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Title: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: BadBlood on December 23, 2013, 04:17:25 PM +0000 Season 26 – Friday Trophy
A continuation of our lighter snack. The Friday Trophy - mixed mods, mixed tracks, mixed abilities! We will split drivers between Light and Heavy divisions. Will teams appear? Who knows what this trophy brings but it will be FUN! Faster drivers should select the LIGHT option. We reserve the right to move you into the correct division Please check the Season 26 pages for details (ftp://https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=424&theme=6) regarding rules and the Friday Trophy (ftp://https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=428&theme=6) pages in particular. The races will be run as follows: Car set: F2; 69X; GT; CanAm spec format Date: Every Friday from 17th January 2014 Time: 8:45pm and 9.30pm UK Time (Approx 30 mins practice, races starts around 9:05pm and 9:50pm) Race Length: Short Damage Model: Intermediate Server(s): UKGPL_T7_2, UKGPL8 and UKGPL3, as necessary. Race List: IGOR Only ONE Reset is allowed per race with NO stop and go but we expect gentlemanly conduct in not taking advantage of that (if you cause a crash, let the other driver past!). Provisional Calendar as follows:
The provisional calendar may be changed at the discretion of the Divisional Moderator. Handicapping Handicapping takes the form of a limited chassis choice dependent upon driver skill. Check the race post for details. If you would like to enter this series please submit an entry in the poll. Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: Doni Yourth on January 02, 2014, 10:10:11 AM +0000 Ditto as per my posts in the Professional and Historic threads, Paul. Put me down as a reserve entrant.
Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: Robert Fleurke on January 09, 2014, 02:57:16 PM +0000 I'd like to make a show now and then when I'm not busy at Friday-nights, and when there's room on the grid, so voted less than 75% attendance in Light division.
Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: Walter Conn on January 09, 2014, 03:03:14 PM +0000 I'd like to make a show now and then when I'm not busy at Friday-nights, and when there's room on the grid, so voted less than 75% attendance in Light division. Good decision, you will not be disappointed! Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: Robert Fleurke on January 09, 2014, 06:59:01 PM +0000 I'd like to make a show now and then when I'm not busy at Friday-nights, and when there's room on the grid, so voted less than 75% attendance in Light division. Good decision, you will not be disappointed! Thanks Walter :) It's a good way to familiarize myself more with different mods, however not sure yet how many times I will show. However prolly will make the first Monza races if/when there's room. Did a bit old 69 mod in 2006, interested in how the 69X is as well. As Axel said, it's is a nice diverse series that will feature the most allround drivers. Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: Ronniepeterson on January 10, 2014, 10:24:10 AM +0000 Any thoughts on the cars that will be in use this time round?
Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: garethhall on January 10, 2014, 11:28:26 AM +0000 Any thoughts on the cars that will be in use this time round? I was gunna ask that. I need to practice a lot to mask my talent deficit. is it different cars each round or the same all season or can you not commit yourself at such an early stage. Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: Walter Conn on January 10, 2014, 01:26:57 PM +0000 I was about to suggest that we do a practice race today, but then I realized that today is my wife's birthday. :laugh:
Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: Cookie on January 10, 2014, 01:55:26 PM +0000 I was about to suggest that we do a practice race today, but then I realized that today is my wife's birthday. :laugh: The practice server will be up today ;) I will set the GT mod, as these are the most difficult cars to drive here ;D Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: EvilClive on January 10, 2014, 02:36:48 PM +0000 Car choice is still under review, but almost sorted. Because we are accommodating such a wide range of abilities, any handicapping is likely to be too harsh for some and not enough for others. But the general idea is to give the Heavies a shot at a podium slot, if they keep their car on the road and use the extra performance they have available.
The Lights should expect to have to work with what they have and extract the best performance from their cars and rely on their experience to produce a good race pace that exploits any mistakes by those on faster machinery. Current thinking is....( hopefully things won't change much from this...but they might get tweaked) F2's Heavies have free choice of any car Lights will have Ferrari, BT14, Cooper for most tracks with the addition of the Lola BMW on those tracks with long hi-speed sections. 69x Heavies have free choice Lights can use any car without a wing ( ;D. I know, I know, its just me generous nature ;D) plus the Lotus 63 and occasionally the Macca 9a and BRM depending on circuit. Gt's Heavies free choice Lights will not be able to use the Chapps or the Fezza or ?....(this is the most difficult group to handicap and still leave the Lights with a decent chance) Can Ams Heavies free choice Lights,will NOT be able to use the Big Mclaren, Big Lola or the Shadow. Again difficult to balance these, but I think the Lights should be able to get results by consistency, rather than out and out speed. I will be posting the race thread early for this one so that you all have a chance to get some practice in. BTW...I think there is the chance to get your name on the WR list at GPLRA with the non-winged 69x cars at some tracks. I don't think that people have driven these cars much and a good driver might exploit the speed over handling at some tracks. Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: garethhall on January 10, 2014, 03:20:56 PM +0000 i just remembered, i voted for lights but i meant heavies, i'll change i think ;)
Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: Rainier on January 10, 2014, 04:23:23 PM +0000 Gt's Heavies free choice Lights will not be able to use the Chapps or the Fezza or ?....(this is the most difficult group to handicap and still leave the Lights with a decent chance) We made a championship 2 or 3 seasons ago. And the Lola was archi dominant ! The 910 is also very good on not too quick tracks. (That was not the case in the real life, as the beautiful Lola T70 from Sunoco Team only won one championship's race : the 24 hours of Daytona in 69 with Donohue and Parsons) Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: EvilClive on January 10, 2014, 09:02:17 PM +0000 Like I said David, The Gt's are difficult but,
