This was my second Drivers Academy for Assetto Corsa. While stated as "advanced" I think it is more suited for drivers new to online club racing but that may be because there seem to be few advanced drivers attending the sessions I've been in though I know in the past faster drivers have attended. Bobby And Jeremy are constantly asking questions and they have the expertise to answer what's tossed at them, I'm sure their answers are good enough for experienced drivers questions as well.
The format played out as specified in the event listing with whatever amount of time was needed to answer questions, no rushing through the agenda! Possibly because there were some newer club drivers in this group time was spent on rules and on track formalities but then I know some faster, more experienced drivers that could hear those points raised. Understanding what to expect on entering a first event was helpful to most, I'm sure.
I spent some time offline driving the car just before the event, exploring as well AC which I'm very new at. Once familiar with the course I did a run in "hotlaps" and "time trial", I knew they might not relate to online conditions but it set the mood for me.
We were taken on a "walk" of the course, from a view in Jer's car and while driving our own and many bits were passed along.
Back online and set free in cars having a default setup we got in about 10 laps. A couple of drivers were close to Jeremy and Bobby's times, the slowest not that far behind, a few seconds off. Instructors times were in the 1:11's, my fastest in the absolutely stock car was 1:14.282. That was tire pressures out of line and a car that likes to swing about, for me, on corner exit. I could just be the way I use the wheel and go through corners, the car had done that to me in just about every session, every event I've driven it.
Just like taking a course in any kind of software, our instructors took us across the setup menu explaining the few variables available (compared to other available cars) and their affect on the cars. We all ended up with a car set up just like Jeremy's and again we headed out for laps. I didn't check anyone's times but my fastest in the session had gotten to a 1:13.503 and I thought that for the most part the handling had gotten better. All this time our instructors were continuing to toss information out and field answers to questions posed, great job!
The past couple of years I haven't been spending much time setting up cars unless track and car combinations create terrible handling. While I'm guessing most of the drivers entered our 10 lap race using Jer's setup I opted to run a default car with just tire pressures set correctly and with traction control turned off, given the few clean laps I got to run the 1:13.546 laptime that I ended up with was not bad. Session conditions may have helped, I'm not familiar with AC environmental settings, but it seemed as though I got away without needing all of the changes suggested. And, I understand that. There have been many times that I could not drive a default car, period(!) nor could I drive another drivers setup. Our "adjusted" cars drove very well, as far as I know for everyone and there were some good laptimes by instructor and students with it.
The school lasted almost three hours so a huge "Thank You!" to both Bobby and Jeremy for running these. They are on top of their game and hold nothing back, they want you to be as fast as you can be. I don't think it matters if you are getting ready for your first online event or if you've been running midpack or beyond in club events, if you want to get into learning mode you can get pumped with information. There are only a few openings for each of these events, this one was full by start time so if you have an interest, better enter as soon as the next one is posted!
Dennis
The format played out as specified in the event listing with whatever amount of time was needed to answer questions, no rushing through the agenda! Possibly because there were some newer club drivers in this group time was spent on rules and on track formalities but then I know some faster, more experienced drivers that could hear those points raised. Understanding what to expect on entering a first event was helpful to most, I'm sure.
I spent some time offline driving the car just before the event, exploring as well AC which I'm very new at. Once familiar with the course I did a run in "hotlaps" and "time trial", I knew they might not relate to online conditions but it set the mood for me.
We were taken on a "walk" of the course, from a view in Jer's car and while driving our own and many bits were passed along.
Back online and set free in cars having a default setup we got in about 10 laps. A couple of drivers were close to Jeremy and Bobby's times, the slowest not that far behind, a few seconds off. Instructors times were in the 1:11's, my fastest in the absolutely stock car was 1:14.282. That was tire pressures out of line and a car that likes to swing about, for me, on corner exit. I could just be the way I use the wheel and go through corners, the car had done that to me in just about every session, every event I've driven it.
Just like taking a course in any kind of software, our instructors took us across the setup menu explaining the few variables available (compared to other available cars) and their affect on the cars. We all ended up with a car set up just like Jeremy's and again we headed out for laps. I didn't check anyone's times but my fastest in the session had gotten to a 1:13.503 and I thought that for the most part the handling had gotten better. All this time our instructors were continuing to toss information out and field answers to questions posed, great job!
The past couple of years I haven't been spending much time setting up cars unless track and car combinations create terrible handling. While I'm guessing most of the drivers entered our 10 lap race using Jer's setup I opted to run a default car with just tire pressures set correctly and with traction control turned off, given the few clean laps I got to run the 1:13.546 laptime that I ended up with was not bad. Session conditions may have helped, I'm not familiar with AC environmental settings, but it seemed as though I got away without needing all of the changes suggested. And, I understand that. There have been many times that I could not drive a default car, period(!) nor could I drive another drivers setup. Our "adjusted" cars drove very well, as far as I know for everyone and there were some good laptimes by instructor and students with it.
The school lasted almost three hours so a huge "Thank You!" to both Bobby and Jeremy for running these. They are on top of their game and hold nothing back, they want you to be as fast as you can be. I don't think it matters if you are getting ready for your first online event or if you've been running midpack or beyond in club events, if you want to get into learning mode you can get pumped with information. There are only a few openings for each of these events, this one was full by start time so if you have an interest, better enter as soon as the next one is posted!
Dennis
