AC GT3 @ Kyalami, Sunday 7th March 2021

[random2k4]

What a great race. Although I was 1 sec faster then last time we drove here I only qualified "only" 10th.
The start was great. I was lucky that somehow all cars around me messed up their start and I could sneak into 7th place after T1. Unfortunately @Interslice had some connection issues and @HF2000 made a small driving mistake, so I was in 5th place after a couple of laps. The entire first stint I was then sandwiched between @Kek700 in the back and @neesve in the front. Our times basically were identical and my realtime always showed us in the 0,5 -1 second range. All three of us were slightly out of punch distance, but a small mistake could made the difference.
After the pit stop I was right behind @neesve again, but lost some time cause I ripped out my headphone cable while making the turn into the pit lane. Didnt realized I shifted down to much into neutral for a split second....
I really need to talk to @Kek700 about his pit crew. Dont know how he does it, but he always manages to drive behind me and then overtakes me in the pits a lap later.

I had quite a comfortable lead to Han, about 5 secs, so i concentrated to keep up with Ernie. Cornelius made a slight mistake and I was back in a sandwich with switched roles now.

I have to say 99% of the blue flag overtaking was flawless this time. Kudos to all of you. Unfortunately there was a bit confusing situation 4 Laps before the end. I was blocked a bit on the last two turns by a blue flagged car, but he was also battling for position. Cornelius took the opportunity and used his higher exit speed for an overtake. I tried to gain the position back at the end of the straight resulting in Cornelius hitting me in the rear. Luckily directly followed up by a hit in the front so I was directly on the racing line again. Coulndt carry enough speed into the next turn, so he overtook again.

At this point I though OK fine, lets bring this home and just tried to keep up with Cornelius, cause I already knew we are the same pace so overtaking would highly unlikely in the last 3 laps.

Luckily for me he ran out of fuel, and I could retake the position at the last lap.
So I finished 4th. Was a really great race, with the constant fear of making a mistake and loosing positions. At no point in the race I could relax a little cause there was always someone directly in front or the back.

See you all next week!

Btw. anyone got the results? My CM didnt save them correctly... and only shows practice for 3 hours...

 

[demetri]

Btw. anyone got the results? My CM didnt save them correctly... and only shows practice for 3 hours...

Result 210307-E5Z - kyalami_2016-summer - Unknown or offline - Assetto Corsa - Simresults

Result 210307-E5Z - kyalami_2016-summer - Unknown or offline - Assetto Corsa - Simresults - The results viewer for your favorite race sims.

simresults.net

Yeah, slower traffic was very good this time around. I'm used to have 1-2 close calls or WTF moments during a race (last weekend comes to mind, ha-ha), but nothing like that happened here. Kudos to all the guys who obeyed blue flags, appreciate your cooperation!

 

[demetri]

Setting up the Audi for this track was a nightmare. Softs overheated very quick once you started pushing it (rears, of course), and I was not able to do even a single fast lap on them, so I was stuck with mediums again. Which was a problem, because now the front tires weren't heating enough and the whole front end lacked grip which was especially evident in the long and fast right-hander at the start of the second sector. Traditional way of getting rid of understeer by softening the front resulted in a car that felt like a boat through the Esses and Cheetah. I ended up lowering the front and raising (compared to what I typically run) the rear and using stiff springs and very short travel range to avoid front bottoming out on curbs. Maybe that was placebo, but it finally felt somewhat OK and I could work on improving the lines.

Still, my best laptimes on mediums were high 40s in the quali trim and low 41s with race fuel load. There was no way I could do low 40s, so the plan was to do my best to quali in P2 (which I did setting time just one tenth ahead of P3/P4) and then try to outrun @pattikins on start and keep him behind until his softs start to go and hopefully he loses some pace.

This almost worked out, but he promptly closed the door shut in T1 and that was the end of plan A. Plan B was to stay behind close enough until the pitstop time and then refuel only which saves about 10-11 seconds compared to also changing tires. I went in a lap earlier than planned because I saw some traffic ahead and didn't want to lose any time passing them. Since I took fuel only, the undercut worked perfectly and after Patrick pitted too I was about 10 seconds ahead in temporary P3 which became P1 in a couple of laps after @random2k4 and @Kek700 also pitted.

Patrick on fresh softs was closing in pretty fast, by 1-1.5 seconds per lap, so he got within a second behind me by the middle of the stint with about 15 minutes still left in the race. But this track is apparently so hard to overtake on, that my job was to concentrate on good exits and avoid making big mistakes. I made quite a few small ones, but was lucky enough that my chaser couldn't capitalize on them, even when he got into my slipstream. The most difficult corner for me was T13, The Crocodiles, because the track there is so wide, that unless you drive close to an edge you can't see any brake markers in VR, but fortunately I only had to take defensive line once there. In the end, "you shall not pass" magic worked long enough to take home a victory.

