UKPnG Season 1 Clubmans Tokens - Sebring (Classic) - Sep 22

[PippoPelo]

Yesterday the race was very funny, difficult and aggressive ...the start was very difficult for the rain in fact i find me in 14th position due the to cold tyres temperature. After 10 laps i have conquered the 5 position...but in the final part of the race I come back close to Geoffers, and in the first corner of the chicane in the 3rd sector I tapped him, waiting for let him by, but another guy touched Geoffres again, and I decided to go.
The result was a 4th place, and I want to excuse  with Geoffers for the tap.
sorry Geoffers  

[Mark J]

Then I hit Mark Jonzo hard as he rejoined the track. It was not a good rejoin Mark and I think you should have waited for us to go by, but no hard feelings, one of those things.
This detached me from the pack. !
 

Put a report in Andy, i deserve it. Really dont know why but i just didnt think and rejoined the track normally from the concrete run-off. I think that because i was surrounded by loud US engines upto that point and then heard nothing, my brain told me it was clear track at that point. Felt very bad when i saw you spinning behind me. 

A blot on my copybook. Otherwise a good fun race, the Fezza was great fun to drive around Sebring, just outgunned horsepower wise. Perhaps the only way to close the pack up is using similar output cars but i prefer the wide spread of great cars we saw on track in the clubmens rounds. Tough one to call.

[Legzy]

Thought I'd just make sure you're all aware that there is a strong chance of a Fun P&G race tomorrow night (Thursday) at Barcelona:

https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6815.msg119037#msg119037

[Paul968]

I took the safe option of the Z06, which was not too slow but still quite cheap. Qual was OK, but off the line Geoffers had a shocker, which completely bottled me up and lost me umpteen places into T1  Round T1 I was starting to get the odd place back, but at T2 a rather poor rejoin ahead caught Ade out and we both ended up in the barrier  Now at the back of the field I started to chase down the cars ahead, and was soon gaining places as others fell off or made small mistakes. I spent a lot of the race fighting with first Pepz and then King, and especially Matt Rowe, who was very closely matched in his L72. We passed and repassed, and as the last lap started I was closing in, but I got a bit greedy at the corner onto the back straight and spun. Not a problem though, as the gap was 20 secs back to Tibs, so I ended up 9th. Hopefully the tokens saved will repay me with a better result later in the season.

Congrats to the boys up front, esp Madd for his storming drive back through the field  Just shows that you didn't need an L88 for a good finish!

[Mcfids]

Made a big balls up of the race by selecting the wrong tyres - I thought the R106's were good for the wet, which after trying them are definitely not. This after qualifying in 2nd and splashing out on a 427  :'( I can appreciate them modeling the real tyres but there is something to be said about keeping it simple with just the generic types: soft, medium, hard, etc.

It was, however, good fun racing Madd as he and I were fighting our way back through the field as we both fell off the road earlier. But my tyres were pretty useless by this point and I pitted to put on proper wets. That was more like it but I was a lap down and a hinderence to other drivers whom I was trying to unlap so I called it a night.

Great track and weather combo!!

[Madd-RIP]

Congrats to the boys up front, esp Madd for his storming drive back through the field   Just shows that you didn't need an L88 for a good finish!

Thanks Paul, it was hard work but very enjoyable, 15 overtakes isn't too shabby, L88's for babies imo   , and in relation to my rather annoyed post yesterday the driving that caused my 2nd off was quite forceful but not as bad as I initially felt, and I was unlucky to be tagged after catching a slide in the beginning, but there's no point making a song and dance about it, a racing incident imo.

And tbh I could only have got 1 place further on the podium at a push to pip Legzy but it was not to be.

Roll on the next one........hmmm car choice?

[Mark J]

just a thought, and excuse me if its been thought of already recently, but why dont we allocate points to 'groups' of cars so that regardless of tokens used, people are still earning points towards their respective FIA groups that the cars belong too...ie Grp 2, grp 4 etc.
 That might encourage more to take slower cars rather than automatically going for the faster models. It might have helped at tracks like this one or other quick circuits. 
Would that work?

[Paul968]

Not sure how this would have made any difference Mark. All the cars bar 2 were from one group, and one of the 2 exceptions ended up at the back!

This was more about choosing the right car than people seem to realise. You and several others took cars which didn't excel at Sebring, where power was at a premium. There were several good options for the same token value that others took (Madd used only 9 & I used 6), so I don't really understand the complaint that tokens were to blame for the larger than normal race spread.

[Legzy]

This was more about choosing the right car than people seem to realise. You and several others took cars which didn't excel at Sebring, where power was at a premium.

I think that some people (me ) might be grateful if you could offer any tips on that sort of thing at future races Paul. I didn't really twig that Sebring was such a power circuit till quite late on. Luckily I'd already stumbled over the 'Specials' which was a lovely drive. But I'd appreciate any suggestions at the next couple of races... if you'd be happy to of course?
Others may or may not appreciate too

[Paul968]

Well, it is a complex subject, but there are some easy ways to get a feel for the cars which work at a certain track. The simplest is just to set up an offline race with the AI running the cars and see which cars come out best. It isn't aways accurate (best to run a few to get the full picture) but you can very quickly get the picture if certain cars are likely to dominate.

Failing that you can always look at the circuit characteristics and make a judgement.

If a track has lots of long straights then you need power. Otherwise you are a lot slower on those straights because drag at high speeds is more important than weight. You also want good aero to reach the highest speeds.

If the track has few straights then cornering ability is more important. This means light weight, good tyres and balanced handling are the things to have.

Most circuits have a mix though, so you then need to look at the proportions of straights to corners. Perhaps more important though is to look at the types of corner. If they are mostly tight then the powerful but heavy cars will suffer less, as they will gain more accelerating than they will lose turning. long, high speed corners are different though, as the heavy cars will have to lose more speed on the way through, and will probably not get it back on the next straight.

So, to summarise

mostly long straights - high power, good aero
mostly tight corners - light weight + good power
mostly quicker corners - light weight, good handling
mixture - make your choice based on the ratios of power, weight, straights, tight corners and fast corners

[Mark J]

ah, your probably right. Just wonder if it was more of a 'mindset thing' though and that people automatically go for the faster powerful cars as that will give them more bags full of points whereas if they could also score good points in a slower car, the variations in car choice might be more abundant ?
I'm sure i am just complicating things further so ignore me...i'll go back to my beer