SimRacing.org.uk

Practice 1:	20:00	(10 mins)
Qual 2:	20:10	(25 mins)
Race:	20:35	(80 mins)	note: no warmup!

Cars allowed: any GT3 from the UKGTR Skin Pack v2.8.0.0 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3356.msg54519#msg54519)
Weather: changeable, based on real-world conditions at the start of the event.
Track: UKGTR Donington GP 2004 (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: You must make a minimum of one pit stop during which you must take on at least 1 litre of fuel and/or change your tyres. You cannot take your mandatory stop at the end of the pace lap, or with less than 1 lap to go.

Server: UKGTR Lower Endurance
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) Championship standings can be found on the series page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=71&theme=3).
(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).
(7) GTR2 Manager voluntary handicap ballast will not be available for this race.

Holiday season is upon us, high probability I will miss this one :'( I should be away.

Hope you all have a great race :)

I will be there and again, really looking forward to this. Having a few problems with setup. Just can't seem to get enough grip in the Lotus or the right brake pressure. Still, it should be great fun.

 >:( >:( >:(

Was having a great scrap early on with TT, M Boyland and Dave but when i came into pits for wet tyres i must of hit the change driver thing and the car took off under AI control!! was frantically hitting all the keys to try and turn it off and asking team on TS but nothing would turn it off and as i looked up it was about to drive into the back of someone!! Really Really sorry who ever it was i couldnt hit Esc quick enough.  Hope it didnt cause any more problems.

Sorry to M Boyland in the elise too when i got a wobble on at the hairpin and went into the side of you.

Really miffed!!

Hope everyone has good race.

So unlucky for me. As I had a higher tyre wear at the front, my strategy was pitting early and only change fronts to have a good balance into the end of the race. At the same moment I was exiting the pits for the stop, it starts raining, COOOL THANKS VERY MUCH lol so my race was over. Then pitted for directly hard wets hoping it wouldn't stop raining, and it stopped raining! Thanks again! In the end got I think 3 stop&go penalties for "cutting" lol and finished 9th... better luck next time :)

EDIT: Forgot to say what an amazing battle we had with FreQ at the beginning, a shame the weather didn't let me stay there till the end :(

I enjoyed every single minute of this race  :jumpjoy:
Although my 5  :helpsmilie: stop & go penaltys.
Qualified 8th on wet track and i was praying for a wet race  :whistling:
Race started with a very dry track and on lap 6 i had already pitted twice
because 2 stop & go  :hammer: at that time i was in very last position with
a gap of 32 seconds for the driver ahead, meanwhile i had 2 more stop & go
before my mandatory pit, wich i did with 15 minutes to the end, as i didnt lost
so many time with so much S/G stuff, when i pitted Truetom was in my pit spot  :eek:
and i lost almost 1 minute more  :lol: after that i had 1 more...guess what... Stop & go  :death:
and i dont remember in what place i finished, but really doesnt matter  ;D although this
odd...issey i stayed untill the end and i enjoyed a lot. Thanks for the drivers i unlapped,
you were very kind.
Congrats to podium.
Cheers

Ah, I wondered what was going on there. Picnic has had that before and it prompted us to put something in the rules (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3349.msg66199#msg66199) because of what is effectively a bug in GTR2:
I stayed out on slicks until the temperatures started to drop dramatically and then took on hard wets, having had a brown trouser moment when Gazza broke much earlier than I expected going into Redgate and I had to run wide in avoidance.

Having been caught out previously when changing back to slicks too soon, I decided to stay out for as long as I could keep the temperatures in control; that was going well until about two laps from the end when they started to skyrocket, by which time it was far too late to pit again. Ted, who'd been following me, unlapped himself and cleared off into the distance, followed by Evert who's Vertigo was in pursuit of my 5th place. He sneaked by but I had a plan - use the 350Z's superior speed to retake the place coming out of the last corner on the final lap. I almost pulled it off too - his Gillet just edging it in a photo finish. ::) :D

Really enjoyed that :)

Lots of battles for almost the whole race and I only pitted once, pushing my "SOFT WETS :o" to the end of the race. They just about made it but it was close.

