AC Petit Le Mans @ Road Atlanta - 22nd October 2023

[Shed 17]

Apologies again to @Shed 17 for the terrible rejoin. I had a lot less acceleration on the grass than I expected and crept back onto the circuit in a terrible way.Not

Not a problem Dave, I could see you as I came down the hill into the chicane and expected you to to rejoin somewhere--another 1/2 a second and it might have been different as I had Ernie right up my diffuser.
Just as qualy started all my triple screens went black and when they recovered I only had one screen on the left working in an odd resolution.
Several restarts of the PC didnt cure it so had to go through the Nvidia screen surround set up to get back to normal. Then all the HUD apps were all over the place so a couple of installation laps required to get comfortable again meant I did not post a time so started from the back with Fulvio and Ernie.
The set up felt odd (heavy fuel??) and I soon had Brian for company but managed to just keep him at bay. Then Ernie was all over me on his softs but I went long on 75L and no tyre change.
That put me out just in front of Brian again and on the lighter fuel load could keep him at a reasonable distance until the flag and a very surprising P5. Plenty of defensive driving practice, frantic action but overall great fun.

Well done podium and all the guys for who this was thier first time in a prototype, hope you enjoyed the experience. Thanks Brian for organising and looking foward to more of this and GT action over the winter.

 

[robthesquare]

This was definitely one of my more enjoyable races. Managed to qualify quite well and subsequently drove right of the road at the first corner with Robert. The journey from 2nd to last to 4th was pretty fun and satisfying. I did 40 mins on the hard and 20 on the softs which seemed to work pretty well. The softs on the rear were beginning to show some wear.

I really like the LMP2 cars. They're frantic, but a bit more friendly than some of the other prototypes. Looking forward to racing these in the future.

 

[Douglas Aird]

Hi Doug. The plan is to stick with these until January at least. Hopefully more folks will treat themselves to an early Christmas present We will run them out in a few of the marquee GT3 events in November early December. The big 3

Thanks Brian, I think I will treat myself.

 

[dbx71]

'too many leagues shy away from them because people have to pay a few quid for them (honestly, it amazes me people will pay for DLC but not a few quid for AC mods)'

tell me about it... not directed at you Douglas meant to echo the sentiments I have trying to get anyone to buy the VRC TA2 pack...

 

[Shed 17]

tell me about it... not directed at you Douglas meant to echo the sentiments I have trying to get anyone to buy the VRC TA2 pack...

I’d be up for it Dominic but unless I get a spell of insomnia, a 3am start is a bit early now that I’m officially a pensioner!!

 

[dbx71]

I’d be up for it Dominic but unless I get a spell of insomnia, a 3am start is a bit early now that I’m officially a pensioner!!

Lol, yes totally understandable. Didn't mean to disenfranchise you guys in Europe from these races, just trying to find a format more workable with our schedules over here across the pond in the ex-colony... Maybe I'll try scheduling a Friday event with these TA2s for Europe time zone and we can see how it goes...

Enjoy the retirement, you've earned it! BTW, I thought you pensioners woke up really early anyway to play bingo or something...

 

[Kek700]

I admire your resolve Doninic, I had assumed that you were doing this mainly for our US friends.
With the hopes that it would attract some of your European buddies.
So is there no racedepartment US simracers? Or are they all on some other simulator?

 

[dbx71]

that's a good question. if there are US racedept simracers, they are lying pretty low. so far, US race club has only around 3-4 regular members... doing my best to promote, but it's off to a slow start. but we're having fun anyway, and hope that more will join the ranks in the coming weeks.
perhaps a lot of US simracers gravitate to iRacing. it seems to have a lot of the type of racing folks over here like: stock cars, dirt and oval tracks, IndyCar type open-wheel, etc. who knows..?
let's see if more drivers join in as winter sets in...

 

[Kek700]

Nice reply Dominic, I suppose the Abarth does not exactly capture their imaginations.
But if you don’t try you will never know, I must say if I think US, I automatically think iRacing, then I think Mazda mx5. It has a massive following in the USA and the rest of simracing fraternity too..
I will try and support if I can , but 3 o’clock in the morning is a bridge too far for me,.
And most that have a full time occupation too, me thinks. Unless you can find enough night owls.

