rF2 1.5h GT3 Club @ Bathurst - Sat 28th June

[Andre Gaida]

Sign me up please

 

[Stefan Erxmeyer]

Sign me up please

 

[David O'Reilly]

The “Blown Diffuser”
Bathurst Special​

On the eve of the Race Department 1.5 hours of Mt Panorama we have had our principal Endurance Car reporter David O’Brundle (previous winner of the Halfords Staff Go Karting Xmas party) to give us the lowdown.
Overview and background.
The track: Mt Panorama is the heartland of Australian Motorsport. Since when in 1938 the mayor of Bathurst had the vision to camouflage his intentions by calling the track a “Scenic Road” when applying for a budget in the cash strapped post-depression era.
The Bathurst 500 was the biggest thing in Australian Motorsport. The nation (or at least every red blooded male) would stop for the 5 hours or so to watch the telecast. Legends were created by winning even one. Multiple winners became icons. For this race Channel 7 brought us things we now take for granted in international motorsport such as “Race Cam” live onboard shots.
In the late 70s innovative teams started to recruit international stars to co drive with local legends. In 1977 Jacky Ickx won on debut (not done again until 2011) teamed with Allan Moffat the Canadian born superstar who made Australia home after learning his trade as a junior mechanic with Colin Chapman (rumoured to be for food and board). He came back to Australia having purchased one of Chapmans Lotus Cortinas and the rest is history.Vern Schupan also raced.
It was a two way street and the top Australian drivers saw international events opening their doors. Larry Perkins a 6 time Bathurst winner managed P4 at Lemans.
F1 World Champions: Jack Brabham features in this period and sadly Dennny Hulme lost his life to natural causes on Conrod straight.
The word started to spread about this enormous challenge in NSW Australia. By 1984 and with the help of race cam and the awesome sight of a full grid on an opening, the spectacle of Bathurst started to get more attention internationally. A trickle of internationals began and some famous names that came to race include Franz Klammer the Downhill skiing superstar. Ivan Mueller (Ivan Miller to the announcers!). In 2014 Mika Salo co-drove with local legend and one time team mate of Juan Pablo Montoya in F3000 Craig Lowndes.
The internationalisation of the event reached a peak in 1987 when the World Touring (Cosworth Sierra, E30 M3 etc) cars raced the home grown machines. For a time there was a lull as the V8 supercars dominated but like the US Nascar series whilst followed passionately by the local fans did hold only niche appeal to international audiences.
The germination of the 12 hour was in 1990 when a 12 hour series production race was held. It moved for a time to eastern Creek but returned bigger and better to the spiritual home of Endurance racing in the Southern hemisphere, Mt Panorama. In 2011 the GT3 class 12 hour was first held and Mt Panorama was back on the international stage
Drivers comments:
David O’Brundle has been about in the paddock and gathered a few snippets from the gathered internationals. Comments include:
“When I first got here and did 20 laps I saw the lap times the 911GT3 was doing and figured they were super strong here. But it was learning this track and setup and driving technique was the answer. I got on the pace but its super hard to overtake here. The top of the mountain needs so much commitment it’s awesome.” Frederick Shornstein.
“It was an intense battle with Freddy in the short practice race and one error meant I was down 3 places.” Aleksi Kivelä.
“I thought I was on it but in the R8 I was +3 sec. I was invited to try the setup from the Figjam racing 05 Marlboro 911 GT3 and within 10 laps had found 3 sec. I thanked the team and found a drive in the 911.” Yuri Kasdorp
Local in Focus.
David O’Brundle has been granted access all areas to the Figjam Racing teams 911GT3 Campaign. Here is his interview with their driver and team owner David O’Reilly.
Firstly the choice of car? We love the Porsche 911. It was not eligible for the Laguna Seca 1 hour and that’s why we drove the Nissan GT3 there. I reckon it suits the track. It’s got a strong top speed and is agile if not particularly stable down the twisty bits. Some setup and care where you are pointing under brakes minimises its tendency to want to swap ends under brakes.
What about the livery? It’s a tribute to two Bathurst legends. Peter Brock and Larry Perkins and is a replica of their 1984 race winning Holden Commodore. The crowd over the mountain love it and I can hear their cheers as we pass.
Your chances? It’s a very strong field. There are 4 or 5 proper aliens that will head up quali. Even from here in NSW I have heard of Marçal Bonet Andreu, Frederic Schornstein and Aleksi Kivelä. I was hoping Oscar Hardwick would make it too. I know the track well but have to accept that I am 2 sec of ultimate pace of the aliens. If I can get into the top 7-8 in quali it means I will be in a position to take advantage of any problems the quickest may have. We hope for P5 and also not to be lapped by the winner.
What about the story we broke that Yuri Kasdorp drive your car and changed teams?. Well he didnt change teams as his principal sponsor agreed the deal but yes our "spare car" was purchased and re painted to Yuri's team colours and we agreed a deal to do the engineering to bring it up to our setup specification.
Was that wise? It seemed a lot wiser when I was going 3 sec faster than it did when he matched my lap times.
We hear you got P2 in the LMP1 curtain raiser yesterday? Freddy was toying with me.
We leave David O'Reilly as he prepares for a Breakfast TV interview.
Predictions.
1st lap will see 6-8 cars fall off the tarmac so there is a lot to lose / gain by staying safe as tyres come in and we see some racing room appear.
Cars. Any make can win. The pace is quite equal. Some are easier than others through the twisty bits down the mountain such as the R8, The Aston Martin benefits a lot from setup and is very strong under barkes into Caltex Chase. The Nissan GTR feels very good too. Easy to drive. One or two are stronger into the chase under brakes. But skill, sense and concentration will have a bigger impact.
Strategy Its parc ferme incl fuel. We will see a mix of 2 stop guys going very fast. And 1 stop guys looking after tyres and keeping the car in one piece. Someone may do one long stint and one short one but it’s questionable as the long stint will be slow at first (Fuel load) and slow at the end (tyres).
Our money says the pit lane will look like George street at Xmas shopping time at about 45 mkins race time.
Podium
Marçal Bonet Andreu’s ability to run fast and save tyres puts him in my top 3. It’s a mystery as to his pace here as we haven’t seen him on the server yet. Frederic Schornstein has huge pace anywhere anytime. If he can keep it safe he will be my pick for a podium. Aleksi Kivelä also fast and a good starter. There are several drivers who are new to this series and I’m sure that there will be one or two aliens amongst them.
The one thing we do know.....
Mt Panorama is a cruel mistress and anything can happen.

