SimRacing.org.uk

Endurance Championship - Season 3, Round 8 at Suzuka

If you haven't already done so, you must download this addon track (https://www.simracing.org.uk/downloads/UKGTR_Suzuka_2002-v1.0.zip). If you already have Suzuka, but did not install it from the UKGTR v1.0 package please delete your version and install this one so that we are all definately running the same track.

Date: Sunday 13th August

Practice 1: 8:00pm (20 mins)
Practice 2: 8:20pm (10 mins)
Qual 2: 8:30pm (30 mins)
Warmup: 9:00pm (2 mins)
Race: 9:02pm (80 mins)

Cars allowed: Those classed as GT or NGT, according to each driver's registered class. A list of which cars are in which class can be found here (https://www.simracing.org.uk/index.php?ind=lm2&group=7). Seat Toledo, Lotus Elise, BMW Z3M and Porsche GT3 Cup are not permitted.
Weather: Will be decided just before the race based on real-world weather.
Pit Stops: All drivers must make a minimum of one pit stop. This must involve entering the pit lane at the speed limit, and coming to a complete standstill in the designated pit box. Tyres do not have to be changed and no fuel has to be added. You cannot take your mandatory stop at the end of the pace lap, or with less than 1 lap to go.

Server: UKGTR Endurance S3
Password: Server Password is shown in the Password Board (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?board=20.0) and is available to the relevant registered drivers.

Notes:
(1) Full-time drivers should aim to arrive during Practice 1.
(2) Reserve drivers should not connect to the server until Practice 2.
(3) 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.
(4) See  UKGTR Season 3 Info (https://www.simracing.org.uk/index.php?ind=lm2&group=27) for general Endurance Season 3 info.
(5) Please make sure you are fully aware of the UKGTR Rules (https://www.simracing.org.uk/index.php?pid=7)
(6) The season will be run using a UKGTR carpack v1.5 (http://www.ukgtr.org/downloads/SROU_Car_Pack_1.5.zip) which will need to be installed prior to racing. Details of this pack can be found here (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1235.msg17247#msg17247).

I spent about 10 laps practicing Suzuka on Monday and I've come to the conclusion that I don't think it's the best modelled addon track ever. The graphics are good, but the curbs are very wrong and it just doesn't quite seem to be what I expected. The grip levels feel low and there are some monsterous bumps. It's also thinner than I expected so both overtaking and lapping may have to wait till the 2 big straights.

I thought I knew it from driving it on F1 games in the past but I quickly learnt that although it's good to know the layout before, the corner speeds and braking areas are completely different and very challenging. Of my 10 laps I think I only managed to not spin twice.  :o :o

I think Luis has a chance to catch me in the drivers if he wins as I think anything could happen at this circuit and the turnout after the past couple of races I'm expecting now to be quite good.

Didn't expect to be leading the NGT drivers championship at this stage of the season (or at all at the outset), but with one thing or another things seem to have come together for me and unfortunately not for others. We shall see there is still everything to play for.

Bar a miracle NGT Legends will deservedly win the team championship in NGT. The Team Shark drivers have put in a fabulous effort especially Whitham to help us try and get that elusive team title and thanks to Picnic for his contribution for the odd race he has got his rusty arse out and sweated his guts out for 80 minutes. In GT I'm really excited about the potential first team title for Team Shark in UKGTR, I know our driver line-up for Sunday should be very strong and the GT Sharks (Maverick, Nick, Zacari and Ruskus) have done a stellar job to put us in a great position there.

Well done to Rich for wrapping up the GT driver title already. Very fast and only once off the podium says it all.

This track is going to be really tough so best of luck to everyone and hope we have another great Endurance race to top off another good season.

Its looking like it could be a great battle for 2nd place honours in the NGT drivers championship, anyone of 4 of us, Luis, Pops, TT & myself can get 2nd depending on this result.
Shark should be able to grab the title barring no un-foreseen circumstances  (like us Legends boys loosening his wheel nuts and tampering with his brake lines  ;)...Luis having an outside chance of sneaking it, but i suspect only if Shark didnt finish. :-\

I'll be doing all i can to make sure NGT-Legends grab their 3rd consecutive endurance championship title  8) :angel:

Whats a decent lap time around here in an NGT ?

