rec.autos.simulators

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

John Simmon

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by John Simmon » Tue, 03 Dec 2002 03:11:50

Only 7 people showed up, and one of them had to leave to participate
in a GPL league race.

Neil Charlton was the fastest of the field by more than 2
seconds/lap, but he wrecked himself trying to pass Eldred in the
outer loop.  At that point, I was at the very end of the lead lap,
and a little more than 8 seconds ahead of the leader (Neil).  Neil
had to pit, and that gave me a chance to catch up to and pass him
while he was in the pits.

The last 25 laps were tense for me but I never saw another car until
the last lap when I passed Eldred just before the inner loop.

Jay, Mitch, and Brian were all in the thick of competing for 2nd
place for most of the race. Jan pushed me into the gravel in turn one
after he lost a tire, and I believe he lost a lap getting back to the
pits and getting it fixed (or fell way back).  Mitch musta blown an
engine or something, and I don't know what happened to Brian. He was
on my ass most of the time between the 1st and 2nd pit stop, but then
he just disappeared.

In the end, I won (yeah, a roof rider at road courses), but Neil was
catching me, even in a crippled car.

It was fun, but I wish more people would have shown up.

Neil Charlto

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Neil Charlto » Tue, 03 Dec 2002 04:28:37

It was a lot of fun - thanks for setting it up Eldred.

I remember saying before the start that anything could happen and it did!

You drove a near-perfect race John, a lesson in consistency. I was taking
insane risks in the last 20 laps but you never gave me any encouragement ;)
Great job - congratulations :)

Regards


[snip]

Mitch_

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Mitch_ » Tue, 03 Dec 2002 05:22:24

First stop I was hot comin in and took a 15 sec penalty.  I got back out ok
and just put it in "cruise" mode.  Around lap 45 I was exiting T1 and just
touched the grass with my left rear and she snapped around into the wall
hard, grrr.  I was really just keeping a good pace and had a brain fart ;)
Fun while it lasted though..  Pretty dang early for me anyways :))

Great run John!!

Mitch


Jan Verschuere

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Jan Verschuere » Tue, 03 Dec 2002 06:20:31

Yup, haughtiness proving my downfall today. I was really confident I could
stay out there until I needed fuel. I've gone the distance on many tracks,
many times. Surely I know what it takes, right? Didn't even think about
checking the tyres at such a relatively early stage (lap 27 or something?).
Front was moving around a bit, but I put that down to a bit of aero push
following you around. Couldn't have been more wrong, of course.

Then I was a bit late braking for T1. LF locked and went down immediately...
tried lifting a little and moving to the inside to avoid, but it wouldn't
turn any more so I just braked hard and hoped for the best.  Really sorry
about the contact... my fault entirely. I should have kept a better eye on
the condition of my tyres. Perhaps I'd hurt them slowing when I caught up
with you after you made a small error in that chicane before the loop and
then pushed too hard to keep up making the wear progressively worse as I did
so.

By locking everything up in a vain attempt to avoid contact the right front
had gone as well and I got stuck in the sandtrap (could only move straight
forward/back), so had to get towed. Lost two laps in the pits.

Afterwards I just kept as steady a pace as I could. Unlapped myself from
Eldred and, in the last 20, pushed to pass him for position as he ran into
tyre trouble (again?). 2nd and 3rd set of Goodyear Eagles performed
consistently well, eventhough I got down into the 1m17's at one point.
Strange, but that's racin'.

Jan.
=---

Eldre

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Eldre » Tue, 03 Dec 2002 08:53:02



>Only 7 people showed up, and one of them had to leave to participate
>in a GPL league race.

>Neil Charlton was the fastest of the field by more than 2
>seconds/lap, but he wrecked himself trying to pass Eldred in the
>outer loop.  At that point, I was at the very end of the lead lap,
>and a little more than 8 seconds ahead of the leader (Neil).  Neil
>had to pit, and that gave me a chance to catch up to and pass him
>while he was in the pits.

>The last 25 laps were tense for me but I never saw another car until
>the last lap when I passed Eldred just before the inner loop.

That was one damn boring race from my point of view.  Last on the grid(yeah, I
know - big surprise), watching everyone pull away.  Got lapped before the first
pitstop.  I went about 32 laps on the first set of tires.  Came out, got in
Jan's way as I came out of the pits(he was warping - I thought he was already
past.)  Got in Neil's way as he came up to lap me for the ump***th time.  I
got up to 3rd due to attrition, Jan was 4th(a little more than a lap down)
because of his tire problem.  On about lap 60 or so, I drifted wide on the last
turn.  Going down the front straight, I checked my tires - LF red.  Whoa, that
was quick, I'd better pit this lap.  T2 - LF blew out.  I crawled back around
to my pit, fueled and changed tires.  Jan made up his lap on me and was about
25 or so seconds back.  He caught and passed me, dropping me to 4th.  About 2
laps from the end - *another* LF blow-out.  WTF?  I limped around, got lapped
again, and crossed the finish line throwing sparkes from my destroyed tire.  
I just don't get it - first stint - I ran out of gas before the tires went
away.  After that, the tires just didn't last.  I didn't do anything
differently, and I wasn't any faster, so I don't know how I wore the tires down
so quickly.  I may as well have sat this race out.  F'king waste of time....

Eldred
--
Homepage - http://www.racesimcentral.net/~epickett
GPLRank:+6.19
N2002 Rank:+18.91

Never argue with an idiot.  He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
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Larr

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Larr » Tue, 03 Dec 2002 09:03:53

I wanted to show, but it wasn't meant to be.

I stayed up until 2am practicing at the track.  Then I was going to go to
bed, but got tied up in a movie and a few other things, and the next thing I
knew it was 6am.

Once I hit the sack there was no getting up at 0930 to prep for the race.  I
slept right through the alarm :(

-Larry


John Simmon

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by John Simmon » Tue, 03 Dec 2002 21:53:37



If you slide *at all* on the road courses, you're gonna wear the
tires down faster.  They're gonna wear out faster if you happen to be
turning the wheel when you start to slide. The key is to drive
without getting any noise out of the tires at all.  On road courses,
this is tough to do.

I honestly think you should change driving views and try some offline
practice at Watkins.  I bet you pick up two seconds on your lap time,
and you don't burn the tires off as quick because you'll be able to
judge the turns better.

Ian

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Ian » Tue, 03 Dec 2002 22:23:19

Sorry I missed the race, I really like the road courses. I've just moved
house (well, staying at my Mum's until the new house sale is complete) so
I'm limited to just talking about racing for now because I only have the
laptop and a 56k connection :(

Hope to be back on track within a few weeks, but the way the housing market
moves it could be a bit longer ;)

Have fun, should be some clean races without me there <G>
--
Thanks
Ian P
<email invalid due to spam>


Brian Oste

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Brian Oste » Wed, 04 Dec 2002 10:01:25


>Only 7 people showed up, and one of them had to leave to participate
>in a GPL league race.

>Neil Charlton was the fastest of the field by more than 2
>seconds/lap, but he wrecked himself trying to pass Eldred in the
>outer loop.  At that point, I was at the very end of the lead lap,
>and a little more than 8 seconds ahead of the leader (Neil).  Neil
>had to pit, and that gave me a chance to catch up to and pass him
>while he was in the pits.

>The last 25 laps were tense for me but I never saw another car until
>the last lap when I passed Eldred just before the inner loop.

>Jay, Mitch, and Brian were all in the thick of competing for 2nd
>place for most of the race. Jan pushed me into the gravel in turn one
>after he lost a tire, and I believe he lost a lap getting back to the
>pits and getting it fixed (or fell way back).  Mitch musta blown an
>engine or something, and I don't know what happened to Brian. He was
>on my ass most of the time between the 1st and 2nd pit stop, but then
>he just disappeared.

Had an... umm... distraction and had to bail.  Don't think I would
have made it around you unless you made a mistake though.  Congrats on
the win.  The Glen is fun though, even with only 7.

Brian Oster

Eldre

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Eldre » Wed, 04 Dec 2002 14:34:24



>Had an... umm... distraction and had to bail.

What's her name? ;-)

Eldred
--
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPLRank:+6.19
N2002 Rank:+18.91

Never argue with an idiot.  He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
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Eldre

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Eldre » Wed, 04 Dec 2002 14:34:23



>I honestly think you should change driving views and try some offline
>practice at Watkins.  I bet you pick up two seconds on your lap time,
>and you don't burn the tires off as quick because you'll be able to
>judge the turns better.

Even if I do, how can I transfer that to the***pit view?  That's all I use
online, so I have to find some way to get the same info while in that view...

Eldred
--
Homepage - http://www.racesimcentral.net/~epickett
GPLRank:+6.19
N2002 Rank:+18.91

Never argue with an idiot.  He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
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John Simmon

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by John Simmon » Wed, 04 Dec 2002 21:43:53





> >I honestly think you should change driving views and try some offline
> >practice at Watkins.  I bet you pick up two seconds on your lap time,
> >and you don't burn the tires off as quick because you'll be able to
> >judge the turns better.

> Even if I do, how can I transfer that to the***pit view?  That's all I use
> online, so I have to find some way to get the same info while in that view...

> Eldred

Well, I thought you were interested in doing better in the races, so
I suggested trying the different view to see if your lap times
improved.  You said you couldn't see the edge of the track. Driving
the roof view improves your ability to see the track.
Eldre

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Eldre » Thu, 05 Dec 2002 00:26:38

We'll see.  I may try it in practice(if I can find the time).  I guess I have
my doubts that it will help ME, but that's just a personal issue I have with
these games... :(

Eldred
--
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPLRank:+6.19
N2002 Rank:+18.91

Never argue with an idiot.  He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
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Goy Larse

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Goy Larse » Thu, 05 Dec 2002 00:58:41


> >Well, I thought you were interested in doing better in the races, so
> >I suggested trying the different view to see if your lap times
> >improved.  You said you couldn't see the edge of the track. Driving
> >the roof view improves your ability to see the track.

> We'll see.  I may try it in practice(if I can find the time).  I guess I have
> my doubts that it will help ME, but that's just a personal issue I have with
> these games... :(

If you stop believing it's possible for you to improve, then you won't,
other than by pure chance, my guess is that somewhere, somehow, you're
doing something that is limiting your ability to go faster, but then
again I guess you've heard it all before :-) and I'm afraid I'm not much
good at teaching

When you practice offline, do you run with damage off or on ?

I switched damage off a long time ago, when trying to find the limits of
what I can do with the setup I'm using at that particular time, the last
thing I want is to worry about bending the car and wasting time doing
yet another out lap

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

"The Pits"    http://www.theuspits.com/

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

Eldre

RASCAR: Watkins Glen

by Eldre » Thu, 05 Dec 2002 01:33:43

My NASCAR practice is run with damage on.  That's the default, I think.  Maybe
I should change that - I believe I practice GPL with damage off...
I actually need to have the TIME to practice more.  That's one of the reasons I
stopped joining the RASCAR races - not enough track time, and I wasn't
motivated enough to MAKE time...
I just didn't give a damn anymore.  Whoops - that reminds me that I never
posted the replay...

Eldred
--
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPLRank:+6.19
N2002 Rank:+18.91

Never argue with an idiot.  He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.


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