UKGPL Season 18 (2009) Graduates Cup (67) - Spa (1967) - Nov 1

[b_1_rd]

I seem to remember you throwing down some 17's and 18's a season or two ago, Bernie 

[Hristo Itchov]

Thanks H just what I needed , a set of tools so this computer moron can really screw up GPL for good 

maybe sometime in the next century but for now I think I'd better  stay a member of the 23 secs club 

Bernie, there's nothing much to it. You feed it 3 files per track: .CLN, .GRV and .RPY (of a WR lap i.e.) and it replaces the track groove with a new one made from the replay. Read the readme then try it yourself. You'd be glad you did, especially at some tracks that have terrible default groove.

[EvilClive]

Using the WR groove for Spa instantly improves your laptimes by at least 1-2 seconds, at least for those who haven't reached sub 16s yet. I suggest you give it a go.

  sub 3:16's!!!!!!  I have only got below 3:20 once in my life!!  that was in a Fezza ( 3:17 in a Breasts race a couple of years ago) and I still don't know what I did right that evening and what I have been doing wrong the rest of the time!! The lap felt the same as any other and yet was a good 3-4 secs faster??!!
I have only ever had the default groove, and I rarely follow that anyway, preferring to plough my own furrow across various verges and banks..
So this Waza will be running with the exclusive membership of the 3:20 club 

[bernie]

I seem to remember you throwing down some 17's and 18's a season or two ago, Bernie 

Not me mate , may have been my team mate Alonso from the dark side 

However he's never been the same since he aquired a bus pass and tells me that nowadays the onset of rhumatis has slowed him down quite a lot .

As for the even darker side of the PC world,  one of the big problems I have is whenever  I double click the mouse button , up pops a new screen and then I immediatly forget why I double clicked in the first place and cant remember why I am there or what it was I needed to do which ends up with me taking a comfort brake to let my overstreched grey matter cool down , by which time I have returned back to the much simpler vertual world of spider solitaire in the hope that the problem I just created will somehow repair magic itself away.

If I could fix it with a screwdriver or a ruddy great hammer all would be fine , but the computer is much too subtle for my brain and has about 99 buttons too many 



 

[Hristo Itchov]

Using the WR groove for Spa instantly improves your laptimes by at least 1-2 seconds, at least for those who haven't reached sub 16s yet. I suggest you give it a go.

  sub 3:16's!!!!!!  I have only got below 3:20 once in my life!!  that was in a Fezza ( 3:17 in a Breasts race a couple of years ago) and I still don't know what I did right that evening and what I have been doing wrong the rest of the time!! The lap felt the same as any other and yet was a good 3-4 secs faster??!!
I have only ever had the default groove, and I rarely follow that anyway, preferring to plough my own furrow across various verges and banks..
So this Waza will be running with the exclusive membership of the 3:20 club 

Try the WR groove and I bet you'll be getting sub 20s consistently!

[EvilClive]

Maybe I am wrong here and in which case I have been for all my time in GPL. ( something which is undoubtedly possible )

Surely, it cannot be all about the "groove" or line through the corners. It has to be more to do with setup and driving style (and / or ability).

If the setup one is driving does not provide the handling and performance to follow the groove, then I cannot see how it will happen as the car simply will not be able to brake or turn in where the groove suggests it should?

Besides which, I am with Bernie on this one.....anything that involves switching files about and messin' with what ain't broke is doomed to failure and frustration around these parts.

[Hristo Itchov]

Well, personally I can't drive most tracks I know if I turn their groove off. In other words, I'm used to driving them with the groove, using it for braking, cutting and turn in reference points. Changing to WR groove would benefit those that use the default groove in similar way, but if you're driving without relying on the groove then I guess the benefit would be less.

It can still show you where you're taking the wrong lines and so on, and on tracks like Spa the difference is noticeable. Same for Silverstone and Mexico, and some others I can't remember right now.

If you can run GEM, you'd have no problem managing this program, it's far less complex. You simply specify a track, point to a few files you download in advance and let it do its thing.

[bernie]

Thanks for the pointers H I'm having a go at installing right now but my heart isnt really in it atm .

