AC GT3 @ Bathurst - Sunday 15th May 2022

JoelK · May 15, 2022

That was one hell of a race ! (Emphasis on that hell

)

Came into the race server with no practice, having a setup from few years ago made for medium tyres which HORRIBLE at first and really struggled with coming even close to 2.04's

After some softening on the springs and bit of damper/toe adjustments, it started feel a lot better. Don't really know where that quali lap came from...

Coming into the race I kinda knew it's gonna be tough with the setup having a lot front-end and rear-right overheating a lot through the hill-side. It didn't help at all also, that I'm kinda same as Bottas - Decent in qualifying, almost always struggling in the race.
But it ended up being really close between me and Enzo, going back and forth a lot. We had awesome battle for 45 minutes, until I clipped the wall at the top of Skyfall and ended up sliding backwards down the hill stuck in the wall...

Shame that it didn't last until the end, but it was fun while it lasted. But still, I'm really happy to be able to fight for the win against him, it's such rare occasion nowadays, so will have to take the most out of it !

Thanks Brian for organising once again !

(Here's that Quali lap if someone wants to take a peek)

Shed 17 · May 16, 2022

Well that was an intense 60 minutes! Huge respect to Pat @Partick Eaton as we had a real good clean battle.

Pat’s Z4 was much quicker over the mountain but the GTR had the grunt and top end going up and down the hill.
After a few laps I got sideways coming out of Murry’s and Pat got by into Hell corner. It stayed that way until the mid race pit stops. Pat pitted first and I went on for one more lap to try the undercut. As I exited the pits, Pat was in T1, I left room on the outside and then it was a side by side drag race into Quarry bend. Having the racing line into the corner allowed me to brake a touch later than Pat and I somehow managed to hang on around the outside, great stuff!
Unfortunately later on Pat had a spin at the Cutting and I was relieved to have a clear run to the line, even though Pat had fuel issues on the last lap

.
If you haven’t watched the replay yet, take a look at the battle for the lead between Joel and Enzo, this was EPIC! I particularly liked Enzo’s 360 degree spin while technically behind Joel yet still came out in the lead at Skyline

.
Well done to the podium, (especially Han whose holiday must have done him good with a podium on his return) and as always many thanks to Brian for organising another great event.

Enzo Fazzi · May 16, 2022

Shed 17 said:
I particularly liked Enzo’s 360 degree spin while technically behind Joel yet still came out in the lead at Skyline

Definitely my strangest overtake!

Still weird how we both lost it. I know I dropped a tire in the gravel on the exit, but that has never sent me around so violently. I still suspect it has something to do with the grip updating to 100% that lap. I noticed it once midcorner in the Ginetta championship too.

The race was very fun, it is not often that you're within a second of another car for 45 mins straight on a track like this. It was also fun to see that we got our laptime in different places, with my Lambo obviously making up time on the straights and Joel's Audi being faster on the mountain.

Last time I raced here, the tracktemp was a bit higher and I remembered that the soft rear tires on the Lambo were constantly overheated. So in practice, I loaded the setup from that previous race and drove around on the mediums. During practice, some people were a couple tenths faster, but seeing how I was the only one on mediums doing laps with 100L in the tank, I wasn't too worried. Then Joel joined and did a low 2:05, which made the laptime difference well over a second at the time, which would be too much for the 1L pitstop strategy. Put the softs on, took half the fuel out, adjusted pressures and only the rear right was getting a bit orange, so I figured that would be OK. Balance wasn't great because the car was setup for cold, medium front tyres, rather than the grippy softs.

In qualifying, I had the sectors to match/improve on Joel's pole time, but around here it is so difficult to do it all in one lap + I've never been good at qualifying anyway.

