iRacing Season 3 Riley - Sebring (GP) - May 25

[Brendan]

iRacing crashed then it wouldnt let me re-join.

Unlucky Dan, if it weren't for bad luck, you'd have no luck lately.

[popabawa]

That was fun

It was a very last minute decision to join so I thought I'd run at the back and see what happened.

Unfortunately Pete was blinking in and out really badly on the parade lap and we very nearly had some contact   Pete kindly hung back at the start, I guess because of his connection, so I was behind Martin for the first few laps until he started pulling away and Pete was clearly faster so I let him through.

I kept the gap at about 10s until Pete went off and shortly after I pitted which I lost a load of time at being completely incompetant. Back behind Pete I thought that was that until he went off again and I started catching Martin at a fair rate until the leaders started to lap me.

With a couple of laps to go Martin had some shenanigans and I took a big chunk out of his lead and was chasing all the way to thend where I thought for a second I had him but not quite. Nice to have an exciting finish though

Some great driving on display, very close all round at the top.

Grats to Paul on a great win  

[Brendan]

Boy, was I sweating by the end of that one. 

Set a new PB in qually for 5th on the grid, start was clean and I was happily chugging away in 4th after Mike had made a small mistake to let me by in the first few laps.  I regretted not being more vigilant with my fuel strategy as I got the 5 lap warning on lap 8. 

In my haste to work out how much would be required to get me too the end, I think I put a little too much fuel in and had a poor pitstop and outlap.  Had a nice little battle with Ross for a few laps before Mike rejoined just behind me with about half distance gone.

He pushed me like crazy for the rest of the race and was immense in the slower corners, keeping the gap under 1 second throughout.  I was struggling with the tyres near the end and really had to focus to keep him behind.  Finished a very satisfactory 5th.

Grats to Paul R, Dave (superb pitstop) and Paul H.

[picnic]

Yes sorry about the formation lap, my network was all over the place and I tried to stay out of the way. If I'd been mid pack I'd have quit but I hoped being so far back we'd be ok. Then held back until the thing settled down and it was fine for the rest of my race.

Managed to spin in the last corner after being offline in to it because of changing my pit strategy   Kissed the inside wall so pitted immediately as I was already slowed. But the car was damaged and I was struggling around 3 or 4 secs off what I should have been doing. It didn't want to turn left. I was also locking up a brake too easily. When I spun again, although I didn't hit anything, I quit before I caused an accident for someone else. I'm sure I would have got a black and orange flag in the real world telling me to come in.

Well down to everyone who finished. It's hard on such a bumpy track to keep these things on for 10 laps let alone 30.

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Very glad I did an official race at the weekend now, knew exactly how much fuel was needed, and what the car would handle like on heavy fuel and old tyres. I believe the next two rounds follow the same pattern.

Was quite surprised to be as high as 3rd on the grid after seeing the practice times; was actually on for a new PB on my final Q run only to stuff it up coming out of Le Mans corner. Start was okay and I settled down behind Paul and Gary. Both looked like they were trying to hard, with Paul pulling away and then dropping back with a locked wheel here and there, and Gary dropping wheels off occaisionally, but despite this we were pulling away from 4th and back.

I was fulled for just over half distance and planned to stop at the end of 14, 15 or 16, whichever looked most convenient, and keep the same tyres, but I knew the car was okay on heavier fuel and I could stop earlier if I needed to. By the end of lap 6 I'd concluded that I was at more risk from running into a mistake from the cars ahead than I was from losing any tow Gary might be lending me, so I decided to pull my pitstop way ahead and hope to come out on a reasonably clear track.

Stop went very well but the outlap was poor, with me failing to adjust my driving style for the much heavier fuel load. If I'd known I was going to stop early I'd have put more starting fuel in to shorten the stop even further, and wouldn't have tweaked the rear ride height down one click from my no stop setup. I lost a little more time fighting past Ross McWilliam, after which I had a pretty much clear track and got the hammer down to try and make Plan B pay off.

Was very relieved when the cars that had been 5th and down emerged well behind after their stops, and was very pleased to see Paul H was more than 10s behind after his. Gary was a bit closer, and Paul R looked like he was on the reverse strategy from me, going very long and just splashing and dashing at the end. There was nothing I could do about that, but on fresh tyres Gary was catching me fairly quickly, and I had to defend staunchly for a number of laps until he was removed from the equation after a mix up with Blunder's lapped car.

Paul's stop confirmed that he'd pulled enough of a gap to win; had I started on more fuel, done a better out lap, and got past Ross quicker, I might have been right behind him when he left the pits, but I don't think I had enough raw pace to fight for the victory. Tyres were down to something like 65% at the end, but they were still holding up well enough for me to do my fastest lap of the race on lap 28, before cruising round the last two laps after Gary's off.

