SimRacing.org.uk

Car: Star Mazda
Track: Daytona (Road)
Practice: approx. 18:00 for 150 mins
Qualifying: 20:30 (15 mins)
Race: 21 laps (approx. 40 minutes)

Start: Standard iRacing double file rolling start
Flags: local only

THERE WILL BE NO RESETS AVAILABLE!

Password: see above (#post_event_password)
(2) Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R;group=263;theme=33)

Hmm,  :-\

After two weeks of sun worshipping, I hopped into the Mazda tonight for a bit (well quite a lot) of practice.

The new transmission model has completely thrown me and shown up my driving technique as a bit of a shambles.  I'm concentrating so hard on downshifting that my lines are all over the place and a consistent lap is nigh on impossible.

I've no idea what a good time is round here, but high 1:49 is my best so far.

I'm hoping I can rekindle the fun factor as I'm not enjoying the new build ATM.

Still, I've got a few episodes of Shooting Stars to catch up with, so all is not bad.  :)

Sorry to hear that Brendan :(

I think you'll find most of us had a bit of a transition to the new transmission model. Now I've got the hang of it (well, partially ;)) I think it adds a lot to the fun factor.

If I can do it then I'm sure you can...  :angel:

Just did a few laps and the new transmission model is barely noticable here; with all aids off I didn't need to blip or clutch at all on downshifts.

Didnt we have it for the first race around VIR?

Yes, but it was more noticable there because there were a bunch of braking zones where you had to downshift in the corner.


1:49.5 was my best but that's with no setup work and no suitable base setup to work from.

I've worked down to 1:48.5, but T1 is a nightmare.  The setup seems stable, so that is probably my lot in race trim.  I haven't tried qualy trim yet.

Hi Guys,

I tried a few laps when I had some spare time and managed a 1:54.9,  I think I could probably knock 3 or so secs off of that time though, especially if I can find a decent setup.  ;D

Whats all this about a new model ?   I didnt notice anything different ?

iRacing changed the way the gearshifting works in the new build.  The Mazda is not really affected too much.  Try the Radical  which is harder, or the V8 if you feel masochistic.

Anyone got a half decent setup for Daytona Road for the Mazda,  I seem to be permanently scraping along the ground or bouncing off the limited in top gear  :)

Thanks guys

Oh dear... were you using the 'tall' gearing? It only struck me today that the Mazda might be up against the limiter on the 'roval' bit :(

still no info on number of laps?

40 minutes worth ;)

It'll be 21 laps I think.

Server's up

I found it ok but i was running 20/22 wing and i think some people might run alot less, i just couldnt get the car in and out of corners with anything less.

I hit the limiter just before the turn in/braking point to T1.  However, put a car in front and we'll be hitting the limiter quite frequently ....

Yep.

pretty crap combo, think I give this a miss..

Err pretty fun combo. With the low wing you really need to be careful in the infield so you dont lose too much time! Doing mid 1.50's typically. Still havent quite sussed the the two RH's in the infield, both need a late turn-in to maximise speed.

Hopefully I should make this one but it's depending on what happens at work tomorrow.

Not even managed a lap since the race 2 weeks ago and I need lots more practice with all the changes.

I've always hated this track in every car.

Never really enjoyed it and it's a bit of a shame that most of the passing attempts on the roval will not happen if we are hitting the limiters.

Did 7-8 practice laps last night getting down to a 1:48.7, a whole second behind Brendan at the top. I don't really feel like there is any more time in me, but probably quite a bit in the setup, however, it's too boring a circuit in that nasty car to be worth fiddling for too long. :-\

Daytona RC is "ok" in the fast cars, but in the slow cars like the Mazda it's pretty boring and the sound of the hair dryer engine at full tilt for 40 seconds is enough to drive you mad. :'( It's a test of staying awake enough to get through the fast chicane every lap.

I'm running around 20 wing and not bouncing off the limiter. Will only be hitting the limiter in a slipstream. I raised the ride height quite a lot to stop banging on the floor so much so instead of 0.5 inches off the floor I'm nearly double that here. Main thing I learnt in 8 laps is to be much more ginger on the brakes despite needing to brake harder.

This time, the only place I'm having problems with the downshift is the fast chicane. It seems quite happy going down the box when braking from fast to slow, but from fast to fast it's not too happy. Quite often still faffing with the gears right through that chicane and therefore fluffling the exit up.

I was running Dan's shared setup until I saw yours. Yours must be lower as it was grounding out for me where as Dan's didn't. However I was 0.5 sec quicker in yours :)

Agree about the track being a tad tedious.