Welcome to Mt panorama. Enjoy the race​

 

[Bjorn de Haas]

Love the article David

 

[Luis Stolk]

Can you sign me up please?
Thanks!

 

[Dennis]

Can you sign me up please?
Thanks!

Hi, you first need to apply for a free license here: http://www.racedepartment.com/forums/become-a-licensed-member-here.4/
If you are lucky, the next batch will be processed before the race.

If it doesn't work out in time: We have a bigger race every second week

 

[Luis Stolk]

Hi, you first need to apply for a free license here: http://www.racedepartment.com/forums/become-a-licensed-member-here.4/
If you are lucky, the next batch will be processed before the race.

If it doesn't work out in time: We have a bigger race every second week

Thanks for the quick response Dennis. Yeah, I came in late....

 

[Kevin Cox]

@Dennis Coufal
I would just like to confirm time for this event. Do we go by times in first post or time in calendar as they differ?

Thanks.

 

[Dennis]

Always the time in first post (and thanks for the headsup)

 

[Davy Lauwereys]

quick question on the parc fermé rules as i've never used it, and my cohorts neither lol

1.can you load up a setup during qualy, or do you have to have it assigned before qualy sessions starts?

2. Under qualy session, can you alter the amount of fuel? or do you stat the race with whatever you managed to keep in the tank during qualy and warm up?

 

[Daiman Patel]

IMPORTANT

Just a quick note to everyone taking part in this evening's event. We are really looking forward to hosting and participating in the race, and we hope that you're all excited as well. However, there's a couple of things that we would like to remind you about first:

• If you cause an incident with another driver then you MUST wait for that driver, and hand back their position once they have recovered (within reason). If you have any problems or questions then please ask, and feel free to inform us of any infringements during the race, and we shall look into them.
• Due to the sheer number of drivers taking part, and that fact that we are still using the 32-bit executable for rF2, you may need to lower graphical settings such as textures and opponent detail due to the memory limit

And remember, as ever, we shall be on TS during the event for general chit-chat, advice and banter.

