Welcome to Round 6 of the RDHGP S4
Welcome back to the 2009 RDHGP S4. Mugello was, I have to admit, only a partial success in my opinion. The track appears to polarise opinion from drivers like almost no other I’ve experienced so far. Some seem to love it, others seem to hate it with a passion, leaving almost no-one in the middle feeling ambivalent. I’d prefer a unanimously positive vote of confidence, obviously, but I’m not sure whether the “love it or hate it” reaction is better or worse than an “Well, it’s OK, I suppose” reaction.
I was heartened to see absolutely no discussion of, nor apparently instances of, the dread topic of cutting during the Mugello event. You have my thanks for that. There were, however, a few mentions of some driving behaviour that I will address now, albeit in general terms.
The League races are long affairs, generally about 40-45 minutes (the irony that this is the briefing for the shortest race - time wise - of the season is not lost on me), so people do need to think about the longer picture more. We had a few races spoiled by moves or incidents that were focusing on that corner rather than thinking about how the race would pan out overall. I would urge you all to try and stay realistic about moves, and think about whether a move is actually worthwhile in the greater scheme of things, or whether discretion might not actually be the better part of valour. Contact or unexpected and reckless moves spoil races. Your own, I’m less concerned about as it’s your decision, but spoiling someone else’s through thoughtlessness is unacceptable in the environment in which we race, so think about whether it’s actually worthwhile to make the move you are planning.
In addition, and I find it hard to believe I’m having to post this as a reminder, contact should never be used as a way past another vehicle. It has been mentioned that a few hip-and-shoulder passes are creeping into GTL, and I experienced some unexpected and unneeded contact even in my shortened Mugello event, and it surprised me more than annoyed me (at the time, anyway – the percentages have changed somewhat since I watched my replay). Mugello is not a narrow track, and yet on the main start finish straight I got passed under acceleration and slipstream by a car that was clearly faster, but for reasons best known to the driver in question, they decided to drive into the side of me not once, not twice, but three times on their way past into the braking area. If it can happen on the widest straight we drive this year, I dread to think what is going on in some of the corners. If anyone thinks that this is acceptable behaviour, then I will in turn accept your resignation from the League right now.
Now that I’ve had to have my increasingly frequent moan and warning at you, we can turn to brighter things, namely a jaunt back in time 40 years, and the fastest incarnation of the Österreichring, the 1970 layout. Taking Le Mans with its distorting Mulsanne straight out of the equation for the moment, this is easily the fastest average speed track of the season. Do not let it fool you into thinking it’s easy, as any kind of miscalculation or error will generally be punished, and at the speeds you will be travelling, the punishment will most likely be painful and/or race-ending.
Circuit Notes
The town of Spielberg is situated roughly centrally in Austria in the Styria region. The first Formula 1 race held there was run at the Zeltweg Airfield, the idea for this coming from the success that the UK had been having with Silverstone, also an airfield. The surface turned out to be too abrasive, however, and only a single World Championship event was held there in 1964. The airfield track was abandoned in 1969 following the construction of the purpose built Österreichring.
The Österreichring hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from 1970 to 1987. In 1977, the first corner was changed from a sweeping right hander into a chicane – the Hella-Licht S – before it was shortened by over 1 km and completely altered into the A1 ring in 1997.
The RDHGP is driving the original, and IMO best, layout of the mighty Österreichring, the only track that safety conscious Alain Prost said should always remain unchanged.
A Lap of the Österreichring starts on the grid, facing the uphill climb to that daunting opener T1R Vöst-Hügel. An uphill braking, blind, crested and very fast right hander, it sets the tone and character for this imposing circuit. You need to be brave and commit to the corner, as it opens out onto one of the enormously fast straights, the downhill Flatschach.
T2R is a fairly wide and long turn, the Sebring-Auspuffkurve, with its exit bump and dip making the transition from corner exit to another long fast straight more problematical than it looks.
Again, it’s full power down the Valvoline-Gerade straight and into the very tricky curved braking zone for the famous T3R Bosch-Kurve hairpin, one of the slowest corners on the lap. This corner is enclosed on both sides by guardrail fences, meaning any over exuberance will almost certainly mean damage.