Then my racestart was another terrible Lambo launch again. That thing is just so hard to get off the line. In recent races in the classic F1 championship and the Ginetta championship, I would almost always have better starts than everyone around me. With the Lambo, it's just not possible.
However, didn't lose second place so it wasn't too bad. In the first couple of laps on 98% grip I lost a decent chunk of time to Joel, I just didn't have traction. As soon as the grip jumped to 99%, I started catching again. Then we both made a mistake and the fight was really on.
Obviously it was difficult for Joel to overtake, as his advantage was on the mountain and I made my Lambo extra slippery on the straights. Just before the pitstop I made a mistake and Joel got past, so for the second stint, the roles were reversed. It was still difficult to overtake, as on the mountain, Joel would extend the gap to the point where I wasn't really getting the slipstream. So I would close on the straights, but not enough to overtake.

At some point I did have a run, but I had to sit behind because we were overtaking a lapped car. It must've been some sight, getting overtaken by an Audi with a Lambo glued to its rear bumper.
Since I was on Joel's rear bumper, I couldn't really see the track. So after we had cleared the backmarker, I was going to pull out for the overtake. Because I was effectively blind, I thought we were on the lefthand side of the track, so I pulled out to the right. Unfortunately, we were on the right side and I pulled out into the grass.

Then a few laps later, Joel made another big mistake in Skyline and I had a relatively easy cruise to the finish.
Somehow I did manage to go 2 tenths faster than my quali lap, on worn tires, not sure how I did that. I'll record and upload the lap tonight when I'm home. It's only about a tenth slower than Joel's quali lap, so could be interesting for comparison.

HF2000 · May 16, 2022

Enzo Fazzi said:
Definitely my strangest overtake! Still weird how we both lost it. I know I dropped a tire in the gravel on the exit, but that has never sent me around so violently. I still suspect it has something to do with the grip updating to 100% that lap. I noticed it once midcorner in the Ginetta championship too.

The race was very fun, it is not often that you're within a second of another car for 45 mins straight on a track like this. It was also fun to see that we got our laptime in different places, with my Lambo obviously making up time on the straights and Joel's Audi being faster on the mountain.

Last time I raced here, the tracktemp was a bit higher and I remembered that the soft rear tires on the Lambo were constantly overheated. So in practice, I loaded the setup from that previous race and drove around on the mediums. During practice, some people were a couple tenths faster, but seeing how I was the only one on mediums doing laps with 100L in the tank, I wasn't too worried. Then Joel joined and did a low 2:05, which made the laptime difference well over a second at the time, which would be too much for the 1L pitstop strategy. Put the softs on, took half the fuel out, adjusted pressures and only the rear right was getting a bit orange, so I figured that would be OK. Balance wasn't great because the car was setup for cold, medium front tyres, rather than the grippy softs.

In qualifying, I had the sectors to match/improve on Joel's pole time, but around here it is so difficult to do it all in one lap + I've never been good at qualifying anyway.

Then my racestart was another terrible Lambo launch again. That thing is just so hard to get off the line. In recent races in the classic F1 championship and the Ginetta championship, I would almost always have better starts than everyone around me. With the Lambo, it's just not possible.
However, didn't lose second place so it wasn't too bad. In the first couple of laps on 98% grip I lost a decent chunk of time to Joel, I just didn't have traction. As soon as the grip jumped to 99%, I started catching again. Then we both made a mistake and the fight was really on.
Obviously it was difficult for Joel to overtake, as his advantage was on the mountain and I made my Lambo extra slippery on the straights. Just before the pitstop I made a mistake and Joel got past, so for the second stint, the roles were reversed. It was still difficult to overtake, as on the mountain, Joel would extend the gap to the point where I wasn't really getting the slipstream. So I would close on the straights, but not enough to overtake.

At some point I did have a run, but I had to sit behind because we were overtaking a lapped car. It must've been some sight, getting overtaken by an Audi with a Lambo glued to its rear bumper.
Since I was on Joel's rear bumper, I couldn't really see the track. So after we had cleared the backmarker, I was going to pull out for the overtake. Because I was effectively blind, I thought we were on the lefthand side of the track, so I pulled out to the right. Unfortunately, we were on the right side and I pulled out into the grass.