If only we knew. My only 2 laps without spinning were around the 2:11 mark which is probably very slow. Going to need to find some time to practice.

Will the UKGTR praccy server be up tonight ? Could be interesting to share some track time with other drivers for comparison.

Not looking forward to bumps in the GT3 :(

It is running both GTR Suzuka practice and GTL Imola practice, so yes  ;D

Sheesh, you're 3 sec faster than me then! From GTRank, 2:10 seems a pretty good time.

Barring hardware failures, I see no way I'm gonna hang on for 3rd place in the championship with TT & MJ breathing down my neck :(

What, am I the only one that fancy this track? C'mon guys, its not so difficult. Pack a full tank and go for a ride, you'll know the track in no time. Then start making fast laps.   :)

TT

great track to race bikes around on GP500 not to sure about the cars :-\

You realise saying things like that we'll all be expecting you to win on Sunday?!  ;)

Lol, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it. Too bad.  :(

I'd like to win here.  :)

In fact, I'd like to win anywhere  :D

TT

Nooo...your not gonna miss it TT?...its shaped up to be a cracking season finale for the top 3 NGT places. Gutted you cant make it.

I'll be seriously hung over and lacking sleep after 3 nights of b/day celebs, but no change there, aye :-[ ;D  Besides Pops told they were the entry qualifications i needed to join NGT Legends  ;)

Well I've just had some bouncy, bouncy, fun, fun, FUN trying to get the Morgan round here. Not looking good with the best of a 2:15  :-\

Not much chance to practice either as I'm busy Friday/Saturday/Sunday!

Just joined the practice server with Jonzo.
I kinda like the track, but it's very difficult. The braking before the hairpin is tricky, and that stupid little chicane :(.
I did a 2:04.6 in the Lister, but looking at GTR rank that is way off any good time. Race still still a long way, so I might find some more.....gravel. ::)

Managed several laps at 2:11 in the Porker.
 Still experimenting with suspension settings, trying to dial out the understeer through those S curves in sector 1. Used to love them in F1gp days when a good setup had the car hugging the kerbs like glue  8)...the GT3 on the other hand feels like i'm driving a bendy-bus through them ::)

I'm not as motivated as you Mark. I feel like some agency is pulling me from behind.  :(
I'm not whinning, ok? Real life and an oportunity to really show who deserves the title, eh?  ;)

TT

This is one scary track! :o :o  If only the last chicane wasn't so bad, on GTR2 hopefully stuff like that'll be more stable.

You might be fortunate, MJ! Were you dancing for rain?  ;)
(rain = holiday cancelled)

TT

The chance of rain = 50%  :o

Suzuka in wet =  :scared:

TT

Woohoo, bring on the monsoon. I love the looks of a wet race, not to mention the extra fun.
Now I really wanna make this race. I'm also gonna test if I still suffer from make-a-pitsop-and-lose-connection-one-lap-later problem.

Suzuka wet: MJ, Dan Minton, and Shark were all faster  :( (in GTs  :P )

Ok, back to reality  ::)

TT

Where can you see the probability of rain?

http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Spa_Francorchamps

http://weather.msn.com/local.aspx?wealocations=wc:BEXX0031

Thanks, but I thought Suzuka was in Japan. Oh well, Belgium is closer to home so less travel ;)

lol sorry, have spa on the brain atm

http://weather.msn.com/local.aspx?wealocations=wc:JAXX0112

The 'official' weather report for the race is here;
http://www.weatherunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=34.843923,136.53182&units=metric

20% chance of rain :)

Same place, a bit sooner had 50%. So the chance is decreasing, right? Too bad!  :P

TT

Don't think I'll be putting up much of a fight 2.14's for me atm  :-[

...And yes that last chicane, gonna see a few spins I think.
Guess the GT boys are gonna have their hands full lapping on this circuit, where a little off the racing line can spell danger. :o

I will be puking in my race helmet after my weekend long birthday shenanigans :-[
So if you see me pull over to the side of the track, you'll know the reason why :-X

Feel awful and had hardly any kip..........business as usual for an NGT Legends driver ::)

I see we're all getting our pre-race excuses in!

Well... um... the dog ate my fastest lap, it was a 2:09 as well  :P

in the 2"14s as well meself, not impressed with the level of grip on some parts and the fuel consumption is way high even if it is a long track!

