AC Multiclass Audi TT/Mazda MX5 @ Laguna Seca, Wednesday 2nd June 2021

[spitzanu]

I'd say the setup definitely makes a big difference. With a few changes you can get your car to stop turning or spin out in every corner. From my little experience, I'd say if you have a decent amount of experience on the track you're driving and you know the racing line and it feels like you're driving on the limit, but still not getting the time the others are, you probably need to tweak the car setup. Here's a setup guide I use sometimes: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-wnbyqBTJDySzDYU2VmHLfrU5MMihSUs/view It's from Chris Haye's youtube channel. Just try to change one thing at a time and do a fair few number of laps with each because you can't trust cold tyres . It can be a fairly frustrating process especially at the beginning, because the truth is the setup and your driving skill go hand in hand and they have to improve together.

I'd also recommend focusing on getting faster in each particular corner, rather than focusing on your lap time as a whole. See what corners are comfortable for you and the car and which one's aren't. Check if different racing lines through some of the corners make you carry more speed and if things really don't work in some corners, maybe tweak the setup bit by bit. As you get better throughout the track the lap time will come. I lerned this from Chris Haye's channel, too, even if I only take mental notes, not actual notes like he does . Here's the 5 minute video that changed my approach to learning a track entirely:

And finally, I think it's actually really valuable to do a quick race against the AI and practice overtaking on each circuit just so you can learn a few places to overtake. Especially since the assetto corsa ai is relentless if you do questionable overtakes, they just spin you out or try to drive through you so you HAVE to do it cleanly, more than racing against you guys I think.

For me the base setup for the MX5 is way too understeery and the default tyre pressure is something stupid like 15 psi. I use 22, others use between 20 and 22 from what I heard.

Is setup sharing encouraged or not, by the way? I'm definitely not the fastest here, but I'm happy to help if it's allowed.

 

[pattikins]

I'd say the setup definitely makes a big difference. With a few changes you can get your car to stop turning or spin out in every corner. From my little experience, I'd say if you have a decent amount of experience on the track you're driving and you know the racing line and it feels like you're driving on the limit, but still not getting the time the others are, you probably need to tweak the car setup. Here's a setup guide I use sometimes: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-wnbyqBTJDySzDYU2VmHLfrU5MMihSUs/view It's from Chris Haye's youtube channel. Just try to change one thing at a time and do a fair few number of laps with each because you can't trust cold tyres . It can be a fairly frustrating process especially at the beginning, because the truth is the setup and your driving skill go hand in hand and they have to improve together.

I'd also recommend focusing on getting faster in each particular corner, rather than focusing on your lap time as a whole. See what corners are comfortable for you and the car and which one's aren't. Check if different racing lines through some of the corners make you carry more speed and if things really don't work in some corners, maybe tweak the setup bit by bit. As you get better throughout the track the lap time will come. I lerned this from Chris Haye's channel, too, even if I only take mental notes, not actual notes like he does . Here's the 5 minute video that changed my approach to learning a track entirely:

And finally, I think it's actually really valuable to do a quick race against the AI and practice overtaking on each circuit just so you can learn a few places to overtake. Especially since the assetto corsa ai is relentless if you do questionable overtakes, they just spin you out or try to drive through you so you HAVE to do it cleanly, more than racing against you guys I think.

For me the base setup for the MX5 is way too understeery and the default tyre pressure is something stupid like 15 psi. I use 22, others use between 20 and 22 from what I heard.

Is setup sharing encouraged or not, by the way? I'm definitely not the fastest here, but I'm happy to help if it's allowed.

I've seen most of Chris Hayes' videos (except this one...) & he seems to do a very good job of explaining car setups. Unfortunately, when it comes to technical stuff, I've got the memory of a goldfish . I agree with much of what of he said about practice, but I also think it's a very individual thing. I prefer to have a mix of long & short sessions, focusing on consistency & speed respectively. As a case in point, the last time that I raced in the Mazda MX5 @ Laguna I was lapped even though my best lap time was only 1.2 seconds behind the leader. The lack of consistency was my downfall.

The default Kunos setups tend to be , & as I'm clueless with setups I always scour the RD forums... Sometimes I strike gold, & find an 's set up (i.e., Erik's MX5 - Kyalami) that I just need to tinker with for another track.

 

[spitzanu]

I've seen most of Chris Hayes' videos (except this one...) & he seems to do a very good job of explaining car setups. Unfortunately, when it comes to technical stuff, I've got the memory of a goldfish . I agree with much of what of he said about practice, but I also think it's a very individual thing. I prefer to have a mix of long & short sessions, focusing on consistency & speed respectively. As a case in point, the last time that I raced in the Mazda MX5 @ Laguna I was lapped even though my best lap time was only 1.2 seconds behind the leader. The lack of consistency was my downfall.

