SimRacing.org.uk

Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R;group=1252)

(https://i.postimg.cc/7YCCm5yB/Round-3.png)

Welcome to Round 3 of the DTM season at Nogaro in France.
Ballast will be applied to the following drivers as follows:

+20Kgs = Manteos
+15Kgs = FMG
+10Kgs = Lokanas
+ 5Kgs  = Fabri

Nogaro is the 1st purpose built race circuit in France, with the original layout opening in 1960 - the current form of the track became active in 2007, although this was mostly a modernisation of the 1989 updates to the circuit.
Despite having two fast straights Nogaro has numerous tight sections and heavy braking zones, so will likely favour the more agile/high grip cars.

When joining the server please ensure you select the correct car.


Password: see above (#post_event_password)

Practice: 19:30 (45 mins)
Qual: 20:15 (15 mins)
Race: 20:30  (2x 16 lap races)


Cars allowed:
Alfa 155 (+11Kg ballast, 10% (-42Hp) restrictor)
BMW M3 DTM (no handicap)
Ford Sierra R500 V3.03 (+20Kg Ballast, 45% restrictor (turbos don't respond the same as N/A before you ask!)
https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/ford-sierra-cosworth-rs500-pack.24027/
Mercedes 190E DTM (+6Kg ballast, 1% (-6.3Hp) restrictor).


Track: Nogaro
https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/circuit-paul-armagnac-de-nogaro.37199/ (https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/circuit-paul-armagnac-de-nogaro.37199/)

EXTRA CAMERAS
Nogaro only comes with 1 camera file - so I've made some more!
FMG cam 1&2 are panning cameras intended for single or multiple cars - the Static cams are really intended for big grids.. Moderator cams I threw together to make checking lap 1 easier and thought someone might get some sort of enjoyment out of them so also threw them in.
Grab 'em here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fs4mza4mhnporqs/Nogaro%20Cams.rar?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/fs4mza4mhnporqs/Nogaro%20Cams.rar?dl=0)
These go into the '*your steam directory*\steamapps\common\assettocorsa\content\tracks\nogaro\data' folder (you'll see the other camera files if you're in the right place).

The first lap of each race will be moderated as far as turn 9 - any incidents that require moderation beyond that point will require a report to be raised in the normal fashion.

Live Timing: here (http://stracker.simracing.org.uk:50041/lapstat) (Only available in the week up to the race)

Time of Day Setting: 10:00
Weather: Cloudy
Start: Standing
Tyre wear: Normal
Fuel consumption: Normal
Pit-stops: Not required

Server track settings:
SESSION_START=100
RANDOMNESS=0
LAP_GAIN=0
SESSION_TRANSFER=N/a

Damage: 70%

Practice server is now up!

Nogaro ships with only 1 camera - I'll create some more between now and Sunday and add them to this thread/the 1st post :)

I was just on the server, and it's very dark. I know it says cloudy in the server settings, but feels almost like early evening.

Must admit I thought that when applying the med clouds setting while making camera's - haven't been on the server yet but will look.
If it's silly dark I'll change it to the 'light' clouds

Looking forward to learning a new track. Never raced at Nogaro before. Long straigths with tight turns should favor overtaking.

New track for me too. Got 3 races in 3 days next week  :o dont know where i will find time to learn it  :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDJPShnhNV0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDJPShnhNV0)

Hmm.. Just me that remembers racing here back in GTR2 days...

Indeed, seems I raced here in 2008 and beat MJ  :fencing:

https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5247#event1493

Ahem... I never got to race due to a tech problem  ::) ;) no wonder I don’t remember it.

Quit the lobby and game 3 times to try and solve but frames were shocking and had severe stuttering. Tried dropping my detail levels but that didnt work either. Have had no problems offline with this track.

Tried to stay in the race hanging at the back and tried all different camera views to ease the fps but i was just getting a headache and dropping further and further back so had no choice but to quit  :'(

Despite not liking that track to start with it grew on me with more laps under my belt so shame i couldnt race.

