That’s not a knife – THIS is a knife: RDHGP Round 5
Welcome back to Round 5 of RDHGP S6, and what is a unique occurrence. Due to the rescheduling forced upon us by the technical server gremlins in the season opener at Mosport, I’m writing this introduction/briefing before the previous race has taken place – and that’s never happened in the RDHGP since I’ve been running it. Consequently, there will be some info missing from this briefing that you would normally expect to see, ie how the last race went, whether there were incident reports or not, who got penalties and/or infractions (if there were any) etc. If it seems a more slender pamphlet than normal, look on it as a test of imagination, and opportunity to fill in the blanks yourselves.
For this leg of the season, we trot over 7,000 miles South West, leaving Laguna Seca on the West coast of the US, flying over the Pacific Ocean and the Coral Sea, and arriving on the East coast of Australia in Queensland, and the Birubi Circuit in Brisbane. At least that's where it looks like it's situated based on the LOD screen map.
Circuit Notes
In the same style as Neuveville last season, this is (as far as I can tell at least) a fictional circuit, but like Neuveville, it is a very well constructed layout that sits very happily alongside the real tracks this season. Similar to many of the circuits this season, there is a large vertical component which adds that extra degree of difficulty and interest, and which lifts already good tracks up into the great category.
Birubi, by all accounts, is the Aboriginal word for the Southern Cross, hence the dual titling convention – the two names are interchangeable with each other. Created by the Professor & Hugh Jarse, Birubi is 3.65km of winding, rollercoaster driving – blind crests, blind corners, risk/reward sections.
Like Laguna Seca, this is one of the shorter track we will visit this season, but because of the layout, the average speeds are lower, resulting in similar laptimes to some of the longer tracks. But - as we run on a distance format, it means that the high lap count and those times comparable to longer tracks, it again means that this could be one of the longer races in time duration.
I had a few quick refresher laps last night so I could write the lap guide, and it only reinforced what a fantastic circuit this is. Imagine the lovechild of Bathurst & Monaco, and you won’t be too far off.
A lap of Birubi starts on the closely packed and relatively short Start/Finish straight, leading straight into T1L, a terrific opening corner. A very fast uphill curve leading onto a short, uphill straight which allows you to get close to top speed before jumping on the brakes for T2L.
You can brake relatively late for T2L because of the fairly steep uphill approach which helps in retardation, but too early is better than too late as the outside wall will inflict some hefty damage if you go in too hot. T2L is a medium slow corner, the apex blind because of the high concrete wall on the inside, and while the inside kerb is (like virtually all Birubi kerbs) relatively benign on the inner, road side edge, the outer edge is a steep drop which can unsettle the car, or even ground it if you have low clearance.
The exit opens onto another decent length straight – still climbing – and you are faced with another hard, uphill braking zone, for T3R. Another blind apexed – and very tight – hairpin, it is the highest point on the track, going from uphill at entry to downhill at exit, and opens onto a fast downhill straight (albeit one that curves right).
That curve straightens into the approach to the T4aL & T4bR corkscrew chicane, which corner type we should all be familiar with by the time we get here after our Laguna Seca expedition in the previous round. While the drop off after T4aL is sudden enough that most cars will get a little air, the inner kerbs can really launch a car that gets too aggressive with it’s line, and send you off onto the slippery grass on the outside of T4bR.
After the corkscrew, we hit a downhill straight to the first of two similarly profiled turns, both right handed, diving away turns. T5R is a medium-high speed turn, a feather is needed to get the nose in sufficiently, and then it’s hard on the accelerator onto the following short straight.
T6R’s profile, as mentioned above, is very similar to T5R, but faster, and in laptime terms more important, as it leads on to a longer straight, where you will hit your top speed for the lap, so time lost here won’t be easy to regain.
Hard on the brakes at the end of the straight, under the bridge, for T7L - the tight, climbing 180°hairpin, again protected by a wall and a high kerb drop off on the inside. The exit doesn’t really give any time beyond settling the car before again getting on the brakes for T8R, a diving downhill hairpin.
This is followed by a short burst of acceleration, and then hard on the anchors for T9R, another hairpin, slightly climbing this time, opening onto a decent length straight.
Again, some hard braking is required under the bridge for T10R, another slightly climbing hairpin, which is immediately followed by T11L, the final diving turn onto the S/F straight, and ready for another lap on this gem of a circuit.
The Race Director has some notes for drivers. Please see the track map above for location of Race Direction note:-
All points on the track – General Items
No lights are to be flashed at any stage, under any circumstances, during the race.
You may put your lights on if you are on a timed Qualifying lap to inform people in front of you. If they themselves are on a timed lap, they are not under any obligation to move for you.
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.
Oddly enough, even with all the gradients and hairpins, there aren’t too many corners that require separate warnings.
T3R – After a longish straight, the speeds will be quite high, and as always braking distances vary greatly between vehicles. Combine this with walls on the inside and a very tight turn, and it has the potential for grief. Care needed.
T7L – Like T3R, high speed + hard braking + blind apex = Caution. Reckless dives up the inside line here will result in contact due to the tightness of the turn. As always it is incumbent upon the person passing to be realistic on their chances of getting through cleanly. Sticking your nose in and levering them off is not acceptbale.
Incidents, Investigations and Penalties
I’m hopeful that there will be no incident reports arising from Round 4.
I’m also optimistic that there will be no drivers serving infractions at this time.
