RDHGP S6 - Test Event - Vallelunga Autodoromo / Dijon-Prenois GP - 14th Oct 2010

[Stuart Thomson]

Venue: Italy/France – Autodromo Vallelunga / Dijon-Prenois GP
Event Start: 19.00 GMT
Practice: 40 min
Qualification: 10 min (unlimited lapcount)
Race: 10 laps
Vehicles: BMW CS2800 / Corvette 74 / DeTomaso Pantera GTS (Non-Factory) / Ford Capri 2600 / Ford Escort BDE / Nissan Skyline GTR / Porsche 911S / Porsche 914-6
Liveries: Default liveries only
Restrictions: If you have already signed up for the League, you must only drive the car type you have signed up with during this event.
Entry: A working GPCOS account is required, as the password will only be published in your control centre in GPCOS. GPCOS is here.
Mod installation is the entrants responsibility. Entrants causing disruption due to installation errors will be kicked.

Track Notes
These 2 tracks were chosen for testing as they contain all variations required for a balanced and accurate assessment and test of the League vehicles' characteristics.

Dijon is obviously a very familiar track for all GTL drivers, and while we all know that it can show off power and top speed, it also has a couple of other technical areas that will help with the driver's knowledge about their chosen vehicle. T1L requires good brakes to slow as late as possible, and a good steup will allow stable transitions from heavy braking to initial feathered throttle turn-in, to on-the-power turn exit. There are 2 very steeply contoured turns (T5L & T6R) to severely test out the grip, balance and poise of all cars and their setups. The long final corner (T8R) also tests the under/oversteer tendencies and ability to accept power, as you need to be on the power very early in the turn for a good lap time, but there is also a varying radius, a dip and crest to contend with as well.

Vallelunga is a less familiar track, but it contains several other car testing features. It has a long front "straight" where there is a couple of very high speed kinks to negotiate, requiring stable changes of direction. Followed by T1R & T2R, a banked double apex turn where your car's stability over kerbs will be at a premium. T3R & T4L is another test of direction change at speed, with the exit of T4L also needing braking stability as you will possibly still be steering out of the turn as you need to brake for T5R. T6L is an incredibly tight turn so grip into and acceleration out of there is crucial, and the slow speed chicane T7aL & T7bR that follows is another big stability test.

All in all, these 2 tracks were the best compromise for all the cars, allowing the power cars some straights to stretch their legs, the handling cars some complexes to catch up, and the balanced allrounders to patrol that middle ground between power and handling at all times.

 

[Jack Smith]

My first league event: all be it a test, but a milestone in my limited racing career. Checking the replays I can see where I need to clean up my driving line, fine tune braking, and work on avoiding crowds where anything can and will happen. The BMW felt pretty steady and it just needs some improvement behind the wheel. Sorry for any bumps there folks. Thanks to Carlos/Stu.

 

[Dubravko Vučković]

So...very very sorry Ralf for my stupidness ruining your win,and also sorry Vuckovic too,not your fault at all,just very awkward situation arising from me ending up insanely down out of position from the begining.
As far as i remember (please correct Thommo?)....all through S5 i never once touched another car over the whole league,certainly never took another car out,i feel confident i can repeat that in the coming season.

Many Thanks Stu/Carlos & RD and i cant wait for round #1

np m8..

 

[Krzysztof Babij]

I had been waiting for this event impatiently. It is my best league, but I had bad luck yesterday, during practice session My internet started working in rotation way and I cannot race, I regret it. As I see you had big fun. I hope I will solve my connections problem before next race.

 

[Andreas Löffler]

I find it not right that this two races go in the standings :frown:. I mean i was absolutely not prepared, no train or any kind of setup. It was only just for fun for me. First race for example it was horrable to drive the Porsche, it was so much understeer that i was wondering if it´s the car i had choose. And second race i forget to watch out the right fuel per lap and run out of fuel on s/f - line. So two dnf for me in the standings is not so funny. Had i know this will go into it i had not joined, :damnit: - bad races and miss the STC broadcast.
I´m a bit angry now

.

 

[Krzysztof Babij]

It was test event so there are no points. What standings do you mean? Ranking?

 

[Stuart Thomson]

OK - a few things to respond to here:

@ Lenno - I think that you were indeed pretty clean in the Falcon. I know that most of us in our light little cars gave you a wide berth as well, to be fair, as there was only ever going to be one winner in a scrape between a Falcon & an Abarth

@ Neil - yeah, it looks really close right through the field, in fact, once you get the variation of drivers and styles in the mix, it's even closer than I was expecting/hoping.

@ Jack - you did fine mate, League stuff is quite Darwinian, but you'll get there. The Beemer looks like it can understeer a bit by tendency, so you really just need to keep that to a minimum, and you'll be sweet.

@ Krzysztof - that's bad luck mate :frown: We missed you out there, a lot of us had some good races with you last season, and hope to see you back soon.