Just got some laps in, cool track in these cars, quite technical and should be great for racing on :)

I've been busy again so we now have:

EXTRA CAMERAS!
Nogaro only comes with 1 camera file - so I've made some more!
FMG cam 1&2 are panning cameras intended for single or multiple cars - the Static cams are really intended for big grids.. Moderator cams I threw together to make checking lap 1 easier and thought someone might get some sort of enjoyment out of them so also threw them in.
Grab 'em here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fs4mza4mhnporqs/Nogaro%20Cams.rar?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/fs4mza4mhnporqs/Nogaro%20Cams.rar?dl=0)
These go into the '*your steam directory*\steamapps\common\assettocorsa\content\tracks\nogaro\data' folder (you'll see the other camera files if you're in the right place).

Thanks Tim, DLing.. By the way do you post your camera files on RD everytime you bring some new to us ? I guess that the community would like them as we do, don't you think ?

Thanks a lot Tim! Much appreciated.

I've only uploaded the ones I've made with permission from the track author - you have convert the KN5 file into a different format in order to work with the editor and make cameras files.
That turns into a bit of a grey area, most authors couldn't care less with camera files - some don't even like that..

I've to learn the track in a proper way yet. Said that I don't see any chance to even get close to a high 1.37 on meds or Hards with the Alfa here. So I bet that we will see a different winner for this race. At the same time, you can be sure that I will fight at my best to get on the podium  ;D. This race will be really tough for Alfas :'( :'( :'(

Just from looking at the graph in S-tracker I can tell you that you're taking the wrong line through T1/2 ;)

Check the video Mark put up earlier - the flying lap is very nearly the line I'm taking arou8nd the entire circuit :)

Can't remember if you were there, but we raced Volvo P1800 here in GT Legends WNR/SNR back in the days... I remember cause I had won it.  ;D

Instructive video. Thx for sharing. Anyway ballast is really a factor here for the Alfas. There are 7 kph gap between BMW and Alfa on the straight, so it will be an issue. I can't even imagine to go on meds for all the race. They won't last. With hards I'm stucked on 39.0-39.5 pace. I don't see the light out of the tunnel, and I guess that I should buy even a new H shifter, as this one is broken in some way, given that when I'm in first and 3rd gear, sometimes the electronic switch puts me on neutral ::) ::)

At least I'll solve the trouble of mishifting, as I experienced strange issues lately with the H shifter. It had its days :'(

See you on weds

It's still dark Tim.. Quite eye-nasty.  ::)

What H shifter is that Matteo, if you don't mind telling us? I experienced similar issues with an old SHH shifter and realised the electronic components were physically too far apart from the mechanical bits (the stick) and just by adding a small nut to push the electronic board a bit out, the problem was sorted... Would that be similar to your issue? It sounds suspicious that it's 1st and 3rd causing the problem...

had no issues with lighting when i was on the server at the weekend ???

It's a G29 H shifter Jos. I used it a lot in last years to be honest, especially with GPL mod. However, I'll buy a new one I guess. Cause my bricolage capabilities are at level 0 minus ;D

 ;D Good luck with the purchase...

I must admit that my levels of sympathies are not much high after your four wins in a row though, but I'm sure you will find the pace in time for the race... I did a few laps the other day to learn the track (never here before) and I'm 2.5secs down!!!!  :o
I'm going to need a lot of practice but my series overbooking is not helping. Glad to see my teammate doing well on the table though.

 Next race will be the first i'll race using H shifter, unfortunately my g25 is not that good and, as well as Matteo, i was thinking of buying a new one, do you have any suggestion?
 
Thanks in advance

Regards

Lorenzo

Ballast is primarily a cornering, braking, and low-speed penalty, weight has almost no effect on top end acceleration or top speed (Both are determined purely by Aero, power, and then traction in that order (Speed record cars tend to be heavily ballasted - I know of an early 90's 200SX in the states that's running about 1300Bhp doing 200+ on speed trials. It and has been ballasted UP to about 2 tonnes - They weigh ~1290Kgs stock and only do ~130-140 for the turbo variants).
The Alfa's straight line problem is (assuming AC model this accurately) the All Wheel Drive system, power loss through 3 diffs and all the other parts is massive compared to the 2WD cars.
There's a fantastic best motoring video from the late 90's with a load of crazy Japanese racing drivers where they raced a stock S15 Silvia (250Bhp) Vs a stock Evo 6 (~300Bhp). The Evo walked off the line and out of the hairpins but was destroyed on the straights and in the faster corners by the Silvia - which eventually won. They both weigh roughly the same.

