SimRacing.org.uk

All members welcome.

Grid/server capacity: 19

Practice: ~19:20 (60 mins)
Qualifying: 20:20 (20 mins)
Race: 20:40 (26 laps = ~50mins)

Cars allowed: Aston Martin DBR1 Download this (http://www.nogripracing.com/details.php?filenr=35188)

Track: Aintree GP Circuit Download this (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3358.msg54520#post_aintree)

Time of Day Setting: 14:00
Start: STANDING
Tyre wear: x2
Fuel consumption: Normal

Server: simracing.org.uk FIFT
Password: see above (#post_event_password)

Notes:
(1) It's best if all drivers can make sure they are connected before the Qualifying session as drivers on track during qualifying will not see cars that join after they are on track until they go back to the garage.
(2) Please make sure you are fully aware of the SimRacing.org.uk Rules.
(3) Driver lists can be found on the Championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=358&theme=5)
(4) The AI control should be turned off so that you have control of the car at all times, including pitting. Your player file should therefore read
Autopit="0"
Force Autopit Off="1" // Forces autopit always off
No AI Control="1" // AI never has control over car
If you still finding pitting problematic, experience tells us that its less to do with positioning and more to do with approach speed. A slow approach to pit crew chief has proved most reliable.

Special Notes: This event has a 19 car maximum capacity. Also drivers at the front of the grid may have difficulty seeing the start lights. Recommend turning the start countdown on.

Tony could we please have the Track/Car combo up and running one day over weekend so we can all check out compatibility?  Thanks.

Great idea Bill Thomas. I'll set it up shortly(ish)

EDIT: Try now  ;)  (Only Astons on server)

Thanks Tony couple of points.

Fuel not set at x3  ??? - race fuel consumption? ;D

On 6th lap just after exit of infamous chicane had a black screen for about 1 sec then recovered.  :oops: Checked the frame rate for a lap -  max 276, min 172 about 200 to 210 fps around chicane area. Guess frame rate over 200 fps for most of lap.  8) Any known prob or one of those things?   ???

Packed in for night now.  :yawn: :sleep1:

It's tyre wear that's set to 3x Bill Thomas  ::)

I really must learn to read.   ::) ;D

Looking forward to this series ;D. Usually enjoy the older cars. Can't wait to try them out. 8)

Thanks Tony very informative.  ;D Only problem another black screen nearing the end of lap 11 - just before the long straight.  ::) ???

Anybody else done any tyre wear runs here? My turn in started to go off with the left front around double figures at around about lap 9.  :oops:

Thanks for the info Bill Thomas. I'll be doing a full test later today and will adjust the tyre wear factor if necessary. I'll also see if I get black screen troubles. It may be due to having other Sims running on our server at the same time. Have you had the same problem when driving off line? That would rule out a server based problem.

Thanks Tony.  No prob offline.  8) :rockon:

Just finished 26 laps to test tyre wear. I've reduced tyre wear factor to 2x as this makes the last laps quite "exciting". 3x was probably to much.

No black screens Bill Thomas, but I did turn off the other GTL session that was running on the server.

Thanks Tony, hopefully I should now be OK for one pitstop.   :thumbup1: :thumbup1: Expect only have time for offline race - with practice pitstop before Tuesday. cya then.   8)

You should not require a pit stop in these events. The online setup earlier was incorrect. It's a 26 lap race so you should do it easily without pitting.

That was based on x3 tyre wear experience, hopefully now no stop is doable.  The start and first few corners should be "fun",  :P ??? as tyres take a lap to get some grip in them.

Ah I see, misunderstood your previous post. Yes these cars can be a handfull especially off the grid  :devil:

I noticed that the middle of the tyres seemed to be a slightly higher temp than the edges so maybe reduce the pressure a tad?

Thanks Tony, will try that. ;D

Hey Bill and Bird - server online again!

Kicking myself for missing this....was playing P&G at Cadwell, and having such a good time...forgot to look at the clock. Never mind, next one.   :(

Question, do we have a chatroom online?....and if so, where, what, why....how?

Well, fun while it lasted.  Took me a long time to get used to the car and was well off the pace but it was fun to have a go.

Replay and results now posted.

Thanks to all the drivers who joined me in the "Fifties".

Jags at Castle Combe next time

Unofficial LapChart (http://www.justanotherpage.nl/Srou/GTL/GTLegends_aintree_2012_5_1_20_46/)

Apologies Hristov for the early race punch. I ran out of talent there..
Congrats with the victory.

