REAL RACING SIM - Classic Muscle Figure 8 Derby! SUN 12/16, 9PM EST

[kirktreks]

Real Racing Sim - Sunday Endurance Race

Figure 8 Derby
With Classic Muscle Heavy Weights
@
The Top Gear Test Track
in

Thanks to asdfg11 for the countdown timer!
​

General Info About Races: Our goal is to provide a racing simulation experience for everyone. Real off-road grip, weak slipstream, tire wear on, and yes, heavy damage! ABS is optional.

The potential for damage encourages respect and sportsmanship among everyone, making penalties unnecessary -- GT5's penalty system is easily gamed, often penalizes the victim and does nothing to further the "racing simulation".

The races are usually long enough to require at least one pit for tires and/or gas depending on the car. We also enjoy racing real life cars, and offer a wide range of racing experiences, from VW Buses to F1's, some tuned, some untuned, you name it. Feel free to check out the Facebook page ( http://tinyurl.com/GT5-LPP ) to post race suggestions and say hello!

Date & Time:

Sunday December 16, 9:00 PM EST
Sunday December 16, 6:00 PM PST
Monday December 17, 2:00 AM GMT
Time zone converter here​

Race Officials: alefin, kirtrkeks or anyone designated by them

Host: Private lounge of alefin, kirktreks or wherever designated by race officials

Race Length: 70 minutes (not including qualifying)

Requirements: Fun, clean and fair drivers

Course:

The Top Gear Test Track

​

Room & Car Regulations:

• Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 '70 (Std) •
• Dodge Charger Super Bee 426 Hemi '71 (Std) •
• Dodge Challenger R/T '70 (Prem) •
• Dodge Charger 440 R/T '70 (Std) - not pictured •

276 horsepower max
1840 kilogram minimum weight
No Aero / Downforce
Comfort Medium tires max
NO Race Mods (on the Challenger)

No Pits! Special Rules Apply!

• If you are not familiar with the Figure 8 race concept, please click here for a real life example

• Slower traffic approaching the figure 8 cross-over from the start/finish line (left turn)
is expected to yield to faster traffic entering from the back-stretch (right turn)

• Slower front-stretch traffic already in the cross-over is not required to give up
the “good line” on the left side, to faster cars crossing from the back-stretch

• Drivers must follow the general figure 8 course layout (no glitch exploits for short lapping),
but all areas are considered “on track”

This is NOT a Demolition Race!
However, our usual rules about contact will be heavily relaxed given
that repairs are not possible and cars will have less control
​

• Standard race quality
• Standard microphone quality
• Collisions on
• Heavy damage
• No penalties
• Weak slipstream
• Tire wear/Fuel consumption OFF (due to lack of pits)
• Real grip reduction on wet/edge
• Visual damage on
• ABS available
• All other assists off

Qualifying & Rolling Starts:

• Qualifying begins promptly at 9:00 PM Eastern (refer to the countdown timer above if you're not on the east coast) and will last 15 to 30 minutes.
• When you have a time you like, pull over to a secluded spot or drive into the pits, while we record your time. If you are unable to complete a qualifying lap in the time allotted, or if you leave or exit the track before we record your lap time, you will start at the back of the pack.
• If lap times are not registering properly on my screen, I will tell everyone to keep track of their lap times.
• At the start of the race, drivers will manually line up in formation for a ROLLING START. When the race timer counts down, and the race START message appears, DO NOT MOVE. Stay in the starting grid until the starting line up is called out.
• We will manually line up in qualifying order. Once everyone is in the correct order, the driver in the pole position will set a pace not exceeding 60 MPH / 96 KPH, and begin the race by breaking that pace. Please do not overtake other drivers until the pole/pace car breaks pace and begins accelerating to race speed. Then, THE RACE IS ON.