Very pleased with second place, ahead of the Kerb Crawling hoardes.

[Fred Basset]

Well I for one enjoyed that a lot.

As Dave has said we were running close together at the start and I think that allowed Paul to get a little gap, Dave got a run on me once but it was easy to cover off. His early pitstop probably did both of us a favour, however I was quite confortable there and the off wheel off does not mean I was going to bin it! But I was then able to get a little closer to Paul, his quick spin left me just under 6 secs ahead of Paul R when I pitted.

As I pointed out in this thread yesterday I missed out on GTR and this pitstop strategy is all new to me, I can see now that I should not have changed tyres, had this been the case looking at the times for people who did not change I would have been about 2-4 seconds infront of Paul Richards after his stop. No idea if I'd have been able to hold Paul off but it was a fundamental strategy error for me which saw Dave back in front and me down to third.

Dave has mentioned how it was easy to close him down with the new tyres but once behind there was no way through, I was much quicker through the last and first turn but there is not much you can do there with a big old DP carefully placed in front, nice driving Dave.

There was no mix up with Blunder though, it was all my own doing. I've recently got new pedals and was really getting into late braking with them, I was trying to be as close as possible to Dave and hopefully capitalise on a good exit, lost the back end a bit and half spun, which would probably have been ok but Martin had no time to avoid me so dragged, sorry again mate.

I then had to drag a mortally wounded DP round the last lap and a half.

So I've learned alot more about the DP this round and been taught a bit more about strategy from some of you GTR guys.

As I said at the start though, really enjoyed it.

Regards
Gary

[ross.mcw]

Sorry about holding you up Dave, I was a bit puzzled as to why you were behind me but figured I should make the most of it - but after a bit of trying to stay ahead, I realised it was pointless as you were so much quicker and I was making too many mistakes trying to keep in front.

Got a good start and had some great close racing with Simon, Ken and James in the early laps.  Andy looked to have a half spin going on to the back straight leaving a damaged Ken, Simon, James and myself bearing down on him into the final corner.  Somehow I ended up coming out in front but managed to leave my braking too late into the hairpin on the next lap.  Got a cut corner flag and lost five places.  A couple of laps later I had a scare as I came upon the aftermath of James and Ken's coming together, wasn't entirely sure I'd picked a clear path through the smoke to drive through, but luckily had and that gained me a couple of places back.

After that it was really just a case of hot lapping for the remainder of the race to keep my position ahead of Martin - just had a couple of brief stints of racing with Brendan and Dave.

In all it was a pretty good race, nice combo of car and track and I was as quick as I was really ever going to manage given the lack of practice.

Again though, for me the 1 hour race length is a bit of a chore - probably a result of where I am pacewise leading to my last 30 minutes of races just being hot lapping sessions I guess.

The pit stops certainly add to the realism though - perhaps a pitstop should be added to the 40 minute races next season?  Just a thought anyhow.

Cheers, Ross.

[Paul968]

Slightly disappointed not to capitalise on a good position in that one. Very surprised to be so far clear in qual, but once the race started I knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Gary was holding on grimly 2-3 secs back and the car didn't feel as good as in practice. I wasn't overdriving Dave so much as finding the car doing things it hadn't earlier. Several times it snatched on the brakes in the first few laps, which reduced my confidence in the car and therefore my pace. It was still looking OK though as I came up to lap Adam, but I overreacted to a small lift from him at the corner before the penultimate straight and the back came round too quickly to catch  Everyone down to Mike came past and 13 seconds were lost. I was just starting to pressure Mike when he pitted, but I stayed out for a few more laps hoping to jump him with my lighter fuel load. Gary pitted on the same lap as me and sure enough we both came out well ahead of Mike. At this point it dawned on me what Paul and Dave were doing, and although Paul was probably too far ahead to catch, I hoped Dave would drop back on worn tyres. This didn't really happen (enough) though, so I was resolved to finishing 4th until Gary's unfortunate late spin and tangle with Martin gifted me the last podium place. Unlucky Gary 

Grats to Paul and Dave, who clearly got a lot out of their worn tyres. I'm not sure the same strategy would have worked for me, but then had I not spun I would have been right with Paul at the end, so no regrets there. I need to see if the setup was high enough as it was rather too grabby over the bumps in the braking zones. 3rd isn't too bad on a track which doesn't play to my strengths, but its a shame not to have come away with a bit more.

[purdie]

Got a good start and had some great close racing with Simon, Ken and James in the early laps.  Andy looked to have a half spin going on to the back straight leaving a damaged Ken, Simon, James and myself bearing down on him into the final corner.

