PC2 Xbox One | RaceDepartment INDYCAR Series

[Rob]

Lotus Classic F1 World Championship
Schedule of Events​

1. British Grand Prix - (26 Sept. 2015) - Brands Hatch; Car: Lotus 72D (50 Laps)
2. English Grand Prix - (24 Oct. 2015) - Silverstone International; Car: Lotus 49 (40 Laps)
3. Belgian Grand Prix - (31 Oct. 2015) - Zolder; Car: Lotus 78 (50 Laps)
4. Original Seven GP #2 - (14 Nov. 2015) - Spa; Car: Lotus 98T (43 Laps)
5. Original Seven GP #3 - (28 Nov. 2015) - Monaco; Car: Lotus 78 (40 Laps)
6. Italian Grand Prix - (12 Dec. 2015) - Imola; Car: Lotus 98T (50 Laps)
7. German Grand Prix - (2 Jan. 2016) - Nurburg Nordschleife; Car: Lotus 49c(dlc) (10 Laps)
8. European GP - (16 Jan. 2016) - Hockenheim Hist.(dlc); Car: Lotus 25(dlc) (35 Laps)
9. Original Seven GP #4 - (30 Jan. 2016) - Monza; Car: Lotus 49c(dlc) (45 Laps)
10. The Original GP - (13 Feb. 2016) - Rouen-Les-Essarts(dlc); Car: Lotus 25(dlc) (35 Laps)
11. United States Grand Prix - (27 Feb. 2016) - Watkins Glen; Car: Lotus 72D (45 Laps)
12. Scottish GP - (19 Mar 2016) - Bannochbrae Rd. Cir.; Car: Lotus/Ford 40, GT1 (30 laps)
13. Original Seven GP #1 - (26 Mar. 2016) - Silverstone Hist.(dlc); Car: Lotus 49 (50 Laps)

_____________________________________________________

Lotus F1 Support Series'​

Worldwide LeMans Series (LMP2)​

1. Zhuhai International Circuit - (10 Oct. 2015) (60 Laps)**
2. Oschersleben GP - (21 Nov. 2015) (60 laps)
3. Rapuna Park GP - (5 Dec. 2015) (70 laps)
4. Willow Springs International - (19 Dec. 2015) (70 Laps)**
5 Road America GP - (9 Jan. 2016) (40 laps)
6. Sakitto GP - (23 Jan. 2016) (50 laps)**
7. Watkins Glen GP - (5 Feb. 2016) (50 laps)
8. Dubai Autodrome GP - (20 Feb. 2016) (50 laps)**
9. LeMans Circuit de la Sarthe - (5 Mar. 2016) (XX Laps)***
** Night Race (or partial)
*** Simulated 24 Hour Race

_____________________
Club Races
Pirelli World Challenge GT4 Series
​

1. Oulton Park Fosters - (7 Oct. 2015) - (30 Laps)
2. Willow Springs GP - (7 Nov. 2015) (25 laps)

 

[Rob]

I think it might be the forced interior view as well as no assists that scares people away. I think an indycar league with any view but forced real assists would be perfect for next season and I know a few people that would definitely be on board with that. I'm trying to race with more Europeans through PRL and I can let some of them know also. This season was also probably low on popularity because of the tough to drive classic f1 cars that only a handful of us enjoy.

Very good point Nic. I tend to just assume "serious" racers can see through the assists facade, but I should know better. Many are coming from Forza and now, many are seeing assists in actual use in GT3. In fact, what was a real struggle in the British GT (assists or no assists) would be sort of a no brainer now. Is open wheel that hard? I guess I just never thought so. But I have no real answer for the view. I'm sure you are right, in fact. When I watch others run in other leagues, often they have t-cam. In fact, I'd say that's as popular as cockpit. Still can't figure out why. The only real objection I have is that it's an assist. I can routinely run 2-3 seconds faster in T-cam, and it's not too hard to figure out why. lol. I was hoping people would better use look to apex, but sadly that's not the case. So, I have no problem opening it up as long as those who run cockpit know who they are really competing against. As for assists, luckily IndyCar sill has none.

