LeMONS to LeMANS Wednesday Series

  • Thread starter chuyler1
  • 666 comments
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Good, clean race everyone :) I'll take the solid third place finish. I don't see myself being competitive at Monza though due to the fact I have very little money to spend on power upgrades compared to everyone else.

Also I've shared my car. Note that I bought some upgrades after the race as we were practicing at Monza. Normally I would spend more time on choosing part purchases, but with only 2500 credits, I didn't have much to chose from and I went with the cheaper power upgrades (ECU Tuning, etc.) However my car was entirely stock for Tsukuba.
 
That was good racing. Sorry about my mic, not sure why there was noise. Hopefully it will not happen again. First time I've gotten complaints about my mic.

As for the race, I was battling with madmax for about the first 15 laps. His Volvo had good acceleration. And it was also very wide. Madmax took some defensive lines and it was pretty fun trying to get around him. Finally around lap 15 or 16 I got a good run off turn 1 and forced my way at the hairpin. There were some bumps, so sorry about that.

I was then slowly catching up to Diabolic. On lap 20 (I think) I saw Diabolic ran into the sand at turn 1. Twitchie was on the left and Grenade came out of the pits. It was pretty crowded. Luckily I made it through. After that, Diabolic and I had a great battle for basically the remainder of the race.

Tuesday, I pitted twice and today I was thinking of the same thing. But no one in front of me pitted so I went in at lap 38. Diabolic pitted one lap later but I came out ahead still. We resumed our battle. It was nose to tail for the whole time and it was really enjoyable. He had a faster car in the corners I think, but I had about 20,000 credits from the first race so I had good power.

Anyway, hats off to Diabolic. Never in this game have I had someone running right at my bumper without making any contact for that long. He could have forced his way with some aggressive moves, so he got my respect for not doing that.

Huyler, I will miss next week's race. I get 15,000, right?

Why is it that every time I exit an online room, it takes 5 minutes before I am returned to the home screen?
 
iamsupernasty
It was fun while it lasted though guys. Best of luck to all, and I look forward to next year!
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No need to back out of the entire series. Lots of people can't make every race. Join us next week at Monza. You'll get some money to spend on your car as well even though you missed the race.
 
My Race Summary...

First off, I'm sorry about the delayed start. Tuesday we had drivers that couldn't see the entire field so I wanted to make sure everyone could see all 12 racers on the track. I wish BTK, Sohn, and supernasty could have made it. I think they would have been tough competition for me.

Race start: I thought I was on the pole but after taking the first turn a little slow I remembered the pole position is on the outside...which is lame. In any case I gave baldwin plenty of room to pull ahead and then I ducked behind him. I was almost 1 second off the pole lap and I thought for sure other cars were going to be between me and the pole sitter...but I guess not.

Laps 1-10ish: I used baldwin's draft to stay ahead of galkazoid. His car was definitely quick up the back straight. He gave me a few good runs once I lost baldwin's draft but lost the position in turn 1 due to understeer. It was a good battle and I had to be on my toes the entire time.

Laps 11-30: I pulled away from galkazoid once his tires started to wear down. Reminded me of Tuesday night battling with Sl3ight. I was afraid he was simply holding up faster cars behind him so I pushed myself to run the best laps possible for fear that Wiifreak or someone would get by then close in on me. During that time I lost about 6 seconds to baldwin who looked to have an easy win.

Laps 31-37: I came across MadMax as he exited the pits. His Volvo wasn't very fast in a straight line compared to my 280z but with fresh tires he would catch me on every hairpin. My tires were 50% wasted so I tried as hard as I could to hit my marks and squeeze every 10th out of my laps. I didn't want to hold up Max, but I didn't want to be behind him either.

Lap 38: I took my only pit stop and when I came out I came across some lap traffic that was running pretty quick. I used a little drafting and then squeezed by to continue with my pace. These were some of my best laps.

Lap 41: Entering turn 1, I saw baldwin coming out of the pits. I stayed wide and went around him with my fresh tires. I held him off for a few laps and then he got around me with a good draft up the back straight.

Lap 48ish: Sticking to baldwin's bumper I was able to maintain his pace until we hit lap traffic. There were several clusters. The first group let us by on the second hairpin without any issues. Next we came across galkazoid I think. Baldwin was ahead but slowed in the 2nd hairpin when galkazoid had to lift off the throttle. I snuck inside of both of them, made a little contact with galkazoid on the next right-hander but pulled off the pass. It was a little iffy because galkazoid was deep inside and wasn't going to be able to hold a fast line. I think baldwin eventually caught me, and passed me one more time...until we ran into another group of cars on the final hairpin. It turned into a bottle neck but I stayed on the gas and used one of them to draft past baldwin down the straight. This put me in the lead with about 15 laps to go.

Lap 50-65: Baldwin was on my tail in a car that could run 1 second faster. He would catch me entering turn 1 and I would pull away between the 2nd and 3rd hairpins just enough to prevent him from draft passing me...then we would repeat. A few times he got a good run up the back straight but backed off to avoid an incident...if it were me, I probably would have been a little more aggressive.

Lap 66: In an effort to close the gap, baldwin went wide on the 3rd hairpin and lost 4 seconds. He had 10 laps to make back the 4 seconds

Lap 70: Baldwin was now 3.8 seconds behind and closing
Lap 71: 3.5 seconds!
Lap 72: 3.2 seconds!
Lap 73: 2.5 seconds!
Lap 74: 2.0 seconds!
Lap 75: right on my tail!!!
Whew! What a race!

Great racing Baldwin. Too bad about that minor mistake. You would have got past me eventually if it weren't for that.
 
I almost made it the whole race without getting lapped, but it helps that I didn't need to pit. Chuyler finally got me on lap 72.
 
I had all intentions of making tonights race, but as soon as I go to turn on my PS3, there is a red light on my modem. My Internet died. Still dead so I have to figure out the issue with the phone company. God I'm mad! I figured I could have done well.
 
That was the worst track possible for me and I am glad I chose to do what I did. My car was a very consistent 1:10s car for about 15 laps. Then I would drop to low 1:11s for about 10 laps. I had to pit every 25 laps even though I was super nice on my tires.

Things worth noting:
I took a piss break in the middle of the race and it seemed to have no effect.

When the Mic went bad, I lost 5 seconds out of being angry because of that crap in my ear. That's the point at which I decided to slow down instead of speed up.

Diabolic pulled a Redreevos on turn 1.

Diabolic/Snoopy and Sl3ight/GrenadeShark put on a clinic of how to drive on someone's bumper lap after lap without making contact.
 
Definitely a great race.. unfortunately I'm going to get obliterated at Monza!

I'm still amazed at how much I lost hanging out on the track for an extra 2 laps before my first pitstop. I think I had 7 seconds on Chuyler before he went into the pits, then when I came out he was right on my bumper. I was still in the 1:10s for those laps as well.

I was waiting for the last few laps to be more aggressive in getting by you chuyler, then of course I beached it. I still had enough time, but I just ended up being sloppy trying to close the gap. Oh well, there is always the next tight technical track...

Well done Chuyler, you drove a very clean and smart race.
 
After seeing grenadeshark pit around lap 25 I knew that my only choice would be to go for a one stop strategy and just try to keep the car on the track while maintaining mid 1:11s. After sharks last stop he came out just behind me and decided to stay there, which I'm very grateful for. Wouldn't want any last lap heartbreak.

This car had the potential to be a lot faster but it was held back by terrible gear ratios. First gear is short and almost unusable, second gear is long and drops the car out of its power band. The only points on the track where I even got into third gear were the end of the back straight and the middle of the front straight.

This really became a problem when it came to the hairpins. In second gear I couldn't get high enough into the revs to rotate the car with the throttle. In first gear I'd be bouncing off the limiter immediately after apex, ruining my exit speed. It was a catch 22, but I think I made the most of it.

Now I just need to decide where to put my prize credits. I think I'm in the best position out of everyone to have a fast car next week.
 
sl3ight
After seeing grenadeshark pit around lap 25 I knew that my only choice would be to go for a one stop strategy and just try to keep the car on the track while maintaining mid 1:11s. After sharks last stop he came out just behind me and decided to stay there, which I'm very grateful for. Wouldn't want any last lap heartbreak.

This car had the potential to be a lot faster but it was held back by terrible gear ratios. First gear is short and almost unusable, second gear is long and drops the car out of its power band. The only points on the track where I even got into third gear were the end of the back straight and the middle of the front straight.

