RaceDepartment Historic Club Series Season 9 Round 8 – I’m taking the Greyhound on that Hudson River line
Welcome back to Round 8 – The Finale of RDHCS Season 9.
For those of you who are fans of hoary old chestnuts and groaning cliché, you’ll probably know what’s coming next, but I still mean it every time I write it - I honestly can’t believe that this is the last race in the season already. It has just flown past for me, but I’ve still managed to look at how the season has gone and analyse what went well, what didn’t go so well, what could be finessed to improve it.
I’d probably have to say that the car pool wasn’t quite as balanced as I would like, the Escort’s & Alfa’s great handling not being able to offset the extra power of the other cars in the League often enough – next time maybe switching the 914 & the Capri back in would even it out nicely. Tracks have been varied, people tended to “hate” tracks that their car felt worst at, or where they had bad races rather than being a bit more objective. I was, and am, happy with the schedule.
I’m slightly disappointed at some of the conduct and reactions this season, but hopefully that’s all in the past now, and we won’t see any reoccurrences of it in the future, especially as all this is meant to be fun.
Moving 10,500 miles North-East, we end the season in the US, specifically upstate New York at the Watkins Glen Circuit in its 1975 incarnation.
Circuit Notes
Watkins Glen, in upstate New York, is one of the most created tracks in Sim Racing. We are all very familiar with it in most incarnations. From the deceptively simple 1956-70 GP Circuit, the 1970 reprofiling of the Glen (turning T1 into “The Ninety”, removal of the “Speed Trap” and “Fast Bend”), to the mid 1970’s introduction of the Inner Loop and The Boot section, allowing multiple layouts to be achieved with ease.
RDHCS is using the “Long” 1975 layout incarnation, including the Boot, excluding the Inner Loop, but there is also the “floating kerb” Chicane in the middle of the normally flat out, high speed Esses to add an additional twist to this very familiar venue. Not only does it add challenge to the lap overall, it also means that it breaks up that long stretch of acceleration that would normally play right into the muscle cars hands, giving the other cars a little bit of a chance to claw back some time in the twistier sections to follow.
The final reminder is that this is a 200km race – double our normal length – so all drivers should acquaint themselves with pitstop procedures in GTL, especially getting into the habit of re-enabling the pit limiter after the pit stop has been completed. Some cars may go a long way into the race, some may need to just pit for fuel, some may need new tyres, but this race is an enduro, normally lasting about 1hr 20min. Think about that when you’re driving behind someone in the first few laps, and whether you want to risk both your and his races when there’s still loads of time to go. You will need to reach lap 28 before you will score any points on the 75% rule.
The Glen is a flowing, swooping rollercoaster of a track, and not the first time we have encountered gradients this season. It again shows that gradient can turn a good track into a great one. There are, however differences between this version of the track and the more modern incarnation we’ve driven more often. This track is narrower, and there is more grass in the run off areas rather than the gravel or sand that we’re used to, and there are fewer wide, modern kerbs.
The lap of Watkins 75 starts on the reasonably long S/F straight, with the line a little nearer the beginning than we’re used to, but still falling away enough so that cars will pick up speed very quickly, easily quickly enough to make T1R a real test from lap 1 onwards.
You enter the downhill braking zone into T1R - The Ninety at close to top speed. One of the more controversial corners on the modern layout because of its huge, humped extended kerb, this 75 layout makes it very simple, being narrower, and having slippery grass on the outside. You have to drive this corner with more respect than the modern layout, still making sure you are in control of the throttle at the dipped apex, before rolling back onto the accelerator at exit.
As you start up the fast uphill Esses where normally cars are flatout, you take T2R as normal, but instead of keeping the throttle buried until for the flick back T3L, it’s now time to brake as you pop over the crest and make sure you are in line for T3aL & T3bR - the Chicane. This is not a wildly punitive chicane, but there are car mangling walls on the outer edges of the floating kerbs, so disrespecting it is a questionable proposition.
Coming out of the chicane it’s back on the accelerator for the long Back Straight, past the unused Inner Loop, over the crest into the short braking zone for the diving entry to T4R - Outer Loop. This again is subtly different to the more familiar version, tighter, narrower and tricky with a nasty bump on the exit. If you can maintain some momentum here, you can pile out of Outer Loop onto the short downhill straight, before braking for the slightly blind entry to T5L – The Chute.
The narrowness of the layout really hits home here, the total lack of kerb, just track suddenly becoming slippery grass with hard wall behind it being a very different proposition to the familiar layout. Accelerate into the downhill braking zone for T6R - Toe. Toe is a fast, climbing hairpin, so keep it all under control and get as much speed as possible onto the short uphill straight, possibly getting to use top gear for a dab, before clearing the crest into the braking zone for T7R.