Thats real single-make racing, I had a moment and lost all those positions!  Couldn't believe it 

Had a fun but short race. Started practicing in the late afternoon and with Paul's setup got down the 56s after a few hours solid testing! Was estatic to get a 55 in quali !

Had a good start keeping out of trouble until the above happened. Hung on to the back of that small pack and had two offs avoiding cars spun on the track. Unfortunate luck for me because each time I had to go off-track and being tentative on the grass lost huge amounts of time and the last time I lost control and hit the wall.... game over 

First race in the prototype  and love it with Sebing except the last corner 

Grats Paul.... no practice so I guess that explain your 7th in quali so a superb win!

he laptimes were coming down, and the cars infront were falling off ... I got close to Purdie and span on the exit of the last turn.

phew I thought it was me..... 

[Mike Wrightson]

Oh, what might have been.

I wasn't prepared as well as I should have been here, but still the setup felt good in practice and I was all set to repeat my Silverstone strategy, stopping halfway and not changing tyres.

Then into Q and I managed a reasonable lap, but I was having problems concentrating and with 5mins of the session to go I realised why.  I was getting a migraine.  Bloody typical.  As you are probably aware, the first symptom of a migraine is impaired vision.  At this point I couldn't see the right third of the screen, so I didn't run any more and took some painkillers to ease the headache I knew was coming.

The start, mercifully went OK, though I still couldn't see properly, and all I wanted was to make it round the track without hitting anyone.  Racing was out of the question until I could see.  Just look how many apexes I was missing in the first quarter, I was all over the place.  Loss of concentration sent me off the track which let Brendan and Paul R through.  Now I just wanted to finish and I really didn't care where.

By near half distance I could finally see most of the screen again, but the tyres felt utterly screwed, so I made my stop and changed them.  That felt better and I was right behind Brendan.  I was still struggling to keep concentration and pace was slow.  With 4 laps to go my head was clearing and the driving improved enough to think about racing again.  I made a big push to see if I could pass Brendan.  In the slower turns I was all over him, but I couldn't stay close through the quicker stuff to turn that to my advantage.

I've never been so happy to finish a race.

[Paul Richards]

I dont think that was the quickest way to do 30 laps but it worked  

Grats Paul.... no practice so I guess that explain your 7th in quali so a superb win!

No such excuse unfortunately Andy i did a 44.2 in practice after 3 fast laps. That was probably my worst qualifying session I have ever done. I left the pits with a gaggle of cars. Coming up to the end of the lap I was concentrating so hard on creating a gap for myself i took too much kerb and dropped it coming onto the back straight. Let all go through to get into a gap and completely messed up the next two laps doing a 55 only. Tried fiddling with the setup and after another out lap the changes were awful and I stopped half way around the next fast lap with the ill handling car. Went back to my original which left me enough time to do an out lap and two fast laps. Comign to the end of my outlap 2 or 3 cars came out of the pit about 6 secs up the road. The next lap was going ok but a small mistake meant it would have been a mid 44 only. I was also now close enough to those cars that I would have caught then half way round the next fast lap so I took the risky decision to scrap the first for a clear run on the final lap. Bad move. Final lap was going ok was on for a flat - low 44 until Tower when I broke too late slid and lost a second gathering it up. So 7th it was.

My race setup was set for 12 gals and after 2 laps I could do flat 55s in practice with it although pushing the tyres quite hard. The original plan was to go half way add fuel and make a decision on tyres depending on any funky strategies (DaveG) with quick stops that needed to be covered off. Starting 7th put that to bed. There was no way I could lose time in battles and then have to do a long stop to change tyres so decided on a splash only strategy. In the first Pro series we had hour long races in the DP and of course no pitting was always the way to go so I have quite a bit of experience with driving worn tyres on this car so it made some sense.

I upped the fuel to 15 gals as required by the regs I did still need to add some at the pit stop so set fuel to 4.x and turned off tyres on the grid. When to pit I decided to leave to see how the race was unfolding. I had to raise the front of the car with the extra fuel so there was a slight change to the setup. Race start was ok and we immediately started pulling away from GaryH in the opening laps. Mike then made his slight error and Brendan and myself went past. Paul, Gary and Dave were pulling out a gap but Brendan wasn't holding me up at all so I just tried to look after the tyres. Brendan was so much faster in acceleration I guessed he might be quite light so I just try to stay in contact. Then on lap 4 my car went through a bad phase. I was soon a couple of seconds back to Brendan and Mike was getting very close. I moved the BB forward a bit and I think that kept the rears a bit cooler and my car was more stable in the braking zone. My times started to drop and I was soon catching Brendan again and pulling away from Mike.

