How the hell do you master the RING!!

I have the same problem. A local track holder at the Glen for GT3 and FF came over to check out GPL online. He loved it! Any how, he wanted to see the Ring and how it was represented. (He also loved that). I told him that I wont drive the thing because it's a *** to learn all those turns and remember which one is coming up next and ect... What he said is... Drive the first mile. Quit, then re-drive it. Keep doing that till you learn that part of the track. Then do the same with the next, and the next... This might help you, Mike Barlow

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> I went to the Ring in my COV (gotta get the patch soon so I can say > COOPER instead of COVENTRY), and WOW .. this track is damn complicated > !!! > What was your strategy in mastering and 'memorizing' this track? > Thanks.

-- ========================================= Mike Barlow of Barlow Racing? MikeBa on the TEN network. Member of R.O.R. 1999 http://w3.ime.net/~marknjess/noflame.html ========================================= Racing online with the help of...... Race Communications Association http://members.xoom.com/RCA/toc.html Holodyne Engineering Mystic Music mikeba.vcf < 1K Download

I went to the Ring in my COV (gotta get the patch soon so I can say COOPER instead of COVENTRY), and WOW .. this track is damn complicated !!! What was your strategy in mastering and 'memorizing' this track? Thanks.

Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of laps. And then a few more for good measure. Seriously though, pick out some turns that really stand out in your mind. Use them to divide the track up into thirds or fourths. Learn the first section coast through the rest. Push through the first section, learn the second section, coast through the rest. Etc... The other simple way is just committ yourself to driving two laps at the 'Ring every time you play gpl. If if you never leave 2nd gear and just cruise around, there's no substitute for simply putting th laps in. -- Bill Mette | "A person is smart. People are dumb." Enteract, Chicago | - K MiB

>I went to the Ring in my COV (gotta get the patch soon so I can say >COOPER instead of COVENTRY), and WOW .. this track is damn complicated >!!! >What was your strategy in mastering and 'memorizing' this track? My "strategy" is simple - keep driving. Just keep putting the laps in in training in a no-damage car. Doesn't matter if you crash or spin, don't get frustrated, think of it as the learning process - maybe even have fun replaying your wilder accidents. Gradually some corners will seem familiar to you, and once you realise which corner you're in you'll be able to drive it - as long as you don't realise too late that you're heading for a 2nd gear corner in 5th... There was one corner round the back (between Karousel and its little brother) where I was consistently barrel-rolling every lap for a while - at the moment I'm consistently running wide on to the grass there instead... Then some of the corners will begin to connect together in your head, ie you'll have flown over Flugplatz and then you realise it's the long fast left sweep next followed by the slow right under the bridge. It may also help to put names to the corners in your head - eg once I knew that the slow right-left-right was called Adenauer-Forst (Adenau Forest) that associated itself in my head with trees and now I am aware that if I take the first part too quickly I'll get well acquainted with a certain tree. In summary you need 3 things to learn the Ring - laps, laps and more laps. Hope this helps. http://members.xoom.com/IanHill http://members.tripod.com/~IanHill

I agree, as they say practise makes perfect :) Keep doing laps, no damage otherwise you get into the complex of turns about 2 k's in (and before that rise over the bridge to 'Flugplatz' and you'll tear a wheel off and keep having to start again!

% I went to the Ring in my COV (gotta get the patch soon so I can say % COOPER instead of COVENTRY), and WOW .. this track is damn complicated % !!! Once you've been around the track a few times, check out the following link: http://www.turkeyshoot.demon.co.uk/ring/ring.htm Excellent tutorial/guide to getting around the Ring. -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Yup, gotta agree. Repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, repitition, (is this getting boring yet?)...that's the key! Anyway, it so much fun once you finally realise you know your way around it feels like you've only been there 5 minutes! Then you can start to get those quick laps in... 8:51 over here ...still :o/ Rob

Like almost everything else about GPL it takes practice, practice, practice. :-) I'm not very fast around the 'Ring but it's not so unusual now to make several circuits without going off. It just takes a long time to learn all the blind turns. You have to know it well enough to begin turns and place the car on the track without being able to see which way the track goes in many places. Jackie Stewart once said he felt his career wouldn't have been complete if he hadn't been able to race the 'Ring, but that he never really liked the track. Too many blind corners and what not, hard to remember which way the track went until sometimes committed in a turn. He said anyone who said the 'Ring didn't scare them was either lying or wasn't driving fast enough. I think the 'Ring is one of the best tracks in GPL and have 'died' and thousand 'deaths' there. :-)

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> I went to the Ring in my COV (gotta get the patch soon so I can say > COOPER instead of COVENTRY), and WOW .. this track is damn complicated > !!! > What was your strategy in mastering and 'memorizing' this track? > Thanks.

I almost forgot. Papy put little signs (white and yellow) to mark the 14 sections of the 'Ring. These help a lot. You can read the names in replays, but at 150mph -- kinda impossible :-D They also put up little circular red signs with an 'X' through them. As you guessed it these mark dangerous/hidden turns. The first red sign is at the first hairpin/ S-turn after the first long downhill fast part :-) Jason. > 3. Give the sections your own names like "fast downhill section", "slow > jump", "shrub/windy part", and "1st bridge turn". -------- Jason Monds "My other car is a Ferrari" http://members.home.net/gpl.mondsj/gpl - For my combined gas/brake setups (Please remove 'no extra spork' when replying)

You are right about the white/yellow signs being there which show the section name, but the other signs you mention are normal traffic signs stating 'no stopping allowed here'. Although they _are_ placed at dangerous roadsections, this has no link to these sections being part of a race track. -- Ren van Lobberegt, The Netherlands. Personal site : http://www.toptown.com/INNERCIRCLE/1846/ AMCA web master : http://www.amcaracing.nl/

I set about learning the "rhythm" of the various sections, which took about 8 or 9 laps, and then set about really learning the track. I spent a whole week driving just at the 'Ring, (in preparation for a league race there) and in total ran about 35 laps. I now know the track pretty well in that while I couldn't talk you round a lap now, I always know what's coming up next when I am driving. My best so far is 8m15.2 in the Ferrari with Doug Arnao's setup. I've been meaning to go back to it with a faster one but haven't had the time. I feel pretty sure the red car is capable of going under 8m05. -- Cheers! Graeme Nash http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk ICQ# 11257824 1998 Xoom GP2 League Champion

>I almost forgot. Papy put little signs (white and yellow) to mark the 14 >sections of the 'Ring. These help a lot. You can read the names in replays, >but at 150mph -- kinda impossible :-D They also put up little circular red >signs with an 'X' through them. As you guessed it these mark >dangerous/hidden turns. The first red sign is at the first hairpin/ S-turn >after the first long downhill fast part :-) The blue and red X signs are really there (at least I know they are these days)... they mean "no stopping" at that point in the circuit

>What was your strategy in mastering and 'memorizing' this track? Practice the track in smaller sections. Run a few corners at moderate speed, then stop, turn around, and run them in the opposite direction. Now run through them again at a slightly higher speed. If you***up anywhere, turn around, give yourself enough space to take another run at it, and try it again. It's just too painful to continue ALL the way around the track because it'll take you nearly ten minutes to return to the same spot, by which time you'll certainly have forgotten where you screwed up the first time and you'll very likely will end up repeating the same error at the exact same spot. I must have hit consecutive laps before finally giving up trying full laps. I practiced that section several times, running it forward and backwards, before finally figuring out what I was doing wrong there. After a while, you'll recognise the natural divisions between the various sections. There are fast flat out straight sections, sweeping twisty sections, SLOW hairpin bits, airborne flying sections, a little of everything. Well actually a LOT of everything. I LOVE this track! Just learn it one section at a time. Running some sections backwards gives a valuable different perspective on the more complicated sections. That'll go a long way to helping you "memorize" the track. As for "mastering" it, has ANYONE done that yet? -Ferdinand-

