audi = Ivan Shermetinskii? one day he is on pole, the next he is P20 or DNF-ing. Somehow is in the world cup?! (We missed out at Laguna 8hr by 1 place:crying: But I shall be racing with Mucke motorsport, so still get the 24hr!)
Hopefully will race you on ACC again some time:byebye:
It's a small small world.
I'm very pleased to hear fellow dMr racers are still strutting their stuff online, enjoying the racing.
Reading your post, I was laughing :roflmao: my head off as you correctly guessed the names of those described other racers.
I'm teaming up with my brother for the upcoming Kyalami race, swearing at the Nissan we've chosen to race, as my pace gets worse rather then better in practice. :frusty:
I hope to see you ontrack soon.
:racing:
Blooming heck, and what I should have said first thing.
Congratuations, well done getting 3rd place.:yahoo:
Deetz
Hi Rob, nice to hear from you. Congrats on the 3rd place!
I'm glad im not the only one that thought of those other drivers that way!
Yeah, im pleased with P3, so dissappointed I didnt get into split 1 but hey-ho. New sprint and enduro leagues were announced today, better get a speedy signup!
Anyone else here ACC-ing under their real names?
https://streamable.com/ybkd7v thats the one time i got past 'agressive merc driver'
Nice, low bottom end torque does mean it's quick ing the wet.
Man I can't believe how quick those first 70 places went for the new Sprint Cup season.
Did the Kyalami 90 min split 2, a catalog of errors and finished 6th. Could so easilt have been a podium, baaa
So then Deetz.........managed to get into the sprints or enduros? Cant believe how fast quali times are tumbling, this morning at 10:30 me and my teammate were 0.08 off split 1......now thats 3 thenths!
Hi Rob,
It was quite rediculus, 135 teams, so thats a minumum of 270 drivers, and the whole lot seperated, fastest qualifiers to the very slowest, by 1.57 Seconds.
Absolute madness. Me and my brother were in 70th I think with a day to go, which would have become 120th if I hadn't found a little pace near the end, so we made split 2 as well.
Monsterously close.
Now I've just got to manage driving the Nissan, which suits my brothers driving style a bit more than mine. So I guess we'll be head to head again. (thought judging by your times, you'll be nearer the sharp end than me and my brother.)
Only the two of us in a team, for the Enduro, so I'm not sure if we'll do the longer race.
As long as my blooming arthritus (playing up at the moment) doesn't stop us racing, I'll see you one track.
:racing:
Good Luck for tomorrow Rob.
I don't know if I should be scared or excited.
Gaa, well. That didn't go to plan.
4 hour endurance race at Barcelona, 2 drivers, me and my brother, in the Nissan,
I didn't think I was going to get a decent lap in qually, 6 min to go and last. So many cars on track very difficult to get a clean one, then thankfully I found some space, and a 1:43.4 lap netted me ...24th place. Thats about as quick as I can go, so happy enough.
Race start stint one, made a clean start, had to thread my way through an accident ahead, so was was running in 18th place. A gaggle of cars ahead, and someone holding the group up slightly.
But I was experiencing a major isse, I was running an app, race sync, and this was hammering my PC, frame rate was 35, 45 fps, and super stuttery. So although I was holding my own, I didn't really want to attack, as I never knew when it would glitch.
Didn't matter though, as I was punted off a few laps later out of the back hairpin. Then after recovering, was punted again by a porche out of the last turn. Plum last I was counting down the time untill my stint was over, and I could close the app causing my issue. But at the pitstop the driver swap didn't happen, so we lost a few seconds untill I realised I was still in the hot seat.
Round again, back into the pits, as I wasn't doing another hour with stutter vision.
We'd upped tyre pressures a little, as the track was cooling, my brother ran a reasonably clean stint, pace ok but not fantastic, track further cooling and we were stuggling to keep tyre pressure / temps, so up pressures again for my second stint.
I think I manage a lap before a slight run wide nets me a tack limit violation.... and a drive through as my brother already collected some, and we had been on our last warning. Sigh.
I still was struggling with tyre pressures / temps, the car being very taily, untill about half way through my stint, when the pressures / temps came up, and I managed to get into a good rhythm, lapping fairly quickly / consistently in the low 1:45's untill my stop.
Track still loosing more temporature, so we upped the pressures again for the last stint.
Bingo, tyres now bang in the correct range and my brother was flying, nice consistent 1:44.7 - 1:45.1 laps, and with 20 minutes to go he started tp make up some places, often lapping 3 sec a lap quicker than our rivals. from 38th to 37th, to 36th, and finially we finished in 35th.
Some minor reward for sticking it out.
Other than the first stint I'd enjoyed the racing, pitty it hadn't gone so well.
:racing::racing::racing:
On to the next round.
Rob I hope you had a better day.
