SimRacing.org.uk

Grid/server capacity: 16

Track: Hockenheimring '75  

Cars allowed: 4 No. in each of the four car groups.

Cars not allocated:0 (If 0, more entries will be accepted if made before Dec. 28th)

Practice: ~18:00 GMT (60 mins)
Qualifying: 19:00 GMT (10 mins) One attempt at a timed lap only
Race: 19:10 GMT (65 laps)

Time of Day Setting: 14:00
Start: STANDING
Tyre wear: Normal
Fuel consumption: Normal
Pit stops: Required

Fastest Lap: 1 point

Server: simracing.org.uk XMAS
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

Car Group choice

Each Car Group has been assigned four random number's (between 11-26) which will not change and are known only to myself.

Beginning at 14:00 (GMT) on Sunday, November 7th, drivers wishing to take part, will send me a pm containing one number (11-26). Pm's received will be dealt with on a strict, first come, first served, basis. Pm's received before 14:00 (GMT) on November 7th will be ignored.

On receipt of your number, I will assign you your Car. If the chosen Car Group is full, you will be placed in the next available Car Group determined by adding 1 to your given number (and repeated until a free Car Group space is able to be allocated).

This process will repeat until fifteen Car Group places have been allocated or we reach December 23rd (whichever occurs soonest).

I will take my choice from any un-allocated Car Group places

I will release the Car/Track pack on December 23rd.

You are basically racing against the other driver's in your Car Group but obviously there will be an overall results table as well.

Car Groups

BMW CSL

#06 - Geoffers
#15 - Robby82
#24 - SpecialKS
#25 - Dominick

Chevrolet Camaro

#01 - phspok
#05 - fpolicardi
#09 - Erling G-P
#10 - Dimitar Dulichki

Ford Capri RS

#28 - Daz9
#91 - HeebyJeeby
#99 - Wiltshire Tony
#168 - psyFungi

Porsche Carrera RSR

#14 - EvilClive
#23 - seniordan
#30 - MichaW
#50 - Hristo Itchov

Now open for entries

Kind of a teaser:

Could not find another link:

https://www.facebook.com/100066736389974/videos/3185605688383787/ (https://www.facebook.com/100066736389974/videos/3185605688383787/)

Watched it yesterday. Nice movie. :)

Just did a quick check to be sure that I could join this event, and I have a 79 Hockenheim circuit, but no 75 Hockenheim? Is there a d/load for the 75 option anywhere?


OOPs!!! just read Tony's post about releasing car pack etc on 23rd Dec, perhaps I'll wait until then  :whistling: :whistling:

And the same circuit was used from 1970-1980 so they are both the same.

So tomorrow is my day of moving house.

Open Reach have only put the box on the wall today, and BT informed me this evening when I phoned them that we are 'very unlikely' to have any broadband for around 2 weeks after we move. I am, not for the first time in my life, massively unimpressed with BT. I have no option as it is a new build, but I have avoided them like the plague for the last 15 years or so, I now remember why.....

I will attempt to keep you informed of whether I can take part or not guys. First world problems I know, but massively annoying. It also means I cannot work from home over xmas and will have to go into the office....

Good luck with the move Daz. I can't help thinking that there must be better times to move house, but I assume that you have your reasons  ::).

Isn't it strange that having an internet connection is taken for granted as an absolute necessity in our world, where we had never even heard of Broadband 20 yrs ago?? You might need treatment for withdrawal symptoms in the New Year lol! or you might find a whole new world out there ??

Just like to take this opportunity to thank Tony for all his work and wish all involved in UKGTL a peaceful Christmas and the New Year that they hope for.   :thumbup2:

Maybe it's possible to use your phone internet Daz. But I don't know how good it will be for racing, at least it will do the job for your work?

*envisages Daz humphing his entire sim-racing set-up into the office for the race*

Hehe, he has already told his other half he may have to work late next Wednesday!!!

Not so daft..... I used to take my PC + wheel and pedals round the country when I was contracting
and clamp it to the hotel furniture  :laugh: I used to avoid certain places because the table
was too thick for the clamp  ::)

Today is my practice day, also doing taxi for ladies who lunch, so I need the D/L with great ugency  ;D

I'm doing it!
Be with you soon.

