iRacing Season 4 Mazda - VIR (North) - Aug 3

[Truetom]

Nothing to write about, really. Just held to the track, trying to make a few mistakes as possible and was by myself most of the time. Which is fine for me as I get a bad feeling whenever there's a car nearby i iR.  Managed with only two slight offs - which is an improvement for me. Lost some places at the start, was mostly scared to touch anyone, so I let people by. They fell off anyways, later. Even Pops did that twice and I was able to stay in front then.

Mazda is great, can't see any real difference other than slower shifting. Seems like a car would spet at you any time you change a gear. I have all the cheats on (I always do in arcade games ) and it feels ok for me. Don't know about other cars, we'll see.

[Mark J]

Had a reasonably good race on my return to IR after a few months. Had two goals, not be last on the grid and also to finish the race...Tick ! 

Was glad to see familiar sparring partners around me on track like spanner, Legz and some bloke called Adam 

Was a bit dispirited at lap 1 when had to gallantly fly off onto the grass to avoid rear ending Ad when 2 cars ahead came together in the fast top hill twisties. Dropped two places and had to play catch up for several laps to the pack 

Got past people having off's and had reasonable pace througout race, if not exactly stellar. Had a second wind towards end of race and pumped in some faster laptimes to catch Adam who promptly outbraked himself at the top of the hill and i gained another place to finish 12th with only 4 incident points.
Bravo, i hear the voice inside my head say 

Love the on the edge karting feel you get with the mazda, with brilliant ffs through my setup. Still find overtaking a lottery in IR though with the 'darting' rear view of cars behind and fear of contact.

[spanner]

Was reasonably pleased to put in my fastest time in qually and was in the top half to start with so didnt really want to go out again but that quickly changed to normal service at the rear once everyone got there laps in.

It seemd the green came on quite late at the start and the pack was starting to bunch alot but spent too much watching everyone else try to have an accident on the first lap trying not to trip up but misjudged the edge of the track going through the middle twisty section and got a wheel on the grass and spun right back down the order again! After that it was just about trying to catch up to those in front and just try and finsh as i think this might be one of few finishes! Not sure why but have felt comfortable around here, in the mazda and for much of that i felt i was on autopilot, concentrating so much! couldnt even talk on TS. Just happy to get to the end.

Oh, has the radical changed as well.. grr

[popabawa]

A mixed race for me really.

I was really pleased to find some pace from somewhere in qualifying, I took a second off my PB in that session, and ending up 5th on the grid.

I got a great start at the green and accidentally whizzed past Darren But I decided not to contest him braking late into T1. Oily (clearly faster) cot me a couple of laps later.

Martin and Pete were a couple of seconds back but I was slowly edging away when I span into the uphill right-hander when I messed up the entry That dropped me 3 places.

Pete and Martin dropped off and I was left a couple of seconds behind Dave when I span it in the same place, I have to put that down to just chasing too hard, a stupid mistake

The other bright note is that I had all the aids turned off and I avoided major disaster from that point of view.

Onwards and upwards, Daytona should be a good race

[lazlow]

I was a little disappointed with my drive last night.....qualified 3rd on the grid and for the first 12 or so laps felt quite comfortable driving around in 3rd, with a 3 sec gap in front and a 2 sec gap behind.
As the race went on though, I started to loose concentration and began making silly mistakes with a few offs here and there...then on lap 20 (I think) I snatched a gear while changing down at the left hander at turn 3, sending me backwards into the tyre wall and damaging my rear wing. From then on it was just a matter of trying to stay on track....which was nightmare!! Ended up finishing 10th....but at least I finished.

I had no issues with the new transmission system, apart from my one off where I think I just changed down to quick. I was even able to trail my throttle (just a little) into turn one.

I'm loving driving the Mazda at the moment, and I'm looking forward to the next race, where I hope I can drive with a bit more consitency.

Laters
Laz

[fozzmeister]

First UKGTR race for ages.

I've not driven the Mazda for ages and I don't think ever at this track. I've never driven that config full stop. Having said that, I've never not lifted/blipped for a long time so I can't blame anything on that, because I never had any issues at all.

After just plain forgetting to brake and spearing off into the wall, I had a few laps around Road America, which was OK and not-terrible-slow, but more importantly fun, so I may come back for other races. It's the Radical's I'm more interested in.

Foz

PS. Picnic, I've never experienced any warp what-so-ever in iR. It must be something local.

[Burtoner]

Was working till 8pm, then went down the pub till 11pm

[Blunder]

Wow that was fun!
Made a great start and made up 2 places before the first corner!
Picnic was right behind me for what seemed like forever!
Good pressure buddy, was dissappointed you had a moment and dropped back!
Tyres were going off very quickly and was understeering everywhere!
Made a stupid half spin unforced error and saw 3 people go by! Very frustrating! 
Made up a few places and brought it home 6th!
Quite pleased with that and really enjoyed it!
Very intense!

I hate bringing this up as I know we all have strong feelings on the subject but the start last night was so slow we might as well have been doing a standing start!
Are we not all now ready for that!?
Not a prompt for discussion, just a prompt for the admins!!! 

Race seat was thick with dust before last nights race!
Great to be back racing!

Thanks all

M.

[Kerr]

Not sure if the slow start was my fault.

Looking in my mirrors there was a fair amount of second guessing when I was going to go.

I waited a few seconds for the green to come out and by that time the field had bunched up and went together.

I still really like standing starts though and would prefer them to come back.

[Blunder]

I don't think we were ready for them in the past... but it's season 4 now... we have all now got some experience, especially with the Mazda!?

Gets my vote! 

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Looking in my mirrors there was a fair amount of second guessing when I was going to go.
I waited a few seconds for the green to come out and by that time the field had bunched up and went together.

In the DP last season we ended up with a sort of unwritten agreement that the leader would go as soon as the pace car got out of the way. This prevents the back half of the field ending up in a concertina whilst the field attempts to reform out of the last corner with a lot of itchy trigger throttles.

[Kerr]

Looking in my mirrors there was a fair amount of second guessing when I was going to go.
I waited a few seconds for the green to come out and by that time the field had bunched up and went together.

In the DP last season we ended up with a sort of unwritten agreement that the leader would go as soon as the pace car got out of the way. This prevents the back half of the field ending up in a concertina whilst the field attempts to reform out of the last corner with a lof itchy trigger throttles.

Last season I usually went as soon as pace car went.

A few people were getting wise to that and were attempting to be that little bit quicker off the mark.

I'm still for standing starts.