It then all fell into my hands somewhat. Dave had pitted early so I was now 4th so I had Brendan, Gary and Paul to beat. I was back within 2 seconds of Brendan when he pitted on lap 8 so as my car was getting faster and he was going to have to fuel quite heavy (and a longer stop) I guessed that I had him covered off. Paul then had his spin so for him to be pitting behind me after I had gone through my heaviest stage meant that he should be covered off too. Gary was 6 seconds up the road at that point but I was closing slightly toward his pit stop and he came in about 5 seconds ahead at half way. I still needed to stop for fuel so at this point I was now lighter than them.

With Gary pitting at half way in the lead with a clear track I assumed he was doing standard 50/50 tyres and fuel stop so that was probably him covered off providing my tyres didnt fall off a cliff. If he had gone fuel only as he said it would have been very close! The only unknown quantity at this point was Dave. I knew I was quick pitting but didnt know exactly how much time I would lose and I was 30 seconds ahead at this point. I was still getting faster so decided to run for the max time on minimum fuel so I decided to run the tank empty and then pit. Did my fastest lap on lap 23 but the times dropped off quite quickly after that. I had managed to pull the gap out to 35 seconds I think and I was still worried about Gary who was in close contention with Dave. But as long as Dave was still in second and the gap was going in the right direction things were looking good. Was relieved to be 5 seconds ahead after pitting to bring it home for the win.

All in all quite lucky I think. Although heavy at the start I was fast enough to not be attacked from behind which may have been different it it wasnt for Mikes problem. Brendan was also fast enough not to hold me up at all until he pitted. Dan also had his technical issues Then as I got faster the others in front either had issues or pitted meaning I had a completely clear track apart from the occasional car to lap the whole race. I also never had to get into any battles at all and I think these more than anything got me the win as I could as run as fast as the fuel load would allow without overstressing the tyres.

Although I have spent the most time in the DP over any other car in iRacing I still enjoy racing it. You really can go aggressive or conservative with the stategy or driving style and have it make a difference. Its a shame I am going to miss so many of the races this season due to holiday timings but when I can I will be here. I thought the driving standard was very high throughout the field and over the season we will all close up further which should lead to some great races.
 

[Truetom]

The car wasn't that bad and I was more optimistic than at Silverstone. But... Unprecise footwork in the last corner ended things in a rather mild contact with armco. Realistic? Maybe. But diminishes playabilty. Again. I'm having a constant feeling I don't get enough for my money.

[spanner]

Oh well, didnt last long

Came round for the start and had to suddenly slow as the cars ahead, i guess, had waited for the green? Letting Ross past and just tried to stick behind Adam but the gap grew and Martin gained on me from the rear. Was enjoying it but With Legzy being just tiny bit down on TS about it all, and Tried to concentrate on saying something consoling and i went off

In the race the car felt quite different to the practise season earlier, had to brake earlier and it didnt want to turn quite so nicely. Noticed Paul felt his car was different.

These arnt easy cars to drive and iR in general requires alot of dedication i think you just need to persevere, try and find  setup you like, Even the standard setups arent too bad after some initial tweaking.

[mr_oily]

I can't match Paul's excellent write-up but that really was an enjoyable night's racing.

I'm not the quickest but I was absolutely loving the DP around Sebring - I could tell the speed was in it from the odd flash of a decent split time and I love the fact you obviously need to be smooth and precise to be fast. Using iSpeed it's so obvious you're rewarded for good technique, something I don't often have so it tends to force me to relax, concentrate and ease the fingernails a few mm out of the wheel leather . At the risk of sounding like an iR fanboy, this is good sheeeeet.

Start was a bit mental though i must admit - the concertina effect was so obvious in the mid pack so not exactly sure what was happening ahead but I nearly had a few incidents before T1, and that was being patient!

Great spell of pressure early on from Ross, Simon and Mr. Murray. Just a shame it couldn't last as the rest of the race was a little lonely even if I was enjoying the drive. A quick apologies to Ken - watching the replay its hard to spot the point of contact,  I think we both come towards each other at one stage or another but in any case, I could definitely have given you more room so apologies there, really didn't want it to end that way.

Chuffed just to finish quite honestly - I can't recall a time I've been so happy with a 10th spot.

Grats podium chaps and to Paul on the win - you guys are setting such a high standard but it's good, exactly what's needed.

Next up, Mazdas!

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Brendan was so much faster in acceleration I guessed he might be quite light so I just try to stay in contact.

Be really interesting to know how much of the straight line speed differences were down to fuel load, rake angle, gear ratios and so on. Ross was significantly quicker down the final back straight than me (pulling away even with me in the tow) despite me having minimum wing; I doubt it was just fuel load as it was noticable at higher speeds where weight doesn't usually have much effect.