SimRacing.org.uk

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RACE ONE

Practice/car change: ~19:20 (60 mins)
Qualifying: 20:20 (10 mins)
Race: 20:30 (26 laps)

Track: Brands Hatch (Indy) Download this (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3358.msg81636#post_brandshatch)

Cars allowed: KAD Mini Cooper S Download this (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3358.msg54520#post_mini_cooper_s_kad_works) Excluding Car #'s 6, 9, 40, 58 & 80
                       Additional skins Download this (http://www.mediafire.com/file/5ni1u5jjrf0b1la/Additional_KAD_Mini_skins.zip/file)
            
Time of Day Setting: 14:00
Start: STANDING
Tyre wear: Normal
Fuel consumption: Normal
Pit stops: Not required

Server: simracing.org 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: None.

Taster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22m1dM-lGDA  :chef:

CAR OWNERS

#03 - S.Cargo
#04 - Roguk
#15 - SpecialKS
#27 - Phspok
#30 - seniordan
#31 - EvilClive
#36 - Erling G-P
#39 - Geoffers
#41 - Wiltshire Tony
#52 - Ziu Bacubacu
#55 - Bob M.
#113 - Dominick
#115 - fpolicardi

Hi race 1 all going fine until i noticed engine health getting low had to be careful when changing down, plus all other drivers were driving better than me, sorry to drivers i cut up especially Dominic.

Race 2 did some adjustments and lengthened the gears then LOL blew engine changing down 2 gears.

Grats to winners

Grats to Podiums 

Results and replay now posted.

Congratulations to Geoffers who has won the Mini KAD Championship  :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:

Worthy mention to.........

2nd - Erling G-P  :clap: :clap:

3rd - EvilClive  :thumbup2:

Thanks to everyone who took part and made this an enjoyable series.

R1 was lot's of fun for me.  Never really care for the Indy track and finished about were I thought I would. R2 I lost my focus and also made some chassis changes, cars was oversteering on entry, but seems I made it worse and hit too many curbs and messed up the suspension.  Was pulling to the left and trying to swap ends.  Went to the pits and decided just to quit.  Maybe it was just me though.....See  you all at Sachenring.  Won't make next weeks Monday race as most of the kids and grandkids are coming in and making a long weekend of it at our house for early Thanksgiving.  Avoiding the holiday traffic and airfares..

Bob M.

Race 1 was a blast for me. Once again I have almost got these cars sorted and we come to the end of the season!! I guess I am just a slow learner lol ::).
In my world I fully expected Geoff to take pole, with Erling probably 2nd on the grid, so to sneak into 1st spot was a little unnerving. But it did not last long and Geoff was ahead before Paddock Hill Bend. I took a while to clam my excited right foot and this gave Erling a few laps to hassle me and even take 2nd spot for a while. I was able to get my act together and regain 2nd place before easing away from Erling, but I was still a couple of tenths off of Geoffers' lap times so he was gradually widening the gap ahead. That was the way it finished, but at least I had finally made these little boxes behave.

Which of course meant that I was starting from the back in Race 2  :-\

I got a reasonable start...not as good as Geoffers, but hey I picked up a place or two into Paddock Hill ;) which is where things started to go a little wrong. Pushing too hard on cold tyres and things got a little crazy and I was out of shape approaching Druids, but more importantly I was in the wrong gear when I started downshifting, so I ended up in neutral.
The rear end swung around and I bounced over the inside grass verge rather violently....rather too violently for the Mini's suspension it transpired!!!
When I regained the tarmac things got very ugly, very quickly and the car was just about undriveable. I struggled around the first lap in a series of wild lurches and ended up 70 secs later back at Druids in a cloud of rubber smoke and broken suspension parts  :( :(

Grats to whoever made the podium and finished..........maybe I'll be better next time??? lol

 Congrats Geoff and Erling on the championship silverware. I was almost able to challenge for the silver medal, but I guess I know my true place is always somewhere behind the aliens  :-\ :-\.

Have a great holiday with all the family Bob  :balloon:

Sorry that I did not make it tonight, I did not want to take the risk to create more accidents: a couple of black screens during the little practice I could afford convinced me that it was probably better for everybody if I stayed home tonight (It's also a good excuse because my lap times would have been bad anyway :-[)
Congrats to the podium, and championship podium !

