SimRacing.org.uk

Grid/server capacity: 22

Car/Track download available by pm to WT

Track: Monza

Car restrictions: Check your car allowance here (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BNv-VBlXUW5rSIgLpJtawzFGtlxfH4_THd8Dv_qGeCg/edit?usp=sharing)

Practice: ~19:20 (60 mins)
Qualifying: 20:20 (20 mins) Drivers must not leave qualifying to change car make.
Race: 20:40 (26 laps)

Time of Day Setting: 14:00
Start: STANDING
Tyre wear: 2x
Fuel consumption: 2x
Pit stops required: YES

Server: simracing.org.uk Monday
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

A general note about downloads (Car sets).

In my experience the downloads are foolproof and work the first time used.

However, some do have occasional problems.

The most common are these, The cars do not show up in the offline showroom or garage or whatever car is selected to be driven, the game only lets you drive one car.

These problems are best solved by deleting the original download content (not Sounds, just Teams) and downloading again.

Of course you can pm me for advice at all times.

IMPORTANT

Two driver's have reported problems with the carset download.

Please do not leave it to the last minute (race day) to discover that you too have a problem.

This series will involve pit stops. If your new to GTL this could be a valuable read https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=11812.msg212761#msg212761

The BMW is a thirsty beast. With the rev limit set at 9000 you will be a good match for the Alfa and will be able to reach the pits at half race distance.
If you choose to raise the rev limit be aware that you may have to do two pit stops per race.

OK so I have installed the d/loads ( GAMEDATA ) into a virgin GTL install and I have bought all the cars.

But, when I try the server I get "track not installed". I have 70Monza, 75Monza and Monza in my LOCATIONS folder, so I am guessing that I am missing the correct track version?

The track you need is Monza 88. Have a looksee for that one. It was in the track download so it's probably down the back of the sofa.

Yes, I found it stuck to a furry toffee  ;D.  I am also £1:63 pence richer after that expedition into the unknown depths of the armchair.  ::)

All cars appear to function OK on the Monza 88 circuit...now, if I can just find a driver who can differentiate between grass, gravel and tarmac then the race on Wed might be fun.  ::)

Amuse-bouche

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xcU_WJ1ZQ4

Action begins at about 3:30

Some of the cuts are a bit mean at the chicanes so I will turn them off. Please remember to keep two wheels on racing tarmac at chicanes Gents. We will be watching for consistent transgressors and awarding penalties accordingly.

New install and existing install. Can't see any cars in the garage view, and I CTD when trying to load a track
on line or off line. ANy thoughts?

YGM

Fortunately all working fine here. I think the key is to clean your installation or make a new one after every season.

Have some good racing tonight boys...

Can't make this evening.  See you all at Silverstone.

Paul.

Wasn't supposed to participate today, but with Discord's downtime this timeslot became free for me :D
I tried to do it on one set of tyres, I guess it would have worked, but crashed and got a puncture. Don't think it will be viable tactic on other tracks though.
As I was the only BMW, if someone knows if it should be more or less around Alfa's pace?

In my pre-season testing they were well matched.

M3 seemed to have the edge, I was struggling to stay with Erling who was right on it tonight. I nearly finished a lap in quali with very low fuel that would have been close to him, but in the race I had no real answer other than the strategy....

Results and replay now posted.

Bugger, was having a good race, when the power started dropping out, finally causing the PC to shut down.  Hope my presumably frozen car didn't cause problems for Geoff or others.

Pawel, you were not the only BMW  ;)  My best laptime in the Beemer is 2 secs faster than my best Alfa time, but then I didn't test much in the Alfa, so it could prob. be improved a little.

I feel like the tortoise that won because the hare failed to show for the race. Things went according to the plan that I hoped would work out. I figured that most would not pick the lowly Corolla and as it turned out I was right. So, as I am a puzzle wrapped in an enigma anyway, as it were. How can one finish last and win? That's how. So I am now glowing. Thanks, guys, without you I couldn't have done it.
So as Tony says,
Cheers!

Ah, I only had time to look at the cars on the final results in game. But indeed it seems that the BMW has a bit of an edge over Alfa, and I had 2,5s to spare  ::) I also had very cold tyres as I drove default setup, gotta check this next time.

