ORCA Alfa Z-Cup - Special Event Time Trial - Fuji TZ2

[Marcus Garvey]

The lap was certainly sloppy. I had several laps that were between fifty thousandths and tenth or so off of my best and they were much more composed and felt faster. I, as well, was surprised at the time when I finished the lap. Not only was it very sloppy entering 100R, but my T2 time was over a quarter of a second slower than my previous best. I was a bit overwhelmed between learning the course, how to tune, and how to drive the car with whatever new settings I introduced.

You have to run the qualifier and use a GTP tag to run the WRS, right? I'll have to take a look at how that all works.

I appreciate the feedback, and the time trials are very intriguing. I've thought about it, having the flexibility to run during the odd hours I keep, and the deep talent pool that is there promoting competition make it attractive. I would rarely have the time to invest to be competitive, though, and I'm afraid I'd be putting in half-hearted effort. I know how much time that some allocate to run at the top of these trials, and I am not sure I could keep up with that. I typically run in very short sessions.

 

[WRP001]

The lap was certainly sloppy. I had several laps that were between fifty thousandths and tenth or so off of my best and they were much more composed and felt faster. I, as well, was surprised at the time when I finished the lap. Not only was it very sloppy entering 100R, but my T2 time was over a quarter of a second slower than my previous best. I was a bit overwhelmed between learning the course, how to tune, and how to drive the car with whatever new settings I introduced.

You have to run the qualifier and use a GTP tag to run the WRS, right? I'll have to take a look at how that all works.

I appreciate the feedback, and the time trials are very intriguing. I've thought about it, having the flexibility to run during the odd hours I keep, and the deep talent pool that is there promoting competition make it attractive. I would rarely have the time to invest to be competitive, though, and I'm afraid I'd be putting in half-hearted effort. I know how much time that some allocate to run at the top of these trials, and I am not sure I could keep up with that. I typically run in very short sessions.

The rule of thumb is put into the qualifier what you typically would put into a normal event. That way if you only do short session and you qualify D2 then you put in that same effort each week and compete against D2 drivers. Some of those D2 drivers like me might not be as talented as you so we need more time to get to your speed. Some may be the same as you and not need many laps to get a good time. Some may even be faster.

If your goal is to compete at the very top level then yah, it's a commitment, but there is no obligation to run every week (I don't) and there is no obligation to submit your time every week. You can submit splits and decide to submit your final lap or not. The key thing is it's a very flexible format versus an online series where there are set times you have to run. I like to race online and against other drivers as well and I treat the WRS as more of a boot camp for my driving.

Especially at new tracks or challenging cars to drive. If they run a track/car I don't care for I just skip that week and devote more time to online live racing. The only real commitment is setting up the GTP tag account (20 minutes) and running the qualifier (time is individual dependent). After that you put in as much or as little as you want. And by the way, that listing on the official registry will get you access to online events you won't have access to otherwise... Stay tuned.... Hydro, Gravitron and I are all on the team of GTP Admins working on cool OLR events in the coming year and most of them are registry exclusive. Or registry + invite like our event this Saturday w/Orca.

 

[BrandonW77]

Looks like we have a relatively even field lined up here between the two groups. 👍 Looks like the favor weighs slightly towards the WRS side but not too drastically. There's a bit of drafting on this track so once we all get out there it should be a fairly tight pack, except for me and Lancer battling for P12.

I'm pretty familiar with most of the guys on our team and the results look pretty much like I expected so I'm not concerned about verifying any replays. I'm just happy we have enough people to fill out the grid. The time trial part was a bit frustrating at times but I think the actual race is going to be really fun and produce some exciting racing. 👍

@WRP, I have custom wheels on my Alfa, I've been using the same one I normally drive. Just a difference in driving style I guess. I did end up using 1st gear for turn 1 and the penultimate turn which was good for at least a half second. In the stock trim I use 2nd for both of those turns though, and I was about 3 seconds slower online last night than my TT time but it seemed everyone was 2-3 seconds slower than their TT time which is to be expected.