Then a few laps later, Joel made another big mistake in Skyline and I had a relatively easy cruise to the finish.
Somehow I did manage to go 2 tenths faster than my quali lap, on worn tires, not sure how I did that. I'll record and upload the lap tonight when I'm home. It's only about a tenth slower than Joel's quali lap, so could be interesting for comparison.

Didn't we have 98% grip in qually? That might explain why you were able to go faster with worn tyres but 100% grip.

640er · May 16, 2022

Thanks @Interslice for hosting and congrats to the podium

Had a decent qualifying and an even better race start, at least until T2

Gained a position down the long straight but lost the rear a bit coming out of T2 and lost 3 places. After a few laps I was running 4th behind @HF2000 with a constant gap of about 2 seconds. As we came close to the backmarkers, he decided to pit so I stayed out and tried the overcut. When entering the pit I fuc*ked up completely and spun

Lost valuable time and almost a place to @Interslice Therefore the battle for 3rd with @HF2000 was from the table

Had some problems later on as well and got passed by @Interslice (a bit questionable) and finished P5. What I learned, I definitely need a big fat fan for my rig

pcmoreno · May 16, 2022

was 15th on practice, quali 15th, race 15th. So at least some consistency even though the ppl above and below me were always different.

Practice was a crash fest because I was trying to push and not being patient to relax and I was getting particularly frustrated with T1 were I was having over 1 secs differencials depending on how I took it. I was so happy with taking the Nissan after having the Abarth experience on this track

though.

On quali I just told myself just do a clean lap, do a clean lap, don't push, and suddenly I got my best lap by about 7 tenths. I was unable to replicate it during race though.

I botched the race start but then got a really nice T1 which got me the positions I lost on start and a few more and then my computer decided to freeze for a couple of tenths just before the braking point for t2 and I touched the grass on the left and spun across the straight and overshot the turn taking some ppl with me maybe(I think?). I'm very sorry for that.
Then afterwards it seemed quite ok until the moutain said something like: "what do you mean you also want grip on your rear?"

There was a moment were someone crashed somewhere along the mountain after a blind corner and I did not have the response time to dodge or brake so just drove through. ouch. ouch ouch.

Then it settled in a situation between me a Colin making mistakes like overshooting turns and giving each other positions until he had a bigger crash and I was left chasing Richard(I think) which was going very well until I lost my rear in the mountain and had to do a insanely long 3 point reversing maneuver (20 to 30 secs lost there) which settled my position for the rest of the race.

To note that I still make loads of mistakes when I have blue flags and I end up overshooting simple corners because I'm paying too much attention to the rear mirrors(or map)

Race was fun nevertheless and I'm pretty sure I did not setup the nissan properly anyway(does not matter as it was stable enough)

Thanks for the organization and congrats to the podium guys!

Enzo Fazzi · May 16, 2022

HF2000 said:
Didn't we have 98% grip in qually? That might explain why you were able to go faster with worn tyres but 100% grip.

It probably was 100% at the end of the session though. Like I said, I had sectors for a 4 tenths faster lap in quali. I just didn't do those sectors all in one lap.

JamKart22 · May 16, 2022

Well that was frustrating. Had decent pace during quali so was hoping for a mid pack scrap but decided to run the race with a two medium tyre strategy. Big mistake as everyone else was on softs so I was over 2 secs off my quali pace.

I was holding up a train of cars for the first 15mins but a mistake saw me go off and lose about 20secs. I did consider not changing tyres during the pit stop as there was plenty of life left. However I switched tyre compound and put the softs on. I was them pushing too hard and went off at the top of the hill. It took so long to get back on track that I lost the will to live.

This was the second race in the Ferrari and I really liked it on this track. Just messed up tyre selection. I even did a 30 min AI race on the mediums but didn't think to do one on the softs. Last race I did in the Ferrari it chewed through the softs so surprised how durable they were on this track.