Oh yeah, I completely agree. I mostly try to watch some good videos and hope something sticks to my memory . It also depends how much time each person has to practice. We're not pros, we can't all do 100 laps before each race. I'd even argue the difference between what you learn from the first 20 laps and the following 80 is negligible and kinda takes the fun out of it.

For example, for now, I decided I'm gonna do 2-2.5 hour of practice/race the day before and that's it. So definitely not doing short and numerous sessions like he recommends. Basically, trying to learn 80% of the things in 20% of the time . I also found that doing the practice session before the race doesn't work for me because driving for 3 hours means I get super tired, my back starts hurting and I lose focus towards the end of the race. Not ideal.

I guess the most important thing I learned from Chris' video is you can't improve your lap time if you focus on improving your lap time. That's a gargantuan step and it doesn't mean anything. You gotta focus on the small steps you can take like getting to know the track, and improving your line through a specific corner.

The default Kunos setups tend to be , & as I'm clueless with setups I always scour the RD forums... Sometimes I strike gold, & find an 's set up (i.e., Erik's MX5 - Kyalami) that I just need to tinker with for another track.

I might give that a go next week and see how it compares to mine. Thanks

 

[HF2000]

Guys,

It's great to have a full grid and even more with a 50-50 ratio!
Thanks for signing up!
In the event that this event crashes on S.GP or does not progress, I have prepared a backup RD server with 5 minutes of practice, 20 minutes of qualifying and 40 minutes of racing. Server #5.
I can fire it up within a few minutes and will inform you on Discord. But let's hope it won't be necessary.

Next week I have a short vacation so I won't be hosting a multiclass event on Wednesday or a GT3 event the following Sunday, but hope to see you again on June 16 for another multiclass!

 

[Spineblower]

I hope for good race!

 

[PeyePete]

Awesome event, Thanks Han.
Fun battle with Vince for half the race.
Good manouvering by the TT guys

 

[640er]

Thanks Han as always. I never thought that it's possible to have a lonely race in a multi-class event at Laguna Seca. Snatched P2 after the start and that was it. No action for me :/ Enjoy your holidays

 

[stigs2cousin]

Man, that was intense.

don´t know where I found the speed, but I was lapping (most of) the free laps faster than my PB from yesterday.

From what i remember it was proper corona behaviour ( contactless)

Nicely done everybody, now please excuse me, i´m a little "smelly" and will take a shower

As always "thanks Han for organizing" have a nice Holiday.

MFG Carsten

 

[Dzul]

It was indeed an intense race. I managed to gain a few spots and have a few fights at the start but made a couple of mistakes on subsequent laps, one very costly, and had to start all over again. Picked up places by staying on the racing line and avoiding further off-tracks when others spun out. At some point I caught up with a green Mazda that was coming back on track at the last sector, at the same time that a yellow Audi was catching up on us. Heading for the last corner we were going almost 3-wide, with me in the middle getting slightly ahead, when I got hit lightly from the back and spun about almost into the pit entry. I took it as a racing incident (no worries) and kept going without further issues. All together it was a challenging race so thanks for the fun guys, and thank you for organising it Han, hope you enjoy your holiday, cheers!

 

[RFE3rd]

Thanks guys that was a very nice race. Started stone last as usual but kept up nicely with the guys in front of me. Got a few places as people were spinning out. Settled into a nice pace until TT's started lapping me. Lost lots of time and lost a few spots again. Went off track once or twice and lost a spot or two there. Then had @spitzanu behind me for a couple of laps. He capitilised when I went wide and the last two laps I was just trying to stay on his tail. Eventually we caught @Taj Johal as he must have spun and we were 3 wide for a second while cars were lapping us. I managed to put pressure on @spitzanu and he went wide at the second to last corner with a lap to go. Unfortunately he and @Taj Johal spun out and the last lap was just a nice calm lap to make sure I can take P17.
Well done to the winners
Thanks Han for organising, enjoy your holiday.
This was a fun one.

