iRacing Season 3 Mazda - Brands Hatch (GP) - May 18

[Mark J]

whoohoo i finished 11th ! and with less incident points than some of the more illustrious names here 

Fantastic driving at Brands in these cars, just the right mix of aggression and rhythm and the ff effects made me feel non-match fit at mid distance ! like karting 

[Brendan]

Fantastic race from my perspective.  Start was clean, got done into T1 by Blunder but snatched back the place into T2.  

Tried hard to hang on to Simmo and Ken and when Simmo lost it a few laps later I was chasing Ken but couldn't really get the gap down enough to attempt a pass.  All the while, Gary was closing in quick and gave me a bit of pressure for a few laps.

At about mid race distance, Ken made a slight error and I was able to nip by down the back straight.  After this I was under constant pressure from Ken and Gary was close behind waiting to pounce.  With around 5 laps to go, I had a poor entry into the penultimate turn and was anticipating contact from Ken.  As a result we both got a poor exit and Gary capitalised by pinching 2 places.

I still had Ken behind me until lap 26 when I got too much kerb at the same corner and lost it into the barrier.  Fortunately, the impact was square on, and not too hard.  My suspension survived and I was able to carry on to finish 5th which I suppose was more than I was expecting at the start.

Grats to Oily, John and Gary and thanks to Ken for a great battle.

Now, where did I put that valium.

[popabawa]

When the pace car pulls off, it's then up to the leader to set the pace.

Then you need to remember;

So you dont have to wait for the green light to come on  

Sorry, that wasn't very clear was it?

The lead car is responsible for setting the pace, but pace should be maintained until the green flag is shown. Cars should wait for the green flag to accelerate to race speeds.

If James went before the green flag was shown then he shouldn't have done.

[Brendan]

Sorry, that wasn't very clear was it?

The lead car is responsible for setting the pace, but pace should be maintained until the green flag is shown. Cars should wait for the green flag to accelerate to race speeds.

If James went before the green flag was shown then he shouldn't have done.

I'd have probably done the same.  If anything, it makes for a cleaner start as the front runners get strung out more.

It'd be nice to get clarification though.

[popabawa]

That was clarification

[Dan Minton]

I'd have probably done the same.  angel If anything, it makes for a cleaner start as the front runners get strung out more.

I agree it does make for a cleaner start.

[Dan Minton]

Sorry, that wasn't very clear was it? Roll Eyes

The lead car is responsible for setting the pace, but pace should be maintained until the green flag is shown. Cars should wait for the green flag to accelerate to race speeds.

Just as i thought.

[popabawa]

To clarify the clarification... <ahem>

It doesn't actually specify in the Sporting Code (I just checked) that the lead car should wait for the green flag to accelerate to race speeds.

However, it is does seem to be NASCAR rules to "go on green" and that's what the rolling start procedure is based on.

[Legzy]

Reckon that was without doubt the best UKiR league race we've had.
I liked the Mazda last season, but it's just class right now.

Once again as I said on TS, I'm soo sorry Pete. Ended both our races with one moment of over-excitement trying to get going again. So sad as we were both having a cracking time. I just wanted to be swallowed up right there

I would say something nice about Oily winning, but he's Team Prodigy... I'm sure he understands  

[mr_oily]

Dammit - sorry chaps, have to be honest in that I didn't really anticipate myself ever being in that situation so when it happened I just did what I thought was right in the real world . I definitely went a good few seconds before the green light, I just held off the throttle enough until I knew I wouldn't be overtaking the safety car on the track. I was actually expecting everyone to be glued to my rear towards the last few corners, thought it was a bit strange it never happened!

Thanks for the race anyway chaps, apart from blotting the copybook somewhat with the start it seems, I was pretty chuffed with some consistent times in the race. Unlucky Dan, I was feeling the pressure as you and John turned the screw little by little - felt a little guilty that I was using your setup and it was your engine that went bang! Even a second or so in front of you that thing scared the carp out of me LOL, they didn't hold back on the sound effects there did they!?

Had a couple of little moments, one at Paddock and the other running wide at Surtees where I thought I was going to be crucified on the straight but I managed to get away with it and other than that it was just a case of attempting to manage the gap. I know how difficult it is to pass around here so was just hoping and praying I'd be able to keep John at arms length for as long possible so he ran out of time to force a move! Was a close one through Westfields on the final lap though I must admit. Your Mazda completely filled the mirror John, thought it was curtains! 

Definitely wasn't the quickest out there but nice to bring it home for a change - that was the aim before the race so major bonus to end up on the top step somehow!

Grats John and to Gazza, awesome recovery drive from 10th mate - hope all goes well with the knee op! Hope to see you back on soon for more fun and games.

[picnic]

I was much later connecting than I'd hoped and had snuck a 23 in practice but qual was a complete nightmare for me. Although in the end a new PB only got me 17th on the grid. I didn't fancy my chances of staying on with cold tyres and being almost tail end charlie I opted to let everyone passed at the start. That allowed me to warm the tyres up and get into a rhythm. I made a few places up as people had incidents but I don't think I had the pace to pass anyone who didn't make a mistake. When MJ spun out in front of me I said on the TeamSpeak now I have a clear track I mustn't bin it and after a nasty moment actually settled in to running 23 sec laps. Set a new PB of 23.1 and the next lap was 0.3 up on that. Then some muppet blocked the track  I saw the racing line was clear and never lifted, the net result was pretty savage. Shame that ended both our races.

I spent the whole of the GTR2 race on my todd way off the pace racing no one for 60 mins on Sunday night. I was enjoying tonight and would have happily rejoined and if I had had a reset available. I understand why they are not but I think a couple of us would have enjoyed completing the race. Two sides to every discussion

[Ken Murray]

Absolutely fabulous racing tonight. My best result for some time. Great battle as already described by Brendan. 28 laps of enthralling action. I was starting to wish I'd put the air con on in the loft!!  These cars are so enjoyable to drive, much better than trying to persuade some overweight tin top to go round corners it doesn't really want to go round!!

It looked like I had more down force on than Brendan and it was an interesting comparison between the two setups. He was edging away each lap on the long back straight but I was catching back up through all the twisties. It was a shame we managed to let Gary through, but he did have much better pace than us, as seen by his lap time. I'm glad Brendan's race wasn't ended by his incident, it would have been a travesty after such a good battle.

[Kerr]

With any of the rolling starts at iRacing it's always the leader who controls the start.

If he decides to go before green that's his choice. I've never heard anything otherwise.

[Dan Minton]

It doesn't actually specify in the Sporting Code (I just checked) that the lead car should wait for the green flag to accelerate to race speeds.

However, it is does seem to be NASCAR rules to "go on green" and that's what the rolling start procedure is based on.

So we go when the flag/lights go green.  Got it cleared up in the end.  

Unlucky Dan, I was feeling the pressure as you and John turned the screw little by little - felt a little guilty that I was using your setup and it was your engine that went bang! Even a second or so in front of you that thing scared the carp out of me LOL, they didn't hold back on the sound effects there did they!?

It was probably so loud due to the fact that i was glued to your wing at the time .   Dont feel to guilty about using my set ( Im sure you dont really)  ,  Always share my set ups ..Just a shame you had to get hold of it.  

Did you make any changes to it??

[Dan Minton]

With any of the rolling starts at iRacing it's always the leader who controls the start.

If he decides to go before green that's his choice. I've never heard anything otherwise.

I think this would be the safest and best way to go ..What do think Pop's ??