 

[Rob]

Also nayve the length of races.we may like it but maybe reducing races to an hour or less wou would draw more in.along with what the toast with the most said

Point well taken. If we stick to our 1/2 - 3/4 replicas, we will be a lot shorter with IndyCar being the benchmark. 50% is about 45 mins.

 

[Peter Hooper]

Peter, you are just responsible for keeping things chugging, if not more. Although I can't say it in polite company, open wheel and sedan racing have has very different crowd, form my experience. I have been to roughly 20 NASCAR events live and about 50 open wheel events live. Personally, they both have their appeal, even though NASCAR has lost its way, like F1. Yet, NASCAR is blue collar, southern pride, loud, and quite non PC. Open wheel is a bit more reserved, white collar, softer, and favors speed over noise. To me, it's all racing, but the crowds are very different. In fact, when I was going to NASCAR events, I really didn't like open wheel, and many NASCAR fans outright hated it. NASCAR, being the biggest draw, was no friend of open wheel, unless they wanted to run on their tracks (Indy). But things have started to thaw recently and I had hoped that new interest in IndyCar and more European shift to WEC (someone explain why Europe is gaga over WEC, while pCARS has almost every class perfectly represented, yet nobody plays LMP in Europe. Peter? Anyone?), along with the game being more stable, would change things. Apparently not. Of course, it was the perfect storm too, with next gen (many serious racers went to PC...at the wrong time IMO) and F1 2015 failing, and console gamers having a short attention span in general. But still, it's hard to explain. After all, the F1 leagues...where did they go? F1 was massive before F1 2014. Peter can vouch. I wish some of them would come out of the woodwork, but they surely have their reasons. What's more, my stability is 100 times better on F1 2015 than F1 2013. And it's a much better game, IMO. But what do I know? lol.

So, here are the tracks that IndyCar actually runs:

May 14 Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis (Road Course)
May 21 Indianapolis Qualifying and Bump Day
May 29 Indianapolis 500 (Oval)
Jun 26 Road America Grand Prix
Sep 18 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma

Assuming we get Indy and the road course, this could be a mini event, either club or league, depending on interest. If we don't get Indy, then it gets kind of weird.

I'm afraid that I can't answer your question about the lack of LMP racing Rob, I'm equally baffled by that as they have proved to be so much fun. I'm going to do some research over the coming days during down time at work to try to see what is going on out in the wild in regards to pCars and what leagues are running with any success and what they are doing differently that may give us a clue as to what we need to change if anything.

Regarding F1 the whole nextgen split was the biggest single reason for its demise here. On 360 it was solid all the way up to and including 2014 but it became clear long before the final season ended that the split was going to prove fatal here.. On top of that the multitude of new multiplayer problems that 2015 brought in quickly killed off what interest there was. It was nowhere close to the level required for serious league play unfortunately and CM just didn't respond quickly enough to prevent the loss of even more players.

I agree that in many respects the game is the best they have released, certainly handling wise and the introduction of the engineer communication should have been a big plus point in league play but the other problems simply overshadowed that and it has never been able to recover unfortunately. Using this site as a barometer of interest you only have to look at the F1 2015 forums where there are currently little over 10% of posts made in comparison to F1 2014. That's an incredible dropoff!!

On the subject of Indicars I sincerely hope they give us Indy..... and soon.... and if the road course was included then even better. A short series based around that would be superb but my feeling is that it would not change the fact that here in Europe the interest in racing in any pCars league is low and therefore sticking to the Euro friendly time slot would possibly be a limiting factor still.. I hope I'm wrong, I really do but I suspect not.

 

[Rob]

I'm afraid that I can't answer your question about the lack of LMP racing Rob, I'm equally baffled by that as they have proved to be so much fun. I'm going to do some research over the coming days during down time at work to try to see what is going on out in the wild in regards to pCars and what leagues are running with any success and what they are doing differently that may give us a clue as to what we need to change if anything.

Regarding F1 the whole nextgen split was the biggest single reason for its demise here. On 360 it was solid all the way up to and including 2014 but it became clear long before the final season ended that the split was going to prove fatal here.. On top of that the multitude of new multiplayer problems that 2015 brought in quickly killed off what interest there was. It was nowhere close to the level required for serious league play unfortunately and CM just didn't respond quickly enough to prevent the loss of even more players.

