UKGTL Ladder - 29 June 2006 - Anderstorp (GP)

[LeH]

The race started well I think. I had the limiter on pretty early, to give the field enough time to close up.
The first half of the race LeH was following me pretty closely. I could hear he was using autoclutch, so I knew I would win on acceleration. Therefore I didnt risk too much on braking. So I could see him close up every time after the straight.

That was my 2nd race here at the UKGTL ladder, and it is really a lot of fun racing with you guys. Thanks to JohnnyDee for telling me about UKGTL.

I was surprised to qualify 2nd with a mid 1.40 time, since Ruskus was more than a second faster. In the warmup lap somebody tried to hug me from behind on the long straight, and I saw a part flying away. For a second I thought it was my rear wing (somehow this thing gets lost a lot when I'm driving the Pantera  ), but fortunately it was just a light glass from his car, so no problem.

In the race I could stay behind Ruskus for a while, but I had to push rather hard to keep up, while he seemed to drive more relaxed, and I still couldn't get close enough to try an overtaking maneuver. I was hoping, he may makes a little mistake to get a chance, but he wouldn't do me that favour  . So at about mid of the race I decided to go a bit easier, and take more care of the engine and the tyres, to make sure I will finish.

Indeed I use autoclutch (there is no analog clutch on my gamepad unfortunately), but I wasn't aware that you could hear that from the outside.

[FlyBri]

but i am getting totally f**ked off with being rear end/punted off the track. Cant remember last race where i finished without being hit

starting to wonder if all the practice is worth the bother if this is how my races are going to end up..............

Make sure you report it!

Dont you worry about that m8, my knife's have been sharpened!! 

[greg130]

In the warmup lap somebody tried to hug me from behind on the long straight, and I saw a part flying away. For a second I thought it was my rear wing (somehow this thing gets lost a lot when I'm driving the Pantera  ), but fortunately it was just a light glass from his car, so no problem.

That was me I'm afraid, apologies.  Somehow I missed you braking and all of a sudden I was on top of you.  Saw the bit go flying and thought it was my splitter, fortunately it wasn't and no harm done to either of us.

[Jeffrey]

Indeed I use autoclutch (there is no analog clutch on my gamepad unfortunately), but I wasn't aware that you could hear that from the outside.

I heard it when I was onboard with you in qually. With autoclutch the upshifts have a pause in it, and the down shifts sound very clean.
When I upshift I don't lift off, so you can hear the revs shoot to max for a fraction of a second. And with the downshifts I blip, which also causes high revs.

You don't have to have a clutch pedal, I for instance just have an original DFP, so no clutch at all. But I only use the clutch for starting and spinning

P.S: Is the race distance always gonna be 20 laps now, or is it 40 minutes?

[Jeffrey]

Unofficial Lapchart

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

P.S: Is the race distance always gonna be 20 laps now, or is it 40 minutes?

No, it was just another bit of cut and paste nastiness on my part while Shark (the normal Event Director) is waiting for NThelL to fix his cable broadband service.

[LeH]

I heard it when I was onboard with you in qually. With autoclutch the upshifts have a pause in it, and the down shifts sound very clean.
When I upshift I don't lift off, so you can hear the revs shoot to max for a fraction of a second. And with the downshifts I blip, which also causes high revs.

You don't have to have a clutch pedal, I for instance just have an original DFP, so no clutch at all. But I only use the clutch for starting and spinning

Thats all very interesting. I have my throttle and brake on one axis, which means I can't blip when braking (i.e. while downshifting).

I tried the following now: I put "toggle autoclutch" on a button of the gamepad (on the "up"-axis of my steering analog stick to be exact), so when I'm shifting up I can disable autoclutch, and when I'm shifting down I can enable it. I improved my PB by 0.3 seconds (its 1:39.892 now ... finally beat the 1:40 barrier  ) with this technique ... and it were just a few quick testlaps, so maybe there is even more potential.

Its not very sim-like tho, and also a bit annoying ... probably only feasible in quali or from time to time in a direct fight in a race.

[Jeffrey]

I heard it when I was onboard with you in qually. With autoclutch the upshifts have a pause in it, and the down shifts sound very clean.
When I upshift I don't lift off, so you can hear the revs shoot to max for a fraction of a second. And with the downshifts I blip, which also causes high revs.

You don't have to have a clutch pedal, I for instance just have an original DFP, so no clutch at all. But I only use the clutch for starting and spinning

Thats all very interesting. I have my throttle and brake on one axis, which means I can't blip when braking (i.e. while downshifting).

I tried the following now: I put "toggle autoclutch" on a button of the gamepad (on the "up"-axis of my steering analog stick to be exact), so when I'm shifting up I can disable autoclutch, and when I'm shifting down I can enable it. I improved my PB by 0.3 seconds (its 1:39.892 now ... finally beat the 1:40 barrier  ) with this technique ... and it were just a few quick testlaps, so maybe there is even more potential.

Its not very sim-like tho, and also a bit annoying ... probably only feasible in quali or from time to time in a direct fight in a race.

That's good to hear. Also manual clutch is more rewarding IMO. What gamepad are you using, and why not consider a wheel?

[LeH]

I'm using an older Logitech Rumblepad (with rumbling disabled). One analog stick for steering, the other one for throttle/brake, and the shoulder buttons to shift. That allows pretty good control over the car. While in opposite to a wheel it surely lacks precision and feedback, I think it has a slight advantage when its about quick reaction, as needed for countersteering and that. Also while the other drivers shed some litres of sweat cranking their wheels, I can lean back and just have to twiddle my thumbs ... 

I'll probably get myself a wheel sooner or later tho, at least for the more realistic feel, but it will probably cost me a few seconds, at least at the beginning. 

[Mark J]

Racing without a steering wheel  ....that borders on sacrilege around these parts.

Whats worse is it means i am getting trounced by someone waggling a paddle stick 

[JohnnyDee]

ASSASSINO & RuiRod "drive" with the keyboard!!   

     -=> J <=-

[ASSASSINO]

I play with a 5 euro keyboard, please dont be mad, i always played racing games with keys.

I´m having trouble at the gtc76 class i need more practice