IMPORTANT

Download link now posted. Check your pm inbox!

Please pm me if you have not received it.

Read the post
Checked PM's
Found Tony's latest message
Followed the link
Downloaded the file
Unzipped file
Copied new GAMEDATA folder into redundant GTL install
Fired up GTL
Accessed Lobby
Selected Xmas Special
Bought the shiny new Porsches and added to garage
Entered pits
Left pits many times and returned, many many times, with bent metal that might once have been a Porsche, but which could equally well have been a supermarket trolley that had been dredged from the local river!!  :-\

Conclusion :- I need a lot more practice and possibly even more practice after that!!!

 I am seriously thinking that Tony does not like me and rigged the car selection to land me with this monstrosity, but he wouldn't do that....or would he???  ::)


At least I can confirm that the car/track combo works on the TEST server.......I suppose that is a triumph for me in it's own little way?? I should be grateful for these small successes  :blink:

I am  ::) ;)

Hello gents, I wonder if I may request that final Capri slot?

Daz and Heeby can vouchsafe my impeccable race etiquette from, like, 2006 or some unimaginable time ago!

For old-time's sake, who remembers Mills Metro Park from 12-Dec-2007?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGmeNL4hIr0

I'd better get downloading...

Ok
I'll send you the download link later today.

Yet another blast from the past!  :o  Hey Psyfungi how are you doing? Merry Christmas to you.

'Ello Geoffers!  Merry Xmas to you, and everyone.  There hasn't been much has put a smile on my face like reviving GTL today!

Thanks Tony - I got a google-drive link for GameData from Heeby

Update..... Broadband finally on order after fibre was actually finished by Open Reach. New router etc due to land on the 27th, and full activation on the 29th, but only guaranteed before 23.59 on that day. Fingers crossed it's live before then, and despite the chronic lack of practise time I'll be able to join.

If not, just to put the nail in Heebys joke, it would be possible to load the car with the wheel stand and go to work, and have seriously thought of doing so ;D....

On another note, hello Psy, long time no see on track! How fantastic to have another one of the NG guys around, hope you are hale and hearty fella. I can indeed vouch for Psys online etiquette back in the day.

Some points to note, check and remember.............

Note the earlier than usual start times (Dan).

There will be no red flags except for server failure.

Practice at least one pit stop (offline race mode). Check you have keys assigned to work the pit instructions clipboard. Pit stop refresher course here (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=11812.msg212761#msg212761)

No stupidity on lap one please. It's a very long race and the winner won't be the car the gets to turn 1 first. Get tyres up to temp and remember that all the cars will have different braking zones.

Only one hot lap in qualy please. Once your time is set please Esc to pits.

There is a solid white line that separates the pit lane from the race track. If you accelerate over this line you could get a cut. So only cross this line when your slowing down.

Minimal chat in qualy and race please.

Have fun!

Also...........

Those returning to GTL may not be aware of the XD HUD tool we all use

https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=19141.msg347241#msg347241

Fingers crossed for you Daz! And, if you could keep your fingers crossed during the race, that would be very much appreciated...

Chaps, just a random question: How fast do I need to go round, lapwise that is, to win this one ? Suppose most of you are in for the fun and not for a win? :devil:

Useless to say that i am not the measure of all things, but I'm at 2:14.7 in the Beemer so far.  ::)

Mid 2.12s in the BMW here. Have not tried any of the other cars, so no idea if they are faster or slower.

Oh there is no doubt about it Geoff. The Porsche that I have been given is definitely slower  :blink:

Well, my checklist is finished:

• Does the gear still work? CHECK
• Does GTL still work? CHECK
• Can you get on the server? CHECK
• Did you make a setup which is way worse than the default? CHECK  ;D

Still, 2.14.378 I'm more than happy with after all this time.

Didn't realize it's such a long race though. Picked my moment.. :scared:.

Good to see you back Dom.  :thumbup1:

The only one lap without a big slide or a big wide in the Camaro was 2.16.xx with full fuel, 140 liters  :o
I'm slowly recovering from Covid and I hope to be in shape tomorrow night for 65 laps...

