RaceDepartment Historic Grand Prix Season 7 – Round 4
Welcome to back to Round 4 of RDHGP S7.
Round 3 at Rattlesnake Park was thankfully Technical Incident free, being run via the SimBin Lobby, which gave (for me at least) a rock solid feeling of stability during the racing, and a better replay file. Also it was Racing Incident free, which is always good to see.
A quiet time for me post-race is always a good thing, and generally those are the best races.
We now encounter what I think is the biggest contrast between consecutive circuits on this season's schedule, from one of the fastest and most open tracks to one of the most complex and closed in.
Round 4 takes us over 8,900 miles back to Asia, specifically to the Marina Bay Street Circuit, home of the Singapore Grand Prix.
Circuit Notes
The Marina Bay Street Circuit was first used in 2008, and became the first night race in F1’s history. Previous to that, Singapore had hosted Grand Prix races (albeit non-Championship Formula Libre races) from 1961 called the Orient Year Grand Prix for one year, then being called the Malaysian Grand Prix from 1962 until 1965 when Singapore gained independence. It was called the Singapore Grand Prix until from 1965 until it’s cancellation in 1974. These previous races were held at the superbly named Thomson Road Circuit.
That first modern race in 2008 has since become remembered more for the Renault “Crash” controversy involving Piquet Jr., Briatore and Alonso.
I’m expecting that we will avoid such controversy and hoping even more so that there are no such destructive accidents, because the walls are very, very close at Singapore, especially when compared to the wide open spaces at RattleSnake.
Singapore is a long is track, and has lots of turns, so the turn-by-turn will be a bit more loquacious than normal, but please take the time to read and bear with it until the end. It also is one of the flattest tracks we’ve driven, which is not my normal modus operandi, but we all need a change every so often.
A lap of Singapore starts on a decent length S/F straight, and we are immediately into a 4 corner complex, comprising T1L, T2R, T3L and T4L – Republic Boulevard. T1L is not a particularly tight corner, but it needs to be taken slower than the actual corner would demand in deal circumstances because of the almost immediate switchback of T2R, itself requiring caution as it leads straight onto T3L, a tight almost-hairpin. Exiting T3L under hard acceleration, you come across T4L – Republic Boulevard. This is easy to negotiate at full acceleration, but still needs some respect because drifting too far right on the exit will compromise your braking zone and entry to the next section.
T5R is a medium speed turn, walls very tight to the inside apex, so drivers attacking the tight line should beware, but this turn needs to be attacked as if opens onto the fastest part of the track, the decent length straight, interrupted by the high speed curve of T6R – Raffles Boulevard – taken at full chat, ready for the hard braking zone leading into T7L – Nicoll Highway.
T7L is the first in a series of 3 90 degree corners, linked by short straight sections. You get a blast of acceleration followed by heavy braking, and turn in to T8R – Stamford Road, followed by a blast of acceleration followed by some heavy braking and the turn in to T9L – St. Andrews Road. Speed carried through this section is vital, but as always with the multi corner sections, the last corner leading onto the straight will be the most important.
A decent length straight follows, before hard braking and the slow speed entry to T10aL, T10bR & T10cL. 3 very close turns present an effective 90 degree corner, but the second apex pinching into the track means that the normal tight-wide-tight line is compromised.
Getting on the power, you leave the T10 complex and throw your nose at the inner apexes of the T11R & T12L Esses, some cars going through flat, some feathering, some fully lifting, getting back on the power across Anderson Bridge, and some heavy braking for the tightest corner, T13R – Esplanade Drive. No cars will be able to take chances round this turn – some may drop right down to 1st - so traction and torque from low speeds will be kings out of here, opening out onto Esplanade Drive.
The next section can be confusing at first – some corner not marked very well, some with almost invisible entries until you are right on top of them. At the end of Esplanade, there is some more hard braking for the slightly tighter than 90 degree T14R, opening onto Raffles Avenue, and T15L, again very shallow, but with a high tariff of difficulty due to the tighter T16R following on immediately after, and the even tighter again T17L straight after that.
Out of T17L, it’s flat out on the following short straight, and hard on the anchors into a complex of 4 consecutive, and closely packed, 90 degree corners. T18L is followed by T19R, both corners guarded by walls on the inner apexes, a dab of throttle under the overpass, and then off again for the slightly shallower T20R. This needs to be negotiated in such a way that you can attack T21L onto the short-ish straight that follows.
The last 2 corners are medium speed Left-handers - T22L & T23L – which can, dependent on your line though T22L be taken as a shallow double apex, allowing you to blast onto the S/F straight at almost full throttle, before crossing the S/F line and starting another lap of Singapore.
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.
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.
Regain the track safely - If you leave the track, you must rejoin the track safely. If that means losing another couple of places – so be it.
Street Circuit Additional – Lots of these corners are guarded closely by hard, and potentially damaging/race-ending, walls. Unlike other circuits, if you have an accident here, you are likely to still be on track after your accident, on the racing surface. Restarting/rejoining safely is likely to be problematical, so in those circumstances Safety is your Primary Concern.
People following cars need to be aware of this situation as well, and with the inner walls making a lot of the turns blind on entry, I recommend (if you don’t use them currently) turning on Driver Labels, to give you as much warning as possible of someone stopped just around the bend.
T3L – cars will be slithering about on the edges of adhesion from T1L & T2R and trying to lose even more speed before turn in – some cars have a lot more traction, some have better brakes, some have both. Awareness of what is around you is vital here.
T10L – The Treble apex will suit the lighter & grippier cars, so be aware of people closing up racing gaps through here.
T13L – This is the tightest turn on the track, and so braking distances and lines will be very different here. Don’t just assume that you can turn in with impunity as someone might have made a run up the inside. But by the same token, don’t divebomb the corner by going in way too hot and just driving across the apex.
T14R – not a well signposted corner, and it has a deceptive turn in point, because of the closed off road ahead of you - and the fact that you can see the signpost for the other side of the track, which is pointing the wrong way for T14. If you miss the turn, don’t just reverse back onto the track – check and do it safely.
T22L – People will want to attack this apex, but be careful being too greedy, the kerbs can unsettle your car and stick you into the end of the pit wall rather than setting you up for T23L. I’m no expert, but I’d imagine that the 0.1sec you may lose by being safe around here is less than what you will lose if you inpale yourself on the Armco.
All points on the track – General Items
No lights are to be flashed at any stage, under any circumstances, during the race.
No Chat during the Quali or Race except by Race Control for information.
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 arising from Round3.
4 drivers incurred “No-Show” infractions:
· Gabor Ludvig
· Gregory Degreef
· Keith Peppiatt
· Patrice De Rijck
Keith will carry this no-show infraction for one race. If he allocates correctly for that race, the infraction will be lifted.
Patrice has resigned from the League – the reason that caused the no-show precipitated the resignation, not the no-show itself.
2 of these drivers are now removed from the League for 2 consecutive No-Show:
· Gabor Ludvig
· Gregory Degreef
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 RDHGP event. Every driver has a unique livery in this season of RDHGP.
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 100km events :
P1 - 25 pts
P2 - 22
P3 - 20
P4 - 18
P5 - 16
P6 - 15
P7 - 14
P8 - 13
P9 - 12
P10 - 11
P11 - 10
P12 - 9
P13 - 8
P14 - 7
P15 - 6
P16 - 5
P17 - 4
P18 - 3
P19 - 2
P20 - 1
1 point for fastest race lap
1 point for qualifying on Pole
Welcome to back to Round 4 of RDHGP S7.
Round 3 at Rattlesnake Park was thankfully Technical Incident free, being run via the SimBin Lobby, which gave (for me at least) a rock solid feeling of stability during the racing, and a better replay file. Also it was Racing Incident free, which is always good to see.
A quiet time for me post-race is always a good thing, and generally those are the best races.
We now encounter what I think is the biggest contrast between consecutive circuits on this season's schedule, from one of the fastest and most open tracks to one of the most complex and closed in.
Round 4 takes us over 8,900 miles back to Asia, specifically to the Marina Bay Street Circuit, home of the Singapore Grand Prix.
Circuit Notes
The Marina Bay Street Circuit was first used in 2008, and became the first night race in F1’s history. Previous to that, Singapore had hosted Grand Prix races (albeit non-Championship Formula Libre races) from 1961 called the Orient Year Grand Prix for one year, then being called the Malaysian Grand Prix from 1962 until 1965 when Singapore gained independence. It was called the Singapore Grand Prix until from 1965 until it’s cancellation in 1974. These previous races were held at the superbly named Thomson Road Circuit.
That first modern race in 2008 has since become remembered more for the Renault “Crash” controversy involving Piquet Jr., Briatore and Alonso.
I’m expecting that we will avoid such controversy and hoping even more so that there are no such destructive accidents, because the walls are very, very close at Singapore, especially when compared to the wide open spaces at RattleSnake.
Singapore is a long is track, and has lots of turns, so the turn-by-turn will be a bit more loquacious than normal, but please take the time to read and bear with it until the end. It also is one of the flattest tracks we’ve driven, which is not my normal modus operandi, but we all need a change every so often.
A lap of Singapore starts on a decent length S/F straight, and we are immediately into a 4 corner complex, comprising T1L, T2R, T3L and T4L – Republic Boulevard. T1L is not a particularly tight corner, but it needs to be taken slower than the actual corner would demand in deal circumstances because of the almost immediate switchback of T2R, itself requiring caution as it leads straight onto T3L, a tight almost-hairpin. Exiting T3L under hard acceleration, you come across T4L – Republic Boulevard. This is easy to negotiate at full acceleration, but still needs some respect because drifting too far right on the exit will compromise your braking zone and entry to the next section.
T5R is a medium speed turn, walls very tight to the inside apex, so drivers attacking the tight line should beware, but this turn needs to be attacked as if opens onto the fastest part of the track, the decent length straight, interrupted by the high speed curve of T6R – Raffles Boulevard – taken at full chat, ready for the hard braking zone leading into T7L – Nicoll Highway.
T7L is the first in a series of 3 90 degree corners, linked by short straight sections. You get a blast of acceleration followed by heavy braking, and turn in to T8R – Stamford Road, followed by a blast of acceleration followed by some heavy braking and the turn in to T9L – St. Andrews Road. Speed carried through this section is vital, but as always with the multi corner sections, the last corner leading onto the straight will be the most important.
A decent length straight follows, before hard braking and the slow speed entry to T10aL, T10bR & T10cL. 3 very close turns present an effective 90 degree corner, but the second apex pinching into the track means that the normal tight-wide-tight line is compromised.
Getting on the power, you leave the T10 complex and throw your nose at the inner apexes of the T11R & T12L Esses, some cars going through flat, some feathering, some fully lifting, getting back on the power across Anderson Bridge, and some heavy braking for the tightest corner, T13R – Esplanade Drive. No cars will be able to take chances round this turn – some may drop right down to 1st - so traction and torque from low speeds will be kings out of here, opening out onto Esplanade Drive.
The next section can be confusing at first – some corner not marked very well, some with almost invisible entries until you are right on top of them. At the end of Esplanade, there is some more hard braking for the slightly tighter than 90 degree T14R, opening onto Raffles Avenue, and T15L, again very shallow, but with a high tariff of difficulty due to the tighter T16R following on immediately after, and the even tighter again T17L straight after that.
Out of T17L, it’s flat out on the following short straight, and hard on the anchors into a complex of 4 consecutive, and closely packed, 90 degree corners. T18L is followed by T19R, both corners guarded by walls on the inner apexes, a dab of throttle under the overpass, and then off again for the slightly shallower T20R. This needs to be negotiated in such a way that you can attack T21L onto the short-ish straight that follows.
The last 2 corners are medium speed Left-handers - T22L & T23L – which can, dependent on your line though T22L be taken as a shallow double apex, allowing you to blast onto the S/F straight at almost full throttle, before crossing the S/F line and starting another lap of Singapore.
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.
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.
Regain the track safely - If you leave the track, you must rejoin the track safely. If that means losing another couple of places – so be it.
Street Circuit Additional – Lots of these corners are guarded closely by hard, and potentially damaging/race-ending, walls. Unlike other circuits, if you have an accident here, you are likely to still be on track after your accident, on the racing surface. Restarting/rejoining safely is likely to be problematical, so in those circumstances Safety is your Primary Concern.
People following cars need to be aware of this situation as well, and with the inner walls making a lot of the turns blind on entry, I recommend (if you don’t use them currently) turning on Driver Labels, to give you as much warning as possible of someone stopped just around the bend.
T3L – cars will be slithering about on the edges of adhesion from T1L & T2R and trying to lose even more speed before turn in – some cars have a lot more traction, some have better brakes, some have both. Awareness of what is around you is vital here.
T10L – The Treble apex will suit the lighter & grippier cars, so be aware of people closing up racing gaps through here.
T13L – This is the tightest turn on the track, and so braking distances and lines will be very different here. Don’t just assume that you can turn in with impunity as someone might have made a run up the inside. But by the same token, don’t divebomb the corner by going in way too hot and just driving across the apex.
T14R – not a well signposted corner, and it has a deceptive turn in point, because of the closed off road ahead of you - and the fact that you can see the signpost for the other side of the track, which is pointing the wrong way for T14. If you miss the turn, don’t just reverse back onto the track – check and do it safely.
T22L – People will want to attack this apex, but be careful being too greedy, the kerbs can unsettle your car and stick you into the end of the pit wall rather than setting you up for T23L. I’m no expert, but I’d imagine that the 0.1sec you may lose by being safe around here is less than what you will lose if you inpale yourself on the Armco.
All points on the track – General Items
No lights are to be flashed at any stage, under any circumstances, during the race.
No Chat during the Quali or Race except by Race Control for information.
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 arising from Round3.
4 drivers incurred “No-Show” infractions:
· Gabor Ludvig
· Gregory Degreef
· Keith Peppiatt
· Patrice De Rijck
Keith will carry this no-show infraction for one race. If he allocates correctly for that race, the infraction will be lifted.
Patrice has resigned from the League – the reason that caused the no-show precipitated the resignation, not the no-show itself.
2 of these drivers are now removed from the League for 2 consecutive No-Show:
· Gabor Ludvig
· Gregory Degreef
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 RDHGP event. Every driver has a unique livery in this season of RDHGP.
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 100km events :
P1 - 25 pts
P2 - 22
P3 - 20
P4 - 18
P5 - 16
P6 - 15
P7 - 14
P8 - 13
P9 - 12
P10 - 11
P11 - 10
P12 - 9
P13 - 8
P14 - 7
P15 - 6
P16 - 5
P17 - 4
P18 - 3
P19 - 2
P20 - 1
1 point for fastest race lap
1 point for qualifying on Pole
