Congrats Raoni, Dean, and Tim! That was a very nice drive on your part!
Off the start, I pussy-footed it around to Druids til a bump sent me to the back of the pack.
Yes, you did. I was too, hoping a gap would open between the two of us. My apologies for the bump. The warping had me so nervous that I couldn't really tell what was happening behind me. I was so concerned about being hit from behind that I didn't focus enough on your car. I'm sorry I handicapped you so bad. I'm glad you recovered nicely and didn't finish much worse than you would have otherwise. It wasn't until I looked at the replay that I knew who I had hit. I would have given you my position had I known it was you during the race. You almost got it any way since my engine started sputtering at the beginning of the last lap.
I thought about starting at the back but I didn't want to handicap myself that much. I was pleased with my position on the grid. Nobody in front of me was going to slow me much if any, and nobody behind me would be slowed much by me. I wasn't able to pay much attention to my fps. It dropped to about 45 fps at the start but improved within a few car lengths after the start. Even though I couldn't look at the fps, it appeared good by the time I entered T1.
I had no idea that there may have been high latencies in practice. I saw Raoni blinking some behind me late in practice. I thought it was his connection at that point. But when all the cars disappeared on the starting grid, I thought it was my connection.
After punting Donnie, I was even more nervous that I went off in T3. That gave me a brief respite to survey the situation.
When Clive caught up with me, as bad as the blinking was, I immediately let him by. I didn't think about how the high latency might make it difficult for him to determine what I was doing. I'm glad you made it by cleanly. After Clive passed me, I turned on the internet meter. It was 2/3's red! I've never seen it that high. I forgot to hit Alt+L to see how high it actually was. After a lap or two behind Clive, it dropped to its usual level, 200 for me. My latency to Axel's server has actually improved some lately. It had been ranging from 220-240. Once I turned the meter on my fps were dropping to 45 near the pit entrance. After a couple of laps with a normal latency I turned the meter back off. From then on I had little trouble with the frame rate. I'd get an occasional stutter.
The server is good
Yes, I'm surprised my connection held! With all the blinking, I was sure I'd be booted at any moment. And when I turned on the meter and saw the sky high latency, I don't know how the server was able to keep me connected. I'm impressed that the server didn't boot at least a few of us.
This is only the second time, I've had any real problem with my connection to a UKGPL server. The other time was the S27 Works race at Monaco.
I've got my suspicions that 3 or 4 fewer cars, there wouldn't have been as bad or any latency problems.
I wasn't able to make much of a determination if I could make a decent start because of fps problems. But I think things might have been tolerable without the high latency.
This track is known for some problems and I hope you all had the latest fix of Ginetto installed.
I don't have it. I usually just install the track I've downloaded from GPLTD. Unless I'm having bad problems or the graphics are so archaic, I usually leave the tracks as they are.
I'll be sure to get it before I race at Brands Hatch again.
Thanks Axel and thanks to all the other drivers.