So in other words you're stuck this round as your cornering advantage is now heavily eroded, and you were never going to be fastest down the straight anyway :P (I'm actually surprised at the BMW's top speed, I expected similar to the Merc but you got a fair bit faster than my car - no wings? I think even with restrictors the Merc still has more power)

I've had the miss-shift thing as well though, I think it's caused by wear to the metal parts that define the gate - eventually the stick moves enough the hall devices can't see it anymore as Jos suggests.
I just took the leather shift gaiter off and it fixed it for me :)


I haven't changed the clouds type yet on the server - I have to assume this is a Shaders patch thing though as like Marc I had no issues when I did my practice runs.
Will fire up the Gaming PC later and switch it...


Lorenzo - G25's are the best, I've actually worn the plastic around my pedals smooth. Would love to know how many miles it's 'driven'!

I'm sure you're right about ballast issues Tim.

About the BMW, even when we did a champ in VDA 4 years ago, it was slightly faster than Merc on a straight line (1 or 2 kph for instance). But that champ was played with fixed setups, so I don't remember at all which wing we put at the BMW. Yesterday I was going with wing 1 if I'm not wrong. The rest, apart from gear ratios, was default set as ever

I think my fastest laps were also 1 wing - it could simply be the 'better' bodykit on the Merc.
They made road-going racecars in order to homologate that aero package, so probably fair to say it's grippy, but not so slippy - plus the M3 is a much smaller coupe which will help no end.

Just been on server and for me its like driving around a black strip, no detail on surface and everything very dark, could be my system not sure, tried last weeks track on cloudy and its OK. This track on light clouds the surface is as in race description, light grey and detailed. As I say it could be peculiar to my system so will go with whatever weather is selected. It won't affect my race position at the rear..... ;D

I'll be changing the server after work Bob - although it sounds like there's some oddness going on out there with you lot!

Not complaining  ;D Not running any patches like the content thing or shader patch  just default AC with the natural rift pp filter.

Server is now running light clouds - this might have altered the track temp a bit as AC calculates that dynamically.
I have no way of knowing what value it is at my end, so you'll all just have to go with what ever the server says it is now.  :P

Hopefully you can all see where you're going now :D

Thankfully that it's only lightly cloudy because it still looks like an average day in autumn ! ;)
Why does the game think that south of France has such an ugly weather ?  :laugh:

Hi Lorenzo,
The new SHH shifters looked significantly improved. I had problems with the first one I had (the one I mentioned to Matteo and a weak stick that broke due to a weakness in their design). I am not as bad as Matteo on the DIY department (it seems  :laugh:) and fixed both problems as the device is easy to modify. I bought a new generation one for the H shifting (much better design) and I'm keeping the old one for sequential shifting...
I haven't used many others (the g27 when I started) and the SHH is much better than that and at a reasonable price (I think).
I've always been looking for Heusinkveld to finish their H shifter project, but they don't seem to be making much progress on it... And there is this other thing (Pro-Sim H shifter) that would be a dream, although I wouldn't know where to put it!? Or what bank to rob to get it!  ;D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8FITVWo6m4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8FITVWo6m4)

crikey that is an impressive shifter but where the heck could you mount it? it wouldnt even fit on my rig anywhere  :o  I love the Quaiffe sequential shifter as well, total beast  8)

Heusinkveld kit is great, very well built. Am surprised they havent made a H-Shifter yet considering they do pedals, handbrakes and sequential shifters. I'm still using a secondhand TH8A that ive had for 5 years and still going strong. I get the odd mis-shift in the heat of action now and then but its pretty good for a relatively cheap unit. The Fanatec shifter looks robust and chunky.

Thanks for your suggestions guys, i'll make some races with my old G25 shifter and then will take a decision.

Regards

Lorenzo

Well, this last SHH build looks fine indeed. I'd probably would get interested if I was about to replace my good'ole TH8RS.. How is the feeling Jos ?

You also have the Fanatec which has a good reputation afaik but isn't really cheap to say the least, as about all Fanatec stuff.

Finally the Thrustmaster TH8 (A or RS) will always be a good investment if you manage to grab it under 140-150 euros I'd say. Rock solid.

I simply acquired another G29 gearshit  ;D

No more mishifting, no more crashed gearbox in 7 laps, and laptimes benefited form this change aswell ;)

I just hope to be on time for qualif!

