Saturday GT club races Nordschleife

Frederic Schornstein · Feb 2, 2015

This Saturday we had the biggest grid I can remember in rFactor2 here at RaceDepartment.com and the feedback was really positive and I think most of the drivers really enjoyed themselfs.

To keep the momentum up the idea is to build a small series of club races (no leauge) around this combination, that worked so well ISI BOP cars + Touring cars on the 24h Nordschleife. The first race should still happen in February a fitting sime slot is available.

The races would be held on Saturday (every two weeks if possible) as it seems to be the best time slot in terms of participation numbers and it allows drivers from all timezones to take part. Like every series the success is based on the level of interest of the participants, so it would be great to get a feedback from you on the following topics:

Tracks:
There are race series only based around the Nordschleife, which is a great track, but variety is always nice. As certain good tracks haven't got as much love as they should we came up with a nice mix of small and big tracks. The amount of drivers possible per track aren't verified yet and we are always open for ideas regarding tracks and there are always enough well proven tracks to fallback (Silverstone etc.)

24 Nordschleife
RaceRfactor Spielberg Austria (Red Bull Ring)
Sao Paulo (Interlagos)
Pukekohe
Barbagallo

Race length:
2 hours like on Saturday are a pretty long distance for single drivers. So the question is would you like to see 1 hour races maybe with one or two 2 hour special events on the Nordschleife or a full out 2 hour race every two weeks? Please give a vote regardings this in the poll and feel free to discuss it as well.

Schedule example:
As stated above tracks choice is still open this only should give you an idea how it would be set up around the Nordschleife:

Nordschleife
Spielberg
Pukekohe
Nordschleife
Interlagos
Barbagallo
Nordschleife

This way we always would start with the Nordschleife, followed by a bigger track and a smaller track, which should keep things exciting. What do you think about this layout? To much Nordschleife or a good mix?

Cars:
Like in the race on Saturday the ISI BOP cars with a more refined BOP would be used. The main question is should we keep the Touring cars as well, which in the form of the Honda had a solid fan base? Mixed class racing could be though on smaller tracks, so a compromise would be to open the doors for multi-class only on the Nordschleife or do you want to take on the challange driving mixed classes even on smaller tracks?

Join the conversation and vote:
Feel free to discuss all the topics and all the things I have forgotten to write down

Frederic Schornstein · Feb 3, 2015

April Dillon said:
My preference is running 2 hour races at every circuit, though every 2 weeks is probably a more sensible approach. The race length is one of the challenges that makes this fun.

It'd probably be worth choosing tracks by a minimum length too. Lets say... 4km, 1:30 or something like that. Things get dangerous when you squish classes together too much, and on a circuit like Barbagallo which is under 2km long, and will probably be under 60 second lap times for the GTs... Well, it won't be long before we've got a huge mismatch of speed thundering past each other.

Maybe I did an error, but it sounds like some read, that I was talking about every week or every two weeks. Every week is definetely not possible, because of server timeslots etc. So it is every two weeks or an even bigger gap. Every two weeks seems to be the most liked option anyway reading all the comments

With the Civic it shouldnt be that bad even on short tracks. I have to give it a try and have a look at the time diffrence per lap, but on a small and twisty track I wouldnt be suprised to see some Civics starting in front of some GT drivers, so the diffrence wouldnt be so bad especially in the corners, but I think you wouldnt be able to put a Clio into the field on these tracks, that would cause a wreck fest for sure

David Gronvalls · Feb 3, 2015

April Dillon said:
It'd probably be worth choosing tracks by a minimum length too. Lets say... 4km, 1:30 or something like that. Things get dangerous when you squish classes together too much, and on a circuit like Barbagallo which is under 2km long, and will probably be under 60 second lap times for the GTs... Well, it won't be long before we've got a huge mismatch of speed thundering past each other.

No, we should race on Lime Rock. Very fun track =).

Christian Michel · Feb 3, 2015

In my Opinion there should be max 3 very good balanced classes which is the key for a good season, if they're not good balanced at the chosen tracks it's crap. And with close cars there shouldn't be a problem with short tracks, as they often provide nice and close racing too. 3x Nordschleife is too much imo but as this won't be a league (why not?) it's easy to skip them if you don't like but....as this isn't a league anyway the running order of the tracks doesn't care? Doing this as Club Races takes a lot of fun out of it...for me at least...i mean it's fun ye but that's what the racing will be like as well then (if you know what i mean).
As example...doing Club Race....crashing in Lap 1..or 2.... many guys will just quit and then you end the race with maybe 15 drivers or so...if there is something to fight for they won't quit.

Edgar Steffens · Feb 3, 2015

It seems RD is something like 'unique ' in the simracing world, with
racing the Nordschleife !
With the low damage in club races, nobody should 'just quit' !
It's always possible to have a nice race.

Christian Michel · Feb 3, 2015

Well we were 46 who were starting i think and on the last lap there were 30 left. so 1/3 quitted...and some of them right after the first lap.. in a 2 hour race..

Edgar Steffens · Feb 3, 2015

This shows : You can conquer The Nordschleife only with practice ,
practice and another practice.

Frederic Schornstein · Feb 3, 2015

I did a short test around Barbagallo now with the Civic and I was only 3 seconds off my best time (based on best sectors) with the Camaro. I know both cars quite well and with only 8 timed laps there was for sure room for improvments in both, but I think 3 to 4 seconds isnt that bad. It would mean lapping a Honda every 15 to 20 laps maybe less as the Honda doesnt need as much pit stops. WIth a total race distance in 2 hours of around 120 Laps we are looking at lapping the Hondas 6 to 8 times for a GT driver, which I think is still acceptable.

P.S. Had a look at my MoTec data at Barbagallo the Civic looses only 0,5 seconds in the first part (with all the corners) until the first downhill straight. Then it looses 3 seconds from then on, but mainly on the straights. The diffrence in mid corner speed is between 5 to 10kph. This should make lapping fairly easy and there is no problem staying behind a Honda in the first sector as a GT driver. I would say we should give it a try at Barbagallo (I would change both tracks around) and if it doesnt work out we change it for Pukekohe and run that track GT only.

Marcel Kühnel · Feb 4, 2015

The Track examples are good. I have voted 2 hours, but its not a problem to make 1,5h races too.
The idea with good balanced 3 classes is also good. 1. GTs 2. Tourings (maybe the Megane to...) and 3. a very small class like the Coopers with/or Clios.

Like a VLN Championship only on different tracks. Now i´m dreaming...

Stefan Woudenberg · Feb 4, 2015

I voted 2 hours on all tracks with mixed classes (GT and touring cars). But wouldn't mind to do 90 minutes on shorter tracks.

To race on the Nords is epic and should surely return, but not every month. That would make it a bit less special for som people and might hurt the sign up list.