Fingers crossed Fulvio and Heya Dom, Heeby and Psy.
Times so far, glad you're all a tad slower than the 935's 2.08!

You may get disqualified if you use the 935.  ::)

Lol, I know Geoffers. Just stirring things up a bit. Wasn't that what we used to do before special events?
Practice night tonight, anyone? :devil:

At 2:12.5 in the Camaro, but doubt I'll be able to do the race.  Down with a stomac problem, and felt so bad yesterday that I fainted, dropping to the floor from standing position.  Lower back really hurts after this, so doubt I can do 65 laps in an office chair tomorrow, in addition to feeling totally drained of energy.

Get well soon & fingers crossed, Erling & Fulvio.

Hope you are both feeling better soon Erling & Fulvio. Hope you can both race tonight.

Like Fulvio, I too was gifted some lovely Covid for Christmas, but am feeling much recovered now and hope to last the distance.

Hope you get over what ails you soon Erling.

I'm doing 2:17 at the moment in the big tank, but have only done a few laps
and need to work on the setup a bit more, as it is not the most stable of cars  ::)

For the newcomers: Welcome to our sim racing family. You can take a look how a typical UKGTL race is going on my channel and on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrNZNkfXRBA

The difference in the video is that we had 3 races but the quali is the same - just 1 hot lap allowed.

The Camaro is ABSOLUTELY amazing. Muscle car that can turn. But we have to avoid those curbs at any cost. :D

I upload my setup online for Camaro. 12.1 with max fuel.

Not looking good, no BT kit yet, and the tracking suggests it won't be with me today. Will update closer to the time.

From the looks of the times being reported, I'll be pootling around way at the back of the field, which is a-okay with me!

Sorry to hear some of you have been dealing with the infernal Covid, I hope your recoveries are quick and total. And to you as well Erling, it sounds like you're suffering. :(

Hi seniordan! Good to see you still racing the GTL!

Thanks for the video link, Dimitar, it was good to watch the start and make sure you guys aren't doing the rolling start I read of in the main rules somewhere. Phew!! It was actually one of your videos that piqued my interest into maybe trying GTL again, so thank you for that. :D

As for the Daz situation, unacceptable! The gods of racing must reach down and grant aid to the mighty Daz that he may race triumphantly among us upon this day. I promise not to 'Eek!' him if it comes to pass.

Sorry to hear about the illness spreading through the GTL community. Get well soon guys.

A little disappointed that I might miss this race.

I have volunteered to be "transport" for a neighbour who was rushed into hospital today for emergency ultrasound scan to locate the reason for severe stomach pains.
Currently waiting for a call to go and collect her to return home....if she is allowed home today.
So worst case is I get called to collect around 7:30 or I sit down to start race and have to leave suddenly  :-\

Not just a speedy but above all a complete recovery wished upon all sufferers of The Plague (other afflictions too of course). I have a 35-year old colleague who's been struggling hard with complications for 15 months now, to the point it's likely she'll never fully recover. Long covid is fugly.  :-[ So, get well guys!

Racewise:
Bugger. I had no intention of quitting no matter what but my two visits to the wall right after the first corner each time caused my wheel to be seriously off-center and I just can't drive like that. But I know from experience that a full repair in the pits usually fixes that even if costs several minutes. Only, the second time it didn't re-center.  :'(

Nevertheless, it was fun being in the ole'crowd again. And the two stints in between the mishaps went really well, or at least a lot better than I expected. As a bonus, I don't feel particularly tired after 40 laps so I think i'm going to check the '22 championships out and select one where I'll make an effort to participate regularly. Watch out, backmarkers!

+ 1

Get my third one on 11th January but I'm not really optimistic about the impact anymore.....

Thank you Tony for organizing this great event  :thumbup1:

Get it done Mate. I hate to think how bad I would have been if not for the booster.

Results and replay now posted.

If HeebyJeeby and psyFungi want a little flag by their names could they fill out Country in their Profile/Drivers details :thumbup1:

Same here.

Grats to Micha, so fast and such a great consistency. He totally deserve his win. Grats to Hristo as well for 2nd and Heeby for finishing on his debut at hard cars/track combination.