See you tomorrow chaps :)

We like the old Matteo with his old shifter better....  :P

i havent got near this track since saturday, after two other races the last two nights  :( Will have to try and jump on a bit earlier this eve for some laps. Looking forward to it though as seems a good track for these cars, but everyone seems quick in this series so missing out on practise/testing is painful to find those extra tenths.

The aliens didnt know i have been sneaking into their houses and disabling their hardware  :shifty:  I turned FMG's steering to 15 degrees port and took the gear pin out of Matteos shifter  :devil: ;)

Bet it's you who has cut my rift cable.........

I'll be pulling my wheel apart after tonight's race - but have already had a look at options to just replace it.
All I can say is Jesus they've got expensive in the last 10 years!
I only payed £150 for the G25, and that was brand new direct from Logitech to boot! :o


I think we need to doc 100 points from MJ for all this unsporting behaviour :P

I've already bought a new wheel. Tonight will be my the last race with the G25. Things end, but memories last forever.

i am actually shocked (and equally impressed) that some of you are still using G25's  :o  I must be on my 4th different wheel since i had one of those and each upgrade made me think the previous one felt like a toy in comparison. I know there is a financial element, but its all about the immersion/feel as well as the actual racing for me.

I've got a Fanatec CS-Elite sitting in my loft if anyone wants it? free to a good home, would just want postage costs covering. Think its got pedals as well, cant remember, i'd have to dig it out.

I think I could actually be interested Mark - can you have a look what you have and let me know what I'll have to source separately/new?*, oh, and 2 or 3 pedals if you happen to have them!?
I'll be fixing the G25 if possible anyway because of some very good PS2 games I have, but keeping it going with the use it gets on the PC requires near constant maintenance now :death:

*i.e. does it still have a wheel attached, does that have flappy paddles, guess I'll need to buy a H-shifter anyway ect ect ect..

i'll dig it out later and take a look Tim. I think it had flappy paddles but would need a separate shifter but think it came with pedals that i never used/needed.

 I also have a set of Speed 7 pedals sitting up there. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.isrtv.com%2Fforums%2Ftopic%2F19897-fs-brd-speed-7-pedals%2F&psig=AOvVaw0NUbsC0mQogfPKbdAUaI2E&ust=1611238718726000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCLibzo3aqu4CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI (https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.isrtv.com%2Fforums%2Ftopic%2F19897-fs-brd-speed-7-pedals%2F&psig=AOvVaw0NUbsC0mQogfPKbdAUaI2E&ust=1611238718726000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCLibzo3aqu4CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI) These were pricey kit back in the day, full metal construction whilst all the normal kit at the time was plastic.

With a bit of digging through the Fanatec site I've found they are about to release a loadcell upgrade for the CSL pedals, this takes them to throttle, brake + clutch with 'similar' components to the V3's.
So if you have the 2 pedal set from the elite kit (I'm assuming it was probably similar to the current kit) this should be a direct upgrade that just bolts on.
I'm reading good reviews on their shifter too, only issue there is that it's currently out of stock

Well MJ, if FMG can't use those Speed 7 pedals I would be interested. I need to upgrade to a 3 pedal set and a shifter, (and later on the wheel too ofcourse) because I am still using a DFGT. Was Looking at the Thrustmaster T3PA's, but these might be nice too. Can't seem to find much info on them anymore, but I am sure they will do a better job then the stock DFGT pedals.
PM me if you want to get rid of them and maybe how much you would want for those.

i dont want any money for them, just whatever the post/courier ends up costing.  :)  I need to check they still have their connection leads first but should be tied up with them. I did have the manual saved on my pc for a long while but got a sneaky feeling it got cleared out. Will look later.

And Mark was impressed at G25/27 users - you sir have just won :o :notworthy:
Don't know what you're looking at for shifters, but it seems the better options appear to be the Fanatec Clubsport shifter sq v1.5 (£££) and possibly the SHH (https://www.shiftershh.com/en/) shifter (£). A couple on here have that and seem to rate it highly, only issue is you'll need to be patient according to the website.
I'm seeing references to the Thrustmaster H-shifter being a bit less 'nice' feeling and saw a comment by Mark that his liked to come loose in long races :D

I decided to reveal all the secrets about my Daily Iveco cockpit

1) Hotel slippers to prevent the movement of my wheelchair  ;D ;D
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PJ_RANmhTA0CnhfVcYWNhQpVKQLsNuhR/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PJ_RANmhTA0CnhfVcYWNhQpVKQLsNuhR/view?usp=sharing)