As for pre-race excuses.....er, I had snakes in the cockpit...hmmm, could make a movie of that.....

D'oh with a capital D'oh!!

What I thought was the password wasn't, went to my mail to check it out and realised that I wasn't registered for S3 Enduro!

...chump...

Hope you all had a good race though and fingers crossed there wasn't any 1fps bugs like I saw others had in praccy.

Got 2:13:278 in practice just beforehand, wonder where that would've placed me......ah well.

I've registered you as a reserve so you might still get in if you're quick...

GTR seems to be running in the BACKUP Lobby tonight so if you are having trouble seeing us we're in there. If you're getting put in the MAIN Lobby then try changing the following line in your .plr file to to make it timeout to the main lobby on purpose...

Lobby Login Timeout="1" // Time allowed (in seconds) before Login to the internet lobby will timeout

Only 12 drivers so far so plenty of spaces  ;D

[nagmode]
Awful track >:( Didn't manage to do a single clean lap in qualifying. Partially caused by my own stupidity, the other part caused by getting stuck behind ngt's, trying to pass and getting off track >:(

I tried to work my way to the front at the start of the race but it didn't work out. Crashed into an ngt at the last corner (sorry for that). Then I tried to go to the pits to perform a drivethrough but I nearly missed pit entrance by some ngt's passing me on the outside ??? and crashed into the pitwall. Not their fault at all by the way. Had enough of it for 1 evening anyway. Bad way to end the season :(

[/nagmode]

This must be the best endurance season we have had here. I would like to say thanks to all you guys who made my life as the series moderator a little easier. You all did a great job at clean racing, like it should be. A shame this is the end of GTR in championship form. I hope to see you all back in GTR 2 :)

No no no no no no F*CK :cursing:.

It still happens. Every time I go into the pits in both GTL and GTR I lose connection. Same this time. I went off, had to repair the car, the were working on it and all of a sudden: connection lost.
I know this is caused by my router, as it doesn't happen when I'm not behind it, but I have no idea what causes it.
ARGH, sp pissed off. The race was really cool as me and Zacari were close to eachother the whole (half) race. It could have been awesome with different pit tactics.
I was on 100L of fuel so I has enough for the whole race, I only had to get in for tyres, but we'll never know what would have happened. 
Next the other people in the network at home can kiss my ..., I'm gonna disconnect the router and they just have to wait for it.

For me it was a great track, many fast corners which you really attack.

AAAARGGGHHHHHHH

Not just you Ruskus, we all got kicked!

GAME OVER MAN! GAME OVER!!!

LOL. Easy Ruskus, bad for your heart mate :P ;)

So the server went down I heard ??? Has this ever happened before?

GTR server appeared to have crashed.

I'll talk to the mods about what we do. I'm tempted to go back a lap from when the server crashed and do half points or something like in real life, if Gizmo's system can cope with that. (Assuming there are exports of course)

I doubt there are exports if it crashed.

The code as it stands doesn't do half points as it's a completely unprecedented situation. I suspect this is a problem with the add-on track but I'm loathe to jump to conclusions.

Should we consider re-running on Tuesday night at a standard track? Would a lot of people be unable to make it?

Well, yes, the usual. NGT pole and good duel with Shark under way. Then, you guessed, hardware failure. Lost connection this time. But the computer stayed connected, si it must have been GTRs fault. What a farse this season was for me!
Recoup, NGT class:
1. Barcelona: win, as Louis didn't know he had to pit
2. Magny Cours: second
3. Imola: win
4. Anderstorp: 5th (Anderstorp sucks!  ;D )
5. Estoril: / (1 fps bug) after NGT pole
6. Jerez: / (some kind of update mid race) after NGT pole
7. Brno: / (1 fps bug)
8. Suzuka: / (disco) after NGT pole

Grats to whoever won!  :)

I'm off to shoot some ppl  :2guns:

TT

Edit:

Erm, seems like BIG $hite happened  ;D
I'm still gona shoot some ppl   :gun_bandana:

Sorry, Ying Yang, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

The thing I hate the most, is that I have no clue whatsoever what can cause it.

So the server crashed, man, what a last race for GTR ???.

I wouldn't mind overdoing the whole ting again ;D so this time I know what fuel to take, and what kind of hardware to throw out of the window.

