SimRacing.org.uk

Season 27 Privateers Trophy - Round 6 - Road Atlanta

Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile (4.088 km) road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams. The track has 12 turns, including the famous "esses" between turns three and five; and Turn 12, a downhill, diving turn. The track is owned by NASCAR through its subsidiary Panoz Motorsports, and is the home to the Petit Le Mans, as well as AMA motorcycle racing, and smaller events throughout the year.

Race List = IGOR
Server = UKGPL9
IP = 37.157.48.87
Race date = Sunday 09-11-2014
Time = 21:00 UK time (21:00 GMT)
Track = Road Atlanta '71 (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/Tracks/RoadAtlanta71/road_atlanta_71v1.1.zip) - Please note this is new version of the track previously used at UKGPL
Race length = 35 Laps (50 minutes)
Variant = 1967
Damage Model = Intermediate
Qualifying time = 30 minutes

Replays Available here (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/Replays/Archive/Season27/Grads_Privs/)

Driver lists and token rules can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=452&theme=6)

The full time drivers can start to practice as soon as the server is available.  Reserve drivers can also join as soon as the server becomes available but must leave the server with 35 minutes of qualifying left, for a total of 5 minutes; this will allow any remaining full timers to join.  If there is enough space on the grid, the reserve drivers will be able to rejoin when there are 30 mins of qualifying left.  

Moderating The red zone will be fully moderated for lap 1 only. For this event the red zone will be from the start to the exit of T7. Other moderation will be on reported incidents only.  However any incidents that occur in the red zone that are not reported by the drivers will be reported by the moderator.  This will allow all affected drivers the opportunity to present their case before the incident is moderated.  This should ensure there are no surprises when the moderator's report is published and hence appeals will be less likely.  If you haven't received a PM about an incident before the link below the results table is removed, you can be sure that you will not appear in the moderator's report.

The chassis token system is explained on the Privateers (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=452&theme=6) standings page. Please ensure you choose a chassis that is within your budget, which can be seen by hovering the mouse over your points total in the standings.

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

Please Note:
The kerbs on this track are very low and can easily be ridden in order to improve laps times.  Drivers are reminded that riding the kerbs is permitted but there must always be at least two wheels within the track boundary at any one time.  If three or four wheels have been placed outside the track boundary then a driver is deemed to have left the track and will subsequently have to perform a rejoin with the necessary caution this dictates.  If you have knowingly overdone the kerb riding or left the track for any othe reason in practice, please abort the lap in order to not post an illegal lap time.

The only exception is Turn 11, Bridge Corner.  It is possible to run wide here and use the pit lane entry to recover to the track without loosing momentum.  However it is not clear if this line is any quicker than maintaining the racing line within the track boundary.  Consequently drivers will not be penalised for running wide here and any affected practice lap times will be allowed to stand.  However the wide line will technically involve a rejoin and consequently any contact incurred will be the responsibility of the rejoining driver.

Unfortunately, I will miss this race.

 

Sorry to hear that David, I always enjoy our battles ;D.  Hope you don't miss anymore this season, this will be your second so you don't have the luxury of dropping your lowest score :(.

Very difficult track.I don't know if i am a bad driver but this is the most difficult track in GPL.Is enough to be wrong in one trajectory to go out the track.

I’m always cautious with new tracks - & there are quite a few of them on this season’s calendar. Fran’s post does not give me confidence!
I think this is a new version of the track. Are the existing lap records relevant to this track. I got caught out with Pacific Raceway where the new track is quicker than the old version?

No, the new one is quite a bit slower. There are corners that aren't there in the old version.

edit: 67F1 record at old track is a 1:12.7, new one is 1:21.7, I've managed a 1:23.6 in Brab after two dozen laps

I had read the race post but somehow missed that this was a new version of the track...looks like I might need to go on a recce :-\

Only tried it briefly but think great track , proper road racing stuff  :)

Fran is right. I would encourage people (Privateers) to practice this track before Sunday.
Several corners have a steep change in elevation - the entry is blind where they drop downhill.
There's a nasty bump on the back straight & there is generally less grip than you think should be there. Several places its very easy to lose the car.

Best effort so far was a 1.26.7 in the Brabham although I'm hoping to shave a bit more off.

Who chose this track?

I did :)

The laprecords are (still) linked to the old version, sorry for the confusion. This track might be a challenge, but personally I think it's a great track, very well made as well. I always encourage ppl to properly test before a race, especially a new track!

So, complaints about the track choice can be filed and adressed to me. ;)

Had a drive round there last night - exploring round the carpark & through a tent.
Unfortunately, not possible to drive under the large undercover area,  due to a level issue  - but still looks good.

Also had a spin round the track. There's an alarming scraping noise down the hill though;  I hope that won't be there at the weekend.

Tip: use a stiff suspension setup combined with more ride height to avoid to bottom out after the backstraight going up. The car will compress a lot under braking.

Bump rubbers, bring 'em. I'm actually right off the gas before the compression. Any possible tenths gained keeping it floored are lost trying to settle the car down before Bridge corner (and not go flying straight off with everything locked up). 1:23.43 best so far, keeping it off the kerbs and out of the pit entry (no perceptible gain using it, but nice to have a bit of extra space there, it's needed occasionally).

edit: Brab setup (needs work, but it's a start) and replay here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/0m8mpe

edit2: 1:23.09 in Ferrari, setup here:  https://www.sendspace.com/file/mzlbrl

edit3: 1:22.04 in Lotus, setup here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/97y14k

edit4: 1:23.03 in Cooper, setup here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/jg3xag

I imagine most by now are aware, this is yet another track where the full correct name, was not used in the title at the top of the page.  It's quite different from the old familiar version, and instead, it's a near perfect replica of the actual version, located somewhere in the U.S. of A. :D  Indycar and Can-Am's raced there successfully, so why not go F1?