@ Andreas - if last night's events are showing as updating people's scores in the rankings, there has been a mistake. No GTL event (League races as well), should be points scoring, and that includes DNF scores. Race details will show and DNF totals may update but you shouldn't face a points penalty for that. You could, of course, just have asked me if it should be in the rankings or not, and I would have got it sorted out. But we would have missed your very funny post if you'd done that. You are not showing as DNF in R2, by the way, you show as P17 of 18

 

[Predrag Drobac]

I didn't practice for test races AT ALL, so I must say I drove very good, considering my 3rd place in qualy. I was completely amazed how my concentration vanished after couple of laps in the race. In some point I started to drive like a unexperienced simracer - stuggling with the Porky, locking my front wheels all the time, and I gave a little push from behind to Stuart and Carlos, in the SAME corner (slowest one). They were slower there in a bit, and I thought "I'm too close, but he will start accelerating now, for sure"! Wrooooong thinking! Totally forgot how patient I must be, especially in these situations.
During the pause between S5 and S6 I started an F360 Modena offline championship in GTR2, and as far as I can see, the offline driving in GTR2 will change your style of driving - because when you hit an AI car from behind, it's like you hit the rock! So guys, in offseason, just stick to the online racing.

cheers

 

[Tom Wilson]

Sorry I couldn't make it last night, just couldn't free up the time.....

I'm determined to be on track for R1 but wuth minimal testing my Vette will be handling like a dogs breakfast so I'll try to stay out of the way!

 

[Stuart Thomson]

At least we're at Mosport first, rather then Okayama or Birubi

I suspect you will enjoy that long ole back straight :good:

 

[Carlos Diaz]

Race1) I was scared of Vallelunga in my 914. Last time I drove this car there it was a total disaster, spinning several times and loosing grip almost the entire race.
This time was completely different. The car felt balanced and grippy coming out of the corners and it was very stable under hard braking (to my surprise). I just had to remember to watch WHEN I downshift, if I downshifted too early, it could snap me around. Also, I realized that before I would start changing the car's setup immediately, even before going on the track. I have a standard set of things I do to the cars depending on their drive-train layout, and I think applying the same setup strategies to all cars including the 914 is what made the car so horrible last time. This time around I took it out with the default setup and started tweaking things as needed. Surprisingly, very little had to be changed to make the car drive nicely.
I can't remember too much from the race, but I remember how close the top 15 or so times were. The cars were closer than I suspected.
The only other thing I remember is trying to get past Erling, he drove the spank out of that Escort and pretty much made it impossible for me to get by (not that he was holding me back, he was just driving fast as hell, not blocking), great driving Erling. Looking at the results and seeing almost all the cars included in the top 10 is great, also looking at the best times and seeing how close they were is great as well. This season looks very promising.

Race2) Another track that has always bitten me, rear/mid engined cars here, with me driving them = not a good thing. Again, the 914 impressed me with it's stability and predictability. I used the same setup from Vallelunga with an adjustment to the gears and it worked like a charm. Again, my memory fails me. All I remember is qualifying 3rd, then some T1 stuff happened and I started from the back. Then I eventually made it up to Bob who was driving that Bimmer so nicely I almost wanted to trade in my 914 for one lol. I tried to pass a couple of times on that uphill right hander but had to back off to be safe. Bob was very quick out of the corners and even If I HAD passed him, it would only be for a short while, I'm sure he would have reclaimed his spot shortly after. It was a lot of fun chasing Bob and trying to annoy him, but then I overcooked it going into the last right turn before the straight. I was very happy to finish 4th.

Grats to Jay and Ralf for the wins and grats to the podium finishers as well.

Big thanks to Thommo for all his hard work and RD for giving us a place to make it all possible.

 

[Stuart Thomson]

I gave a little push from behind to Stuart and Carlos, in the SAME corner (slowest one). They were slower there in a bit, and I thought "I'm too close, but he will start accelerating now, for sure"

No worried from me mate, it's good training for the League races to see how the different cars handle in different situations.

As Neil alluded to, the 911 is monumental at getting traction down out of corners hence why you were expecting us to get on the loud pedal, but the 914 (me & Carlos were both driving it) is not quite as planted so we're a bit more cautious getting the power down.

Don't get me wrong, I'm loving my 914's work, but the exit of that hairpin is bang on the 911's strength, hence the difference in performance there. We'll hopefully have lots of those contrasts throughout the season with different cars showing differing performance aspects in various situations on various tracks.

In race 2 for instance, I was closing slightly on Steve P in his Beemer through the twiddly bits, but then he opened it back out once we hit the straight, to be almost status quo, with very similar net laptimes, and it seemed that quite a few of us were experiencing things like that during both races.

I'm hopeful of some great racing throughout the season.

 

[Andreas Löffler]

@ Andreas - if last night's events are showing as updating people's scores in the rankings, there has been a mistake. No GTL event (League races as well), should be points scoring, and that includes DNF scores. Race details will show and DNF totals may update but you shouldn't face a points penalty for that. You could, of course, just have asked me if it should be in the rankings or not, and I would have got it sorted out. But we would have missed your very funny post if you'd done that. You are not showing as DNF in R2, by the way, you show as P17 of 18

Not sure if i got now the right sin, it means it will not change any points from GTL events in the ranking Or can we choose if yes or no In my case anything doesn´t work there. I jump from 6 to 8 dnf but it seems only from one i got -- points (go down from 2603 to 2593). Also i have 8 dnf showing but count only 7 in the driver result list. To me a quite weird system and i´m not motivated to controle it cause it doesn´t matter anywhere. First i liked it but i use it at least only to get times of tracks, the ranking is only nice thing beside !