 

[WRP001]

Brandon, will you "host" lobby B for the special event? The rules should be pretty simple with qualifying.... everyone qualifies at the same time and they have 15 minutes after track reset. Everyone stays on track entire time. no pitting, no exit to lobby. Park off track after they are done if time isn't up. Start timer at 15:00 on the clock sharp. I guess we won't have anyone "check" the quali monitor so we won't know the times, but the on track order is accurate anyway when nobody leaves so that should accurately reflect the times and should be the way the grid is ordered.

 

[dsgerbc]

^Better specify what to do if during quali it's clear that something is screwed up (like seeing fastest time way quicker than your own, but order on the right still showing you on top).

 

[WRP001]

^Better specify what to do if during quali it's clear that something is screwed up (like seeing fastest time way quicker than your own, but order on the right still showing you on top).

Yah... if I knew what was best in that situation. We don't have a lot of extra time with the dual round thing...

We are running a formation lap in the WRS races today. I'm almost wondering if we just don't go with that for Saturday. I wanted to minimize procedure so was reluctant to do that and I still am.

Any thoughts if that's the case? Reset room, stage entry onto track and start timer so we have a grid start? I think that's probably best. "Assuming" we have an observer for lobby B that's an option because we'll know the exact times. We do have one for lobby A.

 

[BrandonW77]

Yes, I'll host lobby B. But I have reservations about that starting method. I know for a fact (re-confirmed as recently as this past Saturday) that if the person with the fastest time pulls over on the side of the track and a person with a slower time physically passes them on the track, then the game will then rank the over-taking driver higher than the person with the fastest lap.

Example: Saturday I was in the "watch race" screen and was on RDAardvark's view. He had the fastest time at that moment and was parked on the side of the straightaway, he was ranked as p1 of 3. While he was stationary another car drove passed and RDAardvark's ranking changed to p2 of 3 both in the top left corner and on the tree on the right side of the screen. It still indicated his lap was fastest but because another car had physically passed him on track he was no longer ranked as first. If I had started the race at that moment I'm pretty sure (not positive) RDAardvark would not have started on pole even though he had the fastest time.

I'm not doubting that you've gotten this method to work for you since you've obviously done it a lot but I have my doubts that it's fool-proof. I have never tested this method directly as described but I have seen similar scenarios that worked as I described and did not produce a correct grid. That being said, my method that we tested last night of having everyone go back to the lounge and then re-enter the pits to start worked perfectly even though the pole-sitter was the last one in the pits.

I'll try to round up some guinea pigs tomorrow night to test out the stop on track method so I can be sure my understanding is correct/incorrect.

We are running a formation lap in the WRS races today. I'm almost wondering if we just don't go with that for Saturday. I wanted to minimize procedure so was reluctant to do that and I still am.

Any thoughts if that's the case? Reset room, stage entry onto track and start timer so we have a grid start? I think that's probably best. "Assuming" we have an observer for lobby B that's an option because we'll know the exact times. We do have one for lobby A.

This might be what we have to do just so we can eliminate any doubt. It might take a bit more time but would still be faster than stopping a race and re-starting it with a manual grid line up. We will need a volunteer to monitor the timing screen though.

 

[WRP001]

Yes, I'll host lobby B. But I have reservations about that starting method. I know for a fact (re-confirmed as recently as this past Saturday) that if the person with the fastest time pulls over on the side of the track and a person with a slower time physically passes them on the track, then the game will then rank the over-taking driver higher than the person with the fastest lap.

Example: Saturday I was in the "watch race" screen and was on RDAardvark's view. He had the fastest time at that moment and was parked on the side of the straightaway, he was ranked as p1 of 3. While he was stationary another car drove passed and RDAardvark's ranking changed to p2 of 3 both in the top left corner and on the tree on the right side of the screen. It still indicated his lap was fastest but because another car had physically passed him on track he was no longer ranked as first. If I had started the race at that moment I'm pretty sure (not positive) RDAardvark would not have started on pole even though he had the fastest time.

