AC Multiclass Abarth500/Mazda MX5@Bridgehampton, Wed 25th October 2023

[Kek700]

i need to slow you down Allan, not speed you up.

 

[Allan Ramsbottom]

Bram a few of years ago held race driving tutorials for a few weeks..Back then i was all throttle all braking,just flying into corners foot down scrubbing speed like mad,pondering what was going on...Thru him i learned how to position a car into taking the corners,how to hit the apex, slow in fast out,where the best braking points are,look for markers at the side of the track,and Practice...Set-ups are also another factor..I,ve been quite good at this,i,ve given a few out to drivers who have seen there times fall by as much as 4 secs a lap and with a little tweaking to suit there driving styles some are now up there with the top...
P.S. @Kek700 i was only joking...If you decide to give it a go,i,ll join in and help if i can...

 

[HF2000]

i need to slow you down Allan, not speed you up.

Please do!

 

[Allan Ramsbottom]

i need to slow you down Allan, not speed you up.

Please do!

This is a Mutiny..

 

[HF2000]

This is a Mutiny..

No, only the extinction of aliens.

 

[HF2000]

Next week round 2 of the Fat-Alfie championship.

AC - FAT-ALFIE championship multiclass round 2@Bremgarten, Wed 1st November 2023

Welcome to the RD Racing Club. For the 2nd race in the 2023 @Fat-Alfie Championship we're going to Bremgarten, Switzerland. A high velocity track with of course some killing corners and tricky bends. The Circuit Bremgarten was a 7.280 km (4.524 mi) motosport race track in Bern, Switzerland...

www.racedepartment.com

 

[Kek700]

Yes Allan, i would prefer someone who is off the pace, and then moving on to someone who can add value to my merger efforts.
Rather like different levels at school A1, A2 ect or in my case F1 F2
in the end as you have pointed out the proof is the end result,
Because as you have so well described, it is really that straight forward.
You could say, just drive with you foot flat on the accelerator for all the lap and you would be the fastest. But even that would be open to umpteen improvements, then you would say I had my foot constantly on the throttle for the whole lap and I still got beat.
The end.

 

[gearwhine]

Han and his gang of screaming Suzies were a hard act to take on last night but i had a fun race. If it was not for the fact that i did not hear any of them lift off all lap i would of said it was manic but no, each of them had a buddy with them that was very happy reading the local paper while not moving an inch other than to tell them how good a driver they are and asking to have their nappy changed.
I had no discord on my new VR so i could not talk which i guess made it more enjoyable for some and i was getting a lot of stutters which i will iron out but i think the extra fps made things smoother and maybe i might get a little quicker if i,m lucky. Great race guys, i lost it on one turn and i think i took Hank out? Sorry mate. Started way down the back and came in 9th i think so happy with that.

 

[stigs2cousin]

OK, guys, stop it right here

The goal in asking for a coach was not to build a racing comune and all be friends and get faster together, but to get faster myself and

thrash your ass


(kidding, of course. Well, sortof.)

 

[HF2000]

but to get faster myself and

thrash your ass

but to get faster myself

One word: Abarth!!!

 

[stigs2cousin]

Two words

G O A W A Y

 

[stigs2cousin]

I believed you once and found that you lied to me:

it is NOT fun to drive.

But you also told the truth:

it is horrible to drive

 

[Alfred Wayne]

Aside from everything others have said (and I've done too ) the biggest three things I've found (either through driving myself or watching others on track) that have gained me time over my almost 3? years here, especially in the MX5 are, earlier braking points (125M vs 100M), higher gears in turns (3rd vs 2nd) and just plain keeping it on track all race.

- Earlier braking points - better car balance, better turn in speed = better exit speeds (the close driving in our races here helped me learn this a lot)

- High gears in turns - with earlier braking points you carry more speed without upsetting the car balance, and gives you more push out of the turn. Like riding a bike, if you can keep the speed up, a higher gear will give you more power to the wheels. But only if you can keep it above X speed. If you dip below that speed, then a higher gear will be hard to peddle and you will slow your overall speed until you're back up to speed.

- Keeping it on track - 1 very fast lap is easily negated by a second lap with an off. Plus, the way I look at it, the more I'm on track racing consitently, the more the drivers in front of me have to be on track consitantly if they want to hold the position.