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 back to Round 5 of RDHGP S6, and what is a unique occurrence. Due to the rescheduling forced upon us by the technical server gremlins in the season opener at Mosport, I’m writing this introduction/briefing before the previous race has taken place – and that’s never happened in the RDHGP since I’ve been running it. Consequently, there will be some info missing from this briefing that you would normally expect to see, ie how the last race went, whether there were incident reports or not, who got penalties and/or infractions (if there were any) etc. If it seems a more slender pamphlet than normal, look on it as a test of imagination, and opportunity to fill in the blanks yourselves.
For this leg of the season, we trot over 7,000 miles South West, leaving Laguna Seca on the West coast of the US, flying over the Pacific Ocean and the Coral Sea, and arriving on the East coast of Australia in Queensland, and the Birubi Circuit in Brisbane. At least that's where it looks like it's situated based on the LOD screen map.
Circuit Notes
In the same style as Neuveville last season, this is (as far as I can tell at least) a fictional circuit, but like Neuveville, it is a very well constructed layout that sits very happily alongside the real tracks this season. Similar to many of the circuits this season, there is a large vertical component which adds that extra degree of difficulty and interest, and which lifts already good tracks up into the great category.
Birubi, by all accounts, is the Aboriginal word for the Southern Cross, hence the dual titling convention – the two names are interchangeable with each other. Created by the Professor & Hugh Jarse, Birubi is 3.65km of winding, rollercoaster driving – blind crests, blind corners, risk/reward sections.
Like Laguna Seca, this is one of the shorter track we will visit this season, but because of the layout, the average speeds are lower, resulting in similar laptimes to some of the longer tracks. But - as we run on a distance format, it means that the high lap count and those times comparable to longer tracks, it again means that this could be one of the longer races in time duration.
I had a few quick refresher laps last night so I could write the lap guide, and it only reinforced what a fantastic circuit this is. Imagine the lovechild of Bathurst & Monaco, and you won’t be too far off.
A lap of Birubi starts on the closely packed and relatively short Start/Finish straight, leading straight into T1L, a terrific opening corner. A very fast uphill curve leading onto a short, uphill straight which allows you to get close to top speed before jumping on the brakes for T2L.
You can brake relatively late for T2L because of the fairly steep uphill approach which helps in retardation, but too early is better than too late as the outside wall will inflict some hefty damage if you go in too hot. T2L is a medium slow corner, the apex blind because of the high concrete wall on the inside, and while the inside kerb is (like virtually all Birubi kerbs) relatively benign on the inner, road side edge, the outer edge is a steep drop which can unsettle the car, or even ground it if you have low clearance.
The exit opens onto another decent length straight – still climbing – and you are faced with another hard, uphill braking zone, for T3R. Another blind apexed – and very tight – hairpin, it is the highest point on the track, going from uphill at entry to downhill at exit, and opens onto a fast downhill straight (albeit one that curves right).
That curve straightens into the approach to the T4aL & T4bR corkscrew chicane, which corner type we should all be familiar with by the time we get here after our Laguna Seca expedition in the previous round. While the drop off after T4aL is sudden enough that most cars will get a little air, the inner kerbs can really launch a car that gets too aggressive with it’s line, and send you off onto the slippery grass on the outside of T4bR.
After the corkscrew, we hit a downhill straight to the first of two similarly profiled turns, both right handed, diving away turns. T5R is a medium-high speed turn, a feather is needed to get the nose in sufficiently, and then it’s hard on the accelerator onto the following short straight.
T6R’s profile, as mentioned above, is very similar to T5R, but faster, and in laptime terms more important, as it leads on to a longer straight, where you will hit your top speed for the lap, so time lost here won’t be easy to regain.
Hard on the brakes at the end of the straight, under the bridge, for T7L - the tight, climbing 180°hairpin, again protected by a wall and a high kerb drop off on the inside. The exit doesn’t really give any time beyond settling the car before again getting on the brakes for T8R, a diving downhill hairpin.
This is followed by a short burst of acceleration, and then hard on the anchors for T9R, another hairpin, slightly climbing this time, opening onto a decent length straight.
Again, some hard braking is required under the bridge for T10R, another slightly climbing hairpin, which is immediately followed by T11L, the final diving turn onto the S/F straight, and ready for another lap on this gem of a circuit.
The Race Director has some notes for drivers. Please see the track map above for location of Race Direction note:-
All points on the track – General Items
No lights are to be flashed at any stage, under any circumstances, during the race.
You may put your lights on if you are on a timed Qualifying lap to inform people in front of you. If they themselves are on a timed lap, they are not under any obligation to move for you.
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.
Oddly enough, even with all the gradients and hairpins, there aren’t too many corners that require separate warnings.
T3R – After a longish straight, the speeds will be quite high, and as always braking distances vary greatly between vehicles. Combine this with walls on the inside and a very tight turn, and it has the potential for grief. Care needed.
T7L – Like T3R, high speed + hard braking + blind apex = Caution. Reckless dives up the inside line here will result in contact due to the tightness of the turn. As always it is incumbent upon the person passing to be realistic on their chances of getting through cleanly. Sticking your nose in and levering them off is not acceptbale.
Incidents, Investigations and Penalties
I’m hopeful that there will be no incident reports arising from Round 4.
I’m also optimistic that there will be no drivers serving infractions at this time.
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
:eek:
