SimRacing.org.uk

All forum members welcome.

IMPORTANT!
We will be testing two things in the first race, shared pit boxes and long, timed pit stops.

We will do a pace lap as normal, but at the end of the lap, everyone should come into the pits and stop in, or as close to, their assigned pit box as possible. If another car is occupying your pit box (some will be shared), park either just behind or to the side of it. Try not to block the pitlane completely!

Once stopped, you should remain stationary until both of the following conditions are met:

• you have been stopped for at least 4 minutes; and
• any cars in front of you have started to move out of the pit lane.

Once the cars in the front pit boxes start to leave, everyone should leave the pits together and do another pace lap and then begin the race as per the normal rolling start procedure. The grid will be mixed up so be careful![/color]

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Practice 2:	20:15	(35 mins)
Qual 2:	20:50	(5 mins)
Warmup:	n/a	(no warmup)
Race:	20:55	(45 mins)	Important! Pit box and long stop tests, as per the notes above

Cars allowed: any car from the UKGTR Skin Pack v2.1 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/index.php?pid=27) except the 993 GT2 - see this thread (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2228.0).
Weather: Dry
Track: Anderstorp South
Race Start Time 14:00

Server: UKGTR Super Fun
Password: Usual practice password, as shown here (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=12.msg17#msg17)

Notes:
(1) Please make sure you are fully aware of the UKGTR Rules (https://www.simracing.org.uk/index.php?pid=7) - especially the speed limiter starting procedure.
(2) Because this is a test race, the  usual rules about in-game chat messages will be relaxed until the racing laps are underway after the pit stop test phase, but be aware that any admins present may not be in a position to type replies!
(2) You will not be able to join the server without the skin and ballast pack (see link above).

Track to be announced. I'm considering Enna because it only has 17 pit boxes. Need to check if the pit area is wide enough though.

Also considering GTR2 versions of Sebring and Silverstone. Is there a Brands Hatch GP?

When is this?

Oops, always forget that. :-[ It's this Thursday, November 30th.

Track now chosen; it'll be Anderstorp South. Anderstorp because it has the fewest number of pitboxes of any standard track in GTR2 (just 15) and the South layout because we wouldn't use such a short layout in a championship event but it should produce a busy track.

Is this GT, NGT or both. If both, why still ban the GT2 as it's just a test, and some like that car (nutters ;))

Both, pus G3 and the Elise. Adding the GT2 back in would mean fiddling with the fiddles on the server to put it back and that's more risk than it's worth. Once the final championship race of the year is done we'll restore it for a few fun races specifically to help retest it against the faster NGTs and slower GTs.

This does not count for the champ right, so I can take a different car (no official carswap then?)

Correct. The car swap only counts within each individual championship, so you get two for NGT Sprint, two for GT Sprint, and two for Endurance. (In fact if you were to switch classes in Endurance you'd get four, but since you can't carry points between classes you'd already effectively have a penalty.)

I look forward to the first couple of laps. Are we having a "how many beers can you down during the pitstop" competition?

Shouldn't be difficult to spot the winner at the restart.  ;)

I probably won't race tonight, but I'll turn up to test out the pitboxes.

Which car takes the most damage and lives?  ;)

TT

Testing worked for me. Did not enjoy the race as Anders is crap, and the Mickey Mouse version is even more crap  ;D. So I did the best thing, and went head on into the barriers, just next to the ambulance, so they could get to me quickly ;)

Nice Ruskus, I was wondering where everyone was going!
Also - big thumbs up to everyone in the server. Really good driving quality and slower cars were very curtuious and jumping out of the way.

Also sorry to Aagramn if I got in your way :p

Provisional results  (https://www.simracing.org.uk/index.php?ind=lm2&event=294)and replay (http://www.ukgtr.org/replay/Anderstorp%20South_061130_2058.zip).

No problems with the test, except that some pit boxes were empty while others were shared.

That was suprisingly good fun, gave the nice red TSJ Lambo a runout. Started somewhere in the middle. Had a good scrap with FreQ over several laps, eventually got past when he caught an NGT. Left me in 3rd, but first Ruskus and then Pablo retired. Was lonely in 1st place, Anderstorp South is pretty dull to hotlap, so after a few laps I decided to pit to find another car to race against. Came out 4th, caught Bernie pretty quickly and eventually got past his very wide Saleen.

