I've only deleted my NoGrip GTL install a month or two ago to make room for some new Steam games. In that install I had hundreds upon hundreds of excellent setups for all kinds of cars, including a most splendid one for the 914-6. Obviously those setups were not mine, they were from Cap7, JohnW, Daz, Geoffers, Ati, Kimi, and similar quality people. Do I even have to spell it out? No, I didn't remember to save these setups when I deleted the NoGrip GTL folder and no, I don't have a backup. So, yes, I'm a monumental idiot.

Nevertheless, Spa + 914-6, I wanna be there. Fingers crossed I stay awake long enough 

Things aren't working out this month. Work's crazy, home life isn't much better and health isn't optimal (why on earth am I already awake again at 2am when I'm tired all day every day  ).
Don't think I'll be able to rejoin before the 28th but then this championship will already be over 
Shame because I was looking forward to most events.
The ole'wheel is not going back to the storage box though!

I guess I'll see ya when I'll see ya. Have fun in the meanwhile.

Gonna skip this one. I'll be back when it's a race with cars again

Have fun, y'all

As a mini-Mini Master, I don't think you can gain all that much with setup. I'm clueless about that and generally do rather well in Minis. I think it's just your driving style which is completely antithetical to Minis. Driving them correctly (fastly) is rather boring actually, a word no one has ever used to describe your style   One has to avoid ALL understeer and tightly hit every apex. The slightest departure from that can cost a full second in a single corner. Pedal to the metal full time doesn't work.

Having said that, I'll upload the Ati setup for the 1275S I used at Snetterton (if I can figure out how to; TBC). There are no better Mini setups than those Ati made.

Edit: Woot, that worked:
It's in the online folder Goodwood and it's called "Ati Mini Cooper 1275 mod"

Good luck!

Yeah, sorry, Geoff and others about those poor starts. I guess I'm going to have to follow a course with Dan the Rocket Man.

Picking a car here was easy: good memories of Snetterton+Mini and on top of that I found an Ati setup for the 1275S. And Mini+Ati = oh yeah.
Ignoring the US Navy (okay, and the starts) the Mini 1275S was clearly superior and that allowed me to even do battle with Daz in Race 1. I can assure you, that's a very rare occasion, especially in GTL. Somehow I even got past without destroying a minimum of two cars and maintained the lead all the way despite Daz' apparent eagerness to restore the natural order.

Race 2 went along similar lines except that this time it was Matt with whom an epic battle was beginning to take shape. Alas, Matt preferred car ballet to overtaking Dom and after his incident the gap was wide both in front and behind. No chance of catching up with the USS Nimitz, USS Enterprise or USS Saratoga and no one was coming back from behind so 'twas just a Sunday stroll to the end.

I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't admit that things are going way better than I hoped and expected. I seem to be much more relaxed than ever before and that's translating in consistency and decent enough precision. A bit of advantage in the cars and I can't compain at all about the results.

Congratulations to the 'Stang drivers, I'm already worried about the day I'll have to pick it. I don't think I've driven the default Mustang even once since I got GTL (around 1963, right?). Don't worry, I'll start at the back when the case occurs. 

Phew. Never expected to be in the thick of things like that. Great, great fun but I'll have to put on my Captain Sensible Hat and go to sleep after that (5am alarm clock). If I can wind down, that is.

Grats all and hope y'all have a great 2nd race.

The game says I made four overtakes. Sounds good . But actually I had none and only the misfortunes of others put me much higher on the final score than anticipated (merited?). I doubt very much I could have caught anyone under my own power, let alone overtake them. Then again, I've never been fast in GTL (oh, P&G, where art thou?) and the bulk of the good or decent results I've ever had only come from: not making a mess, or at least a smaller mess than others. I'm glad I'm at least still able to do that, especially after having been away from a wheel for so long.

Speaking of which, after being out of the loop for 18 months (how has it been so long? What's wrong with the concept of time?  ) I'm very uneasy about being in the position where I'm one of the people who would be affected result wise by a reversal of the decision about Dimitar's predicament. Ideally I'd rather stay out of it but not saying anything is also a choice. I could easily make a case for both viewpoints but ultimately:

The game is what it is and the tracks are what they are, i.e. far from perfect representations of the real thing. Is it Riverside where you can crash into the tyre barriers while being visually two feet away from them? And this spot, the outside of the exit from Druids at Brands Hatch is probably the most notorious one of all tracks when it comes to unfair S&G's. I'm sure I remember there have been similar situations in races on NoGrip too, next to those here. I was aware of it and avoided it like, well, the plague. Which probably made me slower overall. Events like these in simracing are like bad beats in poker: everyone has their stories about them.

