AC GT3 @ Virginia Raceway 10 March 2019

[Medilloni]

It's a bit complicated for the one lapping, because I used to call out that I'm lapping (eg. "Chris Down, just letting you know about the blue flag"), but I was asked not to do that since it felt too aggressive. In actual fact I wasn't trying to be aggressive, just let the person in front know that I'm there and I'm lapping them.

I might start doing it again, but probably have to work out some phrasing that makes people not feel so under pressure

I prefer having a heads up Chris, helps to plan the best place to let guys through without losing too much time.

Last night I moved off line on the straight for a couple (I think you were one) because I wasn't racing anyone, I use the live timing to see at what rate someone is catching and if it's a second or more per lap I'll try to find a place when they are within 1.5 seconds, less than that closing rate and that would be 1 second before I scarper out of the way. There are exceptions, such as the esses at VIR which can be difficult to plan, and when dicing with someone.

Imo, these events are predominantly fun, not league racing, so, very happy for **notice of being lapped, not too worried if it slows me down too much, and without exception the quicker guys have been very understanding if those being lapped are racing closely with someone.


**I don't have press to talk enabled apart from the button on my headphones, which I have to look down to reach.... so please don't think I'm ignoring anyone if I don't reply straight away

 

[Craig Dunkley]

It's a bit complicated for the one lapping, because I used to call out that I'm lapping (eg. "Chris Down, just letting you know about the blue flag"), but I was asked not to do that since it felt too aggressive. In actual fact I wasn't trying to be aggressive, just let the person in front know that I'm there and I'm lapping them.

Chris I am very happy for you to do that, I do not find this aggressive in the slightest, I actually find it most helpful for you and the other driver

 

[RobertR1]

It's a bit complicated for the one lapping, because I used to call out that I'm lapping (eg. "Chris Down, just letting you know about the blue flag"), but I was asked not to do that since it felt too aggressive. In actual fact I wasn't trying to be aggressive, just let the person in front know that I'm there and I'm lapping them.

I might start doing it again, but probably have to work out some phrasing that makes people not feel so under pressure

Use a Sam L. voice board next time. "Get out the god damn way!" That should do it.

Joking aside, I can't imagine why someone would feel that communicating is "aggressive." That's silly to call you out on that considering I've raced enough with you to know that you wouldn't take on a hostile tone.

@Craig Dunkley perhaps promoting voice comms during the wait on grid phase along would the golden rule would relax people to come on the mic and open up a bit when lapping and other issues? Another useful example of using the mic is to let another drive know when you're on a hot lap in qualifying.

 

[demetri]

Probably worth noting that taking tires is a mistake. I was having a very close fight with John Power who pitted in front of me with maybe a bit more pace than me. I pitted a lap later took 1 liter and carried on and was about 15 seconds in front of him for the rest of the race. I didn't notice too much degradation on the mediums which ended up around 50% and I was still doing similar laptimes to the start of the race.

GT3 mediums should last you one hour even at Silverstone which is probably one of the hardest track in terms of the tire wear. The only way you'd get problems if you keep overheating them because hot tires in AC deteriorate rather rapidly (Porsche users beware!).

 

[Medilloni]

Probably worth noting that taking tires is a mistake. I was having a very close fight with John Power who pitted in front of me with maybe a bit more pace than me. I pitted a lap later took 1 liter and carried on and was about 15 seconds in front of him for the rest of the race. I didn't notice too much degradation on the mediums which ended up around 50% and I was still doing similar laptimes to the start of the race.

Yeah, I enjoyed that Brent, thanks for being so fair too - I stopped for fuel half way with no tyre change and they were perfect - after the stop I managed to concentate better and was generally over a half a second faster.

@Craig Dunkley good opportunity for an old fart joke here mate

 

[GEO147]

It's a bit complicated for the one lapping, because I used to call out that I'm lapping (eg. "Chris Down, just letting you know about the blue flag"), but I was asked not to do that since it felt too aggressive. In actual fact I wasn't trying to be aggressive, just let the person in front know that I'm there and I'm lapping them.

I might start doing it again, but probably have to work out some phrasing that makes people not feel so under pressure

Sorry again Chris for my mistake. The McLaren doesn't have a dedicated rear view, and I couldn't see you in side view mirrors presumably as you were right behind me. It seemed to me like I was being swarmed by lappers and was concentrated on cars I could see behind me on the right. I think I will switch to another car that does have the rear view next week as the last thing I want is to mess anyone else's race. Especially a guy fighting for the lead. Gutted it happened.

