AC GT3 @ Brands Hatch GP - Sunday 22nd March 2020

[640er]

@Chris Down I watched your onboard and noticed that you didn't use 6th gear. I'm curious why that is because I set up my car so that I reach top speed in 6th. Is it something that works for all cars or only on the 650?

This is 650s magic. The power output of the car is pretty much the same everywhere. Just go to 4th and enable auto-cruise.

 

[HF2000]

Yeah you were off your normal pace Han. But you finished 8th which was still very good and shows your consistency. Something I'm trying to work on.

Well I might have been off pace but you certainly on the right side. Impressive race from you! You're about to join the ranks of the aliens!

 

[Raresch]

Where did you finish Raresch?

Finished 6th. But after I spun 15min in the race, I was alone for the whole race. 10-15s behind earnie and 20-22s in front of marek

you really needed to use my setup you would never have come off

maybe, maybe not ) It was a mistake that I tried to steer more than the grip allowed me, so I would have done that in every setup I would have had.

At first I didn't expect much of this race. My lap times were way off pace, my benchmarks @GEO147 and @Raresch were much faster in practice. Tried the setup from @Chris Down but that didn't work for me either. So I settled for a race of not making mistakes with a conservative setup and medium tyres and see how it goes. Surprisingly I qualified 8th with my first 1.24. And the race went quite well with an interesting 2nd stint as Raresch came out of the pit lane just in front of me and we switched places a couple of times due to small mistakes and trouble with blue flag cars. I don't know on which place I finished but it was just before Raresch

I finished 6th. Rasmus was the R8 behind you
Funny you say that. Most of the races, you are my benchmark. Especially in the race Heck, my Race Standings marks you as a rival, with pink color, for easy reading

Very difficult setup for me indeed.... I made so many mistakes! I don't understand why Iifwas so badly driving... I know I am not good, but that bad!? I went so many times off road. I anyone can give some adivce... (was it the setup of the car, was I trying to go too fast, was I tired, strssed I don't know... Maybe getting too old.)

I was slow in the beginning also, even if in real life, around my friends, I am the fastest when we go GoKarts, for instance. And compared to the fast guys on the server, I still am slower. There are 2 things you have to learn:
1. The game itself. How to control the game, not only the car.
2. The racecraft and the car you are driving. Most say the Z4 is very nice for beginners. I couldn't cope with it. But you might find it easier to drive. If you have time, you should go for 30min practice sessions with every car.
And now, specific things I've done and I would like to do If I would have started today, with the knowledge I have:
3.1. Take it slow and learn the circuit first. Don't find only the best lap time, find the best consistency. I still suffer from this, trying to get the best laptime ... I am trying to correct it now. In the past, I was qualifying 10-12th and end up in 20th anyway because I was making lots of mistakes. I did yesterday too because I have not worked at my consistency from the start.
3.2. Try to work at keeping the car on the black stuff. Doesn't matter if you brake harder initially, try to keep it on the circuit. In the first races I had, more times I had faster times at the end of the race, than in qualifying, just because I knew the circuit better. Learn the circuit, slowly first and keep increasing the pace. Try to get yourself challenges, at least this is what I did when I've started: 5laps without getting on grass - 10 laps without getting on grass - finish the fuel tank without getting on the grass. After every challenge I made something different: going faster in that corner, trail-braking here an there, If I could, and so on.
4. Trail-braking and slow in-fast out. Trail-braking is really important. I still don't know if I am doing it right enough.
5. Get a stable chair. When I first started I was using an office chair with rollers. You can't apply brake pressure correctly and you have no way to trail-brake. When I switched to a wooden chair, I was 2s faster just by doing that.
6. Mount the pedals on something stable, pressing to a wall or something stable. I've made myself (with my dad's tools) a wooden box to put the pedals in place.
7. Be smooth with your inputs.
8. Something I've learned pretty recently: be smooth, but rotate the wheel from the start all the way to the steering angle you want to turn, and after the apex release it smoothly. This is something more advance, so just focus on nailing the apexes: outside-inside-outside (this could change based on the track layout, thou).
9. Use the base setup first and then try to change something or take one from the setup market (you have to be very patient with the website) or from youtube or from RD. But try the base setup first and adjust tyre pressure (more important in AC than tyre temps) and gearing. After that and after you know the circuit you can use a setup.
10. Don't be scared of the blue flags. I sometimes was and made mistakes. Just be predictable.
11. Be sure to use the whole track. Use a reply. Sometimes you think you are at the limit, but you might be 1m or even more on the inside of the track.
12. If you don't have a monitor big enough, correct FOV is pretty useless (I know, some will argue otherwise). But I have a 29inch monitor ultrawide (so it's actually only 24inch, but longer). Using a correct FoV would make me see only a fraction of the apex, and no, your brain would not complete the big picture (and I am an urban planner, I see things in 3D better than most), just because the brain doesn't know where the apex is in the first place, especially when you just learn the track. Don't go with 50 FOV, but neither with 22, if you have a small screen. I went for immersion, setting the FOV so that my fist has the same dimension in-game, and the adjusted slightly. I have 36 fov now, and that gives me enough awareness for the apexes, and also enough sense of speed. @RasmusP has a very good topic about this on RD forum.
13. This should have been higher, but get yourself some pretty nice apps. I would recommend:
-Race Essentials (even thou some guys prefer the other one. RE is harder to find, thou)
-ProTyre
-RealTimeApp (from AC) or, I've changed this with ACTracker (it has prettier colors and you can distinguish easier the blue flags and the guys you lap)
-Helicorsa or Car Radar (I like car radar more, it is easier to spot the differences).
-Map Display (the one that shows the whole circuit at once)
-Content Manager + Sol
Optional:
-SubStandings
-ACRL Fuel
-Track description, to remember better your turns.
-CrewChief for better immersion, for a spotter and for someone to constantly push you further and further )
14. Something I have to do more often also is to race with AI more, so I could be better at racing in crowds and overtake and pass easier and safer.

