SimRacing.org.uk

Now that this glorious track has been released we have organised a fun race for 15 October. It is a Thursday but is the only day we could find unless we wait until the xmas break.
We are going to run this slightly differently in that the 'race' will actually consist of two laps in Qualification mode with the results being determined by your fastest single lap time. This is more in keeping with how the original event was run.

Server = 6.UKGPL
IP Address = 80.5.200.198
Race Date = 15-10-2009
Time = 21:00 UK time
Track = Targa Florio
Variant = 65F1
Damage Model = Intermediate
Qually Time = see below - 2 hours.
Race Length = 2 laps in Qually mode (2 hours)
Race Marshall = Vosblod

Password : will be provided in UKGPL chatroom

Please be in the IGOR UKGPL chatroom by 8:50 p.m.
(You will need to set up a channel called #ukgpl if you haven't already done so)

FORMAT:
1) Please wait in standby mode once you have entered the server to allow all drivers to join
2) The Race Marshall will call each driver out at 45 second intervals (no extra 'chat' please)
3) Once called please start your two laps qualification immediately. If you only wish to do one lap that is fine, just leave practice after your first lap.
4) Your best lap out of two will be compiled to produce the race results.

RULES:
1) Drivers must let those who are faster pass as soon as possible. Common sense should be applied but you are expected to give way if someone is clearly quicker so they are not denied a chance at their best lap time.
2) Drivers must not jump the Race Marshalls starting instructions.
3) Unlimited Shift/R's are allowed with no penalty
4) Any chassis may be used
5) Drivers cannot leave practice and rejoin again once called.
6) ONLY the first two laps will be counted ie there is no point trying for a third.
7) Anyone Black Flagged may continue provided they have not contravened any of these rules. Your laptime will be compiled later - bear in mind those who use Pribluda may not be able to see you are still on track.
8 ) The Race Marshall will be the last quallifier to start. Anyone joining the sever after this may start immediately - please make sure you bear in mind the Qualification time left if trying for two laps.
9) Once your two laps are completed please leave qualification and keep post race banter to the UKGPL chatroom.

ANY drivers contravening the race rules may have their lap time cancelled or, in the case of a serious transgression, may be ejected from the server.

NOTES:
In the event of the first server being over-subscribed UKGPL4 will be used for a second event. Same format, Race Marshall Phil Thornton.
Dino - some drivers seem to have experienced problems running with this online, it may be best to use the standard carset.
Please use the updated 65 mod for this race.
If you have re-installed UKGPL over the summer break or are joining us for the first time, the updated 65 mod which is available here: Jamesonline.net/UKGPL (http://Jamesonline.net/UKGPL)

This is a bit of a shot in the dark for me - if I have missed anything obvious let me know.

There will be a one hour open practice qualification on Monday 12/10 at 9pm - please hop on if you can so we can test the server.

Not tried this track yet and doubt I will race unless someone finds a sneaky little short cut, hoping perhaps there's a butty van or something halfway round  :)

I'll be trying to fit this one in to the calendar. No problems with Dino online here but it may pay you to try before the event.

There are a few Tavina's (awaits Fulvio to correct my spelling) scattered about the villages Bernie - Doubt they sell pies though  ;D

Looks like I have just over a week to finish learning the circuit then!  :o
I've only learnt the first 22k's so far  :ninja:


Oh, is it compusary to drink a nice bottle of red while competing in this event?   ;D

I hear there's a girl selling ice-creams about half way round  ;)

I seem to be a bit daft - can't find where to download the bloody track  :surrender:

There's just the news article, get  :censored: Dino, get :censored: trainer, get :censored: patch but no track.

As I understand 1.3 patch is mandatory but it will not interfere with our usual races at UKGPL?

. . . _ _ _ . . . please

Thanks

Kruger

Kruger

The links are on the second page they are the two pictures near the bottom.

Yes it took me a while to work it out too !!!!   But then I'm Irish, errr...........mind you this was devised by the Italians so ofcourse it had to look great, if not that practical  ;D

Well, it looks so obvious now :D

Thanks Mike  :thumbup1:

I thought it was just me  ::)

while that is more often than not the case, it is not on this occasion.