I need to check the replay, it must be a good one. Especially the battle I had with spanner, lots of fun mate :)

Sorry to hear about your problems Gazza and Busi. :(

H@L9000

SOFTS?! *faints*

LOL, the Z3 is sooooo light on tyres at Donni that I knew the drys would be useless until the very end of the race.

Well, started on softs and then changed for soft wets, they kept well enough 'till the end.  :)
Good scrap with Gazza from the start and then Michael Boyland. That Elise is CHANGED !  :P  Pulled out of corner every time, couldn't get close enough even in slipstream.  :D  So different, lol. Well, I guess I got a bit pesky and Michael finally made a mistake, so I could pass. He got enough to do with the the cue of cars behind so he didn't come after me.  :D  After Busi made his mistake(s)  :P  Freq must have driven his car single-handedly, while watching The Hot Nights of Josephine Mutzenbacher.  ;)  Well, I also had a gap of 30 seconds when the tracks started to dry and I let it slowly dissipate towards the end, keeping the tyres cool(er) by driving through the wet parts of the track whenever I could.

It was a bit lonely but worth 2nd place.  :)

TT

Edit: I thought I was seeing you more than others, PRibeiro.  :lol:

I guess it's all in the setup then  :-\ When in started to dry out my softs were at 130+ before I crashed (again) when I managed 180+ all the way back to the pits  ::)

All I can say is *"£"£&"£*&££&^£&$£&$&*£ race for me, not sure why I'm bothering

Replay and provisional results posted

Good stuff....proper british weather  :laugh:

I pitted for soft wets when the rains came....fully expecting it to stay wet till the end... ::) bad guess.

The tyres were working ok but it seemed to be getting drier and drier every lap and my tyres were getting hotter and hotter so made a second stop with about 17mins to go for a set of inters.

Rejoined 9th (from 7th I think) so not too bad and took 8th when Busi pitted (stop go mate?) H@L was next but some 27 seconds ahead with about 15 laps so not much chance....The inters worked well though and I think I was only 5 or 6 secs behind at the end as he was struggling on HOT wets.

Grats podium.

Really? Jeff's always going on about how the Dunlop ones are bugged and only give 50% grip....so never through to actually try them  ???
Me and Dave were struggling on hot hard wets, waiting for soft slicks to become useable...but they never did so we struggled on!  :laugh:

Well, what can I say. This has to go down as one of my favourite races of all time and I have been doing this online since 1998. I had dreamed of racing online in the wet for years and finally it happened  :clap: :clap:

When qualifying turned out to be wet, I had no idea how I would fare. To my surprise I went fastest until near the end got knocked down to 3rd. Still, very surprised and very happy but also a little worried to be starting the race in 3rd.

Race time and I joined the grid thinking it would be wet and found it to be dry. So popped out and changed tyres to drys  ;D Race started and had an amazing 20 minute battle with Truetom. Boy that was intense but amazing fun. Very clean and fair. You had so much better brakes but my acceleration was killing you  :scooter: No worries Gazza49er for the tap. Thats racing and it only lost me a couple of places. Then the rain came and my car came alive. I stayed out on slicks with Reign Man and found myself leading after everyone pitted. It was now very wet and I was struggling to make the hairpin so I pitted and came out in 5th. My car was even better on soft wets and I could really attack and passed dave and busi for 3rd. I stayed out on soft wets until the end and finished the race in 3rd with 1 litre of fuel left.

That was so much fun. When it was dry my car was not so competitve but when it was wet it was amazing. Brilliant fun losing places and then getting them back in the wet. It was great fun driving around on the drying track looking for wet patches to keep the tyres cool.

I had no idea GTR2 could change weather during the race. Is that something we have setup for this league or can GTR2 change the weather during the race session?

Also, I had no idea what my tyres tempertaures were. Is there a way of checking during the race in the Elise?

Dunlop inters are bugged as far as I can remember. Compare their grip level (1.100 IIRC) against other brands (1.600 IIRC).

But what was this race, Vertigo cup??? Where are the Vipers man?