Full Course Caution Until Clean Start:

• This policy applies until we complete one continuous clean lap or two continuous minutes of clean racing on longer courses, without multi-car incidents. Cautions will only be available at the beginning of the race. We will repeat it as many times as necessary to get an incident free start.
• If there are any multi-car incidents, where any driver is knocked well off the track by another driver, we will call a FULL COURSE CAUTION. The policy does not apply to individual drivers losing control, even if an offending driver has minor contact with other drivers who continue racing.
• Once a caution is issued, please do not overtake any drivers, even if you are heading to the pits.
• All drivers (not in the pits) will form-up for another Manual Rolling Start behind the current race leader, who will maintain pace speed until everyone is in formation again, and restart according the approach used at the beginning of the race.

Prizes:

• First place (Lvl 24 car ticket)
• Second place ( Lvl 13 car ticket)
• Car paints for at least the top half of the participants including Chrome paints

Other Notes: The GTPlanet Online Racing Rules & Guidelines applies with some changes/additions.

1. Bump drafting is allowed where it makes sense.
2. Keep racing on the track, regardless of incident, unless cars behind you are approaching. Time, depending on severity of incident, will be added to your final race time once complaints are filed and replays checked. If you decide to allow the other driver(s) to pass because of a collision, be absolutely sure that you will not be in the way of other drivers. When in doubt, keep racing.
3. Drivers that are to be lapped are under no obligations to move out of the way, as long as they are not intentionally blocking. Most tracks have many sections to overtake. If you're faster, you'll find a way to pass.
4. There will be no race restarts for people that disconnect, unless something extreme happens like half the room disconnects at the same time. Common sense will dictate what's appropriate. People that disconnect will still earn points (where applicable) depending on when they disconnected.
5. Anyone found violating the car regulations will be harshly penalized, i.e. dropped into last place in the race results. "I didn't know" is not a valid reason.
6. Track boundaries are generally the same as those enforced by the GT5 penalty system and as defined by section 16: Offline Racing in the GTPlanet Online Racing Rules linked above. See the illustration below. Occasional unintended infractions will be tolerated, particularly if you visibly attempt to correct a bad line by braking, etc. or you have lost control of your vehicle. Patterns of abuse will not be tolerated, and complaints will be investigated as noted in #2 above.

How to Sign-Up: Just post > GTPlanet username (Playstation Network username)

GTPlanet Participants:

** This race is open to all Real Racing Sim regulars and past participants on a first come basis. New sign-ups are welcome, but signing-up on this thread does not guarantee entry if the room fills up. Please be on time. **


Thanks for reading, everyone!

 

[kirktreks]

* * * Reserved for Race Results * * *​

Race Results:
45 Laps
1. ugabugaz
2. TyV2448
3. elmo_too
4. alefin
5. kirktreks
6. CommonDeer
7. racefan8850 (DC'd lap 34/35? in a Challenger? 7th place at time of DC)


It was a fun race, with a minimum of incidents. I will definitely consider scheduling more races with these cars and/or with this track. Everyone remained pretty competitive. I was on the final lap when the clock ran out, and Common was making up ground on me. I was doing okay until I picked up engine damage lap 38, increasing lap times by 7 to 10 seconds; I was completely clean until then.

Good Racing All!

Notes:

With each car tuned to allow maximum torque (i.e., supercharged + add ons and power highly restricted), and no other adjustements to drivetrain, suspension, etc. I was able to get times under 1:24 in every one of these cars. Given that I am usually middle of the field in our race community, judge for yourself what kind of times you should see, given your own record.

The most difficult car for me to get a good time was the Super Bee, but again, I did not touch suspension, etc. So, I am sure there is room for improvement. I do not think any one car has a serious advantage, and hope car selection becomes a matter of style/taste.

Also, when setting laps, I suggest we aim low (perhaps with a 60 minute target), considering that we all may be driving with damage by the time it is all over, and anyone who manages to avoid damage probably drove conservatively to do so. If we get to the point where no one can sustain good lap time times, it may become a last man standing event, but I suspect that will not be necessary.

 

[racefan88]

I will be there!

 

[alefin]

I should be there too

 

[racefan88]

A few questions regarding some areas I see as "grey", above it states to follow the general layout, when entering Hammerhead are we to follow the top gear test track line or can we go all the way to the left essentially taking the first left out of the Hammerhead complex?

