AC MX5Cup @ ROAD ATLANTA, Wednesday 17th March 2021

[Giovanni Chiarotto]

This was a very enjoyable race. Too bad I lost P10 near the end of the race due to a mistake, but well, that's racing. Looking forward to the next one

 

[Goblin616]

Yeah I thought it you'd store your current settings as a preset, you could just load my preset and "compare".
But I can do the work for everyone too, as it's faster overall
I'll do it tomorrow!

About what hits the framerate the hardest: actually I have no idea...
My presets are basically "everything I like", "everything I really want" and "only get the performance boost and nothing else"

I have no idea if smart shadows are helping the performance or costing performance..
Or if the new shaders (car, paint, water) are helping or making things worse..

I could only do test runs and activate one after another and check.
But I can't be bothered to do this...

I went back to 1.68.0 because 1.60.0 doesn't work with natural mod i guess... btw I turned my settings UP and got better framerates. WTF... (I recently upgraded my CPU - so together they probably make more frames, but I guess i've put more work on the GPU and taken more off the CPU + the new one but I'm still shocked haha.)

 

[RasmusP]

I went back to 1.68.0 because 1.60.0 doesn't work with natural mod i guess... btw I turned my settings UP and got better framerates. WTF... (I recently upgraded my CPU - so together they probably make more frames, but I guess i've put more work on the GPU and taken more off the CPU + the new one but I'm still shocked haha.)

Yeah some settings, while looking better, actually optimize things too.
Problem is: I don't know which they are

 

[demetri]

Looking at the replay again, I had a huge crash at the top of the hill on the opening lap. I don't understand why this happened. My started braking before the car ahead, and was on full brakes, yet still hit him. It began with a dab of brakes, but shortly was full braking. I'm sorry I messed everyone up.

Review

I think you braked at the same time (you see him braking a bit later than you because of the network lag). He braked fully and also downshifted to 3rd, while you didn't press the brakes enough (until it was too late) and didn't downshift. That's why his braking was much more efficient and you ran into him.

As for the other crash, with the yellow car, you didn't violate the track limits as you still had two wheels within the track bounds, but you went for a gap that wasn't there. You should've tried to pass him on the other side using better momentum that you had. I don't know if that would've worked, but there was a chance to get enough overlap for the next turn where you would be on the inside and he would have to leave you space.

 

[Goblin616]

I think you braked at the same time (you see him braking a bit later than you because of the network lag). He braked fully and also downshifted to 3rd, while you didn't press the brakes enough (until it was too late) and didn't downshift. That's why his braking was much more efficient and you ran into him.

As for the other crash, with the yellow car, you didn't violate the track limits as you still had two wheels within the track bounds, but you went for a gap that wasn't there. You should've tried to pass him on the other side using better momentum that you had. I don't know if that would've worked, but there was a chance to get enough overlap for the next turn where you would be on the inside and he would have to leave you space.

This is a good analysis. Everything happens much faster than in the video. I had a lot of momentum and didn't want to scrub it going to the outside. Since he had the racing line for the next corner I thought he may stay a little wider and straighter while I could tuck in the inside with my speed - forcing me around the outside of the next corner. That was my thinking at the time.

 

[Goblin616]

@Chris Down
First, are you feeling better now? I never got an update on how you've been. I hope it wasn't Covid!
Second, are we no longer using TS, or keeping it as a backup?

 

[demetri]

This is a good analysis. Everything happens much faster than in the video. I had a lot of momentum and didn't want to scrub it going to the outside. Since he had the racing line for the next corner I thought he may stay a little wider and straighter while I could tuck in the inside with my speed - forcing me around the outside of the next corner. That was my thinking at the time.

The shortest line to the next corner for him still went trough this corner's apex and since he was ahead and likely not wanting to gift you an easy pass it was quite logical to keep the normal line and not go wide.

If you have a momentum advantage you want to convert into a pass you need to stick your nose in and establish a significant overlap before the turn-in (this way your opponent is required to leave you space on the inside). If you can't do that because you're too far away, you might try to run around on the outside. But trying to force the pass by squeezing your car into no-space ends up like this one 99 times out of 100 with one or both cars losing control and spinning out. So, if you're not very sure you can make the move stick you better hold off on it.

I'm saying all this not to put any blame (we all make mistakes, that's part of the racing), but trying to give an advice on what works and what doesn't.

 

[640er]

@demetri is absolutly right. Something I want to add is that because we are racing online you have to telegraph your attempt way better and in a clear way. Due to the natural limitations of sim-racing we just don't have the awarness what's going on around us and lurking around in the blind spot of a car which is clearly in front, will result in contact at some point. Then there are all those technical issues like latency so you'd be better off, to leave some extra space while overtaking. So if you're going for it, make it in a clear way and never expect the other car to do something or even rely on assumptions like "I think he will leave me enough space". It's often better to stay behind someone for a few laps, figuring out where he might be slower and then go for it.

