SimRacing.org.uk

UKGPL Season 26 - Fun Race - Le Mans at Night  

We start the New Year with the classic GT event: Le Mans.

As there seem to be some problems with the normal track, we will use the night version nbsarthe (http://srmz.net/index.php?showtopic=32).
This track is identical with the day version, it just has a dark sky!
So you can use the same setups as in the day version.

You have a free car choice, but the faster guys are asked to not use the Fords MK2B or MK4.

For the less experienced GT drivers I recommend JR's updated default GT setups (http://www.sendspace.com/file/p0x0hw),
or I can give you one of mine by request  ;)


Please restrict chat to pit messages including at the end of the quali and race until ALL drivers still racing have crossed the line.

Race List	=	IGOR
Server	=	UKGPL_8
IP Address	=	tba
Race date	=	03-01-2014
Qualification Time	=	~20:45  UK time -> 30 min
Race Time	=	race starts at 21:15 UK time
Track	=	Le Mans Sarthe at Night  1967 nbsarthe (http://srmz.net/index.php?showtopic=32)
Variant	=	67 SC Mod
Damage Model	=	Int long
Race length	=	~50 min -> 15 laps
Password	=	see above (#post_event_password)
Replay	=	you will get here (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/Replays/Archive/Season25/FunRaces/)

GLA and have FUN

EDIT

A single shift+r is allowed followed by a stop and go in the pits!

Hello Axel,
I would like to to enroll the Squadra Padova Corse in this race, an excellent opportunity to sober up after the excesses of the holiday season.
On this occasion we would like to use the Ferrari 330 P4 to form a team completely Italian.
Only for Marco I can't guarantee for sure his presence.

Thanks in advance
Roberto Teso

Well said, Roberto!  ;D

I've run some laps with the Porsche 910 earlier this month at Sebring; would like to expand my experience with this car and mod to keep the backmarkers companion. Prolly will be the sole backmarker in the 910  ;) Will take the Chaparral Mk2D as the Porsche is just too slow here...tricky loose car -Mk2D- and blows up fast lol.

Cheers, and see you at the track on Friday :)

I did an offline practice race today. However, the AI were so slow that I do not know if it qualified as an actual race. I like the GT40 MKII, but I want to try out more cars if time permits.

Happy New Years!
Walt

Cookie had a practice Server up all evening.  History suggests we could see it again before Friday, and organic pilots slipstream more interestingly than Ai.  Might be worth a look in, if there's a suitable brake pedal available, at 200mph. :o  EDIT :  Don't try using Kph as there are more of them, and it becomes dangerous.

Yeah, I love 360 kph on the straight with a little tow in the MK4  ;D
But you have to brake it to 60 kph after the "Webber" jump :o

IMO the best car is the ChapF for newbies: light, 525hp, best brakes, 3 gears only. Just don't overrev it!

Server will be up Wednesday and Thursday evening for practice ;)

ChapF for newbies! What have you been eating and drinking for Christmas Cookie?... that car is an evil beast ;)

RGR That !
I will try to be of the party !

That's clever taking out the big Fords from the equation, because I think the Ferrari, Chaparral and Mirage are very very close round this track - each with their own strengths and weaknesses.  This should be interesting.

and the 2F is a monster.

I whould like to use one of my preferred Spitfire Mk IX or Messerschmitt BF-109 F4 but instead I will choose a more human device like a Ferrari P4 or a Lola-T70  ;)

Sorry Clive! The accident was completely my fault. My team manager told me to stay behind your car so that we could catch the cars in front of us, but the driver did not listen!

Took it easy at the start, slowed for the crash in front but the green car spun right back in front of me and ended up backwards in the wall. Had to start at the back, not sure if the car was damaged, but didn't have a clear lap after that, or my mistakes or other's mistakes :P. On lap 6 I wrapped myself around a telephone pole towards Maison Blanche and decided to retire...

Quite good fun. Silly mistakes in the first few laps saw me lose contact but solid lapping in the low 3:30s without a tow was quite pleasing. Was trying to hold off Mark so that I stayed unlapped but another mistake on the second last lap put paid to that. I wanted to keep out of the way but didn't actually intend to park on the sandbank at Mulsanne... finished the extra lap so that I had done 15 and set a PB... that was as much of a waste as the 19 gallons I finished with in the tank!

That was terrific fun, a big thanks to the organisers and grats to the podium guys Axel (who didn't blow up, even once) and Dean (who dragged the little Lola up higher than I thought it would go).  :D

Nice race and good fun, until I was rear ended by Sergio Clouds trying to overtake me at Virage Ford ...where it's quite impossible to overtake.
A few laps later, a Chap 2F spun in front of me (Martin ?) just after the courbe Dunlop and we collided (...several times  ::)  ) .
I lost several seconds and lot of horsepower, but I didn't use shift-R.

Before these 2 incidents, I was running with Phil in 4th and 5th position not so far from the 3rd (Dean). 
With these GT cars, my opinion is that we should drive like endurance drivers not like single seaters drivers. Moreover in such a track where it is so easy to overtake using the slipstream.

