Clean Road Car Racing LeagueOpen

[RewindTape]

Championship edit: Added results for race 4 & 5.
The return of an old leader on the board (ushu), a new runner up (Toni), and a return back onto the podium (marco).

Suzuka was excellent, I think. It's not the first one we've had with rain as I drove the Evora in 80% wet on the 'Ring in championship 1, if I recall correctly. The wet conditions do however add a dimension I like to the racing. As you marco, I like that element of constantly having to adapt to new conditions.
I did not, however, need to run backwards into the tunnel wall and bust up my left rear suspension on my out lap from the pitstop. D'oh! Now I can however comment that the damage model is better than in GT5. You can feel the suspension not working correctly under load, but how everything feels fine-ish otherwise. I liked it, while still kicking myself in the shins for not catching it in that corner. Overall, a much enjoyable race for me.

Nope. I could not get a car and/or setup that I liked. Everything I tried understeered and ate my tyres like they were made out of dough. The Cobra was my best compromise. Then on lap four, in my wisdom, I decided to show off by sliding backwards into the pitlane. Oiee, look at me! But then the referees said I had to drive all through the pit lane at 80 km/h for my shenanigans. Not my best trick.
My goal for the final part of the race was to not get lapped, which I barely managed. Small victories...

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next one!
See you on the test track!

 

[LeastResistance]

Sorry gents - I was away from Wednesday evening until Sunday, so I didn't catch any of the notifications or the races themselves. Boo! I was particularly looking forwards to the S2000 and Suzuka, a great track on comfort softs, one of my favourite race types. Ah well, there'll be other times. Sounds like you had good races, though.

So, now I have to sort a car for Le Sarthe... Hmmm, decisions...

 

[LeastResistance]

So, Vuja, is it confirmed as 'no race' this evening? Post if you have the time, otherwise, I hope the meeting goes well.

 

[RewindTape]

Sorry, no league racing tonight. And as the weekend is sketchy for most people, I don't think we can manage to assemble a racing grid. So next week it is.

 

[usuhaia08]

No problem, next week is ok.

Did you test La Sarthe? How it was?

 

[RewindTape]

I did some laps on La Sarthe yesterday in the RGT (well, almost half a race), and I must say I can't get down to Toni's 4.09 time. I do 4.13 laps with an occasional 4.11 thrown in. At the Mulsanne hairpin, I can't brake late enough without ABS and lose a full second in that one corner alone. I also lack some top speed and barely hit 300 km/h towards Mulsanne.

Well, it's an endurance, so who knows what will happen during the two hours. Night racing and potential rain adds an element of unpredicatibility. I hope I won't run out of fuel again though.

I've tried quite a few cars, and I'm still the quickest in the RGT, so I better stick with it. A bit boring and predictable choice but you guys are so quick I can't just pick any car and still believe I'll be competitive.

What cars are you guys bringing?

 

[RewindTape]

About damage setting for La Sarthe; Heavy or no?

Personally I feel Heavy would be OK as La Sarthe is half the length of Nürburgring, and unlike The 'Ring there are sand traps and safety zones almost everywhere for when you do go off track.

 

[LeastResistance]

I'd be happy on heavy damage, though it's a long lap to limp around when broken (and I find that usually, if you try and tackle the Porsche Curves at any speed with a car that is pulling one way or the other, then you usually lose it and do more damage ). Ah well. It's the same for everyone...

I'll probably be bringing my LP400 Countach. It handles benignly, so I think it might be manageable on worn tires. It's quick on the straights, too, though the braking is bad enough to make up for the straight line speed, and then some. I don't think that I can put in the occasional 4.11 - more like 4.15. But as Vuja says, it's a long race.

 

[RewindTape]

Championship edit: Added race date for next race, 2014-03-13!

I'd be happy on heavy damage, though it's a long lap to limp around when broken (and I find that usually, if you try and tackle the Porsche Curves at any speed with a car that is pulling one way or the other, then you usually lose it and do more damage ). Ah well. It's the same for everyone...
[...]

I remember driving quite a few laps the last time with a broken suspension, and it is indeed a challenge being quick. Fortunately the Porsche Curves are at the end of the lap.

Off topic: After seeing these two images I appreciate the movie Rush even more.
Ferrari garage in Italy 1971:

And this image of James Hunt:

That patch...