I can make it whenever, though I'm not too motivated.  :(

TT

if there is the possibility of half points i'd go for that personally

Did I dooo thààààààt? (Urkel voice O0)

Was a great battle with you TT. Much fun thanks.  :balloon:

I waited patiently behind you for the opportunity to pass then got you down the back straight as you struggled out of the corner. A few laps later I went off into T1? as i tried to flot a big mother fly that was really pissing me off (the ****er is still buzzing round me now shaking it's arse!  :hammer:) and you re-passed. Was starting to hunt you down again and pop the server started pouring blue smoke and was the fitting end for what is a bug ridden GTR server.  :-\ :-*

I was working all weekend so had only a handful of laps in the car at this circuit. Was really challenging and as the race progressed was actually starting to enjoy it quite a lot. Circuit might have dodgy curbs and silly large bumps but the layout itself seems spot on to me and pretty sure Suzuka is really thin in real life too. Was a good challenge to drive and was having a good dice with TT, shame the server went pop really especially as GT had Team Shark 1 - 2.

Like TT, not really enthused to run this again tbh. I really can't commit to Tuesday as I am working late and weekends at the moment so simply might not make it, but if it's re-run i shall try and make it. With such a low turnout not sure it's worth it tbh and if it's a track bug then we're screwed anyway.  :angel: :laugh:

half points or just take the league as it stands????

By the sounds of it we don't have the export so we may have no result at all.

Perhaps we can fill in the results manually.  :lol: :lol: :lol:

1) Zacari
2) Ruskus
3) ?
4) TrueTom
5) Shark
6) Pops?
7) MJ?
8) Picnic?
9) Don?
10) Gerald?
11) ?
12) ?

LOL. :clap: :smartass:

Don was following me unless Gerald passed him

Maybe MJs hangover had influenced the server  ;D

TT

Yup, I was running behind you Shark, then MJ.

I was infront of mj after he went off before i pitted, this is no way to decide final championship standings, either re-run it or take last race standings as final, don't p**s about surmising who was where, when!!!!!!

The race didn't last even 40 minutes which is less than 50% meaning the results aren't valid (in normal race regulations). Either race should be done over or the chamionship standins should be frozen as they are. My vote goes to rerunning it as this is no way of finishing a season.

No-one is pissing around, if the server crases then we could treat it as a red-flagged race, and use real-life rules to work out the result from that.  But because it's never happened before and it's not currently covered by the rules it needs to be figured out.

Between 2 laps and 50% is half-points, 50-100% is full points. just for info.

I'd like us to finish the season as it should be, with the race. But where - Suzuka or elsewhere.

Oh, btw, if you decide for Anderstorp  :2guns: :gun_bandana: :hang:

 ;D

TT

Not exactly:


So it would be half points? As far as I know we even don't have a replay, guessing the results is no option. Let's be clear on that.

I have a replay :P and thanks for the correction :)

Oh, bugger :(

On to the next excuse to rerun it: Client replays aren't THAT reliable ;)

Still I think we should rerun it though. Come on, this isn't a good way to end the season, is it? :)

Wohoo! The duel just begun to develop, too bad it finished prematurely.  :-\
Was promising.  :)

TT

put it this way, me and rus were over a minute ahead of everyone else after 10 laps, I'm not gonna go through 38 laps of utter boredom for nowt.  If it is re-run I'll retire as soon as the team are not in danger of losing the GT team title.

Also we'd have to make sure only people who were there for the race tonight turn up or that makes it unfair too.  Either way it's not ideal, I'd almost rather forget the last race entirely and declair it a 7-race championship.

If more people had bothered their arses to turn up I'd be more enthusiastic about running in any re-run.

What I said was meant as a joke, but I'll bite :)

Tell me how this championship is called Zacari? Ow yeah: Endurance :o

So, let's continue with you calculation. You are 3 seconds faster than anyone else on the track. The race lasts for 35 laps. Theoreticly you would be 1:45 ahead of the next guy. Hey wait...tyres fried....might lose some time here...ow cr*p, offtrack.... you can imagine what happens next. If it were only the speed that counts then we could have ended the season by using the qualifying results, add 1,5-2 seconds and multiply it by the predicted number of laps. Now that wouldn't be fair would it ??? ::)

I agree with you that only the people who showed up tonight would be able to rerun it. That shouldn't be a problem. If there are more people who fancy to not rerun it then just freeze the championship at 7 races and call it final. We are not running 100% by Fia GT rules so why should we in this case? One example is the 20% rule. A driver should complete a minumum of 20% of the original race distance to be eligable for points. :)

That the server was in the backup lobby might've had something to do with it.