A short blast down the unnamed straight and the cars enter T4L, a less basic corner than it looks due to the lack of helping camber, meaning it competes with Bosch for being the lowest speed corner, despite it being shallower in radius than Bosch.
Another short blast of straight and then into T5L, the first part of the Texaco-Schikane complex, with some subtle gradients again making this section harder than it appears at first glance. Like most corners at Österreichring, it opens out to allow some heavy acceleration before coming to T6R, almost a flick right into another fast straight.
A downhill blast leads you into the final corner, T7R, the Jochen-Rindt-Kurve. As with all the others, this corner is relatively fast, but this one –like Bosch – is enclosed on both sides by guardrail fences. The exaggerated camber means it is fast, with the track falling away on exit into the downhill straight, crossing the S/F line, before climbing back up to T1R again to begin another lap.
Just the 7 corners then, half the number of Mugello, and because of the high speed nature of the track, this will be the shortest race on this season’s calendar by some way. But as I said earlier, do not let this track fool you into thinking it is simple.
The Race Director has some notes for drivers. Please see the track map above for location of Race Direction note:-
· All Corners Without Exception – The kerbs are no longer deemed as track, therefore 2 wheels must be within the white lines, on the tarmac, At All Times. Again, there are NO exceptions to this rule at any point on the circuit. Any exception to this rule is deemed illegal, any advantage gained by this method must be ceded immediately.
· All Straights - This course has a multitude of straights, and allowing for some very fast speeds to be achieved, especially by use of slipstreaming. Because of this, all drivers should be reminded that weaving is not allowed, and that only one move is allowed from the car in front to defend your line. Weaving to deny a slipstream opportunity is also not allowed. If there are more than 2 cars in a group, the same moving rules apply to a car that is ahead of any other.
· T1R – Vöst-Hügel. Like most corners in Österreichring, the real danger is more of the driver getting it wrong and becoming an unwilling obstacle. The crested nature of the corner means some cars can go light just when they need all their grip. Spin here, and you are generally sitting in the middle of the track, facing everyone else as they barrel towards you.
· T3R – Bosch-Kurve. The curved braking entry can cause unsettled cars, and the tight nature of this corner, combined with guardrails on both sides precluding a run-off can mean trouble for you = trouble for everyone following you.
Incidents, Investigations and Penalties
There were no Incident Reports from the Mugello event.
There are, unfortunately, 4 new no-show penalties arising from Mugello.
Marius Bentu
Sam J Simpson
Bert Van Waes
Ben Tusting
3 other no-show penalty infractions are currently being served (this is their last race under the infraction):-
Arkadiusz Kotarski (1)
Lee Madden (1)
Matt Crouch (1)
2 drivers have now been removed from the League due to a second no-show infraction.
Simon Bacon
Stuart Neal
All No-show infractions will be carried for 4 events, after which time they will be rescinded. A further infraction will result in removal from the League.
Please remember, the League staff will only review incidents if they are reported to them.
No report = no review.
Please try and remember the incident reporting guidelines: review, cool off, review again. Only after following the above process, and if you are convinced you still need to report it, should you let the League staff know. Please give as much information as possible during the report (time of incident, drivers involved etc.)
Any accusations or complaints aired in the Chat during or after a race will mean a penalty levied on the person complaining or making the accusations, even if a subsequent official complaint gets found in their favour. I simply will NOT tolerate any post race finger pointing.
Liveries
You have chosen your car and livery already, and you must only drive your chosen car at any time during an RDHGP event. Every driver has a unique livery in this season of RDHGP.
Scoring System
I have extended the points distribution method down to P20 (75% distance completion required) so people can fight for some points no matter where they are on the track, and hopefully have a season long battle with people around them in the League.