This really became a problem when it came to the hairpins. In second gear I couldn't get high enough into the revs to rotate the car with the throttle. In first gear I'd be bouncing off the limiter immediately after apex, ruining my exit speed. It was a catch 22, but I think I made the most of it.

Now I just need to decide where to put my prize credits. I think I'm in the best position out of everyone to have a fast car next week.
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Outside of me :).

I decided I wanted 10th place instead of 9th. But, I was going to pass you on the back straight and then drop back again. But, we ran into lap traffic that had already finished the race and I didn't want to block you in so I went ahead and hit my brakes.

This allowed you to get the jump to where there wasn't a photo finish. I preferred practicing tailing you then passing. Since there was no one within sight with 15 laps to go, I did just that. It was fun though. You were definitely too slow coming out of the slow hairpins. You also ran a real wide line which I wasn't sure if that was tires or it was intentional.
 
gjbaldwin60
I'm still amazed at how much I lost hanging out on the track for an extra 2 laps before my first pitstop. I think I had 7 seconds on Chuyler before he went into the pits, then when I came out he was right on my bumper. I was still in the 1:10s for those laps as well.
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You didn't have any damage to repair did you? On my screen, your car was a bit beat-up. I wonder if even minor contact forces the pit crew to make repairs. I just recorded the video and late in the race Lumberjack's car appears to give you massive damage...but it didn't slow you down at all. Must have been minor lag on my part that put you two close enough for my replay to show contact.

I think I really lucked out with lap traffic. Every time you got close to me, I had someone to draft and keep you behind. After getting around a lapped car, it was taking you 2-3 laps to get in passing position...but if you didn't make it stick, another lapped car was ahead for me to draft again. I think I only made one obvious defensive move those last 30 laps. I moved from outside to inside once before the final turn because there was lap traffic in front and I knew I could continue to hold you off if I stayed out in front a few more turns.

sl3ight
Now I just need to decide where to put my prize credits. I think I'm in the best position out of everyone to have a fast car next week.
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Interesting stuff about your gear ratios. My gearing wasn't too bad. All the gears were tall, but I didn't have any trouble rotating the car. I had to be careful of my peak hp in 2nd though, occasionally it would break loose the rear end midway through exiting the hairpins.

I think grenade will be in a better position than you next race. He banked all his money from this race. You might be able to hang with him but I think he'll take you on straight line speed.

I've got to do some practice on Monza. My spongy 70's suspension is not going to handle the weight transfer in the chicanes very well. I had trouble last night figuring out brake zones and speeds through them. I need to master them if I'm going to catch anyone's draft.
 
chuyler1
You didn't have any damage to repair did you? On my screen, your car was a bit beat-up. I wonder if even minor contact forces the pit crew to make repairs. I just recorded the video and late in the race Lumberjack's car appears to give you massive damage...but it didn't slow you down at all. Must have been minor lag on my part that put you two close enough for my replay to show contact.

I think I really lucked out with lap traffic. Every time you got close to me, I had someone to draft and keep you behind. After getting around a lapped car, it was taking you 2-3 laps to get in passing position...but if you didn't make it stick, another lapped car was ahead for me to draft again. I think I only made one obvious defensive move those last 30 laps. I moved from outside to inside once before the final turn because there was lap traffic in front and I knew I could continue to hold you off if I stayed out in front a few more turns.
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Maybe that was it.. I couldn't see Lumberjack in the room (I could only see 11 cars).. my car didn't show any damage on my screen. Strangely enough I couldn't see lumberjack last week either..
 
Garris did this for tuesday's race so I'll drop it in here. After 65 laps, here are the fastest laps for each driver...

baldwin 1:08.385 (second)
chuyler1 1:08.756 (first)
galikazoid 1:08.939 (eigth)
Diabolic 1:09.000 (fifth)
WiiFreak 1:09.305 (third)
snoopy 1:09.415 (fourth)
dabneyd 1:09.459 (sixth)
MadMax 1:09.626 (seventh)
Lumberjack 1:10.086 (eleventh)
grenade 1:10.206 (tenth)
sl3ightaru 1:10.721 (ninth)
Twitchie 1:11.340 (twelve)

I gather most of these lap times were placed with some amount of drafting. I know I couldn't touch a 1:08 in practice or qualifying. My qualifying time was a 1:09.2xx and I could run close to that for 15-20 laps. I think the draft could boost your lap time anywhere from .5 to 1 second.
 
chuyler1
Garris did this for tuesday's race so I'll drop it in here. After 65 laps, here are the fastest laps for each driver...

baldwin 1:08.385 (second)
chuyler1 1:08.756 (first)
galikazoid 1:08.939 (eigth)
Diabolic 1:09.000 (fifth)
WiiFreak 1:09.305 (third)
snoopy 1:09.415 (fourth)
dabneyd 1:09.459 (sixth)
MadMax 1:09.626 (seventh)
Lumberjack 1:10.086 (eleventh)
grenade 1:10.206 (tenth)
sl3ightaru 1:10.721 (ninth)
Twitchie 1:11.340 (twelve)

I gather most of these lap times were placed with some amount of drafting. I know I couldn't touch a 1:08 in practice or qualifying. My qualifying time was a 1:09.2xx and I could run close to that for 15-20 laps. I think the draft could boost your lap time anywhere from .5 to 1 second.
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I never had a draft the entire race. Mine was done without draft :).
 
i had a great time at tsukuba!!

i was 2 for 3 in achieving my goals:

- i finished the race (before the timer ran out)

- i didn't sustain any damage! (nor did i damage anybody else)

- i went off track a few times, but i think that's right around what i expected, although my goal was for zero off-track time

I used baldwin's draft to stay ahead of galkazoid. His car was definitely quick up the back straight. He gave me a few good runs once I lost baldwin's draft but lost the position in turn 1 due to understeer.
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i had no idea how much faster my car would be than most others

i was so excited to see that, right away

but it only lasted about 10 laps, because my tires wore down too quickly and that just exposed my poor cornering ability, and i had no chance to hold anybody off, since after exiting the corners my tires were no longer fresh enough to regain what i had lost...and there are a lot of tight turns at tsukuba!

I pulled away from galkazoid once his tires started to wear down. Reminded me of Tuesday night battling with Sl3ight. I was afraid he was simply holding up faster cars behind him...
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This is true. I was definitely holding back other drivers. My concern is that under those circumstances, where I'm sure I will eventually be passed, it's just a matter of time, I don't know what the etiquette would be. Do I concede my position? I didn't, because I didn't think I should, however I felt bad because it was obvious I was a bit of a nuisance to those wanting to get past.

Anybody who was caught behind me for a lap or two saw that I was burning my tires at almost every turn. I didn't know if it was because I took a poor line, or hit the throttle too early, or if it was because that's just the nature of the car I chose.


Next we came across galkazoid I think. Baldwin was ahead but slowed in the 2nd hairpin when galkazoid had to lift off the throttle. I snuck inside of both of them, made a little contact with galkazoid on the next right-hander but pulled off the pass. It was a little iffy because galkazoid was deep inside and wasn't going to be able to hold a fast line.
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i was so rattled during that sequence...upon further reflection, i wonder if i should have just slowed down to let the 2 of you pass sooner

i had pitted about 10 laps earlier, so it was about this time where my tire wear would start to impede my progress

then, after chuyler passed me through the 2nd hairpin, and i found myself on the inside line going into the dunlop curve, with gjbaldwin right next to me, i knew there was potential for an unfortunate incident, so once i realized it, i decided to brake almost completely, in order not to kill either of the race leaders' chances

there was still some bump that occurred, and that really made me concerned for a moment, until i saw that nobody was wavering...wow, i was pleased nothing bad came of that!



and then for my usual stupid mistake :(

lap 60, i'm in 7th place, well ahead of MadMax

i think if i had continued to run my laptimes of 1:11 and 1:12 cleanly as the tires wore on, i would've finished in 7th

but as i'm going down the back straight, saying to myself, "only 15 laps to go!", i end up going off track at the last turn, fast enough to make it into the sand

this lost me a good 6 seconds, and even though I re-entered ahead of MadMax, it was only a matter of a lap or 2 before he passed me

perhaps he would've passed me even if i didn't mess up, but i'd like to think not



what bothered me the most about this race, is that i did such a horrible job preserving my tires

what bothers me more is that i don't know what i could have done differently to prevent that

perhaps i should've taken a 2-stop pit strategy, instead of 1

why was i burning rubber so much? i have to think it has something to do with my driving line


i'm confident i'll have a competitive car at monza

but will tire wear come into effect for me again?!! :grumpy:
 
sl3ight
I'm disappointed shark. I did a 1:09.5 in the Primera.:P
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I had no draft! Every time I race, you tell me how fast you did it in the same car. I challenge you sir! 375pp stock primera. You choose the track. Heads up.

15 minute race!
 
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morbo
This is true. I was definitely holding back other drivers. My concern is that under those circumstances, where I'm sure I will eventually be passed, it's just a matter of time, I don't know what the etiquette would be. Do I concede my position? I didn't, because I didn't think I should, however I felt bad because it was obvious I was a bit of a nuisance to those wanting to get past.
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There is no defined proper etiquette. It is entirely based on the situation and you have to use your best judgement. Here's a few tips though...

If you are fighting for position and no one else is around. By all means, slow down the other driver if you can. Run as inconvenient of a line as you want as long as it is within the GTP OLR (ie no swerving down the straights or pushing other drivers off the track).

If you are fighting for position and you are faster on the straights and there is a 3rd party involved you could strategically let the driver by to run their faster line through the turns...then instead of passing you can bump draft them down the straight. By combining the cornering capability of one car, and the sheer speed of the other, you can run faster laps and hopefully shake the 3rd party and/or catch up to someone ahead of you.

The risky part of this approach is that you need to be confident you can make back the time by drafting the other driver. If you are too slow through the turns you'll lose too much time to them and not be able to bump draft. So its all in the driver's decision whether to take that risk or just hold the position and make everyone run their pace.

Anybody who was caught behind me for a lap or two saw that I was burning my tires at almost every turn. I didn't know if it was because I took a poor line, or hit the throttle too early, or if it was because that's just the nature of the car I chose.

what bothered me the most about this race, is that i did such a horrible job preserving my tires

what bothers me more is that i don't know what i could have done differently to prevent that
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This is the flaw of FF cars in this game. Unless you can tune the suspension to wear the tires evenly, you will have more and more trouble rotating the car each lap. Lap times drop off much quicker in a FF so adding a pit stop can improve things...but you've got to do the Math ahead of time to see if it will help, and you also have to consider your track position and drafting opportunities.

The FF cars need to be very quick and make use of their speed early in a run to pull a substantial lead. Once you've got a lead on your opponent, save the tires as best you can by braking early and hitting your apexes properly. Running wide and burning rubber to pull the car back in only makes things worse.

Monaco, later in this season will be very interesting. With tons of power, the FF cars will break out easily...but the RWD cars will nibble at that lead each lap and it could come down to some exciting finishes.
 
grenadeshark
I had no draft! Every time I race, you tell me how fast you did it in the same car. I challenge you sir! 375pp stock primera. You choose the track. Heads up.

15 minute race!
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:lol: Was joking around but I'm up for it!

Since Tsukuba is the track in question, how about we do it there?
 
If I could have kept in sl3ight's draft that would have really helped. A 5 second mistake put me out of his draft and i could never get back into it.
Only to major incidents this week for me.
First, I caught up to Twitchie and figured I'd skip my pit until i couldn't keep up or he pitted on lap 38 my pit lap according to my schedule I tried to inside pass a little to fast and went almost to the sand. knowing there was no-one behind me i rush re-entering the track an crashed into the pit lane. sorry about that, I know it looks dirty but I can assure you it was unintentional.
Second, with the last 3 minutes on bad tires again went wide through the first hairpin. I got hit for behind by om not sure who. once again sorry for that. although it I was very unhappy about that because it was my first damage all night.

otherwise good race everyone.

And not matter what you say I Love that Vette :sly:
 
Yeah, 1pm Eastern time. I'll do it in my lounge.

This is also made more fair by my CSPs being out of commission. Using stock Fanatec pedals.

Edit: I think the Primera is 374PP w/ window weight reduction? At least mine is.
 
sl3ight
Yeah, 1pm Eastern time. I'll do it in my lounge.

This is also made more fair by my CSPs being out of commission. Using stock Fanatec pedals.

Edit: I think the Primera is 374PP w/ window weight reduction? At least mine is.
Click to expand...

Mine's 375pp. Maybe you need an oil change or maybe yours has more miles then mine.

Send me a FR
 
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