UKGTL Season 12 Shelby AC Cobra Challenge - Nürburgring (Nordschleife) - Mar 19

[Navin R Johnson]

Thank you Hristo for the setups . It a long boring story of how I cannot get or share setups online in GTL but it will be great to see how you like to setup the chassis . As far as the race goes I'm getting more than tired of saying sorry to losing it right in front of you Hristo . But perhaps it's my secret strategy to psych you out by letting you know "hey buddy...You get to close.. I will wipe you out!! " . Just kidding.. and seriously the hard thing for me is I pride myself for making sure at the very least not to screw up other peoples races and this is two times in a row for a series that I've dumped myself at a critical moment when Hristo is so close and committed that I end up taking us both out. Then poor Pelle came around the blind corner to have me sitting right on the racing line almost stopped. BANG!! Hit very hard from behind so Pelle's car was not going to be fast anymore Sorry for that. And even after we all got going I think Hristo's car was a little screwy because mine was certainly not 100% and I could stay with him for the next 2 laps. I also messed up in qualy when I tried to drive through Tony on the last corner before the long back straight  Sorry for that too. At least that damage didn't carry on in the race .. I have to be hard on myself because I just haven't been putting the time in and therefore my race performances are suffering. To say the least. This needs to change... Not too long ago I went almost an entire year without a major accident to myself or to anyone else. I don't like this run of incidents I've been on at all...It's not about being faster or winning. It's about driving like a professional and stop being a jackass driving over your head...

[SpecialKS]

 :'(

Lost a lot of places on start but was able to regain 6th place during first laps as the Dummers, Tony and Purdie made mistakes
and was running smoothly hoping for a good finish.
At the end of lap two suddenly a new advertising popup of Avira let me completely loose control over the game (sceen disappeared
in the taskbar) for about 10 seconds - fortunately on the long straight so without further damage except that I had completey lost rhythm and concentration.
So Purdie passed me at the beginning of lap three when I had a turner due to lack of concentration.
Could regain my mood and hoped for a easy finish on seventh place when in lap 4 just after the Kallenhard corner (mysteriously one of
my favorite places as a spectator at the Nordschleife  ) I had a slight issue with the curbs and left track into the woods turning around. When trying to reenter the track I chose the wrong direction - caused by disorientation by the turner - and ended up in the nirvana.

So the event on my hometrack did not end up in any kind of happy end but it's always a great pleasure to drive the Nordschleife.

Congratulations to the podium, all finishers and especially to Bill who obviously managed to run a smooth and constant race without much practice - just for fun, as he said

[purdie]

Quite a mad car/track combo for my first time back in GTL for a while  first time I have ever 'got' the Cobra and really enjoyed it. Also thought this version of the nords was fantastic, I took a 917 out after the race!

Unlucky Eifelblitz, we were swapping places and were lined up for a good finale!

Great driving and I hope to be more regular in this and PnG now 

[BillThomas]

:'(

Congratulations to the podium, all finishers and especially to Bill who obviously managed to run a smooth and constant race without much practice - just for fun, as he said

That's how I get my driving kicks now , cheaper than replacing my old faithful A210 Evo or buying a track car - zero maintenance. 

[BillThomas]

Thanks Tony, chuffed new PB - over a minute faster over night.  Hard work, over 2.5 hours of concentration with short break to stretch legs and unwind.

You will be driving it in your sleep now Bill 

Sorted.  Have TV and twin decoder recorder (500 Gb hard drive) in guests bedroom - vacant 90 odd percent of time.  Watch a recording until eye lids start to close   then off to bed and sleep. 

[Wiltshire Tony]

Not a bad result for me last night. Just took a steady eddie approach and managed to finish which was my main goal. Pretty lonely affair with a brief spell of racing with Kenn at some point. But he went off and I passed and carried on. Earlier I had one major off, where the track turns right then you pass under the first bridge. I left the track there and went off into the countryside. Amazed that I didn't get nivana'd. But after reversing I couldn't find the track again, dam bushes. Helpfully I saw the Dummer boys pass by and so was able to relocate and rejoin the track.

Strangely I never really liked the Cobra but I'm finding driving her in this series a lot of fun, most odd.

Next ones at Riverside, should be good fun 

[M Cinderby]

  Even with H's set up I failed to make any impression on the top 3 whom were in a race of their own by miles. I have never been competitive here I tend to get brain fade mid-lap and just cant remember where I am or what my name is!!!   Sign of old age creeping in I guess.  If Ade had made an effort to keep up we could have played who can do the best skid for 40 min's.   Anyways fairly happy to be first none alien finisher in P4.............Cheers guys.  

[Pelle_B]

Grats Hristo & NRJ 

Practice:
Sry I perhaps was not as active in chat, but I spend too much time trying to fix the setup...& I hate Cobra 
A little surprised by the FIA ​​model is not as fast than the original 289. NRJ & I tested & I had no chance to keep up. Especially topspeed, it almost died in the fourth gear & changed to org 289 & it was much better...with the same setup. 

Qual:
Still working on the setup & never managed to put a time. The last corrections had to be tested in the race!!!

Race:
Setup seemed ok & after a little figth with Mark (hehe) I was on the second place already behind pit & NRJ in front, perfect for TEAM-GTLDK. Unfortunately, Hristo coming up...& I take a trip far into the woods, but comes back close behind.
When I come out of the second carousel, I discover NRJ & Hristo messing around...trying to pass between & the worst happens, I smash NRJ hard behind 'ARGH' shame for us all. Again, race is unpredictable
I feared most about our cars, who was most difficult to drive over 3 laps more. We lacked only the long right turn before the straight & here I felt it was not good with my car...it was here I had to relax before the next lap, but the car had trouble just driving straight.

