RDHGP S5 - Round 8 - Mount Panorama, Bathurst - 31st July 2010

Welcome back to the Final Round of the RD Historic Grand Prix, Season 5

The last round of the season, and we roll out our trusty TC65 steeds one last time. Charade appeared to cause some moderately heated discussion in a very limited portion of our drivers. Some accusations of dropping driving standards were thrown about too, but I saw nothing to back up that view, if I’m honest. I have my own opinions about the standards, the accused and the accusers, I disagree with a lot of it, but it probably won’t be helpful or productive if I air those views, so we’ll just move straight on. As the vast majority seemed to enjoy it, I’m going to say it was a success.

We now go 10,500 miles down under to Bathurst, in New South Wales, Australia, home of the mighty Mount Panorama Circuit. Another reminder that this is running on Saturday 31st July, instead of a Thursday. I expect we’ll receive the same courtesy from the other Leagues and Club events that we normally do...ahem.



Circuit Notes

The RDHGP have gained the concession from the circuit management that we will be driving the 1967 layout of Mount Panorama. This comprises one major change, but it has a huge effect on the character of the circuit. Technically, this is a street circuit, and like many of our other venues, there are some gradients to contend with. Mount Panorama goes that much further though, as the net vertical difference between the highest and lowest points on the circuit is a staggering 174 metres. We will be not using the Chase section, but rather restoring the already fearsome Conrod Straight back to its original, engine bursting glory. The 200km length (double our normal race length) will require some pitstop strategy, but with double points on offer, it’s well worth thinking through the pros and cons of various possibilities.

A lap of Mount Panorama begins on the S/F straight, the lowest point of the circuit. A close packed grid leads us into T1L, Hell Corner. A fairly standard 90º corner, it opens up onto Mountain Straight. The pit exit is before T1L, so drivers will need to be aware of people pitting and rejoining at this point. People exiting the pits need to be aware of what is approaching, and anyone driving out at low speeds onto the racing line causing accidents will be penalised. Mountain Straight it the first chance to really unwind your engines and has a few undulations, before the first of many inclined braking zones.

T2R, Quarry, is climbing and more of a bend than a corner, momentum needing to be conserved through here.
Quarry feeds into another short, uphill straight, which end with T3L & T4L, The Cutting. A relatively wide corner, followed by a much tighter radius corner immediately after, both incredibly steeply uphill, it gives an indicator of what this track still has up its sleeve.

T5R, Griffin’s Mount, is a flatter and shallower double apex corner, allowing the speed to build up, before the blind downhill dive of T7L – The Hollow. Throwing the nose in here, still accelerating, we arrive at the deceptively difficult T8L – Park. Get through here unscathed, and you hit one of Bathursts infamous sucker punches, the fast straight called Skyline.

This can lull you into a false sense of security, as it leads into the T9aL/bR/cL Esses complex, a set of blind, decreasing radius and heavily cambered bends, which, despite being hellishly difficult, are merely the starters before you reach the real main course – T10aR & T10bl – The Dipper.

This complex is downhill in the same way that driving over the edge of a cliff is technically downhill. It just falls away from beneath the cars that virtually every vehicle will leave the ground for a few instants, no matter what speed you are going. Obviously cars will be getting squirrelly here, clutching at anything for traction and grip, so you may need to spend some time wrestling the car back into shape.

Of course, you have no time to do that, as there follows another downhill straight, followed by the blind and off camber T11L, Forrest’s Elbow, which leads onto the mighty, near mile long Conrod Straight. Having this straight follow Forrest’s means that you have to attack it or people behind you who get a good drive out of there have all the time in the world to reel you in. Over 3 big humps and then, as you clear the last hump, you suddenly see T12L – Murray’s, approaching very very quickly. Slamming on the anchors for this again quite simple 90º, the huge closing speeds and downhill braking zone mean that anything less than your full attention is potentially car and race-wrecking.

The Pit entry filters off after Murray’s so be aware of people braking and pitting after making the corner to make their entry at pit limiter speeds. What I'm really saying is that going on the inside to try and make a pass down the S/F straight may well end in tears.



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. Please report people who are deliberately and excessively cutting.

Despite the fearsome nature of Mount Panorama, the only sections that I have concerns about are T10 The Dipper, and T11 Forrest’s Elbow. The track is quite narrow, and spinning cars tend to take up most of that width. Please be aware of that when you are following someone closely. It is a double length race, so early risky moves that cause problems won’t get you on my Christmas card list.

To paraphrase some other race monkeys - I hope you can confirm you’ve understood the message.

• All points on the track – General Items
• No lights are to be flashed at any stage, under any circumstances, during the race.
• 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.
• There will be pitstops by some people, so make sure you know how to make them if you need to, and how and where the pitlane merges with the track.
• There is to be NO post race chat until the last running driver has crossed the line for the final time.

Incidents, Investigations and Penalties

There are no new No-show infractions now being levied on Drivers after Round 7.
--------------
Ryan Callan raised a Driving Conduct Report against Stuart Thomson in Round 7.
The Report against Stuart Thomson resulted in 4.5 sec of cut penalties, all accrued from a single corner, doubled and rounded up to 10 sec, added to the time for round 7. This has no effect on the finishing places.

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.)

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 RDHGP event. Every driver has a unique livery in this season of RDHGP.

Allocations and passwords
I will as normal be putting up an individual password for this event, but the link to GPCOS has helpfully (!) been changed. Go to the "Sim Racing" button at the top of your screens, and then select "League Management System"

Scoring System
I have extended the points distribution method 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

Thread opened.

Gentlemen, grab your stubbies.

Another good briefing, and what a great track this is (but I'm biased :ups: ). Not exactly a Mini track, the poor little engine is on the rev limit almost the whole of Conrod Straight, hope it can last the distance of this race without blowing up in smoke).

Just for the historical significance (something to reflect on when you lap me): The skin that I am using is the famous Mini that won Bathurst back in 1966, but of course it wasn't racing Falcon's, Alfa's, Lotus Cortina's, or hotted up Abarth's.

Watch Gary wind that Falcon up on Mountain Straight and Conrod, it should be impressive. :rabbit:

More likely to be a rapdily disappearing black dot :good:

Also - errata & addendum

In my dim old head, I got slightly confused between versions, and as a result the briefing needs slight updating. On the 67 version, the pits have no pit wall, and the entry and exit are all on the S/F straight, NOT as I put with the exit on Mountain & the entry on Conrod.

It changes the aspect slightly, but at least people won't be coming upon someone straight after they've negotiated Hell.

I have now updated the briefing.

Should be entertaining, hopefully the black dot won't suddenly become a roadblock in the twisty bits. Given how narrow the track is up at the top of the top of the hill and Gary's massive advantage on the straights we could be looking at a strong result for him.

Great Breifing Stu, and obviously a fantastic season once again. Your commitment to the highest quality is staggering!

ouch

Top notch mate again. I have said it all season long, you are the marster when it comes to briefings and as Tom put it, your commitment to this league is awesome. As for the track, a fitting end to the seasons finale to what has been a great season, imo. See ya all on track guys.

Just did a few laps , and since a week im trying to race in cockpit view and this track in cockpit view mode with all the drops and sweeps.. i cant wait until raceday

Thanks again for a great briefing Stuart an glad that you mansion the pit change , it is strongly advised to do a few pitstops in practice I think.

Wait wait wait
I tested this track yesterday, and I noticed that the pit entry and the exit are on the same spot? How to exit the pits when somebody entering? LOL

Predrag,if you start a lap your place is behind the pitlane, you drive to the right an go left along the pitlane until you see the green lights at the end of the pitlane an there you go on track just before T1.
When you in the race ,you never come back behind the pitlane,so if you have to go to the pits ,it is left from the main strait,an when you drive away you go all the way to the end of the pitlane before you enter the track.

Thanks Hans, I didn't saw the pitlane in front of garages, lol. I will tomorrow check the track again.

A quick note for those practicing.

If you get held up at the start and drift left into the Pit area when getting off the line you'll incur a cut. Dunno if anyones noticed that but I thought i'd mention it.

The server is up :good:

I'm having a practice now if anyones about.

Important Notice for Drivers

An issue has come to light with the track, it's not a show stopper but here's what can happen, and here's how to deal with it:

Approaching the last turn (Murray's) it is possible to find yourself on the wrong side of the fence.

This can happen in two ways:

1. You outbrake yourself and go over the fence near the apex, or

2. you run wide under acceleration, and you can pop through the "gap" in the fence, that magically appears behind you, locking you in.



Here's what you need to do in these situations:

Accident 1. Go straight ahead parallel to the escape road - there is a gap at the end of the fence. Turn right onto the escape road, and rejoin the track when safe to do so. As this will have been a big accident, you may pit after rejoining the track.



Accident 2. If you find yourself popping through the gap, continue straight ahead on the grass. You can rejoin the track further on.


The pop through does not cause damage and so you should continue on your next lap. Pitting from Escape Road B will be very difficult, and if you cause an accident by trying to pit there, there will be penalties.

Excellent use of colours Stu!