SimRacing.org.uk

Round 2 of this years Spec series pays a visit to Austria & the Zeltweg circuit which has become a popular event on the GPL calendar.

This season we are running a rather different format with just one Intermediate Long race & the same chassis for everyone. The races will be a mixture of 65 Mod & the new 69 Extra. For Zeltweg we stay in the 65 cars with a chance to try out the BT11.

The track can be downloaded here zeltw71 (http://www.f1legends.ch/update/circuits/zeltweg.php)

There is no handicapping & all participants will run in one division. A quick check at the leader board from Round 1 shows Evil setting the pace from Natan & King Hiro. Pole position was taken by Raoni who had to leave the race part way through to answer the phone. Did the caller say “Muhahahaha” is a dastardly Japanese accent??

Unlimited resets are allowed but every Shift R must be followed by a Stop & Go in the pit lane. If you Reset on the last lap a 30 second time penalty will be awarded.
Incidents should be reported in the usual way.
In line with other divisions the races will be subject to full moderation in the red zone – which will be up to the exit of the Bosch Curve.

Specs currently has 11 full time drivers & 13 reserves. The intent is to start the server about 9pm at 35 minutes qualification . RESERVES should not join until 30 minutes. If we get overloaded we will look at the option of a second server. If anyone wishes to upgrade to Full Time please post here. New joiners are more than welcome.

Race List = IGOR
Server = UKGPL7
IP address = 62.149.202.168
Race date = Friday 18-11-2011
Time = 21:00 UK time (21:00 GMT)
Track = Zeltweg
Race length = Intermediate Long
Variant = 1965
Chassis =  Brabham BT11
Damage Model = Intermediate
Qualifying time = max. 30 minutes

Driver lists can be found here Spec Race Challenge (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=343&theme=6)

I can t drive this friday :(

It isn't working for me  :-[

Should work Bernie - the download is hidden behind the program cover on the bottom left.

If not, try here (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/tracks/zeltweg71/zeltweg_1971.exe)

Just tried the link to Jackseller, works fine here...

Not for me though  :(
Not speaking french doesn't help , but have managed to get the track from my old PC , hopefully all is well .

N.B.

Should we be using Zeltweg 71 not Zeltweg 70 ? I'm fairly sure we always use 71 because of connection issues . Please feel free to ridicule correct me if i'm wrong  ;D

Ok now i know it is 71  :)

However BIG problems

When I connect to the server there is no green button  :-\ :-\ :-\

working fine in software mode

Is it something I need to do cos I just copied and pasted the track into GPL track directory  :-\

Download the exe and run it is easiest but it may be because it is not in one of your season.ini files...

Just putting the track files in a track folder is not enough - needs to be in the correct season.ini

Use GEM+ and put the track in every season.ini you have...

Hope that helps.

Bernie,

Definitely the '71 version. Essentially the same as 70 but includes some fixs ironing out some problems with the old version.

Hope you are up & running.

I had a similar problem with "No parlay Francais". Go to the page & click on the miniturised poster under the word "Liens".

Thanks but I can't d/l the exe , thats why I'm here  ::)

Tried the french site , assuming the round silver button is for d/l it goes nowhere for me , just says "sorry page not available " or similar  :-X

Downloading now  8)

Taa! ever so much  :)

Still the same  :-[

No green button  :'( :'( :'(

Billy, default laps number for a Long race is 16, a bit short IMO. How many laps would you like to race?
Ciao

Thanks Fulvio - 16 does look low - can we have 21. Thanks.

OK, T7_2 set to 21 laps Long race.
Ciao

Looks like I'm sitting this one out unless I can find a green button from somewhere  ::)

Does it work offline Bernie? i.e. in GEM+

Yes Paul its Ok on there just when i join server , goes to multiscreen , have red button but no green , think iv'e given it a "Darwin award"  somehow

Presumably that is just UKGPL3...

If you didn't have the track installed, it would actually come up with 'Unable to load track'. Very odd. I think this may be a SEASON.INI thing. If you go into GEM and press the SEASONS button you can add/remove tracks form each of your defined seasons. Can I suggest that you take out Zeltweg from EVERY season in GEM and then exit GEM. Go back in and add it to EVERY season and then try again. I have found some odd things happening when iGOR gets confused...

already tried that Paul  ???

I was unable t d/l the track from the french site so did a copy and paste from my old PC , thats when the trouble began , maybe because I didnt use the install.exe to load the track ,I just put it in the GPL tracks directory .