 

[robthesquare]

that's a good question. if there are US racedept simracers, they are lying pretty low. so far, US race club has only around 3-4 regular members... doing my best to promote, but it's off to a slow start. but we're having fun anyway, and hope that more will join the ranks in the coming weeks.
perhaps a lot of US simracers gravitate to iRacing. it seems to have a lot of the type of racing folks over here like: stock cars, dirt and oval tracks, IndyCar type open-wheel, etc. who knows..?
let's see if more drivers join in as winter sets in...

I would love to join you guys, but I'm on Eastern time and it's just too late for me. I love your choice of cars and tracks though! Indy car or the classic 90s CART cars would be a riot!

 

[dbx71]

I would love to join you guys, but I'm on Eastern time and it's just too late for me. I love your choice of cars and tracks though! Indy car or the classic 90s CART cars would be a riot!

ok, yes i've heard that comment about the races being maybe too late for some in the US too. i'm thinking to dial the start time back an hour earlier (starting at 5pm pacific time).

stay tuned, CART coming soon!

 

[Kek700]

The hardest thing for someone who takes on the mantle of organisation in our Racedepartment, is finding a magic ingredient that works. The winter months, as you say can bring some of that. Having what you consider to be a winner, only to have 3 people apply for your event can be heart breaking, especially if you think, this is a winner.

Once here on Racedepartment we had about 80+, active drivers, about 6 years ago. Craig Dunkley organising , Joseph Wright commentating, sometimes two fields of 20+ drivers in each race. ( we needed two races to accommodate everyone )

At present we are doing well, some races are virtually fully booked. Quite often it is down to how difficult the cars are to drive, some have jobs and family, so that making time to adjust to some cars, just plain difficult. Then we have the RS1600 and GTAM Alfa that seems mainly to work. Even though they are difficult cars, as I said finding something that works is difficult.

If you look at your options, trying to find a sim that is supported for random racers always leads one back to Racedepartment AC for a lot of reasons., variations of track and cars for a starter.
Unless you find a race series, which then takes you out of a comfortable environment, but you then have full fields, now that brings driving the same car, same tracks. And a racing pastime that is over aggressive and competitive.

To end…

Probably why I have so much respect for Brian and Han, they seem to have somehow managed that for a long time now. That is not an easy thing to pull of week in and week out. ( plus everyone here on Racedepartment that chips in with there tuppence worth occasionally too, this makes it a great place to race )
The end.

 

[dbx71]

The hardest thing for someone who takes on the mantle of organisation in our Racedepartment, is finding a magic ingredient that works. The winter months, as you say can bring some of that. Having what you consider to be a winner, only to have 3 people apply for your event can be heart breaking, especially if you think, this is a winner.

Once here on Racedepartment we had about 80+, active drivers, about 6 years ago. Craig Dunkley organising , Joseph Wright commentating, sometimes two fields of 20+ drivers in each race. ( we needed two races to accommodate everyone )

At present we are doing well, some races are virtually fully booked. Quite often it is down to how difficult the cars are to drive, some have jobs and family, so that making time to adjust to some cars, just plain difficult. Then we have the RS1600 and GTAM Alfa that seems mainly to work. Even though they are difficult cars, as I said finding something that works is difficult.

If you look at your options, trying to find a sim that is supported for random racers always leads one back to Racedepartment AC for a lot of reasons., variations of track and cars for a starter.
Unless you find a race series, which then takes you out of a comfortable environment, but you then have full fields, now that brings driving the same car, same tracks. And a racing pastime that is over aggressive and competitive.

To end…

Probably why I have so much respect for Brian and Han, they seem to have somehow managed that for a long time now. That is not an easy thing to pull of week in and week out. ( plus everyone here on Racedepartment that chips in with there tuppence worth occasionally too, this makes it a great place to race )
The end.

Dear Ernie;
As always, thanks so much for your thoughtful commentary and for sharing your wisdom. As I've said before, I am always open to constructive feedback and searching for ways to find that magic formula. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to write up this post.

Funny thing, I never really ever set out to get into the race organizing business. In fact, you could say I'm a pretty unlikely candidate to do so. My knowledge of racing and motorsports is sketchy at best, I'm still relatively new here at RD (just completed one year this month), and I tend to be a reserved person, especially around folks I don't know well. However, one thing I do love: cars. All types of cars... (And sim racing, of course.) This leads me to the first of two reasons why I eventually ventured into trying to organize races in the first place.

