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!