AC Multiclass Abarth500/Mazda MX5@Calabogie, Wed 13th September 2023

[Kek700]

Enjoyed that after some dismal races of late, used the Mazdas as pace maker for a very demanding circuit.
It is quite a leap from a year ago, their would have been a time when the Abarth’s would have been all up the front. Not only that was not the case everyone is so fast with only two seconds covering the whole field.
Not sure why Andrea slowed for me, so I returned the gesture. Could not hear what Carsten was saying, come to think of I could not hear what anyone said, maybe a good thing.

PS
I like to give Fulvio some grief, but I am always pleased for him when he win’s. I don’t want to make it too easy for him.

 

[stigs2cousin]

PIT RADIO:

Carsten ~ Ernie, a turbo is cheating ~

Ernie ~I know~

later at corner exit
Carsten~ Ernie, could you be so kind as to use your turbo?~

Ernie~~

 

[Boukâh]

This was fun for me!

Couldn't get to my PB I did on the practice server. Qualy was okay.

Race started okay, stayed alive a few laps, following Ernie and David and Colin in my mirrors. Then went wide in Big Rock, David following my trails, Fulvio flying by, Colin passing me, Kimi as well. Tried to keep Han behind while trying to race with Kimi, made my usual couple of mistakes, just touching grass or a bit wider. More guys passing me, ended up in the back half, but then my fun began...
Met several people I could do some laps with. Managed to stick to the fast pack a few corners, even could make a pass on Thomas, then followed Colin and I brake a tad (too) later, sending him off track, sorry Collin! I Waited for him, so others passing by as well...

Then had some real nice laps with Daryl, both defending and chasing for a few laps, nice! Thomas exited pits right between us. Stayed on his tail next lap and could pass him when he managed to stay alive with a great save when we entered the home straight. He was faster, but I tried to keep him behind for some laps. I decided to pit, so let him pass (at the back straight, stupid), but I should have waited 'till the pit entry , we could have raced for some more turns...

After pitting, a bit lonely until Daryl was getting closer and I was getting closer to Han and Kim. I had to really get my act together to look up front and in the mirrors. Felt like racing there. I screwed up Big Rock once more so Daryl could give it a try to get Kimi and Han, but it was my turn again after he went wide in Temptation. After that I had my best racing laps ever with Kimi. He was kicking the Abbarth around, defending every corner, so we were in close combat for a few laps. Only in lap 25 I was able to go for it in Whats Up, Abbarths really strugling there, my happiest overtake ever . Now hunting for Han with one or two laps to go. I managed to get close, but he beat me on the line with a couple of meters.

So, long story short; good fun in the back half of the field! I was able to practice racing skills here, very happy with that! I hope my counter parts in these laps had the same fun as I had.

Again, sorry Collin, I should've braked earlier there.

Thanks Han, congrats to the champagne crew and see you next week!

 

[Boukâh]

and... NO F#$#@@ING pedal errors, thank you holy spirit and her mother, same goes for her son!! It must have been the dirt on the open sliding contacts of the throttle pedal. Weird construction inside, never saw someting like that... I hope it stays like this, functioning flawless for the next few races. Saving for some new (pedal) gear... fingers crossed

 

[Dzul]

That was a fun race! A lost cause for me (my own doing though), but this track is one for a repeat!

I had only done laps on the short track so practice was exactly that (thanks Andre for the tips and demo lap ). It took me a while to find the right flow, dosed trail braking and subtle throttle input were a challenge to get right but I managed to find 4 seconds from practice to the end of the race. Qualy was ok and the 1st lap was eventful with keeping distance without losing places, which I did after I bumped Han a bit and a bunch got past.

After several laps playing fast sandwich I almost lost the car twice on the last sector (traffic was kinda heavy in that group). I saw the time at 50 min. so I decided to pit. Fool me, 'coz pit window opens at 49 min. DUH! Damage was done as I knew I had to pit again so I set my sights on improving my laptimes and keeping the car on the black stuff... my Jim claimed I was cutting the track on the first sector but my time never went red so I ignored him and kept going.

