SimRacing.org.uk

Practice 1:	20:10	(10 mins)	full time drivers only
Practice 2:	20:20	(10 mins)	reserves may join too
Qual 2:	20:30	(20 mins)
Warmup:	20:50	(5 mins)
Race:	20:55	(40 minutes)	note: no warmup!

Cars allowed: any GT1 or G2 from the UKGTR Skin Pack v2.6.0.0 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3356.msg54519#msg54519) (G2 cars will not score points)
Weather: Dry
Track: Valencia GP
Race Start Time 14:00
Pit Stops: no mandatory stop

Server: UKGTR Upper Sprint
Password: see above (#post_event_password)

Notes:
(1) Please make sure you are fully aware of the UKGTR Rules (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3349.0) - especially the speed limiter starting procedure and the rules about in-game chat messages.
(2) Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=58). Reserves (anyone without a full time spot) should not join until the stated session, regardless of the time.
(3) You will not be able to join the server without the skin and ballast pack (see link above).
(4) Drivers may only change car once in the season without penalty.
(5) Drivers are reminded that they must select ISDN as their bandwidth, otherwise the stability of everyone's connection will be reduced.
(6) Please use the Driver Details (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=profile;sa=driver_info) page to ensure that the league management software has your correct GTR2 'Driving Name' (not necessarily the same as your lobby name).

Was gonna take the MC12 but my God is that thing awefull to drive. Big respect to all who drive it (competitively).
So I only have 1 GT1 to chose from...the F575 :-\

I beleive there is a 'special Ruskus GT1 ELISE' available  :D.

I will be taking the Saleen for a spin.....literally ::)

I hope timing runs close to schedule as I'm backshift tonight.

I noticed the race the other night with the extra warm up session involved ran much later than time estimates

Well, that couldn't have gone much worse.   :-\  Was on for a low 1:29 in my Lister when the screen locked up and I got booted back to the desktop, with a message saying my video driver wasn't working properly. Got back in with about 2:30 on the clock. Tried to set a time, and was a few seconds away from the finish line when we went to the next session.

Had to start from the back. Just as well really, as I pulled away the screen locked up on me again. :( Looks like I've got a problem with my graphics card now. It doesn't seem to be pushing much air out of the back, maybe the fan is failing.

A shame, was enjoying the track and my Lister seemed to be fairly competitive.

Qually went better than hoped. Haven't driven the F575 yet and just used a setup from Huttu. So obviously I did a PB in qually :P.
Was surprised with pole, as pole at upper endurance was almost 0.5 faster.
Lot's of spinning cars during qually  ;D

The race was uneventfull. The first 10 laps or so the gap between me and Brian was about 1,0s. AFter that it increased and it kept getting wider slowly.
Happy with the win, but not with the weight, as Monza is a real Fezza track.

Sorry for jumping right after race. I'm in work now. I will post shortly once i've done a tie in. Well done all. Great race

Tough break aagramn, and perhaps you shouldn't read the following ;). Jebus that race had at it all.

Firstly I was slower but in front of one team pseudo car, and had great fun holding him. Thanks for showing patience and nice control as I got a bit ragged. Then Marks Viper caught us and we had a real fun 3 way dice with very different machinery. Then Jonzo span and rejoined just in front of me, and it was my turn to be held up by him. That was the chance Mark the Viper had been waiting for and he took it with a pass at T1. To be honest it was so good I was taken by suprise and turned in on him which punted me off. Just a racing incident but very kind of you to stop and thats why I was flashing, you should have carried on. I hope the fun we had after that more than made up for dropping to back of field, it did for me ;D

Gotta say GT1, like last season, might provide the best races. Therefore, it deserves a better attendance ???

phew, i forgot how intense these GT1 races are :P That was non stop full on hard steering action !

I never got a moments let up, involved a 3 way fight the whole race with Backo and Colin Hines. It was a cracking battle, hope they enjoyed it as much as i did.  8)

Colin got by when my back end got loose under power out of turn 5 , otherwise i think i could have kept him behind. I threw everything at him in the last 10 minutes but he kept his nerve and drove great to keep the place.
Think i finished 9th?

If the first race is anything to go by, it will be a superb close fought and high skilled championship  :fencing:

Grats to Jeff for the win and to my teamie TT for a cool 3rd place  :thumbup1:

Oiy cheeky bugger :taz:...i did no such thing ! I ran a little wide at T1 t'was all and its like throwing anchors around your tyres when you get a wheel in that gravel.
And held you up indeed  :-X ;)....took me about 2 laps to get the grip back then pulled away again :scooter:

That corvette sounds like an angry bumble bee behind you  ;D

That was a great result for me.....this tracks finished with....what a result. :D

Yes, you can take it I don't like the track much....five races on it has been more than enough for me.

Not that I had much track time tonight though....spent most of it at the beach making sand castles.

