UKAC Season 17 DTM Rnd 1 - Oschersleben - Jan 6

[FullMetalGasket]

Autoclutch can only be forced OFF from reading the server manual.
We have it set to on, I think this was to help people out who didn't have H-shifters - as AC penalises you for using it when you could be driving manual I see no need to disable that option

An easy test (which I just did) is to enter the server, park up and put the car in gear - once you let off the clutch the engine should stall if your own settings are for manual.
My car stalled on the server when I did this, I then drove about 400 meters without using the clutch and blew my gearbox up

I think that this is a bug in S-Tracker and it simply reports the server setting rather than what the client has.

[Stefan aka Postal]

Looking forward to this series. And looks like a healthy grid too.
I had the pleasure of racing my bike on this track. I still get the shivers though passing the gravel trap at the final turn, as I high sided the bike big time there during practice... This simming is a lot safer hahaha

By the way Stefan, sTracker says that you drove with paddles to set your fastest lap while your car is supposed to have a H-pattern, is this a bogue or something ? 

Well I guess that is because I am on a DFGT still without a clutch pedal and the sequential shifter is listed as paddles, so that would be correct. When my pc decides to stop blue screening on me I will be saving up for a newer wheel with proper pedals and a H-shifter..

[Mark J]

i am definitely on manual clutch and H-shifter so must be a stracker bug 

[spanner]

Nice to know that i'm being penalised for not being good enough Paddles and auto clutch, though with these manual cars I know I could run with auto clutch off being that I still need to manually blip the throttle but it just provides a safety net if I spin or time the change wrong.

[Manteos]

Nice to know that i'm being penalised for not being good enough Paddles and auto clutch, though with these manual cars I know I could run with auto clutch off being that I still need to manually blip the throttle but it just provides a safety net if I spin or time the change wrong.

In some way you're right, but think about the fact that nobody would have used an H shifter if AC developers didn't penalised drivers that uses paddles and autoclutch in some way, cause they would have been advantaged on this aspect. They probably calculated an average of time needed to upshift and downshit with an H shifter, and then they manually added few milliseconds to that average time. That's the same way it worked with GTR2, P&G, GTL, Raceroom, rF1 and 2... etc etc.

[FullMetalGasket]

In fairness paddles Vs H-shifter is as much driver oriented as setups are.

With a full manual you can intentionally miss-match a shift up or down to invoke wheelspin or gain some extra braking force in an older car.
In any vehicle where those techniques allow you to go faster paddles couldn't keep up even if they had a shift time advantage - the car control gained through manual clutch is worth far more time in corners.
Also don't forget you can block shift with a manual to reduce workload under heavy braking.

In real life the braking force trick can also be very handy when you have brake fade.
I might have used it to very helpful effect entering Bergwerk while playing with a 90's 911 GT2 during touristfahrten a few years back - that would have been a nasty car/armco interface moment otherwise and very costly!
Still my favourite lap of any circuit ever driven though, it was as full-on as I can ever see myself going on the 'Ring

[spanner]

Its more in the clutch usage, the auto clutch can be a massive disadvantage sometimes but with everything you need to learn how best to minimise the disadvantages.



Block Shift? Oh, not sequential? ok

[IbnSolmyr]

There also are advantages in paddles shiftings as being able to keep both hands 100% of the time on the wheel, being 100% left foot on the brake if you have auto-clutch or don't need to use any clutch, and getting less tired over the course of a long run. So that quite compensates.

For me here is a true disappointment about sim racing, especially when it comes to classic cars racing : the sofware management of the transmission/clutch/gearbox aspects. AC sometimes is good enough, but not everytime, by far. Show me a racing sim that really shines in this department, and you'll get all my attention.

[FullMetalGasket]

We have a couple of new joiners tonight so I've just updated the server files at my end and will copy them over when I fire up the race server proper - until then if Gavin or Mark are on the practice server they might occupy someone else's skin..... There are spare Fords though so it shouldn't keep anyone from practicing.