 

[Medilloni]

Sorry again Chris for my mistake. The McLaren doesn't have a dedicated rear view, and I couldn't see you in side view mirrors presumably as you were right behind me. It seemed to me like I was being swarmed by lappers and was concentrated on cars I could see behind me on the right. I think I will switch to another car that does have the rear view next week as the last thing I want is to mess anyone else's race. Especially a guy fighting for the lead. Gutted it happened.

Don't you use 'virtual mirror' George? I'd be lost without it due to my field of view cutting the mirrors off.

I installed 'Crew Chief' as well a month ago (I use Helicorsa as well), it's fantastic at giving notice of cars catching you, and you catching others too. The best app I've got to be honest.

 

[Craig Dunkley]

Don't you use 'virtual mirror' George? I'd be lost without it due to my field of view cutting the mirrors off.

I installed 'Crew Chief' as well a month ago (I use Helicorsa as well), it's fantastic at giving notice to cars catching you, and you catching others too. The best app I've got to be honest.

"Virtual Mirror" does not work in VR sadly, so as I have already advised him, he needs to use a car that has a "mirror" which is all them except the 650..I was hoping that they would include a mirror in the 720, (RF2) but no.

With regards to "Helicorsa" it is indeed a wonderful app, although I use "car rader" ..problem is with Helicorsa is the warning is far to late, so the faster guy is on top of you before you get any warning..car rader is better in these circumstance because to can set it to warn you sooner

Having said all that, there is nothing better than having an interior mirror, hence why I do not recommend the 650 in VR

 

[Chris Down]

With regards to "Helicorsa" it is indeed a wonderful app, although I use "car rader" ..problem is with Helicorsa is the warning is far to late, so the faster guy is on top of you before you get any warning..car rader is better in this circumstance because to can set it to warn you sooner

You can make this somewhat better by tuning Documents/Assetto Corsa/cfg/apps/helicorsa.ini

There are a couple of tunables there, distancethreshold and frontfadeangle, which help a lot.

Personally I always use helicorsa when in the 650S to avoid this issue.

 

[GEO147]

I was using Helicorsa and Crew Chief but at the time of the incident I had a bit of sensory overload due to the number of cars that had passed in quick succession. A rear view would have helped.

 

[Craig Dunkley]

Probably worth noting that taking tires is a mistake. I was having a very close fight with John Power who pitted in front of me with maybe a bit more pace than me. I pitted a lap later took 1 liter and carried on and was about 15 seconds in front of him for the rest of the race. I didn't notice too much degradation on the mediums which ended up around 50% and I was still doing similar laptimes to the start of the race.

Brent, it is all about doing the maths, mediums are not necessarily always the way to go. Sometimes softs and half a tank of fuel is quicker ..change tires half way and add the fuel to complete.

One could also take mediums and change to softs 3/4 of the way through (you will loose 20 seconds) again all about the maths ...

A lot of drivers say the GT-R is like driving a bus ...whatever, she is really light on tire wear....again do your maths ..

Choosing the right car also comes into it, last night I drove the SCG, but that is clearly the wrong car choice for this track ..you needed a 130 litres to complete the race, the tank only holds 110 litres...so no matter what, you had to stop and add 20 litres (compared to other drivers only adding 1 litre) this car used a whopping 3.60 litres per lap ...this car choice for this track would be very unlikely to get you a top 5 position....why did I choose it, because I knew I would never be able to finish the race

 

[Brent Mills]

Brent, it is all about doing the maths, mediums are not necessarily always the way to go. Sometimes softs and half a tank of fuel is quicker ..change tires half way and add the fuel to complete.

One could also take mediums and change to softs 3/4 of the way through (you will loose 20 seconds) again all about the maths ...

A lot of drivers say the GT-R is like driving a bus ...whatever, she is really light on tire wear....again do your maths ..