" Lights will not be able to use the Chapps or the Fezza or ?." The "?" might include the Lola or the Porsche ( or both!) on some tracks. ;) I wish the reliability factor that is supposed to be programmed into these cars worked in the "Intermediate" level of racing. I think it only really functions in the full "Sports Car races". Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: garethhall on January 13, 2014, 10:17:17 AM +0000 the Lotus 49 does have a front wing, I doubt I'll want it with the 63 available, just to clarify that I cant use it even if I wanted :)
Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: Iestyn Davies on January 15, 2014, 11:52:29 AM +0000 Also tempted to see how the 69x cars handle on Monza and some other venues. ;)
Tried some of the wingless cars around Watkins Glen, and I'm really happy with how the grip was dialled down slightly, to a more realistic level, and it was a pleasure to drive. With the low grip there and less at high speed, I think it could be the most realistic GPL mod there is.. just going off a hunch! F2 also was impressive.. and 66 from memory is probably just behind these. Should be a great race at Monza.. I'm already imagining what these cars will be like around the updated Spa that they are now dialling down on (for fps) for release (from some of the EOLC guys). :o Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: dave curtis on January 29, 2014, 04:58:07 PM +0000 Hang on, just noticed that there are a couple of events on Fri 14th Feb...! I've been informed I'm busy that evening [watching Rush...]. Any chance you can swap F2/69 with the following week?! Don't mind so much if I miss the GT/CanAm event :) Worth a try anyway :) Cheers, Dave. Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: garethhall on January 29, 2014, 06:33:20 PM +0000 Hang on, just noticed that there are a couple of events on Fri 14th Feb...! I've been informed I'm busy that evening [watching Rush...]. Any chance you can swap F2/69 with the following week?! Don't mind so much if I miss the GT/CanAm event :) Worth a try anyway :) Cheers, Dave. Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: EvilClive on February 02, 2014, 06:38:20 PM +0000 There have been several posts and opinions about the cars that have been selected for the Lights and their effective handicap effect on the races. Some have welcomed the way it has worked, others are concerned that they are too harsh.
When we looked at the possible configuration of a multi mod format for the Friday series last season, I always had in mind that it should be a "FUN" event that would bring the Heavies and Lights into direct competition on track. The intention was that the Lights would have slower cars that would require them to use their experience and race craft to compete against the faster machinery in the hands of the less experienced Heavies. In just about any race between the Lights and Heavies where there is a free choice of chassis, the Lights are going to take the honours and all the podium places simply because they can extract more pace from those cars. I genuinely wanted to give the Heavies a shot at finishing on the podium and racing wheel to wheel with the aliens amongst us. The reasons for that were twofold. Firstly, it should encourage the heavies to have a go at some of the other car groups in a race where it was not certain that the Lights would run away with it. Secondly, I feel that a lot of the "race pace" that the Lights appear to have stems from experience and race craft, so arranging things so that the Heavies got to race in close proximity might just show them why and where the aliens are quicker? We have 4 other championships running in any season in UKGPL, where drivers are competing for outright points scoring and victories to take the crown at the end of the season. Maybe there was space for a series of races that concentrated on the fun of racing within GPL rather than collecting podiums and points. It is unfortunately a fact of GPL life, that once there are points on offer and a championship title dangled at the end of the season, it is difficult to prevent the red mist of competition descending at the same time as the starter drops his flag. We all want to win, that is why we ( and I include myself ) do this!!! The only thing that I can say about the handicaps is this.... Because by our very nature we all have different ability, any fixed handicap system such as the current limited car choice is bound to favour some drivers more than others. Noticeably the Lights are still managing to dominate the podiums ( I know the Ratio of Lights/Heavies is skewed towards the Lights) so things are not too harsh. If each race was being won by the Heavies then there would be grounds to change the system, because I think that on balance the Lights, by virtue of their ability, should be expected to get their cars to the flag first..maybe 6 times out of 10?. Also the very fact that some are questioning, and some are content, indicates that the car selection is somewhere near the middle ground? which is the best I could hope to achieve. We have only had one complete 4 mods round of races at Monza so far and just the F2's and 69's at Lime Rock, ( 2 very different tracks) I am watching the results very carefully and if after we have completed another 2 or 3 tracks results indicate that things need changing, then I would hope to make small adjustments to keep the racing close and exciting. I welcome all feedback on how those involved feel that this is working out. As I have said, the intention was/is for all drivers to have some fun on a Friday night with cars that we don't usually race, against drivers that we would not find ourselves wheel to wheel with and on some different tracks. Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: BadBlood on February 03, 2014, 02:52:08 PM +0000 From my PoV Clive, it has enabled me to race against you and Tommie (at least in the 69X) which could never have happened under normal circumstances. Perhaps (given that I am one of the slower drivers) it is over-handicapped but it is fun to race against different guys on a totally uneven basis!
Title: Re: Season 26 Friday Trophy Registration Post by: Ronniepeterson on February 03, 2014, 05:43:25 PM +0000 I'm glad you have emphasised the fun factor here rather than championships, wins and podiums etc.
God I struggled in that 69x BT20 the other night but it was a hoot just trying to get it going round corners (thanks for the tips elsewhere Tommie). I think the choice of cars so far for the lights has been inspired, improving even further on what we had last season. Thanks for taking the time and effort, keep up the good work! |