SimRacing.org.uk

Grid/server capacity: 20

Track: Brainerd International Raceway (Donnybrooke) Download this (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3358.msg109873#post_donnybrooke)

Cars allowed: Mercury Cougar TA from the 1960's carset Download this (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3358.msg54518#post_american_v8) , Chevrolet Camaro Z28 from the 1970's carset Download this (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3358.msg54518#post_american_v8) , '66 Shelby Mustang TA, 340 Plymouth Barracuda and the 1968 Pontiac Firebird all from this carset Download this (http://www.mediafire.com/download/pe41p6divqam78y/Old_Geezers_add-on_car_pack.zip)

Drivers are reminded that they are limited to only two drives in each car. Check your status HERE (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oiWs6vgMrzQkMd9qHQrp-AwCEgSUcm3GfFkiFe0S97o/edit?usp=sharing)

Practice: ~19:20 (60 mins)
Qualifying: 20:20 (20 mins)
Race: 20:40 (22 laps)

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

Server: simracing.org.uk Monday
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) 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: None

Not much vintage information about this track.  Found this clip, kind of picture of the time with a few cars going around.  More pictures of the crowd and girls than the cars that we want to see...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn0OOSQPXT8

Then there's this one that is a track days ride around on the modern track.  http://downloader.site/Donnybrook-raceway   It's now a resort area with a hotel, pool and all kinds of ways to take your money. Casino too I've heard. I went up their with a friend to a drag race one weekend about 23/24 years ago.  We pulled a 67 Chevy Nova with a 355ci small block and he took fourth in class.  Good fun except for sleeping in a tent on the hard ground, but that's part of the memory.......

See you all at the track
Bob M.

Saw a couple of 911's in the first clip. Somehow I didn't expect that in Trans-Am  :o

Yes they were still running the under 2 liter cars with the 5 liter TA cars.  Overall in the first race at Donnybrooke a Alfa finished 7th and was followed by 3 Porches.  Mark Donahue  in a Camaro had the fastest race lap at 1:48.3.  The race was  84 laps and took 2 hours and 32 minutes to complete was won by Parnelli Jones in a Mustang.  I know I'll never see a 1:48, but not sure if that  track is the exact same layout as we are running.  Like anything else things get changed over the years a little for safety and other things. I'm mostly in the 152-3's in race trim and fuel in the Z28.

See you all at the track
Bob M.

Bring your fishing pole great fishing lakes in the region.  Walleye, Pike and Bass!!!

There you see. You just wouldn't get that kind of detailed info at other sim racing sites  ;)

Track appears to be the same 3 mile layout as the real one was.

Then it must be me, but I was sure I would be a lot faster than Mark Donahue!  LOLOLOLOlolo....Maybe the Z28 needs a Penske tune up.  Yeah that's it.

Bob M.

Is the 340 Plymouth Barracuda, the same as the SC Barracuda?

I am carefully building a virgin install ( "about time" I hear you say!), and in the process I am comparing the differences between the virgin and the suspected corrupted GTL that I have been using.

So, I d/loaded all of the links on the Race Post and allowed the various files to self install on the virgin GTL. Then I compared the various car sets between the 2 installs to see which cars were misfiled in my old GTL.

I cannot see a 340 'cuda listed on either??? should I be able to see this option?

The 340 Plymouth Barracuda should be in a new folder called "ExtraCars". And will be seen as 1968 Plymouth Barracuda. There will be four cars contained within that folder. In game it's named 340 Plymouth Barracuda.

As I said previously I am doing this slowly, step by step, hopefully avoiding the hash that I obviously made of the original GTL install. I do enjoy the older cars in GTL and am sorry for the hassle I am giving you guys with my ineptitude.
My intention is to get the virgin install fully ( with all the option settings matching my current install) functioning and tested before I commit to racing with it. If in the meantime I cannot join a race using my old install because there is a mismatch...so be it. I hope to treat this as a one off lesson in what to do and what not to do!! As far as I am concerned this process can take as long as it needs, so please don't bust a gut trying to answer my questions instantly.

Anyway...........
I double checked the New install, and there is indeed a new "Extra Cars" folder, but no Barracuda of any type in sight.

So, I ran the 3 downloads again as listed on the Race Post, and allowed them to do their thing. ( American V8s, V8s 1960s, and V8s 1970s ). The installation appeared to run a "data validity check" on each file prior to install and everything ran smoothly. The track was installed and works no problem.

Now, Extra Cars contains 5 car folders, no sign of a Barracuda?