Also, I see you have given guidelines on the first crossover, are there any guidelines for the next part of the track (entrance to Chicago/Bentley) where we will need to again share the road with cars that are at a different point in their lap?

 

[kirktreks]

You may disregard all lines on the track, which means no left at hammerhead, and the Chicago/Bentley cross-over should not be much of a problem. Slower cars turning onto Chicago will be cutting as deeply as possible, and I would not expect any of them to go all the way around the tires, which is a pinch-point for fast traffic turning onto Bentley.

HOWEVER, I expect that slower cars turning onto Chicago will still swing wide to the left, but earlier and not as far to the left. When that happens, it depends on who gets there first, which is why I included this note:

Slower front-stretch traffic already in the cross-over (turning onto Chicago) is not required to give up the “good line” on the left side, to faster cars crossing from the back-stretch (turning onto Bentley)

A map for anyone interested...

So, on entry to the cross-over, traffic turning left at Wilson should yield to Follow-Through traffic, but on exit, it is first come, so keep an eye out!

The point is to have a fun, exiting race, and while it is NOT A DEMOLITION RACE, I do expect it to be a little more rough and tumble than our usual well mannered races.

So chill out and go for the gusto!

BTW - I added a note, though I doubt it was needed >>> NO Race Mods on the Challenger

 

[racefan88]

Thank you for the quick response.

 

[RedPartyhat]

Any chance this could be a 2-class race? Would make things very interesting.

 

[kirktreks]

Figure 8 races are typically much lower end local races, and I wanted to embrace that spirit with lumbering beasts.

We have talked about running a two class race. In reality, many of our races end up with multiple classes of drivers in the same or different cars. However, I would only want to run a two class race if we can count on at least 10 drivers joining. Our Sunday endurance races have been attracting 7 to 10 drivers lately. If we can gain a little more momentum, perhaps we will schedule one in February or March.

The two class race we have mind has been discussed on our facebook thread, and it will be Le Mans / Grand Am style at a world track (pole sitter picks the track?), and we would use select recommended list cars (ex: Zonda w/ Camaro), so that we can control the regs easily and be sure that everyone has both cars (qualifying will decide who drives in which class). If it goes well, we can try more races using tuning prohibited cars from our personal garage, which are perhaps also available in the recommended list (ex: GT 500 w/ Rally Cars).

We will keep it simple the first time. No cars to buy, nothing to tune.

Stay tuned!

12/12/12 -- More to add... back to Fig 8 Races...

Here is a real life situation that I have seen in figure 8 races, that seems likely to happen in our race. However, it is probably a much bigger problem on real life tracks, which are typically smaller and tighter tracks than Top Gear, and the figure 8 may be part of a tiny 1/4 mile oval.

When cars are forced to yield at the cross-over point, there can be pile ups if someone comes to a complete stop, or to a crawl. When this happens, sometimes instead of piling up, or in spite of a pile up, other cars will blow the doors off of any car(s) that are held up.

As I see it, the greatest risk will be between the Start/Finish line and the approach to the left turn into the cross-over (at Wilson). Everyone needs to anticipate cars braking heavily including possible full or near full stops.

Again, Top Gear is a much more wide open track, and we will have far less traffic than you will find on tiny real life ovals. Still, be careful not to brake too heavily or assume that the way will be clear when you are following someone into the cross-over.

Good Luck!!!

BTW - My best time so far is just under 1:22.900 (not saying which car)

 

[racefan88]

Nice kirk, I did some practice today and ran a lowest of 1:23.392. Tuning is going to be a key to running quick laps, looking forward to some more practice then the race tomorrow.

 

[moparman87]

Hey can u add me?

 

[alefin]

Sure, but just in case, send me (alefin) a friend request if you don't get one from me, too.

 

[moparman87]

Ok nd thanks

 

[alefin]

That was fun. Kind of wish I didn't spin out on lap 19, would have been nice to keep racing with elmo for a bit. But I was with kirk for quite some time, which was also fun

 

[kirktreks]

I had a ball!

Results posted above.