2) Tilted keyboard rest. Sooner or later I'll find myself with the steering wheel on my knees :D Another secret to go fast is to have at hand your faithful HP printer  ;)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1szN28TDRVRqPSnI0U-_Z7BhAHWQrKbKs/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1szN28TDRVRqPSnI0U-_Z7BhAHWQrKbKs/view?usp=sharing)

3) New G29 Gearshit with an applied condom to protect the Big G!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jVHnjvv-F_zgg7Gq7bbejFTjpuiIW7xV/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jVHnjvv-F_zgg7Gq7bbejFTjpuiIW7xV/view?usp=sharing)

4) This video shows the functioning of my reclining backrest to simulate G forces when braking or accelerating  ;D ;D ;D ;D I should give some WD40 to the mechanism  :D :D :D
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QTdKq1Zja-nciMV_OglwR-Ywg-9bb1O8/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QTdKq1Zja-nciMV_OglwR-Ywg-9bb1O8/view?usp=sharing)

@Tim, no the Thrustmaster is a good shifter too and now i have it properly mounted its rock solid. I used to have a bit of a bodged mount that would work its way loose over time. A solid mount improved the shifting no end! Its not as good as the fanatec i would say but then its half the price. A good intermediate shifter i think and it can switch between H and sequential.  Check on e-bay for shifters as well, they often pop up as people upgrade kit or find they dont use a H-shift...heathens  :P

lol Matteo  :laugh: and yet still so fast  :o

I'm another one of the long time G25'ers, served me for 13+ years, until about 12 days ago when my new Fanatec setup arrived.
Here's my "rig" :)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gv9E5BBa3N16F4Vv8

This will be my second race with it.

Don't tell me the pedals finally arrived!? :o
I've heard bugger all from Royal Fail since they supposedly wrote to you

Nice Syd!

Lol There's definatley a pattern here.. Every shot of the quick guys setup and its always very simple! lol

I had an ill fated move to fanatec about 12 years ago with their Porsche GT3RS wheel and Clubsport pedals with the loadcell but never got on with them and sold a short while later. Moved to the G27 and then 4 years ago to the T300 Ferrari GTE version but kept the G27 pedals.

My current setup, pretty new only bought the frame in november, monitors however are antiques!...https://photos.app.goo.gl/ifEHK46rTemyzF9DA (https://photos.app.goo.gl/ifEHK46rTemyzF9DA)

Can anyone help with setups for the Merc? There is no way i can get that kind of top speed or lap time out of it!

If you get on the server early enough and can cope my my amazing typing from in the Rift I can tell you my settings - or send it if you have S-tracker.
It's VERY unlikely to help you though as it's designed heavily for my driving style. Whenever Fabri has tried one of my setups he's ended up reverting to his own after stealing the gear ratios from it ;D

No Tim, that's a second set I get via a new way that opened up, from USA.
I never got the letter from Royal Force, seems nothing they send actually arrives.

Link to my replay
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D8VMrklrfqw7QmvqRP3FASDC0aNRBWST/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D8VMrklrfqw7QmvqRP3FASDC0aNRBWST/view?usp=sharing)

About my races, they were a bit lonely this evening. Unfortunately Tim has discoed after 5 or 6 laps, when he seemed on a good pace and would have probably catched me at some point. I really missd that battle this evening :(

In race 2 I realized my wheel was turned right before the start, so I got distracted and messed it a bit. Jos could pass on the outside of the first corner, but then I crossed the line at the second corner taking back the lead. After that I started to push again a bit, but he didn't give up for the first 3 or 4 laps. I probably had a more consistent pace, and even tyre wear was acceptable this time on Medium. I just had left tyre wear bar on red during last 3 laps. My pace was really good too, as I think I've done both races with a laptime range from 1.37.5-38.9, never been on a 1.39.

Without any intent to be a boaster, I wouldn't mind if you put me 5 or10 kgs more ballast, but I guess that training and a decent setup helped a lot as ever. New gearbox was surely a factor on my laptime improvements since yesterday, as I don't have to bother anymore to preserve my gearbox instead of driving the car  ;D

Well done to Jos , Fabri and the other podium finishers!