Since then I have managed to d/l the correct .exe files .  I deleted the track from gpl and ran the exe .

Dont know what i'm looking for to correct this , could it be a faulty d/l exe file , maybe I should delete the track and try again ?

Thanks for the help as always

Not sure what is involved in removing a track completely, presumably deleting the folder and any references to it in all the seasonXX.ini files. If you do that and then run the installer again (or download it from UKGPL3 if Paul can put a known good copy on there) then that *should* work.

The installer is up on UKGPL3 - under tracks/zeltweg71 iirc. It is an executable that installs the necessary files.

Really messed things up now , iGOR wont run , i get error message :-

"can't open GPLmods.ini"

"last GPL player can't be found as a players/player folder"

I renamed iGOR ini file and was swopping it back when this happened ,think ive pressed a wrong button and somehow deleted something important .

Given up for today my head is throbbing  :-\

what does the file "sgem.ini"  do ?

It looks to be in a right mess  ::)

 :o

just trying to find it Bernie, hang around here and we'll take a look

[resolved]

Hallo bernie , i was for a moment away to do something but when i came back you where gonna , it seems that when the name mutating is on you can't see a green box on the right side , just done a test and have the same , so thinck you will have to wait untill they solved the problem could be the server you know ;

Thanks so much Sven I had reached that same conclusion problem being no other 65 mod server up there to test things  :)

Hoping that it is the server and not me (it seems to be stuck in mutating mode )

OK I just got it will start UKGPL_8 Zeltweg71 65 BT11 ;D

Just home from work.

UKGPL3 had not started the race session - not sure why. Not an issue for the races as I am around to ensure it goes but it was just sitting at the Multiplayer window waiting for me to press the Green button.

Sorry Bernie  :oops:

Not sure why it was stuck but I didn't actually start that session...

No worries Paul , the doctor has just been and given me some stronger tablets   :o

He assures me the effects wont last too long and I should be feeling fine again in a few months time  ::)

Looks like the server is full >:|

Made it in with 4:00 to qualify...sorry if I took someone's spot :)

Replay is available here (http://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/inc_replaysS22_js.htm). Just select the Specs series and analysis is available if you click on the Archive name after a suggestion from Ivan.

That analysis is available directly from here (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/replays/archive/season22/analysis/S22_Specs_R02_2011_11_18_Zeltweg/index.html).

The Replay .rar file is available here (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/replays/archive/season22/specs/S22_Specs_R02_2011_11_18_Zeltweg.rar).

Cracking race - watched Joseph and really enjoyed his battles. Tried to help him concentrate and I thought he drove really well. Better than I can do by some two secs a lap! Very proud Dad!!!

Waw , just saw the replay of this race  seen some nice battles well done guy's was fun to see .
greets svenvangent

Shocking race for me.  Rubbish FPS.....someone elses accident, freeze on lap 11. Nothing more worth saying.

Update: Then tried to download the replay.....39meg down and the server has crashed......not a great Saturday afternoon.    >:(

Have to apologise to Geoff - twas me wot unplugged the server - thought I was safe at 1.30 am... oops!

 :laugh:

Had some great battles there with Joe, Steve and Fabio but it all ended in tears for me after Steve flipped me on my roof.. pity as that was some of the closest racing I have ever known... Was so disapointed that I retired shortly after :(

That'll be when you got so sideways I had nowhere to go then! ;) was a shame it ended like that. Sorry for my part in it Jase, I couldn't pull the car any tighter at that speed and we were all so close together there was just about no room for anything.

Was a fun race. Had close battles just about all the way through. Frustratingly dropped the car fairly early on but it meant I was in the thick of the action which I much prefer to have that than a lonely race to a slightly higher position. Some great driving by all I encountered.

Special mention to Joe who drove very well and dealt with some testing close racing with good skill. Well done.

I think thats my last race until January now, as over in the USA for 3 weeks with work from tomorrow, so have fun all and see you back on track in the new year! Or for the Christmas specials   ;D

Cheers

Avoided the lap 1 carnage and found myself racing with JohnyO swopping places 2 or 3 times per lap which was good fun for a short while , unfortunately one of the faster drivers (making time up after Lap1 incedent )  decided to have a go up the inside just as we were approaching T1 . That was my race really, never saw another car untill the finish , almost died of boredom  ::)

I had a great race  :D battles with natan jason raoni du fossa steve and fabio. Instead of making a risky overtake i decided to wait patiently for the drivers to make mistakes , which seems to have paid off. Sorry I hit steve after you span. Your car was stretching across my racing line. It was really enjoyable for me. grats clive well driven

Congrats to all of you. The racing between the 'famous five' (Mini, Steve, Blito, Fabio and Raoni) was pretty awesome to watch. Nose to tail through the Bosch kurve with different lines being used and then the mini mistakes and ultimately the crashes... great fun.