It's a shame I wasn't aware this was the reason Dimitar ended up behind me otherwise my favourite solution to such issues has always been that I would have become mysteriously slower in the last part of the race just so that it happens that Dimitar would have only one second to gain on me in the final lap. A solution I've used on more than one occasion in the past and which I find not only a lot more fun but also much more in line with 'gentlemen racing' than having races decided on 'the green table'.

Please note that the above paragraphs have been written, deleted and re-written several times which indicates how much I loathe (being forced into) taking a position in this.

Congratulations to the gentlemen on the podium  

'Edit: Work's guaranteed to be hectic in the first month(s) of 2022 but I have every intention of doing at least this championship. I hope the weather and my health will cooperate in this.

Not just a speedy but above all a complete recovery wished upon all sufferers of The Plague (other afflictions too of course). I have a 35-year old colleague who's been struggling hard with complications for 15 months now, to the point it's likely she'll never fully recover. Long covid is fugly.  So, get well guys!

Racewise:
Bugger. I had no intention of quitting no matter what but my two visits to the wall right after the first corner each time caused my wheel to be seriously off-center and I just can't drive like that. But I know from experience that a full repair in the pits usually fixes that even if costs several minutes. Only, the second time it didn't re-center. 

Nevertheless, it was fun being in the ole'crowd again. And the two stints in between the mishaps went really well, or at least a lot better than I expected. As a bonus, I don't feel particularly tired after 40 laps so I think i'm going to check the '22 championships out and select one where I'll make an effort to participate regularly. Watch out, backmarkers!

Well, my checklist is finished:

• Does the gear still work? CHECK
• Does GTL still work? CHECK
• Can you get on the server? CHECK
• Did you make a setup which is way worse than the default? CHECK 

Still, 2.14.378 I'm more than happy with after all this time.

Didn't realize it's such a long race though. Picked my moment.. .

Hi all,

As one of the missing backmarkers, I'd thought I'd just pop in to mention that I'm still reading the forum and rather reluctantly missing the races. I came close to having another go on a few occasions but since I'm working again I tend to be too exhausted to even get the box with the wheel and pedals out, let alone install the whole shebang again.
Still, it's not as bad anymore as it used to be so maybe some day. No promises though, summer's on its way and that's my worst period of the year (COPD, obesity, hypertensia, hypercoagulability, insomnia, I've got it all).
So, Kurt, Tony and all 'at the back', maybe someday we can give the club of 'people who just don't bother to get better' some new life 

Thanks for all the cheers, folks.

Bloody Internet was down last night. Something has to be jinxed if it can't be employment anymore, it seems.

Erling:
Back in 2008-10 I had up to one hundred rejections. I then gave up. I shouldn't have. So, tip of the day: Don't 
Also, as Matt already indicates and much as we may dislike it in our old and settled ways, broadening the horizons might be inevitable.
I've always loathed MS with a passion but in this job I'll be working with their products exclusively...Heck, if it pays the bills and I'm too old to be on a crusade anyway...

Dom has job! A proper, normal one. With, like, pay and everything. That was almost 15 years ago.  (veeeery long story)
Lotsa plusses about that but the minus is that I've been both quite busy and very tired to get back into the groove.
But! I have (already) a day off this Nov, 11th and I'm keen to jump in a Beemer again.
So if no global or local disasters occur, Ill be there.

Zero chance of me jumping in I'm afraid. Completely, utterly, totally knackered from the insane 14-day heatwave and starting a job (well, if you can call it that when the pay is the same in any currency, viz. nil, naught, nada) this Monday while currently carrying an 80 hour sleep deficit.   

Might return in a month or so when/if I get into the groove of things and the weather finally remembers that Belgium is on the 50th degree latitude and not on the equator.

Meanwhile, have fun y'all.

Hi guys,

Sorry for not having been around. It's been a mad, hectic week. Some bad stuff, some good stuff. The best of that is an employment opportunity completely out of the blue as soon as possibly August (depending on how Covid behaves). Just making the list of things I need to brush up on left me in a state of panic, lol. Maths! Economics! Accounting! ERP! All the things I used to be brilliant at but haven't used in erm...., way too long to admit to.
I haven't even gotten around to installing Erling's super-generous gift. I absolutely need my PC in full working order and messing with hardware and drivers is most definitely not on the list of things I'm brilliant at. I'm bound to make a mess of it right now (meanwhile I'm on a GTX770 clone loaner).
In short, I just don't have the peace of mind for racing at the moment. It should get better if/when I get through that brushing-up list.

Hope y'all are having fun!