Doh, not really important, but last stint, 144.3 - 1:44.7. Brain fade.
Hey Deetz, sorry late reply again!
Enduros at Barca was a nightmare, out split had a major pileup at T4, I got punted on entry ( https://streamable.com/xt8lx8 ) and then on exit got pummeled in the pileup, think we finished P24......did better at Imola last week, though my teammate isnt the fastest, id say pace wise im split 1 and he is split 4. So being in split 3 means I get stuck in traffic and he gets cars unlapping themselves! Think we got P11 in the end, but the enduros im not too worried about.
Currently in split 1 of the sprint cup, sharing with Ross McGregor and John Munro (raced against them both for over 10 years, but this is the first time racing WITH them). Ross has done all the races, and me n john have alternated being driver 2. So far we have two 5ths and an 8th. Currently P5 in the championship and only 20points off the lead. Driving the Bentley is good, but at Barcelona the 2020 BoP kills it. Qualified P24, finished P8 thanks to keeping out of trouble:D
Hows your season so far?
Also had this 'fun' character in split 3 enduro almost kill me...
https://streamable.com/fahwxm
OOOO OMG that was close, well done avoiding that car.
Yes, I saw you were doing very nicely in the Sprint Cup, with the top split being broadcast, and was very pleased for you, I was grinning watching the Brands Hatch race.
We've been having a tough time of it in both the Enduro and Sprint Cup, we had to miss the 2nd round of the Enduro, as I was having some issue with the nerves in my leg / foot. Isn't Diabetes great (not.)
The Sprint Cup, I've been enjoying, but we have poor qualifying one lap pace, but generally excellent race pace. Tough overtaking after starting so far back. (We swapped to the new Evo Ferrari, which suits my driving style better than the Nissan did.) Incidents, stupid mistakes (Doh starting R2 Misano on Wet tyres on a greasy but dry and drying track), getting hit in 2 of the three races so far, oops hitting others and penalties etc. have stopped anything like a good result, best finsh have been a couple of 21st position. Fun but frustrating.
Good luck for the rest of the Sprint Cup.:racing:
And a Merry Christmas to everone.:thumbsupsmileyanim:
Deetz
For anyone still reading, It's official. (well for us).
Having no real practice, having terrible quallifying pace, and diabilcally poor race pace but having a clean race, is much much better than having ok qualifying pace, excellent race pace, but being smashed into in the race.
Results in our Sprint cup Championship have been: 31st, 21st and 21st, when having practice, and been quick, but being ramed into.
Result from being really slow, but having a clean race: 16th.
Says a bit about driving stanards as well thougth. I guess it's just so competative, that no one is willing to give an inch, or back off even slightly in caution. (Well, to be fair, there are some who will and do, but they seem to be a minority.
So, best result so far. :racing:
Onwards and hopefully upwards.
Yup, split 3 enduros is full of nutters, out of 4 races we have had 2 lap 1 incidents that have totalled the car, neither of which we were directly involved in. Means we have had two 20 somethings and 1 10th place. Hoping the sprint race a kyalami is going to be better in split 1, but the bentley isn't fast enough there, which means our mathematical chance of winning the series is probably out of the question.
Well, last round at Kyalami brought our best Sprint Cup result of 13th.
Even though we'd done all our practice focussed on wet running, as that looked to be the most likely race conditions. Of course the Quallifying / Race were run in the dry. Doh.
After my moaning about other drivers and not giving an inch etc, well that was basically me on lap1, and I ended up crunched in the middle of a three car sandwitch, where we all ended up pinballalling about, and spinning. I think the blame was equally shared among the three of us, and the stewards rules as a racing incident, but I guess I was the person who saw most clearly, in advance that it might not end well and didn't back out, and neither dis the others.
The incident caused about .6 sec a lap pace drop, ~.3 car damage and ~.3 a massive flat spot. This meant It was practically impossible to overtake anyone. I cought a Merc, which was costing me another .5 to .7 a lap all bottled up. Still, an early pit and repairs, and my brother was putting in nice fast consistent laps, which meant he chased and closed down a 12 sec gap to grab 13th place on the 2nd last lap.
Maybe a top 10 was on the cards if I'd kept my nose clean, but all said and and done, I thoroughly enjoyed the race, great fun. :thumbsup:
Rob, your's looked like a decent race, the wet qualliying may have done you a favour. Easily quick enough to hold position, but not quite enough pace to pass. You were holding your own in that pack, I guess you were swearing when that BMW squeezed by early in your session. But i have to ask. "What happened on that last lap"?, the coverage swapped away from you in 7th, and when it returned you'd dropped a place. A place that it looked like you were going to comfortably hold on to!
Didn't effect your overall standings any, and 5th place overall is pretty blooming respectable. You may be dissapointed, but I say very well done anyway. :clap: