rec.autos.simulators

For me the best scenario will be to put the faster drivers in slower cars to
even up the lap times & have a close race.

Personally I dont have a problem driving consistently reasonable(ish) lap
times in a Lotus. I seem to have an inability to really pull out a banzai
lap in any car without a mistake somewhere in the lap, hence my qualifying
lap is usually matched in the race whilst trying to be careful.

I dont think drivers should be criticised for choosing the Lotus. It may
not be the best choice for novices especially on-line, but I always enjoy
driving it more than the other cars. I can drive the Ferrari ever so close
to my Lotus pace, but find the Lotus more satisfying.

As we get to race more & more on-line, hopefully the mix of driver/car/track
combinations will lead to closer races as we form a knowledge of the core
group of racers we keep racing against.

I include track as we all have our favourite tracks where we run a faster
pace than others last night John Wallace & I were well matched with me in
my Lotus & John with his Honda at Silverstone, but Kyamali was a different
story (to my advantage).

Perhaps it would be worth any driver who is reasonably quick spending some
time getting to grips with a slower car. So when they enter an on-line race
where they would blow the opposition away they can revert to the slower car,
hopefully at a well matched pace.

GPL on-line is fantastic, and it seems to be getting better all the time!

Only thing is Im going to be looking for sponsorship for the phone bill

Cheers

Tony

Seconded. I might be warped by months of driving the demo, but the Lotus is an exciting car to drive. The default setups (which I use exclusively to
date except for Achim's Mosport) are pretty stable if you're careful, and if you're not careful... well, driving that thing on the edge of its performance
envelope is scary and thrilling in equal proportions.

I've tried the other cars, but the only time I've enjoyed it was in a Coventry at Zandvoort. Even the Ferrari's legendary roar isn't enough to lure me out of
the Lotus position.

Andrew McP

Racing online is a different story, there being no prize or glory at
the end, only the fun while it happens. My approach is therefore
different, and I would far rather have a tooth and nail fight for last
place rather than drive away from the field at several seconds per lap
- that is NO fun. For that reason I have taken to driving primarily
the Coventry and Murasama online, because I've found there will
generally be someone in the race who runs at the same pace and we can
often get a good race going. Any racer will tell you that the best
passing move is one where you simply outpower someone down the
straight, and the Coventry simply lacks the power to come close to
that ideal. All passing must be done into corners, through twists or
through forcing a mistake, and that in itself is very rewarding when
trying to keep up with and pass someone.

Personally I'd like to see races where everyone chooses a car that
allows them all to run a similar pace. I wouldn't like it all the
time, since it isn't really in the spirit of fair competition to
artificially create a close race by handicapping the faster guys, but
it is certainly fun. It also promotes the slower cars and hopefully
reduces the number of Lotus on the grid of every race. The car I'm
working on at the moment is the BRM, since you rarely see them online
(and having practised for the last couple of nights I can begin to
understand why!). I'm about ready to run it at Spa, doing 3:25s
currently, but the problem is that it totally messes up your shift
points for any other car, especially downshifts. I think it'll be a
long time before I run it anywhere else!

Cheers!
John

Amen brother :-)!

I personally haven't stepped into a Lotus for ages, and now spend most
of my time in the Ferrari and occasionally the Coventry. I've now
recognised that there is no way in the World I can beat people like
Wolfgang Woeger or Tadej Krevh at hotlapping, so I prefer just to race
and have fun! The Ferrari may be a bit slow compared to the Lotus but it
is so much more fun than fighting to stay on the road all the time. And
winning in it is so much sweeter :-)

The first race of the IGPS is this weekend at Mexico, and having just
turned a 1m49.2 in my Ferrari (as oppopsed to 1m47.7 in the Lotus), I'm
looking forward eagerly...

Cheers!
--
Graeme Nash

http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk

ICQ# 11257824

Am I going to have to ask you to drive a BRM for the entire season? :-)

Seriously though, how do you guys do lap times like that with a full race
load of fuel?  Utterly amazing.  My best time in an Eagle is 1:50, and
that's with much less than enough gas to complete 20 laps.

--
=========================================================
John Simmons - Redneck Techno-Biker (Zerex12)
http://www.members.home.net/jms1/index.html

John Simmons - Barbarian Diecast Collector
http://members.home.net/jsimm/diecast_index.html

IGPS Director
http://members.home.net/jms1/igps.html

If you want to send me email, go to either of the URL's
shown above & click "Send Me Mail" in the contents frame.
=========================================================

So then I guess I made a mistake last night when I drove the Ferrari
around Mexico in 1m48.8.....!

Cheers!
--
Graeme Nash

http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk

ICQ# 11257824