SimRacing.org.uk

S30 Specials Series Trophy - Sport Cars -Nürburgring 1000km

This is a fun series where we do the big events, so let's go on with a big motorsport event  ;)
In 1968 I watched this 1000km race live, pitty, it was the year after the Chapparals and the year before the 917s...

We move to the legendary Nürburgring - Nordschleife. Since its construction (1925 - 1927), the Nordschleife has enjoyed a reputation as a terrifying and merciless route through the Eifel forests. An English journalist who visited the Nordschleife during the opening race on 18 June 1927 even concluded “that it seemed as if a reeling, drunken giant had been sent out to determine the route”. The Formula 1 pilot Sir John Young Jackie Stewart – after all a three-time world champion in 1969, 1971 and 1973 – was so impressed by the circuit that he gave it the name which it will probably never lose: Green Hell (Grüne Hölle).
Racing and winning on the Nordschleife has always been very special for racing drivers, because the track is one of the most demanding in the world. Tricky corners, treacherous crests, steep inclines and gradients and constantly changing road surfaces demand great skill from the driver and put vehicles to a hard test.

Please check the Season 30 details (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=540&theme=6) regarding rules and the Specials Series Trophy pages (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=555&theme=6) in particular.


Handicaps:
Heavies/Priv/Amateurs have a free car choice and unlimited shift+r.

Lights/Pro/Works 1x stop+go (1 x shift+r with s+g is allowed)

Race List	=	IGOR
Server	=	UKGPL_8
IP Address	=	look at IGOR
Race date	=	18-11-2016
Qualification Time	=	~20:45  UK time -> 45min
Race Time	=	race starts at 21:30 UK time
Track	=	Nürburgring
Variant	=	GPLGT with 60fpsV1
Damage Model	=	INT
Race length	=	6 laps
Replay	=	you will get here (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/Replays/Archive/Season30/)

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

Have FUN!

It's not called for in the regs for this SS event at the Nurb but I'd like to do a fuel stop mid-distance.  For that to happen properly, the pit stalls would have to be in their original positions, no?  If the stalls are placed elsewhere(back-track of the S/F line)to facilitate a short run before starting a Q lap, it wouldn't be advisable, would it?  :)

Doni, afaik, for a refuel you have to stop at your pitboard whereever it is.

I place the pit stalls just short before the finish line to have the first lap counted, you should test it in practice if it works.

For a shift+R reset it doesn't matter, but if you use Lee's pitstop patch, you'll have to stop at whereever your pit stall (with floating pit board) is located.

Tommie.

Thanks for the comeback, Axel & Tommie.  I'm a bit leery about making a stop somewhere other than in the pits proper but if my board is sufficiently off the racing line, I may give it a shot.  I'll know come the practice session.

Server is up!

I just testet it, the pit board is at the normal pits here!
A refuel worked too  ;)

Congrats Axel and Mark!

I was glad to see Mark on the server after the recent earthquake in NZ.

Crap! I did it again. I wrecked Mark. I'll try to be more careful in the future. I chose the wrong side of the track. At first I thought "go left" then I decided "go right". Worst of all and my biggest mistake, I didn't try to slow down much. I wish Mark would have continued. Even with his troubles, he likely would have beat me. I didn't have enough fuel to finish.

I enjoyed most of the event. Other than struggling with the 2D in practice and hitting Mark, I had a lot of fun. In prerace practice I got a new PB in the 330 and Lola T70. Mark never gave me any indication of how fast he'd be prior to the race. I thought he might be stuck in the low 8:20s, so I decided to test the 2D. When I saw Mark do 8:18, I started thinking, maybe I should have taken the 2F.

With Mark running so fast, I thought my only chance was being very consistent. I was doing good in that aspect until the collision.

Thanks for letting me pass Axel. That was a dangerous move on my part. I only did it because you were holding me back in some places.

By lap 3, I was getting a good feel for the car. That's a rarity for me in the 2D. After 4 laps, I had an ideal lap of 8:19.28 showing in Prib. That's when I realized I didn't have enough fuel. I tried to save a lot of fuel on lap 5 but it wasn't enough. I reset on lap 6 at the Karussell. The car was about to start misfiring. With enough fuel I had a good chance of breaking 8:20 before the race was over.

I'm not sure what the rule is regarding last lap resets. I didn't stop and go. I thought time would be added to my result but I was far enough ahead of Axel, I didn't think it mattered in regard to positioning.