T7R normally has car slowing gravel on the outside and fairly grippy kerbs, but 75 just has grass and walls waiting to do you damage.
Accelerate uphill again, braking hard and early, getting the nose nicely into to T8L, to allow early throttle, but like the other version, this corner has some pretty hefty defences on the outside line, and seems to go on forever.
Accelerate hard, and then lift or feather to get the nose pointed way to the inside of T9L. This corner usually has gravel and a really wide kerb on the outside, but again, you are left facing the unappealing combination of narrow kerb, grass and walls. The apex is still dipped and dished to really pull the nose round, but again, no inside kerbs to run over.
Step on the loud pedal for a squirt of throttle before feathering and throwing the nose across the inner apex of T10R. This has some handy, helpful camber, but it also has the pit lane entry, which is going to be in use for this 200km finale. Keep it together and fire the car flat out onto the S/F straight and across the line for another lap of Watkins 75.
The Race Director has some notes for drivers. Please see the track map above for location of Race Direction note:-
All Corners Without Exception – The kerbs are not deemed as track, therefore 2 wheels must be within the white lines, on the tarmac, At All Times. Again, there are NO exceptions to this rule at any point on the circuit. Any exception to this rule is deemed illegal, any advantage gained by this method must be ceded immediately. Report people deliberately and excessively cutting. The worst offenders from previous seasons have not signed up, so I hope that this will be a non-issue this season.
Racing Room must be given to all drivers – and this works both ways. Divebombing into and across a corner denies people the chance to make the corner correctly just as much as someone obliviously (or deliberately) cutting the nose off of another driver who has achieved partial overlap fairly.
T1R – Especially on Lap 1. Be aware of people as you turn in here, it has the possibility to cause huge problems if drivers don’t respect each other. Be aware that any incidents caused by reckless or over aggressive driving in Turn 1 during the first lap will be dealt with severely, probably with a points penalty as there are no further Rounds this season. The difference between this and most previous tracks this season is the speed here will be much higher. Excursions off track will be further, so safe re-entries are a must.
T10R – The pitlane WILL be in use for this race, and the fast line through T10R uses it. Pay attention to people in front of you, as they might be slowing more than you if they are pitting.
All points on the track – General Items
Drivers may put on their lights (and keep them on) during a timed qualification lap, so other drivers know to get out of the way when safe to do so.
No lights are to be flashed at any stage, under any circumstances, during the Race Session.
No Chat during the Quali or Race except by Race Control for information.
The Track must be re-entered safely so as not to ruin other peoples races.
Car damage must be assessed realistically to know if it is possible to make the pits or not.
Incidents, Investigations and Penalties
There were no reported incidents from Round 7
As a change from last season, and as a result that I am personally reminding you of each race with the new posts and the PM for passwords, 2 no-shows will mean removal from the League, whether they are consecutive or not.
Please remember, the League staff will only review incidents if they are reported to them.
No report = no review.
Please try and remember the incident reporting guidelines: review, cool off, review again. Only after following the above process, and if you are convinced you still need to report it, should you let the League staff know. Please give as much information as possible during the report (time of incident, drivers involved etc.) Accident reports made within 24 hours of race completion will be ignored.
Any accusations or complaints aired in the Chat during or after a race will mean a penalty levied on the person complaining or making the accusations, even if a subsequent official complaint gets found in their favour. I simply will NOT tolerate any post race finger pointing.
Liveries
You have chosen your car and livery already, and you must only drive your chosen car at any time during an RDHCS event. Every driver has a unique livery in this season of RDHCS.
Reporting Attendance
As GPCOS seems to be down, I will be sending a PM with the round password to all Signed-Up drivers. I will also be running an “Attendance” post. If you are definitely driving, you need to “like” the post. If you are NOT driving (or if you are unsure of attendance) you must post a reply to say so. If there is no response, or if a response is posted after 2 hours before race start time on race day, it will be treated as a No-Show. Again 2 No-Shows will mean removal from the league.
Scoring System
Points are scored down to P20 (75% distance completion required) so people can fight for some points no matter where they are on the track, and hopefully have a season long battle with people around them in the League.
The Distribution is as follows for 200km events :
P1 - 50 pts
P2 - 44
P3 - 40
P4 - 36
P5 - 32
P6 - 30
P7 - 28
P8 - 26
P9 - 24
P10 - 22
P11 - 20
P12 - 18
P13 - 16
P14 - 14
P15 - 12
P16 - 10
P17 - 8
P18 - 6
P19 - 4
P20 - 2
1 point for fastest race lap
1 point for qualifying on Pole
Welcome back to Round 8 – The Finale of RDHCS Season 9.
For those of you who are fans of hoary old chestnuts and groaning cliché, you’ll probably know what’s coming next, but I still mean it every time I write it - I honestly can’t believe that this is the last race in the season already. It has just flown past for me, but I’ve still managed to look at how the season has gone and analyse what went well, what didn’t go so well, what could be finessed to improve it.
I’d probably have to say that the car pool wasn’t quite as balanced as I would like, the Escort’s & Alfa’s great handling not being able to offset the extra power of the other cars in the League often enough – next time maybe switching the 914 & the Capri back in would even it out nicely. Tracks have been varied, people tended to “hate” tracks that their car felt worst at, or where they had bad races rather than being a bit more objective. I was, and am, happy with the schedule.
I’m slightly disappointed at some of the conduct and reactions this season, but hopefully that’s all in the past now, and we won’t see any reoccurrences of it in the future, especially as all this is meant to be fun.
Moving 10,500 miles North-East, we end the season in the US, specifically upstate New York at the Watkins Glen Circuit in its 1975 incarnation.
Circuit Notes
Watkins Glen, in upstate New York, is one of the most created tracks in Sim Racing. We are all very familiar with it in most incarnations. From the deceptively simple 1956-70 GP Circuit, the 1970 reprofiling of the Glen (turning T1 into “The Ninety”, removal of the “Speed Trap” and “Fast Bend”), to the mid 1970’s introduction of the Inner Loop and The Boot section, allowing multiple layouts to be achieved with ease.
RDHCS is using the “Long” 1975 layout incarnation, including the Boot, excluding the Inner Loop, but there is also the “floating kerb” Chicane in the middle of the normally flat out, high speed Esses to add an additional twist to this very familiar venue. Not only does it add challenge to the lap overall, it also means that it breaks up that long stretch of acceleration that would normally play right into the muscle cars hands, giving the other cars a little bit of a chance to claw back some time in the twistier sections to follow.
The final reminder is that this is a 200km race – double our normal length – so all drivers should acquaint themselves with pitstop procedures in GTL, especially getting into the habit of re-enabling the pit limiter after the pit stop has been completed. Some cars may go a long way into the race, some may need to just pit for fuel, some may need new tyres, but this race is an enduro, normally lasting about 1hr 20min. Think about that when you’re driving behind someone in the first few laps, and whether you want to risk both your and his races when there’s still loads of time to go. You will need to reach lap 28 before you will score any points on the 75% rule.
The Glen is a flowing, swooping rollercoaster of a track, and not the first time we have encountered gradients this season. It again shows that gradient can turn a good track into a great one. There are, however differences between this version of the track and the more modern incarnation we’ve driven more often. This track is narrower, and there is more grass in the run off areas rather than the gravel or sand that we’re used to, and there are fewer wide, modern kerbs.
The lap of Watkins 75 starts on the reasonably long S/F straight, with the line a little nearer the beginning than we’re used to, but still falling away enough so that cars will pick up speed very quickly, easily quickly enough to make T1R a real test from lap 1 onwards.
You enter the downhill braking zone into T1R - The Ninety at close to top speed. One of the more controversial corners on the modern layout because of its huge, humped extended kerb, this 75 layout makes it very simple, being narrower, and having slippery grass on the outside. You have to drive this corner with more respect than the modern layout, still making sure you are in control of the throttle at the dipped apex, before rolling back onto the accelerator at exit.
As you start up the fast uphill Esses where normally cars are flatout, you take T2R as normal, but instead of keeping the throttle buried until for the flick back T3L, it’s now time to brake as you pop over the crest and make sure you are in line for T3aL & T3bR - the Chicane. This is not a wildly punitive chicane, but there are car mangling walls on the outer edges of the floating kerbs, so disrespecting it is a questionable proposition.
Coming out of the chicane it’s back on the accelerator for the long Back Straight, past the unused Inner Loop, over the crest into the short braking zone for the diving entry to T4R - Outer Loop. This again is subtly different to the more familiar version, tighter, narrower and tricky with a nasty bump on the exit. If you can maintain some momentum here, you can pile out of Outer Loop onto the short downhill straight, before braking for the slightly blind entry to T5L – The Chute.
The narrowness of the layout really hits home here, the total lack of kerb, just track suddenly becoming slippery grass with hard wall behind it being a very different proposition to the familiar layout. Accelerate into the downhill braking zone for T6R - Toe. Toe is a fast, climbing hairpin, so keep it all under control and get as much speed as possible onto the short uphill straight, possibly getting to use top gear for a dab, before clearing the crest into the braking zone for T7R.