Edit: Lot's of classic F1 images here: http://f1-history.deviantart.com/gallery/

Edit 2:
Niki Lauda's crash in the movie is pretty accurate... (actual crash footage on the left)

 

[LeastResistance]

I thought that Rush was brilliant, a very compelling film, and a fantastic performance at the centre of it all, from the guy who played Lauda. (And those are great photo's Vuja. I LOLled at the Ferrari garage)

However, I was still disappointed to see standard Hollywood fair in terms of the actual racing scenes. You know what I mean - shots of cars getting overtaken - where the slow one is very obviously cruising along at a relaxed pace. Shopping pace. Cars racing side by side - clearly doing 40kph and being filmed from the back of a truck. The suggestion that all an angry, talented driver has to do to make up places is to push the throttle down a bit further. And change gear a few times (and every time we cut to a driver, he changes gear...) All those shots of cars passing cars obviously going slowly, it just - well, even though it was a great film, the racing scenes weren't good enough for my liking.

A lot of it was CGI anyway, so why not use more? Here's how I'd do it - I'd make my actors learn to be reasonably decent racers on a good simulation rig. It's not too hard; most of them would be plenty good enough with some practice. Multi-screen motion rigs running iRacing or something. I'd get a whole group to run race after race, wearing helmets and suits; they'd each have several cameras on them, this would allow green-screen shots of drivers actually driving, actually looking in the right direction and so on. While I was recording all of this from the cameras, I'd also record all the race detail taking place virtually - and then I'd use this as the basis of all the racing shots in the film (obviously with post-production processing and so on). With a few hours of footage you could stitch together any race scenario that you wanted, all complete with drivers actually doing the work, actually reacting to each other on the track, eyes darting to the apex, then to the immediate competitor. Real passing manoeuvres, real racing. It would be brilliant. And I don't even see that it would be particularly expensive by film production standards...

Anyone want me as racing scene director? I'm available

 

[RewindTape]

I agree, Least, the racing scenes were geared towards casual viewers without experience in even watching racing. If you look at the GIFs they show the exaggerated number of cuts in a pivotal scene to make it more dramatic and action filled, but to me I think the actual footage is more horrifying because of its documentary feel and clarity of what's actually happening other than "Watch out: CRASH!!".

I believe they used Formula 3 cars in costumes to film the driving scenes, but as you say they didn't really make it clear what was happening other than "Overtake!", again with modern action movie editing of very short cuts to hide the movie trickery of actual speeds and CGI. Shots like this one would have been gold in conveying the sense of speed:

The writer, Peter Morgan, apparently wrote the script without any racing scenes at all so it would be easier to sell as it would have been much cheaper to produce. After the budget hike, actual racing scenes were added but kept minimal to keep the length down and the story about the characters.

Your approach to the racing scenes is interesting! I wonder what the acting performance results would be compared to intercut stunt driving and acting (against a green screen too).

I first thought (and many reviewers too) that the playboy status of the racing drivers were overdone, but after just looking at images like the one I posted, I appreciated that it was a different time and a portrait from behind the scenes. Now I buy the whole set of the movie and love it! I think both Chris Hemsworth (James Hunt) and Daniel Brühl (Niki Lauda) gave excellent performances and good portraits of the characters.

The final lines in the movie actually still give me goose bumps:

Of course he didn't listen to me. For James, one world title was enough. He had proved what he needed to prove. To himself and anyone who doubted him. And two years later, he retired. When I saw him next in London, seven years later, me as a champion again, him as broadcaster, he was barefoot on a bicycle with a flat tire, still living each day like his last. When I heard he died age 45 of a heart attack, I wasn't surprised. I was just sad. People always think of us as rivals but he was among the very few I liked and even fewer that I respected. He remains the only person I envied.

That was the scene that cemented Rush as the best movie I watched in 2013.

 

[marco89IT]

Off topic: After seeing these two images I appreciate the movie Rush even more.
(cut)

I MUST post this one:

A link about the racing scenes:
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130924/f1/130929926

And this:


