SimRacing.org.uk

Season 39 - 69X – Round 2 –  Spa67


In the early 1920s, motor racing began to be held on the public roads between Francorchamps, Malmédy and Stavelot in Belgium, about 50 miles west of the (still to be proposed) Nürburgring in Germany. The Spa track was enlarged in 1951 to become the layout used here. This track hosted the Belgium Grand Prix until 1970, when the F1 drivers association declared that it was too dangerously fast. Part of the old track was used to create a shorter lap in 1979 and the F1 cars returned in 1983. Eau Rouge is one of the most famous parts of any track in the world. The stream gets its name from the presence of iron oxide deposits giving it a reddish colour. The track crosses the Eau Rouge again halfway around the lap, on a bridge seen as a low parapet either side of the track just at the start of the Stavelot corner.

Please check the Season 39 pages for details (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=1531&theme=6) regarding rules and the 1969x F1 pages (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=1601&theme=6) in particular.

Handicapping
The cars will be divided into five groups, each group containing cars of similar performance.
Drivers will be graded as either "Professional", "Intermediate" or "Amateur".
Drivers will be limited to cars from specific groups based on their grade
and must choose 2 cars and drive them an equal number of times.


Incidents will not be moderated as we race as gentlemen.
One Shift-R is allowed with no need to make Stop & Go.

Race list	=	iGOR
Server	=	UKGPL_8
IP address Server	=	TBA
Password	=	see above (#post_event_password)
GPL Mod	=	69X
Damage model	=	Intermediate
60fps Patch	=	60fpsV1
Track directory	=	Spa67 (http://srmz.net/index.php?s=448c71de31d5af327ee46f7dfc1fde15&showtopic=10443)
Qualifying starts	=	20:45 UK time - 45 minutes
Race starts	=	~ 21:30 UK time
Race length	=	14 laps
Replay	=	here (https://www.mediafire.com/file/5se30pz1okegy3h/UKGPL_8__60fps.2021.09.17.23.27.rpy.7z/file)

Drivers will be graded as either "Professional", "Intermediate" or "Amateur".

Please tell me your car choice before the next race ;)

pro   Alain Maurice (FT)
int   AnGex (FT)                                    
am   Claudio Navonne (FT)                                    
int   Cookie (FT)                                    
am   dave curtis (FT)                                    
pro   EvilClive (FT)                                    
int   fpolicardi (FT)                                    
pro   GrandPrixYannick (FT)                                    
am   PaulV (FT)                                    
pro   Pete Bennett (FT)                                    
int   Philippe Girard (FT)                                    
pro   Ziu Bacubacu (FT)                                    
pro   Baab (R1)    
int    bagrupp (R1)                              
am   Billy Nobrakes (R1)                                    
int   Doni Yourth (R1)                                    
pro   Enrique Farina (R1)                                    
int   francesco (R1)                                    
int   Gareth (R1)                                    
pro   Leo Menegucci (R1)
pro   MagicArsouille (R1)                                      
int   Phil Thornton (R1)                                    
int   Rainier (R1)

Important

As we have now 23 registered driver, we use the following procedere:

If at 21:05 UK time the server is full with >17 drivers

The Reserve driver have to leave for 10 Minutes to give waiting Full time driver the chance to join

GLA + FUN

Ferrari and BRM

Ferrari and McLaren M9A

Ferrari and BRM

Mc Laren M7 and M9

Mclaren M9A
Matra MS84

Ferrari and BRM

I think I'm OK for this Friday. (Unless it is raining too hard!!)
I will be wrecking either a BT26 or a McLaren M7 at various corners.

My cars are Ferrari and BRM...

Mclaren M9A
Lotus 49

I am getting a "Cannot initialize replay" error message, preventing me from joining the track. It seems to be a combination of 69 cars & this track i.e. no problem elsewhere.

Billy look in core.ini

Reduce the value (I have 192000 with 8GB RAM)

[ Replay ]
replayMemoryOverride = 98000 - 65536

Hello Cookie,
 
BRM P126 / 139 = Daytona + Spa67

Lotus 63 =
            
Thank you

My car picks...

McLaren M8F
Porsche 917/30

Maybe not the best picks for 1969 F1 ??

.....................or maybe inspired???!!!