Choosing the right car also comes into it, last night I drove the SCG, but that is clearly the wrong car choice for this track ..you needed a 130 litres to complete the race, the tank only holds 110 litres...so no matter what, you had to stop and add 20 litres (compared to other drivers only adding 1 litre) this car used a whopping 3.60 litres per lap ...this car choice for this track would be very unlikely to get you a top 5 position....why did I choose it, because I knew I would never be able to finish the race

And doesn't the suspension squeaking drive you insane!?
Yeh my post was definitely a bit on the simplistic side as obviously it all depends on the car/track. I've often wondered why nobody has done a pit-plan app that could take take your tire wear per lap, fuel per lap and look at the race time and then give you some pit strategy options. As it is, we don't even have a suggested fuel app, I have to use a spreadsheet I made to calculate it.

 

[Craig Dunkley]

I've often wondered why nobody has done a pit-plan app that could take take your tire wear per lap, fuel per lap and look at the race time and then give you some pit strategy options.

I am a little confused Brent? I know exactly how much fuel I am using ..there are many apps that can provide you with this info..just look in the download section of this forum.

Your tire wear will never be the same each lap, but again you should know how long your tires are likely to last, assuming that you do not spin out (this could easily use 4 laps of normal tire wear)

You have in game settings like 5 times

I almost forgot ..Protires in the download section will tell you how long tires are likely to last

 

[Kek700]

@Brent Mills

We spent a bit of time racing together Sunday if I remember correctly.

It all depends what you want from the race, this time I went for mediums all the way and
20 litres of fuel at the pit stop limit,10 min to go.
This gave me the advantage of track position, but I had to struggle for grip in the last 10 laps.
I much prefer to stop with 25 min left and put in 40 litres and a new set of softs, this gives
me a much more satisfying race, but I give up track position.

As Craig stated about apps, maybe your over thinking it.

2 must's I always use, don't come off, don't run out of fuel.

The app ( pro tyres ) will give you all the info on how long tyres last. soft med hard.
( its unusual someone goes for hard with the forced pitstop )

I just work that tyre data into my simplistic pit stop equation.

 

[BP]

I have a suggestion in regards to TeamSpeak. I would appreciate it if everyone checks their voice activation threshold so that, even when your rig is at it's loudest under intense driving, it doesn't trigger the talk function. The best way I found to fix this is to mute the mic in teamspeak (not on the mic itself, but in the app itself...map a button to do this) so that you hear beeps when voice activation is triggered. Then go out on track and drive as loud as possible (my H-shifter is my loudest component)...if it beeps, move the voice activation threshold more to the right, repeat until you get no more beeps. Then talk into the mic to see if it still picks up your voice. It takes a bit of tweaking to get it all tuned perfectly (headset mics are almost essential for this to work; desktop mics tend to be too far from you).

If all that fails, make sure you just mute/unmute your mic during the race/qualifying so you only talk when necessary (this is what I usually do). Just a suggestion, don't want to offend anyone...but it's distracting hearing noises from other drivers, especially during qualifying.

 

[BP]

Related to that: I just read the RD rules...is it an unwritten RD rule for drivers to be silent on Teamspeak during qualifying? I personally love the silence so I'd like to see that as a written rule (unless it's an emergency announcement), but I don't know how everyone else feels about that. If not, I can just take my headset off or mute TeamSpeak, which is what I normally do.

 

[Brent Mills]

I have a suggestion in regards to TeamSpeak. I would appreciate it if everyone checks their voice activation threshold so that, even when your rig is at it's loudest under intense driving, it doesn't trigger the talk function. The best way I found to fix this is to mute the mic in teamspeak (not on the mic itself, but in the app itself...map a button to do this) so that you hear beeps when voice activation is triggered. Then go out on track and drive as loud as possible (my H-shifter is my loudest component)...if it beeps, move the voice activation threshold more to the right, repeat until you get no more beeps. Then talk into the mic to see if it still picks up your voice. It takes a bit of tweaking to get it all tuned perfectly (headset mics are almost essential for this to work; desktop mics tend to be too far from you).

If all that fails, make sure you just mute/unmute your mic during the race/qualifying so you only talk when necessary (this is what I usually do). Just a suggestion, don't want to offend anyone...but it's distracting hearing noises from other drivers, especially during qualifying.

Yeh agree, I'm a bit paranoid about unnecessary comms, so I just turn off auto voice and use a mapped button on my wheel to talk.

 

[GEO147]

I think its common sense really. I have screamed expletives internally so many times in quali and race since I started racing with you guys. There was one lad last race that was confused about a couple of things but when he was asked to keep comms to a minimum he did.