SRO Historic Group C

Another rFactor series has opened up over at SRO; Group C Prototypes! Immediately, I had flashbacks to ten years ago when I was running in the Sportscar Endurance Championships hosted by OATAS and VTE (using the Redline GTP mod for NR2003). I just had to signup for the chance to drive the Mazda 787B again. In this legendary car I had completed a solo drive 24 hours race at Le Mans. It was insane.

This six race series will use a League Edition mod, so all the cars will have the same performance, but I will still have the hornet's nest rotary engine droning in my ears. For me, it will be like coming home. I have not been this excited for a race series in a long time. I hope I can handle the workload of practicing for two different series with two very different cars, otherwise I'll just have to discontinue the Formula B championship.

Formula B USA Trophy Series Preview

Next up, SRO's Formula B USA Trophy Series. I am already signed up for this eight race season and I have about ten days to figure out how to drive these cars fast. The first race is at Laguna Seca, a track I know well, so that reduces some of the workload and I just have to find my car setup. The Formula B car is not that powerful, but it is an open wheel purpose built racecar that is lightweight and easy to throw around the corners. Since it is a 60's era machine there aren't any electronic aids like TC and ABS, and they are still a handful to drive at the limit.

Tamas Fodor and Csaba Lako, 1st and 2nd in the final standings of the previous series are also already signed up, so I know I have to improve if I'm gonna beat those guys. Ken Jagger is once again our host and he will be formidable on the track as well. I wonder who else from the previous series will run in this one.

Needless to say, I am excited and feel positive for another season of racing. The only hitch is the race start time which is 3AM where I am located. Looks like I will be perpetually jet lagged until April next year. I was able to do it for the previous series and did not miss a race in that one, so no worries really.

SRO Alfa Romeo 147 GT-R Challenge - Season Review

After running with F1 cars the last few years, it was a refreshing challenge to race with a FWD GT car. The Alfa Romeo 147 GT-R is great fun to drive, with the sensation of speed and the handling very much closer to the cars I get to drive in the real world. The corners and the braking / throttle points come up slower and are consequently easier to prepare for. Once I found a good procedure around the track, it was easy to replicate my times lap after lap.

I had a good series, even if it was just six events in total. I was clearly in the midfield, with a chance for a podium at every race. My only bad race was at the season closer at Zolder; I was running third for the first half of the race, then I lost my rhythm and got quicksanded with mistakes after my pitstop. The season opener at Magny Cours wasn't ideal either, but that was because I was still learning the car and hadn't yet found the setup that I liked. The best race was at Spa, where I ran confidently and cleanly and got third place. I finished third overall in the final standings. Thank you Racing Gods. Full results can be found here.

Tamas Fodor dominated this series, and his laptimes were usually 2 seconds faster than everybody else. I don't know how he does it. Watching him in practice, it was like he was driving a rear wheel drive car or something. His tail would swing out but somehow he would catch it and his faster turn in and earlier throttle input made all the difference. Congrats to Tamas on his race wins and championship. Csaba Lako was a consistent front runner and his laptimes were very good. There were some races where he would fall behind because of an incident, but by the end he would be back up in the podium places. Philipp Pichler was another consistent runner and if he had not missed two races he certainly would have finished ahead of me in the standings. Jim Giannopoulos was the only driver who could match Tamas Fodor's laptimes, but he joined in the midseason and could not make up the points deficit. Ivo Rodrigues had similar speed to myself, and we often raced each other. Ken Jagger also had good speed and probably would have finished ahead of me too if he had not missed a race. He was also the admin so many thanks to him for hosting this series. And thanks to all participating drivers for an excellent albeit short season. Thanks to Sim Racing Online!

insert laugh track here

Whenever I have evil thoughts, when I feel bad, when I wish misfortune on others, when I hate myself... I remember that I have built a Direwall that contains all the negative energy that I generate. It will never breach, I promise. This is my faithful farce forever.

For we are at our worst when we wish to harm residue.

So the metahuman and the ultraphantom engage in furious discourse. They can only wish it was a fair debate. Only mysterious benefactors create the truth. The main concern is my appearance. Nobody saw what really happened because the observer affects the event.

Brokenmirror mirrorflash flashbulb blights this world.

Oschersleben Track Graphics Bug

Oschersleben Track Graphics Bug

an Invocation before Fall

In our world
Strangers come as different kinds

The one you do not know
The one you cannot remember meeting
The one you choose to ignore

and The fleeting

So I wish to remain
a dying ember to you
if only the worst kind

Maybe then I could find you
with pure conviction
and without condition

Will the stars hold their place?

This is why we Race
for forever the moment
but never the memory

cheers for beers

Just signed up for this six race series over at SRO. The Alfa Romeo 147 GT-R is way different from the F1 car I've been running the last couple of years, so this venture is gonna be more about learning something new than trying to win. I got about a week to prepare before the first race and I have done some recon laps. I think I can do well in this car, I just need maybe 1000 laps or more of practice.

They got a lot of different series going on over at SRO, but with racing games I don't have. This is the only rFactor 1 series on right now, so I have no choice. The races are scheduled for past midnight (2AM) where I am located and I have to stay up late to race. Still, after the long break where I raced only with robots, I am excited to return to racing against real people.

phaeton spider

rFR Grand Prix Series - Season 14 Review

A great season for me overall, I finished 5th in the Championship Standings, my best finish ever, and scored the most points ever in a season at rFR. It helped that many drivers abandoned their campaign and that there were 20 races total. Still, I went faster on tracks I've raced before and was clearly in the midfield during the races. I was assured in my race preparation and confident in the race itself. A far cry from when I was a backmarker and would finish a lap or more behind. Although I missed two races due to a balky connection, I made up for it with two podiums, a second place in Turkey and a third place in Monaco (of all places). 

