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: UKGTR Monza GP (download as part of the UKGTR Track Pack v1.2 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3356.msg54519#msg54519))
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 and track pack (see links 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).

looking forward to this one.

After connection problems in the endurance I hope all goes well here.

I'm happy I've got the Lambo going as well as I can

Hiya,
Has anyone got any ideas where to find some set-ups? 'Cause I can't set a car up for toffee, and need some serious help......er..help? ???

just download some online files and try them out, see which works best for you.

What car will you be driving stew? I'm sure somebody can help you out. I'd offer mine if you need some help. The lambo is my main car, but i have a set up for a few cars around here.  Remember though different people have different ideas what a good set up is.

The Sinclair C5 is not the best choice for Monza, but I'll try to pick off some stragglers tonight :) .

I suggest that you place an advert selling yourself to a prospective team Stew. If your're fast, Team Teeth will be in touch ;). If not, then all the teams will provide the setup and track help that you may need at the mo. It will only add to your fun  :)

when picking up a car - keep in mind monza is very atypical track, pick a car that feels best for you at average track or you'll be stuck with something you don't like later on.

or just load Spa and see what happens, if the car's ok there, it's ok everywhere. ;)

Thanks guys, I think my driving needs to improve b4 I join a team (2 races, 2 last places 2 laps down, inc. 2 punctures :o), but any help would be greatfully received. I'm mainly using The Lambo & M3 at the moment. Will try to find good set-up for Lambo tonight if there is space. :)

My computer crashed on the fisrt flying lap. I hope I didn't cause any drama.  :o

Extremely p'd off with that, I was looking forward to it.  :(

I hope you all had a good race

RM

Never expected much here in the lambo especially with the extra weight.

Qualified 5th but was not happy with the time.

Manged to give Ruskus a few frights during the first lap. Managed to draw alongside him before his extra grunt pulled the gap back. Got the draft off him out of last bend and manged to get my nose ahead by first corner only to find Paul Richards in the middle of the track and I had to give way.

Ruskus gained 3 seconds straight off and i could only watch him ease away. Ended up on my own for the rest of the race, managed to out brake myself a few times but nothing exciting to report at all.

Kindly handed 3rd on a plate by Ruskus, I can only assume to a stop and go.

Well done Zacari and Freq

For the first time in 3 races my PC didn't lock up at the start. I didn't run PD monitor this time, wonder if that's what made the difference?

Best race I've had at Monza, very close in the midfield.

Unlucky Reign  :(

Another tough race at Monza but quite enjoyed myself despite being further down the grid than i would like.

Qualied a good 10th, leaping 4 places in the process with a good lap. (Still cant break into those 42's though ??? )
Kept it all clean at race start involved in some good little battles, but as everyone got upto speed i just started going back down the order as everyone drafted past me like i was standing still  :-[
I was running a 2 rear wing, what were you guys on? Being unfamiliar with the Lambo i feared that the 41mins fuel shown for a full tank would be very marginal to finish the race and so i turned the revs down a few notches...looks like that was a bad move  :(
Think i dropped something like 4 to 5 places but clawed some back later as others had errors, but no pace in the car or me to catch people on track other than hang onto their shirt tails a few times. I enjoyed brief battles with Mo,Jure and Backo before they left me for dead :P
Lost two places late on when i double down shifted at T1 and Baracus and Jure got past. Fortunately for me they both had late incidents and i got my two slots back  :)
Enjoyed the race but felt like i couldnt race anyone on track as everyone else seemed faster  ::) Going away scatching my head setup wise  :-\
Congrats to Zacari and the two pody guys.  8)

Good and bad thing this race.

The weight was terrible and couldn't feel competitive untill I surprised myself with a 41'9 :).
My first few laps were very slow as tires had to warm up, and Brian was all over me.
After few laps he drafted alongside me heading towards T1, but because Paul R. spun, he couldn't continue his attack....thanks Paul :).

After that I could slowly increase the gap between me and Brian. But the gap infront increased as well, which left me in a gap :(.
But because FreQ and Zacari were battling hard I was gaining some time. With 6 minutes to go I was right behind  FreQ untill I got my 3rd c/t warning at Ascari  :'(.
Rejoined in 9th. With 4 minutes after that it was gonna get tight. Gained a place with TT spinning in T1. Who says Legends never help out others  ;)?
Then I was behind Aagramn, and to my surprise, the Lister powered away after Parabolica :o.