I agree on the point about the "weak" racing scenes, but to be honest I was expecting them even worse before watching the movie (I'm not a fan of Hollywood classic approach on this kind of movies, usually made of crashes, fire, explosions and drifting). The attention to details was pretty good, and the plot wasn't so excessive. In fact, it was even a bit "sweetened". For example they don't mention the scandal about the McLaren fuel in Monza (from Wikipedia): "According to the sporting regulations in force in Italy, petrol could not exceed 101 Octane. Penske (109 octane) and McLaren ( 101.75 )were found irregular. The managers of these teams defended themselves by saying that the petrol was regular, having been acquired in the UK and highlighting how to perform the checks were technicians Agip, a supplier of Ferrari. It was decided to cancel the time of the second session, after which the findings were made. Watson, Hunt and Mass therefore found themselves on the list with the times, very high, of the rainy Friday's session and are therefore not qualified. They were thus recovered Brett Lunger , Arturo Merzario and Otto Stuppacher. Stuppacher, however, had already left the circuit convinced that he had not qualified. Merzario not taken part in the race as well as Guy Edwards, for a problem on his Hesketh. This made readmitted, although the bottom of the grid, Watson and the McLaren duo."
Still talking about Monza GP, Lauda's race was a lot tougher than it appeared on the movie, from what I've read. After the race he was literally knackered, with the fireproof balaclava taking off parts of his skin. In Rush, he's smiling and cheering with fans and team members. Since this is a movie about rivalries, these could be details that would have added a bit more drama.
Characters were brilliant, especially Bruhl. As an F1 fan I've seen a lot of interviews and footage of the "real" Niki Lauda, and the way Bruhl moves his arms, his mouth, the expressions, etc. are really spot on. It adds more immersivity. All in all, a great movie, in my opinion.

 

[usuhaia08]

Great stuff guys, and to think I did not watch this movie yet... straight to my TO DO list. 👍

 

[RewindTape]

[...]
A link about the racing scenes:
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130924/f1/130929926
[...]

Great pic and article!
That there were so many authentic classic cars in the movie is awesome! I didn't know that.

@usuhaia08: You will not be disappointed. I caught the final showing in my local cinema. We were a total of three people there. It was great!

 

[LeastResistance]

Hi Fellas. We've had a late guest booking for dinner at our house this evening! They may be gone by 9pm - but they may not, it's not clear yet. If they are still around, then I'm not going to be able to join the race this evening I'm sad to say. But let's see how it goes - if they leave I'll log on and see what's happening, but don't wait as I may not be able to race.

I'm a bit gutted, actually. Missing 2 races last week (one of which was my favourite sort, all same car), and then maybe tonight - that's my chances of winning the championship effectively reduced to zero, which is frustrating. Ah well, never mind - it's the entertainment of the close race that is the biggest draw! But... DOH! And I found a car I'm happier with, too! Grrrrrrrr

I'll see if I can drive our guests away by being generally unpleasant

 

[RewindTape]

[...]
I'll see if I can drive our guests away by being generally unpleasant

Ha ha ha!

OK, Least. Let's hope you'll make it even if you're being your adorable pleasant you.

 

[elenor65]

Hello fellas,

I´m very pissed, because i couldn´t race yesterday and couldn´t let you know of it, and i am sorry for that. I had to work late and only got home at 23h30.
How did it go? Least could join?

 

[RewindTape]

Hello fellas,

I´m very pissed, because i couldn´t race yesterday and couldn´t let you know of it, and i am sorry for that. I had to work late and only got home at 23h30.
How did it go? Least could join?

We missed you, mate! All work and no play...
I know how work can be though, so no problems.

We had some very strange weather last night, from dry to wet (100%) in less than a lap, and from wet to dry in two turns! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?! I'd say that's a broken function.

I had a good race. Two hours really is an endurance! We had some disconnections so it was a bit lonely on the track, which was too bad. I kept both losing and gaining (mostly losing) on ushu in the lead during the entire race, so that was fun. Until the weird weather it was a good race. The first half hour (about?) was fantastic!

I'll update with the results later.

On a side note, my network issues have been reduced significantly. No more hammering to enter the lobby. Yay!

Cheers!

 

[marco89IT]

Hello fellas,

I´m very pissed, because i couldn´t race yesterday and couldn´t let you know of it, and i am sorry for that. I had to work late and only got home at 23h30.
How did it go? Least could join?

That's unfortunate, because the grid was a bit sparse (7 starters, 5 finishers; ushu, Vuja, Least, me and Toni) and with other drivers the race would have been a lot more enjoyable. This statement is always valid, ok, but in a long endurance like that one having someone around you is always important to keep the battle alive, no matter for what position. Instead, I think almost everyone had a lonely race, apart from the first 2-3 laps, which were fantastic.
And usual GT6 I would say; brilliant in some ways and rubbish in some others. Brilliant when the racing is really close, or when you admire the magnificence of some sceneries and atmospheres (I'll post some pictures later). Rubbish because of disconnections (Ante has been kicked early in the race)and because of various bugs, like when you can't choice the tyre compound and fuel before a pit-stop, when tires are a lot less grippy after a stop with no evident reason, or when it stops raining and the track changes from 100% wet to 0% in something like 30 seconds.