The Distribution is as follows (double for the 200km event):
P1 - 25 pts
P2 - 22
P3 - 20
P4 - 18
P5 - 16
P6 - 15
P7 - 14
P8 - 13
P9 - 12
P10 - 11
P11 - 10
P12 - 9
P13 - 8
P14 - 7
P15 - 6
P16 - 5
P17 - 4
P18 - 3
P19 - 2
P20 - 1
1 point for fastest race lap (not double on 200km event)
1 point for qualifying on Pole (not double on 200km event)
Welcome back to the 2009 RDHGP S4. Mugello was, I have to admit, only a partial success in my opinion. The track appears to polarise opinion from drivers like almost no other I’ve experienced so far. Some seem to love it, others seem to hate it with a passion, leaving almost no-one in the middle feeling ambivalent. I’d prefer a unanimously positive vote of confidence, obviously, but I’m not sure whether the “love it or hate it” reaction is better or worse than an “Well, it’s OK, I suppose” reaction.
I was heartened to see absolutely no discussion of, nor apparently instances of, the dread topic of cutting during the Mugello event. You have my thanks for that. There were, however, a few mentions of some driving behaviour that I will address now, albeit in general terms.
The League races are long affairs, generally about 40-45 minutes (the irony that this is the briefing for the shortest race - time wise - of the season is not lost on me), so people do need to think about the longer picture more. We had a few races spoiled by moves or incidents that were focusing on that corner rather than thinking about how the race would pan out overall. I would urge you all to try and stay realistic about moves, and think about whether a move is actually worthwhile in the greater scheme of things, or whether discretion might not actually be the better part of valour. Contact or unexpected and reckless moves spoil races. Your own, I’m less concerned about as it’s your decision, but spoiling someone else’s through thoughtlessness is unacceptable in the environment in which we race, so think about whether it’s actually worthwhile to make the move you are planning.
In addition, and I find it hard to believe I’m having to post this as a reminder, contact should never be used as a way past another vehicle. It has been mentioned that a few hip-and-shoulder passes are creeping into GTL, and I experienced some unexpected and unneeded contact even in my shortened Mugello event, and it surprised me more than annoyed me (at the time, anyway – the percentages have changed somewhat since I watched my replay). Mugello is not a narrow track, and yet on the main start finish straight I got passed under acceleration and slipstream by a car that was clearly faster, but for reasons best known to the driver in question, they decided to drive into the side of me not once, not twice, but three times on their way past into the braking area. If it can happen on the widest straight we drive this year, I dread to think what is going on in some of the corners. If anyone thinks that this is acceptable behaviour, then I will in turn accept your resignation from the League right now.
Now that I’ve had to have my increasingly frequent moan and warning at you, we can turn to brighter things, namely a jaunt back in time 40 years, and the fastest incarnation of the Österreichring, the 1970 layout. Taking Le Mans with its distorting Mulsanne straight out of the equation for the moment, this is easily the fastest average speed track of the season. Do not let it fool you into thinking it’s easy, as any kind of miscalculation or error will generally be punished, and at the speeds you will be travelling, the punishment will most likely be painful and/or race-ending.
Circuit Notes
The town of Spielberg is situated roughly centrally in Austria in the Styria region. The first Formula 1 race held there was run at the Zeltweg Airfield, the idea for this coming from the success that the UK had been having with Silverstone, also an airfield. The surface turned out to be too abrasive, however, and only a single World Championship event was held there in 1964. The airfield track was abandoned in 1969 following the construction of the purpose built Österreichring.
The Österreichring hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from 1970 to 1987. In 1977, the first corner was changed from a sweeping right hander into a chicane – the Hella-Licht S – before it was shortened by over 1 km and completely altered into the A1 ring in 1997.
The RDHGP is driving the original, and IMO best, layout of the mighty Österreichring, the only track that safety conscious Alain Prost said should always remain unchanged.
A Lap of the Österreichring starts on the grid, facing the uphill climb to that daunting opener T1R Vöst-Hügel. An uphill braking, blind, crested and very fast right hander, it sets the tone and character for this imposing circuit. You need to be brave and commit to the corner, as it opens out onto one of the enormously fast straights, the downhill Flatschach.
T2R is a fairly wide and long turn, the Sebring-Auspuffkurve, with its exit bump and dip making the transition from corner exit to another long fast straight more problematical than it looks.
Again, it’s full power down the Valvoline-Gerade straight and into the very tricky curved braking zone for the famous T3R Bosch-Kurve hairpin, one of the slowest corners on the lap. This corner is enclosed on both sides by guardrail fences, meaning any over exuberance will almost certainly mean damage.