Race replay with commentary: https://youtu.be/R4IBmdh4PGg

Thanks guys; sorry I couldn't be there, but just not in shape for a marathon like that.  Grats to Micha & the usual suspects on the podium.

Thanks to Tony for all the organizing.  Happy New Year all!

Ok sort of race for me, spent almost all of it circulating on my own. Front 3 were too fast although without some graphicak problems which slowed me in the second half of the race, I may have been able to benefit from Hristo & DD's errors.

I thought I had cured my frame rate problem, but alas no. When I start GTL I am getting over 200fps for the first lap or so, then it gradually drops off & after around 15 mins is down to less than 100fps. By the end of the race last night it was around 25 on the straights but only around 12 through the chicanes making it very difficult to place the car. It has only started since I got my new wheel & only happens in GTL, AC & Raceroom are fine. No idea what the solution is, searching on the web has provided little in the way of answers. May even have to revert to my G29 for GTL!

Congrats to Micha on a great drive & to Hristo & DD on the podium.  :clap: :clap: :clap:  Good to see Heeby & Psy on the grid, hope you will join some more races in the new year.  :thumbup2:

@ Geoffers

It could be a problem with your graphics card getting too hot? Visually inspect it for dust build up and functioning fans. Just worth a look IMO.

I have thought of that, but temps of that rarely get above 35C & it would happen with the other sims too, which it doesn't. Also I can shut down GTL & immediately restart it & get 200+fps again.

Not sure how it could be wheel related, but anything is possible. Have you tried setting a different wheel in GTL setup screens?
I've had past issues (not related) where a buffer fills over time, and the response eventually becomes poor

Buffer issue as suggested by Matt seems plausible, or maybe a memory leak.  Have you checked memory usage - I'm thinking both system RAM & video RAM, if you have the tools to monitor this?

Or update/renew the video driver?

I know AMD have software to monitor usage so I'm guessing nVidia would have too.

Hiho,

thanks to all for the great event, I love endurance racing and the Porsche anyway. Quali with 60L, as with any 911, always three quarters full tank, the car simply has more grip on the front axle and slips less. After the start, I was stuck behind Dimitar's Camaro. The first 10 laps it was ok, I could have been faster, but we drove away from Hristo, so that was still ok. But after that it was really annoying, Dimitar's tires were weakening, he was getting slower and slower and Hristo was able to catch up again. That was just frustrating, I could have easily gone 1-1.5 sec per lap faster, but there was just no chance to overtake the camaro. I drove earlier to refuel, the main thing was that the Camaro was away from me.
I filled up and it was actually relatively relaxed afterwards. I knew that Hristo would stand longer and I would then be in front.
In lap 45 with 14 sec ahead of Hristo then filled up a second time and then it was just tactics. I knew that Hristo would need at least 30 seconds to refuel with entry and exit into the pits. I had tested offline. So I always drove at my pace, without risk and only made sure that his lead did not grow over 25 sec.
But it didn't matter, because of his stop and go we were betrayed of an exciting final, which was a pity. So just concentrate and make no mistakes, I managed well and was very happy with my pace. Congratulations to all finishers and the podium, gladly more endurance races, this is exactly my thing with the right car.

Wish you all a happy new year and that you have a nice and healthy 2022. See you again next year.

cheers and Glück auf! Micha

What Matt suggested is something mentioned on the web about this sort of issue as is a memory leak. But I have no idea how to check or cure, will have to search the web for that. I know system RAM is between 30-35% being used when GTL is running, have not currently got anything to monitor video RAM though. Just seems odd that it only affects GTL though.  ???

Yes Matt I have tried different wheel settings but have gone back to Momo Force as that gives the best FFB feel on the Fanatec wheel, I get really odd effects with most of the other settings. So I have not tried using any of the other settings for prolonged periods.

I will rig up my G29 at some stage this week & see if I get the same frame drop with that, should prove whether it is wheel related or not.

Apologies to Dan on that unsafe release at the end of my pit stop. And because I don't know what the rules say about that i just kept going.  :ban: :oops:

That was some fun times! :) I spent most of the race doing my own thing at the back while avoiding conflict, which was fine - all I really wanted to do was ensure I finished successfully and without spoiling someone else's race. Mission accomplished! It's a pity psy had a few mishaps, otherwise I'm pretty sure he'd have wiped the floor with me in his Capri and enjoyed the bragging rights! :D Congrats to the podiumeers and congrats to Tony for his victory in the Capri group!

