AC Classic cars: Lola T70@Meadowdale Raceway, Tue 6th June 2023

[Alfred Wayne]

What Ernie said.

Personally, I'm not super fast in old cars, but I do find driving them helps me learn how to drive modern cars faster (better throttle and brake control, when to turn in, etc)

I have no plans of challenging the front for podiums

 

[Medilloni]

It's mandatory but I obviously forgot to put it in the thread. You can always check it on Emperor in the event details:

View attachment 669793
By the way: I didn't test it but does it need a tyre change the race?

Thanks Han, my tyre app says the tyres might be just about gone by the end, but only done a handful of laps (in the Ford) so not really sure

 

[HF2000]

Can we use the banking to dive into the pits or do we need to follow the low road within the white lines? That would be on the left before the banking.

You can use the fastest way. It will be the same for everyone.

 

[dbx71]

how do you guys feel about making it a 50 min race..?? not trying to throw an 11th hour wrench into the works, or bring down the level of racing but it's just a suggestion.

i'm good either way, but this is shaping up to be a high concentration event (at least for me) and shaving a few minutes off may make things more manageable...

just a thought... looking forward to it in any event!

 

[dbx71]

Oh, I tried both initially with AI and the non-ford one seemed to be more controllable to me.
Before the race I'll give the ford model another try, now that I got a bit more experience with it and if it feels indeed more controllable switch the registration. Otherwise I'll just commit with the current model and hope for the best.

do yourself a favor and go with the ford powered version... unless, of course, you have the stamina (and experience) to handle 1 hour of white knuckle, seat-of-your-pants driving in an over-powered fire breathing demon...

 

[RS242]

Ok, I've tried the ford version again and I know what happened: yes, this version is slightly less powerful, but it also has worst brakes. So despite going slower and more controlled when it comes to braking I find myself locking the wheels a lot a thus gives me less confidence and feeling not in control.
Maybe it's something that could be fixed with the set-ups (perhaps the front wheel cambers are off, reducing the grip and therefor the brake efficacy) but I'm going to stick with the regular one where I have already built some confidence.

 

[dbx71]

Ok, I've tried the ford version again and I know what happened: yes, this version is slightly less powerful, but it also has worst brakes. So despite going slower and more controlled when it comes to braking I find myself locking the wheels a lot a thus gives me less confidence and feeling not in control.
Maybe it's something that could be fixed with the set-ups (perhaps the front wheel cambers are off, reducing the grip and therefor the brake efficacy) but I'm going to stick with the regular one where I have already built some confidence.

brakes...??? we don't need no stinkin' brakes...

just kidding, good luck and may the good lord be with you....

 

[RS242]

do yourself a favor and go with the ford powered version... unless, of course, you have the stamina (and experience) to handle 1 hour of white knuckle, seat-of-your-pants driving in an over-powered fire breathing demon...

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I didn't feel much more struggle for the non-ford version...
I'll stick with it, but I have to agree: it's going to be a very long 60 minutes!

 

[gearwhine]

I have no major setup magic but a little tip i feel reduces the understeer is to remove all downforce from the back. Just an observation

 

[gearwhine]

How many have signed up for this race?

 

[Kek700]

Sorry lads, as if any one cares. Cannot race with a circuit that needs brakes, bleeding speed off is not a problem, but actually stopping is a no no, when they lock I cannot feel anything to actually do anything about it. Except utter those eventual words Oh sh********it
Hope all had a good race.

 

[H_Belane]

Started well, ended badly. No tire change: error. Several crashes in the final phase. Two places given up in the penultimate turn.

That was an adventurous race. Reminded me of the TVR cars from the FatAlfie championship. That was great back then.

Conclusion: fantastic event!

 

[Medilloni]

Another 'sorry' here (as if anyon...........), forgot to put the room fan on, 10 laps to go (I think), had a shower, which was more fun than the car's brakes and the track

 

[cerebralvortex]

Quite an easy win..I expected to race Allan but he did not want to play with me

 

[Alfred Wayne]

Sorry again Paul for that big shunt I should have known with all that tire smoke you were putting up your tires were going Awesome racing outside of my lock up! Had some good early lap fights with Steve too

Thank Han for putting this together and everyone for filling up the grid. While they were hard work, I enjoyed this more than the GTO from our last championship. Definitely a +1 for me whenever you run them .... or other classic cars cough Alfa GTAm mod

Congrats to the top drivers, fast pace in such a brute. See you all next race

 

[RS242]

Well, I have to admit this was more fun than I expected.