I'm not doubting that you've gotten this method to work for you since you've obviously done it a lot but I have my doubts that it's fool-proof. I have never tested this method directly as described but I have seen similar scenarios that worked as I described and did not produce a correct grid. That being said, my method that we tested last night of having everyone go back to the lounge and then re-enter the pits to start worked perfectly even though the pole-sitter was the last one in the pits.

I'll try to round up some guinea pigs tomorrow night to test out the stop on track method so I can be sure my understanding is correct/incorrect.

This might be what we have to do just so we can eliminate any doubt. It might take a bit more time but would still be faster than stopping a race and re-starting it with a manual grid line up. We will need a volunteer to monitor the timing screen though.

I'm in the opposite boat. I tested the stay on track system several times (and again this week) and it's never been wrong once as long as nobody pits. If just one person pits after the track reset or leaves the track all bets are off. I've used the go back to lobby system and it's been wrong and it's been right (like yesterday). It sucks that we have to deal with this crap. It kills group qualifying and observed qualifying with groups. 👎

In this case I'm going with the on track method and give the grid a shot... see the special event post where I detail the procedure we're using. I believe it gives us the best shot. If one guy doesn't follow rules and pits I'm going to be pissed though. And in that case we should just abort and stage the grid manually after the quali time is up.

I agree with a post Dan made earlier though. If everyone is on track and stays on track the order you see on track on the right should reflect the fastest times/order... if that is messed up it might be a signal to just stage the start after quali.

I think the other important thing with the timing monitor is that everyone is in the lobby when the track is reset. If someone comes into the lounge/track after the rest and after times are posted I can imagine the odds of a mess up increase.

EDIT: I'm rethinking this. Damn flight to Chicago doesn't give me time to update things. But I think maybe you are right and we should just stage it. We won't even need an observer if we have group qualifying. 6 at a time and just 2 hot laps each. Someone note times. We reset track. We stage entry and start. That way nobody doing something like pitting when they shouldn't will completely screw it up. It will take a bit longer, but eliminates the worst case scenario of aborting a race and doesn't depend on an observer making a judgement call.

By enabling us to do groups it also alleviates traffic issues. We could split groups by team. Team Orca goes first in Lounge A (since the fastest overall time trial result is from WRS) and to make it fair Team WRS goes first in Lobby B. That way teammates on track and any interference is an intra-team issue. I like that. Opinions?

 

[BrandonW77]

If one guy doesn't follow rules and pits I'm going to be pissed though.

Unfortunately I'd say the odds of this might be high. In 2 races last week I gave clear instructions as to whether to go to the pits or go to the lounge and both times people didn't follow orders even though I typed them out multiple times. We'll just have to repeat it several times before qualifying starts and hope everyone follows instructions.

As I said, I've never actually tested the "park on track" method so I'm not qualified to say if it works or not. I do have experience with very similar situations that have always turned out wrong, but those situations weren't exactly the same and I know that one tiny variable can be the difference in a correct grid and an incorrect grid.

I do know that the game does a better job of keeping track of times then we think it does, but it can get confused very easily. As long as everyone is in the same "state" (in the lounge, in the pits, on the track) it will rank us correctly, but any variable in a single drivers "state" can cause things to go wrong. So, based on that knowledge if everyone enters a "clean track" (no times set) and there is no change in their "state" until the race starts it should work correctly. It's a terrible shame that we have to go to these lengths just to get a proper starting grid, turrrrrible!

 

[OwensRacing]

Just want to throw this out there. The Time Trial was much better experience when Brandon told me about the ghost on off setting in the button assignment!

If I ever lost the net. I would be all in to the TT.

Got a friend that I'm going to get involved. He bought my old G27 rig and can't get decent net in the lil country town he lives.