RFE3rd · May 16, 2022

First race back for me in 6 months on the group. Was quite nervous for Bathurst in a GT3 but I decided to just take it slow and consistent. My goal was just not to spin at all, especially in the mountain section, even if I came last. Qualified P17 and struggled on the start with the Nissan. Couldn't get off the line nicely, so I just decided to not challenge into turn 1. Was last after T1 and just settled behind the pack waiting for the inevitable spinning in the next few turns. Picked up a few places and was behind Taj for a while, but not particularly close. Somewhere Colin crashed out and I could pass him for another position. A few laps later, just before the pitstops Taj spun and I managed to pick up another position. After the pitstop, Taj was about 4 seconds behind and he closed that gap within 2 to 3 laps. He was significantly quicker in the mountain and at T1 and T2 so he passed me without too much fuss. After that I just settled into a comfortable pace without too much risk of spinning out, knowing I wouldn't catch Taj. Came home P14 with no spins (Although I got gently acquainted with the wall a few times). Happy for the result after so long away, first time at Bathurst and first time in a Nissan. So it was an enjoyable race as always. Congrats to all the podiums. Thanks @Interslice for organising, see everyone again next time.

AW939 · May 16, 2022

Also thanks to @Interslice from my side for organizing the race and everyone inviting me to the event (@640er, @Casper de Wit, @HF2000...)

As mentioned before it was my first GT3 race in a long while and first time driving the Porsche 911 in Assetto Corsa and Bathurst at all. Got to a decent pace in the practice beforehand with a 2:06.4 I think (after 2-3h). Best sectors might have been 2:05.X but I simply had no consistency (especially in full send mode).

Quali was Ok'ish from my side, but I could not extract the pace from practice, so I think I started 8-10th somewhere? Too many mistakes on the mountain in the push laps.

In the race i bottled everything. Started the race being nervous and out of rhythm. I think I was passed by Pat immediately, fought back in lap 2 or 3 in T2, but shoved him a bit wide, so I gave the position back a few corners later. Then tried to catch back up, but had some wall rides and slides so fell back again all the time.
Then midway lost it into the last chicane and spun followed by some rally into the pit, missed the brake point by roughly a mile there. So I think I lost 20s+ in the in lap. My focus was completely gone by then, I only got it back for around 10 minutes chasing Robert in the end, but had cooked my tyres there already.

Second half was even worse. Pat was gone by a long shot and even a few more. Caught up to Robert @Alfred Wayne a few times, but lost it every time when getting below 1s distance. (Was it you that I passed, but then hugged the wall down the mountain to lose it instantly again?)
Too let Enzo lap me I lost about 2-3s I think (worth to not have another round of potential spins), but because of that Taj was close. I think he lost it on the last lap, though, otherwise it might have been a fight to the line.

So at least I finished (in 12th), but with 100% damage I would have lost the whole car. It was definitely fun though. Need to work on the consistency.

Thanks for the fair fights to everyone though! I definitely did my best to not end any one else's race, so sorry for the shove, Pat.

HF2000 · May 16, 2022

As my last GT3 race was in September and I didn't have much practice time, my expectations were low and I just wanted to finish the race without big mistakes. To qualify 6th was already a nice surprise but on the podium and being the best human participant was certainly unexpected.
I lost a place in the start but because of Tim and Thomas dropping put, Andreas his big mistake and a nice overtake on Alex I found myself 3rd after lap 1 with a gap off 11s to Joel/Enzo and a gap of 2s towards Andreas. To gap in front only grew slowly and the gap behind stayed about the same.
After the pitstops the gap to Andreas was 8s but Axel took 3rd because he didn't pit halfway. I was closing the gap to him but when he pitted without tyre change he came back on track behind me with less than a second. Because he didn't have fresh tyres the gap grew quite fast and I started to relax. But that means that my mind drifts away from racing and I got sloppy with many small mistakes, leading to a finish with less than 4s towards Brian.

So nice race, congrats to Enzo and Joel. They had a hell of a battle going on which I could follow in the first part of the race. Thanks Brian for organizing!

HF2000 · May 16, 2022

AW939 said:
Also thanks to @Interslice from my side for organizing the race and everyone inviting me to the event (@640er, @Casper de Wit, @HF2000...)