Better than the F1 on telly.

This was me  ::)
Sorry Bernie but I kept the inside line with my wheel on this strange right borderline. You just pulled over to the right...

Phew, this was one of my hardest races ever!

Had a phantastic start from 5th, was 3rd after T1 where Raoni went wide and made me a red pinball for the rest of the field...
Recovering as last I made up lots of places, but I had such often been hit and thrown back again, I could not count these...
With this severely handicapped car, I never resetted, I managed to just keep Ron behind me in 10th place ;D

That appears to have been one of THE great races for UKGPL .
I have not yet watched all of the replay to see all of the reported battles, but I will  ;D.

I am still buzzing this morning after my epic duel with Juha...what a race!!!!  :eek: :w00t: :scared: :fencing: I had not anticipated this track delivering such an entertaining race for everyone. Slipstreams yes, but also plenty of opportunity to stick cars into the scenery and break the field up.

I was honestly surprised to get pole, but really chuffed to go sub 1:50, Ok only by 0.01 secs but still sub 1:50 ::) I had expected Raonni amongst one or two others to be quicker.

I got a good start, which I know from ( bitter) experience is essential here where T1 and T2 usually provide the opportunity for carnage on cold tyres and full tanks. So, I breathed a sigh of relief after exiting T2 and headed down towards Bosch Curve with a slender lead.
I tried ...I REALLY tried!! to get away from the pack in the early laps and break any chance of someone using the slipstream to catch me, but Juha refused to drop back and eventually even my front tyres were smoking. I just had to ease back for a couple of laps or risk going off. Juha took his opportunity and closed up somewhere around lap 8 I think.

From the moment Juha got on my tail I do not think either of us had anything in reserve. It was just 100% commitment and as each of us made a small error the other's momentum would give him the advantage at the next corner.
We both gave each other room when it looked like a pass was being attempted and considering how fast and close we raced for around 13-14 laps, it was amazing that neither of us made a mistake that might have ended both of our races.

It soon became obvious that, barring a major mistake by one of us, this race was going all the way to the flag! I was determined that I would at least be involved at the end of the last lap even if I did not win. I watched the laps count down and with 3 to go I made a small mistake that allowed Juha to pass and pull a small gap. i worked my socks off to get back on his tail as we started the last lap ( I am just as certain that Juha was doing his utmost to ensure that I did not!! lol).
I could not quite go for the pass at T1, next place would be into T2......still not close enough, so it would have to be braking for Bosch!! I got the tow out of T2 and stuck my nose under Juha's gearbox. On earlier laps I had tried to pass him by taking the wide line into Bosch, but this time I stuck it down the inside and I think I caught Juha unprepared and I was in his blind spot. Watching the replay of that moment It looks like I got fully alongside Juha ( who gave me room  :thumbup1:) but I think the distraction caused him to miss his braking point just enough to run wide and clip the wall. That was all the invitation I needed and I scooted through tight to the inside, reasonably confident that there was nowhere else before the flag that Juha could make a pass if I kept things on the racing line.

Big thanks to Juha for a great race, just sorry that one of us had to lose after such a dice.
Also a big grats to all the other drivers who seemed to be having mega battles and maintaining some very quick times. Despite driving 21 laps at a pace way below my previous PB Juha and I did not see a single backmarker!! you guys must be getting faster, which is worrying!  :-\

I honestly don't know how you do it... I know that I am not brave enough through the corners and don't have enough trust in the car to turn in but my bets here is 1:54. Having improved a bit recently as I started to actually listen to my faster colleagues I thought I would show Mini what I could do... he was pulling close to 1:51. He was smooth and listening to Dad and making no mistakes... can't be that hard.

2:02, spin, 2:06, crash, 1:56 clean, 1:55 better, 1:55 best :( 2:03 spin, 2:01 ran wide at Bosch

<sigh>

So off I went to Spa to practice. Had complained to Clive that the damn Mk2 just would not turn. He gave me a few pointers on setup.... Surely I could beat my best of 3:48.

What's that? Steering Ratio of 25:1 no wonder the bloody thing wouldn't turn!!!!