Well that was as much fun as I'd hoped it would be.  Thanks Tony for setting it up, I just hope the numbers are maintained or build a bit through the season.

Qual:A second row grid spot was about right given the pace seen in practice from Navin & Ade. Gratz to Navin on the Pole, a great lap.

Race:I was a bit slow off the line, and got a slight tap from behind, but nothing really to worry about, as both Hristo and Alex went by me.  Then into T3 Alex got a bit tight to Hristo and lost momentum, which allowed me to get that position back.

After that, the top 3 were all a bit quicker than me, and were pulling away. I'm not sure if my trying to stay smooth and look after the tyres helped me here or not ('cos they were well worn at the end), but despite the wear, I felt I was able to compete better with the cars ahead later in the race. Could have been their early pace generated extra wear, I'm not sure.

Either way, after Navin disappeared, I had a close battle with Ade for the whole race, 'till about 5 laps from the end, when Ade spun, I found myself in P2, and closing on Hristo who'd also hit trouble and lost some time. The gap at the line being just over the 1 second.

I understand there'll maybe be different opinion on the tyre wear, but for me, I like it. It maybe adds a bit of strategy(in terms of how hard to push early on), and certainly becomes more of a challenge as the race progresses.

Well doneHristo for the win and all finishers, and nice race data Alex, thx for that.  See you at Castle Combe.

I applied a tyre wear factor to this series as I felt the tyre technology of the mid-fifties was probably in it's infancy and that tyre wear would be a real concern to the drivers of the day. Also these cars had no traction control or other aids other than the drivers skill with the pedals and wheel.

I'm more than happy to set the wear back to normal. Your views would be most welcome. We have two weeks until the next event so plenty of time to debate.

It's Hristo or Itchov, not Hristov.  ;D And no problem, fortunately these cars are very heavy, so you hardly moved me much around. And thanks!

As for my race, I had never run these before and I joined in the last moment, almost having forgotten about the race. Unfortunately I did not have the cars installed properly and it somehow crashed the server I think. Anyway, with 10 mins of qualifying and a default setup, I did not have much time to figure out how the car handles and make a setup. Glad I knew the track from GPL and it seemed exactly the same, more or less.

The car appeared quite a handful, but the default setup wasn't so bad. I made some tweaks, had another run, couldn't get a clean lap and remained 6th on the grid, but the handling seemed improved. I gambled on a few extra changes for the race, filled it up and went to the grid.

I had a very good start and moved to the inside on the run towards T1, gaining a few positions. Got tapped before T3, but the car stood firm and I had no problem making the corner. Navin and Ade had the upper hand in terms of pace though, and if it wasn't for them battling each other, I would have dropped behind them a lot more. Even though they were slowing each other down, I couldn't make an impression, trying to still figure out how to drive the car on the limit. Braking for corners and hitting the apex was my greatest issue, as it takes a much different style than what I'm used to. It reminded me of that old onboard view of Fangio going around Fiorano, front-engined car, brake in a straight line, turn in early and drift it under power. It seemed similar and it was always a mistake whenever I braked too deep into a corner as that was sending me wide.

After a few laps Ade and Navin went off in the middle of the lap, and from there on I took the lead, building a gap of up to 12 seconds, but then I hit tire troubles as expected. What I did not expect though was the significant change in handling characteristics and sheer lack of grip. After some offs, one particularly bad when I was lapping someone (sorry for the scare), Ross had managed to close in and eventually challenge for the victory, and with my tires almost completely gone near the end (wheelspin in 3rd gear!) it was a big pressure to keep the 1-2 seconds gap without making any further mistakes. I don't think I could have kept 1st for more than 1-2 laps so I was glad the race was over. Fuel was also becoming a problem, with the fuel gauge having just gone into the red. Apparently the fuel mileage prediction in the setup menu was correct for a change and I had just enough to make the distance!

Fun cars, very tricky, looking forward to the next race. Grats to Ross for being so fast and consistent, and to all who finished. Great pace Navin and Ade, hope I can figure out a better way to setup this car before the next round and challenge you as well.

Oh and about tire wear, I think it's interesting this way. Of course I prefer to push to the limit all the time, but the way it is it provides a chance for more people with a more measured driving style to have a go in the battle for top spots. While I'm against this in the real F1 with current Pirelli tires, it's something I approve of here. Personally my style does anything but look after the tires, but because of that it is a good challenge to try and learn to drive differently.