This was quite an enjoyable race, despite driving on my own for most of the distance, it was a fight for each tenth of a second on each lap, in each corner, so that kept the motivation high enough despite the long straights.

I was never a fan of the Porsche and with not enough testing my setup was so-so, but still better than what I started with the day before. One thing I wish I had done, in hindsight, was to use stronger FFB, because once the front tyre wear became excessive, I lost almost all feeling from the frontend and had to only rely on visual cues to find the limit. This made for inconsistent driving and led to many mistakes.

My qualifying was quite poor as I haven't tested running on low fuel, plus I jumped straight into Q without any prior practice in the last hour. It was still good enough for 5th on the grid or something like that, then I managed to overtake Geoff as we went into the first chicane, but I hit the inside curb too much, it unsettled my car and I almost spun to the left side. That was a costly mistake because it meant I had to drive without getting the slipstream from Dimitar and Micha, so catching them up was a very difficult task.

I managed to reduce the gap down to around 3-4 seconds, but kept making some mistakes that allowed the gap to grow up again, so overall I was making very slow progress. Once Dimitar pitted Micha was suddenly very quick, but I was still able to keep up with his pace more or less. He pitted earlier than I expected though and once I did my pitstop I was surprised to see him so far ahead, and not only that, but he was going much quicker than what I could manage on full tanks. It soon dawned on me he didn't fuel up too much and that I have made a mistake with my strategy.

Despite all that, I still hoped to challenge him at the end, but some additional mistakes cost me valuable tenths and seconds, and then I also lost around 1-2 seconds behind Tony as he slowed down to make his pitstop. I was hoping you'd let me through before that, Tony, was really angry at you there.  ::) ;D

Micha made his pit and now I was the quicker Porsche because of our fuel differences, though I couldn't pull away as fast as I had hoped. All of this became irrelevant as I finally made my 3rd cut on a corner exit and got a stop/go penalty, just 1 lap before I was going to pit. Frustrated by the penalty I went off immediately at the next corner and then I also messed up my pit entry, locking the rears and sliding to the left side. I had fuel for just 1 more lap, so I had to reverse back, enter the pits, serve my penalty and then do 1 more lap and do my regular pitstop.

By then Micha was long gone, but I had plenty of time in front of Dimitar in 3rd, as he was struggling with his own issues (tyres, mistakes, longer refueling). As we neared the end of the race, I realized that I miscalculated the fuel and would run out with half a lap to go, so I had to pit right at the end. Fortunately for me Dimitar lost time on that same lap and I emerged just in front of him.

Having lost my motivation, I was looking back at him going fast down the straights, and in one of those look backs, I went off into the grass near the end of the penultimate lap. That allowed him to close up to just 1.5 seconds and I knew that he would most likely overtake me before the stadium section on the final lap. Luckily for me he went off at T1 and that settled it.

Thanks for organizing this race and thanks everyone for yet another great season in 2021! I'm taking a break from racing for an indefinite amount of time, as my health issue is affected by doing so many races, but I'll be keeping an eye on how things go with future races and may enter some from time to time.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

I assume you have already.. but have you applied the 4 gig patch to that install

Of course, I will.

Result (https://www.avonrise.co.uk/srou/kurts/_2021//29122021_79Hockenheim)


8)

Yes & set processor affinity.

I have found the Nvidia overlay to show in-game the CPU & GPU usage & temps & fps, tried this afternoon when practicing for tonight's Raceroom event. Nothing showed out of the ordinary, consistent temps, fps & usage, no frame drops at all, consistent at around 60fps. So it must be something related to only GTL I think. Will try it in GTL tomorrow.

Worth double checking the GTLConfig.exe file?

Thanks Tony for organising.

After having been out of online racing so long, I think a 2+ hour enduro was probably a little bit ambitous for a return race for me.  But I'll be up for some sprint races in 2022.

Hope I kept out of everyone's way.

Cheers folks.