RD Formula Pro Series S4 (rFactor)

[Eric. K]

After all the discussions, I decided to keep everyone better informed on what we are planning for the future. As it stands now, we are already thinking about some changes.

1. Shorter seasons to keep everyone focused. 9 races is too long IMO. It is hard to stay motivated and focused that goes for drivers and the staff (I am tired). Most likely we will go back to 7 events from now on. At the end of a Championship people should want more races instead of being glad it is over.

2. Take another look at the points distribution.

3. For the last time, we will use RACE Mak-Corp mod for season 4 (Sept~December 2010). Tracks and dates are still undecided. Several factors will influence that choice: 2010 RL F1 tracks, track is legal, track has not be run in season 3, etc.

4. I will not run season 4!!! As some of you already know, I am taking a 4months sabbatical from real work and RD work. I will be traveling with my family and friends throughout Europe (France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Netherlands are on the schedule for now). Dave, Ivo, Ryan and Will will run the league! I have full confidence it will be well done!!

5. We WILL switch to rFactor(2) in 2011. No mods or details have been decided, but we will also try to form some kind of partnership with FSR.

6. We are considering charging a small entry fee, but it is still completely undecided. The money would be used for the broadcast, servers, etc.. We will use it to make the league better. As of now, me and a few other people cover all the expenses. That money will not be used to buy prizes!!!

That's all I have for now... We will keep u updated when more info comes along!

 

[Ivo Simons]

 

[Ivo Simons]

 

[Muhammed Patel]

Qual: At first I was thinking of one stopping, but changed it into a 2 stopper. Missed pole by a less than two tenths, was dissapointed to be fourth and .15 off pole. But on the other hand was happy to see a very close pace between the top 4 (Didn't know before, first race!)

Race: Got off the line well and moved to 3rd. I saw Jaime run away and initially I thought thats the win gone. I muscled my way passed Martin but the damage had already been done. 6.5 seconds and mentally I thought I had been beaten. I was only able to maintain the gap until he pitted...I was surprised Jaime pitted quite early and then I thought I could have a chance here. I came out of the pits 4-5 seconds behind him, and quickly closed him up. After attempting to pass Jaime but unable to pull away, I decided to stick behind him and save my engine (I was boosting quite a bit in the first stint and a little in the second to close up on Jaime)
He pitted and I put in some decent laps. Nothing great, but did the job. Came out 4 seconds infront of Jaime, I was able to put some decent lap times but lost time being overly cautious over a rear wingless Toyota. Gap was down to like 1 and a half seconds and we battled it out again. Very tight, very clean and very fun

The last 3 laps, The first two Jaime didn't really get a chance to pass me, but on the last lap I defended quite well on the first part. At the left-right-left bit I covered off. Then same where Hamilton had his braking issue in 2009, and the turn after that. Then into the final turn where I lost it, I went to the middle to defend (I didn't want to go right to the inside thinking he could get the cutback (he had better traction than me) but he made a move on the inside and made it stick (and what a move)

Grats to Jaime for the win, what a fantastic race it was...Very enjoyable. Grats to Martin for the champ
Hopefully I have a seat for the next season

 

[Ivo Simons]

Great reports guys.
Glad you enjoyed the season as i know alot of you guys came from RACE and this was the first season with rFactor.

About S5.

Like every rFactor League its a difficult time atm with rFactor 2 arround the corner.
If there is a S5 it will be arround March etc what thats also the point rFactor 2 is expected, so you see the dillemma.

 

[Ivo Simons]

FPWS S4 Feedback

Got a couple of questions about the season. Like to hear your opinion.

-Season lenght? We went from 9 races in Season 3 to 7 in Season 4. Was it to short or was it oke now?

- Breaks. We had 2 big breaks during the season of 3 weeks and the rest was normal 2 weeks.
Did you like that so you had more practice time or did you lose rhythm because of it?