The NGTs were very aware and helpful towards the scrapping GTs coming past, thanks guys. If anything though, I thought people were too eager to let the GTs past. I'd prefer the NGTs to hold their lines rather than try to let me through mid-corner. I'm happy to wait behind, get a good corner exit and pass on the straight.

LOL.

Yeah it's a bit of naff track, although it has one thing going for it, it's better than Anderstorp North!  :laugh: :laugh:

Well after sharing a pit box with Mark in our 4 minute beer fest, I then found myself last of the GTs behind Bernie :'(. Spent half the race pestering him, I was way quicker under brakes and round most of the corners, but his Saleen just shot off like a jack in the box when we came to the main straight and for lap after lap I had no idea how I was going to overtake. We tapped once as he ran wide and then again later when I'd got along side at T1. That knocked me sideways and let back the battling TT and Priberio. Bernie slowed down to keep up the fight (thanks) and eventually I got by outbraking him and then he made a mistake behind and I was off, which was pretty much like my tyres. My left front finished the race with 35 wear. Was really hard getting it to go right for the last 5 minutes. :o

Was funny lapping TT and Priberio. Everytime they got lapped they were still joined at the hip like a pair of jostling siamese twins. That must have been great fun.

Well done FreQ on the win.  :)

First off, a big thank you to everyone who turned up. We had enough to make it a valid test. Poor Gerald somehow got himself retired on the first racing lap and I managed to dent my front left panels running wide coming out of the pit lane whilst leading the pace lap and trying to type a message at the same time. :-[


I was rather expecting that. It's useful data anyway and I expect we'll need to do a single-car test to verify some additional parts of my theory.

Was quite good fun sliding the 'Vette around trying to catch up with the NGT cars after coming back out of the pits, all very aware of what was going on and I tried not to interfere with the 350Z scrap too much. ;D Martin's 911 was jumping around a bit early on but seemed to settle down after that. Sorry about collecting you from in front, Ruskus, I ran wide and had nowhere to go and hoped there was enough room for you to get through without me having to stuff it in the tyres but obviously there wasn't. :(

After Shark lapped me his tyres were shot and mine were okay and I could keep pace but he ran wide in Gislaved and I followed suit and spun off. Figured I might as well pit for softs and see if I could set a fastest lap - got close in the first sector but kept losing half a second over the second two sectors and then the softs overheated and the race was over before I could cool them and have another go.

If I switch from NGT to GT next season I'm definitely taking the Corvette. ;D

Well, I must say this Nissan is easy to toss around, it stops at once and turns like a dancer.  :)  But its sloooooow on the straight. Had a 30 min scrap with Pribeiro. I was a bit faster on the braking and through corners but could never get him on the straights - he was even too far for late braking. Like Shark and Bernie. I was taking different lines, late braking, sooner braking, opening, even cutting corners, though it was risky. Nothing could move the bu..er.  ::) He was on his line and no mistakes were comming. Even lapping GTs didn't make the usual opportunities. Then towards the end, after tyre warning(s) Pribeiro made a tiny mistake so I could slip through. Otherwise - no way. Great driving buddy! This is why I bought this game.  :thumbup2:

GTs were pure gentlemen.  8)  Must have been funny, really, lapping us again and again and seeing we're still close.  :D

TT

I was disqualified after the end of the race. According to the Stewards Saleens with a 6.5 metre wide rear end were not allowed! Cheers for the racing guys.

I'm guessing you actually drove backwards for enough time to annoy the Men with Flags. ;)

Well, looking at the cars which started, it would appear that GTR2 did the best it could to allocate pit boxes sensibly, given that the allocation is done at the start of the race and not when a driver requests a stop or enters the pits. According to the AIW file, Anderstorp South as 15 pit boxes (each having 3 associated garages), and since we had 16 drivers on track, inevitably two were going to have to share one box - which is exactly what happened.

Haven't been able to check the replay yet but I strongly suspect that I'll be able to predict who used which pit box based on the garage they started it, which also means that in future you will be able to predict who you will share a pit box with. That could be very useful if you see a "pit in" message from someone you know you're sharing a box with just before you're about to stop, as you can go another lap (if you have the fuel) rather than get stuck waiting for them.

The long stop thing seemed to work fine so we can use that for Super Endurance events.

