SimRacing.org.uk

Grid/server capacity: 22

Practice: ~19:20 (60 mins)
Qualifying: 20:20 (10 mins)
Race 1: 20:30 (24 laps)

Track: Avus 1967 Download this (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3358.msg81636#post_avus67)

Cars allowed: BMW M1 Procar  Download this (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3358.msg54518#post_bmw_m1_procar), Required wheel fix Download this (http://www.mediafire.com/download/15g2qvay9m3fnb9/PROCAR_M1_WHEELS.GTL) and overwrite the original file found at GameData/Teams/GTC-TC-76/BMW M1 Procar.

Car choice restrictions: Championship Positions (CP) 1 to 3 - Procar, CP 4 to 7 - Procar or Gr.4., CP 8 and above, and new drivers - ANY.

Time of Day Setting: 14:00
Start: STANDING
Tyre wear: Normal
Fuel consumption: Normal
Pit stops: Not required

Server: simracing.org.uk Wednesday
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: Note early race start time.

Please choose the correct class of Procar for this race, which is dependant on your Championship position.

Only 11 days left to the next M1-Procar-Race...

Before I did my first practise-laps today I thought: "Oh what a terribly boring Track!". But I was wrong, verrry wrong! Of course: there are "only" five really important Parts on this track, but these are very difficult AND could easily ruin your whole Lap, or in the worst case: ruin your whole RACE!

There is the first braking-zone over a blind crest, which could easily get your Car out of Ballance. Brake to soon, and you´ll lose time or spin your car. Brake to late, and you´ll miss the apex or hit the barrier.
The second one is the acceleration-point after the first Hairpin: which Line to choose? If you go wide and close to the barriers, you´ll loose some grip, but you can transport some momentum onto the following straight. If you stay narrower to the inner-side, you got much more Grip and can accelerate much better/harder!

Next very important Point is the very light right-hand-kink after the long backstraight... which is narrower than expected (through the massive Walls on both sides)! What to do? Only lift the throttle? Stay "flat-out" and only gently touch the brakes? Taking the Ideal-Raceline or choose "late-apexing"? It´s a kink where I sometimes lost more than 15-20km/h or 10-13mph, which could make a huuuge difference in our close competition!

The next part is the most difficult in my opinion: the BANKING! I am still very unsure how to take it! Entering it in 5th, slightly brake, let the car "fall" into it and then downshift to the 4th gear at about 1/3 of the Curve? Or approaching it fullthrottle in 5th and just before turning in: down to 4th and "pedal to the metal"? Hard to decide! Downshifting IN the banking can unsettle your Car, but a slower Entry is costing you some 1/100th as well.

But the most dangerous part is just to come! YES! Because leaving the Banking is much harder! You can easily spin, due to some bumps in the last third of the Banking (which aren´t noticable over the whole width of the track!). Sometimes you´re lucky and hit the smooth and flat part, so everything´s fine and perfect. But the next lap you´re maybe some inches off the perfect line and you´ll find yourselfe in a wild drift! Worse than that: A spin here could sent you up to the lefthand-side barrier-wall, from where there´s no chance to rejoin the race (no matter how hard you try, you´re STUCK there!).

So far so good: my personal Best today was a 1:59:235min., but I think our "Aliens" here are able to reach some 1:58s or even faster. Let´s see ;-)

One thing is really sure: it´ll become a tremendous "slip-stream-battle" AND probably a "last-car-driving"-Experience as well! ;-)


Nobby

I don't think I have ever read a pre-race report before.

Well done Nobby  :thumbup1:

oh jeez!!  :-\ Just what I needed to inspire me for a race in cars that are not "my favourite". If I felt ambivalent about these beasts before, I am now totally disheartened.
I have raced this track in GPL and I was praying that the GTL version would NOT have those race killing bumps on the exit of the banking, but Norbert has burst that bubble comprehensively.........really cannot wait until Wednesday not

IMPORTANT

Read the race announcement to check the handicapping. Be sure to choose the correct class of Procar dependant on your Championship position.

Just  tried the Avus/Procar mix offline...……...worst fears confirmed !! :-\


I suspect that the aliens will be closer to 1:55 than 1:58 Norbert.