BTW check out You Tube for superb footage of these cars

I believe that we have Teamspeak but I don't partake. Can someone who does please provide Geoff with the info he needs?

Disappointed, just couldn't get line/speed right.  Had good rattle between Armco which upset handling.  Being a masochist, pitted and had the lot fixed - proper job.  After a few more laps made pigs ear of turn one and finished up sideways on racing line with two indents hurtling towards me I quit.

Tony re tyre wear, what you wrote about tyres etc was what was at the back of my mind when I commented on my tyre wear run With x3.  I think we should do next couple of races set to normal - why race these wonderful cars under artificial conditions?  Enjoy!!  ;D 8)

Any other opinions folks?

IMO because we run a (much?) shorter distance than they did in reality.

But did they pit-in more often?

No idea really. I was wondering if we could have a mandatory 1 pitstop and x2 wear, but we'll probably need a slightly longer distance for this to be viable. Not that I've ever done a proper pitstop in GTL lol, so you can consider it more objectively.

Sorry - no idea concerning these things  ::)

Just came back home yesterday from my extended weekend and realised that there
is a 50's event. So I joined just before quali without any practice. Could set new PB
during race of course and it's really a challenge to drive these ones.
I often think of Moss/Fairman who won the 1000 km on the Nuerburgring 1958
with such an Aston - and Moss had to drive nearly the complete race alone because
Fairman wasn't competitive and crashed in the Bruennchen ...

And incredible sounds!

After some laps I kissed the projection of the wall and had to leave.

Thanks to all involved for organizing another great series.

I felt the x2 wear added to the challenge of the event, and meant a 'No Pit Stop Race' worked well, but wasn't easy.  The performance of the tyre saw grip drop off, but only marginally.  I was doing 1:58's for the first 1/2 of the race, dropping throughout the event, to 2:00's in the last few laps.

These cars are a real treat. They sound great and look great. So at the end of the day, I'll try to make each round whatever the format  :). 

Having said that, the 50's sports cars aren't 'Sprint Racers', so the principle of pacing yourself and driving smooth to look after tyres/engine etc. does appeal to me.  If I wanted sprint type racing, I'm sure I'd find that in another championship.

If running x2 meant that some people may not race, then that'd be a shame, so i guess the decision needs to be what'll prove most popular in maintaining and building the grid numbers.

First of a big thanks to Tony for finding some very nice cars  :thumbup2:
Personally i don't like forced tyre wear  :P I ran full fuel for the race after doing a qualie run on low fuel and found it a bit scary just to keep it going the right direction (looked like it worked for a bit) by the last quarter of the race I was just fighting with the car (couldn't cool the rear left all race) so personally i wouldn't want to be near another car (let alone racing) with tyres that worn out.

PS....Did I mention how I hate pit stops (The man with the best lit keyboard to hand and the fastest finger wins in the pits) :P If you like a pit stop under pressure then get your name down for the GTR 24hr race next month ;)

I wouldn't want it to be like them push bike races in the velodromes ??? :P do 40 laps at walking pace looking over your shoulder till the bell rings then go like a bat out of hell for the last 2 laps :P not for me!!!

                                   Cheers Ade

PPS... race was good, cars are good. Thanks Tony.

Really enjoyed these cars. Much quicker than I expected :). I'm one of the few that do like forced tire wear. Pits stops I can take them or leave them.  Henry's series in the past were 3x tire wear and as it seemed that worked for me as I was able to make it to the end without stopping for tires in at least 5-6 races. I was sometimes 3-4 seconds off the pace at the end but the pit stops just take forever to complete that in the end I was able to get some wins with this strategy. Some were very very close finishes. I like the idea of mixing things up and not doing the same thing in every series but not at the expense of a low turnout.  So as always I'm good with whichever way we go ;).

Opinion does appear to be divided about tyre wear.

However I need to do whatever I can to attract drivers to these series, not put them off.

Therefore I think I will return tyre wear to normal for the remainder of this series.

I don't mind either way, both types of racing are a challenge, but I suppose you could run a poll eventually and get a clearer picture. I still believe the main benefit of running x2 tire wear is giving a chance to slower drivers to finish higher up, for the simple fact that they don't stress the tires so much and because it appears you lose a lot of pace if you drive flat out early on. I was doing 56s at the beginning, but could barely go under 2:00 at the end, with lots of mistakes and inconsistent driving, while someone doing let's say 58s could probably do 59s near the end from having preserved tires.