I hope I didn;t leave anything

 

[GEO147]

Well I might have been off pace but you certainly on the right side. Impressive race from you! You're about to join the ranks of the aliens!

Seriously doubt that Han. The 650s really suited Brands, will be a different story next week, and possibly even tonight.

 

[Kek700]

@640er
It was easy race for us two, i wanted your place you wanted to stop me, we did not have to worry about anything else, just tyres, we both had good race places to start with.
Making time up, overtaking a field of cars, we were basically left alone to fight it out, you really were very very difficult to overtake.
I could, no where really get any power advantage from the Nissan. Just one straight in brands hatch, in the end became my only safe hope. Once my tyres were shot I just could not get the grip out of that corner for an overtake, even then it was difficult. I needed a few hundred more meters of road there for an easier overtake. For me a great race with no stress.

 

[RasmusP]

I finished 6th. Rasmus was the R8 behind you

And the race went quite well with an interesting 2nd stint as @RasmusP came out of the pit lane just in front of me and we switched places a couple of times due to small mistakes and trouble with blue flag cars. I don't know on which place I finished but it was just before Rasmus.

Was just about to write something but you already edited your post hehe.
Yeah we had some great fun towards the end! When I came out of the pits I really felt hunted down. Just when the gap seemed to stabilize between 2-3 seconds, I had to dodge around the outside in the last corner.
Had some fun hunting you down from there and almost made it but you fought me off with everything you had

 

[Chris Down]

@Chris Down I watched your onboard and noticed that you didn't use 6th gear. I'm curious why that is because I set up my car so that I reach top speed in 6th. Is it something that works for all cars or only on the 650?

I think on this track it's probably possible to do with every car, just looking at the power/torque curves. Brands Hatch doesn't have any super long straights, which means you can generally keep the car in a decent power curve no matter what, even with 5 gears.

That + deciding which corners you want high RPM (eg. for me T5) through and which ones you are willing to tolerate low RPM through (eg. for me T2) means you can get away with 5 gears. It's probably not any faster (and in terms of raw power it may be slower), but it means you have fewer awkward points you might have to shift up or down during the lap, which can help

 

[Aksu]

Do you have a build thread Aki?

I'm sorry but no
Didn't have time to do that.... Took couple of photos to reminder but that's it

 

[GEO147]

I'm sorry but no
Didn't have time to do that.... Took couple of photos to reminder but that's it

Post them here Aki so we can all be jealous

 

[Kek700]

@Devidin

just spent some time on a setup for the GT40, really struggled to even get two laps together in this car..

I am not in this car, but if I was this is the setup I would go for.

 

[Joost van der Stoep]

Thanks for the racing guys. First 40 minutes were really fun. I really have to get used to AC. Used to race at RF2 a lot and know my way there.
At AC I'm still looking for basics, like tire info, when are tires overheating etc.

I think that's where my problem was yesterday. My left rear tire was getting way too hot and losing grip, resulting in a number of spins in my second stint with about 20-15 minutes to go.

The Porsche was the car of my choice because I used to race this one with the s397 mod in RF2. There it was absolutely my favourite GT3 car. Yesterday I was struggling.
Does anyone perhabs have a basic setup for me to get comfortable in the Porsche or perhabs suggestions which car to take as a better choice?

 

[Kek700]

@Joost van der Stoep

I do not like the 911, ( love the sound ) but gave it a go at a circuit, ran It reliably and reasonably competitively the setup must be very drivable for me to manage an hour without an incident.

You will need to tweak the tyre pressures for the circuit you are at next.

 

[HF2000]

Thanks for the racing guys. First 40 minutes were really fun. I really have to get used to AC. Used to race at RF2 a lot and know my way there.
At AC I'm still looking for basics, like tire info, when are tires overheating etc.

I think that's where my problem was yesterday. My left rear tire was getting way too hot and losing grip, resulting in a number of spins in my second stint with about 20-15 minutes to go.

The Porsche was the car of my choice because I used to race this one with the s397 mod in RF2. There it was absolutely my favourite GT3 car. Yesterday I was struggling.
Does anyone perhabs have a basic setup for me to get comfortable in the Porsche or perhabs suggestions which car to take as a better choice?

