season 5 race 3@ Singapore - Drivers Meeting

[Reik Major]

reminder about tires!

Guys, because of changing weather it's very important to check tires after each session change!

Example:
The warm up is dry and you use race setup with slicks. The session changes to race, it maybe slightly damp and you decide to start on the same slicks BUT the game may automatically have you given wets!

Don't ask me in which exact cases the game changes your tires, just check them with every session change...

 

[Reik Major]

reminder about rainfix!

Maybe everyone knows allready about it, but if not, there's a little patch out there, which fixes the small freezes originally appearing with the thunder storm sound.

It's very long ago I installed it, but i think i remember the freeze was caused by loading a too big sound file. The fix should replace this file with a small empty soundfile...

 

[Anthony Ishak]

some drivers normally prefer to do a slow outlap to save on tires or something but this might cause an issue on this twisty track as there are many blind spots that could take the hot lapping drivers by surprise.

It would be very helpful if all of us can do the outlap as fast as possible to minimize any possible surprise on the track .

Cheers
Anthony

 

[Reik Major]

some drivers normally prefer to do a slow outlap to save on tires or something but this might cause an issue on this twisty track as there are many blind spots that could take the hot lapping drivers by surprise.

It would be very helpful if all of us can do the outlap as fast as possible to minimize any possible surprise on the track .

Cheers
Anthony

A good point!

Of course it's the slow drivers responsibility to be sure not to be in the way of a fast driver and to be as much off the line as required.

I'm sure, that in general everyone can send the Race Director a mail with the TS of the qualy replay where he felt to be blocked by someone...

 

[Mattia Gottardi]

you can also use the map for saw where you are and if there are coming cars!!!

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

you can also use the map for saw where you are and if there are coming cars!!!

Yes, this is the method I use and I guess I only assuemd that everybody else did. This is crucial information when you start your qual lap. There should really be no reason to be in anybody's way during qualify. That being said it is ages since last I had any troubble in q, I think it is working very well from my perspective at least

 

[Graham Healey]

It would be very helpful if all of us can do the outlap as fast as possible

I have found another side of this, which is that some drivers are so eager on their outlap that they exit the pit in front of drivers, or drive so fast on their outlap that they catch up slower drivers actually on a "hot" lap and then either try to pass or drive so close that it is a distraction.

I would suggest keeping a fair pace on the outlap, not fast enough to catch anyone up, but not so slow as to get in someone's way. If someone catches you up on an outlap then move over. If you are on an outlap you probably shouldn't approach someone you are catching up, but rather back off and get some air between you and the guy in front.

If you are on an outlap and you do catch someone up and they are not on a hot-lap I am sure they will move over for you. If they don't move over they are probably on what for them is a "hot-lap". Please respect that. Also the slower guys want to be able to do their best in qually without being expected to give way to fast guys on outlaps.

One other thing about respect, when you have been lapped. If you are a lap or more down in the race and you catch up someone, you might feel like you want to unlap yourself. I think we should ask ourselves - would unlapping ourself actually make a difference in the race? In other words do we have a real chance of making up a race position?

We should also evaluate whether unlapping or attempting to unlap might affect the race of the person we are trying to unlap ourselves with. If there is little chance of making up a race position then please do not attempt to unlap.

Back off and give the guy in front some space. Don't hang about in their mirrors, don't move up the side and then back off, etc. You will likely cost the guy in front time and prevent him catching up the guy in front of him, and you may cause him to make a mistake. Of course "making" him crash several laps from the end could end his race and gain you position, but it is hardly friendly or gentlemanly racing.

If on the other hand you are are the driver being closed on by someone who has been lapped, and they are clearly faster, and you do not have a realistic chance of catching the guy in front of you, then by all means let the guy behind unlap himself.

Just my opinion.

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

I have found another side of this, which is that some drivers are so eager on their outlap that they exit the pit in front of drivers, or drive so fast on their outlap that they catch up slower drivers actually on a "hot" lap and then either try to pass or drive so close that it is a distraction.

I would suggest keeping a fair pace on the outlap, not fast enough to catch anyone up, but not so slow as to get in someone's way. If someone catches you up on an outlap then move over. If you are on an outlap you probably shouldn't approach someone you are catching up, but rather back off and get some air between you and the guy in front.

If you are on an outlap and you do catch someone up and they are not on a hot-lap I am sure they will move over for you. If they don't move over they are probably on what for them is a "hot-lap". Please respect that. Also the slower guys want to be able to do their best in qually without being expected to give way to fast guys on outlaps.

One other thing about respect, when you have been lapped. If you are a lap or more down in the race and you catch up someone, you might feel like you want to unlap yourself. I think we should ask ourselves - would unlapping ourself actually make a difference in the race? In other words do we have a real chance of making up a race position?

We should also evaluate whether unlapping or attempting to unlap might affect the race of the person we are trying to unlap ourselves with. If there is little chance of making up a race position then please do not attempt to unlap.

Back off and give the guy in front some space. Don't hang about in their mirrors, don't move up the side and then back off, etc. You will likely cost the guy in front time and prevent him catching up the guy in front of him, and you may cause him to make a mistake. Of course "making" him crash several laps from the end could end his race and gain you position, but it is hardly friendly or gentlemanly racing.

If on the other hand you are are the driver being closed on by someone who has been lapped, and they are clearly faster, and you do not have a realistic chance of catching the guy in front of you, then by all means let the guy behind unlap himself.

Just my opinion.

I can only say yes yes yes and yes and then yes again, I agree 100% with everything you say here, I could not have said it better myself.

His first part about qualify etiquette is totally right and perfectly explained, and any breach on this is a violation of the rules and should be reported to the Race Director.

The second part about the rather unique situation of unlapping yourself... well, what Graham sais is the absolute best soulution in my opinion. If the guy behind you is faster than you but one lap behind you will be doing both of you a favour by letting him by, and yes, the guy behind should think through if it is neccessary to unlap himself.

PS: Graham, i would not be surprised if the Race Director "borrow" some of your wording in the next realise of "The Document". Hope this is ok

EDIT: i would just like to make one addition to the qualify behavior thing:
First of all you should know the rough pace of all the drivers from the time table at PrestoGP.com When you leave the pits, have a look behind you. If there is a guy right behind you (also leaving the pits) that you know is significantly faster than you, you would do both a favor by letting him by. Then you know you will not catch up with the guy ahead, and he will obviously no longer catch up with you

This is not a rule, but logical thinking that everybody should consider.

 

[Valter Ostman]

First lap survival
Can you start like AI - Congratulations.
Starting technique is very important. A failed launch can be the trigger that releases a series of collisions further back in the grid. The further back you start the harder it is to brake to avoid hitting the panic-braking guy in front. In my opinion the most common initial cause of first lap crashes and DNF's are slow launches in front of you.
What do you guys think about my home brew theory?

 

[Jim Hawley]

May I suggest when exiting the pits during qualy and especially race that we all stay inside the white pit line down to T1 instead of heading immediately over to the right for the best line in, I think if we don't do this it could be scary/dangerous for the guys coming down the straight

Jim

 

[Graham Healey]

First lap survival
In my opinion the most common initial cause of first lap crashes and DNF's are slow launches in front of you.
What do you guys think about my home brew theory?

All due respect for a great drive at Monza Valter, I don't agree. My home brew theory is that the most common cause of first lap crashes is trying to optimize the start, and make up too many places. Care beats greed if you want to get to the end of the race.

 

[Jim Hawley]

Could the most common cause be... not being able to see your normal point of reference for braking cus there's 10 cars in the way,

That's one of the things I find most difficult in the opening laps


Jim

 

[Valter Ostman]

All due respect for a great drive at Monza Valter, I don't agree. My home brew theory is that the most common cause of first lap crashes is trying to optimize the start, and make up too many places. Care beats greed if you want to get to the end of the race.

I apologize for that I implied we don´t start perfect. I was just trying to provoke drivers to have an opinion about the race start. Why the “nearly blind for what is going on in front” braking for first corner is so dangerous. It would be easier if the guy in front of you kept a “normal” speed, which he seldom can do, due to things you cannot see from your position behind him. Someone can for example have changed lane in front of him because of a slower car, leading to panic-braking to avoid contact.

 

[Danny Asbury]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to bring this up, but how many drivers are we expecting for round 3? We didn't draw much for FPPS this week, so I'm wondering if we can expect a merge for this round? You know, both divisions merged.

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

(...)so I'm wondering if we can expect a merge for this round? You know, both divisions merged.

Yeah... I think I know what you mean

We are getting very close to a merge at the moment. As you can see there are 30 drivers that have done a time at PrestoGP.com and out of those 30 there are 3 that are not good enough to join the race (Per, Robbin and Dinca). So, if two more people do not show up for the race, we'll suddenly turn into one division, and for future races top 25 times will qualify for the race. On the other hand the 3 guys mentioned above might put in a better time, and then we are a bit farther away from a merge. Anyways, we'll probably be 14-17 drivers in div 1 if we don't merge, depending on a few matters.

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

The cutting warnings on this track are not working well. During the F3000 era we had this disabled in the race. I think we can manage without; we can try to drive within the stipulated track limits anyway and I don’t think anyone wants to cheat. Problem is that you can cut and gain with no warning, but you can go out in an escape route and lose time and get a cut warning.
If I could chose I would like to have only blue flags but I don’t think that is possible.
Abut chat in race:
I want to apologize for pressing the THX button at Monza a couple of times. Old habit that I will try my best to get rid of.

The downside with turning this off is that you will not get caught if you go too fast into the pitlane. I have not experienced any "false warnings" myself at Singapore this time around. If people do get the false warnings I think we need to turn it off. So, how common are these false warnings?

 

[Peter Marshall]

I believe that the warning for cutting the track happens when using the escape roads. Returning back to the track triggers the warning/ penalty [I'm not certain which due to lack of "experimentation" and practice]. In a previous Presto season I believe we had the Flags turned off for this reason.

Certainly with the Flag rules on, the escape roads should be considered out of bounds....

 

[Valter Ostman]

I believe that the warning for cutting the track happens when using the escape roads. Returning back to the track triggers the warning/ penalty [I'm not certain which due to lack of "experimentation" and practice]. In a previous Presto season I believe we had the Flags turned off for this reason.

Certainly with the Flag rules on, the escape roads should be considered out of bounds....

Now when everybody knows we can try to adapt.

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

It could be that these run-off areas will be more used in a race compared to practice. I would hate to see anybody get their race ruined because of this bug.

I do not mind turning off the flag rules, but I cannot promis that the entry speed to the pits will be checked, but I guess that is not neccessary anyway as no-one in our league will try to exploit this

 

[David Turnbull]

im very confident that no-one sets out to say "ok im going to cut this corner" most if not all cuts happen due to missing a turning point by being too early or too late, id be 1+ for the flag rules being turned off, it makes no sense to penalise anyone for a glitchy track.