T7R normally has car slowing gravel on the outside and fairly grippy kerbs, but 75 just has grass and walls waiting to do you damage.
Accelerate uphill again, braking hard and early, getting the nose nicely into to T8L, to allow early throttle, but like the other version, this corner has some pretty hefty defences on the outside line, and seems to go on forever.
Accelerate hard, and then lift or feather to get the nose pointed way to the inside of T9L. This corner usually has gravel and a really wide kerb on the outside, but again, you are left facing the unappealing combination of narrow kerb, grass and walls. The apex is still dipped and dished to really pull the nose round, but again, no inside kerbs to run over.
Step on the loud pedal for a squirt of throttle before feathering and throwing the nose across the inner apex of T10R. This has some handy, helpful camber, but it also has the pit lane entry, which is going to be in use for this 200km finale. Keep it together and fire the car flat out onto the S/F straight and across the line for another lap of Watkins 75.
The Race Director has some notes for drivers. Please see the track map above for location of Race Direction note:-
All Corners Without Exception – The kerbs are not deemed as track, therefore 2 wheels must be within the white lines, on the tarmac, At All Times. Again, there are NO exceptions to this rule at any point on the circuit. Any exception to this rule is deemed illegal, any advantage gained by this method must be ceded immediately. Report people deliberately and excessively cutting. The worst offenders from previous seasons have not signed up, so I hope that this will be a non-issue this season.
Racing Room must be given to all drivers – and this works both ways. Divebombing into and across a corner denies people the chance to make the corner correctly just as much as someone obliviously (or deliberately) cutting the nose off of another driver who has achieved partial overlap fairly.
T1R – Especially on Lap 1. Be aware of people as you turn in here, it has the possibility to cause huge problems if drivers don’t respect each other. Be aware that any incidents caused by reckless or over aggressive driving in Turn 1 during the first lap will be dealt with severely, probably with a points penalty as there are no further Rounds this season. The difference between this and most previous tracks this season is the speed here will be much higher. Excursions off track will be further, so safe re-entries are a must.
T10R – The pitlane WILL be in use for this race, and the fast line through T10R uses it. Pay attention to people in front of you, as they might be slowing more than you if they are pitting.
All points on the track – General Items
Drivers may put on their lights (and keep them on) during a timed qualification lap, so other drivers know to get out of the way when safe to do so.
No lights are to be flashed at any stage, under any circumstances, during the Race Session.
No Chat during the Quali or Race except by Race Control for information.
The Track must be re-entered safely so as not to ruin other peoples races.
Car damage must be assessed realistically to know if it is possible to make the pits or not.
Incidents, Investigations and Penalties
There were no reported incidents from Round 7
As a change from last season, and as a result that I am personally reminding you of each race with the new posts and the PM for passwords, 2 no-shows will mean removal from the League, whether they are consecutive or not.
Please remember, the League staff will only review incidents if they are reported to them.
No report = no review.
Please try and remember the incident reporting guidelines: review, cool off, review again. Only after following the above process, and if you are convinced you still need to report it, should you let the League staff know. Please give as much information as possible during the report (time of incident, drivers involved etc.) Accident reports made within 24 hours of race completion will be ignored.
Any accusations or complaints aired in the Chat during or after a race will mean a penalty levied on the person complaining or making the accusations, even if a subsequent official complaint gets found in their favour. I simply will NOT tolerate any post race finger pointing.
Liveries
You have chosen your car and livery already, and you must only drive your chosen car at any time during an RDHCS event. Every driver has a unique livery in this season of RDHCS.
Reporting Attendance
As GPCOS seems to be down, I will be sending a PM with the round password to all Signed-Up drivers. I will also be running an “Attendance” post. If you are definitely driving, you need to “like” the post. If you are NOT driving (or if you are unsure of attendance) you must post a reply to say so. If there is no response, or if a response is posted after 2 hours before race start time on race day, it will be treated as a No-Show. Again 2 No-Shows will mean removal from the league.
Scoring System
Points are scored down to P20 (75% distance completion required) so people can fight for some points no matter where they are on the track, and hopefully have a season long battle with people around them in the League.
The Distribution is as follows for 200km events :
P1 - 50 pts
P2 - 44
P3 - 40
P4 - 36
P5 - 32
P6 - 30
P7 - 28
P8 - 26
P9 - 24
P10 - 22
P11 - 20
P12 - 18
P13 - 16
P14 - 14
P15 - 12
P16 - 10
P17 - 8
P18 - 6
P19 - 4
P20 - 2
1 point for fastest race lap
1 point for qualifying on Pole
