RD MINI Challenge 2012

[Jordi Casademunt]

I went from hero to wall! Congratulations on the broadcast, it was again very fun to watch. But man, watching it I'm still thinking of all the fun I missed in race 2. And now going into Taruma, that won't be pretty.

 

[Dan Allinson]

Excellent broadcast once again and onto Taruma, a very similar circuit. Should be a great end to a great championship.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Its open There is a practice server online called RACEDEPARTMENT.COM MINI with an extended practice session so you can get used to the physics changes that came with the latest v1.2 game upgrade.

Please enter with default skins only so others can join in as well

 

[Jordi Casademunt]

Are the physics changes noticeable? (haven't had any time to drive since the patch)

Nice to have a server up so early though, it's always a lot nicer getting to practice with other people.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Some find it a bit harder others say the Mini has become easier. <-- that answer doesn't really help does it?

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

In this thread you can speculate about the seventh season of the Mini Cooper Challenge. As always we are open for good constructive suggestions that we can take on board in the planning phase.

 

[Scott Webber]

Rumours has it that Michael Schumacher will be joining us, after having refused to race again in any racing series in RL , Rubens Barrichello a distant friend of he's has apparently persuaded him to buy this awesome game we call - Game Stock Car.

 

[Andreas Pfannschmidt]

The next season could be highlighted with the breathtaking Nordschleife ..... if you have the courage to drive there

 

[Vinicius Ferreira]

It is a request, we are here in brazil in Day light saving, so we are closer to you european times, and that means that we can race in Weekdays, until Middle February when DL savings end.

So my request is to make RDMCC S7 between December and February, this is the only part of the year we can race in weekdays.

Thx

 

[Lucas Degen]

And we are open!

 

[Lucas Degen]

R1 nice to see, what a battle!

 

[Nik Hughes]

Hard to tell at Taruma as its such a mental on-edge track. Nothing noticeable. Although my wheel has changed how it feels since upgrading to W8 so who knows, maybe it is different!

 

[Andreas Pfannschmidt]

I'm a little late with my race report - it took some time to become sober after the Afterrace-Party

Once again I could only hardly mange to get an starting position in the top10. This time I had to start from the 9th position into the first race and had a good getaway, so that i gained two positions before the first corner. In the next lap I followed my rivals of the top5-places in the championship, Silent-Killer Mark Gormley, Tamas Foth and Jordi Casademunt. I had hoped that I would be able to pass them, especially after Mark and Tamas got involved in a nice fight for positions. But sadly I was braking too late for the final corner and made an excursion on the meadow. Remco de Wildt and Nik Hughes could pass me in this situation and I had to watch out for Anthony Levene, who also tried to profit from my mistake. Luckily I could defend myself against him for the first minutes, but in this situation we lost a lot of time and the connection to Remco and Nik. Vinicius Ferreira joined our fight, which doesn't improve our laptimes. So my teammate Eric Andersson managed to join our group for even more action. Well in the end I totally lost my rhythm while fighting and felt back slowly to the 12th position. I don't know why but my concentration was somehow gone and I overbreaked my MINI once again in the final corner. But this time with even worse consequences, as poor Heidi ended in the tire-barrier.

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Luckily my team managed to fix the damage before the start of the second race, at which I had now a promising 8th place on the grid. I had some minutes left for getting my concentration together again with another beer - thats no doping here in germany, we define it as a staple food.


Standing on the grid for the second race i had to realize, that some of those drivers in front of me retired before the start, so i was actually fourth after the lights turned to green. I wanted to pass the remaining drivers in front of me as soon as possible, so that i will be able to increase my gap to the top-drivers, while they have to fight through the midfield. I was able to outbrake Christopher Hall-Nelson already in the second lap and instantly could put some pressure on Dave Begley, who was letting me through some corners later. Now I was chasing Neil Harvey for the lead. I could use the first opportunity to pass him and took the lead on the 5th lap. But Neil showed a good pace and was able to follow me in the slipstream. This was actually not bad for me, because I was forced to keep absolutelly focused. Meanwhile Jimi Hughes was muscling through the field and reached the third place. Of course he was able to do better laptimes then me and I was realizing that I now have to increase my pace, when I want to maintain the chance for a victory. Jimi soon passed Neil and continued his pursuit race. But my small gap was enough for those last laps and when Heidi and me finished the last lap, I was almost falling out the window due to my ecstatic cheering.

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This was my very first win on another circuit then the Nordschleife and a real pleasure. Now what do with that? I dedicate it to all MINI drivers around the world, MINI Team Nordschleife and of course the real Heidi.

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Thanks for all congratulations. And I just have to say it once again: thanks for racing, complimants to all competitors, the organisation and the broadcast-team.

 

[Jimi Hughes]

Nice report Andreas. Congratulations on your First RDMCC race win, nice drive.

Also, quick mention for Jordi Casademunt, it was great to watch the first lap back on the broadcast of us side-by-side for nearly the whole lap! You were very polite and fair, yet determined to hold the position. So, sir, I take my hat off to you

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

That was indeed a great battle Jimi. We were lucky to have the camera pinpointed on you both those laps. Epic battle.

Andreas Pfannschmidt congrats to you for your first victory. Maybe offtopic but if you are the ring king you should have a look in the racing club

 

[Dan Allinson]

* Love to see the reverse grids again
* Maybe a teams champsionship
* An event running longer distance to encourage a pitstop & refuel.

Apart from that similar to S6. It has been a fantastic opening series & a pleasure to have been driving in it.

 

[Jordi Casademunt]

* An event running longer distance to encourage a pitstop & refuel.

Make it the last event, grid sorted by reversed championship positions

I can't really think of anything I'd like to change, the format has been really fun.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

That would make a hell of a race if that was possible Jordi Casademunt especially if the top of the standings are really close.

Btw: one thing that will be re-introduced into our leagues is an active team championship besides the driver championship. As we have sorted our league management system issues it should be easy again to add this feature that many have missed in the last two years.

Also now Reiza given us the option again to make proper pitstops longer races can be considered as well.

 

[Jimi Hughes]

Shame we didn't have an official teams championship in S6, I think Hughes Motorsport would be sitting in a good position going into the final round

 

[Jordi Casademunt]

Tried a couple of laps in Jacarepagua so I could have a reference, but my driving was a bit sloppy. It didn't seem to be any differences, to be honest.

Tested a couple of laps in Taruma, but with the default pressures it's hard to get good laps, so I'll have to tweak them asap. Going into a drift everytime I look at the wheel is fun though.

And overtaking here will be hell.