Bit disappointed with my performance but I was not on the pace of Ziu so 2nd in class was where I should have finished anyway.

Basically it was a bit of an error strewn race on my part. After a good start (not as good as Erling) I slightly overshot the 2nd chicane which let Ziu pass then had a big oversteery moment at the Parabolica & clouted the barrier losing a load of places. Regained some spots only to do the opposite at the same corner a few laps later & understeer off the track. The damage at the front did not really affect the car although I did get the sense that it would not turn into corners as well as it did.

Worked back up to 3rd by the time of my pitstop & came in at the same time as Erling. Then had a panic moment as I realised that my refuel calculation was wrong. I had forgotten that GTL shows the amount of fuel you will leave the pits with & I had calculated the amount I needed to put in (as in RRE) so had to do a quick calculation of how many laps were left & fill up for that. Anyway it worked out OK, just! ::) 

Rejoined around 5s behind Erling & started to chase him down. After several laps I had got to around a second behind when his car suddenly froze around the Curva Grande & being that close there was no avoiding it, so I ended up in the barriers once more. Luckily the car survived the big impact & was no worse to drive than before. Leader Daz pitted near the end & with his short stop I was still behind him & winner Ziu at the finish.

Congrats to Ziu & Daz & also to Robby winning the small class.  :clap: :clap: :clap:

Sorry about that Geoff.  My problems didn't start until the race was under way, so I had no forewarning.  Light started flickering intermittently, and then suddenly the dip was long enough for the PC to shut down.

It does depend on which rev limit setting is used with the BMW (the Alfa only has a fixed rev limit). But raising the rev limit on the BMW, from the lowest value, has a detrimental effect on fuel consumption.

Also compare Erling's and Daz's best times. Not much in it.

Grats to the podium and to all the class winners........great choice Robby ( I almost went that route myself lol )

Also having had a quick squint at the replay through the fingers of my hand, I owe Robby a big apology. I thought that when I lapped him he had simply clipped the kerb and spun. But it was my fault  :hang: I clipped the rear of his Corolla and he ended up inverted after I was past him and focusing on the entry to Lesmo 1.  :-\

This year I have decided to try and put in some track time BEFORE each race in an attempt to gain some consistency ( and hopefully some pace!). I did a few short sessions on the server with the cars and found that the hierarchy was much as others found.
In my hands the Cosworth was fastest but required a great deal of concentration to exploit the potential, with the BMW a couple of seconds behind. Then the Alfa, which was slower but with a longer range on a full tank and, in my uncultured hands, not as nimble as the BMW. The Corolla was a pussy cat to drive and just outpaced for top speed around Monza.
After deciding that Robby was entitled to a class win after all of his efforts lately ( I'm really kind like that sometimes. honest I am ). I had decided that I needed some more time with the Cossie before I used it in anger. So was it to be the fast BMW, or the long range Alfa?
In my hands the Alfa was approx 2 secs a lap slower than the BMW, but I would get to lap 20 ( possibly 21 ) before I needed refuelling. If I could protect the tyres I might get away with a 6 lap splash and dash with no change of tyres?? That decision would be made in the few laps before the pitstop.

Dan appeared determined to scupper my plan by harassing me from the very start and forcing me to drive hard to hold my position. By the time he had dropped back a little , the damage was done and my tyres looked finished as early as lap 16!!! But, the fuel was looking good and I was borderline getting to lap 21. Dan pitted much earlier than I expected so I was left alone to push on.
In the 2 laps before my stop, my front left tyre was showing as a mere "hint of red" on HUD, but interestingly the car was only around 1.5 secs slower per lap.
I suspect that Dan had issues with his pit crew as he was a long way behind as I entered pit lane. I missed my pit box and overshot by 10 mtrs, but reversed onto the foot of my Crew manager to get his attention. I opted to run on the steel rims for the last 6 laps and just grab 8 galls of gas, hoping to exit the pits with a healthy lead over Dan.
I had around 15 secs once up to speed ( it might have been 20 if I had been more careful with my stop!??) So for the final 6 laps I simply had to stop Dan taking more than 2 secs per lap out of my lead. That bit went well, but with 3 laps to go I realised that my fuel calculations were a little too precise and I had to short shift and coast to cross the line with 0.2 galls still in the tank  :sweatdrop:. Plus the front left tyre no longer existed!!

