AC FF1 2015 @ Spa - Thu 5 Mar 2015

[TobiasR]

This car is just too much for me. Was super exhausted after Practice and spun all the time. Race on the hard tire and I had no grip. Crashed twice in Eau Rouge and decided to call it a night

 

[Akis]

This car is just too much for me. Was super exhausted after Practice and spun all the time. Race on the hard tire and I had no grip. Crashed twice in Eau Rouge and decided to call it a night

You summed up the reasons why I usually avoid racing with high downforce open wheelers

 

[PaulH]

What an amazing car! Really enjoyed driving it(not the fastest), managed to miss turn 1 crash, had a good consistent pace for me, managed to get upto P6 , then lost the back end after eau rouge(bit early on the DRS), took massive damage, nursed it back to the pits. was going to retire but it was too much fun
Managed to get a few more places back towards the end, but too many good fast drivers for me

 

[Kristoffer Somby]

Only had a couple laps of practise before this race. Thought the mediums weren't gonna hold for 11 laps, so I decided to go for a 2 stop. Horrible decision.

The race started nice for me, had a good gap down to second place, then I got held up by traffic after my first stop and lost around 3-4 seconds per lap.

I have no idea how Costir managed to drive without any stops.

BTW, not happy about this one..


FF1 2015 Spa incident by Kristoffer Somby on RaceDepartment

 

[Tarcirion]

Thanks for the race. I was expecting too much better than this but i was just unlucky i guess, made too many simple mistakes. I was comfortable with the car (with assists on of course) and the track but just had a bad day. I prefer this to Lotus Exige v6 any time

 

[Sheamus Power]

@Fred Locklear
I'm editing some footage right now. You wouldn't believe how close that near-miss was, bloody insane.
Otherwise, great race, I had a few incidents, that first turn carnage, and later down the line I got nudged but the man kindly gave the position back a half-lap later. Double mediums seemed like a good strategy, was pretty fun.

 

[Akis]

Event Results

Stats

Most consistent lap times: @Tobias Röhner (68% of their laps within 0.55 secs of their average)

Hunter: @Akis (avg gap to car in front 4.91 secs)

Hunted: @Sheamus Power (avg gap to car behind 5.92 secs)

Busiest: @Tasos Olympou (avg total gap in front and behind 12.37 secs)

Loneliest: @Tarcirion (avg total gap in front and behind 225.04 secs)

 

[Tarcirion]

BTW, not happy about this one..

Really sorry about that @Kristoffer Somby. I guess that was the only mistake i made that affected another racer. I just couldn't decide that moment where to go. Sorry again, it wasn't on purpose

 

[Tarcirion]

Loneliest: @Tarcirion (avg total gap in front and behind 225.04 secs)

It was lonely

 

[Kristoffer Somby]

Really sorry about that @Kristoffer Somby. I guess that was the only mistake i made that affected another racer. I just couldn't decide that moment where to go. Sorry again, it wasn't on purpose

No worries. Next time though, keep your line.
The worst thing you can see in front of you is a slow car changing directions that close.

 

[Akis]

Guys the race start crashes are unacceptable in Racedepartment events. We all have to back off a bit for the first 1-2 corners (brake carefully, don't change line while we have a car next to us etc) because there is a high probability of an accident. The races usually last 40 minutes - 1 hour . There is plenty of time for lots of overtakes! I admit that 99% percent of the time we have 0 incidents, but today we faced the ugly 1%.

To put things into perspective I think it's better to lose a couple of places than lose the ability to race for 30 days.

 

[Tarcirion]

No worries. Next time though, keep your line.
The worst thing you can see in front of you is a slow car changing directions that close.

Totally agree with you. Thanks for the understanding. Sorry again.

 

[Sheamus Power]

@Fred Locklear
Here we are, some hastily cut/edited footage from the replay, of what is probably the closest near-miss I've ever had in simracing.

<mod edit: please use RD's media section to share your video. You can link it back here afterwards>

 

[zAmboni]

I kinda agree that this car needs to be put on a shelf until it gets ironed out a bit. I rebooted my computer because things looked stuttery, but continued when I rejoined. Then I lost sound several laps in (like someone else did) I rejoined to try and get some laps in and try not to get in the way of people.

When I rejoined after quitting to get the sound back, I felt like I was getting into a groove. and was happy that I was able to post a sub 1:51 time. hit throttle too fast on the exit of turn 1 late in the race and gave @Akis a heart attack....my mediums were going off and I didn't realize just how fast they went down. Afterwards I was pushing too hard on some softs at Eau Rouge and spun. Was hoping I didn't end up in the middle of the track but @Sheamus Power could attest, I kinda did.