We were both heading towards Parabolica in the last lap, last corner, and he went a bit wide and I could take the inside and get 6th, losing 30kilo's for Adria :jumpjoy:

Grats Zacari for the win, and Team Shark for getting 1st-4th (should have been 5th :P)

Replay (https://replay.simracing.org.uk/ukgtr/UKGTR%20Monza%20-%20Upper%20Sprint%20070925.zip) plus provisional results above and provisional standings (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=58)

I had nice, long going tussle with SBG. I lost count how many times we swapped places.  8)  Were you guys using C6Rs?  :o  Not used to be taken out on a straight by a Corvette.  :P  I was doing a lot of little mistakes which prevented me to close with the front drivers, also, small battles on the way with many drivers were delicious, but time consuming. Special mention to Aagramn - how very fast that Lister was!!!  :o  Always closing on braking, high speed on a straight, slipstream just sucked it flying.  :eek: 
At the end I had a great battle with Mark McClean and on the very last lap I missed my braking point, picked Mark on braking and we lost 3 places in process.  :-[  Again, I'm very sorry and so  :censored:  at me.  :(
Finished 9th, while 4th (I think) was my best position in this dynamic race.  :-\

TT

Unofficial Lapchart (http://www.lapcharts.teamshark.org.uk/Lapcharts/Monza US 25-09-2007/index.html)

Qualified well in 3rd setting a PB. Had a half spin early on and thought I could get back across the track before Ruskus and Brian got to where I was. I think I did just about but you were closer than I thought. Sorry if it was a bad rejoin will view the replay and report myself if required. Made back a few places and was going well in 5th but then got taken out at Curve Grande while passing a back marker. Will submit an incident report for that for certain.  

Yeah, I think there'll be a few incident reports concerning backmarkers tonight!

My race started badly when I selected 'rear view' rather than pit-limiter off ::) Sorry to Jure who was behind me at the time.

Then, whilst moving offline to let a charging Mo past - Reign Man had his PC issue. How come I'm always RIGHT behind someone when they get a freeze - even when they're off the racing line?  >:(

After that, managed to get back in touch with Jure, and we had a great battle - nice driving mate :) Got a bit of a biff from Backo at T1, but to be honest I was driving like a haddock at the time with worn tyres and probably deserved it. Started to chase down Jure again, and nearly got him on the line as he'd spun at Parabolica. Sadly I was taken out by a backmarker the lap before which cost me several seconds.

Was really enjoying that, after very poor showing in the endurance(way off the pace) i did a good 1.42 to qualy 10th. Made a steady start following truetom i think and 6,7,8, 9 all in close view. Then made small mistake which let backo through and one more. Got it back together and with others making errors got back up to 10th, had good little scrap with aargram but then another small mistake saw him move away.

Was on for a good 10th finish just holding off mo who was catching me fast when on last lap at the final chicane i clipped edge of grass under braking which forced me to cut the chicane got it all back under control only to find stew parked in the middle of the track. Couldnt avoid him and mo hit me to. Got damaged quite bad, made it back to pitts (crying) lol.  Ended up 17th and very gutted.

Congrats to podium.

Unlucky Reign Man...didn't cause me any grief...except for the heart attack :o

Not a lot to say about another lonely race. Qualified 3rd (from the back ;)) with a pb.
Just missed RM's stationary MC12 (phew) and then  swapped places with Edam after he had a trip off road...but it wasn't long before I gave it him back by trying to reverse down the straight following Lesmo 2.
Diddn't really have any more incidents but was too slow to catch anyone.

Grats for winner and podiums.....

And a Great 1, 2, 3 for team pseudo. (1 point for Gazza, 2 for me and 3 for Backo  ::))

Great fun TT, did you marvel at my attempts to stop you slinging by and passing me into first chicane? Go inside, and you go around the outside. Go outside, and you go up inside.  ;D. No touches with you Aagramn (who was indeed flying :o), Mark and Mo=some great racing. Thx.

Pretty annoyed that someone's ridiculous attempt at a pass cost me two places though. Gotta say that on a rare foray to the upper echelons of the grid that shocked me. The standard of all the rest did not :angel:. And thx to Stew for letting me past as I was being pressurised by Aagramn.  

Congrats to the podium, who appeared on another level :)

Had a great view of your scrap TT & SBG. Every time you got side-by-side it gave me a chance to close right up under braking. Had a couple of scary moments when I found myself steaming in, but just managed to find enough in the brake pedal.


The Lister is a lot more competitive now that Dave's michelin'ed it in the latest skinpack, and my -20KG success ballast helped too.


Saw you 3 seconds behind me with about 3 minutes on the clock and knew it would be close. Had just enough pace to hold on, until I screwed up my braking at parabolica and got on the marbles, not for the first time. Oh well, 7th is a good finish for me.