They use a program for that here, as GTR2 can only change weather between sessions, and often does that very weird (40C to showers and 10 degrees  :-\). Changeable races are the best, and you guys have loads of them this season, which pisses me off  ;D.


Check out this must have tool:

http://www.vitumo.de/

Also well done in that Elise, always more respect to see a driver finish high in an odd car  :thumbup1:

The temps never went over 150 C and driving through the wet patches seemed to help allot. Although 150 seemed to high to me, I really had no choice but to risk it because I was quite sure the drys would be too cold. As best as I could tell, the overheating wets gave more grip than 'what I thought' the cold drys would do. I can upload my setup if you want.

I was very very tempted to the viper after I saw the tracks for the season.....but backed out in favour of the vertigo....simply because I have driven it ever since I joined here and love it to bits.

Shame really, coz I love the viper too....if the GT3's stay the same and run next season I will most likely take it then.

Well Team Oldie proping up the rear but enjoying it none the less!!
Legzy and I threw a wet set up together in quali !
Good run in the dry to start with keeping pace with 4 cars ahead until a few minor 'moments' dropped me back a couple of seconds!
Lucked out as the rain started just as I was coming out of the Melbourne loop so decided to gamble on going straight into the pits for wets!
That seemed like it was a bad plan 5 laps later when it appeared it was only gonna be light rain and my tyres were getting a bit hot!
Luckily again it then threw it down and I was flying ( for me! )  ;D and cut 3 seconds off my PB rain time and made 11th as others pitted.
Was praying for the rain to continue as I thought I had the pace to keep the place!
Unluckily it then dryed out!  ;) Sort of! I went in and put on slicks when it appeared to be a drying track!
I guess that was a rookie mistake as intermediates would have been a better choice? The mixture of dry and wet corners was really challenging
and I wasn't gonna to pit again with only a short amount of time left!

Really fun and challenging!

Thanks all

M.

P.S Legzy's first outing in the rain! He was paranoid about getting in anyones way and nearly didn't start the race! Encouragement needed!!  :)

Yep, good fun that one.

Enjoyed some close driving in the early stages with a group of several cars before I spun it and dropped back to nearly last.

Then the rain came and managed to work my way slowly back up.

Last 40 minutes or so were fairly lonely, although would have been a nice drive with DG if it had been for position  ;)  As it was I kept a constant 10+ seconds ahead of the car behind (Spanner?) to come home in one piece which was pleasing.

Ted

Check out this must have tool:

http://www.vitumo.de/

Tried to install this tool earlier, but as soon as I do GTR2 refuses to start up.
Any clues?

Then again had no idea about the temperatures of my tyres so no worries as well.
Finished the race on soft wets and they were fine until the end, or so I believe.

Racing in the 08 season seems so much closer compared to last season. Until the rain came
we had a very nice scrap with 5 cars  which gave each other hardly any chance to pass while in
the meantime racing was very close with no mistakes being made, and this seems to happen every race
this season. Another few of this and I will need to see a cardiologist.

From the link's Installation Instructions


Perhaps you don't have the latest. Microsoft keep updating DX9.0c but don't change the version, just add July 08 release or similar.

Tnx Picnic, but I already have the latest version.
Thing keeps puzzling me, got the same version of XP as Jan on a newer computer, on his system GTR2XD works fine
on mine it refuses completely.
Perhaps a completely new install of windows and the rest will help.

CY

There is an alternative to Ruskus' suggestion which is GTR2PD (check over at RaceSimCentral) But unlike the XD one is doesn't display over GTR2 so you need a second monitor or PC (works over a network) Personally I prefer GTR2PD but it doesn't tell you engine health.

enjoyed the fine weather and cool chardonnay too much.....and missed a great race, thank god teamie Evert did a good job even without
Gtr2PD....what a talented old buck,nice to see him pip Dave on the finishline :P :P

Jan

Really enjoyed last nights race until the rain came.

Qualified in a satisfactory 10th, especially as it was in the rain :)

The race was a very close battle with a bunch of cars who I was trying to keep behind. I think Spanner was amongst them biting at my heels and keeping me honest - good racing!!