Provided we don't get a load of unannounced drivers appear we should be fine in the race.

I'll also try my best to get the race server up earlier than normal with an extended practice just to make sure it's working correctly with all the added drivers


Please remember that the 1st laps of each race are going to be moderated - this is touring cars so gentle rubbing and leaning through corner's I'll accept (within reason), but if you pile into the back of the pack in T1 the only excuse I'll accept is blatantly obvious ping doing the dirty.

We all know T1 is going to be bad so brake early and stay aware that the further back in the grid you are the earlier the braking zone will have to be for you - My personal habit is to roll out of the throttle well before you expect the car ahead to brake, or to brake very early but very gently.
Each of those methods should discourage the car behind from doing something silly while also forcing them to slow early and be less likely to rear end you - you're also on the brake pedal already so can react faster to the unexpected

After T1 most of this circuit should be pretty straight forward to fight on aside from the reducing radius left handers about half way into the lap, I'd recommend caution if you decide to dive inside someone as you still have to slow through that complex and leave room for your opponent!

[FullMetalGasket]

Sorry all - results will have to wait for tomorrow as I'll need to manually edit them before they'll upload to the system

In other news if someone can upload the replay to race 1 then that would be very helpful - I lost keyboard control thanks to shaders patch and had to hard quit and rejoin at the end of the race

From a very quick look at race 2 that appears to be clean though in lap 1, I'll check it properly later but good work all if it was as clean as it appears

[SmokingSteelGarage]

Thanks for having me along guys. That was fantastic fun, great clean racing. Looking forward to the next one. and well done to you all.   

Gav

[Mark J]

Cracking pair of races for Round 1  think I was in a very close battle for every minute of race 1 and 98% of race 2  Great clean racing by all as well considering cars had a rizla paper between them most of the lap 
Qualified 5th but a long first gear had me bogging down at the start and allowed a car or two past me. Then spent the entire race stuck behind Syds wide Alfa. I was way quicker in nearly every corner but he had the grunt to blast out of each turn until the next one. Great battle though  Finished 7th I think.
Race 2 I shortened my gears and had so many great fights it was a blast. Gained a couple of spots But I started to tire and get hot midway so small mistakes crept in costing me places. Finished 10th I think.

Great fun and glad the new guys enjoyed it  Well done Matteo and the podium 

[Manteos]

For a strange coincidence AC saved my replay even if I'm almost sure I have the options for autosave set to off... must check this out!

You can download it from my drive and I will delete it in 3 days. From what I saw the start of both races has been really clean, so well done evrybody  

Race 1 start at min 29 and 10 seconds.

Race 2 start after 1 hour and few seconds of my replay

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jDssGNtE-XKdjbmJk-SbKvkG6ULgVVca/view?usp=sharing

[FullMetalGasket]

Results are now posted - I'll go over the mandatory moderation part of lap 1 in both races later today so if you were involved in anything there (a very quick look at Manteos' replay suggests it was clean) then there's no need to report it.

For reporting incidents further into the race please submit reports via the link under the relevant race results - the system doesn't always seem to notify me so if you drop me a PM also that would be appreciated.
Please submit reports by the end of Sunday - I can't guarantee I'll get through them before the next event but at least will try.

I'm tempted to report my own mechanic for sending me out on Hards in race 1
I don't seem to have the tire life of Matteo on Mediums, but they were still way better than the hards for over-all pace, and if I could have got in front I might have had a chance..
I guess the tire wear is hardly surprising given my driving style!

[Mark J]

not sure those results are totally correct? For race 1 it shows me finishing 6 secs behind Syd whereas i was right on his boot across the line. (where i'd spent the whole race!) Also think i qualified 5th with a 1:38.5(or 6). My ptracker had smoking steel garage qualified in 6th. Syd got past me on the s/f straight due to my long 1st gear.
Race 2 i started 11th behind Syd which surprised me as thought it was reverse grid for R2?