RDRC S8 Round 6 - Rally Wales (8th May - 14th May 2017)

[pigloaf]

I managed to pull myself out of my trailer to compete in the final event in Wales - of what has been an incredible championship. Fantastic work everyone involved in putting this together!!

No preparation for Wales, but I felt pretty relaxed as I've driven these stages plenty. A bit sentimental for the 2011 WRX going into it - my final event driving it since it's being cut in Dirt 4

Some pics from early on Day One:

Played it pretty safe for most of the first day - and was driving clean until a roll in a place where I should have known better put me in a ditch for a reset on Stage 8.
With a reasonably OK car I decided to up the tempo a bit on day 2, and the day went well minus some bad lines and a few lucky scrapes against some berms.

The car was starting to feel it and I didn't want to risk much on the final day other than a little push in the morning on Dyffryn Afon.

I was stoked to bring her home safely. This event was awesome - loved the distance between services. I only got one pic from the final stage as my replay started to freeze up and I freaked out about losing my times. Not in too bad a state:

Bring on Dirt 4!!

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

If there are going to be a season 9, that will with 99% certainty be on DiRT 4. But for all we actually know, the game is awful. We first need to get the game, then test out a lot of stuff, and then start planning for season 9 and after that see which of the crew that are willing to continue, and if there are a need of new blood etc.

But if everything goes as we hope, Season 9 will be on DiRT 4, indeed

and don't rush it plz, i liked how you took a lot of time to assess dirt rally before you started #8, this made sure we actually got the great event we now have!

 

[Deleted member 217114]

Finished the last event of Dirt Rally. It all went very well. Some minor throttle/steering mistakes, but no major mistakes that costs me lots of time. I expect a podium this time again.

Also I am emotional so:

 

[Kubica2012]

Day 2. Everything started well, with minor mistakes on stage 10 but i was really near the 2 guys ahead me. On stage 10, suddenly my car gave some weird noises, I started to lose power. Well, I lost my confidence too, for the last 3 stages, it was just something terrible. It felt like no brakes, no suspension, totally worn tyres. Also just on the last stage I lost like 20 seconds which is very painful. I'm now in service to finish tomorrow the last 5 stages, and as I was already under 10 seconds behind, I'm just 25 seconds away from RallyManic as 7 stages before so it's like nothing changed and it makes me damned sad..

 

[Matthew Allington]

If there are going to be a season 9, that will with 99% certainty be on DiRT 4. But for all we actually know, the game is awful. We first need to get the game, then test out a lot of stuff, and then start planning for season 9 and after that see which of the crew that are willing to continue, and if there are a need of new blood etc.

But if everything goes as we hope, Season 9 will be on DiRT 4, indeed

I really really really really hope that DiRT 4 comes out as good as I hope it will. I've really enjoyed the competition here this season

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

"Rally Wales will most likely be a race where the Gr.B cars that excelled in Germany will struggle, ... , but the few services will make it harder to keep the old cars in great condition the whole rally through"

Is this some discrimintion against old cars or what? Why don't you try the Gr.B, and se how it is? It really takes a whole season to get to grips with these cars, and then when we finally get to grips with it, we get the unfair disadvantage of too few services. Come on, 56 km is a long distance without service. Please think about those of us who have older cars, and are not extremely precise.

No, it merely stating the facts, and it's been noted at various points throughout the season in the different magazine articles as well, that Gr.B cars have a potential to be very fast, but the challenge will be to get the to last a whole rally. Likewise, I've said it in almost every rally-thread, and in the general discussion thread more than once as well, that we have tried to emulate the latest international rally run in that country for this season, and I've provided links, so it should not be a surprise for anyone that Wales have many stages and few services. [Wales GB 2016].
Furthermore, earlier in the season there have been complaints about servicing happening too often, so during the course of the season, I would believe that the rallies are unique enough to give all different drivers rallies in the style they love and also hate.
Lastly, as I've also have mentioned. The rules were written with us being completely unsure about the number of drivers going to sign up. With previous seasons varying between 35 for Season 1, 98 as a previous best in Season 3, and 68 in the last season on RBR. If we'd known that we would've had 450+ sign ups, the way the classes were sorted would be different, but when we realized that we would have an insane amount of drivers, it was to late to re-write the rules completely, re-starting the sign up process etc.

and don't rush it plz, i liked how you took a lot of time to assess dirt rally before you started #8, this made sure we actually got the great event we now have!

While we see the obvious positives in being first, RaceDepartment have a goal to provide quality, so don't worry. We need to be sure that we can host a championship that is good. And I always have a goal to make the new season better than the last one

 

[svt4cam]

I for one, like the longer service intervals. I'm not blindingly fast like Ivy, but I like the chess game of speed versus mechanical sympathy.

 

[Deleted member 217114]

In D4 mechanical sympathy will play a much much larger role I expect. Even if SIM mode will have an option so make sure crashes will be fatal to the car or driver. It will be much better. This means people must find a balance between car repairs, pushing car, being cautious and know where to slow down to avoid dnf or death

 

[svt4cam]

Through the second day of Wales in the Weyerbacher Brewing, Team Fate Rally Kadett.

In the overnight service after the first day, the crew was able to repair the engine and radiator up to 100%, pound out the dents and replace the windshield, replace the u joints in the pesky drive shaft and put some sawdust in the balky transmission to help keep it alive. Since it's early in the competition the only 2wd- benchmark I had to shoot for was Rinus and I was usually within 15 seconds or so per stage, which for me is a huge victory. I could feel that the suspension was kind of floaty and not repaired up to par through the 8 stages but managed to keep it corraled and had no offs or mistakes (a sure sign of the apocalypse). The Team Fate Kadett is presently sitting in 12th overall, 3:12 behind Rinus (RacingIvysaur) with the CEL blinking on about halfway through stage 15. The crew seems to think they can get everything bodged back together for another go at the last 5 stages tomorrow. Since the Nvidia recording software seems to be on the blink AGAIN!, here are some stills from the second day.

 

[Lexrax]

Thanks @fifomaniak

£44.99 on Steam pre-order... 'ouch'...

Was cheaper on Humble Bundle last month if you brought the last HB monthly. Came down to £36 with all pre-order goodies.

 

[Evilsmurf]

Will try and wheel the 037 out on Saturday... but to be honest, I'm suffering from DR burnout at the moment.

Still, I've managed every round so far!

 

[Dag Inge Hansen]

.., and I've provided links, so it should not be a surprise for anyone that Wales have many stages and few services. [Wales GB 2016].

Thanks for the reply Ole Marius!
Well for 330 km they get 120 minutes for service time. For 135 km we get 60 minutes. Sure it's comparable, but what's difference is the damage model of Dirt Rally, so I guess a km in Dirt Rally does a bit more than a km in real life. What about the realism of repairs, is it comparable? To fix the gearbox a few percent, you can adjust this part to a higher percentage, but not going all the way to 100%. With real-life repairs, they wouldn't hazzle with having all sorts of used spare parts for what percentage you prefer. So why not use the Codemasters thumb-rule of service after every two stages? We can't go wrong with that.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

I for one, like the longer service intervals. I'm not blindingly fast like Ivy, but I like the chess game of speed versus mechanical sympathy.

I would've liked a whole lot of extra services I'm not mastering the skill of being fast and having mech.sympathy. I am either going all out and really messing up the car, or managing to keep it pretty nice, but going slow

Thanks for the reply Ole Marius!
Well for 330 km they get 120 minutes for service time. For 135 km we get 60 minutes. Sure it's comparable, but what's difference is the damage model of Dirt Rally, so I guess a km in Dirt Rally does a bit more than a km in real life. What about the realism of repairs, is it comparable? To fix the gearbox a few percent, you can adjust this part to a higher percentage, but not going all the way to 100%. With real-life repairs, they wouldn't hazzle with having all sorts of used spare parts for what percentage you prefer. So why not use the Codemasters thumb-rule of service after every two stages? We can't go wrong with that.

Nope, it's not comparable, and it would be better if there was a straight out part-swap, I also wish that we as organizers could decide how good the service-crew were. So they were better, but still equal for all drivers. Or that we could allocate a certain number, and each driver could set the skill level on their own crew, within the number given from the organizers.
But that's just wishes. As you also can see, there are drivers here that really like the fact that there are many stages and few services. And I am quite sure that there are driver that fully agrees with you. But again, over the season as a whole, I feel that both parts have had rallies that suit their taste, and it's impossible to make rallies that everyone loves at all times.
Service every two stage would negate any kind of awareness when it comes to keeping the car roughly in one piece. But, we had that three times in Monte-Carlo, as that was fitting to the rally we replicated.
Personally I've really liked that the season have featured rallies that have varied in style, as previous seasons have followed a pretty equal formula for all rallies.

 

[Lexrax]

Will try and wheel the 037 out on Saturday... but to be honest, I'm suffering from DR burnout at the moment.

Still, I've managed every round so far!

Are you going to stream this , Jamie ? If so , What time .. roughly ?

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

but to be honest, I'm suffering from DR burnout at the moment.

Ye, that's an easy thing to get! 20 more stages now, can be done over three days, and yet another championship is done! You'll manage that in a bit less than a week!

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

day one done, and. boy, this is epic. tiptoeing through the first three rainy stages, the only aim was to keep it all intact, managed that. The track drying off i felt safe enough to push just a little, suffered through a half spin (stage04), a roll (stage05) and a forrest off (ALWAYS right at the end of Fferm Wynt, grrrrrr) to bring the lancia back utterly muddy but basically in good shape. Had a nice fight with this US chap going by the epic name of "Grand Duchess of Tuscany", hunted the lady from stage one and finally got past on the last one, 6 secs diff after day one. Day two on either Thursday on Friday, dreading the two rainy night stages already ...

 

[Dag Inge Hansen]

I for one, like the longer service intervals. I'm not blindingly fast like Ivy, but I like the chess game of speed versus mechanical sympathy.

I'd like a game of chess while the mechanics do their work. Speed chess is defined as a game where the players gets less than 60 minutes each.

 

[Dag Inge Hansen]

But that's just wishes. As you also can see, there are drivers here that really like the fact that there are many stages and few services. And I am quite sure that there are driver that fully agrees with you. But again, over the season as a whole, I feel that both parts have had rallies that suit their taste, and it's impossible to make rallies that everyone loves at all times.
Service every two stage would negate any kind of awareness when it comes to keeping the car roughly in one piece. But, we had that three times in Monte-Carlo, as that was fitting to the rally we replicated.
Personally I've really liked that the season have featured rallies that have varied in style, as previous seasons have followed a pretty equal formula for all rallies.

It's been fine I guess untill now. Started very well in Monaco, and it gradually became less service for each event. But the events were shorter too. But with Wales the event got longer, and still you stripped away 30 minutes more and end up with 60 minutes of lousy patchwork. Another note is why write "Service A" at the start, as the cars come ready to race. Better is "Tuning and shakedown", "Main service area", or something...

 

[IanRobson]

Day 1 complete and I'm knackered
I'm very slow but I'm happy with what I've achieved today despite some silly mistakes and quite a bit of damage for the service crew to sort out. Really enjoying this so thanks to all who spend their time to organise these rallies!!

 

[Roy Magnes]

It do sound a bit more professional with "Service A" rather than "Savepoint A for people that might have a game crash and have to have this save point to at all be able to restart the event" (as it in reality is), though I understand your point.

Once the rally has been set up and started it cannot be changed, so I'm afraid it is a little to late to do anything with the current event in Wales. But the feedback given will be noted, and taken into account for the next season that will be hosted. The team will look at the drivers feedback and their own experiences, and try to adjust for the better for the next season - like they have been doing all the way through the RBR-years of the RDRC too. There will always be ways of doing things better, and the guys will definately be listening to proposals for upcoming seasons

Oh - and the way I drive seems to eat the engines in this game, so I am not too happy with the longer runs between services myself. But that is the way this rally is set up, I'll propably have to go even slower than I usually do just to have an engine running over the final loop of stages