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

[Kek700]

Bloody track limits, patiently waited through out this race only to be scuppered by track limits. Ironically I always try and stay on line, its faster, do you get a big red flag, no a piddling little display right were you don't normally look.
There must be an app with a meaning full warning, now if you are purposely cutting the track you do not need warnings, ironic isn't it.
Sometime you do everything right, only for the racing gods to needlessly punish you.

PS,
just thought too, not even the common decency of a drive through, it has to take 23 seconds to add insult to injury, ridiculous.

 

[Shed 17]

There were only two Porsche’s in the race and I managed to hit both of them, apologies to Rob and Dave, I tried avoiding action but only made it worse I think. Sorry guys.
Other than that the first time racing the M4 felt good, after the two incidents I was at the back with nothing to lose so went for tyres at the stop and it seem to work. I’m not sure if 60 minutes on softs would work, did anyone in the M4 try it?
Congratulations to Hank on the win, well done podium and all who raced, some good racing out there tonight.
Finally get well soon Brian and thanks for setting these up, very nice cars.

 

[johnny85ac]

Congrats Hank! Very well done! I was wondering why I was in lead even after my very short pit stop, but I guess you changed tyres? You were so much quicker in the end, I didn't have any chance. But your pace was a lot better than mine in the quali as well, so you really deserved it.

For me it was a great race, finished 2nd without any noticeable mistakes. Consistency was my number one goal for tonight. Did not take to much risk in the battles which worked out well. Maybe fueling in the pits would have been an adantage. Plus I've had >10 liters at the finish line, but so what.

Hank, I've glipsed into the replay and saw that you were able to break very late, especially at the chicane. What ABS and balance did you use? and how much rear wing? Or is it just the lambo? or your awesome skills on the brake?

 

[johnny85ac]

There were only two Porsche’s in the race and I managed to hit both of them, apologies to Rob and Dave, I tried avoiding action but only made it worse I think. Sorry guys.
Other than that the first time racing the M4 felt good, after the two incidents I was at the back with nothing to lose so went for tyres at the stop and it seem to work. I’m not sure if 60 minutes on softs would work, did anyone in the M4 try it?
Congratulations to Hank on the win, well done podium and all who raced, some good racing out there tonight.
Finally get well soon Brian and thanks for setting these up, very nice cars.

yeah I drove the M4 without changing tyres. they were down to 45 I think in the end. It was a bit slippry but not too much. Of course I lost some time in the end but I think this way was the faster strategy (for this car at least)

 

[Douglas Aird]

I didn't have anywhere near the ultimate pace but enjoyed racing these.

I got a good start and made up a number of places early on while other people went off. Unfortunately I had my own spin at the exit of noname corner that put me to the back. I made two other errors that cost me time and ended p10.

I did change tyres in the pits while racing Casper but he didn't and I could not quite make up the deficit by the line (he had also over fueled which helped my chase).

I really like these cars, much better feeling than ACC.

Thanks, Brian for organising.

 

[dbx71]

Nice racing guys!
Congrats to Hank on the win, and also to Johnny and Robert rounding out the podium. That was some awesome driving. Going into the race I knew I didn't have the same pace here as everyone else, since this is not one of my stronger tracks. So my objective was to try to just race the cleanest race I could, and not hold up other drivers that were clearly faster than me. I was happy in the end that I didn't get lapped (got lapped twice the last time we raced here with the Porsche Cup cars), I wasn't totally wiped out at the end of the race, and I didn't run off the track or make any major mistakes. I'll take that as a good day at the track.

Apologies to Doug if I caused you to run off the track... I was trying to let you pass, and perhaps just ended up throwing you off... That's why I decided the next time you came up on me to just keep my pace up and let you find your way around....

Yeah, Casper what can I say, guess I'm a total Spa noob. Especially I realized I haven't had much experience with how the pits work. I thought I had come out of the pits too early, and that I might be penalized for not going all the way through to the end of the pit lane.... Yes, I was thinking to duck back in there but just decided to stay out in the end. Well, now I know how that works..

Hope you get back on your feet soon Brian, thanks for organizing!

 

[Douglas Aird]

Nice racing guys!
Congrats to Hank on the win, and also to Johnny and Robert rounding out the podium. That was some awesome driving. Going into the race I knew I didn't have the same pace here as everyone else, since this is not one of my stronger tracks. So my objective was to try to just race the cleanest race I could, and not hold up other drivers that were clearly faster than me. I was happy in the end that I didn't get lapped (got lapped twice the last time we raced here with the Porsche Cup cars), I wasn't totally wiped out at the end of the race, and I didn't run off the track or make any major mistakes. I'll take that as a good day at the track.

Apologies to Doug if I caused you to run off the track... I was trying to let you pass, and perhaps just ended up throwing you off... That's why I decided the next time you came up on me to just keep my pace up and let you find your way around....

Yeah, Casper what can I say, guess I'm a total Spa noob. Especially I realized I haven't had much experience with how the pits work. I thought I had come out of the pits too early, and that I might be penalized for not going all the way through to the end of the pit lane.... Yes, I was thinking to duck back in there but just decided to stay out in the end. Well, now I know how that works..

Hope you get back on your feet soon Brian, thanks for organizing!

Dominic, completely my fault. I passed you going up the hill when I should have been patient. I had an overlap but then worried you would have to take evasive action into the left kink and I then messed up trying to rectify the situation and took myself off.

I did the same with Dave later on but backed out properly and got past down the Kemmel Sraight instead.

You did well tonight, really steady pace.

 

[H_Belane]

Hank, I've glipsed into the replay and saw that you were able to break very late, especially at the chicane. What ABS and balance did you use? and how much rear wing? Or is it just the lambo? or your awesome skills on the brake?

ABS 6, the rest remains a trade secret for now. Stay with us Johnny, there are always great races here on Sundays. Then you'll probably see that it's definitely not my great skills on the brakes.

 

[davejevons]

Wow, that was a tough one. The RSS/URD cars in AC feel more involving than their counterparts in ACC to me.

The 911 did have pace round here, as Rob proved, but it was a wild ride. There were moments when it would rocket out of a corner but for every one of those there was a lap where one end or the other was spearing off towards a barrier. Slow speed corner exits, in particular, seemed to be its (or my) nemesis; I dropped it twice in the bus stop .

I had some really good battles along the way with Casper and Doug. The split of strategies on changing tyres was interesting. These cars seem on the margin for which startegy is quicker but the skilled people who slide less seem to be able to make them last the full hour whereas those of us who are making more mistakes seem to struggle to make the tyres last the full hour.

A couple of call outs:
Well done @dbx71, you've come a long way in the last few months and totally deserved that place! You're definitely fast enough to defend positons that you gain by being consistent.

No worires, @Shed 17, I was protecting the tyres to try and make them last the whole race but gave up on that strategy shortly after. I could have made it easier for you to pass as you were a lot quicker.

Thanks for setting it up @Interslice - they are a great set of cars and hope we get to race them more. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[robthesquare]

That was a really enjoyable race. I managed to figure out a good setup for the Porsche just in time for the race. It turns out that the Porsche was very quick in Sector 1.

I went with a 40/20 fuel strategy and decided to change tires. Unfortunately, that forced me to run the last 20 mins at qualifying pace.... and I managed to do that for about 10 mins. I was catching Robert and the 2 cars battling with him, but I started making some small mistakes that just made it an impossible task.

I've really grown fond of the URD Porsche. It's quite a challenge for me, but very rewarding when you get it right.

 

[dbx71]

Wow, that was a tough one. The RSS/URD cars in AC feel more involving than their counterparts in ACC to me.

The 911 did have pace round here, as Rob proved, but it was a wild ride. There were moments when it would rocket out of a corner but for every one of those there was a lap where one end or the other was spearing off towards a barrier. Slow speed corner exits, in particular, seemed to be its (or my) nemesis; I dropped it twice in the bus stop .

I had some really good battles along the way with Casper and Doug. The split of strategies on changing tyres was interesting. These cars seem on the margin for which startegy is quicker but the skilled people who slide less seem to be able to make them last the full hour whereas those of us who are making more mistakes seem to struggle to make the tyres last the full hour.

A couple of call outs:
Well done @dbx71, you've come a long way in the last few months and totally deserved that place! You're definitely fast enough to defend positons that you gain by being consistent.

No worires, @Shed 17, I was protecting the tyres to try and make them last the whole race but gave up on that strategy shortly after. I could have made it easier for you to pass as you were a lot quicker.

Thanks for setting it up @Interslice - they are a great set of cars and hope we get to race them more. Hope you feel better soon.

thanks for the kind words Dave. yeah, after one year here, things are starting to come together but it's been a HUGE learning curve. becoming familiar with the tracks and cars and the various types of driving styles and techniques needed depending on the track / car combo is a monumental challenge, but it's been a fun journey. i credit good teachers (the other regulars here at RD) for lessons learned along the way. i guess next i need to work on dialing up the aggression level.

don't be too tough on yourself, you picked the most difficult car to drive! that 911 is a bold choice, and to drive it around spa for an hour is a commendable effort.

one big thing i've learned: in most cases, changing tires is almost never worth it. takes too much time. you're better off just trying to conserve one set. that and, of course, keeping your car on the track and mistakes to a minimum. you can throw away the entire race with just one untimely trip off the track. especially if, god forbid, you get stuck against a tire barrier, etc.

keep on rolling. see you at the next one!

 

[Kek700]

@robthesquare , yep noticed that you were quick in the Porsche, was keeping an eye on you when I was following Johnny and Robert.
I could not get that performance from the Porsche, I was thinking “that”when I was looking at other drivers pace in my app. You must have got the correct way of driving it.

 

[robthesquare]

@robthesquare , yep noticed that you were quick in the Porsche, was keeping an eye on you when I was following Johnny and Robert.
I could not get that performance from the Porsche, I was thinking “that”when I was looking at other drivers pace in my app. You must have got the correct way of driving it.

After lots of laps, I realized that the aero balance was shifted too far rearward. I reduced the rear wing settings a fair amount and that seems to reduce the amount of understeer I was getting. Other than that, I just had to capitalize on the it's top speed and excellent braking. It's still twitchy, but manageable if you keep your concentration up.

 

[Partick Eaton]

Fun race. congratulations to the winners.

Get better Brian!

 

[dbx71]

ABS 6, the rest remains a trade secret for now. Stay with us Johnny, there are always great races here on Sundays. Then you'll probably see that it's definitely not my great skills on the brakes.

Hey Hank!
Would you be willing to share just one more trade secret -- from one Lanzo driver to another? What wing setting did you use??? I was on 4... Can you tell me if that's warm...?

 

[Kek700]

You can put what ever you like, I ran it with wing at 1, if you get better performance with a higher wing, that will be down to testing.
It is SPA , funny circuit, the Lanzo does not like curbs at all, I would imagine less wing increases that.
But as said I ran it on 1, and i do not get on with these mid engine gt3 cars, so if i can comfortably run it on 1, anyone can.
try it and see how you fare, let me know, i would be interested.

 

[H_Belane]

Hey Hank!
Would you be willing to share just one more trade secret -- from one Lanzo driver to another? What wing setting did you use??? I was on 4... Can you tell me if that's warm...?

Very close. The final step is up to you Dominic.

 

[dbx71]

Very close. The final step is up to you Dominic.

ahh so mysterious... ok, i'm going to dial it down for the next one and try for less wing... thx...

 

[dbx71]

You can put what ever you like, I ran it with wing at 1, if you get better performance with a higher wing, that will be down to testing.
It is SPA , funny circuit, the Lanzo does not like curbs at all, I would imagine less wing increases that.
But as said I ran it on 1, and i do not get on with these mid engine gt3 cars, so if i can comfortably run it on 1, anyone can.
try it and see how you fare, let me know, i would be interested.

Wow, this is interesting news. I was under the impression that a certain amount of wing would be necessary to get through Eau Rouge and Raidillon flat out in most GT3 cars. Evidently not so... I'll have to go back and try that with wing at 1 and see if I live to tell about it.

I was noticing an interesting event on the back stretch (Blanchimont), the car seemed to bog down at top gear and I would start losing time, especially true if I didn't get a good launch out of turns 15 and 16 (Stavelot?) or if I upshifted too early. I wonder if this is due to too much wing? I'll need to go back for further 'testing'...

As for the Lanzo v curbs: I've heard that comment before. I actually didn't have an issue with this, beyond the slippery curb at turn 4 through Eau Rouge (learned to stay clear of that one). This leads me to think two things:
1. I'm not getting up onto the curbs enough...
2. my ride height is not low enough (just sticking with default)...

Hmmm, so many settings, so little time...

 

[H_Belane]

ahh so mysterious...

Yes, I would say that is part of the game. For me setup settings are still very difficult. I'm always happy when something works. Although then most of the time I don't know what I did and why (okay, except for the wing). For me it is always very interesting to find out why certain changes make me faster or slower. As I said, I'm anything but an expert.