- Race and Qualification lenght. We ran the distance like they did in real life. To long or was it oke? Also Q was 25 min. Oke or to long?

- Launch Control. We implemented for the safety of the start. And imo that worked great. But still we had alot of penalties of not using it correctly. Is it a good addition?

- More feedback about other things?

 

[Mattia Gottardi]

- season lenght was ok for me!!!

- it doesn't change to much for me 2 or 3 weeks.... i study a lot and i'm also a lot busy and so i training for every race only 2-3 days before the event, so for me also a 1 week stop was good, because i never use the more time that i had.....

- the lenght of race and qualify was just perfect!!! 25 minuts were always enough for doing 10 or more timed lap that is a good thing if you have an heavy car for a particular strategy. Race length was perfect, it was like the real life lenght so for me was ok!!!

- LC was a good choise. If people can't use it properly is only a their fault like if you do an accident or other things like that!! IMHO it helps a lot to decrease accident at the starts because there weren't cars spinning wheels and it was hard to see more then 2-3 cars toghether in the first corner!!

-more feedbacks???? i must think a bit aobut that!!

 

[Lee Palmer]

-Season length?
Was Possibly too short for my liking, although all of my previous F1 seasons have been 18 races in length so it did give a fresh sprint feel to it.

- Breaks.
No issues from me, kept it interesting I really don't have a view on this.

- Race and Qualification lenght.
I found qualifying slightly too long at times when I was only doing a couple of laps. However there were also times when I used the whole session. Overall it worked well though, race length is of course spot on.

- Launch Control.
Personally I was dissapointed when this was implemented as I myself enjoy the start of a race, the challenge to get it right and the rewards it can bring. But it has done its job and helped make the starts safer.

- More feedback about other things?
Not really, the season was a load of fun, the mod is superb, the organization has been brilliant and the racing has been good. My only gripe is that I wish me and Chris hadn't came together in Hungary .

Thank you to FPWS staff once again, especially Ivo , and all of the racers. Oh and RD ;D.

 

[ufunacaoenn]

-Season lenght?
Was ok, I really don't care, if it's FPWS then I am in for sure.

- Breaks. We had 2 big breaks during the season of 3 weeks and the rest was normal 2 weeks.
Did you like that so you had more practice time or did you lose rhythm because of it?

I think the 2 week breaks were ok but when it became 3 weeks IMO it was just to much. But I can understand that if there are races that are going to clash.

- Race and Qualification lenght. We ran the distance like they did in real life. To long or was it oke? Also Q was 25 min. Oke or to long?

IMO Qualify should be 20 minute but with the parc ferme rule that locks your fuel amount from the start I would say that a 15 minute qualify is more then just enough. If we are going to return to the S3 qualify rule then I would go for a 20 minute qualify with such grid that we have.

The race distance is no a problem for me as long as people want a shorter race thats OK by me but not an even longer race.

- Launch Control. We implemented for the safety of the start. And imo that worked great. But still we had alot of penalties of not using it correctly. Is it a good addition?

I totally understand why you put the LC but it is useless because there are always drivers who start the car to late so you are forced to use the brakes and then you will quickly get a wheel spin. I even had screen freeze at Monza and Voala my LC was worth less.

If you are going to use the LC next season then I want 100% clear rules or I am going to make up alot of questions because I don't want to have a penalty for not using the LC correct when there is no rule saying you will get a penalty for not using the LC correct when it only says LC is mandatory. ("LC is mandatory", evryone can understand this in different ways so that's why you got my PM when I got penalty at Spa because I used the LC but if then I had to brake to avoid contact and then be surved a penalty even though I used the LC, well that proved that the rules are not clear enough) <--- Thats my opinion.

This is a league and I belive that drivers here should know how to have a safe start without LC. I no longer see the challange in practicing standing starts if LC is going ot be used. It's like eating the edges of a pizza and not the part with all the cheese, e.t.c.

- More feedback about other things?

IMO I did not find this mod bringing the grid close so there would be enough battles all over the grid. It felt more like the front runners had some battles while the backmarkers had hard time to have some nice battles. It might have been the tracks but I belive it was the mod.
I know that FPWS have been doing F1 for the past 3 seasons but I belive it might be time to go to maybe slower cars like the GP2 or any other open wheel mod. I know that the GP2 mod had problems with the short living tires but it is a very good mod and it really brings some good action with a tight grid on the Club races.

I am sure that the admins might not even think about moving from F1 and just keep going with it but it is just a suggestion, it might even be a good thing to make a change for once.

IMO I belive that the FSONE 2009 cars were not dancing that much, they were not challanging in turms of going quicky or keeping them on track. This is just my opinion and I know some might get mad at me but I was getting some times really bored driving the cars since I did not feel any challange in turning, braking and downshifting and there for I started to lose focus and in the end crash. IMO the cars were way to predictable I don't know about you but I belive that a racing car is ment to be a bit more unpredictable, I am a karting driver and since I have driven in different classes one thing that is common is that the karts won't stay predictable from the start of the race to the end.

Other wise the organization was great, the competition was also great and there was not a moment to be disappointed.
Looking forward to Season 5.

 

[Jan Wikström]

-Season lenght? We went from 9 races in Season 3 to 7 in Season 4. Was it to short or was it oke now?
I like the length as it is, ok i myself could go for longer season but just look at the drop of during the later part of the season with the starting field shrinking all the time.

- Breaks. We had 2 big breaks during the season of 3 weeks and the rest was normal 2 weeks.
Did you like that so you had more practice time or did you lose rhythm because of it?
I like the breaks, it gives us with a family (and still a wife in the house) to plan some other activities. Makes life easier and also makes provisions for some understanding (hmm maybe not understanding but acceptance...) about race nights.

- Race and Qualification lenght. We ran the distance like they did in real life. To long or was it oke? Also Q was 25 min. Oke or to long?
Perfect !

- Launch Control. We implemented for the safety of the start. And imo that worked great. But still we had alot of penalties of not using it correctly. Is it a good addition?
Perfect !
I hate those messy starts ending races premature, and launch control prevents racers from losing it on the grid as well as provides more evenly spread field into T1

Penalties mostly come from ppl not practicing how LC works prior to the actual start and/or is not paying attention to the rules.

- More feedback about other things?
I have said many times i don't like rFactor... an i still do not.
I would prefer RaceOn, or maybe rFactor2 if its better, but if I'm invited again to a FPWS season i would sign up even if we stick to rFactor .... so i can live with it.

More feedback..... nae.... not really

I liked all my racing friends and think all in all we gave each other room in the most of cases. :good:

 

[Martin Bulgin]

-Season lenght? We went from 9 races in Season 3 to 7 in Season 4. Was it to short or was it oke now?

I think another couple of races would have been good.

- Breaks. We had 2 big breaks during the season of 3 weeks and the rest was normal 2 weeks.
Did you like that so you had more practice time or did you lose rhythm because of it?

Not a fan of 3 week breaks but sometimes it cant be helped I suppose.

- Race and Qualification lenght. We ran the distance like they did in real life. To long or was it oke? Also Q was 25 min. Oke or to long?

Race length is perfect, anything less and I think you start to lose out on certain strategies and it takes away from the expirience.Qually was just about right.

- Launch Control. We implemented for the safety of the start. And imo that worked great. But still we had alot of penalties of not using it correctly. Is it a good addition?

Launch control is great, I can use it ok so keep those penalties coming

More Feedback

24 car field every race

 

[Konrad Stanczak]

-Season lenght?
7 Races was fine for me. Not too long, neither too short.

- Breaks.
Id prefer not to have breaks unless the race day on normal intervals hits some special holidays.