Rusky, if you find a time to make another of those superb videos you have plenty of material in this race with close racing, swapping places, side by side Parabolica, etc. Just exclude my last lap please.  :-[

TT

Only just saw a few minutes ago some cars were Michelin'ed ;D, only thought the weight was changed :P. That explains the comeback of the Lister :)

Can do :D. I just hate searching through the replay, so if you wouldn't mind searching and giving me replaytimes of action, I can capture and edit it :). Obviously, everybody that helps will get creditted in the video and on forum.

First off i will say sorry to Baracus for a silly move i made at parabolica,  after seeing it in the replay i wasnt even alongside and had really no right to try a pass.(classic dive bomb)sorry m8 :-[.

Apart from that though it was a good race, was battling with 3/4s of the field at some point or another.  Had Simon on my bumper hassling me and i was beginning to fell a little vulnerable at T1,  but a lap or so later it appeared as if i was pulling away slightly only to then spin at T1.  Rejoined infront of TT but i still had 2 wheels on the grass, floored throttle and nearly spun again :helpsmilie:.  Also TT i seen the replay and i Turned in on you, i should of gave you room :-[.   Hard work thats for sure :laugh:

Congrats to Zacari driving a lister :blink: and the podium.

Mark

Congrats to all, sorry to most for getting in way, had almost zero grip from about lap 4, another puncture just made things worse(also speeding in pitlane was annoying). Really sorry Gazza, and how do you lot go so bloomin' fast ;D

Will do that tomorrow (rainy) afternoon.  :)

TT

Not a bad evening's work. 13th to 4th. ;D Midfield is where my pace is in this series so 13th is not a bad qualifying, but what I lose in out-right pace I make up for by driving conservatively and consistently in the race. It just shows that racing at the pace you can actually go instead of faster than your ability gains you far more places than trying to go an extra half a second faster than you can really manage every lap and then spinning it off even once.

It's actually kind of annoying that I don't get a negative ballast considering my actual pace is way down on a lot of people. It means I'm penalised for being good in the races, but not necessarily fast. That's the way the cookie crumbles. It is success ballast not pace ballast so I say no more. :angel: :-\

Anyway, had a really good race with everyone tonight. I was running 1-2 wing in the race on mediums and this meant the Vette was pretty fast down the straights. With a good slip stream I was a match for the F550. Had ding dong battles with so many people I forget who they all were, but it was muchas fun and lasted 3/4 of the race. 8) Thanks for the great battles everyone, it was some of the hardest racing ever in that race, but it was so very fair I really appreciate the standard of racing here is just incredible now, it makes it brilliant fun.

I'm worried about Adria, having never seen it on TV or turned a lap in game I have a lot of learning to do and I hate circuits with nothing but hairpins, which is what this looks like. We shall see how I do, but the Vette isn't exactly nimble so I'll have to make a lot of time in my consistency again and another top 10 finish should be possible.

My prediction is that the Lambo, MC12 and Lister will do well at Adria.

Very wise words indeed Mr Shark.  8)

Right.

Quali: disaster, 1.8 secs off my PB (with ballast!). Oh well, I guess 16th should do, was still confident (wrongly) since my race pace should be in high 43s-low44s.

Didn't happen. Race pace with clean track is one thing, passing on the straights in a 1-3 winged lambo is a no-no. :-\ Was destroying competitors through chicanes but little did it help since they could pull away on the straights. Sitting duck. I suspect my gearing was wrong too (low gears, long 5th and 6th). Anyway, good lap times were only achievable when running freely (since it was impossible to gain time on my "best" parts of the track with cars in front... or behind :D )

Had a run on EdamSpeed into first corner (I think it was him), then did a classic Jure in lap 2 or 3 (was waiting for med-med to heat up but clipped the grass on braking into 2nd chicane, slammed into the barrier and ruined aero on front right of the car. With all those straights I pick braking points to check tyre pressures... argh. Guess how it felt entering Variante Ascari later on with parts of the splitter missing, lol. Major drama. ;D )

Had a huuuuuge battle with few of the drivers (EdamSpeed in particular, was determined he's not getting inside line... EVER!), enjoyed it thoroughly, thanks guys. Great racing, best race so far (for all of us imho, must watch the replay, should be a blast) :)  8)

Rest I don't remember. Started 16th, finished 12th (barely, spun in Parabolica on last lap).  ;D

Now... what's Adria all about... anyone?  ???