Grats to Ruskus and podiums.


Sorry Kerr, that wasn't through the warmup session...I made a mess of starting the server, twice, so Picnic had to come and bail me out. :-[....they should finish on time normally

Very close throughout the field in both qual and race 8)

Followed Baracus, Paul and Purdie for the first part of the race, all of us very similar pace and some nice close racing. Reign Man was never far behind in the other Maserati - amazingly even though we had the same car we were quicker on completely different parts of the circuit. MC12 is a tough car to drive and I found that performance seemed to come in waves which was a bit strange, as it would grip well into T1 for 5 laps and then be pants for the next 5 laps, and eventually coming good again a few laps later. Reign also seemed to be closing in on me inn surges and then falling back again.

Purdie eventually ran wide and I just squeezed through to follow teammie Paul home for 5th spot. Was hoping to have a bit of a scrap keeping Purdie behind but saw you spinning in my mirrors shortly afterward :(

Nice close racing all :)

Went with the wrong set up tonight.   Ruskus was only slightly quicker over the first 8 laps or so but my decision to risk soft fronts was wrong. They went off too quickly and I could only watch Ruskus rail sail away from me.    Mossy worrying I could do nothing about truetom pulling me in. He was on my tail for the last countless laps hounding me badly.    My tyres were ruined and tyres worn was repeated in my ear by pit crew.   Managed to survive to the end, just and only just.  Enjoyed that one. Well done ruskus and tt

Great race for me. Actually managed to find some time to get a few practice laps in and work on a setup. Got something approaching a nicely balanced set up for the Saleen, probably for the first time!

Set a PB in qualifying - first time I'd dipped below 1:30, but was only good enough to put me 10th on the grid (I think). Race started with a shocking display of driving for me - with a full tank I was all over the place and being pressured from behind by Backo. Ran out of talent at last corner, semi-spun to infield and dropped back to last.

Then had rip-roaring battle with Gazza49er, Mark Mc, and Ginsters - who at the head of the little gaggle. Also MJ was in the mix for a while, and Jure was not too far behind. We were all fairly even - different cars but seemingly well matched (dunno how much of that is a reflection on our talents!) so it was a good fight. I thought Ginsters did very well to hold off the advances of Mark. I nearly got a few runs on Gazza, but decided not to risk it.

In the end I think I made marginally fewer mistakes than some others, enabling me to climb up the results table a little bit ;)

I certainly did. I've decided to go with the Lambo for GT1. I find it nicer alround over the 550. Had an okay qually, there was a low 1.29 in there somewhere but someone must have been hiding it on me!

The racing was great between MJ and Backo. Must be honest MJ if you'd stayed infront, you would have stayed there. But you put on alot of pressure in the last ten and i'm just glad I held my nerve!

We still ran late tonight. Race was to start at 8.55 but was not far off 10 mins behind. Hence i was slightly late for my 9.45pm start!

Rookie errors for me, Qualified an amazing 3rd but threw it all alway on first lap when i touched kerb on T4 which grabbed the car and spun. Rejoined behind Ginsters and was quicker but just couldnt get past (great drivin by him)  and then swapped places a few times with someone in a viper who kept getting me down the finnish straight.  By this time i had ruined my front tyers which was the wrong choice gambling with soft fronts, was so miffed at throwing that quali position away i lost it at end and then to top it off i ran out of fuel lol.

Congrats to podium.

One thing I want to say:

Keep quiet untill EVERYBODY is finished. Even when there is just one guy driving around, HOLD THE CHAT! It's disrespectfull to start talking when there are others still racing!

No real dramas for me in this race race, I was expecting Edamspeed in the saleen to be all over me but he spun and the gap to the next place behind me steadily increased over the race.

My target was always Mo in the only other MC12, and like he has said, the performance of the car came in waves, one lap it could be fine in a corner, a few laps later you would be struggling to get around it.

I never had the speed to put Mo under any real pressure but the gap was never more that a few seconds.

RM

Great racing tonight.  8)  Great result in quali, Gazza49er.  :thumbup1:  In the beginning I was trying to stay close to Barracus and then somehow managed to even overtake him after his mistake.  :o  That left me in a 3rd position and when running away from Barracus I noticed I was closing on Kerr.  :w00t:  For amazing 30 minutes I was closing the gap of 5 seconds, that's 0,2 seconds per lap.   :fencing:  Don't you ever make a mistake, Brian? :wetfish:

Glad you had a good race, MJ.  8)  Welcome back on track, Jure.  :)

TT

I made a few mistakes but nothing of serious note. A couple of times clipped the kerb too hard before the 4th last corner and missed apex.   Once my tyres were gone it was a major effort to get close to an apex. Major understeer!

