rec.autos.simulators

GPLRank: Musings on a handicap below 100 (long)

Marc Fraio

GPLRank: Musings on a handicap below 100 (long)

by Marc Fraio » Tue, 23 Jan 2001 05:39:14

Hi all,

Well, as of yesterday, I managed to lower my handicap below 100 for the
first time.  Now, with all the talk of negative handicaps, I know this is
not that impressive, but it's a milestone for me.  I've managed to take
off about 140 seconds during January (so far ;) ), so that's something.
If I can maintain this pace, I'll be breathing down Mr. Huttu's neck in
no time.  :-)

Anyway, a lot of the discussion here seems to center on how to get your
handicap down from the 30-50 range into negative territory.  I thought
I'd post a few things that I've learned and noticed in my quest for that
sub-100 number, in the hope that it might help some other beginners like
myself (I got GPL around November of 2000).  So, without further ado, in
no particular order, with the disclaimer that I'm still not particularly
good myself, so take this advice for what it's worth, etc. etc., here
are my thoughts.

o       Just getting around the 'Ring without crashing or spinning can take
        30 or 40 seconds off your time when you're just starting out there.

o       Learn to trail brake.  No other technique has helped me more.

o       Don't spend all your time trying to get to 1:29 at Monza.
        Learning the other tracks is fun too, and the skills you develop
        doing it will help your times elsewhere as well.

o       Tracks like Spa and Monza are harder than they appear.  Yes, they're
        mostly straight, so it's relatively easy to get around them in a
        more or less quick way.  But because they're mostly straight, the
        importance of the corners that they do have is greatly magnified.
        If you're not *perfect* through Malmdy, Masta, and Lesmo #2,
        your lap time will suffer greatly compared to someone who is.
        You'll be losing considerably more time than it actually takes
        to negotiate the corner in question, because your relative speed
        will be down all through the following straight.


o       You'll be faster at Monaco once you can negotiate all the hairpins
        without using reverse...

o       Zandvoort is a good track for learning two important techniques:
        trail braking and the four wheel drift.  I get around much of
        Zandvoort by turning in early for the corner while lifting or
        braking ever so slightly.  The cars then just slides right around
        the corner without losing much speed.  Two thirds of the track
        is taken this way.  And I find that I'm faster at other tracks
        after having driven Zandy for a while.

        I really mean that last bit too.  I had been lapping Zandvoort,
        and set a new PB there.  Then I went to Kyalami, and quickly and
        effortlessly reset my PB there too (not hard-- it wasn't very good
        to begin with).  So the next afternoon, I went back to Kyalami,
        feeling I had quite a bit more potential to lower my time.
        To my chagrin and dismay, I couldn't even get back within a
        second of my effortlessly set fast time from the previous day,
        even after doing *75* laps.  Frustrated, I parked GPL completely
        for a couple days.  When I came back to it, I did some other
        things, found my way back to Zandy, and resumed my form.  A new
        PB at Kyalami followed almost effortlessly afterwards.

        I think the reason for this may be that because Kyalami has so
        many straight parts, it becomes less obvious that you need to
        drift and trail brake the car in the corners that it does have.
        But after driving twisty Zandvoort for a while, this gets worked
        into your psyche, and you continue it elsewhere, to the betterment
        of your lap times.  That's my theory anyway.


o       While learning Rouen, I had trouble taking Grsil flat, even though
        it didn't look like it should be any harder than Monza's Ascari,
        which I had been taking flat for some time.  Eventually I
        discovered that the difference was in the setup.  I was running
        at Monza with a setup that I downloaded from lightsout racing,
        while at Rouen I was using the default.  When I stiffened up the
        roll bars, Grsil came under control.  Now I imagine that a more
        talented driver could have done it with the default setup, and
        in fact, as I learned the line better I was able to do it with
        less stiffness in the roll bars, but this definitely helped me
        get going.  The setup does matter, although obviously it's not
        the only difference between a raw rookie struggling to stay on
        the pavement and a world record holder.  :)

o       My best times at Monza have all come with other cars on the track.
        Somehow chasing someone just inspires me to push that little
        bit extra, I guess.  I don't know if this means anything, but
        it's just something I've noticed.  I've never been under 1:30
        in training mode.

o       I only drive the Ferrari.  I once tried the Lotus at Monza
        thinking it might magically make me 3 seconds a lap faster.
        It didn't.  Looking at the world records, I'm so far off the
        best Ferrari times that I don't think futzing with other cars
        is the real route to getting better.  It might improve my times
        a little some places, but it won't improve my skill, so what's
        the point?  Improving my skill is what I'm really after.

o       Don't spin at La Source.  It's easy enough not to, and oh how
        frustrating after an otherwise good lap.  You're not going to
        turn a 3:30 into a 3:20 by getting on the gas a microsecond
        earlier here, so don't bother.

o       I don't particularly enjoy hairpins.

o       Somehow I'm just really fast at Maggotts.  When following an
        AI car, I invariably zoom up his tailpipe here, even if we've been
        very even the rest of the lap.  I'm not sure what I'm doing so
        differently here.  But I suspect this may be part of the reason
        why Silverstone is one of the two tracks where I've beaten the
        Papy benchmark.  Anyway, all I do is turn in early, lift, slide
        around the corner, and get back on the gas also a little early.
        A technique I learned from Zandvoort, of course.

o       The lefthanders are faster than the rights at Silverstone (except
        for Woodcote), but those slow rights are harder to get right, for
        me anyway.  I do them better after some Zandy practice.  Just a
        touch of trail brake helps a lot.

So anyway, that's it.  Again, my handicap is only +91.52 at the moment,
so don't listen to me, do what Huttu says instead.  :)  I don't doubt
that some of the things I mentioned above are bad habits that I'll need
to unlearn to improve further, so be careful paying any attention to me.
But I was just feeling effusive and decided to share.  Thanks for reading
this far.  :)

        Marc

Morgan Boo

GPLRank: Musings on a handicap below 100 (long)

by Morgan Boo » Tue, 23 Jan 2001 08:24:35

Well written...and thankyou for taking the time to do it.

:o))

Morgan Boof

Roger Squire

GPLRank: Musings on a handicap below 100 (long)

by Roger Squire » Tue, 23 Jan 2001 10:05:12

   You have a 9:20 there now.  This is a really really slow time.  Consider
that for the faster guys 8:20 is cruising speed, and that in FD you can hit
8:30 or 9:00 in FG without much trouble.  If you are 9+ min. you should drop
all other tracks and concentrate here.  It's the best track in the game
anyway.

   I dunno about this.  If you mean braking into a corner, fine.  If you
mean using both brake and throttle at the same time with a 2-axis
controller, you don't need this to hit 0.  What I keep telling myself is
"use the throttle in corners" and "look for the apex", but then I'm pretty
slow.

    Actually this is pretty easy.  Approach at full speed (I get into 5th in
the ferrari) then just before the jump tap the brakes to slow down a bit and
as you launch hit the gas.  You'll land on all fours every time.

    don't try it again.  Its an evil car.

rms

Imar de Vrie

GPLRank: Musings on a handicap below 100 (long)

by Imar de Vrie » Tue, 23 Jan 2001 11:53:17


> o       Tracks like Spa and Monza are harder than they appear.  Yes, they're
>         mostly straight, so it's relatively easy to get around them in a

They definately are. It took me a lot of laps, fiddling around with RA and
GPLSpyGirl to bring my Spa time down to a 3:19, and before that I kept hitting a
3:25, even when I thought I had driven a magnificent lap! Spa was mystery to me
for a long time, and it still is, in a way...

I found that too! Exactly this have I told a friend of mine who just started
GPL. Practising Zandy makes one go faster at other circuits...

I really like the Ferrari, especially with Alison Hine's setups. I have just
begun tweaking those setups, but they've helped me to get to a -5.6 handi so
far, with at least 15 seconds to find at the 'ring, 2 at Monaco and 1 at
Zandvoort. Before I jump into the Lotus I want to be *really* quick with the
Ferrari, that is my goal :)

Don't get me started :)

Nice post, Marc. Keep improving!
--

Eldre

GPLRank: Musings on a handicap below 100 (long)

by Eldre » Tue, 23 Jan 2001 11:58:07



>o   You'll be faster at Monaco once you can negotiate all the hairpins
>    without using reverse...

LOL!

Eldred
--
Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPL F1 hcp. +28.80...F2 +151.26...F3 hcp. +373.73

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

Marc Fraio

GPLRank: Musings on a handicap below 100 (long)

by Marc Fraio » Tue, 23 Jan 2001 12:10:46



Yep, I've only done a total of maybe 10 laps there in my life.  There are
still blind crests which I approach having no clue where the track is
going to go on the other side.  And just think, I've taken a full minute
off my time there since the first time I tried it!  I *said* I wasn't
one of the hot shots when I started this thread, right?  ;-)

Yes, that's all I meant.

No, I don't even have 2-axis pedals.  Not what I meant.

Hey, you're faster than me...


>     Actually this is pretty easy.  Approach at full speed (I get into 5th in
> the ferrari) then just before the jump tap the brakes to slow down a bit and
> as you launch hit the gas.  You'll land on all fours every time.

I'll give that a try, thanks!

;-)

Actually, I've heard that people dislike the Lotus, and I don't quite
understand.  Is it just that it's the fastest car, so people like more
of a challenge and prefer to refrain from using it?

        Marc

Andre Warrin

GPLRank: Musings on a handicap below 100 (long)

by Andre Warrin » Tue, 23 Jan 2001 17:46:25



>Actually, I've heard that people dislike the Lotus, and I don't quite
>understand.  Is it just that it's the fastest car, so people like more
>of a challenge and prefer to refrain from using it?

>    Marc

Compared to the Ferrari the Lotus is more difficult to drive, you spin
sooner in a Lotus.. That's why I only drive the Lotus, I like it's
wild behaviour :)

Andre

Andre Warrin

GPLRank: Musings on a handicap below 100 (long)

by Andre Warrin » Tue, 23 Jan 2001 17:58:21


<snipsnipsnip>

Great post Marc, I'm sure you will be in the negative range very soon
if you keep up like this!
Maxx, I think this post belongs in the GPLEGS files..

Andre


rec.autos.simulators is a usenet newsgroup formed in December, 1993. As this group was always unmoderated there may be some spam or off topic articles included. Some links do point back to racesimcentral.net as we could not validate the original address. Please report any pages that you believe warrant deletion from this archive (include the link in your email). RaceSimCentral.net is in no way responsible and does not endorse any of the content herein.