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>>What was your strategy in mastering and 'memorizing' this track? >Practice the track in smaller sections. Run a few corners at >moderate speed, then stop, turn around, and run them in the opposite >direction. Now run through them again at a slightly higher speed. >If you***up anywhere, turn around, give yourself enough space to >take another run at it, and try it again. >It's just too painful to continue ALL the way around the track >because it'll take you nearly ten minutes to return to the same >spot, by which time you'll certainly have forgotten where you >screwed up the first time and you'll very likely will end up >repeating the same error at the exact same spot. I must have hit >consecutive laps before finally giving up trying full laps. I >practiced that section several times, running it forward and >backwards, before finally figuring out what I was doing wrong there. >Just learn it one section at a time >That'll go a long way to helping you >"memorize" the track

Yes - and if you are really desperate to run just one hot lap, make some pace notes and get a co-driver to call the corners for you.

Wow nver thought about that I may put my daughter to work tomorrow night. Dave

On Fri, 19 Mar 1999 13:04:36 -0700, Jason Monds >I almost forgot. Papy put little signs (white and yellow) to mark the 14 >sections of the 'Ring. These help a lot. You can read the names in replays, >but at 150mph -- kinda impossible :-D They also put up little circular red >signs with an 'X' through them. As you guessed it these mark >dangerous/hidden turns. The first red sign is at the first hairpin/ S-turn >after the first long downhill fast part :-) It seems to be a common misunderstanding that Papy put the signs on the GPL 'Ring in order to make it easier to learn (that's what is written in the manual, and there is/was even a patch available to remove the signs). Actually, Papy put signs there because there are (and were) many real signs on the Ring (Papy left out or misplaced some, though, like Brnnchen). The white/yellow ones are nowadays replaced with green ones, which fit better into the "Green Hell". The traffic signs, like "one way street", "absolutly no stopping here" (just a reminder at especially dangerous places, it's generally "verboten" to stop anywhere on the Ring) and so on are also there. After all, the Nordschleife is open to public traffic nearly every day, and those signs are needed to guide the tourists and prevent crashs. Also, there are marks on the real track, usually painted white spots, which are used (and renewed) during race driving lessons to mark brake or turn-in spots, eg. at teh Karussell. -- _____ /_______\ .\\ a t t h e a d I XT /~~~~ I 500\_____ 1977' Yamaha XT.Rex 500 Enduro \____/\__I_I http://matthead.home.pages.de/

One far less stressful way of memorising the circuit and eliminating a load of frustration does not involve driving at all. Quite simply fire up the Doug Arno replay that comes with the installation and sit with a beer/coke/coffee/whatever your poison is, and ride along. You can of course rewind particular sections and watch time after time. Sure, this gives you no experience driving the place but it beats the hell out of reversing the car or taking 10 mins+ to go round again, in order to practice the same bend. Half the battle with the ring is knowing where to attack and where to go easy. If you know what comes next it makes things so much easier. Regards Mark

Hey Mark! GREAT suggestion... you beat me to it! :-) That's actually how I learned it. Like you say, MUCH quicker. --Dave

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> One far less stressful way of memorising the circuit and eliminating a load > of frustration does not involve driving at all. Quite simply fire up the > Doug Arno replay that comes with the installation and sit with a > beer/coke/coffee/whatever your poison is, and ride along. You can of course > rewind particular sections and watch time after time. > Sure, this gives you no experience driving the place but it beats the hell > out of reversing the car or taking 10 mins+ to go round again, in order to > practice the same bend. Half the battle with the ring is knowing where to > attack and where to go easy. If you know what comes next it makes things so > much easier. > Regards > Mark

-- Dave Schwabe The Aussie Toad -- Grand Prix Legends & Brabham site http://users.wi.net/~schwabe

Well, I can do consitent 8:0x:xx now (did about 30 laps around the Ring till now).But I can't say I've mastered it 8-) I'll let you know if I'll be able to do consistent sub 8's -=8-) Tadej Krevh