1971 AMC Javelin TA
1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe
Dodge Charger
Falcon Sprint 351
Shelby GT500 GCMCL

After checking all of the TEAM files on the virgin, the only evidence of a Barracuda is in the GTC-65 folder for a Plymouth SC Cuda

Interestingly ( or maybe not!) I checked the old suspect GTL install for the Extra cars folder and I have:-

68 Firebird
1965 Mustang TA
1966 Ford Mustang
1968 Plymouth Barracuda
1971 AMC Javelin TA
1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe
Dodge Charger
Falcon Sprint 351
Shelby GT500 GCMCL

Can I simply copy and paste the 1968 Plymouth Barracuda folder from my OLD GTL into the virgin install???........I am reluctant to do this as I have a nagging suspicion that this is where things went wrong before!!!  ::)

Hi Tony just been online and it's the wrong track, Zandvoort 67 ???

Really? Ok but I cannot fix until this evening, sorry but thanks for the heads up.

@Clive - Could you try this please. Using this file (which you already have) http://www.mediafire.com/download/pe41p6divqam78y/Old_Geezers_add-on_car_pack.zip

Double click it. Look for the ExtraCars folder and open the folder. Is there a Barracuda listed?

EDIT: It should be noted that this file isn't a self executable file where as most other download files from this site are. That is because I only needed to include certain cars from different existing downloads. To make it easier for users I bundled together the required cars into one zip file. Whereas a .exe file will automatically place the contents in the correct locations, a .zip file will not. A zip file should be double clicked to reveal it's contents. The user should see a GameData folder and highlight it. You should then click Extract. The zip file will then ask the user to browse to define the area where the contents of the zip file are to be installed. If the user chooses the location that contains the folder GameData then the zip file will copy it's contents into the GameData folder including all the contents contained within the GameData folder, in the correct location. You should not have to do more than that.

Thank you Tony.
I was aware of zip files and the extracting procedure, but don't ever assume that I know anything about computers. Always better to treat me as a total dunce  ::)

D/loaded your link, extracted etc. and now have a new install complete with the 68 Cuda in the Extra Cars folder.

Intent on finding where it all went wrong, I am backtracking and looking at all the stuff that I did with the old GTL install.

Went back and checked the earlier "Old Geezers add-on car pack" that I had downloaded/extracted/installed and discovered that it was only half the size of the one that you sent?. It contained a GameData folder, but only a single car the Shelby GT500 with numerous sound files. I shall be looking to test things on the server over the weekend, hopefully when there are other drivers on there to satisfy myself that it al works for these muscle cars

Should be ok now Bill

Thanks Tony, will give it a whirl later in the morning.  ;D

A OK  ;D

Now it's my turn...Tried the Z28 online and get car not present and the boot off.  The other three cars work fine and the Z28 is fine off-line.  Will reload if it's me.........

Thanks
Bob M.

Is it the same for all Z28's? Maybe I missed one when I set up the server

Just checked 5 skins----all the same.

Thanks
Bob M.

I'll check it out later Bob. Thanks for the heads up.  :thumbup1:

I think my virus might just have cross contaminated your PC!!!   :scared:

Z28's now present and correct and awaiting your inspection Sir

Thanks Tony, works OK now....What would we do with out you!!!!!

Clive and everbody:::::::::Got a Email from MacAfee anti virus this morning saying there is a virus going around when your on Chrome and a popup will appear that say's you need a critical security update. DON"T DO IT, it is a virus.  Close the program and then reopen, the image looks very official in the picture they sent me.

Thanks again
Bob M.

I promise I haven't been on the beer but......

Anyone else see the Ghost cars dotted around Donny? They are only visible if you put your headlights on and then they only appear semi transparent.  :scared:

Mainly around the pit area.

TTFN
John.

Always regarded Chrome as a virus in the first place!  Anything that resorts to so many sneaky ways of invading my pc is obviously up to no good!

But beer probably helps................

I'll have a go later and try to find these ghost's

Perhaps it's a GTL take on Pokemon Go

If you set your Video details to the highest settings the cars are visible.

This is fast becoming one of my favourite tracks  :punk:

Hi Tony,
 Do you mean they are always visible at the highest settings or only with the headlights on? I have everything maxed out and still can't see them unless I put the lights on.  ??? (Maxed out to the extent of manually setting everything to the highest quality - which gives me a "Custom" setting).

Yes Donny is a great track, (In GPL as well). It's a blast in the Can Am's

TTFN
John.

Hmm, odd. I meant with everything maxed out and no headlights.

I get the ghostcars too, but only with headlights on.

Details maxed out, except for shadows and trackside characters, so listed as 'custom'.