When it began to rain, I really had no idea what tyres to put on so, after staying out for 2-3laps, I plumped for soft wets. Wow, came out the pits and it was if I was driving on ice. In fact, it was so bad I chose to quit as I  was becoming a major hazard on the track. :(  No idea why it was as bad as that so I was intrigued to find out what tyres everyone else had gone for and how long they stayed out before changing them.

Can anyone elaborate on the ins and outs of what tyre to go for in what conditions? For example, in last nights race?

btw, thanks for the GTR-XD link - that will help an awful lot!!     

The best is trying some laps in different weather conditions.  ;)
I always do when I'm developing an Endurance setup.
Steps to setup/try:
- dry setup quali
- dry setup race
- dry setup race in 20% wet
- change tyres and brake ballance only in 50% wet
- if I have time I tweak meself a wet quali

Anything more than 50% rain means drive slooooooooowly.  :D

I discovered a great new dimension in realistic and dynamic weather. BIG plus for DG.  :clap:  I find it both challenging and interesting to have to develop tactic ad hoc, like last night. I wasn't sure I'm gonna be able to finish the race on soft wets but I would only change if the leader or the 3rd would. The temps never got above 130'C and I spent every available time on wetter surfaces.  :)
Question for DG: for a second time I noticed that the track was drying slowlier than would really be with the track temperature over 30'C. Would be more interesting to see it dry sooner, would force a second pit-stop. Would this change to the clever-weather file be a hard thing to do?

TT

I tried PD over a second monitor and that works fine.

tnx for your help

The only things I can set in the file after the start of each session and "conditions" (from clear skies, through increasing clouds, and then into increasingly severe rain) and temperature. Nothing else. The track condition can only be set at the start of each session, after that the game is supposed to take care of the track itself based on sunshine, temperature, rainfall etc.

It's possible that the track GDB may influence weather as it has latitude, longitude and so on, but I suspect not.

Ok, DG, it's ok as it is. I hope there'll be more races with weather like this one.  :)

Thanks for that TT. I think what threw me yesterday was that on a flooded track in qualifying with soft wets I managed a fairly respectable 1.43s without the car feeling unstable, but the same setup was uncontrollable when the rained during the race. Maybe it was because the track wasn't flooded or the tyres were cold or I was just gunning it after being used to slicks. I'll try some practice in different conditions as you suggested, TT


Yep, totally agree with that - that extra dynamic certainly mixes things up. The only issue for me atm is the lack of feedback of car and track conditions to help formulate a tactic, especially in the MOTEC-less Vertigo; hopefully GTR2-XD or GTRPS will remedy that.

I must also say a massive thanks to DG for having the variable weather. It just made the whole thing so much more realistic and exciting. The pace laps gets my heart going but now variable weather, I feel like I am in racing heaven.

Is the variable weather a server setting or a track setting???

Out of interest, how does the Season 8 Elise compare to the other cars in this GT3 class on straight line speed?


*Desperately tries to avoid making a comment about having a wet dream :angel:*

The Elise totally BLITZZES the vertigo anyway  :)

The Elise is simply the best car in the world  ;D ;D

I can only comment on the last two races but at Ochers, the Elise struggled for pace and The Vertigo was faster. At Donington it was a little closer but I was struggling to keep Truetom and Gazza behind me. In fact, for the first 20 minutes I was holding up about 5 cars. In the wet the Elise was amazing.

Server.

Excellent. So any race could be wet then  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Quite a good race for me but a little bit lonley for the last half of it.

Qualified in 13th, which I was quite happy with, The beamer is just a joke in the wet so I was praying for a dry race.

I was able to quickly make up 3 places quickly and close the gap to Psuedo who was trying to get past a Elise, I was able to get by them both quicky, during which Psuedo was able to take the position  ;D...  After that there was a 19 second gap (i think to) to 7th place ahead of me and I set out to close it.