I agree that in many respects the game is the best they have released, certainly handling wise and the introduction of the engineer communication should have been a big plus point in league play but the other problems simply overshadowed that and it has never been able to recover unfortunately. Using this site as a barometer of interest you only have to look at the F1 2015 forums where there are currently little over 10% of posts made in comparison to F1 2014. That's an incredible dropoff!!

On the subject of Indicars I sincerely hope they give us Indy..... and soon.... and if the road course was included then even better. A short series based around that would be superb but my feeling is that it would not change the fact that here in Europe the interest in racing in any pCars league is low and therefore sticking to the Euro friendly time slot would possibly be a limiting factor still.. I hope I'm wrong, I really do but I suspect not.

It's really amazing when you think about it, but not in a good way. Maybe I'm wrong or biased, but SMS is sitting on a gold mine with the Indy license. It's going to get tough to get pretty quickly. I can't tell you how many people have expressed a desire for a real IndyCar league. I'm kind of jealous of the PC folks now, and I bet plenty of NASCAR fans are too, but I always try to keep in perspective where we were about one year ago. With all the bad decisions, SMS still nailed it. However, I don't think they will be alone for long. Assetto may not provide that much competition due to a limited roster, but they seem committed to adding on and talking frank with the public. We shall see.

Your explanation is the best I have heard really. I just can't believe F1 interest, in general, dropped off that much. How are 200 million fans just ignoring the game? Crazy. Second most popular sport in the world and ... nada.

Hard to believe that Forza is not all that bad with ovals, since there is no real handling to speak of. I can only imagine what pCARS would do...I envision being able to "feel" the wind.

As for a league that shuts out you, boothy, and others in the U.K., I'd rather not be working on that effort, even to woo drivers. In any case, Michael is doing a fantastic job at that very thing and has a great GT3 base. Not sure open wheel would ever fly (other than IndyCar) in the U.S. At least, not the kind of racing we do. Nic's point is well stated. If the Lotus historics can't excite your average open wheel fan, nothing can.

 

[Rob]

Interesting that AOR floated an IndyCar idea by their third GT3 league. It seemed to get good support, but many questioned the amount of interest overall, as others just said flatly -- love it, but not w/o ovals. I get that. Can't say I don't agree in a way. I almost don't want to do a fake IndyCar so as not to water down the real deal if it ever gets here.

 

[Matthew Booth]

i don't like gt3 cars tbh nothing challenging about them just pinpointing the best car. Id be interesting in racing again get home at 10.20-30ish on saturday now although would prefer sunday. Ive enjoyed the indy car & aussie V8's since came out.

 

[Rob]

i don't like gt3 cars tbh nothing challenging about them just pinpointing the best car. Id be interesting in racing again get home at 10.20-30ish on saturday now although would prefer sunday. Ive enjoyed the indy car & aussie V8's since came out.

Great to see you Boothy. That time frame can certainly be accommodated since any IndyCar series (or Touring Car) could start later due to shorter races. In fact, very short races, like 15min. and 30min. ones back to back in some cases. That would keep thinks fresh also, plus allow latecomers to join.

 

[Rob]

If we ever get ovals we could have a killer NASCAR season and a real life IndyCar one.

Qualifying for St. Pete was pretty good. The cars look WAY better than last year. The overall volume on the side is reduced and streamlined, and the rear is very tight, like F1. In fact, it almost seems like they have had a sort of head start because of F1, which would make sense due to Honda being in both. I really am digging the sleek, squat, powerful look with the cockpit and tires much more isolated. The only thing they need to do is get rid of those hideous rear bumpers. Please GOD IndyCar, take the mud flaps off the front rears and take the bread boxes off the upper rear bumper. Then, shazam! you have a car every bit as pretty as F1. Not quite there yet. lol. Maybe another $5.6M.