 I "started" approx. 20 laps ( only finished about 5!!  ???) and was getting close to 2:00 mins with some very suspect and scruffy cornering, which I think is where the aliens will steal a second or more from us mere mortals. Add in a little slipstream and I can see 4-5 secs available.

You do realise that this is next week's race Clive, this week is Taupo. ::)

Yes thanks Geoffers. ;) Well TBH I did realise that earlier today  ::)

But that discovery and subsequent panic download, followed by the install for the NZ Cup, has done nothing for my confidence about this week either!!!!

3 new cars and a definitely unknown track to learn by Wednesday, even if it is a short circuit! I guess it all makes life interesting....and stressful lol.

You should like the Izuzu Clive; at least with the default setup - it seems tailor made for drifting  ;D

IMPORTANT

There was an error in the Race Announcement. The number of laps has been increased to 24.

At the end of the southbound track there is a very tight hairpin.

We do not expect to see any driver getting rear-ended due to late braking or loss of control of the driver behind.

This will be studied on the race replay and the likely penalties will make your eyes water.

So lets all be extra careful please.

Wonder if it was those bumps I just encountered in a full length test  ???   On my 16th lap, approaching the end of the banking, my car suddenly got a jolt, as if I hit something (in the middle of the track) - or as if something hit me. Threw my car against the fence and flipped it onto its roof.  Reloaded a save from a few laps before and carried on.  On lap 23, same place, I got a minor jolt, which still kicked me into a spin.  If this happens on Wednesday, there's gonna be some foul language for sure  :censored:

WARNING                          WARNING                  WARNING                    WARNING                      WARNING

I have been having a strange PC problem the last two weeks.  I am suddenly kicked back to the desktop without any warning, flickers or anything.  Not a connection problem the PC just minimizes the game.  I will go to the right if it happens this week.  Probably best if you don't try to pass me though, just follow me to the finish.  HEHE  Erling and Tony are helping me try to solve it, but it only happens online.  We will see if what has been suggested works.Ran a full race with the video options all to max and had no problems......I noticed those bumps at the end of the banking but as slow as I am they are not a problem!!!!!

Bob M.

Hi at last successful eye op weird being able to see out of two eyes again but wonderful, just got to be care full not to strain them for a while and let my sight settle down, missed racing with you guys but should be back soon.

Good to hear that Rog, look forward to having you back, take care. :thumbup1:

Fantastic news Roger, hope to be racing with you soon.

I want to test this Erling. Can you tell me which "lane" you are in, or near, when you experience these "jolts"?

Great news Roger.  Hope you recover soon.

Bob M.

The middle lane more or less Tony, but it's only happened twice in what amounts to several full races worth of laps, so could be difficult and time consuming to diagnose.

Great news Roger; hope you're back racing with us soon!!

Left the pits via the pit entry, ignoring the wrong way message, and went around the banking, back and forth, in 1st gear but could find no tears in the surface  ???

I can assure you I didn't imagine it..   Maybe it only really affects you when going at high speed - and again, seemingly a rare occurrence - you could probably pass 40-50 times without encountering it.

I think something similar happened to me once...
At the time I thought it might have been some erratic car part left on the ground by a collision between AI's (I don't know if a contact with such part would have any effect anyway  ??? ), but I did not see anything (part or other) before "flying".
Again, this happened only once (in the middle lane) despite the fact that I am (unwillingly  ;D ) "testing" a lot of different lines on the banking.
In the end this remote possibility is no big deal for me: I am more than able to spin on my own !  :D

Great news Rog!! glad that everything went well  ;)


I am assuming that this circuit is a conversion of the GPL track? The same issue exists at Avus in GPL, and appears to be entirely random, but terminal, when it happens and it does not appear to be 100% related to where your car is across the track so it is difficult to diagnose.

I can only relate this phenomena in layman's terms......ok in simple language that I can ( almost ) understand!!  :-\
The cause is reckoned to be a minute mismatch in the alignment of 2 track segments, somewhere at the end of the banking,when the track was built. In GPL the kick occurs if your car is transitioning that mismatch at exactly the same microsecond as the computer is scanning your position. Because of the high speed, the reaction tends to be interpreted as a major impact and the car is thrown skywards.  In my simple mind, it might be more of a problem if GTL is re calculating the car's position much more frequently than GPL, thus increasing the chances of a "hit" on the rogue section??