Today I trashed my baby which is now,  as I type , lying alone  injured and bleeding in the garage  :'( :'( :'(

And even GPL cannot kill the pain I am feeling  :'(

 

[EvilClive]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Bernie

For what its worth, I too have tried this magical "groove" thing, purely in the interests of scientific research as I think it is kinda cheating to use someone else's hard work, rather than drive using your own judgement and skill.

It took me a while (and quite a lot of stress) but got the groove installed, and Hey Presto!! a different grey line on the track. Very Impressive  It does go some way to explaining why a lot of the cars I race online take what I always thought was a very strange line into Eau Rouge, swinging in from the pit side of the circuit whereas I always take a straight line through the first left kink to hit an early apex of the uphill righthander and apply the power out over the left hand crest.

Sadly, it is 95% the same line as I would take anyway and in fact at the two or three points that are different, my normal line "feels" quicker but that might be a misconception.

 I found I had to alter my setup to get the car to turn in or hold those newer lines under acceleration and as a result my lap times have tumbled by about 0.5 secs...    and are still above the 3:20 mark!!!!

At the moment, I remain convinced that if the groove was done with an Eagle, then to try and follow that line with something like the Honda will be ( for me anyway!!) nigh impossible. Even using the Eagle you would surely need your setup to be almost identical to that used in making that WR ?? plus the skill/ability to drive that quickly and accurately. lol Something that might be the root cause of my probs here.

...or am I still missing something???

[bernie]

No Clive I think you hit the head of the nail there , pretty much the same hear got the new groove but cant quite get in it as they say. (do I hear a song coming on)

same results with the fezza its around 1 sec per lap slower than my 3 20 ish PB with the old groove , I too had to tweek the set up to get the car to follow the new groove (which isnt "that"far from what I was doing previously )

exit speed from La Au rough seems about the same but anyway I wasnt having a problem with the first half of the track it was always the two left handers leading tothe long straight bit at the end of the lap where i lose shed loads of speed , maybe Im just trying tooo hard 

The groove might help with some of the other tracks , have to wait n see 

 

[Al Heller]

For what its worth, I too have tried this magical "groove" thing, purely in the interests of scientific research as I think it is kinda cheating to use someone else's hard work, rather than drive using your own judgement and skill.

Yes I must admit I really enjoyed the groove-less (and un-groovable) Oulton as I worked out braking & turning-in points that suited my own "style".

My 10p worth.. I have tried the WR grooves at a few tracks but as Clive suggested, they might not suit everyone - especially people with their own unique driving style (like Clive's sideways thing ). I tend to be earlier & lighter on the brakes than most, so the WR grooves can be more of a hindrance than a help - in the sense that if I try to match the groove's WR hotlap braking point in a race with full tanks & cold tyres I've had it. Of course I normally use trackside objects etc as braking points but occasionally I switch off for a second & blindly follow the groove's braking points which normally results in my demise.

However I have found it useful to re-groove the track with one of my own laps (very easy to do with GPLRA) & that works well for driving to my own limits. 

[bernie]

I think re grooving with your own PB lap is a far better idea , even so its nice to compare with the WR holders . For me it just comfirms that we all have somehow unique and independant driving styles .

As for the aliens we set our sights on,  each one has his own vastly different set up but still have equal lap times 

[Hristo Itchov]

Well, it does take some time getting used to the groove and some braking points don't match with different drivers and cars, but overall it helps following the ideal line as long as you don't overdo it. Going in too fast or braking too deep would lose you a lot more speed than accelerating early and I think that's what the WR lines emphasize on.

[Lorenzo Galluzzi]

I haven't done even 1 lap....engine passed away..
Apologies to Mike, i'm really sorry about the contact at the begin..

[bernie]

Couldnt get on the server , dunno what the problem is tried all  I knew, ended up re booting and found I could joinbut then discovered it was the grads teamy server UKGPL6

With hopes raised I went to join the privateers race but got the same timed out message  :'(

It seems to me that only password protected races are a problem

I can join none pw servers OK with no probs

to say i'm gutted is an understatement ,I just feel like throwing this stupid box of tricks on the skip