My first months with AC I drove only the 911 simply because I did my best lap times with it. But it's a tricky car and I kept making mistakes with it during races so I switched to the R8 which I'm trying to master now. But I'm not a good simracer and I know experienced drivers can do a lot better with the 911 although the tyre wear of the rear tyres is the most from all cars. Also it's nearly impossible to get to front tyres in the green temperature zone but that isn't much of a problem as long as the pressure is good. Here's a setup I used on the Red Bull Ring in a race I did quite good.

 

[RasmusP]

I think on this track it's probably possible to do with every car, just looking at the power/torque curves. Brands Hatch doesn't have any super long straights, which means you can generally keep the car in a decent power curve no matter what, even with 5 gears.

That + deciding which corners you want high RPM (eg. for me T5) through and which ones you are willing to tolerate low RPM through (eg. for me T2) means you can get away with 5 gears. It's probably not any faster (and in terms of raw power it may be slower), but it means you have fewer awkward points you might have to shift up or down during the lap, which can help

I tried to quickly adjust the Audi to brands yesterday and used 6 gears. It was okay but I had a few corners where I had to shift at the apex or on the exit kerb. I think going with 5 gears might be better to have a better range for the full corner.
You will have some low revs through turn 2 but honestly.. In turn 2 even at low revs the gt3 cars have enough power to spin or trigger TC.

Thanks for the racing guys. First 40 minutes were really fun. I really have to get used to AC. Used to race at RF2 a lot and know my way there.
At AC I'm still looking for basics, like tire info, when are tires overheating etc.

I think that's where my problem was yesterday. My left rear tire was getting way too hot and losing grip, resulting in a number of spins in my second stint with about 20-15 minutes to go.

The Porsche was the car of my choice because I used to race this one with the s397 mod in RF2. There it was absolutely my favourite GT3 car. Yesterday I was struggling.
Does anyone perhabs have a basic setup for me to get comfortable in the Porsche or perhabs suggestions which car to take as a better choice?

The Porsche in AC is simply melting the rear tyres. Normally the get cold enough before the next turn but Brands Hatch is constant stress for the left tyres, especially the rear!
Sadly one of the weaknesses of AC.. In rF2 and acc the Porsche rear tyres a lot "better".
For cars to take:
McLaren has the most grip by far. You will have problems overtaking on the straights though.
Audi R8 is a beast all around but it likes to over rotate under braking.
BMW z4 is the easiest by far. Doesn't stress you too much but also isn't the fastest overall package.
It can be really quick though! And the default setting is perfect in the z4!

 

[Kek700]

I know from my stint some time ago setting up the R8 when the forum discussion was about the R8. There is some tenths available at brands by removing most of the TC, never thought about gearing, but now you mention it, that combined to slightly longer gears would Be a useful way of damping down unwanted torque spikes that can easily occur with lower gearing.

 

[Chris Down]

Next week's Sunday event is up -- come join us for GT3 at Monza!

https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/gt3-monza-sunday-28th-march-2020.180443/

 

[RasmusP]

Next week's Sunday event is up -- come join us for GT3 at Monza!

https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/gt3-monza-sunday-28th-march-2020.180443/

You really love the critical T1's this time of year, eh?

 

[Giovanni Chiarotto]

Well, it was really a pleasurable race. Firstly because the track/car combo was very enjoyable, and secondly because the great battle from the distance I had with @steen skov Laursen . In the first half of the race, I was ahead of him, more or less in 13th position, and he was behind me, with about a 3 seconds gap, which remained pretty much unchanged until he stopped for the pit. Then i found myself 8th, until I stopped for the pit too when there were about fifteen minutes to go.
Was not sure if I could make the whole race without a tyre change or not, in the end I choose to stay on the safe side and I did it.
Out of the pits, I was 14th behind...Steen again! The gap was always about 3 seconds, but this time I was behind and he was in front.
We stayed like this for a while, until he had some incomprehension (I suppose) with a lapped driver and went out of track; because this I was able to pass him, but he was still very close. After I passed him I got confused because I got a blue flag, and I was wondering what was happening because he was not supposed to have done more laps than me. That was true indeed , the blue flag was because two faster drivers who were approaching us. Anyway, in the process i got distracted, and went slightly out of track; didn't lose much time, but that was enough for him to get his position back.
Then, in the very last corner of the race, he found himself in an awkward situation: he was defending the position from me, but at the same time he had two lapping drivers behind him battling between them. So he had to leave room to make them pass, but doing so he exited from the corner slower than usual: so we got side by side, until the finish line. Result: I passed the line after him, for just 52 thousandth of a second. Man, that was crazy!

Thanks @Chris Down for organizing, looking forward for the next one!

 

[RasmusP]

Result: I passed the line after him, for just 52 thousandth of a second. Man, that was crazy!

Awesome Photofinish! I'm gonna have a look at that replay!

 

[Giovanni Chiarotto]

Awesome Photofinish! I'm gonna have a look at that replay!

Can somebody please post the replay? I don't have it, thanks