Thanks guys. I enjoyed tracks and mods this season. It's a shame others didn't seem too interested. I hope we might do more Friday series. And if we do, I hope Mark and I can come to kind of agreement to use slower cars so everybody else has a chance to beat us.

Preliminary discussions are afoot behind the scenes for next season's format.

Watch out for posts on the forum and the opportunity to vote.


 

No, no you didn't.  I crashed by myself, and for me you managed to dodge through without hitting me.  I wanted to take the 330 as it's my favourite car.  But I needed to spend more time setting it up than I had.  I think I needed more ride height, it was pretty good but capable of suddenly snapping away in various spots unexpectedly.  It was a pretty intense pole lap (although I totally missed the Karussell).  One of those laps you probably couldn't do again.  I was getting away during the race, but one of the jumps finally caught me out after a couple of laps.  The car landed awkwardly, grounded out hard and shot off into the fence.  I had to do a reset and a stop go, and then on the next lap somehow the car got totally sideways through the corner at the end of the straight, and before I could catch it it crashed into the end of the fence, damaging the engine.  Shame, and it's been that kind of season. 

Loved the tracks and cars, didn't have the best of luck.  Hearty congratulations to Greg for winning the championship, he's driven very well.  Big thanks to Axel for all his work.

Could not make this one...  :(

Grats to Greg, Axel and Mark for the race!! and Greg Mark and Axel for the championship!!!  :)

I had a great time this 30th special series trophy season!

Cheers to all !!!!

I watched the replay. I was curious, and I usually try to learn from my mistakes.

I handled Mark's accident a little better than I thought I had. Everything was happening so fast I thought I had hit Mark, possibly causing him more damage. I still made a mistake though. I should have tried to slow more and sooner. Then I might have been able to go left and not hit the fence like I did.

I wasn't as consistent as I thought either. I guess since I didn't hit much and kept the car in good shape, I thought I was doing better than I did. 2 spins and up the banking once on lap 1. Two huge slides and a bounce off the fence on lap 2. But from then on I drove well.

I've had a lot of the same problems Mark. It took me 5 years to break 8:20 with the Ferrari. I finally came up with a ride height I like this week. 4.5 inches/11.43 cm worked well on the 330, Lola and 2D. I'm still losing traction at the bump in the middle of the turn entering Metzgefeld. Axel spun there too after I had almost lost it in front of him on lap 2. I still have to be very careful and lift sooner than I think I should at the low place before Andenauer Forest. I had tried 4 inches and as high as 5 inches but it never ever came together like it did Friday at 4.5 inches. I'll probably try setting the car a slight bit higher and/or a little stiffer springs . I've still got room to improve the handling conistency. I'm running the big Fords at 5.5 inches/14cm and I'm still having trouble with bottoming or hitting the bump rubbers.

It's funny that this is one of my favorite tracks in one of my favorite mods but I've had a lot trouble getting good laps here. Targa is the same way. It's taking a long time to find the right setup. I think the GTs are the most difficult cars to drive at Nurburgring. Whenever I see somebody mention the difficulty of The Ring in the 67 F1s, I always think, "give the GTs a try and you'll see what's really difficult." The GTs at The Ring make the 67 F1s seem somewhat easy. :) And I'm 10 mph/16 kmh slower through the Karussell and it's still much more difficult than with the F1s. Another big difficulty is the brake bug. I induce it more here than any of the other championship track. I've ruined numerous laps because of it.

I got lucky to win this one. It was a decent drive but nothing that really should have put me in contention with Mark. Consistency won the day though.

I enjoyed the season, in particular the 3 historic GT races. Nurburgring stoked me. I could spend the next 6 months driving nothing but the GTs here before I'd start getting bored.


I don't blame you. It's my favorite car too. 8:18 is excellent without much practice. I'm 1.8 seconds slower than you with a lot of practice. It's finally coming together though. I'm putting the 2D and Lola into the 18s. I hope I can do it soon with the Ferrari and the Porsche may be capable of it too. I'm fastest with the 2F.


Thanks Mark. I wasn't particularly happy with myself thinking I had hit you. That would have been a terrible way to end the season, especially after my mistake at Zeltweg. I had to drive to well and start all races if I wanted to beat you. Had your luck been better it would have been very close either way. The few times my luck was bad never hurt me like yours did. And my big screw up at Spa67 didn't hurt much with the small field.

Thank you too Axel. The season seemed to go rather smoothly. The only two things that would have made it better to me is, larger fields and/or slowing Mark and me to make the field closer.