Re: Sim Racers 4 Life - Lola T280 Season - Round 6 - Nordschleife

[lamer of fortune]

Hi all,
I was really looking forward to this race. Unfortunately it was almost over in the first lap. Right after the start I experienced major stutter or lag and might have hit the brakes too soon, causing the car behind me to crash into me. However it was not too bad and I was eager get back to my starting position. Things went ok for the rest of the gp course. On the old track I got behind cosi streppone who I attempted to overtake on the straight before the jump. He steered left and pushed me into the wall. A few cars crashed into us and a lot of damage was done. I was really frustrated as I had put quite a few practice laps in and it says only the beginning of the first lap. My left front tyre was punctuated and had to crawl a full lap back to the pits which took forever and the Pit stop another eternity. After that I could at least drive and made it to the finish line. In the last lap I managed to overtake Nike. It was still lots of fun and I am looking forward to the next race.
Best Tobias

[1959nikos]

Tobias made the start, place your reports here gents

[gorgias1976]

Qualy
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My qualifying lap was a surprise to me, I didn't expect to have a lap in 8:39s at all as I had very little practice for the event. Second place was a nice place to start.

Race
------
Considering qualifying laptimes I thought keeping second at race start was good enough to have a race without anybody's pressure.
Race started, checked DjC at my left starting fine so everything was as planned. At my mirrors I saw Christian was getting quite close to me so in fear of him trying to outbrake me I tried going a little late for turn 1. Wow that was late braking, lucky I didn't take DjC with me.
So I was there leading the race but I knew that would only last for that lap. I was in a high wing config (the only way I had a balanced car) and new David had more top speed.
So at the straight DjC overtook me and we remained there for the next 3 laps. it was funny seing how different wing setups affected cars' performance. getting closer to him at some places, farther at others.
By the end of lap 4 I took my pitstop. I chose a 4-6 lap race to avoid posible traffic at the pitstop.
At lap 5 DjC did his and he just came ahead of me. So we remained there, already night, for a couple more laps. By then I made a couple of mistakes and that was the warning to take things easier. So the remaining laps were still fast, but more conservative.
At the final lap, enjoying my second place finish I kissed the grass and spun 1 corner to the backstraight. Almost lost it all there getting stuck in the grass. Finally I was able to get back to drive the car and go to the finish line.

[deecee52]

I was looking forwards to this race , prior to going on holiday I did a lot of practice on the last version of Nords we raced on and had a good setup I had confidence in , sadly when I got home I found we were running a different version I had never seen and my setup just did not work at all , it appears setups developed offline are totally different to those required to race online .

I spent hours driving but could not get a setup that worked , it was all oversteer or all understeer I could not find a balance , I must admit that since the new tyre model I have struggled to understand what the car is doing , either I am loosing the plot or something is not quite right .

I decided I was going to have to run with understeer , this hammered the front tyres and they would not last 5 laps so I was going to have to do 2 stops , looking at everyones laptimes I decided if I run light and drove every lap as a qually lap then I may get a 6 th or 7 th place .

I got a good start and followed Christof into the first corner , stayed with him until he went wide at a corner and then slipped through , it was working out for me beautifully at this point , I was in 3rd with no one to slow me so I could run my pace , I pulled away from Christof and by the time my first pitstop came up I had 20 secs on the guy behind me , my second stint went well and I only lost a little time behind behind a slower driver , by the time my pitstop came up I had 40+ secs over Cookie who was the next guy behind me and I was holding 3rd place , came out of the pits just in front of Cookie and made it to the first corner without loosing the place , I started to ease away from him and by the end of the lap had a 10 sec gap , I then started to think in terms of tyre saving and started to ease of a bit , big mistake , I started to loose concentration and made a big mistake at Flanzgarten which pretty much destroyed my suspension , Damn , it so nearly worked out . Oh well next time . :'(

[c.pucher]

Wasn't sure if I was going to run the race as I had next to no practice and was very tired right before the race. Decided to run and Tim was so nice to share his setup with me. Many thanks once again, was a great setup, fast and very driveable

Qualy
--------
Went great, wasn't expecting to be so fast, really encouraging stuff. Put me on 4th spot in the end but it was all downwards from that point onward.

Race
------
Good start and settled into the race nicely. Was eager not to make stupid mistakes, being cautious in the first lap but still couldn't manage a clean lap (once again, really have to work on this). Made another big mistake in first lap and found myself a few spots back. And this first lap set the tone for the rest of the race. I made so many mistakes resulting in contact with the wall that I really didn't deserve to get anything out of the race and if it wasn't for the 49% damage I wouldn't. First few contacts made no damage to the car, at one point I damaged the left front which didn't affect handling very much just lost a bit of top speed. Made two pit-stops (as planned) in the course of the race, not repairing the damage. Found myself in eight spot after the 2nd pit-stop, about 35s behind Ramon and over 1min in front of the next guy. So the race was more or less settled from that point on, never got closer to Ramon as I still made a lot of mistakes. Unfortunately my teammate had to retire at some point, which put me into 7th place.
Never felt so relieved after running over the finish line. 7th place, probably would have taken that at the start of the weekend, bit disappointing after Qualy though. But as the race went its probably more than I derserved. Just happy I didn't crash anyone.
Still an improvement over last years race at Nords where I didn't make it to the finish and it somehow still feels good, hanging on and finishing the race, even if not in style

90 mins at Nords, with the Lola and day/night transistion is quite a challenge and it was great to see 20 people taking the challenge! Great stuff guys and congrats to all finishers
Shame Dieter had problems, was very quick and made it into 3rd spot in Qualy. Hope you get this problems sorted, let us know if we can help! Looking forward to see you on track soon.
Regarding day/night transistion I think ISI made a great job with the new tone mapper, lighting was nice all the way through the race

David and Gorka battling once again, awesome stuff guys! And well done John for final spot on podium!

Well, on to the next round

[cosimo]

Hi all,
I was really looking forward to this race. Unfortunately it was almost over in the first lap. Right after the start I experienced major stutter or lag and might have hit the brakes too soon, causing the car behind me to crash into me. However it was not too bad and I was eager get back to my starting position. Things went ok for the rest of the gp course. On the old track I got behind cosi streppone who I attempted to overtake on the straight before the jump. He steered left and pushed me into the wall. A few cars crashed into us and a lot of damage was done. I was really frustrated as I had put quite a few practice laps in and it says only the beginning of the first lap. ... It was still lots of fun and I am looking forward to the next race.
Best Tobias

Hi Tobias,

I'd like to apologise for that incident. I watched the replay from your car too. I was aware you were behind me. What I didn't see is that you were gaining road and we were almost side by side.

After the turn that got us onto the straight, I tried to regain the left side as I usually do. I have not made a sudden move and I surely didn't mean to push you into the wall. Sorry again.

I came to the conclusion that this championship is really not for me anymore. I don't enjoy racing these cars, I am not competitive at all and I'm involved in more accidents than I would like...

[lamer of fortune]

Hi Cosimo,

please don't retire here because of my comment. I also thought you might had just not seen me. All is fine when you say this. There was just nothing i could do as i was almost through and had enough speed to complete the overtaking. I think we took out Dan too in that incident. Maybe I was trying too hard and should have waited for some time to let things settle after the start. I am still new to this and have to learn to time such stuff.


different topic:
Funny thing in the Qual was that I must have somehow unticked the symmetric setup box and was practising with uneven settings all the time. I only discovered before the race and applied just one side to the other without being which one would be better. I must admit the car felt better after that in the race and I am probably too stupid for this.

After the repairs of the crash in the pitstop, the car was slower than before (doing 290 vs 304 before on the straight). Is there some logic built in that you don't get back to 100%?

Best
Tobias

[1959nikos]

I came to the conclusion that this championship is really not for me anymore. I don't enjoy racing these cars, I am not competitive at all and I'm involved in more accidents than I would like...

Strangely Im in a similar situation Cosimo.
Im with this sim for three years now and I always end up last at races.
Last races I was very frustrated about it, it looked as altough all the rest are getting better, I am getting worse.
Especially before Nords I thought the whole thing is pointless.

Lucky for me, (and this happens to me always in real life), when I get really down, something in me wakes up and throws away bad things and erases bad feelings.
Same happened hours before race at Nords, I said what the hell, why do I care about such things, do I enjoy racing with my friends or not.
The answer was yes, so I came to Nords really cool and I didnt mind even when Tobias covered a difference of 2:00:00 (yes really) in just one lap and passed me at the final lap :S (well actually I would like to kick him in the leg for that).

Did I enjoy it? Very much, the company is always nice, the experience of so much adrenalin flowing is superb and come to think of it I wouldnt have a chance of going around Nords with a Lola 3 years back, I have improved enormously (pitty the rest improve too )

Comeon mate dont let it take you down

[Ricknau]

Hi all,
I was really looking forward to this race. Unfortunately it was almost over in the first lap. Right after the start I experienced major stutter or lag and might have hit the brakes too soon, causing the car behind me to crash into me.

And that was me Tobias. Sorry to you and the one other guy that got collected. I'm glad to hear it was caused by a technical glitch. I was pressing a little but I didn't think I was being over aggressive. I was surprised to see your rear end closing on me so fast and was mad at myself for bumping you. Glad we could all continue unscathed.

For a Nords race mine was very intense and surprisingly not lonely. I trailed Tim at 1-2 seconds for most of the first 3 1/2 laps. Much fun and excitement. WTG Tim, you never errored or bobbled enough for me to get a chance at getting by. I'm not sure I would have liked being in front anyway! By middle of lap 4 my tires were shot and I simply could not adjust my driving to compensate. Eventually Edwin got by me and we pitted together after lap 5. Most of the rest of the race was me chasing him until again my tires went off and so did I many times. But for 10 laps I was in traffic! That really kept it interesting.

My feeling towards these cars differs from Cosimo and Nikos. I think they're a blast to drive. I've always been a fan of the 60s wingless cars but these have really caught my fancy. And I gotta tell you I've made a huge turn around regarding the Nurburgring. I used to hate it. Now I love it! Just maybe not for NINETY EIGHT MINUTES! Holy Cow! I wish the next time we could have a mandatory 2 minute pit stop so we could stand up and let some blood back into our asses! I was literally in pain for the last 5 minutes. Maybe I should invest next in a form fitted racing chair.

[gorgias1976]

I came to the conclusion that this championship is really not for me anymore. I don't enjoy racing these cars, I am not competitive at all and I'm involved in more accidents than I would like...

Strangely Im in a similar situation Cosimo.
Im with this sim for three years now and I always end up last at races.
Last races I was very frustrated about it, it looked as altough all the rest are getting better, I am getting worse.
Especially before Nords I thought the whole thing is pointless.

Lucky for me, (and this happens to me always in real life), when I get really down, something in me wakes up and throws away bad things and erases bad feelings.
Same happened hours before race at Nords, I said what the hell, why do I care about such things, do I enjoy racing with my friends or not.
The answer was yes, so I came to Nords really cool and I didnt mind even when Tobias covered a difference of 2:00:00 (yes really) in just one lap and passed me at the final lap :S (well actually I would like to kick him in the leg for that).

Did I enjoy it? Very much, the company is always nice, the experience of so much adrenalin flowing is superb and come to think of it I wouldnt have a chance of going around Nords with a Lola 3 years back, I have improved enormously (pitty the rest improve too )

Comeon mate dont let it take you down

That's why I took a brake last year. I was taking things too personal, asking myself the best and finally not enjoying racing.
During my brake I realised that the important thing was having fun when racing. So I decided to take things easy, just practicing when having free time for it and not sacrificing my personal life for simracing.
The result, not having that much tension my racing improved (not laptimes, but lap consistency and most important enjoying being on track even having DjC and Rickard faster ahead of me).
Since then every race is a fun race. Sometimes I take victories, others crash, others ain't fast enough to keep DjC busy ..... but enjoying it anyway.

By the way, Niko, I saw you struggling on your last lap without the rear wing. That must have been really difficult to drive.

P.S.:
For those not enjoying the car, not finding a balanced setup..... (well it was really difficult to get a good balance at Nords) What I always try is to find the proper balance between fast and slow corners, always looking for a neutral car, or at least a not too understeery car (this car likes to be understeery and that's quite annoying).
High speed corners are mainly balanced by adjusting wings and slow corners by adjusting suspensions (mainly anti roll bars). That's the main setup work I take. Also cambers are important, always using the rule "inside of tire hotter than outside" I always try to get around 6-8 degree difference at the front and 4-6 degree difference at the rear tires. And then working on brake balance to avoid locking the fronts and gear ratios.
I don't work much on other aspects of suspensions as my knowledge is very limited. At Nords, by chance, I just found I got a better traction through that bumpy surface by softening rear bumps/rebounds.

Thinking in Montreal (maybe I can get a few laps this afternoon). My theory in a track with slow speed corners joined by straights says I should get front wing at max and try to get the minimun rear wing posible. To compensate that higher wing at the front I should try softening the rear Anti Roll Bar to avoid too much oversteer but still keeping the car alive at those chicanes (remember car likes to be understeery).
I'll try to see wether that works or a high wing config will perform better.
One thing I've found in this car is that a good traction at the exit of corners is a lot more better (compared to other cars we've raced) than corner speed itself and in Montreal we need a good traction.

[gorgias1976]

I wish the next time we could have a mandatory 2 minute pit stop so we could stand up and let some blood back into our asses! I was literally in pain for the last 5 minutes. Maybe I should invest next in a form fitted racing chair.

A squared cushion has helped me a lot.

one similar to this:

[c.pucher]

Regarding the Lola, have to say at times its too much for me. I don't get behind the wheel that often recently and if I feel like driving I have the feeling I should practice for the upcoming league race. But then I find myself loosing interest in practising with the Lola quite easily, its better on the actual race-day where I more often than not enjoy driving the Lola.
I just rarely get into the "comfort zone" with the Lola, where I don't have to think about the car and can attack the track. I'm not sure I ever felt like pushing during a race, even knowing the driver in front of me is well within reach. I'm just too occupied keeping the car on track and even so I don't manage it. It just punishes you very hard for every mistake which on the one hand is great, cause I like the challenge and on the other hand some times is just too much and I don't feel like it.

Been on the f3 fanatics server just before this post and wow, what a blast. Felt comfortable right away in the F3 and could start to work the track in an instant. And then you see yourself finding some time every lap, feeling comfortable in trying different lines, pushing a bit more, thats great too And I miss this with the Lola sometimes.

Well, I would probably prefer a 'easier' car for next season, but that will be up for debate at the right time I guess

In the meanwhile I will continue to try to tame the beast, don't think its done Lola, I'm getting you

[1959nikos]

By the way, Niko, I saw you struggling on your last lap without the rear wing. That must have been really difficult to drive.

It was unbelievable, car felt okayish in straight line, but when I changed direction huge tank slappers started.

btw I didnt mean I dont like the Lola, the opposite, its my favorite of all, after the Brabham it feels to me like a proper car with proper brakes. Its my driving I dont like

[gorgias1976]

I feel more comfortable with the Lola because it gives less battle to the driver. When driving the BT20 or the Eve F1 at Nords I could feel the sweet tearing down my eyes while I was constantly battling the wheel. In the Lola the race was sweaty, but it is not as phisically demanding.

[bullwinkle]

here is my race report in a single word

I'M STUPID

2 words

[deecee52]

LOL ;D ;D ;D Welcome to Nords