Mon 20:00-21:30 UK time - PC2 - Hosted by @IfAndOr - Please refer to new threadPS4

[jammy21]

Yeah, it seems to work differently session to session. On my second session it was raining whole time. I was slower than AI's at the begin of race when it was drier and faster at the end of race when it was more wet.

For me it just rains continuously.

 

[beachboy6658]

Hallelujah!Praise the Lord!!!!!!Wasn't looking forward to those races in the wet!!!!

 

[IfAndOr]

Sorry. I mentioned that I'd try the wet settings earlier in the thread but didn't get the chance. But I did yesterday.

I like a challenge but I failed. After about 6 hours of trying to find a rain setting that would work for the Lotus I gave in. The trouble is that although it's light rain the water accumulates on the track surface to an amount where the 49's tyres can't cope. I could find a setting that wasn't too bad but due to the randomness I couldn't guarantee it would work on the day. A light shower with a very slightly damp track that dried didn't seem achievable.

I've got to say that the way the water pools in various parts of the circuit and the way it dries is very realistic. It's not quite so realistic for light rain but still very clever.

During the testing I did find a time & weather setting that worked rather well. Try this @Sick Cylinder
Default date - Summer (Aug. I think)
Start time 13.00
Time progression X10
4 weather slots
Hazy/Light cloud/Medium cloud/Light cloud
Sync to race
(A misty afternoon clearing to early evening shadows)

Now with the benefit of all the testing I now know the track quite well and have got very used to the car. I'm hoping to finish in the top 16!


The V8's are a whole lot better in the rain since they have wet tyres. I did find a setting that worked quite well for them so I'll mention it over on the Wednesday thread later.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Sorry. I mentioned that I'd try the wet settings earlier in the thread but didn't get the chance. But I did yesterday.

I like a challenge but I failed. After about 6 hours of trying to find a rain setting that would work for the Lotus I gave in. The trouble is that although it's light rain the water accumulates on the track surface to an amount where the 49's tyres can't cope. I could find a setting that wasn't too bad but due to the randomness I couldn't guarantee it would work on the day. A light shower with a very slightly damp track that dried didn't seem achievable.

Thanks very much for doing this @IfAndOr - I've commented in greater length in the V8 thread. In the future (probably next year) I am hoping to run a series with the Lotus 25 & Lotus 51 - I am hoping that they are ok in light rain, because I was hoping to use them for a simulation of Historic Japanese Formula Two.

Nice shots @Sick Cylinder. A proper camera rather than a phone I would think?

I like how yellow "Miss Green's" speedometer appears to be held in with insulation tape. I expect it's probably to stop the vibration. Would its exotic fuel be methanol also?

I've wondered before what J.A.P. stood for, now I know. 👍

Thanks for kind comments - the good photos were taken by my friend Mook who has a very fancy camera - I use a Kodak digital camera which is simple and effective, but doesn't have the image quality for big shots.

I had to put the full name of the engine in because the autocorrect kept changing it to - Japanese! Regarding "Miss Green" - I didn't get a chance to talk to the owner - it might be Methanol as it is probably a modern spec engine, but up until 1957 exotic fuels were typically a blend including 2.5% castor oil, alcohol and nitro (in 1958 F1 switched to Avgas - aviation grade petrol) - I have a recipe in a book at home, but have forgotten which one!

A few more pictures from the 750 MC Meeting - they run races in 22 categories, most of which are for modern or recent production cars such as Mazda MX5's, Toyota MR2's, Hot Hatches, BMW's etc. The fastest category is for bike engined cars - these have standard 1 litre engines producing 160bhp (Normally from the Honda Fireblade). Wings are not allowed, but they lap blisteringly fast - faster than BTCC - definitely only for the experienced racer! I did meet a novice and he had qualified on pole, but he was in a works car and had 6 years karting experience and was obviously an exceptional young talent!