As I said, the beginning of the race was great. I've had a great start, taking the lead. But just for half a lap, then a couple of really close laps in the leading group, switching positions sometimes. Then I've crashed while trying to avoid Toni which was recovering after an off and I've damaged a suspension. It was 100% my fault though, Toni wasn't on the racing line. After a very slow lap with the broken suspension I realized that I've made a big mistake with the setup of my car, when I wasn't in someone's slipstream. I've removed a lot of kgs of ballast just before the start, trying to make the car more agile with the aim to save tires. But in this way I lost 6-7 km/h of top speed in the straights and that at La Sarthe it's enough to ruin your pace. Then it started to rain heavily and only on my second stop (in 2 laps) the game allowed me to switch to comfort tires. I've probably lost a minute and a half while on wrong tires(and with the useless pit-stop), the car was absolutely undriveable on sport softs.
It was a lonely race for me, but I've enjoyed it somehow. As I said in the lobby, I would like to repeat the race (also as a non-championship one) with a bigger grid. With all in the same car, perhaps.



Edit:
Here are some slightly edited shots of our last race. Sorry if almost all of them involve only my car, but the replay (so photomode too) is affected by lag. This means that when you stop it to take a picture, cars are often in an "unnatural" position.

On this one below, if you look closely, you can find the huge Dunlop advertising sign reflected in the center of the left headlight. Graphic details on this game never stop surprising me.

 

[RewindTape]

Championship edit: Added results for race 4:6.

ushu is pulling ahead in the table, but there's a good fight for 2nd and 3rd place with Toni only 4 points ahead of marco, and Least only 5 points behind marco!

Nice pictures marco, thanks! It would be fun to do write ups for the races but race reports takes a lot of time, so I've given up doing them.

 

[marco89IT]

Championship edit: Added results for race 4:6.

ushu is pulling ahead in the table, but there's a good fight for 2nd and 3rd place with Toni only 4 points ahead of marco, and Least only 5 points behind marco!

Nice pictures marco, thanks! It would be fun to do write ups for the races but race reports takes a lot of time, so I've given up doing them.

Thanks to you as usual, for your work updating the table. Just a doubt; I think you've awarded 2 extra points to Toni in the last race. Maybe it's just a typing mistake

 

[usuhaia08]

I watched the replay and those first laps were great racing, close and fair, some bumps here and there but it is normal being so close, then Ante was disconnected and Joeustil I think was disconnected too so we ended up being just 5 drivers.

Not enough for such a long race and this kind of race track, but it is what it is.

So much fun on our post race chat, lol.

Pole Position, Lead most laps and I missed fastest lap by 2 tenths, one can´t get it all, isn´t it?

Several notes on my side:

• Pit stop bug: I thought it was only for racing tires but NO it affects all type of compounds, for whatever reason once you pit and get a new set these are less grippy and it is a fact because my car felt differently and I was 2/3 sec slower before my pit stop. This will change my approach on race strategy for races to come, I will (as I think anybody else) pit later so I can get more from my first set of tires.
• Lag when someone entering pit lane: I almost spun out because of that as I was just in the middle of Dunlop curve on my braking phase, very annoying bug which did not happen with GT5 iirc.
• Weather: Not enough words to described what happened, I can understand because of a thunderstorm for the track to get to 100% wet in half a lap, too much but understandable but as you said already from 100-0% in just a few corners??? No way. Who knows maybe this is based on the progression time plus the weather variablity parameters but was too drastic anyway imho.

About the race, a poor start, Marco overtook me and then we used the draft as much as we could, some great side by side racing even under braking. Thanks everybody for being so fair, this is how we can feel being a race driver that is when you know no one is going to ram you off.

As I regained first position and with Vuja just behind I started to lap very consistent so I pulled away.

Then I started to think on my strategy I knew with the thirsty Lexus LFA I could not make just a single pit stop so I thought on a 3 stint 11/10/8 laps or similar.

I made my second pitstop at lap 22 and on that same lap is when it started to rain heavily, I made a mistake at Porsche Curve for damage on the front suspension so I had no other option than to stop, and I am glad I did it as at the time I was choosing my tires was 100% wet then I opted for Comfort Soft. Before the rain and seing as ToniXC was going for a one stop strategy I was not sure if I could make it but the rain changed it all.