Echo that; Happy Thanksgiving Bob  :)

I've said it before and will probably repeat it till I kick the bucket: Paddock Hill Bend is my most hated corner ever, and on this short track, you get to 'enjoy' it over and over and over again...  :censored:

Just as I was about to test my pre-programmed 'Grats Geoffers', Clive goes ahead and makes a mess of the Universal laws, by snatching pole.  As he mentioned, he had a moment that allowed me to slip past, after Geoffers had disappeared.  Not really where I wanted to be, with the race 2 qual-ban for 2nd place, but needn't have worried, as Clive soon got in front again. Followed him for a number of laps, but then the tyres were spent, and the car would neither brake, turn or accelerate, so Clive slipped away.  Puzzled me, as he's moaned about tyre wear often enough, but here he seemed unaffected. 

Race 2 made pole possible, with Geoffers & Clive neutralized in qual.  Didn't expect to find Tony 0.018 secs behind me, but there he was  :o   Got a much better start than those around me, who all appeared to drown in wheelspin.  Making a complete mockery of the qual-ban, Geoffers was up to 3rd when he reached T1.  Kudos to Tony however, for keeping him behind much longer than could reasonably be expected.  Eventually he got past of course, appearing behind me.  I wouldn't go so far as to wave him through, but didn't try to make things difficult.  Just left him plenty of room to go about his business; anything else seemed pretty pointless.   Geoffers moved away, while Tony was holding station some 5 secs behind me.  All the way to the start of the final lap, when that confounded Paddock Hill Bend finally got its way: Car ran wide onto the grass & gravel, and of course the rotten thing had to spin, sliding to a rest in the middle of the track, facing the wrong way.  Thanks to the FWD, I couldn't get it turned around fast enough to stay ahead of Tony & Dom, who both sweeped past.  Thus had to settle for 4th  :-\

Grats to Geoffers for the two wins & the Championship;he really operates on a different plane.  Grats to Tony & Dom on their podium, and grats to Clive for 2nd & 3rd in the Championship. No need to put yourself down  :) - mere margins decided things, and race 2 could have gone much differently.

Forgot to give a feedback concerning the disconnection issues several drivers have/had in the F3 Alpine A364 series  ::)

Asked about that in the ABB forum, but did not get a conclusive answer:

(Google translator)

"in various old forums one finds the information - sometimes more than 10 years old - that one can select the data rates that can be selected for online operation

1) Modem <56k
2) 56k modem
3) ISDN
4) Cable / DSL
5) LAN

ISDN or necessarily ISDN should select:

"Drivers are reminded that they must select ISDN as their bandwidth, otherwise the stability of everyone's connection will be reduced"
"As we noted, setting the ISDN data rate rather than DSL / cable for broadband connections seems to be better in the GTL lobby (lags reduction)"
"Basically, in GTL / GTR2 / RACE, the conn in the game must be set to ISDN, then there are also significantly fewer probs among the drivers."

Is this still on today? Have found no relevant information about the search, so I'll just ask."


Answer: So whether it still brings benefits? No idea, I've changed settings for years and never noticed a difference ...

 ???

I have to make a small confession here and allay Erling's concerns about my previous history of tyre wear.

I did some proper practice for this race. Well, that is I spent probably an hour on both Tuesday and Wednesday running around Brands Indy and checking out the CONTROLS issue that started at Dundrod, initially just trying to ensure that all was working properly.

It did develop into a proper preparation session and some setup/driving style development. Initially, I used the setup that I had cobbled for Silverstone which had worked well for me, but because of the oval layout it put considerable strain on the front left tyre. It was clear that I would run out of rubber a long way before lap 26!!
At Silverstone I had a setup that was quickish, but I had to wrestle the sodding thing all the way. The only saving thing about Silvy was that the tyres could cool on the straights. That was never going to happen at Brands. :-\

I tried adjusting the diff to aid corner exit and reduce wheelspin by running a slightly higher gear set ( these cars have loads of torque so no problem there). I realise that I might be preaching to the converted about these front wheel drive abominations, but I have slowly realised that wheelspin is a BAD thing in front wheel drive cars. In a rear wheel drive car, spinning up the back axle can be used to step the rear out and point the car in the direction you want to go, but with front wheel drive wheelspin creates terrible understeer and destroys tyres...and is slower.

The biggest discovery for me was that matching the engine revs to wheel rotation speed whilst downshifting into (and through) corners made a huge difference, then feeding in the power that the tyres could cope with and avoiding any break in traction would pull the car on a much tighter line and get things up to speed again. This was the biggest thing that I taught myself and especially at the tight part of Clearways where a smooth tight line right on the kerb proved by far the fastest for me.