Hopefully we shall see you all online later.

 

[Dennis]

quick question on the parc fermé rules as i've never used it, and my cohorts neither lol

You can make changes until you ran your first timed lap in qualy - after that you can only change tires (you automatically will get new tires for the race)

 

[Daiman Patel]

quick question on the parc fermé rules as i've never used it, and my cohorts neither lol

1.can you load up a setup during qualy, or do you have to have it assigned before qualy sessions starts?

2. Under qualy session, can you alter the amount of fuel? or do you stat the race with whatever you managed to keep in the tank during qualy and warm up?

EDIT (with corrections - sorry, my bad):

Under the parc fermé rules, you can load and assign a setup during qualifying for as long as you don't complete a timed lap; as soon as you complete a timed lap your setup (except for tires) is locked in. And you will not be able to adjust fuel during qualifying once the setup is locked; you must run with enough fuel for qualifying and the race / first stint in the race. During the race you are allowed to re-fuel as many times as you wish.

I hope that helps.

 

[David Izquierdo]

quick question on the parc fermé rules as i've never used it, and my cohorts neither lol

1.can you load up a setup during qualy, or do you have to have it assigned before qualy sessions starts?

2. Under qualy session, can you alter the amount of fuel? or do you stat the race with whatever you managed to keep in the tank during qualy and warm up?

Interesting questions, I was also wondering it. I have three more questions:

1. When the timer shows "00:00" at the end of the race, you have to complete that lap and that´s it, or you have to do another lap?

2. Is it necessary to return to the box in both Q and race?

3. When you exit the track after doing some laps in Q, and you return to the track, how many L do you have? The same L as you have in your setup?

Thanks

 

[Gijs van Elderen]

Under the parc fermé rules, you can load and assign a setup during qualifying for as long as you don't press the "Race" button; as soon as the button is pressed your setup (except for tires) is locked in. And you will not be able to adjust fuel during qualifying once the setup is locked; you must run with enough fuel for qualifying and the race / first stint in the race. During the race you are allowed to re-fuel as many times as you wish.

I hope that helps.

Is fuel/pitstop strategy also locked? It's something to keep in mind once you want to press race in qually.

 

[David O'Reilly]

Under the parc fermé rules, you can load and assign a setup during qualifying for as long as you don't press the "Race" button; as soon as the button is pressed your setup (except for tires) is locked in. And you will not be able to adjust fuel during qualifying once the setup is locked; you must run with enough fuel for qualifying and the race / first stint in the race. During the race you are allowed to re-fuel as many times as you wish.

I hope that helps.

Oh wow, so rather than race starts with your quali fuel setting it starts with the depleted level after quali!!
Is that correct?
EG I load 60 litres as the setup. I run 5 laps in quali and have 45 litres left. The car will go to start with 45 litres not 60?
@Daiman Patel and @Dennis Coufal if you could clrify this fuel question I would be grateful.

 

[Gijs van Elderen]

Interesting questions, I was also wondering it. I have three more questions:

1. When the timer shows "00:00" at the end of the race, you have to complete that lap and that´s it, or you have to do another lap?

2. Is it necessary to return to the box in both Q and race?

3. When you exit the track after doing some laps in Q, and you return to the track, how many L do you have? The same L as you have in your setup?

Thanks

1: Once the timer hits "00:00": complete your lap until you cross the finish line. after that: do some donuts. You've made it. you can press ESC or drive to the box.

2: in Qually, If you park your car on a safe spot: you can press ESC to return to the box:. During the race. if you crash and can't continue . press ESC

3: Depends how the server is setup... @Dennis Coufal ?

 

[Calum McLure]

Not going to be home for this, sorry

 

[Davy Lauwereys]

thx for clearing up the parc fermé rules!

also a quick note for the first finishers, have the courtesy to stay on the server untill everyone finishes it's nice if those further in the field get an accurate idea of where they finished when they return to their garage

 

[Doni Bellafronte]

hello,after a week of testing,i have to take back my sign
this was the first time i tried bathurst and it is a challenge,so therefore i don't want to risk to ruin some other driver's race......sorry for that