P.S. - They made the red sidewalls much more "sticky" in compound. A large part (along with the new aero) that the cars are 1.5 seconds faster this year. The downforce is supposed to be tremendous...even Chilton comparing it to F1 at times. And Power said they were *flat out* on a good lap at Phoenix. To the point where they almost get lightheaded. Holy Hell.

 

[Peter Hooper]

If we ever get ovals we could have a killer NASCAR season and a real life IndyCar one.

Qualifying for St. Pete was pretty good. The cars look WAY better than last year. The overall volume on the side is reduced and streamlined, and the rear is very tight, like F1. In fact, it almost seems like they have had a sort of head start because of F1, which would make sense due to Honda being in both. I really am digging the sleek, squat, powerful look with the cockpit and tires much more isolated. The only thing they need to do is get rid of those hideous rear bumpers. Please GOD IndyCar, take the mud flaps off the front rears and take the bread boxes off the upper rear bumper. Then, shazam! you have a car every bit as pretty as F1. Not quite there yet. lol. Maybe another $5.6M.

P.S. - They made the red sidewalls much more "sticky" in compound. A large part (along with the new aero) that the cars are 1.5 seconds faster this year. The downforce is supposed to be tremendous...even Chilton comparing it to F1 at times. And Power said they were *flat out* on a good lap at Phoenix. To the point where they almost get lightheaded. Holy Hell.

Just about to start watching some of the St Pete race and I have to say Rob that for me I dont want the cars looking like the F1 cars.. Indicars are much more diverse and as such should have a unique profile rather just look like F1 clones. I like the more distinctive look

 

[Peter Hooper]

Are you looking to run this race tonight?

 

[Peter Hooper]

Ok well k I guess not so I'll watch some more of tonight's race instead

 

[Rob]

Just about to start watching some of the St Pete race and I have to say Rob that for me I don't want the cars looking like the F1 cars.. Indicars are much more diverse and as such should have a unique profile rather just look like F1 clones. I like the more distinctive look

No thanks here. I think it's inevitable that the cars look different because each team gets to "re-design" the areo kit structures every tear and 3x per year. They are all trying to find the optimal aero combo/design but they all end up doing it very differently, due to individual team differences and engine manufacturer differences.

While F1 cars all tend to look similar these days, it can almost be argued that IndyCar is just as diverse (almost, but there are less engine makers) is the teams' and manufacturers' approach to the wing and winglet design. . The IndyCar aero kits , which differ from Honda to Chevy, produce natural differences, and indeed, although the tub can't change, even the car shape looks very different if you are careful.

So, if the *natural* result of car evolution gets all the teams slowly closer to F1, I'm all for it. At least it will be by design of the teams, and not the FIA.

 

[Rob]

Are you looking to run this race tonight?

I was long since resigned that this one was a goner. But thanks for the mention. If I had been on shortly after you posted, I would have been all in.

 

[Peter Hooper]

Strange as I thought you would like the difference rather than them be just be like an F1 copy. For me the Indycars are great as they are and their distinctive look is much preferable to the boring similarity we would otherwise have no matter how they arrived there.

I think it's good to have them looking different especially since F1 went the route of the lowered nose with the ugly resigns that has tended to bring with it. The indycar look suits the racing they have.

 

[Michael Watts]

What about an LMP1 version of the WEC series? LoL Anyway, I liked your idea for the next Series, Robert. I am quite looking forward to that. I think some advertising on pCars Forums would be a great way for getting some more people into the league I can't imagine what time slot will bring more people in and still accommodate both Euro and N American races. My time slot is certainly not conducive for UK Pilots, but we still have 3 signed up.

 

[Rob]

Strange as I thought you would like the difference rather than them be just be like an F1 copy. For me the Indycars are great as they are and their distinctive look is much preferable to the boring similarity we would otherwise have no matter how they arrived there.

I think it's good to have them looking different especially since F1 went the route of the lowered nose with the ugly resigns that has tended to bring with it. The indycar look suits the racing they have.

I'd agree in general, but I'm just greedy. lol. I find nothing wrong with the nose. In fact, teams can't play with the nose at all, since the Dallara is provided to all the teams and is spec. The basic tub, therefore, cannot be changed. Neither can the rear wing, which hearkens me back to a long gone day in F1 before they jacked the rear wing up to ridiculous heights.