Thought I'd stick to the trusty 911 !! I need the practice!
I thought I had my strategy sorted...
Medium's all round and 50L to see me through without a pit stop!
Unfortunately an unwise press of the enter key in the pit gave me another 50 litres!!
A bit of a hand full to start but I kept going!
On the GT/NGT issue!?
Whats' the rule? As an NGt driver I avoided all of you fast Gt boys!?
Should I keep my line and make the Gt's overtake? or make it easy for them where possible!?

Good fun as usual!
M.

The known rule would be very useful.  :)   Especialy if it is presented in the manner that all of us (me  ;) ) nonPCgurus would understand.  ;)
I expected some more people for testing pitstops and close racing on this circuit. Mind you what a great parameter would add another Nissan in our equal duel with Pribeiro, can you imagine that?!?!?!  :o

TT

If you read the rules (https://www.simracing.org.uk/index.php?pid=7#lapping) you'll see that in general the slower car should try and drive a predictable line and let the faster car worry about finding a safe way past. Anders South is a bit tricky because there are no proper long straights to simply power past but last night everyone seemed to be staying aware of who was coming up behind and using their thinking heads. :)

Basically the rule is "use your common sense".

Tips...
Being predictable is the best thing you can do as it avoids confusion during lapping.
If you're going to move off-line to let someone through, do it early and make it obvious.
Flashing lights is a good indicator to another driver to go by.
You do not need to jump out of the way of lapping cars, just be sensible about it. When they have got close enough to lap you and they look like they are going by help them out by lifting off and giving them room.

yes pls...i believe you dont have to leap out of the way...no matter who kind you want to be....just smooth obvious movements and no sudden jumping on the brakes or the like.

A good example Martin is the Brno Enduro race replay...NGT guys at their courteous best..even thou they were fighting hard with each other.

..but don't worry..soon enough you will get the hang of it..just ask MJ  ;) :D :D

Well, I entered the server unaware there was a test event on. (Been away)
Couldnt get to grips with Anders South at all having never run on it before. I was going to not start
so as not to get in the way, but in the end decided to give it a go but stay out of the way.
In the end though when I entered pits I hit the wrong key and found myself as a DNF  :-[ Oh well it saved me the embarresment of spinning off early in the race.

You do have to wonder why they haven't implemented an Are You Sure message on pressing the ESC key, it's so damned easy to do when you're flapping about trying to find the right keys. For me nowadays not such a problem as my DFP has a massive number of buttons I don't need the keyboard at all.

everything went we'll till the third lap and she put a coffee on the table, walked away and caught the headphone cable with a foot and spilled coffee all over me  :eek:almost scalded me n**s.

Hmm, well having looked at the replay there doesn't seem to be quite such a simple correlation between garages and boxes. Unfortunately a whole bunch of people moved out of their boxes and went to the end of the pit area before they needed to. ::)

If the garage theory is true, Martin and Gerald should've been sharing, as should Pablo and Bernie Lomax. It appears that Martin was shuffled foward into TT's place, TT into mine, me into the next and so on. I'm sure there's a pattern but I suspect that it doesn't really make any difference, the end result will always be that at most tracks people will end up sharing the boxes.

In the next version of the skin/ballast pack I plan to remove all the PitGroup codes from the ballasted cars so that the pit space allocation is done in a completely uniform way.

Ouch! :o
Women. ;)

Hi Dave, Simon, guys. The pit thing was dreadful ,some AI took over and then to make room I had to sit with my foot on the brake to stop AI driveing.At the start I slid wide and thought I will go down the road to save joining on the bend but that sod drove me into the pit garage again.I tried to abort the pit stop but ended up dnf , must have hit esc instead of one of the Fkeys. anyway glad the rest of you had a laughcheers gerald

The Escape thing really is a very bad piece of design. Anyone who uses Windows will find reaching for Escape a reflex when an undesired dialog box (or in this case pit selection board) pops up.

I've had the unexpected AI control thing - it ended my race in the Season 1+2 Race of Champions. >:( Nobody seems to understand how it happens and evidently it's been carried over from GTR1 to GTR2. ???

Just a thought, check the following lines in your .plr file...

Autopit="0"
No AI Control="1"

Thanks Simon have set plr file as you suggest.cheers gerald