Well done Bernie. ;)

Tim

Will the Race Controller be "grading the entries" for the Strating Order,so that the quicker guys aren't going to be carving up the slower punters?

I think that might be difficult Mike, given that there is no competitive "history" for this track? only reports posted here about claimed practice times.
Being fast, as opposed to consistant, might not give the overall quickest time as several Shift/R's will cost dearly in terms of a lap time.

Plus, if you decide to do just the single lap rather than 80mins ( or thereabouts) for 2 laps a slower driver carrying less fuel might have the advantage?

In all I would say that it is a bit of a lottery, but maybe drivers can indicate their preference for an early or late slot? or just do it alphabetically??
I Can foresee a situation where a fast driver goes out first but has a couple of shift R's and is caught by a "slower" ( more consistant) car whilst he gets his tyres up to temp and re-adjusts to the fuel load. The fast driver must now yield his track position unless he can immediately pull away. If he yields position but later on catches that "slower" car again what happens? The slower car is in fact ( timewise at least) some 40 secs in front...should he now yield his position??? having caught and passed the car in front.

I hope that common sense and fair play will determine what happens, but there are some very competitive egos out there and with a lap length of a little under 40 mins there is plenty of time for cars to trip over each other. Remember that this is billed as a fun race??

How about we just start in order of PB's? Not perfect I know but you should be running with people of roughly a similar pace. If we just start in random order, a driver who is in say the 36-37 minute range might find himself behind a group of 39-40 minute drivers - even with multiple shift-r's the faster driver might then have to pass several cars over the course of his laps.

That might be a sound option AL, but the same problem exists amongst the "faster" drivers. If someone in front has a Shift/R he is going to be caught by a car of similar pace. Now we have a situation wher these two cars are likely to be running in close company for quite some distance.
The car that has gained the time can now rightfully expect the car that has just reset to move over and allow him past, even if the reset car believes that it has more outright pace?.

I'm not looking for problems, but with Targa being so narrow for the majority of its lap, and even when its wide there is really only a single fast line, there are very few safe passing opportunities.
It might actually be better to mix the abilities, because then if the slower car yields to the faster car , they should very quickly space themselves out again and  run unhindered at their own pace??
Like I said, this is a fun event and lets all be sportsmanlike about it  ;)...just so long as I win ok? ::)

Would that not happen whatever the start order? So if we make some attempt at seeding it will not make it worse. I'd say if you have someone constantly on your tail for mile after mile it would be sensible to move over just so you can drive unhindered by the distraction for one thing.

Ken, the passing has already been covered by Point 1 in the race info :- let them pass as sooon as possible

So there shouldn't be any following.

Evil

While not all folks have post times in GPL rank, and folk will make mistakes, it would still be far better to try and get the quicker guys off before the slower ones - if only to reduce the chance of crashes. Yes, folk will go off and then end up amidst other drivers, but there is that likelyhood for everyone, so as Ken says it's better to do some sort of seeding than none.

to start the Ball, my current PB is35.59

I was planning on just calling you out according to how fast I think you are - not perfect for this track but it should ensure we at least get the faster groups of drivers in front. I'm just trying to avoid any system that bogs us down spending too long getting the whole thing going. It also means you don't have to pre-register to race.

That said I am happy to go with whatever the majority wants - if you want to indicate a PB or you would like to go near the front please leave a post. If you have actually managed to learn the track  ::) or have put in a lot of practice definately let me know...

I'm quite happy to leave it to your impeccable judgement Tim. ( Just don't start MikeB behind me for Gawd's sake  ;) )

I'm currently somewhere around the 1/3 point on that stake  ;D
Should probably just concentrate on roughly learning the corners for thurs though - can't see me learning the rest to the same extent in 3 days....