 

[Kek700]

Not a fan of the Audi, not a fan of Laguna. had a nice 5th place behind paul.
Yes that will do me nicely, paul may make a mistake, he may not, so I settled for a comfortable 5th.
Knowing overtaking was defiantly not a done deal here, hung onto my P2P, for the eventual attempts on my 5th place.
I have cocked my setups, put the wrong tyres on, had off's, not put enough fuel in, dozed off and had an accident, I have never in a whole race been punted further and further to the back of the field.
And as for @Taj Johal Tajinder , I can only apologise for my fellow Audi TT racer and the shabby way he treated you.
I took a crafty one on a Mazdas, who it was I am not sure, so sorry for that, and you had the right to have a pop at me, sorry. I do not think it was in Tajinder Johalinc incident league.
Never expected much from this race, must be a circuit that is on my shortlist of most hated circuits, but I would have had a fun race, but the gods were not with me this evening.
So many thanks Han @HF2000 for the event, hope you have a great holiday and see you in two weeks,

 

[HF2000]

Thanks Han as always. I never thought that it's possible to have a lonely race in a multi-class event at Laguna Seca. Snatched P2 after the start and that was it. No action for me :/ Enjoy your holidays

Hi Andreas,

Yes you and Marko are probably the only ones with an uneventful race. The rest had their share of battles and incidents. I had a bad qually. On mediums I didn't come near to my pb with hards in practice. Started 7th. Choose the wrong line in T1 and lost two places. From there I was constantly battling the whole race. Finished 3rd which was about right seeing my lap times. So my advice is to screw up your qually next time. If I hadn't, I would probably had a similar uneventful race behind you.

 

[VinillaIce82]

What an intense race that was...definitely needed all my focus. It sucks to make mistakes and that's exactly what I did early on, losing a chance at the top 5 mazda guys. However, that meant some great racing with the rest of the guys, and half of it was spent right up @PeyePete ! some very fine driving there and I hope your heart rate was up there with mine! THanks Han and have a good vacay, see y'all next time!

 

[PeyePete]

What an intense race that was...definitely needed all my focus. It sucks to make mistakes and that's exactly what I did early on, losing a chance at the top 5 mazda guys. However, that meant some great racing with the rest of the guys, and half of it was spent right up @PeyePete ! some very fine driving there and I hope your heart rate was up there with mine! THanks Han and have a good vacay, see y'all next time!

Hey Vini, you had me at the limit quite a few times, allmost in the sand. That was a lot of pressure for so many laps, but in the end you made the move. You had a good lead on me with only a lap to go, and then I had the chance to take the position back. What happened. Then, to cross the finish line with only 1/2 a car length between us. Great racing.

 

[VinillaIce82]

Hey Vini, you had me at the limit quite a few times, allmost in the sand. That was a lot of pressure for so many laps, but in the end you made the move. You had a good lead on me with only a lap to go, and then I had the chance to take the position back. What happened. Then, to cross the finish line with only 1/2 a car length between us. Great racing.

Haha, yeah unfortunately towards the end i made a mistake getting past by the audis and lost time, saw you coming fast and nothing i could do about it, that photo finish was awesome though!

 

[spitzanu]

At some point I caught up with a green Mazda that was coming back on track at the last sector, at the same time that a yellow Audi was catching up on us. Heading for the last corner we were going almost 3-wide, with me in the middle getting slightly ahead, when I got hit lightly from the back and spun about almost into the pit entry. I took it as a racing incident (no worries) and kept going without further issues.

Yep, I was the green Mazda. I was pretty upset about that at the time because it didn't seem like my fault, but waited for you just in case, because I was slightly behind you when we made contact. I definitely left enough space and was following my line. Either way, no harm done, I was slower than all but 1 or 2 Mazdas. Don't wanna blame the heat wave in the UK, but it definitely didn't help me focus .

The last couple of laps were pretty intense after catching up with Richard and Tajinder. I thought the mistake I made was on the final lap and I think Tajinder thought the same thing because he tried to dive on my inside in the final corner, while I was already on Richard's inside. So he span me out, than waited for me. I crossed the finish line and thought the race was over, exited the game. I guess the 1st place Audi didn't cross the finish line yet at that point...? I thought it would just end when I cross the finish line after the 40 minutes end. I'm clearly missing something.

I was watching the replay of that "final lap". I had Tajinder and Richard behind me and of course another Mazda was lapping us, among a few of the Audis. That was such a stressful experience, because I wanted to let the right Mazda past but didn't know which one was which. I slowed down to let the random Mazda behind me past (it so happened it was the right one) and lost a stupid amount of time on the straight, which meant Richard was right behind me at this point waiting for a mistake. It was a sweaty **** show of a race for me. My main achievement was a clean overtake on Richard in the corkscrew, so I'll take that.