Set up wise, I don't do too much to the Mazda. For the last year, no matter the track, I'm running a 3 front ABR and a 0 rear ABR in the MX5. I up the camber a lot too (and correct tire pressures), but if I could only make 1 set up change it would be softening the rear abr. Previous to the that, I didn't really find my "groove" with the mazda (a 0 rear abr gives me the slow catchable swing in the rear I like with the mazda). But like I said, i use this for every track, so not all set ups are to make the car fast, they're also there to make you feel confident in the car, which in turn makes you fast.

I also always practice with 22L in the Mazda (full tank for our races). That way when it's time to race I know how a "heavy" fuel load handles, and when I go for a fast lap in quali, I'm giving myself an extra mental confidence boost beacuse I "know" a car with lighter fuel should be faster. So if I can do X time with 22L, I can do a faster time with 8L just by doing the exact same lap I did with 22L.


TLDR: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Can't compete if you don't stay on track

As for the racing yesterday, finally had an awesome 20min scrap with Han that didn't make me want to pull my hair out or punt his arbath off into the dirt

 

[Kek700]

Well Robert that has done me out of my new career move, beautifully said and from my perspective 100% correct, exactly how I would have liked to explained it.

Now can you suggest my next career move as I am now redundant.

The only thing is the statement smooth, I think there is a misnomer in that it leads you to assume relaxed, almost effortlessly doing something. My sense is you should be smooth but right on the edge. That is we’re I have noticed that extra bit of time comes from, not aggressive not overdriving just being on that edge hardly over hardly under.
At that point the car is almost dancing on a tight rope. ( difficult to reliably create without having that god given extra bit of skill )

Easier to do in real life, so much more information, but the difficult part in real life are the umpteen variables going on that us sim racer are not face with.

If I try and mimic it, it just gets too aggressive and I go slower. But I admire those who can.

 

[Twoddle]

I would say another big help is points. A lot of people will try and get a brake point but i usually try to find a turn in, apex and corner exit point as well. this helps to be consistent and it also gives good reference points to make line adjustments to dial these points in better.

Also remember a lot of practice is only good if you are doing the right thing other wise it is bad and a waste of time. you will see me usually not that fast in practice as I spend the time experimenting and not trying to go fast.

 

[Boukâh]

A few of the recent tracks had these cones next to the track to aim for, they made me more aware of my turning in too late (and to tutn in earlier I had to brake earlier). Bridgehamton and Calaboogie have these cones. For learning/training purposes I guess, very usefull.

 

[Boukâh]

Also remember a lot of practice is only good if you are doing the right thing other wise it is bad and a waste of time.

so true! The past few years I spend a million hours just hotlapping, but not with the right techniques. That way I grinded-in a few bad habits that are really hard to get rid of unfortunately… Now, very slowly, I start to manage to get things to change a little, but I seem to have developed a far from optimal racing technique. All by myself!

And now I have to work my tiny butt off to get things done in a better way….

So, I really like the idea of doing some guided trainings with someone. I need/want to find some time for that

 

[Elmar3rd]

I find these races with cars under 200 hp very exciting and "educational".
But one or two more cars wouldn't be bad. Surprisingly for AC, there are not much good car mods availabe in this category.
Has the decision for the Suzuki Swift already been made?
Would it be a big effort to set up one of the available servers with an "average" track and a few test candidates for a few weeks to compare them?
Anyone who feels like it can do a few laps there. That way, times can be collected for comparison.

For example: Watkins Glen Boot with MX5, Abarth, Swift, Clio, Fiat, etc.

 

[stigs2cousin]

So, are we doing Han´s work for him (again)

(Don´t take it seriously, love the idea )

 

[Kek700]

From my perspective, the Suzuki swift and Abarth are a good match to the MX5, not Shure you should be able to swap and change at will, That would make it unfair.
I still think the Mazda has the edge on an average circuit to circuit basis. The swift matches the Mazda MX5 the best, the Abarth tends to cause problem for the Mazda and likewise the Mazda causes the Abarth problems. Most of this was gleaned from following Robert at Bridgehampton, I needed a mistake to pass Robert on a track that suited the Suzuki swift.
The Fiat 124 is well of the pace.