See you for the next ;)

I wasn't expecting to end up that high up on the table in the Nogaro's races, even after factoring in my current love affair with the great Sierra. There was an element of luck (as always) with Tim's disconnection and not sure what happened to the front running Sierra when pitting soon after the race started (not enough fuel?) - Sorry I didn't retain the driver's name.

Race 1 was without a doubt the most exciting one for me. Starting in P8? had a fantastic start and first few turns fighting against Lorenzo to find myself in P5 at the beginning of the main straight. Lorenzo was attacking hard but the Sierra had the advantage on the braking so I was confident it was going to be quite hard for Lorenzo to overtake unless I made a mistake... No mistakes on this race. After gaining a bit of an advantage in Lorenzo to avoid having to look at the mirrors so often, I charged to catch up on Kai that was a second ahead. Tim and the other sierra had already gone so I was in third and catching. Kai then made a bit of a mistake in the last few turns and I managed to perform a sustained overtake over the first few turns. That was very close and safe racing. Great driving Kai. Lorenzo was following closely and, with us fighting for position, he had already caught up by the time I completed the overtake. That worked great for me as Lorenzo and Kai continued to fight for position. I had a few secs advantage and the impossible task of catching Matteo whose tyres were holding pretty well on this track... P2 felt like a win in any case.

Video of the first race: https://youtu.be/SEYcMX-uAc0

Race 2 first two laps were great. I was planning for a much faster exit but failed with the clutch and had to reset it... I couldn't get in front of Matteo properly but pushed it and got there at the end, although a bit overdoing T2 which was enough for the master to quickly recover his natural position as Tim was in the dungeons of the back of the grid after the disconnection of R1. I tried to push hard and, despite the awful lag, managed to exert some pressure on Matteo for a few laps, but it wasn't enough and without the tyres' advantage in the second half of the race, Matteo was gone for good. Imperial Matteo as Fabri put it. I was still delighted with my pace (down to 1:38.0!) and the solid P2 (Tim allowing). The video of the 2nd race includes only the first two laps, just before the lag started as the remaining was pretty boring on my own...

Video of the second race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVecTFigwMo

Matteo, don't pay attention to my jokes on adding more ballast to your Alfa. Talent cannot be bogged down with weight. I just enjoy making fun with the thousands of kgs I would secretly add to yours and Tim's cars XD.

Congrats to the podiums, thanks to Tim for putting this together and see you in the next one.
Enjoy!

Horrible night for me, first time i was using the H shifter, the result was two gearboxes blown up in both races >:(

Anyway i had some great and clean fights, and was quite happy with my pace.

Grats to Matteo for the astonishing pace and to podiums.

Regards

Lorenzo

Indeed, the coordination of the clutch with the H shifter is critical and particularly important for some cars. The most difficult one is the Lamborghini Miura... Gearboxes go like hell on this car. Good one to train your coordination with the clutch...

Good pressure btw on the first race.

Another gearbox failure for me, my second mechanical retirement in two nights with my puncture the night before, both a first for me in sim-racing in all these years :o whats happening?!

Think i was suffering a bit of combat fatigue last night after 3 consecutive nights racing. Felt alright and brimming with enthusiasm for this event but then two ctds in practise and qually seemed to sap my mojo as i constantly then expected it to crap out again at any point in the race and it threw my concentration.  :(

Anyway had some great battles in race 1, albeit i did somehow manage to turn my team mates Beemer around at the end of the straight. I was able to brake much later and still turn in earlier. I duly waited and allowed him back past but it also let two other cars past that had been a few secs behind us and also allowed our quarry 'Syd the Dam' to escape down the road  :(  Within a few laps though my gearbox was already pinging out of gear and showing yellow damage, not sure why, maybe i had done some drastic downshifts in battle. :-\  Whatever, i had got upto 7th i think by lap 10 when the gearbox finally gave up in the hairpin and i had to pull off the road with a box full of neutrals.  >:(

race 2, now demoted to the back of the grid in a gaggle of Mercs, got a tardy start where i felt in a daze and just watched the pack go off. Took me a fair few laps to get in the groove, including a 5 second costing spin behind SRW's stout and clever Cossie defence. I re-caught him after a few laps and had another short battle but this time he seemed to back off a bit and let me go  ???
I then caught a pack of cars all in an intense battle with each other and at some point it got messy ahead with several cars fighting for each tight corner. I think i may have nipped Bobs left rear out of the hairpin but i was being equally nudged by someone on my right rear, so sorry for that Bob but not much i could do at such close quarters  :( I wasnt even on the throttle at that point i think and seemed odd the way your car went off at such light contact.  ??? though you looked heavily damaged already!
Several cars seemed to be having issues, retiring with gearbox damage or spinning off and think i finally got to about 9th at race end. This track was a car killer!