As mentioned before it was my first GT3 race in a long while and first time driving the Porsche 911 in Assetto Corsa and Bathurst at all. Got to a decent pace in the practice beforehand with a 2:06.4 I think (after 2-3h). Best sectors might have been 2:05.X but I simply had no consistency (especially in full send mode).

Quali was Ok'ish from my side, but I could not extract the pace from practice, so I think I started 8-10th somewhere? Too many mistakes on the mountain in the push laps.

In the race i bottled everything. Started the race being nervous and out of rhythm. I think I was passed by Pat immediately, fought back in lap 2 or 3 in T2, but shoved him a bit wide, so I gave the position back a few corners later. Then tried to catch back up, but had some wall rides and slides so fell back again all the time.
Then midway lost it into the last chicane and spun followed by some rally into the pit, missed the brake point by roughly a mile there. So I think I lost 20s+ in the in lap. My focus was completely gone by then I only got back for around 10 minutes chasing Robert in the end.

Second half was even worse. Pat was gone by a long shot and even a few more. Caught up to Robert @Alfred Wayne a few times, but lost it every time when getting below 1s distance. (Was it you that I passed, but then rode the wall down the mountain too lose it instantly again?)
Too let Enzo lap me I lost about 2-3s I think (worth to not have another round of potential spins), but because of that Taj was close. I think he lost it on the last lap, though, otherwise it might have been a fight to the line.

So at least I finished, but with 100% damage I would have lost the whole car. It was definitely fun though. Need to work on the consistency.

Thanks for the fair fights to everyone though! I definitely did my best to not end any one else's race, so sorry for the shove, Pat.

And if you look for some fun racing, Arne, have a look at this: https://www.racedepartment.com/thre...ce-6-barcelona-thursday-19th-may-2022.232338/

Fiberoptix · May 16, 2022

Sorry I dropped out. I managed to catch my hand in the wheel spinning and bouncing off the walls in the mountain trying to catch the car when I should have let go. It twisted my thumb quite painfully. I tried to drive for a while with it but it wasn't working.

Computer game injury, unbelievable.

HF2000 · May 16, 2022

Just saw the replay of the battle of Enzo and Joel. Indeed epic! And the respect they show to eachother, great racing both!!!

Alfred Wayne · May 16, 2022

Thanks everyone for doing their best Bathrust 12hr impression. I think I found myself .5s behind and in front of like half the field throughout the race

Great stuff at the beginning Colin. I had the pace over the mountain, but I just could not set up and catch you on the straights. Good job ignoring me

. Arne, think that was me later on, though it's hard to remember because I had a few times also where I made a pass only to give it up one turn later

. Also good last few laps Jari. I managed to keep Enzo behind us going into the last turn to give us another lap of battling, but unfortunately for me it wasn't enough and you held that slim gap.

Think I'm also starting to like the merc for more than just it's mean looks. It's like a driving a gt40 with better brakes, the rear wants to do all the steering lol

Thanks for hosting as always Brian. And congrats to the winners and finishers. Don't know how you all were getting times so close to real life

Enzo Fazzi · May 16, 2022

Here's my fastest lap from the race:

JoelK · May 16, 2022

Enzo Fazzi said:
Here's my fastest lap from the race:

Like you said earlier, it was an interesting comparison. The way you had hustle the car was way more than I had to up the hill. The Lambo seems a lot more nervous on corner exits than the Audi.

Probably down to the setup, and balance preference. I like a soft car, which has a lot of heave, so I can rotate the car on the brakes early and still have the car planted on the exit. Oversteer on entry and Understeer on exit is the way for me. That's skyfall was so hard during the race cause the setup was a bit too extreme.

Also, only a few kp/h difference in top speed, but the pull that Lambo has is just crazy compared to the Audi(and I'm pretty sure the Audi should be the 2nd fastest car in top-speed).

But amazing lap considering the tyre-wear situation ! Simply incredible !