A short blast down the unnamed straight and the cars enter T4L, a less basic corner than it looks due to the lack of helping camber, meaning it competes with Bosch for being the lowest speed corner, despite it being shallower in radius than Bosch.
Another short blast of straight and then into T5L, the first part of the Texaco-Schikane complex, with some subtle gradients again making this section harder than it appears at first glance. Like most corners at Österreichring, it opens out to allow some heavy acceleration before coming to T6R, almost a flick right into another fast straight.
A downhill blast leads you into the final corner, T7R, the Jochen-Rindt-Kurve. As with all the others, this corner is relatively fast, but this one –like Bosch – is enclosed on both sides by guardrail fences. The exaggerated camber means it is fast, with the track falling away on exit into the downhill straight, crossing the S/F line, before climbing back up to T1R again to begin another lap.
Just the 7 corners then, half the number of Mugello, and because of the high speed nature of the track, this will be the shortest race on this season’s calendar by some way. But as I said earlier, do not let this track fool you into thinking it is simple.
The Race Director has some notes for drivers. Please see the track map above for location of Race Direction note:-
· All Corners Without Exception – The kerbs are no longer deemed as track, therefore 2 wheels must be within the white lines, on the tarmac, At All Times. Again, there are NO exceptions to this rule at any point on the circuit. Any exception to this rule is deemed illegal, any advantage gained by this method must be ceded immediately.
· All Straights - This course has a multitude of straights, and allowing for some very fast speeds to be achieved, especially by use of slipstreaming. Because of this, all drivers should be reminded that weaving is not allowed, and that only one move is allowed from the car in front to defend your line. Weaving to deny a slipstream opportunity is also not allowed. If there are more than 2 cars in a group, the same moving rules apply to a car that is ahead of any other.
· T1R – Vöst-Hügel. Like most corners in Österreichring, the real danger is more of the driver getting it wrong and becoming an unwilling obstacle. The crested nature of the corner means some cars can go light just when they need all their grip. Spin here, and you are generally sitting in the middle of the track, facing everyone else as they barrel towards you.
· T3R – Bosch-Kurve. The curved braking entry can cause unsettled cars, and the tight nature of this corner, combined with guardrails on both sides precluding a run-off can mean trouble for you = trouble for everyone following you.
Incidents, Investigations and Penalties
There were no Incident Reports from the Mugello event.
There are, unfortunately, 4 new no-show penalties arising from Mugello.
Marius Bentu
Sam J Simpson
Bert Van Waes
Ben Tusting
3 other no-show penalty infractions are currently being served (this is their last race under the infraction):-
Arkadiusz Kotarski (1)
Lee Madden (1)
Matt Crouch (1)
2 drivers have now been removed from the League due to a second no-show infraction.
Simon Bacon
Stuart Neal
All No-show infractions will be carried for 4 events, after which time they will be rescinded. A further infraction will result in removal from the League.
Please remember, the League staff will only review incidents if they are reported to them.
No report = no review.
Please try and remember the incident reporting guidelines: review, cool off, review again. Only after following the above process, and if you are convinced you still need to report it, should you let the League staff know. Please give as much information as possible during the report (time of incident, drivers involved etc.)
Any accusations or complaints aired in the Chat during or after a race will mean a penalty levied on the person complaining or making the accusations, even if a subsequent official complaint gets found in their favour. I simply will NOT tolerate any post race finger pointing.
Liveries
You have chosen your car and livery already, and you must only drive your chosen car at any time during an RDHGP event. Every driver has a unique livery in this season of RDHGP.
Scoring System
I have extended the points distribution method down to P20 (75% distance completion required) so people can fight for some points no matter where they are on the track, and hopefully have a season long battle with people around them in the League.
The Distribution is as follows (double for the 200km event):
P1 - 25 pts
P2 - 22
P3 - 20
P4 - 18
P5 - 16
P6 - 15
P7 - 14
P8 - 13
P9 - 12
P10 - 11
P11 - 10
P12 - 9
P13 - 8
P14 - 7
P15 - 6
P16 - 5
P17 - 4
P18 - 3
P19 - 2
P20 - 1
1 point for fastest race lap (not double on 200km event)
1 point for qualifying on Pole (not double on 200km event)