Very nice we could all keep to the finish line...with our broken cars 

@KS: Unfortunate...do not like me (run on grass & take in the woods) there may be black holes 

[Hristo Itchov]

Don't worry about it, Navin, it was just a racing incident, you didn't do it on purpose. I often get that corner (the small Karussel) wrong as well and the usual outcome is a spin like the one you had.

I want to raise up two questions about issues which have bothered me yesterday:

1) Why did the session switch from Qualifying to Race even though I had started a flying lap before the session was over? Are we running on settings which don't allow you to finish your lap after the timer has gone zero? And if yes, why? I was having a great lap but instead had to start at the back because of that.

2) I remember Tony telling me chatting is not allowed, yet people were chatting a lot during Qualifying and particularly when the session ended but I was still on my flying lap. I don't want to do this, but I might be forced to turn off my in-car chat because it's very distracting.

As for the race, it was quite enjoyable and I had a nice battle with Pelle and Navin for most of the distance. These cars seem to fit the track so well and it felt like driving a rally stage, so as Mark pointed out in practice, it was a race against the track more than a race against other drivers.

Grats to all who made it to the finish!

-=Hristo=-

[M Cinderby]

Don't worry about it, Navin, it was just a racing incident, you didn't do it on purpose. I often get that corner (the small Karussel) wrong as well and the usual outcome is a spin like the one you had.

I want to raise up two questions about issues which have bothered me yesterday:

1) Why did the session switch from Qualifying to Race even though I had started a flying lap before the session was over? Are we running on settings which don't allow you to finish your lap after the timer has gone zero? And if yes, why? I was having a great lap but instead had to start at the back because of that.

  I have been cut off mid quali lap many times in GTL I think its standard........Not like F1!!! 

[Pelle_B]

1) Why did the session switch from Qualifying to Race even though I had started a flying lap before the session was over? Are we running on settings which don't allow you to finish your lap after the timer has gone zero? And if yes, why? I was having a great lap but instead had to start at the back because of that.

  I have been cut off mid quali lap many times in GTL I think its standard........Not like F1!!! 

Not Like F1...& GPL 
Another thing is also annoying...you must run a full lap before qual lap starts. When I set the server in GPL, I use the ring trainer (you started on the grass just before the karrusel #2) but I don't think it exists for GTL. 

[Wiltshire Tony]

I want to raise up two questions about issues which have bothered me yesterday:

1) Why did the session switch from Qualifying to Race even though I had started a flying lap before the session was over? Are we running on settings which don't allow you to finish your lap after the timer has gone zero? And if yes, why? I was having a great lap but instead had to start at the back because of that.

The on-line mechanics of GTL only allow us to preset an amount of qually time, in most races this is 20 minutes. There is no mechanism "built in" for allowing drivers to finish their laps once the timer has reached it's allotted time. Sometimes you can be lucky and just cross the line before the software switches to the next session as there does seem to be a degree of grace in the system. How much? I simply don't know. As this track is much longer than our usual circuits it was harder to get a "quick" lap in. Perhaps I should have designated a random grid instead of a qually session.

2) I remember Tony telling me chatting is not allowed, yet people were chatting a lot during Qualifying and particularly when the session ended but I was still on my flying lap. I don't want to do this, but I might be forced to turn off my in-car chat because it's very distracting.

I do try to moderate the amount of natter but I don't want to be too strict especially during qually sessions. Were here to have fun after all and I think some drivers enjoy the banter pre-race. During the race I hope that everyone appreciates that unnecessary talk can be off-putting and I would take steps to mention this in post race reporting if I felt it had been disproportionate. I'm sorry you felt that your concentration was disturbed.

[Wiltshire Tony]

1) Why did the session switch from Qualifying to Race even though I had started a flying lap before the session was over? Are we running on settings which don't allow you to finish your lap after the timer has gone zero? And if yes, why? I was having a great lap but instead had to start at the back because of that.

  I have been cut off mid quali lap many times in GTL I think its standard........Not like F1!!!  

Not Like F1...& GPL  
Another thing is also annoying...you must run a full lap before qual lap starts. When I set the server in GPL, I use the ring trainer (you started on the grass just before the karrusel #2) but I don't think it exists for GTL.  

There is a way to start the lap without doing a full lap. It's a proper tarmac road so I don't consider it cheating.

[SpecialKS]

1) Why did the session switch from Qualifying to Race even though I had started a flying lap before the session was over? Are we running on settings which don't allow you to finish your lap after the timer has gone zero? And if yes, why? I was having a great lap but instead had to start at the back because of that.

  I have been cut off mid quali lap many times in GTL I think its standard........Not like F1!!!  

Not Like F1...& GPL  
Another thing is also annoying...you must run a full lap before qual lap starts. When I set the server in GPL, I use the ring trainer (you started on the grass just before the karrusel #2) but I don't think it exists for GTL.  

There is a way to start the lap without doing a full lap. It's a proper tarmac road so I don't consider it cheating.

Accidentally I found out during practice that in this version of the Nordschleife the "Betonschleife" could be used to shorten the warm-up lap and posted that twice in the chat.
Maybe the name "Betonschleife" was not known to most of you guys or my English was mistakable - sorry for that.

Here's a link for better understanding: http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Europe/Germany/nurburgring27-66bet.html

[Hristo Itchov]

Thanks, I guess on shorter tracks there was just enough time to finish a lap before it switched to next session, so I didn't notice. In fact it's the same by default for rFactor but there is an option in one of the config files to change that. I couldn't find the same for GTL though, even though it's the same game engine.