GPL has had other tracks with similar issues and despite multiple attempts to "rebuild and align" the offending sections they were never completely fixed. Eventually one of the resident track gurus in GPLPS would build a remake of the whole circuit, which is not a 10 minute job in GPL.
There was even a glitch in the original Spa track that shipped with the game in 1998. Just before the pits, close to the grass verge, there was a spot that would randomly cause a CDT or screen freeze if one happened across it at the wrong moment. The only upshot is that we got a fantastic, historically correct Spa67 track to replace it, but it took 2o years....just saying guys that some of you may not see or experience the glitch, but one or two might have their race ended prematurely in spectacular fashion. >:( :(

 A last minute change of car was a bit of a shock when I had the Procar feeling quite sensible. The G4 seemed to be a bit quicker, but without time to sort the setup it was not as stable under braking, or else I was just getting there quicker  ???

Apologies for the excitement at the hairpin lap on lap 2  ::) I think I tried to take too much road and put a wheel onto the grass under braking.

Recovered through the mayhem to be in 3rd  about 3 secs behind Geoffers and followed him for about 6 laps until I started to fall asleep...……………
then I did and found myself going through trees to La La Land  :-\

Missed most of the bumping & boring on the first lap & settled into 2nd behind Ziu but gradually falling away. Like Clive I was losing concentration, this track is so boring it crossed my mind to give up & have a beer, anyway after a while I clipped the fence coming off the banking, no harm done just lost a lot of time. Still 2nd with Fulvio not too far behind, a few laps later & I did the same thing again, this time engine health was 0% but the car was still running. Continued at reduced speed, would not really pull top gear, for a couple more laps until it eventually ground to a halt at the start of lap 23.  ::)

Congrats to the podium  :clap: :clap: :clap:.

More interesting track next week.  :jumpjoy:

Big thanks to Erling and Tony!!!!!!  My PC never flickered or anything.  Again thanks for your help.  Placed way better than I expected in the race.  Not that I ever passed anyone..................

Bob M.

Apologies to S_Cargo for the hit; tried to avoid other cars going much slower than anticipated and wound up on the grass, unable to stop.

Results and replay now posted.

No problem, I had my share of crashes... on my own!
I must also apologize to Tony for throwing him into the rail coming out of the hairpin.  :oops:
Still not sure why my car turned left under power at that moment, I don't think I did anything different than on many other laps.  ???
A similar thing happened when braking for the hairpin a few laps earlier, that threw me on the grass (where I was waiting for you Erling  :laugh: ), this time I guess it was because I had a wheel on the white line...

Later in the race my engine health was very low and I thought I would just take it easy (being last anyway I just wanted to finish) for the 4 or 5 remaining laps. Did not work! The next 3 laps I had problems on the banking, finally sending me to the pits a bit earlier than expected.

Frustrating evening in the end: I had a decent pace and foresaw the possibility of a good fight with my "preferred opponent" Dom, but I made too many mistakes.  :-\

They say you should finish on a high.  That was my intention, but regrettably it'll have to be on a low, the way my races are going these days.  This was my final race here.  It has been an honour and a privilige to race with you all, and - mostly - enjoyable.  Can't thank Tony and everyone else involved in running this enough for all their hard work.   Wish you all the best and lots of good racing in the future.

Regards,
Erling

That was some eventful race. I had to watch the replay to make sense of everything that had happened.

Given that everyone could take it, I assumed the GTO was the best car for the job and it felt right for me from the start of practice. With a very stiff suspension it hopped and bumped but it was glued where it mattered. The correctness of the choice was confirmed with a 5th spot on the grid. As per usual I lost a place with a poor start to whom else but Dan the Flying Dutchman of course.
Already in that first straight things began to happen. There were suddenly too many cars abreast ahead and some of them were getting closer way too fast. With two cars ahead and Fulvio to the right my only option was to smash the brakes while taking position in the middle of the track hoping that would alert everyone behind. Another place lost and down to 7th. At the first banking I saw Fulvio high up in the wire mesh which I knew to not be the optimal racing line so I was back in 6th. On the 2nd approach of the hairpin mayhem was afoot again as I saw no cars, but just piles of smoke. On the apex of the hairpin I hit Coyote. I'm sorry, Coyote, but I had nowhere to go. From my perspective you drove straight into my path. That's also the reason I didn't wait. I don't feel as if I was in the wrong.
Due to that Escargot (for those who haven't figured it out yet  ;)) had gotten past but I could still catch his slipstream and with the faster GTO it was an easy overtake. At the start of lap 3 I must've had a much better banking trajectory because pretty soon I was in the slipstream of Dan. I opted to come out of it a bit too soon though and we were still neck and neck when dropping down to the braking zone for the hairpin. But in almost unprecedented fashion I won the chicken race and outbraked Dan while maintaining the inside line and kissing the apex for a good exit. Quite possibly my best overtake yet. As if to add insult to injury I saw poor Dan spinning on the exit of that same hairpin which gave me a comfortable 4th place.