Started pretty well, avoided all major incidents, then had a bit of a slip which dropped me a few positions but was still pretty much in the race for P10 with Dominic.
Until I started slipping in the last hairpin. Two slips in a row and I lost the pack.

Then around 20 minutes to the end disaster struck: I lost it big time on T1, had to wait to rejoin only to spin and wait again to rejoin. Did this multiple more times. Dirt on the wheels with these cars really sucks .
This was followed by 2 nightmare laps where I just could not get any grip.
That's when I finally realized the problem: my rear left tire was in bad shape. Only that one so I didn't really notice.

Now this was something I had never dealt with: tire degradation - my driving style has never been enough to experience grip loss on our races so good to have that new experience in the bag.
Extra 15 seconds in the pit to replace tires (first time I saw that animation!) and came out just behind Dominic (P9) again for the last 5 minutes of the race. Of course I was 1 lap behind so there was no point in fighting.

Driving these cars is quite the experience and does help learn the basics, even though it's a very though lesson. I think we could do this more often indeed, classic cars on classic tracks - not limited to these overpowered beasts.

And to give a bit more support on Dominic's suggestion from earlier: perhaps reducing the race time from 60 to 50 minutes is not a bad idea no, I always struggle with concentration towards the end. Food for thought.

Great driving Dominic, very controlled and consisted all the way!
Thank you everyone for the nice race and congratulations to the winners - hearing about your lap times from Jim is always amazing.
Special thanks to Han for hosting.
Until next time!

- Ricardo

 

[thom462]

Sorry to Allan for turn 1 lap 1, wanted to take it easy in turn 1 but could not brake as early as I planned and to 100 percent as Jason was directly behind me at braking point. If I braked earlier it's very likely it would have ended in collision so I hit the brakes not too late but it was enough to just hit the rear end by a fraction as you turned in at racing line.
After that had some good fun catching up and overtaking but after incident I was not that concentrated and had another spin few laps later. Actually was surprised having that pace as normally I suck with vintage cars. So it's a shame I was at the back, would have been some good fighting with the others. That's racing.....

cu next time

results:

https://simresults.net/230606-c3I

 

[dbx71]

ok, i gotta say, that was a blast. still can't believe i finished in the top 10, and that i somehow managed to keep that damn car on the track for 34 laps and avoid hitting anybody or anything.

funny, but that race didn't wipe me out as much as i thought it was going to... could it be that i'm finally getting the hang of this simracing thing...??? nah, the driving gods must have just been smiling on me today...

there was a lot of attrition i noticed, but congrats to all the drivers that finished, and especially to the front runners with the incredible pace. shout out to ricardo for keeping the heat on me, didn't even notice you were a lap down, it was fun just pushing each other on. also, congrats to stefano for hanging in there and finishing the race. those were really difficult cars to handle, so i tip my hat to you for not giving up.

let's all do it again sometime. thank you han for making it possible, and would love to do another similar event on a NA track as per previous discussions.

 

[Shed 17]

Sorry again Paul for that big shunt I should have known with all that tire smoke you were putting up your tires were going Awesome racing outside of my lock up!

No worries Robert, I didn’t know if the tires would last the race distance but gambled anyway. We had some great racing, I had a quick look at the replay when we went side by side out of the banking , down the straightaway and did synchronised aerobatics over the hump. Awesome.
Before that I was keeping the leaders in sight and was happy with my overall performance, probably should have had new tyres though.
Hank, you were warping pretty bad, in several places you would dive into the track surface. At one point it reminded me of the movie ‘Tremors’, just didn’t know where you were going to pop up next!
But great fun and a special well done to Dominic and Ricardo. As has been said before, driving a variety of cars widens your experience and helps get the most out of the regular cars when you go back to them. As Ernie said earlier, these beasts require a very gentle style and a different technique to cornering. Wait, wait, then gently squeeze the loud pedal.
Thanks to Han for putting this on and well done all for making a good hours entertainment.

 

[Alfred Wayne]

Look at us go

That was a white knuckle flight every time @Shed 17