Persistence paid off as I caught up with the rear of the pack and made a few passes. JOSE: you are getting faster and consistent so don't slow down for others anymore just stay in the line, it's our task to find a safe way past man!

I kept going and on the final stint caught up with Bouke but I had to pit again. Found Dave on my way out and we had a fun scrap... such a shame you had that disconnect man coz you were fast!

All and all a fun time, despite my error and the fact that I was having stomach cramps, but focussing on the race helped me forget about them for a while. Thanks for organising Han, more tracks like this one are welcome! Congrats to the winners and podiums and hooe to see you chaps next week.

 

[RS242]

A race to forget for me
Did not put it the time to practice or even realize that this was not a good track for me in the Abarth.
Those turns were not easy and seeing the times of the rest of the Mazdas just fueled my frustration, which in turn lead to making more mistakes than usual.

The saving grace was that this was not a lonely race, I always had someone to keep me company while racing: José for most of the race, and Paulo here and there. Of course I would only catch up to them when they made mistakes, there was no merit on my end.

Last couple of laps were really nasty, focus was completely gone so the number of mistakes went through the roof. And you can guess what happens when you touch the grass on an understeering car

Thank you José and Paulo for the nice clean racing, and Han for organizing it. The track was fenomenal by the way, easy in my top 5!
Congrats to the podiums and great racing all-around!
See you in the next one!
- Ricardo S

 

[Kek700]

Ricardo, I agree, simracing is mainly about up’s and down”s coupled with frustration.
Unfortunately you cannot work your way into a place we’re that does not exist.

My main aim in life has always been to detach myself from those bleeding emotions that control our ability to think as intelligent adults. Failed miserably at that, fortunately I am not alone in that failure..

 

[HF2000]

Very intens race again for me, being in battles almost the whole race and fighting to keep the Abarth on the black stuff. But a lot of fun!
It's great to have all of you back after the holidays so we have again a grid of 20+!
@Shed 17 : Where are you and your son?

Congrats to the podium!
Next week another beauty in my opinion: https://www.racedepartment.com/thre...-schottenring-wed-20th-september-2023.263547/

 

[pcmoreno]

After last week's race, this one was definitely a back to reality type of thing ;p (I still think you guys just sandbagged last week's quali just to make me feel good)

I literally could not survive 'temptation' (why would anyone name a corner that?) and it plagued me the whole race.

Start was nice and I was happily enjoying the view on the tussles between Han, Raul and Darryl while creating a confortable gap to the back pack. That was until a little incident put me and Raul on the 2 last spots. I quickly caught up to the pack and decided it would be better to undercut them than to lose too much time. It worked but eventually temptation took the best of me and way too many time I lost it there facing the wrong way. There was always someone to fight with and had some nice fights/chases with the Ricardos and Jose. With all the lapses of concentration from this group had a extremelly exciting end to the race with me passing Ricardo Prins halfway the last lap.

Nice track, but definitely does not suit my (lack of) skills. Can you, Han, choose something like the previous Norisring for the near future?

Congrats to the top performers( 2:12...? ffs?) and thanks Han for the neat organization once again.

See you next week on the Dumbo track! (let's do a full grid again guys)

 

[HF2000]

Can you, Han, choose something like the previous Norisring for the near future?

The thread for voting for the Track of the Month is now active!

 

[zn1zn2c]

That was a fun race, would definitely like to race here more often in the future! The first few laps were the most intense ones where me and a couple other guys were following each other closely. I even won a couple places. Unfortunately that came to an end when I tried overtaking someone who was going really slow. So slow that I thought he was giving up the position until he accelerated towards the corner which led me into braking deeper into that corner, lose control and spin out. I don't blame the other driver though, I should've been more careful.

My main opponent during the race was Paulo. We kept overtaking each other (mostly due to the other missing the braking point, haha). He just about overtook me in the last lap and finished in front of me, so congratulations to him!