What is so beautiful about this year's car is the fact that they "shrunk" (almost like when you suck air out of a bag) the mess around the tub. So, it's far more sleeker and with a lower center of gravity. All the wasted buffeting and bloat that was the side body is now gone in favor of a very "tightly" wrapped driver, with less bodywork surface area overall.

My beef is small, for sure, so I would be the first to agree with you that Indy and F1 should be distinct. All I want is for the "open" in "open-wheel" to return. In fact, I myself could make my suggested changes to any car simply by unbolting the mud flaps from covering the top of the rear tire that faces forward, and removing the box part that covers 1/2 of the upper rear tire, which is not only dangerous (they caused roughly three cut tires in the race yesterday) but ass ugly. They have no business in an "open wheel" series, IMO. I could unbolt them too. lol. Once that is done, you have what I think is nearly the best looking car you could produce these days. I agree, it's just fast looking, and I really rally like the smaller footprint of the side pods and everything about both wings, not including the "bumpers" which, according to the mayor of Hinchtown, gives teams more down-force, but does not increase the drag:

 

[Rob]

What about an LMP1 version of the WEC series? LoL Anyway, I liked your idea for the next Series, Robert. I am quite looking forward to that. I think some advertising on pCars Forums would be a great way for getting some more people into the league I can't imagine what time slot will bring more people in and still accommodate both Euro and N American races. My time slot is certainly not conducive for UK Pilots, but we still have 3 signed up.

Yea, your series proves that if the spec is well liked, then people will come. (I'm channeling Kevin Costner). Plus, your races are NOT easy what with the length, and it shows that those folks are very passionate about GT3, which is only good, IMO. The danger is extrapolating what is happening in GT3 to open wheel is that the participants are not the same. Or, even worse, the open wheel fans have basically abandoned pCARS, not just in the U.S. but in the U.K.

A true WEC series would incorporate LMP, but this is still not open wheel in the minds of many. I know it's close and may even drover more like open wheel, but those cars were originally called "sports cars" when the ALMS created them. They just got all spacey of late. lol.

I really don't think it's the time slot, although Peter does. I don't believe that changing the time to exclude whole nations (even though you have shown it's not a complete bar) would mean better attendance, especially if it's slanted toward American fans, who don't like racing open wheel to begin with.

BTW, my first love in GT, the Corvette, is a dog. I'm not sure why SMS chose to castrate it, but they did a bang up job! lol. I got in the Caddy and was immediately 4 seconds faster. That's probably due to the ABS, wich I can't believe would be missing from today's Chevy GT3 car.

Also, the Pirelli WC just keeps getting better. I noticed it back in 2014 and thought it could eventually rival NASCAR. It's not there yet, but WOW what a HUGE array of manufacturers. I'm not sure I have ever seen that many different ones. And they are top notch ones too. Having watched hundreds of Johnny O'Connell and Patrick Long (his battles with Borgmeister in the Flying Lizard of ALMS fame are legendary), they just keep getting better with age. Unbelievable driving skills that those two have, along with Magnusson, who stayed in the reformed ALMS/Weather Tech outfit. All three of them are prime examples of talent that is superior to many in F1...yet does not get noticed.

 

[Michael Watts]

Hell I think if The WC did more events on a regular basis it would top NASCAR. Road racing is far more exciting, with cars people can easily indentify as their street counterpart. I love watching the WC races. Like you said multiple manufacturers has variety for everyone.

 

[Rob]

Hell I think if The WC did more events on a regular basis it would top NASCAR. Road racing is far more exciting, with cars people can easily indentify as their street counterpart. I love watching the WC races. Like you said multiple manufacturers has viariety for everyone.

Still, I love watching NASCAR on road courses. It's almost cruel watching them struggle on unfamiliar terrain. And those cars don't help either. lol.

 

[Rob]

Any interest in following the F1 season, starting at Albert Park next Sunday? Same deal, 50% races, no assists, any view, weather of actual race, full flags & penalties.

I was thinking about 6pm or so on Sunday, after the F1 event. Not sure when F1 2016 is due out, but we could transition then.