I struggled for overall pace in both races, even though the car felt quick, everyone has upped their game in this series.  My gears never felt quit spot on though, too many options!   :surrender:

Got to say, hats off to Tim for getting these cars right, the colourful grid looks simply fantastic and watching cars streaming through the hairpin in action looked terrific  :tt1: 8)

 ;D Was already badly damaged due to unavoidable contact with car across track a bit earlier. Think I had missed a gear at the time so not to worry Mark. Decided to retire rather than get in the way. First race was great very enjoyable, on replay noticed an all white beemer, need to get the skin sorted. Off for my first covid jab now, advantage of being over 75 :thumbup2:

1st attempt at results upload has gone wrong with race 2 ::) I'll try again...

Race 1 might need adjusting too - although it'll need to be the result of review by another moderator, as we don't have any precedents I know of to allow me to alter that one myself.
Proper post-race post once I've figured this out....

3rd time lucky - results should stay up now, I finally found my mistake :-[

Race 1 might also need editing - Watching the replay back I see I disconnected on the start line and rejoined at the rear of the train on the same lap.
As there seems to be a bug here with the pits not counted (Kimi needed a lap back in race 2 also from a pit stop) I think I was dropped a lap and shouldn't have been - but as it involves me I can't be the judge of that so will have to report myself to A.N. Other moderator.


My races:

Race 1 looked like it should be fantastic, although I qualified badly (I've almost given up trying for pole as the Alfa's pretty much negate it's value :D ) I knew from sector times that I was on-pace to annoy and fight with Matteo all race.
I'd clawed back a few tenths by lap 4 and was feeling pretty happy, as the Alfa suffers more from tire wear at the end than I do (Or at least Matteo's fat Alfa does), so was waiting for the fight to come to me and just had to avoid mistakes in the mean time..
Then the disco (In Matteo's replay I seem to disconnect exactly as I cross the S/F line - I'd be curious to know if the other disco's also happened there). I rejoined as fast as I could and got straight back on track. But the game said I was a lap down and I had no way of checking it so only passed cars that I could easily get by.
I caught Stefan and Kimi having a massive fight some 3 or 4 laps from the end - I decided not to get involved and mess their fight up as I wasn't battling for position.
It now looks like it was and I should have pressed on hard while I had surprise on my side...

For Race 2 I elected to run Hard tires (happy with my own FL Vs Matteo therefore ;) ) as I knew I could equal the pace around me at the start and then just drive around people from halfway onwards when their tires melted.
The start went well, I had a good launch but had a scare when SRW was checked up infront of me and I locked up very easily on the hard compound while avoiding him :o
On about lap 3 or 4 I got alongside Kimi between T2 and 3 and then had contact when he turned across my nose - sorry Kimi, but even if I moved further right I'd only have bounced off the kurb/grass and hit you harder. As I was in your mirror (intentionally) the entire way to the corner and was alongside when you turned in I didn't wait. If you think I hit you or it was avoidable then you can raise a report and I'll draft another mod in look at it.

A few laps later I got a good dive inside Kai at the hairpin in T4 but lost the back end after putting a front wheel on the kurb and hit him - Sorry Kai, hence waiting for you wide around the outside of T5.

From there I drove like mad and thanks to my ever improving hards was up to about 4th I think when the fuel light came on.
I still don't understand how I got through so much fuel as there was enough for 15 laps in there based on practice runs - I guess I should have factored for the extra fuel burn required to fight up through the field :censored:

On the positive side my wheel only moved about 5-10 degrees last night so as it was a H-shifter car I barely noticed :-\

Clearly all the Disco's and kit failures were the work of MJ so I'll dock all his points later ;D

Not many points to deduct from last night sadly  :'(

i often get a big freeze/stutter as i cross the line first time (must be trying to write something back to the HD?)

But both my ctds were at random points around the track. I dont get why i have one in each practise session the last two weeks, then its fine the entire race with more action/cpu/gpu load  ??? very odd. Seemed to be a few ctd's last night though so may have been something up with the server?