BTW, slowly i´m thinking Dijon have something against me :wink:. Already in my first league race there i go out of fuel on S/F - line, like yesterday (and that only because i spun one time, otherwise i had see the finish ).

What i take with me from yesterday i´m 1-3 seconds to slow :tongue:, i hope i found anything in the weird setup, cause everything i changed makes the car more understeer. That´s most with mods, that setup is really strange. Anybody can help me, Gary :wink: - cmon !

 

[Stuart Thomson]

Not sure if i got now the right sin, it means it will not change any points from GTL events in the ranking

That is how it should be working, yes. GTL should be set to a multiplier of "0" therefore giving everyone 0 points.

If you change after any GTL events, let me know and I'll forward it to Dave to check.

 

[Fernando Porteiro]

I don't want to be a pain i.t.a. but why don't act like we've paid for the cars. No problem to drive as fast as you can but obey the "sorry-situations". When ever the one in front of you is slower and no room for a clean pass take it like a man and cope with it.
So far my very opinion and biggest wish

It's in the rules, by the way. And I totally agree with you. Where's the "thank you" button we had before? I miss it hehe

All we need is just a little patience, on track. I was lucky, but I saw some incidents that could've been avoided.

In any case, one thing I'd like to ask: in league events will "sorry" messages be allowed during Qualifying and Race? Shouldn't, in my opinion. Chat during the race is very annoying, and it should be used only by the race admins, in order to guide the participants if needed.

Otherwise I won't look up at the chat messages during the events, and if I receive any important and direct one, it will be ignored completely. I have to drive looking at the track and other cars, not the sky...

And second race i forget to watch out the right fuel per lap and run out of fuel on s/f - line.

I swear I wondered if giving you a little "push" would be helpful or if I'd be punished afterwards for the great crash I'd have caused LOL... "See" you next Sunday, Andreas!

And last but not least: where can I find the official results for this event? Or maybe it won't be published, only official championship events will... ?

I'm still worried about the result showing for race 1. It showed 19th and I was 17th or something like that. There were cars 1 lap behind who really weren't, and things like these. Thanks!

 

[Stuart Thomson]

That chat messages that were most annoying were the constant "SIM_GTC.gdb mismatch" messages about Dubravko.

Dubravko, can you check your install again please?

If we keep getting these mismatches, and these messages, I'm not going to let you drive in League races.

 

[Carlos Diaz]

Also, I forgot to say sorry to Erling B. and David C. in race1. I will try to be more careful in the actual league races guys.

 

[Nigel Atkins]

In any case, one thing I'd like to ask: in league events will "sorry" messages be allowed during Qualifying and Race? Shouldn't, in my opinion. Chat during the race is very annoying, and it should be used only by the race admins, in order to guide the participants if needed.

i find the short messages the worst like "sorry" "np" "thanks" ect, as we have working headlights a quick flash can elimanate the need for the small chat.

 

[Carlos Diaz]

What's funny is that several times I have crashed while trying to type "np" or hit my "Thank You" or "Sorry" button.
Hell, in one of last season's races, I think it was at St. Jovite, I accidentally hit the pit-limiter instead of the "Thanks" button when lapping someone lol.

So here it is...don't expect any more "sorry", "thanks", or "np" from me at least, from now on you will get them after the race is over. No more looking down at my keyboard while driving.

 

[Raf Nix]

No chat during events, fine with me, flashing lights I use to say Thank You. Meaning sorry is hardly shown through lights. Another vote for prevent situations making one say Sorry. "Fighting the source", can one say that in English?
Hopefully there will be some fellows on TS here as talking and chat doesn't disturb me at all. You see, talk to me but don't touch me. Towards the end of the season you might ask yourself "is that guy a woman?".
Can't resist telling you I'm playing in a university team skate hockey. Similar to ice hockey but way softer towards checks n tacklings. Guess what's my name there....... PUSSY!

So season haven't started yet. That might be last chance to exclude me. Otherwise I'll annoy and penetrate you with these girlish stuff whenever things get too "physical"...

 

[Carlos Diaz]

Sorry Ralf, not sure I follow you. No one has said "no chatting during events". At least not me. I'm just saying that I won't be chatting while driving anymore since I can't do both tasks well enough at the same time.

It's up to Thommo to ban chatting during racing and qualifying.

And what exactly do you mean by this...
So season haven't started yet. That might be last chance to exclude me. Otherwise I'll annoy and penetrate you with these girlish stuff whenever things get too "physical"...

You aren't talking about quitting are you? I don't know about the rest of the group, but I surely don't mind you reminding us to keep it clean and safe out there.

Then again, I'm not easily annoyed :tongue: