SimRacing.org.uk

This post is for both the Light Brigade & the Heavy Brigade Spec Races.

Another Spec season draws to a close at Reims in France. The circuit is characterised by some very long straights with heavy breaking into two rather tight turns. Strategy is all about drafting. For this race we will be using the 1965 BRM.

ONE IMPORTANT CHANGE. As we did for Bathurst this race will run with one grid, although you will only be competing for points against drivers in your division.

Big thanks to Paul for fixing the league tables to include the full series. In the Light Brigade it’s a straight shoot out between Evil & Art for the title, Evil leads by 30 points but will drop one race. It’s also nip & tuck in the Heavy Brigade with 2 points separating Jonny O & Hendy.

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 to the exit of the first hair pin.

The server will start no later than 9pm with a minimum of 30 minutes qualification, please all join UKGPL8.

Race List = IGOR
Server = UKGPL8
IP address = 
Race date = Friday 04-05-2012
Time = 21:00 UK time (21:00 GMT)
Track = Riems 1967 #8 (http://gpltd.bcsims.com/?dis=R&menu=Show_Letters)
Race length = 17 Laps
Variant = 1965
Chassis =  BRM P261
Damage Model = Intermediate
Qualifying time = max. 30 minutes

Driver lists can be found here
Spec Race Challenge - Light Brigade  (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=353&theme=6)
Spec Race Challenge - Heavy Brigade  (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=352&theme=6)

Right - what is competitive here? I have got down to a 2:16.3 in solo trim. With draft I might get a second or so if I got really lucky but I see the record is 2:13 odd.

So - how much more have I got to find for a top ten?

Hmm - 2:15.8 but 2:16.7 average over 10 laps...

I would like to participate to this event if you tell me it is possible.
Thanks.

Sergio, you are registered in the Light Brigade so you have to!

Lets do the 2:13s ;D

LOL Cookie... I am heavier than you... 2:15.2 now...

2:14 in the BREASTS race and it is a real giggle but hard if you lose contact...

I'm starting to suspect that GPL is not made for online racing... idk... I'm just a novice at it, been driving for about year and a half, mistakes can probably expected, tho not forgiven... but I see aliens and pro's spinning and crashing by themselfs on almost every lap, on a track that barely has three turns... that just sounds wrong, and is definetly not like real racing...

And me...allways at the wrong place at the wrong time. Oh well.

It all depends on how you look at it  ???




I look at it like this  :o

Good fun that , some excellent slipstreaming fun with Rainier near the end - nice driving there David :)

Now then - a note to Mr Moderator -
I did not get a green button to join the grid and had to start from the pit lane. Problem there is that the pit boxes are after the start line and thus the server didnt count my opening lap. My actual finishing position was in 9th place, NOT 14th and one lap down. Can that be ammended please :)

Well, how should I put it..what Natan gives, Natan takes  :angel: Just as he gifted me the last race by wiping off the pole sitter and quickest guy on the day at T1, he serenely turned on me on a very straight piece of tarmac whilst searching for a tow ahead (absolutely vital at L1, as we all know), and killed any chance I had to fight for the championship. All that thinking about the last turn, better ahead or better behind..not of much use this time round..;D. Got bumped again by the end of lap 2 or 3, this time by an innocent Axel, then my engine let go just when I had caught a cluster of cars ahead and was going to start to have at least some fun...It wasnt meant to be, it can be safely stated   :wacko: .

Apologies to Dave ( I think) and especially Jason for my hasty rejoin, I was a bit discombobulated (!) after all that action, had been dancing on the grass for a good while, really thought all the field must have passed by then!

Grats to Clive for the championship, although the sight of him pipping Fulvio and taking even the win was sickening  ;D ;D. Will go and have some consolation strawberries now...Thx for the racing guys, see you soon on track.

Sry mate doesn't sow you in my mirrors !Must be you been in the dead zone .
Probably my fault sorry !

Natan

Well - not quite sure how I feel - had a fantastic battle with Jonny over the last few laps after Cookie had gobbled me up. Luckily I could stay close enough to get a bit of tow which helped fend Jonny off.

