- 2,980
- The Ramapo Mountains
- jjaisli
It was indeed great fun and although I only joined in at the 1/2 way point, the lobby was really alive and moving and exciting. Good stuff. My appreciation to Fingers for keeping things moving and interesting! It reminds me of how things used to be with this game some months ago.
One comment I would like to make, and I'm hesitant to say it because I don't want it to come across like such a blatant plug for my event(s), but look at the difference between the random tracks we raced on and the one's we're making an effort to know and practice on for the events.
For the first 4-5 laps I felt almost completely lost on the Nurburgring. I didn't know my braking points or where to turn in. The last time I was on this track was months ago during the Old Timer 288 GTO event (a very difficult car to drive and one that required a very specific technique (I can't remember but I think you could leave it in 3rd gear the whole time
)). And my current Vallelunga setup was just completely wrong for this track and I had an awful time just trying to keep the car on the track, forget about trying to set a competitive time. But I see I wasn't alone either with others having an equally rough time of things. While waiting for the game to sync, I was joking with Alan in text chat about the crashes which would take place at the first corner. And sure enough there was some banging, which I was able to avoid by swerving left than right than left. And thinking I was past it, I got back on the throttle, trying to see through the smoke that other cars were laying down--and crashed dead on into another car that was facing the wrong direction. LOL In the span of about 5 seconds I went from 11th to 3rd and back to 10th! 
But look at difference at Vallelunga, a track we've all been practicing to some degree for the event next weekend. I'm not sure whether this is a really a good thing or not, but it suddenly became a two-tier event with the F355 series regulars showing complete domination. I so wish I had recorded this race. From the start, working my way through the Curva Grande and straight into the braking zone for Comini1, it was absolute carnage. It was like a war zone--utter chaos. Cars were hitting, smashing, spinning, bumping, jumping, turning, crashing, thrashing...
...I don't think I've ever seen such complete and utter devastation on one stretch of road in my life. A half dozen Kubica88s and their victims could not have done a more effective job. And it's made all the more ridiculous by the fact that everybody in the lobby was sincerely trying to behave and nobody was purposely trying to ram anybody. But as the dust settled, it quickly became apparent that it was a very competitive, hard fought round between the series regulars who were quick, mistake free and relentless, pounding away, fighting for 10ths, lap after lap, rather than playing Mad Max. And I have to say, that kind of hard, wheel to wheel action, really appeals to me. And because of that, it was easily the most enjoyable round. I was doing everything "reasonable" to try and keep Alan behind me. And for 4 laps, he was right on my tail and pushing me hard the whole way. But finally, I got a bit of wheel spin coming out of Soratte and he was able to pull ahead and it was all over. And then I had a really great battle with Kemp and Arvore for the last two laps. 👍
So as I posted in my 'exit speech' on the previous page. Perhaps in a way, we've all become a bit too professional in this series and it's lamentable that for this reason, other more casual racers feel too intimidated to join in our bi-weekly rounds. But at the same time, I think it's created some spectacular racing with good, clean and hard fought, wheel to wheel battles. There's something almost zen-like about it.
One comment I would like to make, and I'm hesitant to say it because I don't want it to come across like such a blatant plug for my event(s), but look at the difference between the random tracks we raced on and the one's we're making an effort to know and practice on for the events.
For the first 4-5 laps I felt almost completely lost on the Nurburgring. I didn't know my braking points or where to turn in. The last time I was on this track was months ago during the Old Timer 288 GTO event (a very difficult car to drive and one that required a very specific technique (I can't remember but I think you could leave it in 3rd gear the whole time
)). And my current Vallelunga setup was just completely wrong for this track and I had an awful time just trying to keep the car on the track, forget about trying to set a competitive time. But I see I wasn't alone either with others having an equally rough time of things. While waiting for the game to sync, I was joking with Alan in text chat about the crashes which would take place at the first corner. And sure enough there was some banging, which I was able to avoid by swerving left than right than left. And thinking I was past it, I got back on the throttle, trying to see through the smoke that other cars were laying down--and crashed dead on into another car that was facing the wrong direction. LOL In the span of about 5 seconds I went from 11th to 3rd and back to 10th! But look at difference at Vallelunga, a track we've all been practicing to some degree for the event next weekend. I'm not sure whether this is a really a good thing or not, but it suddenly became a two-tier event with the F355 series regulars showing complete domination. I so wish I had recorded this race. From the start, working my way through the Curva Grande and straight into the braking zone for Comini1, it was absolute carnage. It was like a war zone--utter chaos. Cars were hitting, smashing, spinning, bumping, jumping, turning, crashing, thrashing...
...I don't think I've ever seen such complete and utter devastation on one stretch of road in my life. A half dozen Kubica88s and their victims could not have done a more effective job. And it's made all the more ridiculous by the fact that everybody in the lobby was sincerely trying to behave and nobody was purposely trying to ram anybody. But as the dust settled, it quickly became apparent that it was a very competitive, hard fought round between the series regulars who were quick, mistake free and relentless, pounding away, fighting for 10ths, lap after lap, rather than playing Mad Max. And I have to say, that kind of hard, wheel to wheel action, really appeals to me. And because of that, it was easily the most enjoyable round. I was doing everything "reasonable" to try and keep Alan behind me. And for 4 laps, he was right on my tail and pushing me hard the whole way. But finally, I got a bit of wheel spin coming out of Soratte and he was able to pull ahead and it was all over. And then I had a really great battle with Kemp and Arvore for the last two laps. 👍So as I posted in my 'exit speech' on the previous page. Perhaps in a way, we've all become a bit too professional in this series and it's lamentable that for this reason, other more casual racers feel too intimidated to join in our bi-weekly rounds. But at the same time, I think it's created some spectacular racing with good, clean and hard fought, wheel to wheel battles. There's something almost zen-like about it.
👍 opportunity I obviously capitalized on to seduce him to join the last two 355 events)had great battles all night...even for the lead(before You and Alan joined,of course
I guess that means I'm on the right track. (No pun intended)
