rec.autos.simulators

Thanks folks,
Bruce.

I've only been to watch a meeting there once, and that was back in the
1960's, before the introduction of Caltex Chase down Con-rod Straight. I've
watched every televised 500Mile/1000Km race held there, however.

Two things which I had never noticed before, either as an on-site or TV
spectator:-

(1) From the Start/Finish line, the track slopes >UP< to Hell Corner! It
does not run downhill and nor is it flat.
(2) Entering Caltex Chase, as you exit that left-hand corner, the road also
slopes upward to the RH corner and it doesn't start to fall away to Murray's
until exiting that RH corner!

Amazing what one learns simply by having an opportunity to drive a track.

Bruce.

   Me again....It works right out of the box.  Wonderful track, it may be
based on the old GPL version, I'm not sure, but it has the  newer corners
like Murray's and Caltech Chase(is that right?)  So it's a much more modern
configuration.  You don't even need to load another track for the proper
lighting, that is correct as well.  (one can only imagine what it would be
like with a Castrol Commode or a Ford Pigeon----Whoops!  I mean the
Commodore and Falcon  sorry....  :)   )
  I have found one very big safety problem.  The armco that guards the
outside of the pit straight, starts pretty close the the exit of the last
turn.  Don't ask me how I know this, but that armco can penetrate almost
through the entire driver's area and reach the fuel cell.
dave henrie

Tried it too - and it's a great start towards a fullblown Aussie V8 patch
:))
I think the grip level is a bit weird, I did three laps Alesi-style and blew
my RF under braking and messed up the HotLap of HotLaps! ;)

Looks to me on telly like lots of those corners are off camber too (like the
N2003 version), which means big trouble for the papy physics.
I'll say it again; Mark Hales in Dale Jarrett's #88 T-bird up the Goodwood
hillclimb a few years ago - on pace with the WRC cars! It didn't look big,
spongy or sluggish too me. Quite the contrary infact. A small racecar
(lower, shorter & wider than the same years BTCC Mondeo..), LOUD and fast!

Oops. I'm digressing. Can't wait to see the development of this track!

/Matt

Murray's has always been there - that is the last corner before Pit Straight
and is actually the entry/exit road onto the circuit, and becomes the "end
of Con-Rod escape road" during race day. The centre of Bathurst is only 3
kilometres away down this road.

Caltex (petroleum company here in Aus, related to Texaco in your part of the
world) Chase is really the only change to the original shape of the circuit.
Placed there for "safety reason" in the aftermath of the 1994 knee-jerk
installation of chicanes all over the world.

Thanks for the warning about the armco! :)

Now I'll go and try it out.

Bruce.

Bruce.

Vintook

if you cant see where to download Bathurst you need an eye test mate..

AD

Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy
"goyl at nettx dot no"

http://www.theuspits.com

"A man is only as old as the woman he feels........"
--Groucho Marx--

If I had a wish list for a dozen N2003-enabled natural-terrain road
circuits, it would have to include (in order of appeal):

The full Monza, a la GPL's Milano - this has got to be the holy grail of
road-racing Cup cars

Le Mans (or Bugatti) - picture the drafting battles!  Great online battles,
too!
Bridgehampton - historically correct (plus, I'd kill to have this track
finished for GPL)
Suzuka - I'd love to see this in ANY Papy sim (w/o the chicane, please)
Brands Hatch or Oulton Park - roller-coaster rides like Mosport...only wider
Castle Combe, Snetterton or Goodwood (classic British tracks...in that
order)
Imola - my favorite Dave Noonan track
Road Atlanta - my second-fav Noonan track
Lime Rock MC (or L.R. avec chicane) - my fav Brent Adams tracks
V.I.R. - if the Bridge is an American Zandy, this is a Yank Reims
Reims (if I couldn't have V.I.R.)

--Steve

Keep your eyes out for this one Steve, Jan had a track weekend there a
while ago and is campaigning to get this track into N2003 somehow, and
Jan often gets what he wants :-)

Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy
"goyl at nettx dot no"

http://www.theuspits.com

"A man is only as old as the woman he feels........"
--Groucho Marx--

   THe F1 2k2 mods have a version of VIR...great track...the secondary pits
don't work :( but maybe when the next mod base is released(Formula 1
Challenge) we'll get the ability to sort classes at different pits) Hellooo
Spa!
   The VIR for the F1 2k2 mods has recently been updated to include a dip
in the esses.  This always caught my eye when watching the tv coverage and
I was somewhat disappointed that the GPL version did not have this dip.  
However the new update is almost a sinkhole, you really bottom out there.  
Great fun in a smaller car.  
   On the tube, VIR is a gorgeous looking circuit, it rivals Ste Jovite in
Canada as one of the more picturesqe settings.  That is my next 'project,'
nagging the mod/track builders to get Jovie done for 2k2.  
   In some area's the Papyrus based sims are lacking tracks being converted
for Nascar, and in some area's the EA mods also don't have quite the
coverage as GPL(although tracks like Bathurst and the Daytona Road Course
are comming)  
   All in all it's a good time to be a simmer.
dave henrie

Any (or all) of these tracks would delight me.  Our friend Achim--who seems
to have been "away from his desk" for these past coupla weeks--favors Cup
cars crashing around Monte Carlo like the proverbial bull in a china shop.
I prefer larger arenas, with room to swing a cat (which may be why I'm aka
Toonces).

Of all the wonderful tracks Dave Noonan's converters have given us, I like
driving Zandvoort the best - it has a great rhythm (and the consequences of
getting a wheel off aren't nearly as dire as in GPL).  Likewise,
Bridgehampton (where I saw the big ol' stockers run in the 1960s) might be
even better.

Riverside is my second fav, mainly because I saw Gurney hustle the Wood
Brothers' Mercury around there when I was a kid, and I marvelled at the car
control he had over that 427 cu. in. monster.  I only drove there in
iddy-biddy (as Dubya would say) Porsches, but even now the Esses raise the
hackles on my neck.  But oh, that interminable backstretch!  I wish we had
the "sports car" course (T6 to T7 to T7A, eliminating T8, and halving the
back straight).

Admittedly, Elkhart and Silverstone are "stab it and steer it," drag races
between right-angled corners, but the Oesterreichring is a blast, infinitely
better than the emasculated version now masquerading as the "A1" Ring.  I
bet Noonan's superb Imola and Road Atlanta would be equally fine.

I'll never be good enough to master the other 'ring, Nurburg, and even Sears
is too tricky for me.  I like the old Glen better than the new one, and most
of the street courses (except the relatively long-legged Surfers) are
tank-slapping bores, altho Achim did get me to try Detroit (where I used to
wreck with depressing regularity in IndyCar Racing II), and, lo, I liked it.
It has a nice flow, even though it's kinda like a lateral Steeplechase.

I haven't had this much fun in a driving game since "Mobil 1 Rally
Championship."

--Steve

Also, if anyone is working on it, I would be happy to share the track info I
have -- I was given a 4 foot by six foot map (!) of the track that was used
for the GPL version, and I have been there a few times so I might be able to
recall some details.

If someone else does the full course, I would be interested in doing the
North Course which I have driven and is a blast also.

-Garth

Apart from a couple of innacuracies, which are minor and really have no
detrimental effect on driving the circuit, there appears to be something
wrong with the coefficient of friction; this circuit is VERY slippery.
It also appears way too narrow in parts - off Skyline, down through The
Dipper and into Forest Elbow in particular.

I would really like to see a converted version of the GPL Mt. Panorama, as I
prefer Con-rod Straight without the chicane.

Bruce.