@Jonzo: LOL. I was thinking about your setup yesterday night during the race, giggle. You either had a poor exit speed or (more likely, I did drive behind you, exit was fairly fine imho) your car was in, erm, I call it speedboat mode (C). I.e. while at speed, front side of the car was higher then back end, hence you were pushing air below the car. Nothing kills top speed more than that. Should be it, you were losing in 5th-6th gear territory, was quite visible (I went:"Aha, he's in same deep S**T as I am"  ;D ). Did it feel like the car was drunk at top speed? You know, just like a speed boat, front end was... well, speedboating while trying to change direction (even slightly)?

Check it with Motec (and no, I don't know how, you're on your own  ;D ). Add loads of rear packers on your existing setup and check top speed diference (just to quick-test it, it's not a real cure for it). My guess is you were having unstable rear end (1-2 wing, logical) so u lowered your rear end (which probably also gave you a bit of understeer exiting onto the straights). Right? (been there, did that, didn't work) ;)

Ignoring the obvious setup stuff these are some of the more specific things I do for Monza...

1) A long 1st gear so I can get out of the first chicane without two bites at the cherry. In a GT car this goes up to about 80-85mph before changing to 2nd. My philosophy for race setups is I'd rather have a stable car over an unstable faster car.
2) Then the rest of the gears are pretty close, BUT, I always make sure I don't need 4th through the Lesmos. I gear 3rd long enough to make it through the Lesmos without changing gear.
3) Put 1.0 unit of packers on the rear and 0.5 at least on the front.
4) Reduce castor so the car is less lively round the bends in low downforce configuration.
5) Don't have the ride height so low that the bottom of your car rubs so often. You are much more likely to get the old "spit off" the circuit thing with too low a ride height at Monza because you do use the curbs and there are lots of bumps. Again goes back to my philoshopy of a  having a stable car over an unstable faster car.

Maybe these things won't work for everyone, but that's some of my experience of setting up for the unusual nature of Monza.

You could have told us all this BEFORE all the races at Monza finished :laugh:

So whats your setup for Adria ;) ;D

Some other tips:

1) At Variante Rettifilo aim solely on exit speed. Flying into that chicane and getting wide before the lefthander is deadly. Brake quite early and get a good straight exit out of the 2nd part. That way you can, along with a long 1st gear (as Simon said), get out of the corner quicky.
2) At Varianta della Roggia you should be carefull with the curbs. Take the first curb alot as taking it a little will unsettle the car more than while taking it alot. Obviously keep the cut track rules in mind. When you get the first part right, the car will be very stable and you can take some nice curbs on the right at the 2nd part. Stay off the yellow/black stripes as you'll bottom out on those things and come to a stop. Carefull on the exit as you'll get sucked in the grass and armco.
3) Unlike Simon, I take Lesmo 1 and 2 in 2nd gear (dependant on gearring). That way I decide how wide I want to run, as I use the shifting to be precise with the exit. Take the curb on the outside, but be carefull as it's less banked than the track and will suck you in a bit, just gently steer to the right and brake at the 100m marker for Lesmo 2, avoiding the curb on the inside to prevent the car from bouncing. Lesmo 2 is all about exit speed, so never miss the apex there.
4) Between Lesmo 2 and Variante Ascari there are alot of bumps, so do not lower the ride height too much, as you'll bottom out and lose all the speed gained.
5) Ascari needs to be handled with care. It's very easy to throttle too early and get a wide entry for the last part, resulting in running wide and clipping the gravel and armco. I take the first part in 2nd gear, and while waiting to floor it for the exit, I put it in 3rd and before  hitting the exitcurb at Ascari I'll shift up to 4th.
6) Parabolica might be the most important corner at this track. It's very long and needs a precise approach. You can really brake into the corner, right upto the apex, and when you are finished with braking, immediatly floor it. There should not be a moment of coasting at that corner, it's brake....floor it.
(http://www.ict4us.com/gm-f1/50px-Monza_2006.gif)

Probably obvious hints, but it might help somebody.

Good turn in ;D

About a week away. ;D

Was a great race, first of all surprising myself with 2nd right at the end of Q :)

Then the start was OK, I was mindful of PR gaining on me initially until there were a few corners where the Lambo could fight back a little, unlucky on the spin though :(

Then it was a race-long battle with Zacari, I felt pretty bad taking the lead in those circumstances (678 secs) but decided to make the pass and then not defend the inside line going into T1 until he'd made a pass stick. Carl had great top speed today and repeatedly got up the inside, so it was only a matter of time until he made the move stick. Apologies for my rough defence not long after you lost the lead, I was on full lock left and only realised you were there at the last minute, by which time you were already on the kerb and grass. :-X My bad.