It started raining when I was about 5/6 seconds behind the group ahead.  From that point on I just drove with the intention of keeping the car on the road and not losing any positions as I fully expected to be outclassed once it was wet enough.  I pitted with 50 mins to go and put on hard wets.  I jumped the folks ahead of me and was running in 3rd for around 15 mins when Linus27 passed me. Busi Came up Behind me but after several lap he pitted.

Fot the last half an hour I kept an eye on the track conditions and tyre temps, I had no intention of pitting unless my temps went above 120...then I would think about it.  But I was able to keep my temps at the 100 mark by driving extreamly steadily and driving offline for as much as possible to cool them down.

A steady race bringing me 4th.....not bad  ;D

Grats to podium and hard luck to Gazza for his AI trouble  ???

See ya at the next one

Such a shame we have no Porsche's racing with us.

My 1st go at Donington & I'd have been quite happy lapping around here in the dry... Then it rained in qualy & as i tried limping onto the track for the 1st time in the wet, I nearly wet my pants as the car seemed to posses zero traction with the track. Eventually managed to complete a wet lap but was so slow compared to the rest of the field that I thought it best to just not run if it was a wet start. Team mate Martin pointed out that it should take the leaders about 10 laps to catch me before I could consider myself an obstacle & that it would be good experience. So I hung around for the start with my confidence in tatters, still toying with my new wet set up.

 ;D - That's what I looked like when arriving on the grid to see bright sunshine -  ;D

Had to jump back out the car, slap on some sun lotion (& load up the dry settings), so a bit of a hectic start! Wanted to just get around the track keeping the back markers in sight as long as possible, but blew one of the first few corners. Kept the gap to the next car at about 10secs for a good few laps & was cheered up to constantly read messages about "pitting in" by pribeiro (sorry mate) & then I had someone to try to stay ahead of too. Managed OK I thought, the gap was only reducing slowly I thought.

But once the rain came I was all over the place again. Held out through the rain period & made the mistake of going onto slicks straight after the rain finished, expecting the track to dry fairly quickly. I was wrong. It did get slightly (very slightly) better with every lap but found it far too frustrating to be so off pace & going off road regularly. Bumped my wing into a tyre wall & it was all the excuse I needed to eject.

Enjoyed watching everyone else going around from the pits & seeing some of you chasing puddles.

So at least two more lessons learnt this week, do more wet driving practice & allow track plenty of drying time.

p.s. Sorry to anyone I might have got in the way of.

Dont worry Legzy about being too slow, as long as you enjoy it and dont go off too frequently ;). All you need to do is stick to your race and let them worry about overtaking you. I was also very apprehensive about it raining as its only recently that its been introduced and i really struggle at times.

During qualifying i thought i didnt do too badly and ended up 11th especially with some faster guys behind.Then for the first, dry, part had a brilliant time trying to catch Mcfids and keeping H@L behind ;D Then the rain came and i hoped that i could stay out a bit longer as the vertigo seems to handle a wet track quite well. Unfortuneatly with it being wet i picked up some cut-track warnings and got a stop-go ultimately after messing up the chicane which was when i thought i'd better stop for wets then stop for the stop-go as i wouldnt loose to much time.

Bit undecided on which wets, ended up with softs and added some fuel which proved uneccesary then ended up behind Ted with about 35 secs behind which ended up being around 10 but with it drying i was very cautious with the tyre temps and pressures rocketing up.


I'm not conviced the livetrack models the offline puddles to try and cool the tyres but everyone else was doing it :)

Going off line definately worked to cool the tyres down, although in other wet races doing that has seemed to make little difference  ???

@Legzy: Just Keep plugging away mate, try not to worry about you speed at the moment, that will come with time.  Go for consistancy and drive well within your limits to make sure you stay on the road. It's always best to try and finish a race than to quit through fustration as the more you race the more youll get comfortable with it.

You can verify where the wet patches are when cooling tyres by looking for the rooster tails of spray behind. Yesterday I was able to reduce temperatures by 10 or 15 degrees in seconds by finding the deeper water.

Damn I saw many people going for the water and I thought it was useless, I can't believe it does make the difference! Thanks for the info :)

Cheers guys & thanks for the advice, always gratefully received  :)