All this in two and a half laps! The next few laps were luckily uneventful until a few laps later I once again saw smoke and then tyre marks all over the place. Apparently Clive had gone off on the straight for reasons I could not fathom. Anyway, 3rd! It looked at that point that the rest of the race would be an easy stroll as there was no point in trying to catch Ziu or Geoff and those behind were not closing in or at least not fast enough. But the racing gods were, of course, not pleased with this tranquil approach and during the banking section I hit....well, ...nothing. I've looked at it from every angle a dozen times but there's simply nothing there that could have pushed the front of my car to the right like a hurricane hit it selectively. And yet, it did. The ensuing crash was most spectacular and the vocabulary which accompanied my skiddin'-on-my-roof-for hundreds-of-yards is not suitable for print. When it finally came to a stop Fulvio had flown by and I didn't see any other cars coming so I went straight away for the turn into the racing part of the world. I had however looked down the highway and not towards the banking section and had completely missed S. Cargo and Tony coming thundering down from there. Only a bit of luck and the skill of both gentlemen prevented a massive crash. Apologies and kudos, gentlemen. Just a few moments later I would encounter these same gentlemen again. Coming out of the hairpin under full acceleration I saw Tony on the left and S. Cargo on the right, at a supiciously leisurely pace. To my credit, the gap between the two cars in which dove *was* there at first but not so much anymore when I actually took the dive. From the replay it looks like I actually nudged both cars. At the time it didn't feel that way but in hindsight it was a 100% daft maneuver. Once more, apologies.

But that was the end of the shenanigans, at least on my side. The only thing which remains to be told is that in the penultimate lap I passed poor Geoff in a burning car which gave me a not-so-deserved place on the podium.

I hope your decision hasn't anything to do with the incident between us I described in my post. I f you see it differently I'm of course entirely prepared to accept any consquences Tony might consider proper and necessary.

Nothing to do with you at all Dom, so no worries - in fact I apologize for driving straight into your path; wound up on the grass trying to avoid the mayhem already there.

Extremely sorry to hear that you are leaving us, Erling  :( You will be missed.

Too late at home yesterday for joining - sorry for that. Result to be posted tonight. CY next week.

Very sorry to hear you are leaving us Erling, do hope it has nothing to do with any recent on track actions. You will be missed. Best wishes for the future.  :thumbup1:

I was waiting (on the tarmac, shame on me) for Tony after smashing into his car when I saw you coming fast in my mirror, so I tried to move out of the way (a bit late when looking at the replay). Anyway I did not feel (nor see in the replay) any contact with your car, on the opposite I think you successfully managed to avoid a crash.
At some other point something weird happened to your car: in the straight between the hairpin and the banking I gained several seconds on you in the blink of an eye... Not sure what happened then (can be seen in the replay) but it made me think I could chase you again... not for long alas!

@Erling I hope your decision is not related to any racing problem I might have been involved in (and even less so to more serious matters outside of sim racing).
All the best to you!

There was so much to write about I forgot this: I lost all three screens for a few seconds. Since it was on a neverending straight I just released the throttle and waited for them to come back. It's a known, but rare issue with NVidia drivers and some tracks in GTL. Cap7 used to know all the details of this, he had become a very reluctant and unintentional expert in this matter by experiencing it all the time.
Yeah, no classical duel between us yet. We used to be much better in P&G, didn't we?  :D

Erling G-P (Coyote)

Erling has been racing with UKGTL since January 2014 and competed in many championship's, most of which he has won. He is a skillfull driver with a great understanding of strategy and racecraft but most importantly he is a gentleman driver.

He will be greatly missed both as a competitor but also as a friend. I hope he knows that the pitlane will always be open to him, should he decide to return to our humble racing series, sometime in the future.

Best wishes Mate

Tony

You're just too fast and consistent for me now :) but beware I will try to improve  ;D

This has stunned me a little, as I always saw Erling as a fixture in UKGTL  :(.   Always a considerate and consistent competitor with whom I have enjoyed too few close races, usually because he was too damned quick!!!

I notice that no reasons have been given for your departure and I will respect your right to keep things that way. It reflects the gentleman that you are.

You will be missed by everyone I feel, and I for one would be pleased to race against you again sometime in the future if our paths ( or wheels) should cross.
 
Good luck with whatever you are going on to do, take care out there my friend and stay safe.

Very sorry to hear of your departure Erling.  I never had the talent to race with you door to door, but you always lapped me with respect and caution.  Also thanks again for your PC help with my video trouble, it seems to be working well again.
The race was what I expected, pretty boring.  I started at the back without Qual. because I was leary of my PC problems Ive had in the past couple of weeks and causing any problem with the field.  Would have been at the back anyway.  Just drove the track and had a decent finish but only because of others misfortion.  Grats to the podium!

Bob M.

Patrick, nothing to do with you, so please don't worry about it.

Tony, Clive, Bob, Geoffers, Kurt, thanks all for your heartwarming words; I will miss you all - and there's absolutely nothing humble about UKGTL!

May make a comeback in the future, but right now I need a break.

Result (https://www.avonrise.co.uk/srou/kurts/Avus_20012019)

8)

Thanks guys for the kind comments, will be back soon.

Sorry to hear you are leaving  Erling you will be missed.

Thanks Kurt  :thumbup1:

Any idea what happened to Nobby?

No idea, Tony  ???

Although I am not a regular these days, (more an occasional visitor) I will miss racing with Erling. I won’t say racing against because I can never keep up with him. Sorry to hear you’re retiring Erling and I wish you all the best. I hope you make a comeback sometime.

Mike 

Mike & Roger; thanks for your kind words.  Must admit it feels quite strange not to have a race to do, for the first time in 5 years.

Hey Guys,

I am soooo sorry! I would have loved to race with you, but first I had to work the whole week far away from home (one of my colleague had a mishap/accident at work, cutting his thumb deep up to his wrist, so I had to jump in and replace him), and after that I got ill too (minor influenca).
But I was able to be at home at the beginning of the practise- and qualifying-sessions, BUT I couldn´t join, no matter what I´ve tried or did (and it was a hell of a lot what I tried!).

To sad that I had to miss this race, but I definitly will be on the Grid for the upcoming Monaco-Race, even when I really HATE this Track (like I don´t like ANY City-Tracks... I got claustrophobic between all these guardrails, harhar).

So, tonight I´ll try to do my first practise-laps .

And after that, I will install a fresh GTL, hopefully this will solve my joining-problems. My only concerne: I really dont remember my online-key (or where to find it)...



But there is something MUCH MORE important: I feel very sad about Erlings decission, even if I know that Life sometimes doesn´t give all the opportunities to act like we want. I think (and somehow feel), that his decission is well thought-trough... and that it is not his final word for ever!
Anyway: for NOW it is really a big loss, but even if I am a "fresh member", I want to thank him as well for his great influence, participation, work and inspiration he contributed to our community! BIG THUMBS UP... and from the depth of my heart I wish you the best thinkable!

Hi Nobby, did wonder why you were not with us for this race as you appeared to be rather keen to take part  ;)

The on-line key is stored in the registry. Run regedit and look for HKEY local machine - software - 10tacle studios - GTL - keys and this should contain your on-line key.

I think it is also stored on Steam (if that's where your GTL came from). I think you have to find the game in your library and right click on it and look for "view online key" or some such wording.

Enter the key using CAPS for the letter, with NO hyphens (dashes) between them.

Norbert, thanks so much for your kind words and wishes; all the same to you of course.

Sorry you couldn't make the race - your enthusiasm is remarkable, so hope you get the problems solved  :)