Thanks to @Chris Down for organizing the event and everyone participating. Hope to see you all in virtual Japan next Sunday


My race setup is attached

 

[640er]

Spent some laps on the practice server, had fun and was exited for the race, forgot to sign up (because I'm spoiled after the last year), missed the race as the server already was running when it hit me that I havn't signed up yet, played Rimworld.

 

[RasmusP]

Does someone have the replay for me?

 

[neesve]

What a great race. Although I was 1 sec faster then last time we drove here I only qualified "only" 10th.
The start was great. I was lucky that somehow all cars around me messed up their start and I could sneak into 7th place after T1. Unfortunately @Interslice had some connection issues and @HF2000 made a small driving mistake, so I was in 5th place after a couple of laps. The entire first stint I was then sandwiched between @Kek700 in the back and @neesve in the front. Our times basically were identical and my realtime always showed us in the 0,5 -1 second range. All three of us were slightly out of punch distance, but a small mistake could made the difference.
After the pit stop I was right behind @neesve again, but lost some time cause I ripped out my headphone cable while making the turn into the pit lane. Didnt realized I shifted down to much into neutral for a split second....
I really need to talk to @Kek700 about his pit crew. Dont know how he does it, but he always manages to drive behind me and then overtakes me in the pits a lap later.

I had quite a comfortable lead to Han, about 5 secs, so i concentrated to keep up with Ernie. Cornelius made a slight mistake and I was back in a sandwich with switched roles now.

I have to say 99% of the blue flag overtaking was flawless this time. Kudos to all of you. Unfortunately there was a bit confusing situation 4 Laps before the end. I was blocked a bit on the last two turns by a blue flagged car, but he was also battling for position. Cornelius took the opportunity and used his higher exit speed for an overtake. I tried to gain the position back at the end of the straight resulting in Cornelius hitting me in the rear. Luckily directly followed up by a hit in the front so I was directly on the racing line again. Coulndt carry enough speed into the next turn, so he overtook again.

At this point I though OK fine, lets bring this home and just tried to keep up with Cornelius, cause I already knew we are the same pace so overtaking would highly unlikely in the last 3 laps.

Luckily for me he ran out of fuel, and I could retake the position at the last lap.
So I finished 4th. Was a really great race, with the constant fear of making a mistake and loosing positions. At no point in the race I could relax a little cause there was always someone directly in front or the back.

See you all next week!

Btw. anyone got the results? My CM didnt save them correctly... and only shows practice for 3 hours...

It's was a realy fun race! Didn't mean to hit you, i was inside of the corner and couldn't go anywhere. I saw you catched the car from sliding and decided to lift for milisecond and let you past, but the next corner i had a better exit and managed to take the position back. all with all it was fun racing with you, thanks mate! Also had a few nice battles with @HF2000 at the first few laps.

 

[pattikins]

Does someone have the replay for me?

Here's mine, but it includes the practice & qualifying round (208mb file) + a few collisions .

 

[pattikins]

It's was a realy fun race! Didn't mean to hit you, i was inside of the corner and couldn't go anywhere. I saw you catched the car from sliding and decided to lift for milisecond and let you past, but the next corner i had a better exit and managed to take the position back. all with all it was fun racing with you, thanks mate! Also had a few nice battles with @HF2000 at the first few laps.

Did you run out of fuel @ the end of the race?

 

[neesve]

Did you run out of fuel @ the end of the race?

Yes, second to last corner...

 

[Fiberoptix]

Yes, second to last corner...

That is where my last minute extra place came from then. I wondered why I had suddenly gained a place when I crossed the line.

 

[neesve]

That is where my last minute extra place came from then. I wondered why I had suddenly gained a place when I crossed the line.

No problem, glad to help . Thought it was a good idea to take a few liters of fuel out just before my pitstop because i though i had way to much...

 

[Chris Down]

Thanks everyone for coming out this week! I'm really glad to hear that the migration to SGP went smoothly. This week we're out at Okayama -- come join us for 60 minutes of GT3 racing action!

SGP - GT3 @ Okayama, Sunday 14th March 2021

by Peter Burke, link This week we're off to race the GT3s at Okayama in Japan! A challenging circuit with a layout that rewards precision, Okayama is easy to learn, but hard to master. Come join us and make the event one to remember! SGP link...

www.racedepartment.com

 

[JamKart22]

What a great race. Although I was 1 sec faster then last time we drove here I only qualified "only" 10th.
The start was great. I was lucky that somehow all cars around me messed up their start and I could sneak into 7th place after T1. Unfortunately @Interslice had some connection issues and @HF2000 made a small driving mistake, so I was in 5th place after a couple of laps. The entire first stint I was then sandwiched between @Kek700 in the back and @neesve in the front. Our times basically were identical and my realtime always showed us in the 0,5 -1 second range. All three of us were slightly out of punch distance, but a small mistake could made the difference.
After the pit stop I was right behind @neesve again, but lost some time cause I ripped out my headphone cable while making the turn into the pit lane. Didnt realized I shifted down to much into neutral for a split second....
I really need to talk to @Kek700 about his pit crew. Dont know how he does it, but he always manages to drive behind me and then overtakes me in the pits a lap later.