Got fifty points but slightly embarrassed about it as it was me that inadvertently caused carnage on Lap 3. Quite a good way to get the points - wipe out the opposition :(

Big fun race and huge thanks to Jonny for being so clean. I was tentative at T2 and he gave me lots of room.

Unlike Fulvio (lol). It was big fun to race with the big boys for a couple of laps but scary too.

Its a win and I'll tae it but Jonny deserved it so big congrats to him on the championship. Pity Hendy wasn't there.

Well done to Evil and bad luck to Art.

Thanks to Billy for a great season. Nice tracks mate, especially that last one  :D

Are there one or two worst results to be discarded?

So Attilio made it!

 Reims is one of the best clues to the duel will.

 has plenty of room, fit all, but the ending was too tight ....hehehehe congrats Badblood :clap:
 was a little frustrating not to see the race Nichols ???
 I was prepared for him...hehe :laugh:

I don't know if I had a wrong setup or if my Logitech Momo had some troubles (he is already 7 years old), but I had no power at all : when Axel and Jonny overtook me, I was not able to follow them, even with the slipstream !
With Jason, it was more easy to follow him and it was fun (Thanks !) ...but I took absolutely no risk thinking he was one lap behind, if I knew I was battling with him for the 9th I would have try something.
By the way, it changed nothing for the championship.   

There is a known problem with the throttle pedal of the Logitech Momo!
After a while it gives you only 85% throttle, so its called "the Momo 85% bug"
Look here if you can read or translate german -> http://www.gtr4u.de/gtr4u-allgemein/technik/15191-momo-racing-pedale-85-bug/
The DXTweak2.exe can fix it for the moment!

Thanks to Billy for creating a great mix of tracks and cars for the Specs series. I really enjoyed the challenge  ;)

I think Art has just retained his lead in the championship ( subject to moderation ) when we drop our 2 worst scores, so grats Art you were always fast and a great competitor.

Also a new star is rising under Her wing. Paul takes a class win on a track that is not easy to master.  :clap: :clap: :clap: :thumbup2: :jumpjoy: No excuses now Paul SHE will expect more podiums from you because all our victories are belong to her.

Experience has taught me over the years that you cannot win, or even get on the podium at Reims, unless you are with the leading cars from the very first lap. The final places will be decided on the last 500mtrs from the final corner to the S/F line.
I have to confess that I thought that everyone had conspired against me in qually!! I did not pick up a single slipstream in 30 minutes of trying!! and I was somewhere around 9th on the grid with about 5 mins to go.
From 9th I was going to have a real problem getting hooked up with the wild bunch up front and if I failed to get on ther tail in the first lap I had no chance of getting good points.

So one last banzai lap trying to nail every braking point and apex ( well OK, I know there are  just 2 of them that matter! ) and I squeaked a 5th spot on the grid with seconds to spare.
Next was the start and ensuring survival for the 1 st lap.

That worked well and I found myself  in 4th place as we got to the end of the straight on lap 1. I knew that no-one would be able to get away from the pack with the huge slipstream advantage around here and similarly no one would be dropped as long as they mad no mistakes. So I was quite content to sit quietly in 4th and enjoy the view  ::)
But as we exited the last corner and nailed the gas for the run to the S/F line Natan and Art decided to dispute the rights to same piece of French tarmac directly in front of me  :o :o. I just had time to check my mirrors for Fulvio and swerve across to the right and miss the spinning cars.

That left Alex B in front, myself 2nd and Fulvio 3rd with what was to become an unbridgable gap back to the car in 4th place.  Alex appeared to have his car set up for max warp speed on the straights but had compromised the handling in the corners and a couple of times I almost ran up his exhaust pipes at the apexes. I dropped back a little for the next few laps and allowed mys elf to be towed along, short shifting and conserving fuel until I was certain that I had plenty in hand. Fulvio was obviously able to run at my pace and was playing a patient game behind.
Alex made a mistake turning on to the main straight and Fulvio and myself were able to get beyond slipstream range and out alone in front.