Why ToniXC and Vuja did not put comfort Softs? At 100% wet surface Sport soft is too slippery for my liking and is easy to make errors and damage your car that is one of the reasons Least was able to close on Vuja on the last laps and thankgod for Vuja the rain stopped with 2 laps to go otherwise I think Least could have finished second. Great comeback from Least by the way.

One final thing, from the very first lap Vuja and Marco had damage on their cars, light damage but damage nontheless, after watching the replay I saw a bit of contact between you two but for my life I do not think that was enough for permament damage and that gents that handicaped your race.

Cheers and take care!

P.S.: I am going to attach the replay of the 3 first laps of the race. Sory for the quality and shaking as it was recorded with my phone.

 

[usuhaia08]

Link fixed!

CRCR 4:6 First Lap Online Race GT6:

 

[RewindTape]

CRCR 4:6 First Lap Online Race GT6:

(I had to use this link instead)

Second vid on its way...

Awesome, marco ushu! Thank you!
The first couple of laps were the best kind of fun gaming has to offer, anywhere!

Later in the race the pack is too drawn out to be interesting to watch, but that was just amazingly fun!

Edit: Why can't we turn off the drivers names in the replays? Oh, well...

Edit 2: Reading is apparently hard. Sorry.

 

[usuhaia08]

CRCR 4:6 Laps 2/3 Online GT6:

 

[usuhaia08]

Awesome, marco! Thank you!
The first couple of laps were the best kind of fun gaming has to offer, anywhere!

Later in the race the pack is too drawn out to be interesting to watch, but that was just amazingly fun!

Edit: Why can't we turn off the drivers names in the replays? Oh, well...

We can turn off drivers name on replays and also on the live racing but I put them on for Elen so he can watch a bit the race and know who/car We were.

👍

P.S.: Upload first laps of our racing days are not so time consuming if we do it this way, homemade if you know what I mean

 

[RewindTape]

We can turn off drivers name on replays and also on the live racing but I put them on for Elen so he can watch a bit the race and know who/car We were.

👍

P.S.: Upload first laps of our racing days are not so time consuming if we do it this way, homemade if you know what I mean

Can you turn them off in the race too?! Hehmenahehmena... What?? Cool, I will do that! Thanks. 👍

Yeah, the first laps are usually the most interesting as the drivers are close together. Again, thank you for taking the time. Video is obviously better than no video, no matter the quality. It's not a direct capture, but all good anyway.

 

[usuhaia08]

Can you turn them off in the race too?! Hehmenahehmena... What?? Cool, I will do that! Thanks. 👍

Yeah, the first laps are usually the most interesting as the drivers are close together. Again, thank you for taking the time. Video is obviously better than no video, no matter the quality. It's not a direct capture, but all good anyway.

To turn off driver names before you enter the track go to Watch Race option and once inside go to options and disable names visualization. This is new from last 1.5 update, a welcome feature for sure.

 

[RewindTape]

To turn off driver names before you enter the track go to Watch Race option and once inside go to options and disable names visualization. This is new from last 1.5 update, a welcome feature for sure.

Just checked; it's also the final option in the pause menu.

 

[marco89IT]

Why ToniXC and Vuja did not put comfort Softs? At 100% wet surface Sport soft is too slippery for my liking and is easy to make errors and damage your car...

Comfort softs are indeed the way to go with more than 40/50% of water on track. I think they haven't changed them only because of the bug on the entry of pit-lane, as it happened to me too. Sport softs are terrible on wet track, especially with an heavy car, or if the engine has massive low and medium RPM torque, like the 599 I was using.
If you think about it, it's a clever feature; Sport softs are basically semi-slicks, and they can't throw out a lot of water. Comforts instead are more grooved and you've got more rubber surface on the tarmac. This is obvious, but putting it in a game which isn't an hardcore simulator...I think it's not so obvious. It was on GT5 too, but let's concede credit to PD when they deserve it.

One final thing, from the very first lap Vuja and Marco had damage on their cars, light damage but damage nontheless, after watching the replay I saw a bit of contact between you two but for my life I do not think that was enough for permament damage and that gents that handicaped your race.

My car was completely ok. It was a soft touch, let's call it paint exchange, so I'm almast sure that Vuja's RGT was perfectly fine as well. I think it's a bug of the replay mode, Ante noticed something similar while he was watching our race.



Thank you for the videos, quality isn't so bad at all!