Cheers,
Erling

Custom Also, similar to Erling. Yes there only with headlights! ???

Replay and results now posted

I must really learn to read - I seem to be sounding a stuck gramophone record!  ??? ::)

Having practiced in the wrong version of the Mustang I just couldn't stay on the black stuff, it just wouldn't turn! >:(

Had the same issues with the Mustang (best just under 2:00,00) - I would be very interested in a driveable setup for the car) and changed to the Frirebird.
Could improve to 1:52,.. during the race but dropped to last due to considerably weakening tyres and some of my usual mistakes.

Results to be posted tonight.

It s nice to see Attila return :D, with him these races get a top level, just now I m waiting Jose return, we hope.

I begin to say grats Clive, yesterday it has been impossible beat him. Clive and Mercury were too strong and for the first time i felt the weight of the  car restriction. For sure, without limitation i never choice Mustang TA on these track. Clive was very very fast on the first part, i think 0,5 second, i could keep him on mixed zone and maybe i was some better on the corner under the bridge. But also if him could get some mistake, I sure he recover and pass me before to arrive on the third corner.

Qualy fun yesterday but only for second place. I could beat Geoffers and Attila but on my best lap i did a mistake and my T1 was more slow 0,2 second of the lap before. I recover on T2 until start line, so my ideal lap time could be 1:48,4. However Geoffers and me were with the same car and with the same performance, Attila with Pontiac was not so fast on the staright but on the mixed he had more traction such that compensate me and Geoffers.

Race the same thing among three us, impossible to pass Clive. The only problem has been what happened on the third corner when Jeep has rammed Geoffers so Geoffers lost his car and he passed between me and Attila here we risked really a disaster !!!!! It s a pity because could be a great battle between me and Geoffers during the race..........and Attila is go out too quickly of the race, so we dont got any battle, very sad. About me and Clive i already talked, ran closed but not battle, just at 3 laps to go i was more closed to him so we finished with 2 second only. I think that Clive had some problem with tyres in the ending, me also but my car was enough balanced so to keep stability also with consumed tyres, particularly rear tyres.

Pleased that I finally had a problem free entry to the server and no gremlins, other than those ghostly cars!!

Very surprised to be competitive, as most of my efforts had been spent on sorting out the technical issues with my GTL install, and double checking that cars, tracks etc were in the right places.
I tried the server on Sunday evening and Ziu dropped in for a few laps. He was lapping at a similar pace to my best efforts, but I assumed that he would probably knock 2 secs off of that come race time on Monday. It looked like the best I would manage would be a low 1:49 on race fuel, but I just wanted to successfully join a race!!

I arrived early and breathed a huge sigh of relief when all went well as I joined the race last night. Maybe it was the fact that I could relax and enjoy the race for a change, but I suddenly found myself posting times in practice that were at the sharp end.

All my runs had been done on race fuel, so I guessed that everyone else must also be running heavy and they would surely "go light" for qually. I did my first 2 runs with full tanks and posted a possible pole position time. Then Geoffers, Ati and Ziu got their act together and things got closer. So I put in 3 laps worth of gas and went for one banzai lap, just for the hell of it. Very chuffed to post a 1:47 lap as I had never thought that I could get that fast.

Now I had my first real stress since joining the server, I was on pole with at least 3 aliens on my tail. Practice runs had shown that running at anything like a low 1:48 pace was not good for the tyres, so as I was not in the hunt for the overall championship and was doing the ret of the season for fun, I decided on a risky strategy.  ::)
Maybe I had the pace to contest this race against the fast brigade, but if I had to drive aggressively for the whole race the tyres would never last the distance. So I was going nail the start, blitz the first laps on cold tyres and hope to build a safe gap that would allow me to drive smoothly and protect the tyres.
That might have been my plan, but Geoffers, Ati and Ziu clearly had an alternative agenda and I was really at 101% for those first laps. Geoffers dropped away first and was replaced by Ati who was worryingly quick until he too vanished from my mirrors. Ziu took up the chase but I now had a 2 second lead, which was just enough to allow me to focus on clean smooth braking and hitting apexes and progressive acceleration without spinning p those precious rear tyres.
Gradually, tenth by tenth the gap extended , but Ziu refused to give up and I never had more than  a 4 second gap throughout the whole race. Certainly not enough to allow any mistake and recover!! I eased down on the last 3 laps, but watched the gap in my mirrors to be sure I did not give Ziu too much encouragement!

Grat to Ziu who would have taken the win if I had made any errors, and to Erling for his usual consistent drive to take 3rd.
I'm not sure what happened to Geoffers and Ati? If they had survived my race would not have ben so easy I am sure.