But...  But I want to win!  I've slipped a fiver to the chief scrutineer and he says I'm good to go.  :)

This is normal because these are cars from the Can Am 1971 mod  ;)

Cars 1969X

Std chassis   speed   rpm   ratio   HP   Weight   lb/HP      Setup   Graphics folder   Comments
Brabham BT20   180   8 100   3,179   315   1 171   3,72      *.bc1   c10   No wings
Brabham BT24   195   8 200   2,980   350   1 105   3,16      *.bd1   c11   No wings
Brabham BT26a   191   9 600   3,484   430   1 182   2,75      *.bb1   c00,30,40   0.0/0.0
BRM P126/139   193   10 500   3,814   420   1 205   2,87      *.br1   c01,32,41,42,43,44   0.0/0.0
Cooper T86b   190   9 500   3,536   390   1 235   3,17      *.cp1   c12,   No wings
Eagle AAR101   165   6 600   2,831   260   1 149   4,42      *.eb1   c13,   No wings
Ferrari 312   192   11 200   4,092   430   1 182   2,75      *.fe1   c04,19,20,26,36,37,38    0.0/0.0
Lotus 49   193   9 100   3,278   400   1 105   2,76      *.lp1   c07,   Fr wing only
Lotus 49B   195   9 400   3,341   430   1 171   2,72      *.lo1   c05,15,21,22,27,28   0.0/0.0
Lotus 63   191   9 300   3,429   430   1 326   3,08      *.co1   c02,   0.0/0.0
Matra MS10   190   9 500   3,484   430   1 230   2,86      *.mw1   c09,   0.0/0.0
Matra MS80   193   9 500   3,427   430   1 194   2,78      *.mu1   c06,23,24,25,29   0.0/0.0
Matra MS84   188   9 600   3,565   430   1 296   3,01      *.mv1   c08,   0.0/0.0
McLaren M7   195   9 500   3,410   430   1 194   2,78      *.ea1   c03,16,17,18,31,33,34,35,39   0.0/0.0
McLaren M9a   196   9 500   3,427   430   1 310   3,05      *.ec1   c14,   0.0/0.0

Rainer - very sorry, I misjudged the tow & clipped your rear wheel. It was a very poor piece of driving from me.
I retired my car after that.

No problem, Billy.
I did exactly the same mistake with Doni at Kyalami  ;D

I have been DQ because after our contact I ran on the opposite direction ON THE GRASS but not on track. I hope it could be corrected, I finished the 14 laps without being lapped by the leader. 

Well that was a great race for me. A couple of times I was in a 6 or 7 car train. It looked great from the back ;) and it gave me enough slip stream to keep up.  I managed to avoid the wreckage of most incidents apart from Andreas' big shunt at Masta. I almost got past his spinning McLaren but I clipped him and I did what seemed like a dozen 360s until I got going again. All seemed fine but half a lap later I was being hunted down by Doni. I'd lost about 20mph off my top speed so I had to do a shift-R at the end of the lap to repair the engine. I then set about chasing down the group ahead. Another shunt took out Cookie and Tristan which left me, Doni and Fulvio to fight over 2nd place. The last few laps were epic. I made a mistake on the exit of Eau Rouge and lost a bit of time but fortuitously it left me the ideal distance behind to pick up the perfect tow which allowed me to set the fastest lap and catch up. But Fulvio out-braked me at La Source on the last lap to beat me to the line. Great racing Fulvio, it was a delight to battle with you.

My apologies go to Philippe for my mistake on Lap 1. I tried to squeeze past three cars but clipped the grass on the right which sent me grass-tracking for a while. I thought that I could get away with rejoining the track but I misjudged your speed as you climbed the hill towards Blanchimont. So sorry to make you Shift-R. After that, my goal was to finish on the lead-lap having to make my way up from last place. Anything else was a bonus.

Thanks for some super laps with Evil and Alain. Lots of fun in the very slippery Lotus 49 (no rear wing). I apologise once again for my shoddy driving this evening.

Same for me, exciting race with many passes. When you passed me rallying before Blanchimont  ;D I thought it would ended so, but you leaved me the door open braking at La Source and I moved for it managing to keep it inside. I think I had a too long 5th too.
I had only one problem when Axel blew the engine climbing from Stavelot and I clipped the grass inside spinning badly and bringing poor Alain with me, sorry. Then recovering I found myself in the train pursuing the fast Dony Lotus very hard to pass. Only braveheart Tris managed to pass him just before Blanchimont, then Doni had a moment and almost all passed him before La Source. I have to say that I suffered massive fps drops running in a train of 4/5 cars between Blanchimont and Eau Rouge nonetheless I had no Antialiasing set in GFX and 70% details. It was scaring and no chance to battle, luckily all were considerate and no crashes occurred.
Maybe someone wasn't aware of Only One Reset.  ;)

Grats to Yannick on a fine if lonely run to the win.  Well done.

Great jobs by both Fulvio & Phil to nail down P2 & P3, respectively.  Quite the punch-up going on there.

A tasty P4 pour moi.  Yummy!

I was counting on the BT24 Brabham to have the legs of some runners on the straights but never dreamed that I would rocket up to P2 at one point.  To be sure, much of that was thanks to the misfortune of others to end up behind me but once there, it was proving difficult for them to pass.  It was a thrill a second as I could see many a car lined up on my tail with obvious performance advantages in the corners but they just couldn't get the chance to pass.  I mean, I saw 200mph in the slipstream at one point.  With no wings to drag down the top end, anyone trapped behind could do little but hang on and wait for a mistake.  All was going swimmingly til Bot had me off on the Masta just before the kink.  In a complete and incomprehensible misjudgement of where I was, he is seen to turn the steering wheel to the right directly into my path.  Good grief!  Now normally, I wouldn't reset as per the rules but I was doing so well in the little Brabham and so keen to see where I'd end up that I exercised my option.  Finished off the run rather lonely after a memorable drive.