 

[RFE3rd]

Yep, I was the green Mazda. I was pretty upset about that at the time because it didn't seem like my fault, but waited for you just in case, because I was slightly behind you when we made contact. I definitely left enough space and was following my line. Either way, no harm done, I was slower than all but 1 or 2 Mazdas. Don't wanna blame the heat wave in the UK, but it definitely didn't help me focus .

The last couple of laps were pretty intense after catching up with Richard and Tajinder. I thought the mistake I made was on the final lap and I think Tajinder thought the same thing because he tried to dive on my inside in the final corner, while I was already on Richard's inside. So he span me out, than waited for me. I crossed the finish line and thought the race was over, exited the game. I guess the 1st place Audi didn't cross the finish line yet at that point...? I thought it would just end when I cross the finish line after the 40 minutes end. I'm clearly missing something.

I was watching the replay of that "final lap". I had Tajinder and Richard behind me and of course another Mazda was lapping us, among a few of the Audis. That was such a stressful experience, because I wanted to let the right Mazda past but didn't know which one was which. I slowed down to let the random Mazda behind me past (it so happened it was the right one) and lost a stupid amount of time on the straight, which meant Richard was right behind me at this point waiting for a mistake. It was a sweaty **** show of a race for me. My main achievement was a clean overtake on Richard in the corkscrew, so I'll take that.

Yes those people lapping us made me super nervous as well . Just glad I could get a run on you to put pressure on. But yes those were some sweaty moments. That overtake at the corkscrew was great though. I think when the time runs out then the leader must complete one more lap. And then after he completed the last lap then you must finish the lap you are on. I could be wrong though.

 

[spitzanu]

Yes those people lapping us made me super nervous as well . Just glad I could get a run on you to put pressure on. But yes those were some sweaty moments. That overtake at the corkscrew was great though. I think when the time runs out then the leader must complete one more lap. And then after he completed the last lap then you must finish the lap you are on. I could be wrong though.

Yeah, you must be right, I guess the winner didn't complete the last lap yet at that point.

It was a good race, we had a decent fight over the last 4-5 laps (ignoring the last lap). It seemed like we each had a portion of the track we were faster than the other, because neither of us could pull away from the other. You did well to stay on my tail, especially during the lap I went wide, I was too slow through the corkscrew, I didn't hit the apex of the next turn and I could see you behind me taking both turns a lot better. It was a great move, you kept the ideal line and had better exit speed from the next corner than I did (even if I hadn't gone in the gravel!)

 

[pattikins]

Not a fan of the Audi, not a fan of Laguna. had a nice 5th place behind paul.
Yes that will do me nicely, paul may make a mistake, he may not, so I settled for a comfortable 5th.
Knowing overtaking was defiantly not a done deal here, hung onto my P2P, for the eventual attempts on my 5th place.
I have cocked my setups, put the wrong tyres on, had off's, not put enough fuel in, dozed off and had an accident, I have never in a whole race been punted further and further to the back of the field.
And as for @Taj Johal Tajinder , I can only apologise for my fellow Audi TT racer and the shabby way he treated you.
I took a crafty one on a Mazdas, who it was I am not sure, so sorry for that, and you had the right to have a pop at me, sorry. I do not think it was in Tajinder Johalinc incident league.
Never expected much from this race, must be a circuit that is on my shortlist of most hated circuits, but I would have had a fun race, but the gods were not with me this evening.
So many thanks Han @HF2000 for the event, hope you have a great holiday and see you in two weeks,

I was indirectly involved in one of your incidents. I had a good lead by lap 17, so I should've been paying more attention to the cars behind me, & left you additional space to make a safe overtake on myself and the Mazda that I was attempting to lap.

 

[Taj Johal]

And as for @Taj Johal Tajinder , I can only apologise for my fellow Audi TT racer and the shabby way he treated you.

Hi Ernie @Kek700, it was good of you to wait for me, hope you heard me to tell you to continue.
Not sure who was entirely at fault for that incident or what could have been done different. 2 Audis racing one another coming across a Mazda turning in is a difficult situation, neither Audi wants to be stuck behind the Mazda and lose time to the other and the Mazda just wants to exit the corner in one piece

@spitzanu and @RFE3rd I thought it was the last lap as well. I was quicker out of turn 10 and went on the inside of us three into turn 11. I realised this was over ambitious from me and started to brake early to leave you both space but it was too late. I hit and spun Stefan, entirely my fault and I apologise.
As you wrote I waited for you before the line (thought it was the last lap), we both crossed and Jim informed me it's now the last lap. You then disconnected, I thought at the time because of damage, but I'm relived to hear you thought it was the last lap as well!!