Around the half hour mark the rubber feet under my wheelstand started giving up and the whole thing kept sliding around for the duration of the race. This in turn led to the point where I could only brake to about 70-80% of the max and that completely put me off my concentration. I'll have to figure out how to keep the wheelstand from sliding around before the next race otherwise I'll have to skip that one. Does anyone have any tips for that? I'm using the next level racing wheelstand 2.0 if that helps.

Also, I might have to change my name since having two Ricardos on the grid is kind of confusing when people call my name over the radio and the things they say don't always seem to apply to my situation.

Hope to see a full grid again!

 

[zn1zn2c]

One thing I forgot to ask: are there any other track/server settings not mentioned in the opening post? I practiced a bit during the weekend on my own computer, but the car felt so different when I joined the server. The car felt very oversteery, especially during down-shifting. It took me quite a while to start getting used to it again.

 

[RS242]

The

(...)

Also, I might have to change my name since having two Ricardos on the grid is kind of confusing when people call my name over the radio and the things they say don't always seem to apply to my situation.

(...)

The name is fine, don't worry about that.
Ricardo P and Ricardo S do just fine

On the sliding gear: I'm also using a Next Level Racing Wheel Stand 2.0 and nothing slips since the chair is in the cradle and the strength you apply to the pedals should not transfer to the floor. Are you sure it's the 2.0?

Amazon.de

 

[zn1zn2c]

On the sliding gear: I'm also using a Next Level Racing Wheel Stand 2.0 and nothing slips since the chair is in the cradle and the strength you apply to the pedals should not transfer to the floor. Are you sure it's the 2.0?

Amazon.de

It’s the 2.0, but I’m not using the cradle since I’m sitting on my couch. I paired it with some very stiff load cell pedals which honestly feel like pushing concrete.

 

[HF2000]

One thing I forgot to ask: are there any other track/server settings not mentioned in the opening post? I practiced a bit during the weekend on my own computer, but the car felt so different when I joined the server. The car felt very oversteery, especially during down-shifting. It took me quite a while to start getting used to it again.

You can check the setting on Emperor with the event details tab.

 

[Shed 17]

@Shed 17 : Where are you and your son?

I’m still here Han!

With all the different events we now have in a week it’s difficult to find the time to practice and race them all but I will be back on Wednesday soon.

As for George, again, he said he will try to get in as the darker nights in the autumn means the outside jobs around the house decrease.

 

[Kek700]

@zn1zn2c
Beware of different track temperatures
Makes a big difference.!!!
I practice at a track temp of 25 deg C
Race night on Wednesday track temperature is 37 deg C

 

[stigs2cousin]

One thing I forgot to ask: are there any other track/server settings not mentioned in the opening post? I practiced a bit during the weekend on my own computer, but the car felt so different when I joined the server. The car felt very oversteery, especially during down-shifting. It took me quite a while to start getting used to it again.

You could also check settings like auto clutch and auto blip, on the server you activate them under "Assists"

Also a stiff brake and a (unfixed) wheel stand don´t stand together, you better find a way to connect the two with beams ore at least cargo straps.

If you search a little you will find different solutions on this forum.

 

[Elmar3rd]

One thing I forgot to ask: are there any other track/server settings not mentioned in the opening post? I practiced a bit during the weekend on my own computer, but the car felt so different when I joined the server. The car felt very oversteery, especially during down-shifting. It took me quite a while to start getting used to it again.

Switch off extended physics, if you are using content manager with CSP. It affects at least FFB. And with a similar weather, temperature and road grip setting, it should not differ much from the experience on the server.

 

[RS242]

It’s the 2.0, but I’m not using the cradle since I’m sitting on my couch. I paired it with some very stiff load cell pedals which honestly feel like pushing concrete.

As Carsten said: you need to attach the couch to the stand, otherwise it will always slide.
Even if you place the stand against something heavy or a wall then you may end up sliding the couch backwards. They need to be connected somehow.