I had quite a comfortable lead to Han, about 5 secs, so i concentrated to keep up with Ernie. Cornelius made a slight mistake and I was back in a sandwich with switched roles now.

I have to say 99% of the blue flag overtaking was flawless this time. Kudos to all of you. Unfortunately there was a bit confusing situation 4 Laps before the end. I was blocked a bit on the last two turns by a blue flagged car, but he was also battling for position. Cornelius took the opportunity and used his higher exit speed for an overtake. I tried to gain the position back at the end of the straight resulting in Cornelius hitting me in the rear. Luckily directly followed up by a hit in the front so I was directly on the racing line again. Coulndt carry enough speed into the next turn, so he overtook again.

At this point I though OK fine, lets bring this home and just tried to keep up with Cornelius, cause I already knew we are the same pace so overtaking would highly unlikely in the last 3 laps.

Luckily for me he ran out of fuel, and I could retake the position at the last lap.
So I finished 4th. Was a really great race, with the constant fear of making a mistake and loosing positions. At no point in the race I could relax a little cause there was always someone directly in front or the back.

See you all next week!

Btw. anyone got the results? My CM didnt save them correctly... and only shows practice for 3 hours...

I think it was me you were trying to pass under blue flag, four laps from the end. I wasn't expecting you to try and pass me on the last corner so turned in as normal. I'd assumed you were going passed on the main straight. Chris has said in the past to let people pass when safe to do so and I'd assumed the straight was the place to do it. I can see from the replay you where flashing your lights but I didn't catch that in my mirrors. Sorry if it impacted your race.

 

[demetri]

No problem, glad to help . Thought it was a good idea to take a few liters of fuel out just before my pitstop because i though i had way to much...

And we almost made it to one more lap, I was less than two seconds over the one hour mark when I crossed the finish line. With a bit better driving on my part or Patrick passing me soon enough it would've been a 36 laps race

 

[Kek700]

@JamKart22

Do the best you can, no one can ask more than that, if you have been flown in from a galaxy far far away, I then might think otherwise.
I was at that cuffuffle spot, it's racing, that is what can happen.

 

[Luca Badin]

I enjoyed just sitting at your rear for the last 10 laps or so, I kept catching but didn't want to do anything reckless and ruin both our races trying to get past when I did get close enough. Was more than happy to finish in 8th.

You had great pace! I could gain on you in the first 3 corners and again at the Esses, but you would always use the cleaner air to post a better time in the next lap and get closer again. (And then I missed my braking point at turn 13 every other lap )

Congratulations on a really solid, consistent drive

Hey Luca !

Congratulations on P7 - nice drive that mate

I shall be disappointed if you take a trivial racing incident and let it mar your wonderful achievement - please enjoy it ! I am very pleased for you I was actually uncertain as to how you fared, it all happened so quickly and then I was facing the wrong way - but I am so glad you carried on to get a great finish.

Thank you Jack, absolutely no issues on my side, I'm just sorry I robbed you of a fight with Taj (I think?) in my hurry to get away from Tim.

Hey Luca, I think that was me.

Sorry, at the time I didn't even notice the contact, just saw you leave the track. I knew we where side by side, but thought I held my line. I don't have a replay to see what really happened.

No worries Pat, it happens. Overhead shot: https://streamable.com/rh6q05

By my interpretation, I moved a bit wider, braked earlier in response to another car in front and continued on the normal line, while you were much more to the inside and further back and simply braked normally. Just a racing incident, neither of us was expecting the other one to be in that position on the apex.

 

[demetri]

Here's mine, but it includes the practice & qualifying round (208mb file) + a few collisions .

Do you right-foot brake? Downloaded your replay to see what top speed you were making (down 4-5 km/h in the race compared to my Audi, that probably explains why you couldn't draft me) and noticed that your pedal inputs seemed to never overlap in the slightest

 

[Kek700]

my inputs on the brake and throttle never overlap either
I wonder why.


........................Brake...........................................Throttle

 

[doof205]

Do you right-foot brake? Downloaded your replay to see what top speed you were making (down 4-5 km/h in the race compared to my Audi, that probably explains why you couldn't draft me) and noticed that your pedal inputs seemed to never overlap in the slightest

Is there much to be gained by braking with both feet? I see the better drivers doing it but have never invested the time to relearn for myself.

 

[demetri]

Is there much to be gained by braking with both feet? I see the better drivers doing it but have never invested the time to relearn for myself.

I don't think you'll gain a lot in GT3 cars. There're fast people who only use right foot, but in theory left-foot braking is a tiny bit faster. You can also react quicker in case of an unexpected WTF moment because you don't need to move your foot to another pedal

It also came handy in real life once, when I sprained my right ankle pretty bad and using that foot to press the brake pedal was painful (I drive an automatic like maybe 95% people here).