Fulvio is experienced enough to know that neither of us would get away and so there were a couple of trial runs from the final corner down to the finish line as we both tested our ability to lead or slipstream past on the final lap.

It became quite tactical as the final lap began. I think Fulvio wanted me to pass him on the straight so that he could have the benefit of the draft to ther line, but I had already decided that no-one would be catching us from 3rd spot and I wanted the advantage of the tow out of that last corner.
Even so it was very close at the line and I only just squeezed ahead by 0.03 secs to take the win.

Great racing Fulvio ;D ;D

Great report there Evil.

Almost felt that I was there.

David, in the after-race in iGOR we were all comparing top speeds and mine was amongst the slowest - during the wedsnesday "breasts" race I couldn't even keep in Axel's slipstream!

Jason, what revs were you pulling at max speed?

also what tyre pressures and toe in etc did you have?

It might be a little impudent to ask but....you do know that the BRM has 6 gears?

All of these have an impact on outright speed, but I would be surprised if that was the reason that you could not stay behind someone with a draft around Reims

What might be more likely is that your pedals need re calibrating, or they are not giving you full power because the potentiometer is worn?

That is a problem that I had earlier in the season with my G25. I noticed that when I had the throttle flat to the floor the rev counter did not climb smoothly but hesitated and sometimes dropped even though the pedal was against the stop. Once I had spotted what was happening, it was obvious that I was not getting max power.  Which is my excuse for no tscoring enough points early in the season. ;) ::)

To overcome the problem I stripped down the pedal assembly and swapped the potientiometer from the clutch pedal with the one on the accelerator. It was a little fiddly but quite strightforward if you approach it logically.
 Of course this only works if you do not use the clutch too much and can afford to sacrifice it.

What can I say about my few years of GPL gaming is that Potentiometers in common commercial devices like Logitech's, are very bad (insufficient quality) and most of all, they have problems of calibration because they soon or later get dirt and from time to time I still have to open the pedal box and open every Pot(entiometer) manually to clean it and then they became like brand new ones (for some months again). Have a nice work with your Pots.  ;)

Max revs with no slip was 11500 i think
front toe in was 0.05
rear toe out was 0.05
pressures were 25psi hot
6 gears? no really? I must have missed that  ::)

Usually Positive toe in means a pattern like this /|\ while a negative value means a pattern like this \|/ (pay attention about the movement direction that in these patterns shown is upward) so take care of what effect you would like to have in your car.

I have learnt that in GPL the toe in of the tyres has no effect to the top speed. ::)

'65s -> 187 F, front 24 psi, rear 26 psi is the ideal for "normal" tracks  ;)

Thanks for that guys, although I must admit to already knowing quite a bit more about this topic than I perhaps let on.....
The purpose of front toe-in in a racing car is one of straight line stability, but it comes at the expense of unequal tyre heating patterns and slightly reduced front end grip. In our road cars however it is the toe in that makes the steering "self-centre" when coming out of corners.

Yep, this is a lack of simulation accuracy like also is that tires are not solids while GPL manages them like to be solids giving the responsibility to dampen bumps only to suspensions.

But overinflating the tyres does give speed boost... Once I played abit, truyng to get to 400 kmh with the tundercars... I did manage it, but only with tyres inflated to the max (and no wings). Aliens seem to do it too on long tracks, Steve Cloyd's spa and lemans setups for example...

Unfortunately, I was using Cloyd setup for the race and I forgot to check the pressures... tho the car was driving pretty good like that too.

Nice reading Clive, I have only to add that after some try I had only the chance to exit first as better as possible from last hairpin and try to not be caught before the s/f line, but I failed for 0.039  :)
Viceversa you would accelerate more quickly than me and I wouldn't have enough room to catch you before the line.
Ciao

I have just looked at the final standings and I'm not sure what has happened there!!  I seem to have come out on top??? :o

I can only assume that it waas the results from the early part of the season that swung it in my favour?

Art didn't do the first two races so you started with a 100 point lead. Brought it home comfortably in the end.

Well done mate.