This is a result of how it was added into the SRou system, and also why we see the old version's laprecords. Had mentioned it in the mods forum, but not sure if Gizmo can or will fix it.

As for the racepost header, a year number never is used there to specify the version, it just states the name of the track. Drivers need to check the "Track" row for the right version in the racepost.

PS: thanks Dean.

Thanks Robert - unfortunate the heading isn't perfect, as it's an ongoing problem, and those who have suffered learn, and then keep quiet the next time.  :P  Neat and tidy doesn't always get the job done, but if I ramble on enough here, folks will learn so as not to get bored with my rambling on again about forum formulations.  "Ramble, ramble!"  

Yea ! That's right Martin , you tell 'em mate , where would we be without ramblers and disconnected jottings

Go for it  ;D

Stupid track.

lol lol lol

Quite enjoyed that.  Had a tough battle with JonnyO and George.  We swopped places lots of time due to people spinning off.  The track is very slippy in places.  I pushed as hard as I could to catch Jonny but he was too quick and eventually I ran wide at turn 11 and had to do a reset and S&G.  After that I just worked hard to keep my second place.

Grats to JonnyO and Dave Curtis for the podium.

  I love this track and Lotus !!!!

  Until the next!!!!!!

NOT the best track to turn up to without practice or a setup but it was unavoidable. Made sure I didn't get in anyone's way on Lap 1 and was very comfortable. Michael went off at one of the innumerable 90deg right handers and I thought "OK - go for it". Off, off, off again, spin, spin - loneliness. The reason I stopped however was that I was experiencing awful frame drop and latency spikes. Would have made Silverstone hard - made this impossible.

Ah well. Quite an interesting track though.

Just to expand on my words of dissatisfaction.
I knew I would struggle with this track so I put in enough practice to learn it & adjust the set up with that wouldn’t bottom out on the left hand kink before the bridge. In practice I clocked a couple of low 1.25’s in the Brabham & the Cooper. The Coop being a bit more reliable.
Took the first couple of laps cautiously. Started to build up speed & then – lap 7 ish - the car scraped the tarmac launched into the scenery. Took a Stop & Go but had lost concentration.

Tough track to learn ( still learning  ::) ) Did the whole of qually on race fuel so was pleased with my time and thought I might be able to make a race of it.
I was able to keep up with Phil & Dave early on , but as the race wore on , my car got tired ( it had been a long day ) I went off in the esses and had to go borrow a tractor to tow me out of the bog , tried to play catch up but the handling seemed to get worse as the fuel load dropped off . a few more spins later and I was fending off Mike who was getting pretty close until he had a moment going onto the back straight .
Loved the track and would like race here anytime again .

Grats to the fast boys , well done to all who finished  :)

P.S. they should re name this the "Oliver Twist " track


'cos its gruelling ( get it )  :D

Luckily, on Thursday, instead of practicing for the Friday Moon event as intended;  I jumped on Greg's Road Atlanta71 session...   Of course, my Friday event at the Moon was more difficult as a result of no practice -  but it sure helped out here!

Despite the obvious setup being someone else's Mosport setup  [well, also has a dip, a hump & similar looking trees] could not drive with it.   Undwiveable as Mr Heidfeld would say.   Instead, I found their Rouen setup to be better behaved for me.  Apart from a bit of trouble turning in to the esses every lap & that dip if trying a bit too hard.   But,  I did find the secret there is to not put a wheel off the track & slow more than seemed necessary.   I worked out in practice that it's quicker to go slow,  than go off!

I didn't want to spend/potentially waste more tokens than required here;   so went with the Brabham & was hoping to drive consistently [if a little slow] & await the track to spit the other cars off.    It seemed to work to a certain degree too.

I was glad of that :)   I did the same, right behind you - but you appeared to be well & truly stuck.  Something nearly worthy of a Loctite advert maybe? :)



Towards the end,   Phil had reversed up to meet/taunt me;  then just shot away again.
I was outdriven by the top 2 steps on the podium.  Also behind,  that BRM behind was way quicker;   but was glad when it appeared on Prib that Bernie was potentially keeping it busy :)

Slowly slowly catchy podium.  If there's problems throughout the field & a small turnout maybe.... :)

Cheers all,  but glad it's over.
Dave.

LOL not quite.  That was when I ran out of ability trying to catch JonnyO and had to take a shift-R and do a S&G.  I was worried you would catch me on cold tyres and full tanks.

It was quite a tricky track and a few people seemed to have real problems.  I think the secret was not to try too hard.  Turn 11 was the worst corner for that.  As I tried to push to the limit I could get away with a small mistake at most corners.  I would just go wide.  But at Turn 11 a small mistake meant a massive off.

To be honest I didn't do much practice but I was lucky to have a setup that seemed to work from the start.  I had a Zolder setup that I'd tuned to stop bottoming/loosing traction on the big rise at Sacramentshelling.  I just increased the ride height and bump rubbers by a half inch and it was fine.

For me is a big result to have finished the race.Many  error ,mainly when i tried to force some curve or when i tried to give gas on the downhill before the last curve.Anyway no stop & go but despite this i have been lapped also by Phil and Dave.

A bit of an unsatisfactory race for me, too many errors and even more offs trying to make up the time lost in earlier offs.  I felt I could have battled for 3rd but lack of concentration and focus and a BRM which at times handled like a pendulum put pay to those ambitions.

Mod report published. Despite such a  difficult track and many offs, 7 out of 9 finishers so that's good, and no major incidents (reported).

good report,  thanks Robert  :)