 

[Marcus Garvey]

I'm considering getting involved with the WRS TT series. Seems like great competition, failsafe procedure, and none of the online 'difficulties' as I'll refer to them as. It was a lot of fun for very little time investment.

If you guys need someone to sit in the room as a monitor to write down and keep records of the qualifying times/orders/etc, I would be glad to volunteer for the task.

 

[WRP001]

I'm considering getting involved with the WRS TT series. Seems like great competition, failsafe procedure, and none of the online 'difficulties' as I'll refer to them as. It was a lot of fun for very little time investment.

If you guys need someone to sit in the room as a monitor to write down and keep records of the qualifying times/orders/etc, I would be glad to volunteer for the task.

We are looking for one good man for lounge B to help Brandon out so he can focus on racing. That would be awesome. Send a friend request to GTP_3D3_B.

You won't regret joining the WRS. Nothing to lose really. If you don't like it just stop running!

 

[Marcus Garvey]

We are looking for one good man for lounge B to help Brandon out so he can focus on racing. That would be awesome. Send a friend request to GTP_3D3_B.

I originally had to withdraw from the race because I was/am scheduled to work until 4pm EST this Saturday, however the past two days have been incredibly slow and if this continues it looks as if I will be out early or off entirely. I should know positively on Friday when the bookings are mostly solidified. I will send my request to the 3D3 B lounge, and I will hope that I will be out in time.

 

[BrandonW77]

Hope you can make it Marcus, we could use your speed! I know how work schedules go though, as soon as you plan on it being slow some emergency will pop up and ruin your plans. I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya though! 👍

 

[WRP001]

Hope you can make it Marcus, we could use your speed! I know how work schedules go though, as soon as you plan on it being slow some emergency will pop up and ruin your plans. I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya though! 👍

Brandon, Marcus didn't ask to join as a driver, but to help out observing/admin ie noting quali times, etc.

He could be a reserve driver and fill in. Usually there is a no show or last minute cancel in these things. Not sure if he wants to though.

Marcus if you would like to be a reserve driver also send a FR to GTP_3D3_A. No problem if you'd rather just observe/assist.

 

[BrandonW77]

Sorry, guess I misunderstood. He said he had originally withdrawn due to work but that might change so I was holding out hope he'd be able to participate. We need another "ringer".

 

[Marcus Garvey]

I'll send a request to both lounges then. If I am out in time, or off work entirely, I'll go wherever I'm needed. If I can be there on time and you're short a man and I'm needed more in a driving capacity I'll do that, or if you need a spotter/observer; I'll do whatever the team needs. I haven't run any races online in a long while, so I'll have to try a couple and see if the symptoms are still present. If I can I'll try and run some practice laps later on with the car. I'm a little rusty, I'm sure.

 

[WRP001]

Thanks Marcus, that really helps as a race organizer. Best thing is to let us know when you are 100% sure... be that tomorrow night, or Saturday morning just before the race. Regardless you can be an alternate, but if you can commit prior and a spot opens we can shuffle things to get you in as a confirmed driver.

Keep an eye on the special event thread for last minute cancels, etc.

 

[Marcus Garvey]

I will certainly keep you folks current on my schedule when I learn more.

 

[WRP001]

Brandon, I put a message on the event thread, but you seem to be following this one more closely so I'll post here.

I've told all the reserve drivers (including Marcus) that they are free to run pre-race practice with us in the lounge. That will allow them to warm up in case they are needed and won't have to qualify lounge. They'll also be right there to fill in.

I told them all to report to GTP_3D3_B and we'll send a message or send a driver over to get them if they or someone is needed in A. Obviously this only applies to the top 2 alternates from each team otherwise we won't have room in the lounge. I don't really expect all 4 alternates to show up anyway... probably just Marcus and TuesdayMops.

Just letting you know... you might want to get a printout or screen grab of the registration list prior to the event. Anyone not on the list will need to vacate the lounge. There are not many others on the friends list of these lounges so I really don't expect any issues.