The 47.7 I did was with a 'dubious' line through the chicane  ;)  but I managed a few clean sub 48s, which allayed some of my initial frustration.  Optimal is a 47.2 but I'll be damned if I can nail a perfect lap.

Setup wise, I'm using a modified Watkins set from last season with the ride height jacked up to 0.8 inches.  There are a few scrapes on the banking but it's fine elsewhere.  I'll make it available to share tonight if anyones interested.

It will be interesting to see if the cars can last the distance bouncing off the limiter in the draft.

You can cut the 2 right hand curbs in the chicane quite lot before getting an inc.

Server's up.

Another pathetic effort.

So sorry Pete, I hope you were able to continue.

Sorry Brian...

I knew you were outside me so I tried to give you plenty of room  Unfortunately I didn't give myself enough.  Under pressure I changed down a fraction too soon which caused the back end to kick out slightly..  Once my front wheel touched the grass I was just a passenger. :(

Hope you didn't receive too much damage and were able to finish the race...

Sorry  :-[

*************************************************************************************************

Practise consisted of me lapping with racing fuel...  For qually I just removed the fuel and was amazed by my times...  I did 2 laps good enough for pole (both were unassisted).

I hope the rolling start was ok for everyone...  I don't normally find myself on pole. :)

Not a great combo... I wasn't enjoying the race with Brian camped on my rear spoiler.  Even when I managed a better exit out of the chicane, any advantage was soon taken away by the drafting..  Fortunately, he was never able to pass due to hitting the limiter...

Shame it had to end the way it did...

Well done to those that finished...

Let's promise never to do that combo again...

You don't have the monopoly on that, Pops.  :(

Started 3rd after a big tow from Adam gave me a PB in qually.

Was making lots of mistakes under braking which allowed Simon and Mike through.  Managed to sneak back past Mike after getting a good draft.  Coming up to the last right hander on the infield I dropped it down into 1st instead of 2nd gear.  This locked the rear wheels and sent me into a half spin.  On the replay, it looks as though Mike missed me, but when I tried to rejoin the steering veered wildly off to the right, and I almost collected Adam as a result.  Sorry mate.

Parked it immediately.

Grats to all finishers.

No worries - I saw you coming across so there was plenty of room in the end I think.

Bit of a yawn-fest, I got jumped by Picnic at the start, but fortunately got the inside into the chicane, and that was enough to get by.  After Pops made a mistake that was another place, and similarly Darren gave me another.  Big gaps front and rear should have been the case for the rest of the race, but I managed to double downshift in T1 and span it, clipping the inside wall in the process.  Thankfully the 360 degree rotation left me with plenty of forward momentum, and only lost 2 seconds to Dave.

The car felt fine - I didn't look at the replay to see what the front wing was like, but the handling and pace didn't seem to be affected.

Dave gradually reeled me in, and although the limiter on the oval stopped many-a-pass, a mistake by me getting onto the oval let Dave get the insdie line into the chicane, much like my pass on Picnic.  After he got past I just barely managed to keep in his slipstream, another mistake dropped me out of it and that was that.

Not the most entertaining combination, but I'll take a 4th 5th place any day after the struggles I've had with this build!!

One of those things, no major harm done.

I did not spend anytime making a qualifying setup as I always use race setup minus fuel, but it was actually no quicker for some reason. On my final qualifying lap I did manage a 1.46.9 but I had put enough of a wheel on the grass at the chicane for a 1x and the lap not to count.

The race started well. Darren was obviously running more downforce than me, so I could catch up quickly on the straights to pass but the limiter came in too early and I'd only get alongside.

After the accident my car was bent. The front left wheel was knocked in a little which made the car difficult to turn right and get through the double chicane.

I was not sure how the car would go and took it a little easy for a couple of laps before I had a feel for how much I could push. Surprised to see consistent 47s appear and I was able to catch Mike then Simon.

Mike left the door open to allow me back into 2nd and the persuit of Simon was on. With 3 laps to go I was right on his tail looking for a way past. Had the run out of the chicane but Simon held the inside line at T1 leaving me no other option but to tuck in and try again.

Caught Ben on the last lap and he kindly left the door open for us to pass. Only problem for me was it was into a right hander and taking a tighter line was really tough with my car. Simon got through the corner much faster and bought himself enough time to get home for the win.

Grats Simon and Mike. It was actually a good race considering the track/car combo.

Wow, can't believe it! My first UKiR league win. :)

Gotta say thank you very much to Brendan for the setup. I was comfortable with my setup tbh, but thought I'd give his a go to see if I was missing something and immediately went 0.5 quicker and then I got a brilliant slipstream off Picnic (thanks again) in qually to put me in an incredible 4th with a time I could only dream of, 1:47.4.