 I have only done about 4 laps in total in single attempts and managed a high 38 min time.
I have definitely NOT learnt any part of this ciruit other than the first 400 mtrs after the start and the section that starts 50 mtrs into the long straight and 100 mtrs before the end of it!!
Everything else is still a total surprise, but I am getting very friendly with that goat/sheep, about half way, where my car seems to want to leap the fence and get closer??!! ::)

As for a starting position, I would not claim to be "one of the fast guys" and any lap time will be a lottery given my scant knowledge of where the road goes next, so put me anywhere. ;D

I'm still bemused this is called a "fun" race.  ::) Maybe it will be if I had a co-driver, but without one there's no chance I'm going to bother learning this. Heck, I haven't even learned the short version of IoM yet.  :P

lol well Hristo, at least it sounds like you have driven the IOM...I have not even bothered downloading it yet  lol.

Do it Clive - 'tis awesome fun in a '65  ;D
A 'tad' more challenging in a '67 mind.......  ;)

What a shame that I'm missing this suicide event. I'll be in hospital having a heart operation. So best of luck guys!

I've only done two complete laps but this does not distract from my enjoyment in driving the course. Tim seems to be attempting to memorise the corners, which may well be possible given the time to do enough laps, but I can't see me ever doing that, not until a retire from work anyway!

A low 37 is my best I think, and I can't see me getting much time on this track before Thursday, especially with a Historic race tomorrow night.

Bloody hell Jethro - sounds like we should be wishing you the best of luck. Hope it all goes well.

I'm using the start position changer Ken.
It effectivly means you're mearly learning 9 seperate courses. You can then recognise where you are at any given corner (in theory!).

It doesn't mean I won't crash - it just means I won't have the excuse of the next corner being a total suprise when I do!  ;D

Best of luck on the op Jethro, that'll mean no booze for a while then I guess?

No alcohol, caffeine or medication for a week. No driving for 7 days as the DVLA has a 7 day ban for those who've had an SVT ablation. I may be OK for the Oulton Park Graduates event. :)

Hope it all goes as best it can Jethro.

Best of luck with the op Jethro. I haven't driven Targa properly yet because my laptop can't handle it very well, but from what I've seen from the AI it looks a joy to drive. Should really try and source a couple of g-cramps.....

good Luck Jethro... I shall crash in your honour ;D and it will most likely be VERY spectacular or a plain stupid mistake  :-\

Be sure to take someone else out with you then.

Good Luck Jethro.

No Interleague captaining either I guess! Good luck with the operation.  :)

SHE WILL not be pleased!  ::)

No, SHE won't.

But I'll be frankly amazed if someone manages an entire lap without crashing, this soon after release, and in a timed event  ;D

Had another full lap last night, managed the entire SS120 without incident, successfully guessed my way to the next town, then went entirely to pot between Collesano and Campofelice!  :ninja:

As a result my lap was actually only a 38:10  :o

There's nothing to say I can't orchestrate things. Sorta like Frank does at Williams. ;)

Cheers guys, I'm on the table Thursday morning.

There's always a Patrick Head whenever there is a Frank Williams.  ::) Who is yours?  ;D

Good luck Jethro!

What's Vitana's?

What are you speaking about Italians attitude?  :laugh: :angel:

I have done only a lap in a '67 Ferrari when it was released, till now I have learned only the straight, but not the end of it  ;D

Hope to be there.
Ciao

Pulled a late one last night and now know pretty much the entire course  :shifty:

Admittedly due to time constraints I can't claim to know the circuit beyond the end of SS120 anywhere near aswell as that particular piece of bumpy tarmac, but I can now hopefully recognise the car killer corners in time to slow down for them - that and at least some of the flat out blind bits  ;D

I'm still expecting to crash mind  :ninja:

I did a full lap in the BT11 with default setup last night in 40' 31" with only one off near the end in a field and reentering on the road without reset. The track is very mind demanding, I had a little headache in the end. Maybe the previous PnG race and the practice with the iRacing Lotus at Homestead helped a bit.  ::)
Anyway the Ring is a play for kids in comparison.
Ciao

Just a reminder that the event is tonight.
If you join late just hop on and go - wouldn't bother if there is less then 40 minutes qually left, it won't let you finish a whole lap after the session has ended. Remember it's your best qually time out of two that the results are taken from so no point starting the race proper.
The password will be posted in IGOR chat and also here just before the start.

PASSWORD = cerda

Well that was very disappointing for me.  My internet connection has gone dodgy today.  I kept getting discoed.  Tried 5 times and on each lap got past the first check point but not the second :(.  Then ran out of time.  Hope my connection improves before Sunday!!!!

Sorry to hear that Phil, saw you jumping in and out. Server seemed ok, maybe put it down to Targa'isms - thought I was going to disco when all went silent but it kicked back in.

Anyway apart from accidentally pasting half my private life in IGOR chat, letting Tim M out last when he should have been first and doing an abysmal 43 odd I enjoyed that.
One to keep for the occassional special I think...

My PB is a 40:16 so I was not going to get anywhere near Mike's blistering time.  However in one of my runs my first sector time was 8:45 which I think was well under my PB pace.  I was gutted when I discoed :cursing:

Yes, you must have been going well Phil, I've never seen a sub 9 min first sector yet.

I had two shift-r free laps (well one on the 2nd lap for fuel). Mikes time was well impressive. 3rd best in the world!! Although he was previously in that position anyway!!

Amazing 35 from Mike! I did just my first lap and stopped, but it was my 3rd ever lap on the track and a pb - 38 something. Had one off, two spins and numerous wall contacts, but nothing major. It's tiring driving so cautiously though.  ::)

I agree that this is better as an occasional "fun" event, although I might have issues with the "fun" description.

I was masochistic enough ( or read stupid!) to continue on for a second lap despite promising myself that i was only going around once. :-\

The 1st lap was reasonable with a couple of excursions onto the greenery and just a single shift R and a respectable ( for me) time. The second lap started well with green sectors coming up in prib showing I was faster, but after about half way I began to lose concentration ( and the will to live). It was about then that I noticed Ken Murray was closing from behind...but I thought he had started in front of me a lap earlier and I had passed no-one??!! ???. Fatigue, and the distraction of Ken, conspired to produce a nightmare second half of the lap with about 4 shift R's and countless contacts with the hard bits of the Italian countryside.

The view in my mirrors was created by Picasso I think, as it was indecipherable, and I only knew from prib that Ken was getting closer. I hope I did not hold him up and after I crossed the line Ken appeared a second or so later.

Grats to Mike on a stunning time and to all those who completed this trial.

Disastrous start - had only gone a few hundred yards before I chucked it off & needed a reset :P Took it a bit easier after that so lap 1 ended up being more steady than speedy. Took the gamble of fuelling it for 2 laps so started my second lap with warm tyres & perfect fuel load - was going much better this time but about a third of the way in went ever-so slightly wide across the grass & got stuck fast on an invisible part of scenery :-\ Reset took me back to cold tyres & 2 laps of fuel - nooo.

Took a lot of chances trying to make up for lost time after that. For some bizarre reason right in the middle of lap 2 my missus decided that I needed a nice cup of tea & despite me pointing out that there was no way I could possibly drink it, she plonked a steaming hot mug down next to my wheel! Spent the next 20 minutes watching that tea sloshing around as I wrestled with the wheel but did actually manage to guzzle it as I headed down the long straight which was rather nice - might take a thermos & a Kitkat along next time :D. After all that, was astonished to get into the 37's & beat my PB.

Congratulations to Mike for a superb run & to everyone who took on the challenge. Shame about Phil's problems - that was a very quick sector 1 time.

I actually quite enjoyed this.

Like some of the others i decided one lap would be enough. Things were going Ok but after the odd 3 point turn i had Ken breathing down my neck. I tried to stick with him after letting him through, but couln't and finally spun it.

I then made the classic Rally Drivers mistake of then pushing even harder to try and get my sector times down which led to more resets.

It was only my 3rd full lap of Targa, but for something different, i quite enjoyed it and think we should do it again sometime. I really like the fact that anyone, even the faster guys, can make an error and lose significant time so in theory it can be anyone's race. Limiting it to 1 lap next time would be best though. 2 Laps is too much.

Incidently, like Al having a cup of tea on the long straight, i managed to take a phone call, have a brief converstation and hang up whilst flooring it sown the straight. Next time i'm gonna put a brick on the throttle and get the washing up done.  ;)

I suppose I've now done about 10 full laps of the Targa, I love long tracks and enjoy the challenge of learning them.

I had 3 silly up the bank excursions of Lap 1, and was about halfway round Lap 2 by the time Tim's first laps time came up and I realised he was only 30 odd secs in arrears, which put the pressure on.

Mind you I had already had a big mishap on the entry into Cerda on Lap 2. I had caught Fulvio, who , very graciously pulled aside so that I didn't have to even lift. Entering the town, I made a mistake at the 1st gear right amd ended up through the spectators and up a bank. I heard Fulvio pass, (he possibly didn't even know I was there) and reversed back onto the road and set up, now well fired up. Once again, as we approached the 1st hairpin about a mile or so out of town he let me by. I made another couple of spins later on, as I was really pressing on, and then as I got onto the straight for the run along the coast I realised I had less than a gallon of fuel left !! As I entered the final set of seaside esses, the car started to splutter and I made it over the line on fumes.  All in all I reckon there was another 20 + secs in that lap, but with the Targa, I reckon there is ALWAYS going to be a potentially faster lap :D

It's a great format to run and I hope we repeat it again. THE only UKGPL race with no chance of a J1 pile-up :D  (Sorry Jethro)

Is this gonna be a feature or did you have them fitted specially just for this one race  ;D

Was out having a birthday meal :D

OK, don't keep us in suspense !!!


You are ??


21 + VAT + Import Duty + ?

Bastard. ;)

Now I've finally recovered from this I must say I really enjoyed it!  8)

Lap 1 was a bit hit and miss (mainly misses, but enough hits for a spin and 1 or 2 Shift R's) but wasn't a terrible time.
Not having had enough punishment, and having made a couple of silly mistakes I knew I could get right second time around I set off harder for lap 2, determined to catch Mike as I wasn't too far back.
I don't *think* I had to Shift R on the 2nd lap, but can't be sure. I know it wasn't clean as I bounced (lightly as luck would have it) off a few walls and fences throughout the lap.
As Mike says, I could have knocked probably another 10-20 seconds off my time had I not made so many mistakes aswell - but Targa is such a huge course that's nigh-on impossible  ;D
Cheers to everyone I caught - you all let me by in plenty of time. I couldn't have asked for more given the nature of the road. Phil needn't have thrown himself into the ravine as he heard me approaching though  ;) :lol:

Amazed I was only 15 seconds off Mike come the end of lap 2 - any idea how I can import my lap time into GPLRank? I think I'm good for about 6th/7th from when I looked but havn't managed to upload it yet  :(

Not sure how everyone else does it Tim but I just open GPLRA, press the PB viewer button, select (in this case) my 65 driver name & 65 mod, hit refresh & then hit the "upload laptimes to GPLRANK button".

Think I tried that and it didn't work Al  :(

Hmm. I had something similar after installing an updated GPLShift.. there were a few replays that were fine when viewed in GPLRA or GPL but just would not register after refreshing the PB button. Perhaps try adding someone else's replay of your lap & see if that gets recognised? I have a copy of it from my client replay that I can send to you.

Thanks for that replay file Al - didn't work either, I think there's a bug with my GPLRA...

Luckily I found where the 65 mod hides your PB's and uploaded that - I'm actually 4th!  :jumpjoy:

Wonder how long I'll stay there  :ninja:

Never used GPLRA to upload. I go into GPL Rank and just upload the player.ini for the particular mod, always worked for me. I always save a replay if I get a PB online as I heard it won't register otherwise, although somebody did say that's an old wives tale.

WD on being 4th...

Yes, that is an old wives tale! Also until the recent 67 patch you couldn't just use the player.ini for any addon tracks for the 67's. The player.ini only kept the original papy tracks. Now the patched 67 keeps PB's for all tracks. A word of warning though, if you ever run the base exe (i.e. gpl.exe) it wipes all the addon times from the player.ini. I've reverted to using GPLRA for the 67's for that reason.