Like Erling I find Paddock Hill Bend one of those corners that haunts me. If I count the various versions of this corner on different iterations of the track and in different sims, they all require a different approach and a lot of respect.
It was clear to me from previous races at Brands in GTL that Paddock Hill is crucial for a good lap time. As an aside, getting it wrong also instantly cooks the front left tyre I discovered. For me the secret was slowing the car early and downshifting to 3rd before the 100mtr board, a gentle dab on the brakes to shift the weight forward. Off the brake BEFORE the corner indicator board and turn in before I could see the apex. With a little practice I got this point of turn in and amount of lock more or less right so that I just clipped the inside kerb and could ease on the power through the corner and up to Druids. When it was right I gained at least 0.5 secs and could lose 1.5secs if I got the corner wrong.

On laps where I hooked up all the different elements the times were quick and the tyre wear minimal. In fact, I finished the race with all tyres in pretty good condition and certainly more than 60% of rubber still available... so maybe I could have gone faster?? but I think my ability just about matched my ambition last night.

Add all these little adjustments together and the laptimes got better. I was far from perfect ( or Geoffers!!), but I was at least in a position to race these buzz boxes, unlike the early rounds of this series  ;).
Some of the above might help others gain a little speed, but I get the impression that most of you are much more competent in these cars than I ever was.

Thanks for the reassurance Clive, and the detailed info - definitely lots of useful stuff there.  Maybe I was the one with a too agricultural approach yesterday.  Actually thought I handled the tyre wear better in race 2 - that is until all went wrong on the final lap..  ::)

Sorry guys for sort of running away with this series, raced Minis in GTL a lot in the past & have developed an effective way of making them work. Clive has summed it up much more effectively than I could, I do struggle to explain how I am driving, just do what feels right & set the car up to suit my style.

Race 1, first congrats to Clive on a great pole lap. Managed to beat him into Paddock & concentrated on keeping it smooth & neat over the opening laps & got away from the battle for 2nd. Gradually increased the gap as the race wore on to come home 1st.

Race 2, got quite a good start as those ahead seemed slow away & was soon up to 3rd. Took a few laps to find a way past Tony who defended his 2nd place very well & set off after Erling. Once I had caught him, he wasn't as keen on defending as Tony & I got ahead into Druids & proceeded to opened up a gap. Eased off over the last few laps & when Erling went off on the final lap I eased right off & cruised to the line. However I very nearly got caught out not paying attention as Tony & Dom almost pipped me to the line  :o.

Congrats to Clive, Erling, Tony & Dom on their podiums.  :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

And congrats to Erling & Clive on their championship podiums.  :clap: :clap:

Just checked how close it was; damn, you must've been napping badly :lol:

Race 1 was a reward after a day full of headache, back- and hip pain (doctors want me to get an artificial hip soon but I'm not yet convinced)  :P

In free praccy I was desperately looking for a way through Paddock Hill  Bend - as usual  ::). Then I decided to watch Clive and Geoffers how they do it
and eventually could adopt it (in race 1 only  ::) ). It looked like Geoffers took Graham Hill in 2nd gear whereas I used 3rd - so I  adopted that too and
suddenly I was a lot more competitive.
In Race 1 I stayed in 4th place for the whole event watching Dominick coming closer and closer. Fortunately he didn't know that I already had two cut
warnings (again!) and  I would never have had the strength to put up resistance  8)
So - for this time - a lucky end for me  ;D

Race 2 was a reversion to old ways. Couldn't keep the tension and left after some offs.

Grats Geoffers to the championship and thanks Tony for the organisation.

Result_Race 1 (https://www.avonrise.co.uk/srou/kurts/20112019_BrandsHatch_Indy_R1)

 8).

Asked this morning over at ABB for the settings of their servers and just received an answer that the ABB dedicated server are adjusted to LAN, because this is the only setting which allows 36 players.
ABB admin wants to check an additional setting "individual" on one server (I think ABB has seven) and keep me informed.

Not sure, but I hope this helps.

Very fun races. First race I chased Dan, then Roger, then Bob, then Bob again -lol- and then Kurt. Got to within half a second but an overtake was never going to happen. Awareness of your cut warnings wouldn't have made any difference, Kurt, there wasn't more in it than I gave. Also, Roger, you didn't do anything wrong, if anything you had every right to defend considerably more agressively. As long as you're ahead, the line is entirely yours to pick.

Second race I chased Tony for pretty much the entire race. But more than putting some pressure on him wasn't going to happen though. You guys have all improved hugely with the Minis since the first races.

Shame I missed most of this series due to the [f-expletive] [c-expletive] weather we have these days. I need to find a solution for that but affordable airco's barely make a difference now that we reach 40°C in summer and those that would make a difference cost a fortune. And it's a rental....

Congrats to all winners and podia. Congrats to Geoff for the series (although obviously he only won because of climate change *cough*) and to Erling and Clive for the other metals.

Great series, Tony. Wanna do another in winter?  :angel: