Nat./Regional Finals training - Updates from finals around the world!

[Tidgney]

Absolutely awesome racing tonight, only did 3 races but each one of them was awesome and the most enjoyable night by far I think! Dont think I had a result where I was over 2 tenths from any car which made it very interesting and fun haha ! Great stuff 👍

 

[gatordaryl]

Absolutely awesome racing tonight, only did 3 races but each one of them was awesome and the most enjoyable night by far I think! Dont think I had a result where I was over 2 tenths from any car which made it very interesting and fun haha ! Great stuff 👍

Agreed! Great racing and super intense. Only did a few races but felt like it was 2 hours due to the intensity. Bravo gents! 👍

 

[Adam41]

Yep really good racing.

 

[fastboysmith]

Anyone having a steer at the moment

 

[redsoxboy80]

We only started running it because someone brought up that it was used at our Nationals last year. But it's much better to practice to be safe rather than sorry.

And that someone was me. Yeah it's a way better idea to put the grip reduction on real. My thought was that practicing with everything as it will be at nationals would be best, but yeah it didn't quite work out that way. My bad.

Hopefully they can be a bit more enjoyable now.

 

[MSPDaflow]

Hey guys,
Can you please add MSP_Daflow. I would like to go with you for some races. To much freaks out in the open lobbies .

 

[ShaneUK]

After the Criticism from Nasty about aggressive driving, which I think is warranted, I have gone through a couple of replays to get some examples of scenarios where another approach could have been taken.

Please remember aggressive driving is anything from weaving over the road, taking risks, attempting overtakes from poor positions, excessive blocking or trying to gain an unfair advantage. If I have made a mistake anywhere here, please let me know. This is done to help the standard of racing rise in the weeks leading up to your respective national final.

Firstly, here is an example of corner cutting. When you are approaching a corner like this it is easy to outbrake yourself so if you find yourself cutting the corner as a result on one occassion, that's fine. What's not fine is repeat corner cutting such as this.

Lap 1

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/542/nwhj.jpg/

Lap 2

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/199/9ywg.jpg/

Lap 3

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/585/s7bn.jpg/

Please can we remember that all racing should happen within the white lines. Three or four wheels outside could land you a points deduction at your respective national final, so practice restraint here.

Ok, on to blocking. If a racer has a run on you, you are fully entitled to defend your position, you could do this by covering the inside of the track, for example. However, you can't move over to an extent where the racer leaves the track, brushes a barrier or sustains contact, as this would be an attempt to unfairly stop an overtake, such as this:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/836/gcn3.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/189/nbw9.jpg/

Again, be careful here, any contact could get you a warning at the finals.

Abusing the 'low' or 'fake' off track grip setting. Please be aware that although we have switched to real, which I endorse, please do not abuse the low setting if it is implimented at your respective final. Four wheels off the track is still not acceptable when taking speed out of a corner, you could find yourself with warnings and placing yourself in a position where a points penalty could be incurred. Avoid the following, and take note just how much time was gained by this move:

Gap into the corner:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/109/fi34.jpg/

Entry:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/585/qcj8.jpg/

Exit:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/9/t7lu.jpg/

Time gained:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/545/k69x.jpg/

Missed your braking point? This can happen to the best of us, but please try to avoid other racers when you have missed your braking point. When there is plenty of space to the side i.e. no barrier, take that space to avoid an accident. What is not acceptable is using the racer ahead as a sort of cushion for your mistake. The following example shows this being implemented:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/38/6np6.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/407/fzxh.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/33/bijz.jpg/

What followed is also strongly discouraged, the offending racer should never claim the victims position on the following straight as you should never take a place unfairly. The racer should have backed off and let the cushion back into their original position:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/5/ar7e.jpg/

Final notes, please avoid ramming or attempting to ram other racers when you struggle in a race:

69mph, full throttle.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/827/a9y1.jpg/

Please be aware at all times that it is your responsibility to not make contact with the racer in front of you when you get a good exit out of a corner. Let alone make contact after cutting the previous corner:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/197/p3f8.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/837/w4ac.jpg/

Note to self and others, don't send an angry message about the above incident/any incident you may have with other racers. This only results in denial of the incident and extensive pointless arguing.

I hope this has thoroughly gone over many racing incidents we are having in the lobby. I am positive that the standard will rise if we avoid these common issues that I have highlighted.

To the offender in the pictures, I am pointing this out for all to learn and improve our driving. We can all improve, nobody is perfect and we are afterall all here to learn from our mistakes and others.

Good luck to all racers who are attending national finals, keep it clean.

 

[GTP_rpm]

Ok, on to blocking. If a racer has a run on you, you are fully entitled to defend your position, you could do this by covering the inside of the track, for example. However, you can't move over when a racer is already alongside your car by any degree, as this would be an attempt to swipe or squeeze them into the barrier/off track, such as this:

Is this is a rule specific to GT Academy?

Obviously moving over so there is contact and/or less than a cars width isn't acceptable, but making the gap narrower for the other driver is acceptable in every race series I've ever witnessed.

Anyway at the finals it will be up to whoever is judging it to make these decisions and the rules and guidelines will be clearly laid out by them. If you follow them, you won't have any disappointments 👍

Looking forward to seeing all the Brits on Monday.

 

[ShaneUK]

Is this is a rule specific to GT Academy?

Obviously moving over so there is contact and/or less than a cars width isn't acceptable, but making the gap narrower for the other driver is acceptable in every race series I've ever witnessed.

Anyway at the finals it will be up to whoever is judging it to make these decisions and the rules and guidelines will be clearly laid out by them. If you follow them, you won't have any disappointments 👍

Looking forward to seeing all the Brits on Monday.

Yh that's written wrongly, I'll edit!

 

[Wardez]

Yeah, squeezing people around is fine as long as you leave enough space for their car before the track boundary, what's not fine is squeezing people into the wall or off track.

 

[BanditKarter22]

@Shane- Clearly you are on a hate campaign against me. At Monaco I was cutting the chicane on purpose because you are allowed to do so without being disqualified, I did not outbrake myself, there is no white line at the chicane, it is all tarmac. The incident at Motegi was a mistake and I held my hands up for that. The images you took at Laguna Seca are complete BS, at not point did I have 4 wheels off the track, which includes kerbs. I only had 2 wheels off on the inside and 3 wheels off on the exit, and after all it was a practice race, I don't see why I should lift off just because I ran wide, the punishment was to have slightly dirty tyres for the next corner. I gained so much time on you because you missed the apex and scrubbed off exit speed too much, simple. At Monaco where you said I squeezed you, that is allowed, and at no point was contact made between our cars or with the wall. Into the hairpin, if I was trying to ram you I would have easily done so, I was having a sneezing fit, that's why I changed down to 1st in the first corner instead of changing up to 3rd, hence why you caught me up. On the final corner at Laguna Seca, I'm sorry but how did I cut the corner? I have at least 2 wheels on the tarmac/kerbs at all times. And it's perfectly acceptable to push people out of corners of you get a better exit, it happens in real life racing all the time, it is to avoid the people behind catching up too much, it was just unfortunate for you in this case that you got a bit of oversteer, it didn't make a difference to the outcome of the race anyway, I would have passed you into the next corner. I find you very immature doing this, we should all concentrate on our own racing. What does it matter if some people do things you don't agree with? It's not your problem, it's only practice. I could also find many examples of other drivers doing things like what you've shown in the images but you use just examples of my driving, why may I ask?

 

[Wardez]

All I know is that if they try to play up a rivalry between you two on camera starting tomorrow at Finals, it'll prove they read the forums xD

 

[BanditKarter22]

All I know is that if they try to play up a rivalry between you two on camera starting tomorrow at Finals, it'll prove they read the forums xD

 

[Spurgy 777]

@Shane- Clearly you are on a hate campaign against me. At Monaco I was cutting the chicane on purpose because you are allowed to do so without being disqualified, I did not outbrake myself, there is no white line at the chicane, it is all tarmac.

It's generally considered the kerb at Monaco chicane dictates the white line, which I thought would be quite obvious if no one else was cutting it.

The images you took at Laguna Seca are complete BS, at not point did I have 4 wheels off the track, which includes kerbs. I only had 2 wheels off on the inside and 3 wheels off on the exit, and after all it was a practice race, I don't see why I should lift off just because I ran wide, the punishment was to have slightly dirty tyres for the next corner. I gained so much time on you because you missed the apex and scrubbed off exit speed too much, simple.

Kerb is not considered track IRL, so I doubt it will be at the finals, your exit would definitely be considered as exceeding track boundaries.

At Monaco where you said I squeezed you, that is allowed, and at no point was contact made between our cars or with the wall.

I think he was more concerned about what appeared to be a sudden swerve across the track, but it is hard to tell from the pictures how sudden it was, if it wasn't sudden then I see no problem with it.

Into the hairpin, if I was trying to ram you I would have easily done so, I was having a sneezing fit, that's why I changed down to 1st in the first corner instead of changing up to 3rd, hence why you caught me up.

My advice, if you sneeze near a braking zone, learn to automatically put the brakes on, it's better to be safe than sorry.

On the final corner at Laguna Seca, I'm sorry but how did I cut the corner? I have at least 2 wheels on the tarmac/kerbs at all times. And it's perfectly acceptable to push people out of corners of you get a better exit, it happens in real life racing all the time, it is to avoid the people behind catching up too much, it was just unfortunate for you in this case that you got a bit of oversteer, it didn't make a difference to the outcome of the race anyway, I would have passed you into the next corner.

It's hard to tell if you did cut, again kerb will probably not be considered track, so if you had 4 wheels past the white line, then you did. As for bumping on exit, it is only fine if the other driver is completely out of the corner, you can't tap someone whilst they are still coming out of the corner because it's probably going to make them oversteer like in the picture.

I find you very immature doing this, we should all concentrate on our own racing. What does it matter if some people do things you don't agree with? It's not your problem, it's only practice. I could also find many examples of other drivers doing things like what you've shown in the images but you use just examples of my driving, why may I ask?

Your driving, and everyone else's, is everyone's problem. We are all trying to practice and if you keep making mistakes like in the pictures, that affects us too. You can't drive however you want just because it's practice, any more than anyone else can. We're not here to serve your purposes and help you practice, we're here for ourselves which means we should all treat each other as cleanly as possible and concentrate on not making mistakes instead of having the mentality, "it doesn't matter, it's only practice".

I don't really understand why you find it immature for someone to point out your mistakes only, it was done in a mature manner and Shane in no way offended you at any point.

 

[Saidur_Ali]

BanditKarter22, it would be a good idea for you to take onboard what Shane said as it will only help you in finals. It is even more strict there, for example you can only have two wheels on Nurburgring GP Chicane kerbs or you can be penalised. If you don't back off when going wide then you will be penalised. You might be disqualified or at least have a time penalty applied if you took the same approach to the finals as you did in pictures shown above of some races you took part in. This will make it harder to get through Day 1. Better to consistently score good points than risk everything for little gain.

Even if you have a lenient judge, other drivers can do an appeal if they think you are in the wrong. Better be safe than sorry.

 

[BanditKarter22]

I don't need everyone to tell me what to do, just 🤬 off and leave me alone okay?

The finals are where it will be decided, there's no point giving it your all in practice, so stop trying to annoy me.

 

[Saidur_Ali]

It is just friendly advice, you will see how it is tomorrow but what you said in your last post as acceptable will get you penalised, I know from experience. Either way best of luck to you guys 👍, should be interesting to read about soon.

 

[Mamba]

Awesome rivalry going on, they should have cameras at the finals the ratings would be through the roof

 

[dsgerbc]

And it's perfectly acceptable to push people out of corners

Just a quote out of context to add hilarity. I sure hope there's a live feed, or a record of the UK finals.

 

[iamsupernasty]

I think the important thing to remember is that BTCC is not clean racing, and those drivers would be penalized at almost every other racing series. Don't learn your race craft watching them. Learn it from F1 or FIA GT3 or ALMS.

 

[ShaneUK]

@Shane- Clearly you are on a hate campaign against me. At Monaco I was cutting the chicane on purpose because you are allowed to do so without being disqualified, I did not outbrake myself, there is no white line at the chicane, it is all tarmac. The incident at Motegi was a mistake and I held my hands up for that. The images you took at Laguna Seca are complete BS, at not point did I have 4 wheels off the track, which includes kerbs. I only had 2 wheels off on the inside and 3 wheels off on the exit, and after all it was a practice race, I don't see why I should lift off just because I ran wide, the punishment was to have slightly dirty tyres for the next corner. I gained so much time on you because you missed the apex and scrubbed off exit speed too much, simple. At Monaco where you said I squeezed you, that is allowed, and at no point was contact made between our cars or with the wall. Into the hairpin, if I was trying to ram you I would have easily done so, I was having a sneezing fit, that's why I changed down to 1st in the first corner instead of changing up to 3rd, hence why you caught me up. On the final corner at Laguna Seca, I'm sorry but how did I cut the corner? I have at least 2 wheels on the tarmac/kerbs at all times. And it's perfectly acceptable to push people out of corners of you get a better exit, it happens in real life racing all the time, it is to avoid the people behind catching up too much, it was just unfortunate for you in this case that you got a bit of oversteer, it didn't make a difference to the outcome of the race anyway, I would have passed you into the next corner. I find you very immature doing this, we should all concentrate on our own racing. What does it matter if some people do things you don't agree with? It's not your problem, it's only practice. I could also find many examples of other drivers doing things like what you've shown in the images but you use just examples of my driving, why may I ask?

I still don't understand why you can't get that I am trying to help you, I put that post together as politely as I could in the face of poor race craft and driving. Please listen to criticism because if you get a penalty at the finals you will know that I did absolutely everything I could to make you aware of what is and isn't acceptable. To confirm, it's white line to white line, it is not the kerb. There are many flaws in what you have said, but I think people can make their own minds up.

In other news, I smashed my face training today and have some very impressive cuts as a result, why oh why did this have to happen now! Ahh well, people won't have any issues recognising me now! As if my hair didn't get me noticed anyway pahaha!

 

[Johnar726]

I still don't understand why you can't get that I am trying to help you, I put that post together as politely as I could in the face of poor race craft and driving. Please listen to criticism because if you get a penalty at the finals you will know that I did absolutely everything I could to make you aware of what is and isn't acceptable. To confirm, it's white line to white line, it is not the kerb. There are many flaws in what you have said, but I think people can make their own minds up.

In other news, I smashed my face training today and have some very impressive cuts as a result, why oh why did this have to happen now! Ahh well, people won't have any issues recognising me now! As if my hair didn't get me noticed anyway pahaha!

Man your gonna look good in pics ;-). According to the paperwork there's gonna be a film crew there too, I bet you can't wait ;-).

 

[iamsupernasty]

Lol Shane that is a bummer man!

I guess people will just think you're a badass

--

Hoping to be online today for a bit guys, but need to spend a few hours this morning visiting Home Depot and building a new rig for my T500RS. My current rig is surely not stable enough to take the extra power of that wheel.

Have fun anyone whose on, and good luck to all the Brits tomorrow if I don't see you before hand.

Let's keep the fist fights to a minimum please

 

[ShaneUK]

Man your gonna look good in pics ;-). According to the paperwork there's gonna be a film crew there too, I bet you can't wait ;-).

Haha! Tell me about it dude, I thought I had broken my nose actually, hit the ground square on. It will NOT look good in the morning! Need a makeup team to my hotel room tomorrow 1pm sharp.

 

[thq]

Jesus ****ing Christ you two.

 

[Tidgney]

Well that's all my practice done! Now off to Silverstone!! See all of you there tomorrow or tonight if your going for an extra night!!

 

[BanditKarter22]

I still don't understand why you can't get that I am trying to help you, I put that post together as politely as I could in the face of poor race craft and driving. Please listen to criticism because if you get a penalty at the finals you will know that I did absolutely everything I could to make you aware of what is and isn't acceptable. To confirm, it's white line to white line, it is not the kerb. There are many flaws in what you have said, but I think people can make their own minds up.

In other news, I smashed my face training today and have some very impressive cuts as a result, why oh why did this have to happen now! Ahh well, people won't have any issues recognising me now! As if my hair didn't get me noticed anyway pahaha!

Sorry, it didn't come across that way, maybe a smile would've helped

Anyway, let's put it all behind us, thanks for the advice and I'll do my best to race clean and fair tomorrow 👍

Bad news about your face, I'm sure it'll make you look more scary on track

Good luck! 👍

 

[ShaneUK]

Sorry, it didn't come across that way, maybe a smile would've helped

Anyway, let's put it all behind us, thanks for the advice and I'll do my best to race clean and fair tomorrow 👍

Bad news about your face, I'm sure it'll make you look more scary on track

Good luck! 👍

I agree, good luck to you too!

 

[JejeremyB]

Who's up for some practicing tonight? I'll be available in an hour or so, would be nice to see many guys showing up.

 

[markyboy92]

The time has come around so quick?!, I've barely practiced atall and after puting in the bare minimum effort to qualify in the time trial , I've certainly not done myself any favours,
See who can hold there nerve tomorow, cya soon uk finalists, will be a good couple of days nonetheless in sure