First, having been fascinated by cars from an early age, I always dreamed of what it would be like to drive a classic Ferrari, or a vintage Formula 1 car, or perhaps a Porsche 917 like Steve McQueen drove in Le Mans, or maybe a Japanese / JDM car, Can-Am, you get the idea... And that is one of the reasons I love Assetto Corsa, because of all the content (just as everyone says). Therefore, with no offense intended to any other race organizers here, I am not really interested in driving the same car every week. For me personally, I feel like what is the point of having a sim like AC, with literally hundreds of cars to choose from, if you're going to just be driving the same cars? Not my style. I found myself craving more varied types of events. I thought there might be other like-minded folks out there, but maybe I'm wrong.

Second, I would love to be able to join more races here on RD but the problem I was having is that they are all scheduled for folks in Europe. Although I am self-employed, mostly working from home office, to take 2+ hours out of my work day was just not going to be sustainable. Especially since works has been very busy these days.

These are the main reasons I felt compelled to give race organizing a try. I'm not one for the sales pitch. I just put things out there, and let folks decide if they want to participate. Perhaps I'm chasing a doomed cause, and it is all about repitition with the same cars... I'll give it to the end of the year and see we can get the numbers up.

I should mention I also have great respect for Han and Brian, along with the other staff members here organizing racing events across the platforms. I have learned much from them and they have been very kind and helpful.

Thank you for your support!

 

[eN1xes]

Dear Ernie;
As always, thanks so much for your thoughtful commentary and for sharing your wisdom. As I've said before, I am always open to constructive feedback and searching for ways to find that magic formula. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to write up this post.

Funny thing, I never really ever set out to get into the race organizing business. In fact, you could say I'm a pretty unlikely candidate to do so. My knowledge of racing and motorsports is sketchy at best, I'm still relatively new here at RD (just completed one year this month), and I tend to be a reserved person, especially around folks I don't know well. However, one thing I do love: cars. All types of cars... (And sim racing, of course.) This leads me to the first of two reasons why I eventually ventured into trying to organize races in the first place.

First, having been fascinated by cars from an early age, I always dreamed of what it would be like to drive a classic Ferrari, or a vintage Formula 1 car, or perhaps a Porsche 917 like Steve McQueen drove in Le Mans, or maybe a Japanese / JDM car, Can-Am, you get the idea... And that is one of the reasons I love Assetto Corsa, because of all the content (just as everyone says). Therefore, with no offense intended to any other race organizers here, I am not really interested in driving the same car every week. What is the point of having a sim like AC, with literally hundreds of cars to choose from, if you're going to just be driving the same cars? Not my style. I found myself craving more varied types of events. I thought there might be other like-minded folks out there, but maybe I'm wrong.

Second, I would love to be able to join more races here on RD but the problem I was having is that they are all scheduled for folks in Europe. Although I am self-employed, mostly working from home office, to take 2+ hours out of my work day was just not going to be sustainable. Especially since works has been very busy these days.

These are the main reasons I felt compelled to give race organizing a try. I'm not one for the sales pitch. I just put things out there, and let folks decide if they want to participate. Perhaps I'm chasing a doomed cause, and it is all about repitition with the same cars... I'll give it to the end of the year and see we can get the numbers up.
Thank you for your support!

You want a magic formula for the best race's in 1 word 'Macau'

 

[dbx71]

You want a magic formula for the best race's in 1 word 'Macau'

oooh, that's a killer track.... you got me thinking...

 

[Interslice]

You want a magic formula for the best race's in 1 word 'Macau'

I havn't forgotten the jungle track you sent. I'll try squeeze it in before Christmas!

Is Macau a rip or where do we find it?

 

[Interslice]

Next Sundays event is up!!

AC - Rookie Week | GT3 @ Spa - Sunday 5th November 2023

Welcome to the RD Assetto Corsa Racing Club. Next Sunday, as part of AC Rookie Week, we're at Spa, for some GT3 action!! All RD members welcome!!! Join us! This is the place to be for relaxed, friendly racing and our events are open to everybody from rookies to the seasoned pros. You...

www.racedepartment.com