I still need to join a few more races to be confident that ny GTL install is now OK, but last night was encouraging.  :)





So I reduced the fuel level to about 3 laps worth

If Geoffers and Attila had survived, I sure it was more easy for you becasue me and them breaks our bones with beattle while you go away ;D

Quite liked the track, once I got to know it  :)

Offline, my pb was a 1:50.6, so my qual time of 1:49.7 was a fairly massive improvement.  Still only got me 5th on the grid in this impossible crowd, and how Clive could go almost 2 secs quicker in the same car is quite beyond me  :o

Start was reasonably ok, but still lost a place to an insistent John on the run to T1. Gained 2 places at T3 however, when he took Geoffers out.  Tony was making advances, but shrugged him off and retained 4th.  Slowly built on the gap to Bob, who had replaced Tony behind me.  4th got converted to 3rd, when Atilla went to the pits (stop'n'go ?).  Had expected him to come charging back through the field, but it never happened. Maintained visual contact with Ziu for the first 7 laps or so.

Halfways through, the race had settled into a steady form, where gaps front & back increased with roughly a sec each lap. Thus a lonely race became lonelier and lonelier with each lap, as other cars moved further and further away.  Kept the pace up as best I could, for the off chance of cashing in on a (big) mistake from any of the front runners.  Never happened of course, and can't be unhappy with 3rd in this company  :)

Grats to Clive & Ziu on unbeatable pace, and commiserations to those that met with misfortune.  Thanks to Tony and Bob for putting it together.

Cheers,
Erling

Never driven this track before, & to be honest I'm not too bothered about driving it again, didn't like it at all.

Couldn't get below 1.50 in testing & when I joined & saw people were in the 1.48s I wasn't expecting to be near the front, so totally amazed to go 2s faster in qually. Start was appalling, too few revs, apologies to Ziu for getting in the way! :(  Then at T3 I got thumped from behind & went off into the trees, luckily missing Ati & Ziu. Did a few more laps & somehow managed to get a S/G, track cutting I guess. Went to the pits & could not get the pitboard to come up (wrong positioning I suspect) so retired, not too disappointed, to the bar.  ;D

Congrats to Clive, Ziu & Erling.  :clap: :clap: :clap: Nice to see Ati back.

What a disappointing night's racing that was. I had taken the Plymouth because in initial testing it was the fastest of my remaining choices. After quite a few laps of testing and tweaking (and twerking but that's another story) I was confident that I had a car capable of challenging the fast boys. Imagine my suprise on race night when I entered the track only to spot not one other driver in a Plymouth. Not a good sign. But I ignored this omen thinking that I had now an unbelievable advantage and would surely grab silverware at the evening's end. Oh my goodness, how wrong could I be. Turned out I was considerably slower than most and only bothered a couple of other drivers all night. Only made up places due to misfortune of others. Liked the circuit tho but sorry to see that it is not universally popular.
Good to see Attila back again but sad that his first race on his return was short lived. I only have the choice of two makes now so hope their competitive at the remaining circuits  :-\

Sorry to hear about your disappointment Tony, after such high expectations.  The Barracuda is held in high regard, but I've never quite understood what the fuss is about. It has rarely, if ever, been the fastest option for me (but probably just me who don't know how to exploit it..  ::)).  On yesterday's track, I found its gearing ill suited; the tallest was too tall, and the 2nd tallest was too low.

Cheers,
Erling

Forgot to mention; yesterday online, I had real, solid cars, without headlights on - no ghostcars at all.  :)

Was my first time online on this track, so maybe it's just an offline phenomenon, or has anyone else seen these online earlier ?

Cheers,
Erling

 I cannot explain why I was faster than Erling, as he is usually right on the pace, well certainly right on my pace!!!

The choice of the Cougar was scientifically based upon the fact that I had one of each of the other cars available, but I had 2 Cougars. So, it made sense to use a Cougar and leave myself with a headache about which of the 5 cars to choose for the last 2 races!!  :-\

I did get on the server on Saturday for 30 mins or so,  just to prove that I could join with each car and that the server recognised everything.

TBH without pushing to the absolute max, as I was more interested in knowing that all the cars worked, and to learn the new circuit, I think the slowest car was high 1:50's, maybe low 51's and that was without any serious work on the setups.
From memory, which is often unreliable at my age, I think the Barracuda was extremely heavy on rear tyres and although I was getting the lap times into the same bracket as the other cars, I mentally discounted it as likely to run out of rubber, or require major surgery to the setup and driving style. Being basically lazy I decided that presented too much work, and anyway joining the race was the priority not having the fastest car.