Congratulations to Garri Grigorovich, rFR Season 14 Drivers Champion! Congratulations to Antonio Hreljanovic and Gustavo Montenegro, rFR Season 14 Team Champions!

Now that rFR is moving on to rFactor 2 I am without a league again. Either I figure out a way to get rFactor 2 or just find a league that still runs rFactor. There's plenty, just looking at all the servers available on Matchmaker. But I will miss rFR League; it is very well run with diligent administrators, great drivers, and the Sunday night schedule suits me very well. Right now, I'm thinking of just taking a break from online racing and just finish the season I started in Codemasters F1 2013.

TEMERITY LIMITS ETERNITY

THE NEVER EVENT

[05:15] in for a penny
[05:16] in for a pound
[05:16] this is the sound
[05:16] of falling dominoes
[05:16] who knows?
[05:16] the grown-ups 
[05:16] just make it up
[05:17] as they go along
[05:17] am i wrong?
[05:17] i'm the one who can't get it
[05:17] i am the misfit
[05:18] so i sit
[05:18] at the kiddie table
[05:18] this is my forbidden fable
[05:18] able but apprehensive
[05:19] silent but offensive
[05:19] i resist persistence
[05:20] i abhor existence
[05:23] we are subhumen
* /sound: no such file 'bullshit.wav'
[05:28] * /sound: no such file 'bullshit.wav'

OUTLIER

Yes nice
another shakedown

When I hit my marks
all concerns from boss to fans
meet in tragic levity

Advice for all sim racing newcomers
learn the ways of the track
honor your superior driver
practice whenever
worship lady luck

So those who are intrinsically slowed (like me)
may they find skill through repetition!
is such a thing even possible?

Could you be there
when this stone again needs raising
as mercilessly it rolls back downhill

Just applaud
nobody remembers anything anyway
even dinosaurs dreamed that

peke > lahat

exalted navy of the landlocked country

rFR Grand Prix Series - Season 14

Midseason Review

Ten races in and I am languishing in 11th place in the overall standings. A crash in Sebring and two consecutive DNS because of an iffy connection cost me a decent haul of points. I could be up in 7th place I think, if not for these unfortunate circumstances. But there are ten more rounds to go and I think I can still finish the season in 9th position.

Driver participation has been inconsistent, with grids fluctuating from 10 or so drivers to over 15 racers total. I've been running in the midfield, faster than some guys, but never really a podium threat. But my lap times have been improving from previous seasons. Performance gains have been easy to track since we have been using pretty much the same mod for a few seasons now.

Defending champion Antonio Hreljanovic has recovered from (by his own standards) slow start to the season and now leads the championship. Garri Grigorovich continues to put in monster mileage during practice and is just 1 point behind. Gustavo Montenegro's patience and consistency puts him third in the standings. In contrast, Arek Kulak and his all or nothing approach has him battling for 4th place, against the most improved driver this season, Edijs Batars. Vince Wertenbach, who voiced his dissatisfaction with the weight penalty system for top finishers, has been absent for a few rounds and has dropped to 6th. Reserve driver and former series champion Tom McKay, who missed the first 5 rounds of the season, has leap-frogged the lower half of the grid and is now in 7th. League veteran and chief race steward Kimmo Savolainen holds 8th place, while the reliable Fabio L and ebullient Juris B make up the top 10.

Simulation Hardcore Action Racing Team

It might be my final season at rFR League. They are moving over to rFactor 2 next season. So it's either I find a way to get rF2 or I find another league again. There's always HSO, but they might switch to AMS or rF2 as well. Anyway It has been a good run at rFR, over 7 seasons the last 4 years or so.

rFR Season 14 - The Drivers/Teams

Benetton 1995
#4 - Maxime Croussette
#xx - FREE SEAT

Brawn 2009
#63 - Ariff Roslan
#xx - FREE SEAT

Ferrari 2016
#19 - Arek Kulak
#25 - Andreas Fischer

Force India 2017
#2 - Eduardo Méndez
#13 - Augusto Floriano

Jaguar 2000
#31 - Edijs Batars
#87 - Juris B.

Lotus 1985
#21 - Fabio Lozio
#78 - Kimmo Savolainen

McLaren Indy 2017
#14 - Vince Wertenbach
#99 - Logan Johnson

McLaren 1991
#1 - Antonio Hreljanovic
#11 - Gustavo Montenegro

Mercedes 2016
#10 - Garri Grigorovich
#xx - FREE SEAT

Minardi 2000
#33 - Enzo Pessegatti
#42 - Alaster Langsom

Toro Rosso 2017
#88 - Julio Ronaldi
#94 - Jeffrey Backer

Williams 1992
#3 - Gabriel Marcos
#xx - FREE SEAT

We got 20 drivers and 12 teams total. Antonio Hreljanovic is still the Driver's Champion and he will run with the #1 season. Arek Kulak remains his main rival, but watch out for Eduardo Mendez AKA Joe McLaggen and Garri (Igor) Grigorovich. Maxime Crousette, Augusto Floriano, and my new teammate Enzo Pessegatti are the newcomers. I expect more drivers joining in as the season progresses. Of course, I am still running Minardi #42.

rFR Season 14 - The Calendar

As it is the final season using rFactor, 20 races have been scheduled. It is a good mix of current, classic, and non F1 tracks. That gives me until July to try and obtain rF2 or move to a different league. I suppose I could also take a break from online sim racing, but I don't want to.