Rolling start was fine Darren. Close at the start but all quite sensible and we settled down into it. After I got into 3rd I tagged onto the back of Darren and Brian. Couldn't possibly go any faster but comfortably held on to them with the aid of the slip stream. Just let them fight it out and I couldn't believe my luck when Darren cocked up T1 and took Brian out with him to leave me an easy 1st place.

I was in a daze at the front on my own then for a bit with Mike only 2.5 seconds behind. Thought he might close, but he didn't. Then I foolishly switched from F1 to F3 and noticed Brian was still with us and closing very rapidly. Well I went as fast as I could, stayed ahead of Mike, but with 2 to go Brian caught me. I used all my racing experience to keep him behind and jammily held onto the lead to take my maiden win.

Nearly managed an incident free race, but picked up a 1x with 2 to go at the fast chicane. Grrr.

Shame for Brian and Darren tbh as they were quicker than me, but I'll take what I can get thanks. :P I'm sure Brian must have had enough of winning by now anyway. ;)

Shame about the small turnout again. Must say the combo was not great, but it was different from anything we've done before in the Mazda, but I doubt that had much to do with the number of participants.

Thanks for the race all,  put a bit to much fuel in the car which probably cost me a bit of time in the race.

Glad to have finished it, and looking forward to Mosport in two weeks time :)

Ian

Only 15mins to warm up and get my eye in, and I immediately saw that my setup was too slow.  There was no time for messing about, so I raised it up a couple of clicks, but either that wasn't enough or I had too much wing on.  It worked fine in the infield, but on the banking it was not so good, grounding out a lot.

Qualified 5th, good start to join formation with the front 4 and found I could just about keep up if I kept in the draft.  Passed Brendan when he outbraked himself and had to defend like crazy into the chicane next time round.  He finally re-passed but we had lost the draft to the top 3, so I sat behind him to see if we could pull ourselves back up there.  I was under his wing when he lost it in the infield.  Just scraped around the back of his car, I didn't feel any contact but the game flashed up a 0x contact  ??? it isn't shown in my results report though, odd.

That left me 4 seconds back from the leaders, but they were fighting and I suddenly got a second back when Brian and Darren came together, and I was through into 2nd!  Quite a few laps of chasing and I had pulled the gap back to just over 2 seconds, but now Brian was right on me.  I wasn't going to make it hard for him to pass, figuring if I could stay in the draft, he could pull me back up to Shark.

Cunning huh  ;D

Didn't really work though, as I couldn't stay close enough and 3rd it was :)  That'll do fine.

I ran 13f 14r wing.

The theory was I'd get enough of a run to pass people under acceleration and it nearly worked. What I did notice was people could only just stay with me when in my draft.

Damn, I was running 18.5 front and 21 rear  :o  no wonder I was dead on the straights.

Swings and roundabouts.

I was finding if I managed to feather the throttle at 155MPH and not hit the limiter it was worth a tenth or two on the straight. It was a little harder to get the feel when in the slipstream of the car ahead.

I was hitting 154MPH on first straight before chicane and 155 came up about 300-400yards before finish line but I was surprised that the higher downforce setups were nolt gaining through the double chicane.

Another race a bit like VIR where I kept out of trouble and picked up places as people fell off. Took Brendan's setup and added one degree more wing front and aft, raised the rear a single clear on each side, and wound the brake balance back one click. I still had understeer under braking turning to snap oversteer mid-corner but I could just about keep it on track.

Robert jumped me at the start but I soon got back past with a good exit onto the first banked section giving me a run into the bus stop. After that I was slowly catching Adam, mostly as he made little mistakes...


It was actually the corner before where you made the initial mistake, running wide which allowed me to get alongside out of T5. You then bought the dummy into T6 and broke a fraction too deep again, and that's what allowed me the great exit towards 7/8. I was quite glad of it really as between you and Rob I had a much more eventful race than at VIR! ;D

I still have absolutely no feel for the car and I think Mosport is going to be very hard work indeed. :-\


How about fifth? ;)

Yeah, I spotted that typo too :D  Just that due to the length of the post I couldn't edit it on my iPhone ::)

Fourth would have been nice ..... but fifth works :D

Great Race!, I jumped Dave at start, after a few laps I let him by on straight as I wasnt going to go much faster, I then just settled down for 6th place, mid race I was getting caught fast my picnic I think it might of been, but eventually it said he was 30secs behind me, so i just rolled it home for a fine 6th place, was bit upset I couldnt get 5th, so that it would of been Team Shark 1-2-3-4-5, but 6th is good :)

Well Done Sharkies :)