Will go check that wheel and gubbins in the loft lunchtime and report back.

I watched replay and I think you should wait for me there, but no point to wait if you only get penalty -2 places instead - 10 places if you wait... I don't bother to do report, waste of time so to speak.

For Tim, Stefan or whoever - kit available : https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=23821.0 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=23821.0)

Off topic anyone use a Quest2 in vr?

Thanks for last night gents. Unfortunately I rolled forward off the line in race 1 and got myself a drive-thru (No not a big Mac) So that pretty much buggered me, came out the pits on a charge and Zinged the motor twice with a missed gear. So I conceded tonight wasn't my night and parked it. Race 1 start was already seeing me go past midnight in Bahrain and I had work the next day. So I opted for my bed.
Hopefully be back for the next round. Cars looked amazing in the liveries!

I noticed this in the replay and meant to comment - As the server is set to a drive through for jump starts, my best advise if you accidentally creep/go is to just go as soon as you realise your mistake.
The drive through will cost you far more than any advantage from an early start will (I think gears only become active with about 10 seconds to go) so you might as well get started on your punishment ;) . The most important part here is to ensure you go safely, I don't think I need to say where the blame will get directed if you go pin-balling down the grid ;D

Qualif : I was rather late and had got the bad idea to tweak some hardware settings on my racing config in addition to trying to solve some problems. Eventually I had to quit before the end of the qualif to revert back to my previous configuration. Laptimes suffered.


Race 1 : Was fun to try to grow up into the field, untill I reached Syd's car that was really unpassable, a true Maginot line with a much better straight speed ! Half of my race on his back, got passed in the snail where the Sierra was the most advantaged but with a little side contact, and as the situation was unclear to me, I decided to immediately give the position back into the next left turn. Eventually he did a mistake later, so that all this threat wasn't useless, but he hold the pressure very well, being very strongly defensive.

Race 2 : I did a dumb mistake right after the start in the esses and ended getting back on the track behind almost everybody. Then it was a really fun race, trying to weave into the pack. Tim's misadventures led to him being just ahead of me in the same situation. Plenty of action ! He finally had to pit due to overconsuming his fuel I guess, so that I even was able to finish in an unexpected 4th position.

Unreal Matteo, we should give him a camper van really. Special congrats to Jos for some great races, very solid driving with 2 wins amongst the human people (and unfortunate other aliens). To the point he slightly grabs some alien traits himself actually. Damn, we're getting invaded.  ;D

;D LOL. Thanks for the kind words, Maxime. I think the only alien trait I have, now that I know Tim's secret is, his sleepers  ;D (you need to read the Imola Cayman GT4 thread in SRO to understand this...

You had a great couple of races despite the issues you suffered. The team is going strong  :taz:

I'm just not enjoying this, I'm not sure I'll carry on. With cars have widely different characteristics It feels like Im flogging the car and myself and not getting any time out of it to find everyone else braking in half the distance, the braking is a bit variable depending on the ABS,  The wing is helping downforce but then cant carry the same corner speed when following people. The lack of proper grip on the front end means the back can be a bit too loose. Low grip, soft, old cars has never been my thing. I just don't have the feel for them.

 

I keep forgetting to send you may setup - however calling the Merc soft is a tad inaccurate! My biggest fight with it has been softening it enough to actually get the wheels to stay on the floor ;D
As for the ABS, it's rubbish - you can go much faster if you turn it off and just reduce the brake force to 90-95% (do it to suit your own driving).

Don't compare your braking with that of the Fords BTW - they have insane brakes, I couldn't do anything to stop that effectively hence why they have a slower-than-you'd-expect top speed.

I don't have an Avus setup yet but will upload my Nogaro one for you later tonight - I have to upload some cameras anyway :)

Here's the setup, it was designed for Mediums but worked pretty well on hards also

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mibk927m1jrx6vl/Meds%2014Lp%20Race.rar?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/mibk927m1jrx6vl/Meds%2014Lp%20Race.rar?dl=0)

wrong spot

Isnt softening it causing more body roll and lifting the inside wheel?

That depends entirely largely on your ARBs - for Nogaro you'll see I had an odd mix of spring Vs ARB stiffness :)

Your front spring setting 160N/. Mine: 100N/mm

 :laugh: