Sim Racers 4 Life - T290 Season - Round 7 - Belgium - Reports

[1959nikos]

I chose an easy setup, Gorga can shout as much as he wants but I cant drive tail-happy ones, and I thought I could calmly drive all 1st race.
No.
I was killed at 1st lap point blanck :S

Second race went sweet, people kept dying around me, I got up to 7th!!!

Tell us what happened to you at this minefield they call a race truck guys.

Moooo.

[macwoj]

Hello
Thank you for warm welcome today guys.

I had a nice quali third place and personal best.

My first race didnt go well in first lap Gorka past me before the chicane. I think i was too close there and i didnt see when to turn into the chicane. I turn too late i lost the grip and the car sorry for the mess to the guys behind.

Second race was much better i started from the back but quickly made plenty of position.
Mostly i was running third and fourth and mistake in pitstop cost me third probably.
I have got penalty for speeding just went on throttle to soon as i thought the pit ended already.

I had fun here i feel like this is very nice league with nice people.
Unfortunately that will be my first and last race for now because i am moving soon but i hope to be back here in few months
Thanks guys and see you

Maciej Bekas

[myself9]

I propose a moment of silence for all of the noble drivers who lost their lives today.
What a bloodbath :'(

A FUN bloodbath, tho

[gorgias1976]

I'm happy I survived and kept my concentration the whole race. My setup worked really well, difficult to drive but effective, and when car is fast I drive with more confidence and make fewer mistakes.

Qualy
-------
I found lots of traffic and I wasn't improving my laptimes from practice in race fuel. Finally at my final lap attempt I was able to improve my personal best to a 3:25.6

Race 1
--------
The left side of the road was quite slippery and lost 3 places before getting in Eau Reuge. Glad to have survived the start I was carefully behind Maciej using his slipstream in the straight before Masta and overtaking him. Right at Masta I saw David losing his rear and crashing agains the houses. I was lucky to avoid contact and kept pushing hard to catch DjC.
Taking it cautiously I passed DjC the next lap. He didn't try to fight back so I was able to push hard to open a few seconds gap before the pitstop at the end of lap 4. Pitstop took 25 seconds and I went back on track with no traffic ahead and a safe gap behind.
The next lap I found Dan coming from the pits, but considering he was ahead of me he probably had missed his spot or something. As I had no need to risk I remained the whole lap behind him until he went for the pits again the next lap.
The remaining two laps I took them cautiosly getting to the finish lap in 1st place.

Race 2
--------
Starting in 10th place with David and Harri so close ahead I took it with a lot of care at the start and then going through the left side of Eau Reuge which put me away from trouble.
By that moment after a few cars had crashed I was in 6th or 7th place. I thought in going for an early pitstop to avoid being held by the traffic but by the end of the lap the group quickly started spreading so I decided to remain there and fight for positions. By lap 4th I already had passed DjC and Robert leading the pack.
I saw I had saved a little fuel driving behind the cars the first laps so I afforded to take an extra lap before my pitstop to help avoid getting into traffic. I entered the pitlane and right behind also pitted David Coyne and Maciej. After the pitstop David was like 7 seconds behind and he was pushing hard.
I managed the gap taking the fewest risks posible and got the chequered flag in 1st place.

This felt really good and I must enjoy it as it won't repeat again that easily.

[argl]

Q: I joined the sub-3:30 club in the practice session, but in qualy, I could only just slip in a 3:29,9, netting me P 10 or so.

R1: I was pushed slightly in Eau Rouge (those grid positions are really close to another), spinning out, but did not hit anything. I rejoined the field and went on to complete the race. A few competitors fell by the wayside, so I got up to 9th or so in the course of the first laps. On Blanchimot, unfortunately someone landed on my roof, but I was able to continue with a slightly bent car. On my first attempt I missed the pit entry and took an unforced drive through. Well. Second attempt to fill up the tank was successful and in the end I finished 9th. I was happy to finish, unfortunately my team mate was not so lucky. Pity, since our main competitors in the the team championship were on leave this weekend.

R2: Second race I was on the front row and after a good start experienced the sweet taste of clean air running in first place! For two laps, at least, then the train of aliens were catching me. I did not put up a fight and let three cars through. On the straight leading to masta, DC was catching me as well. I thought this was a goos spot to let him by as well. I got off the throttle, he did not expect that, he clipped my right rear corner and I turned left into a house. And that was that. I have only myself to blame.

I don't think I will compete on this track again, its is just a waste of time for me. There are too many issues spoiling the fun:

• To be fast, you have to be on full throttle pretty much all the way. Missing turn in points by a meter means instant death. Even the top drivers need several attempts to string together a fast lap.
  
• The grid is spaced too dense for my liking, and first-corner-incidents are the norm because of this.
  
• If everything works out, there is still the hayball-roulette wainting for you
  

The amount-of-time-you-put-in-practicing to reward-at-the-race ratio is just not working out for me at Spa66.

[donrandom]

The amount-of-time-you-put-in-practicing to reward-at-the-race ratio is just not working out for me at Spa66.

well, I absolutely agree with my team mate's opinion.
Although it can be great fun to have a slipstream race, Spa66 is too much of a lottery for me, depending too much on the good/bad luck one has.

Definitely, my race was positioned on the "bad" side of luck. I was working very hard to find a solid setup which should help me survive. Despite the effort, I didn't even survive lap 1 in both of the races. QUALI was just fine with a conservative 3.27 time, which earned my p5 on the grid. RACE 1 I survived the start and settled into P5. Arriving at Masta Kink, Maciej just tried to land his car in front of me. I went off into and that was it. In RACE 2 I had a terrific start, from p18 way into the top 10 just after eau rouge. However, still in lap 1 Harri and me touched slightly which did send me into the fence. I wasn't smart enough to back down, so I take the blame for that. Luckily Harri managed to stay on the track. I continued Race 2 only to find myself avoiding bales of hay. After crashing into such obstacles two more times, I finally gave up and, for the first time ever, I quit the race.

CU at Sebring!

[DJCruicky]

Yes RIP all that crashed .
I did have temptation to make another League friend version of this track with spaced out grid positions, non moving haybails and more pits etc like one I made 2 years ago but never found the time (maybe next time ).

My 1st race-->
I made a good start from 4th to 2nd. I followed David Coyne in front of me. In practice David has always been faster here, so thought I would try keep in his slip stream for as long as possible and have him pull me clear of the fast guys that I jumped at the start.
I had a chance to maybe over take David before Masta, but thought otherwise as, if I started fighting, the 2 fast guys behind would sure overtake. But suddenly David looses control in Masta and crashes gifting me 1st. (How did you not get damage David?). Was not long to wait before Gorka caught up and overtook.
There was big gap from behind so I took all the corners that I crashed on in practice with great caution and finished in a happy 2nd place.

2nd race also did a goodish start in the reverse grid. Avoided some mayhem.
Thanks argl for letting me by. After lap or 2 I was in 3rd trying to keep up with Robert and Gorka that were in a nice battle. I was keeping up as they were slowing each other down. I had a fast David Coyne caughting behind.
I did a very noob thing. In all the excitement I forgot to pit at my scheduled pitstop end of lap 4. It was only when I saw the guys infront going into the pits that I realised. In my panic I slammed on my brakes on the main straight and entered from there. But of course my pit crew would not give me no fuel as I expected (it was worth a try). With only 2 litres left in the tank I could not do another lap. There was nothing I could do apart from hit the Esc key. A bit sad but funny too. Bet Robert was thinking WTF he doing? .
Anyway, keeps the championship alive for a few of you. Gorka biteing on my tail now. Will Rik be back for last race for him to claim the championship?

See you all in the last race.
DJC

[Harri Mac]

I like Spa, I don't like Spa. I like Spa to drive alone, it's my relax track and I use it to unwind for harder tracks. I don't like Spa with other drivers, they kill you well that's my experience to date. As I explained to my son, who asked, the track has faults. We were looking at it on the live site and I started at the start line with the hazards: wall of death, hay bale wall (in the road), concrete arnco of merging, wall of death, field of despair, hay bale wall, field of despair, and at this point we've only reached Masta!

Quali - wasn't sure what to do, was thinking of not doing a time and starting from the back to observe the congested incidents and just drive around it but then thought, no, do a time, 9th on grid.

Race 1 - drove carefully not fast, was able to drive around incidents and was patient so I didn't cause incidents though I'm sorry to Rick Nauman who braked harder than me and at the hairpin above the pit lane and I tapped him on the bottom enough to lift his feet of the floor, like a big puppy sniffing a cat's asterisk. Other than that it was an interesting race and I saw sights that were almost unworldly such as cars spinning, cartwheeling and twinkling in the sunshine next to me as I drove, the chances of the cars surviving those incidents was slight. RIP racer dudes. I was extremely surprised to finish 3rd or even finish at all.

Race 2 - in the warm up lap before race 2 my game minimised and google started up, no idea why this should be, got the game back just in time to get on the start line just as the red lights of the start countdown lit. My car did not look normal, not normal at all, don't know what it looked like to you but this is my view of the car I drove for all 8 laps of the 2nd race. http://www.mediafire.com/view/kobm7zf6a6...alfCar.jpg

It handled oddly too. It didn't brake or corner quite so well. Because my brain is sieve-like I sometimes forget where I am in laps so always put in enough fuel for one extra lap past where I should be pitting and a little less for the pit. Glad I do this, I couldn't stop the car at the pit on lap 4, it just refused. Drove around again and drove slow into the pit and it wouldn't stop at my pit! Had to reverse in! Lost quite a bit of time doing this. Had to take it a bit carefully, think I was lucky to complete that race and very grateful for 6th place.

I like Spa, I don't like Spa.

[deecee52]

Qually

Went out early but I found the track had changed , grip levels were down and my backend was sliding badly , after chatting to Daisy in the middle of a field I ended up visiting , I decided to add wing , this settled the car and allowed me to claim 2nd place .


Race 1

Got a good start but threw it all away at Masta , I carried too much speed into the turn and my tyres cried enough , managed to get going again but car was damaged and reluctant to turn right , stayed like this for 2 laps and decided to pit , unfortunately when you repair a car it does not give you your setup back and I exited the pits with full tanks and full aero , the car felt like a lorry . I got my head down and just tried to wring the cars neck , I fortunately managed to survive a last corner lunge by Richard where my extra weight allowed me to brake better than him and somehow I ended up finishing a very unexpected 4th .


Race 2

I tippy toed down to Eau Rouge alongside my teamie determined not to take her out and giving her room , fortunately we both had good exits and were cleanly away , chased the guys in front but not too closely as I expected trouble , survived the first lap but with Gorka breathing down my neck .
He blew past me on the approach to Masta and was away , next lap came up to Andi and was drafting him , suddenly he came at me and I swerved to avoid but ended up putting him off , I thought I had misjudged my overtake and felt awful , in an exchange of mails after the event he told me he had lifted to let me past so it wasnt my fault .
After that I just kept it clean and drove to the finish


I enjoy this track as it rewards precise driving on the limit , in the real world no one who wants to see old age would drive it like we do , but we are sat safe behind a monitor and this encourages us to drive way over the limits of the track and the car.
The track is spoilt by unnecessary eye candy .The hay bails and other debris ruin the track and ultimately spoil the racing , at the speeds we are going its far too easy to have your race destroyed by other peoples accidents scattering debris across the track , I think DJ should work his magic and remove them , it could only make the track better .

Mega pleased to see my teamie have a good event with a well earned podium and a top ten finish AND managing to beat DJ (dont forget to keep rubbing it in H) .

Great event well done all and a big thanks to admin

[gorgias1976]

My car did not look normal, not normal at all, don't know what it looked like to you but this is my view of the car I drove for all 8 laps of the 2nd race. http://www.mediafire.com/view/kobm7zf6a6...alfCar.jpg

From my point of view car wasn't missing any piece.

[youtube]0oT3XHshIfs[/youtube]

[Harri Mac]

From my point of view car wasn't missing any piece.

I think it was a graphical glitch due to the game minimising to desktop, was strange to drive without the front end though. DJC told me what to do if it happens again to try and fix it quickly. You don't realise how much you rely on bodywork for driving judgement until it's gone!

[argl]

I enjoy this track as it rewards precise driving on the limit , in the real world no one who wants to see old age would drive it like we do , but we are sat safe behind a monitor and this encourages us to drive way over the limits of the track and the car.
The track is spoilt by unnecessary eye candy .The hay bails and other debris ruin the track and ultimately spoil the racing , at the speeds we are going its far too easy to have your race destroyed by other peoples accidents scattering debris across the track , I think DJ should work his magic and remove them , it could only make the track better .

These are very wise words. Yes, removing the hayballs, removing most of the wooden road marker posts, maybe remove some of the fencing to enable rejoining the track after an incident - that would be a big improvement and lower the frustration potential significantly.

[sdancourt]

The trick with this car is always keeping the tiny "windshield" within track limits (from your visual point of view, of course).

[Ricknau]

I have to agree somewhat with the "not much joy at this track" gang. Typical pile-up in T1. To be expected at this track. I got jostled and tapped others but got thru in pretty good shape. Gained a few positions. Later in lap1 I ran over a piece of fence post laying in the track which actually got me wobbly and made me crash with minor damage. Was all down hill after that. Pitted on lap 5 so car was fresh. On lap 6 I somehow got a case of understeer at Stavelot and crashed pretty hard. Limped it around for 2 laps to come in P11, last of the finishers I think. Was very happy to NOT be P10 and have to start on pole in race 2.

But lo and behold somehow I'm dropped right into the pole position for next race! What??!! Lot's of folks got by me pretty quickly. (Alonso's comment about feeling like a GP2 car came to mind!) But once I settled into the mid pack I felt much better. That is, right up until I swing into Stavelot on lap 5 or 6 and see Dan sitting still, broadside across the track. I T-boned him at about 150mph. Actually knocked him straight. And off he goes. My car would still drive but it was way out of whack. Lost it a few corners later and had to Esc out. Actually glad to not have to limp around for 2 more laps.

I walked away thinking man I am glad I didn't devote multiple hours practicing for this weekend.

P.S. I wish this game would overlay a noticeable yellow flag on the screen. Is that possible? The animated flag guy standing at the scene of Dan's crash holding a stationary yellow flag was totally useless to me. Not that I could have stopped anyway, but a couple of seconds advance notice might have helped.

[gorgias1976]

I guess you could, maybe there's a plugin for that. Other drivers could tell us.

[Hedlund]

The default HUD nowadays actually has BIG flags in top left corner. Finish flag, yellow flag etc..

[Hedlund]

Will Rik be back for last race for him to claim the championship?

No I won't. I'll be away, and I knew that before this race at Spa and that's why I didn't force myself to participate (I was not in best shape)

So it was a really good start of the season, but after the connection issues me and Rob had at Mosport, I lost it. It's up to you and Gorka to fight for the title now! Good luck.

[gorgias1976]

The default HUD nowadays actually has BIG flags in top left corner. Finish flag, yellow flag etc..

HUD Flags to me are quite small due to the widescreen monitor, but in belgium, for the same reason I had a very nice view of the guys on the sides of the track waving them.

[gorgias1976]

Will Rik be back for last race for him to claim the championship?

No I won't. I'll be away, and I knew that before this race at Spa and that's why I didn't force myself to participate (I was not in best shape)

So it was a really good start of the season, but after the connection issues me and Rob had at Mosport, I lost it. It's up to you and Gorka to fight for the title now! Good luck.

I would need a DNF from David to get a chance, so he just has to bring the car to the finish line with no risks.

Anyway, the important is to enjoy it. My setup has been working pretty well in the last races which had very bumpy tracks. Sebring is a lot flatter, maybe it won't work as well there.

Day night transition, I remember someone said what real time the race started and finished so we can set it for the T290 1 hour race time multiplier.

[sdancourt]

From 10 am. to 10 pm. At least in 1962.