Was good fun though, and the first time I remember fighting for the lead at Monza! ;D  :o Jeff started scaring me silly towards the end of the race after Carl had gapped me, but then had his stop/go.....sucks  :'(

Only real down part of the race was lapping....I think we'll see a few reports about that :( Maybe Stew could practise a bit more offline? It's not all about speed, but understanding the cars and the tracks is important to get close, enjoyable racing. When you don't really know how to handle the cars on the limit, it's dangerous to yourself and others. Keep at it though - these sims are tough at first and most people here have been driving them for years. Maybe try the GT2's and GTC's first too, they're a little easier on the limit (for most people, I'm terrible in them!).

Anyway, gr peeps and see you at *shudder* Adria  :-[

Sorry, but I really think you should leave comments like this to the mods. I wouldn't blame Stew for packing up his kit and joining a friendlier league rather than endure this sort of criticism. I've watched the whole race on replay now (given that 3 team members were involved in incidents with Stew) and from my perspective he drove a considerate and mainly controlled race. As far as I'm aware he didn't cause you any problems at all. Yes, he made a few mistakes, and fate decided that the outcome was unfortunate in each case, but I've seen far worse from novice drivers, even in races without the very high levels of skill and experience shown by other drivers last night. Stew might be the next Freq for all we know, so I suggest we give him the benefit of the doubt and let the mods decide whether any further action is needed.

Paul

I hope Stew doesn't think I'm having a go at him. It's criticism aimed in a constructive way and I'd hope it helps rather than hinders learning. Practising in races is great for learning lines but is also pretty daunting when you've got people going 6 seconds a lap faster. Doing a bit of offline practise is a no-brainer isn't it?

Stick at it Stew, speed comes with practise. Simon and Jeff have also posted some great advise earlier on in this thread for setting up cars at Monza. :)

Paul - If you've got something to get off your chest, please PM me.

A pair of jellied eels? :o :angel:

Stew showed good awareness to let me & SBG past when we were battling on the last lap.

Thought the earlier attempts I made on you Ruskus, were pretty exciting too, on saying that I still have not looked at replay!

Nice video. A few big crashes!

Which one? The one with what the video starts or you overtaking me while I was serving my stop&go? ;D

Nice video Ruskus!!!Well done ;)

i cant find it on that filefront link. And the you tube wont play 4 me,  would like to see this vid

Not sure if it was the same lap, think it was the one previous, I was hounding you through variante ascali and had the run and was alongside you before your superior speed got you to parabolica ahead of me

Filefront mirror updated:

http://files.filefront.com/Monza+Upper+Sprintwmv/;8676825;/fileinfo.html

(also in previous post)

Thanks Ruskus  :)

Nice one Ruskus and ta TT. Aaaahhhh such happy memories :). Hope Adria proves as much fun. 

Good stuff, Rusky, plenty of action, good directing&music.  8)  And comments, of course.  :D  Sorry for other timestamps that we missed.  :-\

TT

Great vid guys 8)

Nice Video! Like the comments Ruskus! One mistake though the Go that way Paul > No that way! was actually Edam I think.  I didn't last that long!

Nice work on the video Jeff, exciting stuff!

Sorry Paul, video removed.

No need to do that mate, thought the video was great! I love watching the videos of the races and wish I had the talent to make my own!

Excellent vid guys!  ;D

Cheers

Rob

Nah, such mistake do not belong in a video. I'll edit it and re-upload tomorrow.

Can I be cheekey and pm you some replay times of Joss and I's battle? :)

Sure, if it's enough, I might add another song to it and make it a 8 minute video ;D

Nice video 8), although I think you got confused with Baracus and Backo where you have all that nice action with my Corvette. :P

 :-[ Yes, video will be looked at again :-[

May have been my mistake, I looked the replay through so many times it left me  :wacko:

TT

Hey, no probs. Showed some really great action from a memorable race well put together again as all the videos on here are.

Edited video:

Youtube (http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=CtgHdFZ4UVY)

Filefront (http://files.filefront.com/Monza+USwmv/;8691627;/fileinfo.html)

This video has some added footage and is about 1,5 minutes longer.

Even better.  8)

TT

Great vid again Jeff. I gotta ask who the band is for the first song? Never heard them before....Album and track would be awesome as well ;D

I might have a go at making a vid now I'm on a shiny new PC....maybe movie maker won't crash horribly all the time now :)

Guess ya didn't check the credits then ;D. Song : Nightwish - Amaranth (with the new singer Anette Olzen). Album is Dark Passion Play.

Ahhh....I always zoned out as soon as the splash screen hit!