If we do rerun it all Endurance 3 drivers will be eligible - I would imagine a few of those who showed up last night might not be able to make it, which will shrink the field even more. It would be nice to see the final GTR1 Endurance championship race go out with a bang (and not a server exploding type of bang) instead of a whimper.

Well, that sucked...  :D

The server crashing was unfortunate but I guess these things happen, the technology isn't quite perfect yet so I guess we can consider ourselves lucky that the only occasion that's happened.

What I'm really disappointed with is the low turnout for the race, with it being end of season and the very last GTR league race I can't understand why it was so low :(

I think I'd be in favour of some points being awarded for the race as it stood when the server crashed, whether it's full or half-points doesn't matter really, either way Truetom gets the 2nd place in the standings which seems a fair end to the season :)

I'm not hugely motivated to run the race again but I will if that's the majority opinion.

Ok, utter boredom was a slight exaduration :P but that race was such a contrast to Brno when racing close with Rich, greg et al was so good it's difficult to look at it in the same way.  If it is re-run hopefully more will turn up, it was certainly a challenging track when it came to lapping :o ;)

No, as no-one posted to say they couldn't get in and even now no-one has said they wanted to but couldn't.

12 is what we got, that was the schedule and I personally think we shouldn't re-run it, at least not at Suzuka where this could have been a track bug. What happens if we run it again and the same thing happens again? These things happen. It would be unfair on those that turned up to allow others to race in a re-run imho and how do we ensure that we get the same 12 etc?

As for the "pissing about", where has the fun and respect gone? Come on Jamera we're just trying to be light hearted about what happened and find a suitable arrangement for something we don't have a rule for. My post was littered with LOL smilies.

I agree it's not a good end to the season, but it's typical of the GTR to do it to us in the last championship race ever. I fear a re-run would just be a lower turnout than 12. I can't believe people are questioning going to GTR 2 when we have 1 FPS, random discos, rubbish lobby, CTDs, server crashes and patches that remove features. Roll on GTR 2!

Well, I for one would be there in a shot if it was re-run. I practiced all day for this and only when I got to the 2nd practice, did I realise that I wasn't a reserve for this series. Was for season 2 but not for 3.

Gizmo kindly registered me for it just before the race but I had tucked into the wine at that stage - gutted! - even if it would have been only a part of the race before the server went bsod.

If it is re-run, I'd accept that since I was not in the origonal race, I shouldn't drive.......but since I have fek all chance of points usually.... :-*   I'd love to though. Like some of the lads are saying already, I'm sad to see these game leagues finish and I, for one, will make it to ANYTHING you guys organise just to quell the flow of tears...

If we re-run it won't be at Suzuka. There's no point risking a repeat occurrence at a track version which will be obsolete immediately after the race.

What about Enna :P

 :o ;D

or Spa

I don't mind doing Spa 2 times but the HoF race is kept there as well.

That's made my morning :D

LOL. Well yeah, you need a track like that to go out with a bang :D Against the scary concrete walls that is ::)

Fully aware of that mate but it is the king of GT Endurance tracks.

or

LeMans !!, lol.

The obvious choice is Monza, which was the traditional season closer.

woooo Monza! gets my vote :)

Yeah, you're right. It's a great track :)

Right, rather than prolong the agony any more I'm taking an executive decision to declare the Suzuka race as an abandoned event and replacing it with a new final no really final this time honest final event next Sunday, August 20th at Monza. I'll post a new race announcement shortly when I've tried to remember all the things I normally forget about posting event announcements. :laugh:

I'm locking this thread because otherwise I just know we'll end up with discussions about the same thing in both! ::)

Are there any add-on tracks that have been proven to be trustworthy?

Would be interesting to run a track that we haven't had much experience on to relive that "getting to know GTR" feeling we all got when we started this journey.

In a context to be announced this evening that may still happen.

But we really need to maximize the probability of getting through the final race in one piece. ;)

Okay, new race scheduled (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1957.0).