Even with the track map, it is hard to see if anyone is coming at a high speed part of the course, and it is hard to figure out where you are on the track since you sit so low in these cars.

I wsa trying to be cautious at the start of the race, and thought others were going to after someone said not to attempt overtakes. I followed the guy in front, and immediately saw a car on my left to spit two cars, and another on the right. Ended up getting speared in T1. Kinda makes the effort of qualifying useless.

I have no clue how those up front were putting in the times they were. Consistent sub 1:50 laps? Get out of here!

 

[Stefan Sparco]

It

Here we are, some hastily cut/edited footage from the replay, of what is probably the closest near-miss I've ever had in simracing.

Nice !
This moment gave me a heart attack as well:-


race 08 by IRobot on RaceDepartment

 

[TobiasR]

You summed up the reasons why I usually avoid racing with high downforce open wheelers

With this one, it's not just the high downforce but also the incredibly twitchy rear under acceleration. It takes so much concentration to keep this thing from spinning the rears. I love the Exos S1, or the Lotus 98t. This one, not so much.

 

[Chark]

First of all, thanks to @Akis for the organization of such an event. With assists, this car is pretty enjoyable to drive!

For my part, most of the race was straight forward, I managed to create a gap to the cars behind but was too slow to catch or even to keep up with @Geof. Therefore, I just drove carefully until the end, but the car is so powerful that I thought I would loose it several times! I had some hearts attacks too, better be careful with that DRS...

Concerning the strategy, I was planning on lasting with the medium and going for the soft tyres close to the end. But as the medium were a bit worn out at mid race and I was in a safe position, I chose to pit for another stint in medium. Congratulations to whoever managed to save tyres during the race!

We all have to back off a bit for the first 1-2 corners (brake carefully, don't change line while we have a car next to us etc) because there is a high probability of an accident. The races usually last 40 minutes - 1 hour . There is plenty of time for lots of overtakes!

I did not see the incident at the start, but once again, I agree with @Akis. Please be extremely safe in the first corners, especially here at Spa! For example, I remember @Geof letting me enter Eau Rouge first even though he was faster. He could overtake me later.

Finally, I want to thank @Tommi Saari and @Tarcirion for letting me by easily. You guys showed that lapping cars is not always a danger.

 

[Costi Trandafir]

Didn't knew how Mediums will go after 8 laps, but I saw @Kristoffer Somby that he pittled in lap 10, at that point I had 96% wear, so I decided to go more and see how it goes, I managed to finish the race without pitting and it felt ok, lapped consistently most of the race in 1:50 and towards end 1:51 low (92% wear).

If it wasn't for strategy, I wont have won today, Kris was faster.

Also I would like lapped cars to be careful when letting others pass, I almost crashed because @Keith_G suddenly braked too hard infront of me, I managed to avoid him within milimeters, happened on Silverstone last week also.

 

[Sharjeel]

Guys the race start crashes are unacceptable in Racedepartment events. We all have to back off a bit for the first 1-2 corners (brake carefully, don't change line while we have a car next to us etc) because there is a high probability of an accident. The races usually last 40 minutes - 1 hour . There is plenty of time for lots of overtakes! I admit that 99% percent of the time we have 0 incidents, but today we faced the ugly 1%.

To put things into perspective I think it's better to lose a couple of places than lose the ability to race for 30 days.

Absolutely agree. There has to be a way to ensure that people avoid agression especially around corners and chicanes in the first couple of laps. Faster guys can atleast trust their skills and take the less skilled and less experienced guys like me on straights. In the last two races, i was a bit quick off the line and managed to make up some places but then the faster guys cannot stand this and was immediately rammed off into the gravel and with nervous cars like these, it's a herculean task to bring these cars back on track once you are off the track, which effectively ensures that the race is all but over for you. There are 15-24 drivers on the track and each has a different perception of speed and direction. Some brake early while others brake late, even if it's a split second diffference but then I think the onus is on the faster/experienced drivers to ensure that for the first couple of laps they brake a little earlier so as to avoid tapping off the cars in front. Moreover, you can always break away from the racing line if you are absolutely desperate to overtake rather than using the slip stream of the driver in front till the point of no return.

 

[Akis]

I'd like to see the race start again if anyone who left early kept it.