I really enjoyed it too mates!!! ;) ;D
I couldn't find corect setup on this bl**dy track for me(I hate this track so much >:()!!!Qualification 11'th I think ,not my PB with my baby,then race start ok I tried push,in last turn EdamSpeed made little mistake ( litle spin or what) and I 've been very close to him.I hit his back of car and then He spin.Sorry mate,but couldn't do anything :-\ After that pushed hard but came big mistake and I've been out of track,came back behind MJ and CH with who I had best time in race!!!well done mates! ;) I finished 7'th.Congratulation to top 3!!! :thumbup1:

P>S sorry for chatting after race,but I though that all finished,again I'm sorry!

Replay (https://replay.simracing.org.uk/ukgtr/Valencia%20GP%20-%20Upper%20Sprint%20070911.zip) now available, provisional results are above. Provisional standing here (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=58)

I was 2 mins late starting server but each session will run about 90 secs longer than the actual session time. Because we now have an extra session the race start time will be a little later than last season.

Sounds similar to the error I got on Sunday in the endurance race. Did your screen end up in 16 colours and low res? When I rebooted Windows said it had recovered from a serious fault which I submitted to MS. I then got some mumbo jumbo about a stuck thread in the display driver and to check I have the latest. Nvidia 8800 here.

It was always a problem for me last season that races during my nightshift week meant I was a couple of minutes late.    I thought I was getting a favour when race start times were brought forward by 5 minutes. Now with the added session etc the race start time actually will be later and i will be later still for work. I will look at my shift calender against the race schedule and see where I stand.  I don't want to, but if too many end up on my nightshift weeks i will have to give up my full time places and concentrate on sundays. I will only be able to make midweek races when i'm on days which is only every third week.                                                               

Once we've got a few ballasted races under our belts we may be able to shorten the warmup a bit and perhaps even move to the race manually bang on time - we need to build up some confidence in the process first though which is going to take at least the Monza rounds.

Sorry couldn't make this one. Racing is taking a back seat at the moment to real life, so not sure I can race in UKGTL on Thursday either again.

I would be in favour of cutting all practice sessions to 5 minutes and increasing qually by 5 minutes to 25 minutes. This would shave 5 minutes off the time again and we wouldn't really lose anything. Especially practice 2 session is not needing to be 10 minutes as it should be just a session for reserves to get in than anything else so that they're not joining during qualifying.

Problem with that though Simon is that not everyone gets a chance to do some practise before the event evening and/or, like myself, only get home from work just before 1st practise quite often. So by shortening practise sessions you run the risk of people 'practising' during the qually session and getting in the way of drivers trying to set fast laps.
It takes about 15-20 mins of laps just to get the necessary speed up to compete in these championships, and thats no-where near enough really without suplementing it with between race test sessions.

Unofficial Lapchart (http://www.lapcharts.teamshark.org.uk/Lapcharts/Valencia Upper Sprint 11-09-2007/index.html)

Yes, I also ended up with a 16 colour desktop, both times. I have an ATI X1900 card.

This is strange - I had the exact same thing happen me last night when I exited the race. Were I should have got the lobby I got a black screen followed immediately by that same error, and a 16 color desktop.
Never happened me before, although I have downloaded and installed the latest DX9 needed for the PD monitor overlay.

Any of you guys also running this?

I was running GTR2PD on a second monitor. I've been running this for ages and done long races at Valencia. Did wonder if my problem is because I've overclocked the CPU. It's survived a spint race and practice sessions but maybe the endurance was a step to far. I've downloaded nTune now so I can monitor GFX temperatures and will see how I get on.

I also use PD monitor, but I've been using it for a little while without problems. Neither my CPU or graphics card are overclocked. I'll check the cooling on the card tonight, and if that's OK I'll run a soak test with another game to see if I'm only getting the problem with GTR.

That was seriously good fun last night,  great battles at the rear end of the field.  I couldnt set a competitive time in qually :o so i started from the last row :laugh:.

During the race i was trading blows with Gazzer in a lambo, Edam in a saleen and Sponsored by Ginsters in the vette 8).  I want to apologise to SBG for nudging you off track, got a run heading down the start/finish straight and was braking late on the inside which was always going to be risky :-\, plus i got a handfull of understeer at that moment which stopped me from holding a tighter line to give you some room, with hindsight i should of just kept cool, but these bloody split second decisions throws all rationality out the window :angel:

all in all a good nights driving ;)

Cheers Mark



 

Tested my graphics card, and it seems to be fine. It managed to run Spa with 28 cars for 2 hours without any problems. I'm not going to run PD monitor next race to see if that makes a difference.  :-\

I did a 90 min race at Valencia on R2P with PD Monitor running on my old PC so I'm not convinced that was the cause. I was slightly out of date with my GFX drivers so these have been updated and I intend to do the Upper Endurance race on Sunday if there is room to try a longer session. I also now have nTune where I can monitor the temperature of the GFX card. Ran at 77^oC when I tried it yesterday which I assume was OK as it was displayed in green  :-\