Season 11 Race 06: Watkins Glen Setup and Practice Thread

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Starting this thread, sort of a test if the name starts to veer the discussion towards practice.

First, we need few setups. Low wings are going to be the theme, i suppose. High fuel could be one aspect and i personally start thinking two stopper. I can't afford to give any grip away and high load sounds horrible on those fast bends and sudden crests leading to tight corners.. Lots of camber in every direction, high speed corners are all banked, tight corners tend to be off camber..

Relying on memory but i got some questions (cleaning my PC at the moment...edit: seems like my GPU has lost some of it's thermal connection, just cleaned it, no dust blockages, actually very little dust at all: idle temps +50C.. Time to buy some paste and do something about it..). The first tight left hander after the high speed esses and that one long really banked right hander: 2nd on high revs or third gear with low gears or short shift after apex? From memory again, i've lost time on that corner, never been sure if it's worth the risk of spinning by going full throttle, high revs. Slower but safe is to use higher gear of short shift losing time on the realitvely short straight. Next corner has pretty narrow speed window you need to hit so consistency has some role. But i often see faster drivers going sideways what looks ragged but man is it fast..

 

[David Turnbull]

right now im using my monza setup with slightly diffrent gears and 12/13 wings, ill post up a vid and setup when i get a chance to do some meaningfull practise (and remember to save the setup)

the corners you mention kennett depend on the gear ratios but at the moment im taking the tight left hand downhill in 3rd, i turn in in 4th gear, dropping just before apex to 3rd and then full power letting the natural exit line take me right to the line on the right, the next one again i brake into it in 4th gear, drop mid corner to 3rd gear and max(ish) power and again letting the natural angle take me to the line on the left this time.

the one after the back straight is a 3rd gear for me too, soon as im able to get the foot to the floor i do, going sideways at any corner isnt going to help overall, and also any loss in a corner here the effects can be felt all along the straights so exits are crucial.

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Thanks, i know exactly what you mean. I'll try to find third gear to run on rev limit or very close on that corner, (easier to keep exactly the same routine thru all the corners that follow) in other classes that gear usually works on other corners too. I'm actually happy that it isn't 2nd gear corner, more of a tinroofers problems.. F3000 is not powerful enough to spin on 3rd gear very easily.

 

[Reik Major]

... F3000 is not powerful enough to spin on 3rd gear very easily.

It's not only depending on power.Too less grip on the rear due to too less rear downforce or too hard rear springs could make the rear go loose even in higher gears.

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

It's not only depending on power.Too less grip on the rear due to too less rear downforce or too hard rear springs could make the rear go loose even in higher gears.

Yeah but if the setup is stable, it's pretty rare.

 

[Reik Major]

Of course. I just threw in my comment, because I often tand to have my cars tail happy to get them quicker round the corner in general. Not sure if it's always the right way to go...

 

[David Turnbull]

wouldnt say it was rare to be honest, i can still loose traction and slide the f3000 in 3rd gear, all depends on the gear ratio and your throttle use and how smooth/aggressive you use the steering, i tend to be more on and off throttle compared to say sean who uses more of the throttle range, just whatever style you use, none is right or wrong, reik sets up for oversteer, im more understeer, gets us to the same place in the end

 

[Sean Greenlaw]

Fast right end of big straight Watkins you can lose rear even in 6th even with the most stable setup. As Reik and David says nothing really a given, I think for here setup has to be on the edge of control to be fast anyway being smooth with car on edge of control is always the fastest in my opinion.
Setup so stable using wing levels here to your going to be sitting duck . Only had 1 small practise but id say I wont be higher than 14 rear wing for sure.

 

[David Turnbull]

heres a start for anyone who needs it, based on my monza setup, hope it helps

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

dear god...

 

[Alberto Casado]

Well, you can definitely lose the rear in 3rd with David's setup. 4th too. (But of course after seeing how Kennett's car behaved last event, it's probably difficult to spin it in 2nd with the style of setup he favors).

Just made 10 laps, about 1.33s with David's. I feel too much understeer on entry and the "throttle turn in" is pretty close to the sliding wheels point, but I don't know if that second issue is the setup or the track surface (it has bumps like a farm road).

 

[Sean Greenlaw]

A Monza edit

 

[Alberto Casado]

A Monza edit

Better turn in, and I don't feel it snappy on throttle. Cut half a second on the first try

 

[Reik Major]

Very good driving David!

I think this track shows best how different our styles are. I downloaded your setup and was amazed how much it is under steering. It's really undriveable for me.

That's why I went on tweaking my own Monza setup making me able to drive a 1:29:4xx. I wonder if my setup is also undriveable for you (David)?

 

[David Turnbull]

will give it a try reik , im even higher rear wing now, and made some changes, but i think your right, this track is showing diffrent things to diffrent people, over the weekend im going to have a look at seans and your setup and see how they feel to me and give an honest opinion

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

My laptop fried finally, lost it's tv out.. So i had to adhoc my gamerig to serve as both gaming machine and simultaneously as media center (2x video and audio..) My training is going to be concentrated on few sessions cause it's extra hassle to get to driving settings. Would be great to meet to get more out of it. Specially people that are closer to my pace but any company is welcomed. I'm on day 2 of my 40th birthday so training and gaming in general has been the last thing on my mind.

 

[David Turnbull]

happy belated birthday kennett

 

[Guus]

Any tips on safely getting over that bump in T1? Its russian roulette for me when on the throttle, and lifting throws too much time away

 

[Sean Greenlaw]

Try and be patient getting power back on. I try and be as much as I can without fully down while still steering slight, I think this helps carry the speed but get throttle fully down really quick when you have you steering wheel straight and you think your past danger area.
Its pretty unique corner with my setup I take it in 3rd fyi you will get used to it after some practise and simply replicate your throttle positioning to make it more stable lap after lap, a lot of us have had pleasure of driving mmg this turn low wing to get used to it to so I'm sure you will find a easier line.

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

happy belated birthday kennett

Thanks. Like magic my laptop got it's tv out back and i managed to get hold of my tv:s service manual and the hidden service menu.. TV picture fixed and laptop once again as mediacenter, gamerig is back to it's original setup.