Set it to 11:1 and off we go, Eau Rouge, wobble, next one, whoops, hello grass.... calm calm... through Massanet - wahey, Masta at 194mph... wobble spin arrrrgggghhhh. Recover slide though Stavelot, visit a few hedges here and there. Marvellous... so much better 4:12  ;D

Methinks you might be trying/pushing just a little too hard Paul and I sympathise.
I can honestly say that whenever I get a PB it usually feels that it was a slow lap, because there was no drama and each corner flowed smoothly and more importantly I was not actually trying for a PB or pole. The string of fast laps alongside Juha last night were accidental. We were both concentrating on the racing and the times that happened  were a bi-product of our concentration.

I still do not consider myself as ultimately fast. There are other guys racing in UKGPL and GPL today who can always manage to put in a faster lap than I can, but maybe experience or Waza guile ( call it whatever you want  ::) ;D), allows me to make the best of what I can do.
Avoiding mistakes and crashes is a must if you want to be near the podium. A lift off the gas or braking 50 mtrs earlier might lose you 0.5 secs, but spinning into the boondocks will either put you completely out of the race or even if you are allowed a Shift-R you will have lost at least 30 secs by the time you have recovered and visited the pits.  The maths are not really difficult, and that was the first thing I did to try and improve my results..stay on the grey stuff!!! You will gain 20-30 secs on every car that goes off, guaranteed  ;)......simples.

I have just watched Joe's race and what he put together at Zeltweg is ( and I hate to say this to you Paul, lol) an almost text book improvement. Grats to Joe on listening to his Dad who abviously gave him the right advice!!.  ;)
 In past races he has shown that he can occasionally nail a fast lap in qually, but excitement or nerves undid all that work when it came to the race ( BTW I think we have all had "the shaky leg" when we suddenly realised that we were involved in our first real race with a chance of a best ever finish lol). But, at Zeltweg he drove smoothly and within his ability to put in consistant laps. His own admission that he waited for the guys in front to make the mistake and give him the chances was spot on. Watching his progress after he caught Jason, Steve and Du Fossa is worth looking at again for anyone who is new to GPL. Patience is a huge weapon in on-line racing.

Appearing to be brave through the corners only works if you have a setup that you trust. You have to be CERTAIN that the car will do what you want, when you want it to and KNOW where the limit is. Guessing or hoping will not work, because GPL will bite your ass if you give it the chance. So actually I am not brave, because as far as I am concerned I have done the Risk Assessment in qually and  I am at 95% most of the time, 100% only when I really have to and 105% when I fail to finish!! Outbraking Juha on the last lap was maybe 101%  ::) and scary!!
In last nights race I was using a setup for the BT11 that I evolved about 12-18 months ago over several races. It gets minor tweaks to gear ratios depending on the track and maybe an adjustment of ride height if the circuit demands it. But the basic setup stays the same and it means that I am driving the same car at all tracks and I have absolute confidence in what is going to happen when I stand on the brakes or turn the wheel, because it is the same that happened last race or the race before.

A lot of words are posted re setups, but until you have expoited the setup that you have ( even the default), to the point that each and every lap is within a few tenths and comfortable ( regardless of how fast that time is), then there is no real point in changing much. What is more important perhaps is recognising what the car is doing, that you DO NOT want it to do.
This is a result of the mixture of the cars setup and your driving style.

Then can you say, the present setup oversteers everytime I get on the gas and it spins. So, what you want is a modification to the setup that dials in more understeer under power OR modify your right foot to avoid wheelspin, squeeze on the power and learn to feel how much grip and control you have at 95% of the limit. Sometimes, simply leaving the car in a higher gear allows you to reduce the engine torque available and therefore the power delivery is smoother, even if you stamp on the gas pedal.

If we can meet up on a server soon and run a few laps where I can watch your progress, perhaps I can suggest where we( well actually you lol) can change setup or habits.

Aye , I knew you were close there somewhere but was concentrating too much on the corner , didn't really expect you to dive in there , rather thought you would draught by me down the next straight that would have been the sensible thing to do escpecially with your speed , my fault though for turning in , should really have kept wide but then we are all masters of hindsight . No hard feelings  ::)

Well at least not this time  ;D

@Clive...

Wise words - I am thinking I can walk the walk but talking as well is just too much...

Joe did brilliantly and saved some half spins that would have had me in the grass. Impressive. The patience was all mine (lol). I kept telling him just to ignore the guys in front and put in steady laps and watched in amazement as he went faster and faster. He wanted to chase Natan but there were people behind who could take advantage and I told him just to do what he had been but the laps ran out. Joe and I may never actually race because he is going to be in the Inters before I get out of the Novices!!!