I mentioned a tasty P4 above.  That surely will be my final result after Bot is DQ'd for performing no less the four resets.  Read the rules, mon ami.  The fact that you were on track to harass and wreck me and others when you shouldn't have been should earn you a two race ban, imo.

For me, not a great race. In an attempt to improve my times, I dared a little bit more in certain corners, but is enough to do a small mistake in the line to go out.First mistake shift_R,second with  lack third overturn.
My compliments to the pilots that do the lap on 3,25.I go 90% of time at full throttle but no chance to reach that time.

I intended to post this after the race but I simply forgot. Put it down to old age  ::)

 I should be DQ'd as I made 3 S/R's, only because I was running at the back of the field and enjoying the insanity/speed of an un winged Lotus. I never thought that I would pick up so many places and end up 8th at the flag as I was almost 1 mile behind at one point. Either way, it does not matter as I was an illegal runner and would not have raced anyone who came close to me.


Just a note to participants in this 69x series for future races.
I won't name names, but 2 of my resets were as a result of throwing myself off the track to avoid contact with a car that I was about to pass.

The Lotus 49 was showing 200mph on the run to Masta and with a tow ( such as when I was about to pass a car) I easily saw 210 mph. I was closing very quickly on winged machinery and I suspect that drivers were a) unsighted by the rear wings   and  b) not expecting to be passed by an unwinged car so easily.
I want to believe that cars moving across were a result of poor visibility in the mirrors and not anything more sinister.  ::)

That may have been one of my least enjoyed rides at Spa.
I still wasn't content with the M9A's setup, but then I again, I suppose this car was coded to feel rubbish no matter what.
Either way, I'm happy with the win. Well done to all finishers.

I was struggling handling this guy throughout the race, especially in the beginning where I touched a few walls. I did get away with each hit except for the left side of the car leaning outwards more and more. Meanwhile, everyone who was in my mirrors spun, hit a guardrail, or a house, or a car.... I found myself driving alone, and despite the handling problems never managed to crash or even spin  my car.... that was until La Source on the final lap!  ;D

I waited until Blanchimont because if I'd have managed a pass any earlier I'm sure you would have passed me on the approach as you had done on previous laps. I'd let the gap get a little too wide so I didn't complete the pass before Blanchimont but I used my left glance in cockpit view to check I was along side before the corner. I wasn't sure you would give me room (although I shouldn't have doubted you) but just to be sure I stayed as far right as I could. Too far in fact, I exceeded track limits in getting past and kicked up quite a lot of grass. I wasn't happy with the pass but rather than give the place back I decided not to go too defensive at La Source. I figured if you could out-brake me then you deserved the place. I braked as late as I dared but you you had the edge on me. I'm looking forward to the next round, it was great racing at the front in these cars hopefully I can manage to do the same next time.

This is the reason we've allowed resets in some races. If a driver makes a mistake then then they deserve to suffer the consequences. But if a retirement is entirely down to someone else's mistake or some unfortunate limitation of GPL (e.g. warp contact) then being kicked off the server is a bit harsh. In my case perhaps I should have slowed a bit more before hitting the wreckage in the middle of the road but Masta is arguably the toughest corner at Spa and as I came out of Masta on the limit I had very little time to react. Under Pro rules neither of us would have been able to enjoy our battle in the latter part of the race.

This is the reason we've changed the rules regarding resets this season. Trying to remember which races allow resets and how many, plus whether there is a need to perform a Stop and Go or not, was too complicated last season. This season it is:

Sunday races - All races  PRO so no resets.
Tuesday races - All races Unlimited resets with no need to do a Stop and Go.
Friday Races - All races ONE reset with no need to do a Stop and Go.

So hopefully that is easier for drivers to remember.

We used to enforce a Stop and Go after a reset in an effort to deter drivers from making risky moves. If drivers thought that taking a reset would cost a lot of time then surely they would drive more carefully? However, this doesn't seem to be the case. Drivers seem to be just as likely to make risky moves in PRO races (or is that just my perception?) as they are in any other.  Moreover, the standard of driving is now so high, any driver who has to take a reset is unlikely to win the race. The winner is generally someone who doesn't make a mistake and can still lap at or near the pole position time. So penalising resets by imposing a Stop and Go doesn't have much effect and just makes more work for the moderators.

@ David + Clive

I tried to correct the result - as you reported.

@ David

if the position is not right - I need the total racetime when you crossed the line ;)

Thank you, Axel.
For me, it's OK.