 

[RasmusP]

@demetri is absolutly right. Something I want to add is that because we are racing online you have to telegraph your attempt way better and in a clear way. Due to the natural limitations of sim-racing we just don't have the awarness what's going on around us and lurking around in the blind spot of a car which is clearly in front, will result in contact at some point. Then there are all those technical issues like latency so you'd be better off, to leave some extra space while overtaking. So if you're going for it, make it in a clear way and never expect the other car to do something or even rely on assumptions like "I think he will leave me enough space". It's often better to stay behind someone for a few laps, figuring out where he might be slower and then go for it.

I would add that in simracing, at some point it's advisable to "yield" and let an overtake happen.
When you shut the door on someone you have to take into account that the other driver probably will see you a bit later due to internet lag, might not really see it due to FOV and fov-distortion or might just not be able to react appropriately due to most simracers not being professionals.

That's something I spotted a bit more often lately:
When I try to overtake someone, I'm taking all the "simracing issues" into account and be careful, keep some distance, don't go too close etc.

If the driver in front doesn't do the same though, an overtake becomes basically impossible if you have similar pace.
You end up having to choose between 3 options:
- don't overtake
- get too close at the apex/exit for simracing
- "divebomb" since you can't get an overlap due to not being close enough at the apex/exit

Don't get me wrong, I love a good fight! But at some point we should stop defending super fierce and just let the overtake happen.
Often you will be able to overtake back anyway

 

[HF2000]

This was a very enjoyable race. Too bad I lost P10 near the end of the race due to a mistake, but well, that's racing. Looking forward to the next one

Next on is at the dusty track of Bahrain. High track temperatures! And a great chance to feel what the F1 guys next Sunday will experience (but than 5x as much ). And of course you will learn the track for our own GT3 race Sunday night! Event is ready for registration on s.gp. Thread will follow shortly.

 

[maxilogan]

Next on is at the dusty track of Bahrain. High track temperatures! And a great chance to feel what the F1 guys next Sunday will experience (but than 5x as much ). And of course you will learn the track for our own GT3 race Sunday night! Event is ready for registration on s.gp. Thread will follow shortly.

Wow! I know it from F1 2020 and I'm curious to see how the MX-5 will behave in T9/T10 and whether I will be able to get it better than T7 at Road Atlanta

Will this be on Wednesday or Thursday?

 

[HF2000]

Wow! I know it from F1 2020 and I'm curious to see how the MX-5 will behave in T9/T10 and whether I will be able to get it better than T7 at Road Atlanta

Will this be on Wednesday or Thursday?

Thread is up!

 

[maxilogan]

Thread is up!

Barhain race at noon in a cabrio with 36°C ambient? Let's prepare the sun cream..

 

[maxilogan]

I just remembered one thing related to discord which I noticed the evening of the race: I seem to have input my real name in the Discord profile, and of course I have my real name here. However, in the Discord RD Assetto Corsa chat I still appear with my nickname. I tried to check the settings in Discord and on my profile here but I couldn't find any place where to set my voice chat name to my real name.

Do you have any clue?

 

[HF2000]

Barhain race at noon in a cabrio with 36°C ambient? Let's prepare the sun cream..

Exactly! I use the local average July temperatures for my events.

 

[HF2000]

I just remembered one thing related to discord which I noticed the evening of the race: I seem to have input my real name in the Discord profile, and of course I have my real name here. However, in the Discord RD Assetto Corsa chat I still appear with my nickname. I tried to check the settings in Discord and on my profile here but I couldn't find any place where to set my voice chat name to my real name.

Do you have any clue?

I see also my nickname HF2000 in Discord so no. But after work I will have a look.

 

[JamKart22]

I see also my nickname HF2000 in Discord so no. But after work I will have a look.

Right mouse click on your name and there is a "Change nickname" option

 

[maxilogan]

Right mouse click on your name and there is a "Change nickname" option

View attachment 456307

I'll use my elder son's technique when I find something he wasn't able to find even if it was under his eyes: "I swear it wasn't there when I looked!"

 

[demetri]

Barhain race at noon in a cabrio with 36°C ambient? Let's prepare the sun cream..

If GT3 event is gonna use a similar weather (and I think it should, because +20C would be totally unrealistic for the place), then it likely means hard tire compound, at least for the Audi. I've never driven on that track, but looking at the layout I don't see how anything softer than hards would survive the part from T5 to T13 when the temp is that high.

 

[RasmusP]

If GT3 event is gonna use a similar weather (and I think it should, because +20C would be totally unrealistic for the place), then it likely means hard tire compound, at least for the Audi. I've never driven on that track, but looking at the layout I don't see how anything softer than hards would survive the part from T5 to T13 when the temp is that high.

Afaik Chris just always uses the same 20/26 to make things simpler for us. You can build your setup over time instead of having to adjust the tyres + pressures completely from scratch for every event..

But not sure! (The event at simracing GP says 20/26 though)