I know just what you are saying about fast laps feeling slow but I don't think I have a natural 'feel' for the cars. I just need a LOT more practice. I also find that when I am close to others I get too anxious and make mistakes....

ah well, vicarious enjoyment via Mini. It'll have to do...

Talking of meeting up on line, I did just that with Geoff and took three seconds off my best at Surfers! Just by following him round and seeing where he pushed and where he held back. It is quite amazing how much time you can lose in one or two corners...

Anyway, thanks for the advice. Now watch me f*@{ it up at Mexico...

I guessed that there was some coaching from the sidelines LOL! 

I too noticed how his speed gradually increased lap after lap and I am almost ( but not quite because I like to keep my money  ;)) sure that he became so engrossed in the RACING that he forgot all about his SPEED. He was concentrating on the cars around him and where he was on the track..and the driving happened automatically. Yes!, he had to have a stable car to drive and the BT11 fits that requirement perfectly but he was proving that he could extract as much performance as those around him without any huge drama. That was how it was between me and Juha, 99% of my menatl faculties were focused on finding a way past Juha. The racing line was programmed on auto pilot and it was only when I had to take a different line, that I had to engage the other brain cell which has the characteristics of the setup held in RAM. Which comes back to knowing what the car will do close to the limit. My race was not without mistakes, my races never are!!  lol


When I was a noobie ( and believe me, I was the ultra noobie/accident waiting to happen), Clive Loynes was one of the wise sages around UKGPL and he reckoned that getting a slow corner dead right gained you more time than blasting through the fast sweeps.

His reasoning was, that through the fast sweeps the difference in speed between aliens and mere mortals is ( in percentage terms) quite small, Whereas if you are ultra tidy and accurate around a slow tight corner,  getting the braking right...... smoothly through the apex .......and getting on the power smoothly and early you might gain a whole second? A clear example of that is the sharp right hander before the hairpin at Mexico. Actually, I would say that it is one of the hardest corners to get absolutely right from all of those on the original Pappy tracks.
If you go in too fast, or on the wrong line, then  you are going to be fighting for traction and control on the exit. But get it smooth and calm and you can apply the gas early and smoothly and hit the next short straight at max speed, gaining a considerable amount of time.

I cannot claim to ever get a corner 100% right, but I can see what he meant. Controlled and smooth beats wild and erratic every time. ::)

As for feel. Unfortuantely we do not get inertia feedback from GPL as one might in a full 6 axis simulator, so you do not feel the rear wheels beginning to break away or spinning as you might in a real car. But there are subtle clues that I find I can "discern". When the FF on my wheel goes light mid corner, as the slip angle of the car around a corner begins to increase etc. The secret is to be aware of those things and make small adjustments to correct. Big adjustments almost always end in disaster, as a sudden lift off the gas or a violent twitch on the wheel will totally unsettle the car.

A partial "confidence lift" mid corner might be enough to allow the tyres to reagin some traction and hold the car on the line that you want. Similarly, stamping on the go-pedal usually breaks the traction of the rear tyres and results in a spin, whereas a gradual increase in power as you accelerate out of a corner will probably keep things very neat and tidy, provided the setup and gearing are somewhere near the correct values.

I should be able to get on line later today and would be more than happy to do some Mexico or Spa laps with you.

But not half as much fun  ;D

I never claimed that I was "controlled and smooth"  ::) ;)

Sorry Clive, only just saw this. I was a bit busy yesterday but as I said to Fulvio, I was consistent at Spa with 3:4x laps - he was very rude and laughed!  >:( ;D

It was depressing to see the Porsches just disappear on the corners... I was hoping not to get lapped by one but a Stop n Go put paid to that...

Did anyone want to race at Zeltweg but not get an opportunity becuase the server was full?
Currently we have 13 Full Time & 13 Reserve drivers - which is just about the tipping point for a second server.

Yes Bill, I had a problem and left the server, then when I tried to rejoin Hendy had taken my place.

I would be in on and off for this one, so make it 14 part timers if you add the second server. I cant commit full time, and frankly wouldnt want to sit in the chatroom waiting to see if I can or cannot get a place to race as a part timer, probably theres someone else in the same position as me. Similar problem with the 66s. I guess it is a good problem to have though, I remember at the end of season 20 there were talks about suppressing the specs :o! Well done to you Billy, and the new format for this one with longer races is actually a pretty good idea for me.

Moderating report now published.