N.P Walter,
 I was trying a totally new setup for the Mirage with demon tweaks by the Blue Moose backroom boffins. The result was a car that was capable of over 210mph on the Mulsanne with even the slightest draft, but needed some more development to cope with corners etc!.

I was hoping to start at the back of the grid ( something I achieved by harnessing all my skill during qualifying ) and then test the slipstream on Lap 1 hopefully picking up several places. The incident at T2 put a stop to that and the rest of the race was fun catching those who ran off and occasionally picking up a tow.
Eventually the handling on the corners caught me out and a clip  of a grass verge resulted in a spectacular crashh, which ought to be on You tube.!! :eek:

Thanks for the fun guys and grats to those who finished both on the podium and further back. I think there should be a couple of PROPER GT races i.e Full Length endurance races for these cars somewhere in the season just for fun. It is what they were built for  ;D

Yes it's true, like I already said unfortunately I had bad warping in key points of the track especially when I had other cars around me. This is why I collided with Axel, with you, I crashed on the hay bails at the end of the mulsanne straight and some other events. The situation has been a little better near the end of the race but in any case I have been forced to take very slightly actions near the other drivers because it was very unpredictable the car behaviour in slow corners.

About the race lenght I can say that I'm a supporter of races that last at least one hour !

I have just noticed a lot of people in other countries are speaking about the "Mulsanne Straight"

(http://www.v12-gt.com/var/v12gt/storage/images/galerie/galeries-photos/autres/circuit-du-mans-bugatti-det/17055-1-fre-FR/Circuit-du-Mans-Bugatti-det_zoom.jpg)


but in France, I always heard about Les Hunaudières

(http://lemans.slotracing.free.fr/images/plan-circuit-le-mans.jpg)

I thought Hunaudieres was the name of the infamous kink near the end of the Mulsanne.

First of all, a big compliment to Mark who succeeded in setting up a P4 such fast and reliable to take the win!
Shame, I made a mistake at Maison Blanche (looking to pribluda!) that cost me a fight to the end for the win...

I am happy that this race had no mass disco, as all the former Le Mans events I drove had one.
There are still problems with this track, like at Arnage, where there is allways a big flickering, but it seems not enough to crash the server.

YESSSS! My idea is to do this!
But the possible fuel load limits a race here to 22 laps >:(
Maybe we can use a proper pitstop patch to do more...

The Chaparral in F, was my choice for the race, as it's easier to see in the dark.  From mid-grid, a promising start, until a Ferrari came looming in my mirrors.  For those who only saw the debris flying - he picked the inside lane, so I moved right to allow some space, approaching the esses.  I saw a red Ferrari, I heard a red Ferrari, I hit the green Ferrari from Hell, lurking in my blind spot!  Sorry to Piero.  I was not expecting a front row car behind me.  I continued on, dizzy but otherwise unscathed, happy to see that most were Ok.  

The remainder was action filled.  Many ahead suffered from hiccups, which isn't usually fun while driving.  This put me suddenly up to 4th for second or two, until a brake hiccup allowed an entire gaggle through.  And worse was to come, when my beast bottomed out at the infamous esses, on lap 6, and stopped in harms way.  Whereupon, Dave noticed my unfortunate roadblock, and in trying to remove my shattered remnants, me motor expired! :'(

In such rapid company, my race was effectively over.  It had been flat out all the way, just to keep up.  However, the track is less work than some, thanks to it's Mulsanne Straight - the name always used in British racing circles, SFAIK.  Many drivers grumbled when chicanes were eventually put in.  The chance to mentally relax at 200mph, which we had, was gone, and 3 heavy braking points instead of 1.  There's a fine line, between a braking point,and a breaking point, which some of us noticed last night. ::)

Yes, and you can see below a Bentley Mulsanne Straight (at least, the name used in British racing circles)  ;)

(http://www.carfolio.com/images/dbimages/zgas/models/id/7221/bentley_h.jpg)

I think the best looking Sportscars, are the ones we drive from the 60's.   That new Bentley should be bent differently.  Maybe a retro of their Le Mans winning cars, from the 20's? :P

Congrats to Mark and podium, well done finishers! :) Not an easy feat to control these heavy powerful beasts at high speeds...

I don't drive these big beasts much but I quite enjoyed that (well the first half anyway :-) ).

Had nice fight with a few Ferraris, the Mirage was awesome on top speed with a bit of slipstream!  I wasn't as good on the corners and when I came under pressure from Roberto at Maison Blanche I stayed wide and clipped the grass causing me to crash and take Roberto out with me.  Sorry Roberto.  I knew he was on my inside so I couldn't take my normal line and I had to stay wide.  I always find it hard to judge my speed in situations like that.  Its hard enough to practice the racing line, nevermind the unusual ones.

I lost a few places but I managed to get going again and still had the Ferraris in sight and close enough for a decent tow when the engine exploded.  A reset and S&G and I was well behind and then a couple of laps later the engine blew for a second time and I had to retire :(.

Hei guys the result table shows me in 4th place, but to be honest, after my collision with Axel and several other collisions in the same place with other drivers, I've made a reset but I forgot the compulsory S&G.  :P

These races were 'just for fun' so I am not going to lose too much sleep over that but don't do it in the season....