Above not Caterham's or Lotus Seven's, but Locost's - a car built according to specs in a book by Ron Champion entitled "Build a Racing Car for £250" - this was possible when the book was first published! Above checking alignment with string and plumb lines - I have noticed that in the Pro Series some teams do this after every session on track as catching a kerb can alter the alignment.

Above Vicky has raced Locost for the last eleven seasons - she explained that it is highly addictive! The cars use 1.3 litre Ford "Kent" Cross Flow OHV engines - with a control camshaft and blue printing they produce 80 - 90bhp which is more than enough in a very lightweight car and produces close exciting racing for competitor and spectator alike!



This Friday I went to a test session for GT cars and LMP3's - I'll post a few pictures of the most interesting cars in the next few days.

FIA Masters Historic Festival at Brands Hatch this weekend - I will be attending Friday morning, Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday - if anyone else is attending send me a message via GTPlanet and we can make arrangements to meet up at trackside - hopefully we get good weather like last year!

 

[Don Mejillone]

Can I join tonight ? and if I understand correctly, do I drive in the Lotus 49T green nr 26?
Rain or no rain / pitstop?

Greetz Don

 

[IfAndOr]

Rain or no rain ?

No rain on track this evening Don. Just as well since my race suit isn't waterproof.

And I think you've got the correct car number there.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Can I join tonight ? and if I understand correctly, do I drive in the Lotus 49T green nr 26?
Rain or no rain / pitstop?

Greetz Don

Yes - Number 26. No rain and no pit stop in the Lotus 49 series.

 

[Don Mejillone]

Yes - Number 26. No rain and no pit stop in the Lotus 49 series.

Thankx Sick 👍

 

[Don Mejillone]

No rain on track this evening Don. Just as well since my race suit isn't waterproof.

And I think you've got the correct car number there.

👍

 

[AndreasR]

Results from Silverstone

 

[IfAndOr]

Well that was quite enjoyable. My extended practising paid off. DD got away from us all from the start and disappeared into the distance. Rich went off track to cut the grass it appeared. And I spent the rest of the race flat out trying to reel in Andreas. I did but couldn't quite break away from him enough to discount my 1sec penalty.
Great race @AndreasR. My wheel is still cooling down.

The 1sec start interval is OK in helping to prevent first corner incidents but it is a bit random and does tend to turn it into a "chase the rabbit" since it already strings the field out on the early laps. Rolling starts with the AI seemed to work quite well here.

I've no idea how much to slow down or for how long when you get a off track penalty. I did slow but still got a penalty! So I'm going to ignore the warning in the future and carry on racing.
Actually I don't know why it warns you for a single "off track" incident, repeated corner cutting yes but sliding off no. Hey oh.


Poor fastest lap in the race @IBZ6L20VT! A lot slower than you were in qualifying.
We should have told you that there was a pitstop.

 

[John Wells]

Sorry I quit the race, was looking forward too this, doing quite well in practice.
Got damage, pitted, fixed but the steering at 90%, car hard to drive, struggling keep out the way.
Then think Rich bumped me on start, line, causing more damage.

At Long Beach the damage took ages to fix, so edited, it, someone tell what I have missed.
Pit stop here was quite quick.

 

[IBZ6L20VT]

Poor fastest lap in the race @IBZ6L20VT! A lot slower than you were in qualifying.
We should have told you that there was a pitstop.

My consistency clearly is not what it used to be. I need to keep working to bring it back!

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Note - Yiddokirk has dropped down to reserve and Daley87 has dropped out so there are a couple of slots available for the rest of the series.

PS - Big thanks to @John Wells for superb photography for the series and for capturing this image!

 

[IfAndOr]

someone tell what I have missed.

Sounds like you switched off the fixing of the front (or possibly rear) suspension. I tend to switch off repair of the front and rear aero, gearbox and brakes leaving the rest turned on for repair. Especially fix the suspension or you'll end up with your skew-whiff wheel.

 

[John Wells]

Thanks If Sick hopefully look at that later, loads of stuff too turn on/off, so be better for next week.

 

[richroo]

Hit post and spoiled my race , damage took ages to repair (2 laps) tried to carry on but trying to pass joe (who was going slow on the racing line ?) had contact =more damage and was past pit entry .

 

[joedakiss]

I don't remember that Rich – I might have been struggling to keep control with a wonky wheel. I had a bit of a shocker of a start last night to be honest, pretty annoyed with myself (all started with damage from clipping a post – god the 49 is delicate!). Sorry to you and @lancerevoo and anyone else who I unintentionally crippled

 

[John Wells]

No worries Rich Joe, better next time, lots of bumps Silverstone.

 

[IfAndOr]

@Sick Cylinder
I'm not sure what the others think, but could I suggest that damage is turned back down to visual again, especially in the open wheelers. The current performance impacting setting seems to be ruining drivers half hour of fun, both those with damage and those who hit the hard to control damaged cars. If you haven't got your pitstop strategy set correctly it can take various amounts of time to repair too. It's not actually that realistic having to crab around for part of a lap with major damage then get it all repaired.
It's better to keep the drivers smiling rather than having them drop out frustrated with wonky wheel syndrome.

It's a shame there's not a "light" setting like in GT where your car receives damage for a short spell then repairs itself and you can carry on. Again not realistic but it would be a good comprise between suffering some loss of control and performance but being able to continue to race.

The full setting is an option, so if you crash badly you're probably out of the race. But as I say we've only got the one race.


And while you're at it you might perhaps accidentally switch off the track limit penalty too.

 

[joedakiss]

I agree with If – it's fine picking up the odd battle scar in a covered wheel car but the open-wheelers are so sensitive to damage it can ruin someone's race so easily, whether you're at fault or (often) not. I do like the added drama and it'd be different if we did two 15-min races (which I personally would prefer...) because you'd get a second chance if the first race went pear-shaped – but it's frustrating when you wait for a week for the race then you're brought back to earth with a bump (!) a minute or two in...

Just my two cents – whatever Sick decides, I'll be doing my best to temper my enthusiasm on the first lap next week to avoid any repeats on my part

Edit: Here's a good guide to pit strategies for those who haven't seen it (not that I've had time to do it myself yet)

 

[IBZ6L20VT]

Quite uneventful qualifying and race. During qualifying I set a good time and took the chance to chill a bit before he race as I felt I couldn’t improve by much my lap time. By the end of th session @IfAndOr and @AndreasR were improving substantially.

I agree with others that the current 1 second start system is rather unfair. It gives a head start to the guy in first and then it’s quite hard to make up that extra time for the chasers.

 

[IfAndOr]

It gives a head start to the guy in first and then it’s quite hard to make up that extra time for the chasers

A reverse grid with the 1 second start system would be a more eventful race!

@joedakiss I did see you closing in on the first lap. Then disappearing! Your tyres were probably less enthusiastic than you.

 

[beachboy6658]

Some great ideas there chaps maybe worth a try on a special test evening of races if a few of us could find the time!

 

[beachboy6658]

Hey DD any chance of a little video for tonights race.But only if youve got the time mate.

 

[IBZ6L20VT]

Hey DD any chance of a little video for tonights race.But only if youve got the time mate.

You mean the Ford Falcon V8 one? I did a video and posted it on the Wednesday thread. However it’s on light rain conditions. Didn’t have the chance to update it and will not have the chance as today I will just arrive home with time for a quick supper and a bit of practice.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

@Sick Cylinder
I'm not sure what the others think, but could I suggest that damage is turned back down to visual again, especially in the open wheelers. The current performance impacting setting seems to be ruining drivers half hour of fun, both those with damage and those who hit the hard to control damaged cars. If you haven't got your pitstop strategy set correctly it can take various amounts of time to repair too. It's not actually that realistic having to crab around for part of a lap with major damage then get it all repaired.
It's better to keep the drivers smiling rather than having them drop out frustrated with wonky wheel syndrome.

It's a shame there's not a "light" setting like in GT where your car receives damage for a short spell then repairs itself and you can carry on. Again not realistic but it would be a good comprise between suffering some loss of control and performance but being able to continue to race.

The full setting is an option, so if you crash badly you're probably out of the race. But as I say we've only got the one race.


And while you're at it you might perhaps accidentally switch off the track limit penalty too.

We seem to be going in circles with this! We tried full damage to try and increase immersion and improve driving standards. We dropped the full damage, but had problems with driving standards again so went to performance impacting damage. I'll leave the damage off for long tracks like Nordschleife, but it should be possible to limp round to the pits.

Regarding the starts - the 1 second intervals can work - if people stick to it! Sometimes people are waiting at least 2 or 3 seconds, which results in a very spread out field. The formation lap didn't work well for people near the back of the grid - the 1 second intervals has the potential to work better. I don't think we can go back to normal standing starts - they are much easier in real life where drivers have more peripheral vision and the cars do not require as much room on track (simulated cars move around much more than real ones because of lag and more sliding). Maybe it would work better if the starts were called by one person with a microphone - although it might be hard to do this and race as well - the person would count out 1, 2, 3 etc. and drivers would set off when their grid slot is called (at the moment it is not easy to observe the car which is one place ahead because the stagger on the grid is very small).

I don't want to put the track penalties off - they are flawed, but they are flawed for everyone and hopefully will get better as the game develops. The alternative is human stewarding which I don't have the time (or desire) to do - I don't think anyone else wants to spend hours poring over replays.

There are many flaws, but on balance I think we've got the settings about right.

It's easier for me if both Monday and Wednesday have the same settings and a race length set to 30 minutes saves preparation time. I will try to keep the tracks the same for Monday and Wednesday as this saves on practise time - there are a few differences in the current series as some tracks did not work well for the Lotus 49

 

[Napalm_LT]

Maybe we get used to interval start, but at the moment it doesn't go very well, example - I missed start at Ruapuna (waited about 2 seconds - paid attention on counting and forgot engage gear ), this Monday someone behind started on green, bumped me in the back and I got damage before start , car was bad on braking and I crashed on the first corner of second lap - actually race was lost before start.
If someone could count 1, 2, 3 - it would be perfect, but I think anybody want to do that because it need some attention.

 

[IfAndOr]

We seem to be going in circles with this!

Yes sorry, I had thought this myself. I was just thinking about the guys from last Monday who dropped out or who's race was spoiled due to damage. So it was mainly for the more delicate open wheelers really. The problem is trying to get the balance right between enjoyment and realism. I suppose the damage works to the extent that it should make us drive more carefully however unintentional incidents do sometimes occur.
If I get damage that severely hampers my cars drive-ability my rule is if I'm close to the pits I'll try and make it there safely, if I'm a long way off then I'll pull over and retire. That I find is the most realistic and hopefully doesn't hamper any other driver. My worry always is spoiling someone else's race.

it is not easy to observe the car which is one place ahead because the stagger on the grid is very small

I think this, along with the drivers different start and rate of counting, is the problem. The pole sitter just goes but the rest are open to variation. Not really sure how to improve on it.

I don't want to put the track penalties off

Just joking on that. Although as you say they are somewhat flawed and rather draconian at times. I mentioned above that I'm just going to ignore the stupid (and hazardous) "slow down" messages and accept the time penalty. Which is usually less than you lose by slowing down anyway!

There are many flaws, but on balance I think we've got the settings about right.

Many flaws? No not at all. Just a few wrinkles.

there are a few differences in the current series as some tracks did not work well for the Lotus 49

I've only just spotted this! Good job I did. Sugo, that's a new one to me.

 

[AndreasR]

Just replace the one second interval with no overtaking and the first corner with the first sector time (as a visual starting signal) then it would be possible to have a good start with a close field and then a rolling start at first sector timetaking.
Would be good for nearly every track without having to much to explain.