- Race and Qualification lenght. We ran the distance like they did in real life. To long or was it oke? Also Q was 25 min. Oke or to long?
Full race length is best.
But the qually lenght seems too long for 2 reasons.
1.Most often people lapped for as long as possible and using up fuel to the limit. It seemed as a waste of time as most of the field was set after 10-15 minutes. (I know there were some last lap last second switches for the pole but i believe those would roll pretty much the same way if qually was shorter)
2. I preffer Superpole. It rewards the focused drivers, takes much less time and allows some mishaps and surprises. Its much closer to the real F1 Q3 - when the drivers have time to make in fact just 2 laps that can be the quickest times.

- Launch Control.
I do believe it increased the safety on start. While any skills (or lack of it) on launch proved worthless i think its a fair trade.But starting from the back of the grid proved to be tricky.I concede the rules were not so clear for some cases. "Launch Control is mandatory at the start of the race. Failure to use this and causing a crash before turn one will result in a penalty." stated the rules. I remember this was in fact updated to "Make your wheels spin & smoke to receive penalty".But in some cases overriding LC was unavoidable if things happen ahead. And it just takes a leg twitch in hesitation to make some smoke. Even when no crahs and contact was caused - and there was no position gain in such case the penalty was still applied and i don't believe it makes sense as the driver pays for his cautiousness.

- More feedback about other things?
Im part of FPWS since it went to F1 new age spec on season 2 and I personally feel i got a little tired of this spec. Since FSR and Presto (now FPES and FPPS) began colaboration with RD and covers racing in similar specs i think FPRO could look for something alternative. Sticking to F1, this could be something from mods covering 90's , 80's formula 1 racing. I believe this would also attract a lot of new participants.

 

[Lee Palmer]

Great reports guys.
Glad you enjoyed the season as i know alot of you guys came from RACE and this was the first season with rFactor.

About S5.

Like every rFactor League its a difficult time atm with rFactor 2 arround the corner.
If there is a S5 it will be arround March etc what thats also the point rFactor 2 is expected, so you see the dillemma.

So staying with rFactor then?

 

[Dave Stephenson]

Personal Thanks

It's a little while since this season finished and its fair to say I've had little involvement this season. I'd just like to extend my personal thanks to Ivo for holding everything together and staying on top of things, Will for his help in the back room, and Ryan for the rFactory stuff that bakes my head so much. Great stuff guys, really appreciated.

 

[Reik Major]

Hy folks! I sometimes followed your season with interest, because I was in there the season before.

My biggest congratulations to Martin Vrba for winning the title! :trophy:

Of course also congrats to all following positions. :thumb:

Nico, if this solid 4th place was a result of your fisrt learning season with rF, I expect you to fight for the title next season! :thumbup:

I wish you all a merry christmas! resent:resent:resent::drink::fwd::beer:

 

[Mattia Gottardi]

i miss the thx button in this case , but thumbs up for that post!!! i'm completly with you Dave!!!

 

[Ryan Walker]

Hello

Hi I have been racing on rfactor for nearly 2 or 3 years now. The leagues I race are GP-O, GRC, Race 2 Play and as of next season FSR with Roaldo Racing. I have finished in the top 10 in championships I have done on the leagues listed. I am not the quickest but I just aim to get the car to the finish and get some points.

I just came across this series on the Race Department forum and I am interesting in racing this series but understand it has just finished. I was just wondering how I go about signing up and finding a team and how I go registering. I also understand you race on a Saturday?

If anyone could post some info to help me out it would be appreciated

Thanks in Advance
Ryan

 

[Dave Stephenson]

Just keep an eye out in this forum, though at the moment there are no fixed plans for a next season.

I guess watch this space is the best I can offer for you at the moment.

 

[Ivo Simons]

What Dave said.

 

[Ryan Walker]

Thanks for the reply guys

 

[Fortunato Fiorito]

Hello, I want to know if there be a next season of Formula 1 with FSONE 2009

hello