FGT Indy 500 - Gauging Interest

If they're unrestricted the race will get done a little quicker too. 👍

I did learn one other important thing during testing: I'm actually going to have to do some conditioning for this race. After 30-40 minute of testing my shoulders were starting to get a little sore, I can only image what they'll feel like after 2.5 hours of constant left turns!

I was thinking, we could consolidate qualifying down to one day and do a proper "Fast 9 Shootout" after all 15 spots are filled. Could be very exciting! 👍
 
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I think we're shooting for the weekend before the actual Indy 500, so I believe that would be Sunday, May 22nd. Not sure of a time yet but I'd guess early afternoon Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4).
 
9am PST / 1pm EST / 5pm GMT should allow many to make it. So maybe log on at 12pm and start race at 1pm
 
Does anybody have any opinions on how to do qualifying? Do you guys like the idea of a 2 day qualifying event like real life, or would doing it all in one day be better?

I personally like the idea of 2 day qualifying. It would really add to the feeling of this being a "spectacle" just like the real race. But I also understand it could be difficult to work it around peoples real life schedule. Guess it just depends on how many people sign up.

Anybody else interested? I know we have a bit of time before this gets underway but we'd like to get some input from people who are interested in participating so we can start finalizing a format, procedures and times.
 
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yea im still interested i just keep poping on and hving a quick look as i dont really know anything about indy 500 etc lol, im easy il go with anything :D
 
On qualifying. We will open a lobby daily the week before race to allow people to get their first qualifier in. Then come the Saturday before the race we will open a Lobby all day and this will be second qualifier aka bump day.

So a week of suspenseful qualifying Then on bump day things could get shuffled around. Will be very interesting to say the least.

Very good racers showing interest. This should be a clean tight race. I truly expect a close finish. :)
 
During the week we will update the leaderboard with the times from the daily qualifiers. At the end of the Friday qualifier the top 10 times will be locked in and those drivers will start where they qualified. On bump day spots 11-15 will be "on the bubble" and could possibly be bumped. If you are bumped you can put in another round of 4 laps to try to get back in.

The official starting grid will be posted Saturday night before the race and we will do a manual line up on Sunday according to our qualifying order, followed by 2 parade laps behind the pace car. At the end of the second pace lap the pace car will pull off the track (entrance of turn 3) and the field will maintain pace speed until the lead row crosses the Yard of Bricks, aka start/finish line.
 
Did a couple short tire tests last night and I'm still seeing virtually no difference in lap times between the Racing Hards and Racing Softs. On both tires my times are within 1-3 tenths of a second of each other (:40.2-:40.4 on both). So I guess it won't make too much difference what we pick for tire regulations. It could depend on tire wear though, I did 10-15 lap runs on both and saw no tire wear on either compound but I'm not sure how they'd be after 30-40 laps. Has anyone done any longer tire tests?
 
StigsHero
Did a couple short tire tests last night and I'm still seeing virtually no difference in lap times between the Racing Hards and Racing Softs. On both tires my times are within 1-3 tenths of a second of each other (:40.2-:40.4 on both). So I guess it won't make too much difference what we pick for tire regulations. It could depend on tire wear though, I did 10-15 lap runs on both and saw no tire wear on either compound but I'm not sure how they'd be after 30-40 laps. Has anyone done any longer tire tests?
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I did the actual Indy 500 event in A-spec using an FGT (keep in mind online tyre physics are different) and did a stint with hard tyres and soft tyres. There's virtually no difference between the two and pit stops will always be for fuel instead of tyres. I would recommend soft tyres as they allow for greater manoeuvrability - which can prevent accidents and the like.
 
I tend to agree. In a race this long there will be plenty of incidents, but nobody wants their race to end early so if we have a little more maneuverability to avoid the incidents I think that will make everyone's race more enjoyable. If we leave the tires unrestricted then people will be free to choose whichever compound they want. I'll try to do more testing to see if one of the compounds last longer than the other. I'd think one would have a longer life, but because the tire-wear model is a bit askew in the game I have no idea which would be the longer lasting.
 
It will be fully announced soon. We're just ironing out some of the final details and doing a little more testing to make sure we have everything organized before it's "official". We'd like to get as full of a field as possible, so if you guys have any friends that might be interested send them our way! We have 14 people who have expressed interest in this thread so we're getting close to a full field if all of those people participate. I think we'd like to have around 20 people at least, that way bump day actually means something and we know we'll have the 15 best drivers in the field. I think we might still need a volunteer for the pace car driver too.
 
The drafting is crazy on this track with the FGT's! It's almost like having a push-to-pass button. When drafting behind another car you only have to be about 50% on the throttle to maintain, and when you floor it you take off like a rocket! It's really fun, but I think we'll have to have some strict anti-blocking rules to avoid constant pile-ups! I think the standard rule should work, you're allowed to change your lane once to block but after that you must yield. As long as everybody drive's smart and respectful we should be fine though. :)
 
Limiting max speed using the transmission is a good idea as well - perhaps a value that allows a 5mph boost using the slipstream?
 
Limiting the top speed isn't something we can police so somebody could have their transmission set higher and we'd have no idea. It's a good plan but I can't think of any way to enforce it. The draft isn't unbearable, and I think it will lead to interesting racing and strategy. You can save quite a bit of fuel in the draft and could possibly make it on 4 stops if you draft enough. :)
 
Is anybody else going to the actual 500? I believe Owens and I will both be there, plan on meeting up and having a few cold ones. :) I'm only an hour from the track and he is about 2-3 hours so it's easy for us to go. Not so easy for the European crowd. It's a great time though! My favorite place on Earth, and I've been to a lot of places! 👍

Here's a picture of me at the 500 last year:

picture.php


And another from the MotoGP race last year:

picture.php
 
1.5 hrs away man!!! I got carb day ticket. Just need to locate a sitter. Press passes and such. Should be fun if I can get free.
 
I forgot you're right off 65, I thought it would take longer since you're so far north but you just hop on the interstate and set the cruise control!

We print stuff for the Speedway at work, last year they gave me a free ticket to the MotoGP race. 👍 I'm going to ask the sales rep if he'd be able to get us some tickets to the 500 or any of the other activities. We printed some invitations to the Hullman's private suites this week, but didn't figure we'd be high class enough to get one of those! lol I usually just go General Admission and set up in the infield. I hate being crammed up in the bleachers, and it's only $20 for GA tickets. Cheap! :)
 
Missed the "Snake Pit" days at the track. I was a kid when the wild parties went down in the infield. However I do recall many stories from older car friends that was able to enjoy it.

For those that wonder what the heck. The snake pit was basically bikers, booze, women and racing. It was wild, crazy, and very adult oriented. Hhehehe
 
StigsHero
Is anybody else going to the actual 500? I believe Owens and I will both be there, plan on meeting up and having a few cold ones. :)
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I plan on being at the 500 with Ranhammer. :) Though I'll be making a trip from Reading, PA all the way to Indy where he'll let me stay at his place for the night before the race.

Also, I was able to buy my Autobacs Orange FGT from the Online dealer last night. Another million and I'll be able to do an overhaul of the engine and chassis before the race. :) After making the purchase, I took the car to the virtual Brickyard and did a could of 4 lap runs as to what I should have the transmission set to for Qualifying and the race. If we plan on going with the stock power settings, I have a feeling we might challenge the real-world Indy 500 average Race speed record.
 
Oooh Average speeds should be achievable via lap times. Not perfect for the line around the track can influence. However would be close enough data to take the time and figure.
 
I think we are going with the stock settings. Mine is around 885-890hp and I'm turning pretty much the same exact lap times (~:40.0sec) as the real cars did last year. Faster with the draft. So we should be very close to the real life time.

I'm starting my conditioning in earnest this weekend. We should get together and run some 40-50 lap practice races to start getting a feel for tire wear and pit strategy, as well as earn some pretty nice cash. Us wheel users need to start building up our shouder muscles too, mine start getting sore after 30-40 laps of testing!
 

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