Thanks for all the fun guys

I have posted my setup online if Dan is reckless enough to try it as Evil Alfa 75 in the Monza folder

But then you're comparing apples to oranges - we're not really in the same class..  (driver wise - I know the cars were)   ;)

And yes, I had upped the rev limit on the Beemer, but was short shifting in the race, to save fuel. It mostly served to prevent me running out of revs at the end of the pit straight. I had tested with a full stint before the race, where I took it to the limit at every shift. At the end of lap 13, I had 0.2 laps worth of fuel left, but didn't dare risk cutting it that close in the race, so short shifting in most cases it was.

Loved the car btw; def. my favorite of the bunch.

Result (https://www.avonrise.co.uk/srou/kurts/_2022//26012022_Monza88)


8)

Thanks Kurt  :thumbup1:

Yes, the BMW is a lovely car to drive. The Alfa is a bit "clunky".

Nice to have a couple of new cars to have a go in, thank you Tony.

I found the brakes on the Alfa to be the weak spot, far too much locking up for me to feel truly comfortable with the car, and no ability to adjust the power below 90% to attempt some kind of compensation. It steered and generally handled OK, but I was forced into running a more open diff setting than I would have preferred due to the braking issues, leading to a lack of drive when kerb hopping. They caused me continual issues pretty much throughout the race.....The sounds are also a bit strange to be honest, which never helps my sense of immersion....

Quali time was set on race fuel, I was on for a lower 2.00 but ran out of time on a low fuel run, made a hash of the first of those laps as it was the only time I had run with low fuel in the car and it seemed to make the braking even more snatchy.

Watching Erling get the start of the century and blast away from the 2 Cossies, whereas I bogged the engine just a tiny little bit and couldn't find my way through the middle of the two of them. Erling then had a fantastic first lap to stay in front, I settled into 4th.....that became 3rd when Geoff went into the barrier at Parabolica. Didn't see any way to stay with the race pace of the Cosworth, was just trying to find enough pace to keep Erling honest, so let Geoff back through after, hoping he would go and pester the BMW that was just a little too quick for me to stay with. I could see the potential though, as on the odd lap Erling put a quicker one in to pull the gap just a little wider, I was just hanging on and hoping the longer stint would work for me.

Like Clive said, 20 laps seemed the right range. And, I can confirm the loss of proper grip at around lap 16-17, although mine were not as low as Clives on XD. The car was just not as responsive, understeer into and through the Lesmos was now ever present. But, in this period I was able to match the laptime Erling was doing, and the gap to him when I was on the laps to pit was now around 62 seconds, so it was looking like things might be possible for 2nd place....

And then I pitted, parked, the pit guys did nothing other than shrug at me, so I went back and forth and eventually coerced them into action! Probably cost 10-15 seconds at a guess....But it was now Geoff that was the problem, as Erling had disconnected. I left the pits with a gap to the Cossie of around 13 seconds, with 6 laps to run. Now, at the earlier pace Geoff may have been able to run at I reckon he catches and passes me, but I was wondering how much pace he had left in the car following the hit into the barrier, and as it turned out he didn't quite have the pace to catch me, leaving me to take a lucky 2nd position that was probably not wholly justified....

Grats to all.

"Also having had a quick squint at the replay through the fingers of my hand, I owe Robby a big apology. I thought that when I lapped him he had simply clipped the kerb and spun. But it was my fault  hang I clipped the rear of his Corolla and he ended up inverted after I was past him and focusing on the entry to Lesmo 1."

 It turned out to be no problem. I was surprised and went "oh, sh*t, I am not going to finish," but having straightened out I discovered there was no suspension damage. Furthermore, I had planned to stop about that lap to get a splash and go without taking tires and I repaired the 5.6 damage from the flip. I then had enough gas(petrol) to finish with. There was no need for tires because I just wasn't using them up at the speeds and way I was driving, as my goal has been to finish races. I have too many DNF's.
As I said, the flip ended up being no problem. I do appreciate the apology though.