One of the cars, again I can't remember which one would take T1 and T2 flat without lifting, but was not so good around the twisty bits. But, the Cougar was the sensible choice not only because I had no idea that it would be as quick as it was, but because it left me with a full deck to choose from for the last 2 races.

Sunday evening I had settled on the Cougar and tweaked the setup to go sub 1:50 into the low 1:49's and I honestly thought that I had totally nailed the perfect lap and that was as good as it would get.

Good outcome of this one for me but very lonely. After 3-4 laps never saw a person in front or in my mirror.  Sorry to Kurt for my start or lack of it.  These cars just don't take off when in neutral no matter how much you push the right pedal.  Looked down and saw the "N" and jammed it into 1st. And were off!  Fell in behind Tony and I thought we would have a racelong battle but he got into the curbing on the 2nd to last corner and it tossed him across the track into the weeds.  After that I slowly gained on the car behind and lost a equal amount to Erling ahead.  Boring run, but the Z28 which is at the bottom of my "like" list of the 4 cars ran pretty consistent times I think.
Grats to Clive for the win.  I rode with him some during practice to watch his line and was impressed on the smoothness of his laps.  Grats to the other 2 on the podium, and sorry to the ones that dropped out. Glad to see Ati back, we missed you!!!!  See you at dangerous Porto.

Bob M.

I dont tested Barracuda or Cougar, but without any restricotion i choice Barracuda here, becuase it has a long 4th gear and very good speed but also it has a short 2nd and 3th gear very good for mixed here. Barracuda not iis so bad with tyres it depend only from balance setup and pressure tyres. I dont know what would been my lap time with Barracuda but i think that the difference with Mustang could be at least 1 second. Almost sure that Attila with Barracuda could go under 1:47.

It does not mean that Barracuda is the best choice every time, it depends always from the track and from style driving. Sometime with Firbird 1968 i got better that Barracuda or with Roadrunner also......and with Camaro Z28 in GCMCL, but here not there any restriction cars.

However when i saw Geoffers performance with Mustang TA here i was very satisfied from my lap time.

Lol!!! I don't think I have been accused of being "smooth" before. ;D

Results (https://googledrive.com/host/0BzUpS2smyYQ_aUxLRDcwS29DcTA?ltmpl/index.html)

 8)

Thank you Kurt  :thumbup1:

Well, That's the 2nd time I've rear ended someone in the last 3 races. Really sorry Geoffers, No excuses, just left my braking for T3 on Lap 1 far too late. I hardly felt the impact but it propelled you across the grass, then the track and finally into the trees. :( Waited for you to extricate yourself from the foliage so was dead last.

A mainly lonely race from then onwards. Caught Bill early on passed Atilla as he left the pits S&G?? and held him at bay for not very long but was slowly making ground on Kurt and Tony who were having their own battle saw a coming together beteen Atilla and Bill and last saw Atilla bouncing off the bridge just before the final turn. Got past Kurt and gave chase on Tony. Had a great few laps swapping the position and a bit of paintwork until he went wide at T2 gifting me a 10 second advantage. Lost concentration a few times in the later laps and went off at T4 but had enough of a lead on Tony by then to hang on to the position without ever worrying Bob who was about 10 seconds up the road by the end.

Been a bit busy leading up to this one so didn't really put in the practice I should have. I know the track well from a few GPL races but never really got the best out of the Mustang.

On a brighter note, I became a Grandfather at 23:42 on the 26th July, at 8lb 10oz we reckon he's going to follow his father and play Rugby for Tamworth sometime in the next 20 years or so. 2 weeks of no alcohol due to being on taxi duty so even though it's nearly 3am, we have just got home and I'm enjoying a well earned class of Lagavullin.


TTFN
John.

 


Grats Jeep to became grandfather and compliments for Lagavullin !!!!!


                                      (http://www.vocinelweb.it/faccine/felici/felici-set1/17.gif)

Grats Jeep on becoming a Grandad  :thumbup1:

2nd that; big congrats John! :balloon:

Cheers,
Erling

Congratulations John. And best wishes to the proud Mum & Dad.

Congratulations John.

Congrats John.  :thumbup2:

No worries about the collision, these things happen.

Congratulations from me too, John.

Not very familiar concerning Whiskey  ::) but Lagavullin seems to be a fine stuff  ;D

Grats John:
Being a Grandparent is the best.  You can spoil them, do all the fun things and fill them up with sugar and then when they get cranky hand them off to the parents!!!! 

Bob M.