Across the Panthalassa

 

SRO Saleen Mustang Series is complete. Congrats to Fabio Lozio, series champion! He took 5 wins out of 7 rounds and was competitive in every event. As for me, I finish 5th of overall. I thought I would do better as I felt good about the car during preseason and could hit consistent lap times. I even did a tour of all the tracks and got the car setup to my liking. However, when the series started I found out I was about 1-2 seconds a lap behind the fast guys. I was still optimistic, but I knew I wasn't going to be a frontrunner. I shifted my focus to the DTM series because I was having a difficult time with that car. So, I suppose a 5th place overall finish is okay for a less than 100% effort. I'm just not good enough right now to run two different series at the same time and with two very different cars at that. 

Full series results here.

Well, now I can direct my full attention to the upcoming Racin Nexus F1 2004 Series. I have been running a lot of laps, trying out different setup configurations. It's been going well so far, and I think I will be in a good level of preparation when this series starts next year. So far it has been just hotlapping, but soon I will move to full race stint practice. 

Lag Rider : The Nth time

 

Preseason testing has begun for Racin Nexus F1 2004 series. We will be using RH2004 mod that has been customised by Dragan Djuricic. I was having problems with the car at first, but with some help from Dimitris Giannopolous, I now have a workable base setup. I'm still behind the fast guys, but I am confident that I will reduce the gap in the coming days. Just have to put the laps in, familiarize myself with the car, and nibble away. 

It's been awhile since I drove a full-on F1 car. I have to re-acquaint myself to the acceleration, the cornering speeds, the braking... Gotta be lighter on my feet and more precise with the steering inputs. Everything goes by so fast it is so easy to miss my marks. And the noise! These monsters got them high revving V10s. It can get tiring after a few laps with the sensory overload. I have to work on my stamina as well.

Here we have the driver list for this series. Most of these names are familiar to me now. And most of them are faster than me. We have a full 20 car grid, but some other drivers who are not on the list have been testing as well so it could be a different grid on race night. Looks like it will be Dragan and Dimitris fighting for the series championship. Maybe I can finish as high as 5th in the final standings.

Range Anxiety

 

Racin Nexus DTM Series - Post Season Review

Full results here.

I had a very tough time in this series, I never did get a hold of the car and couldn't find a good base setup. I also had connection problems, resulting in 4 DNFs late in the series. But somehow I finished third overall in the standings, mostly because some drivers abandoned their campaign and the fastest guy, league owner Djuricic Dragan, decided to not score any more points for the second half of the season. I did get 3 pole positions and 2 podiums so it wasn't all bad.

Certainly a great learning experience, not liking the car but somehow running in the sharper end of the grid. A nice confidence booster as we prepare for the big F1 series next year. Congratulations to Djordje Kovacevic, RN DTM Series champion. He wasn't the fastest, but he did well in all the races and took 3 wins in the latter half of the series. Stefano Colleta won 4 of the first 6 rounds, but abandoned the second half. His early domination was enough for him to hold on to 2nd place overall. 

The rest of the grid had an intermittent attendance. A shame really, as we had 33 drivers registered initially, but during the races we mostly had a grid of 10 or less. I can only think that the poor attendance rate was because the car was difficult to drive.

a castle made of regolith

 

blood type : AB Normal

 

Round 6 of Racin Nexus DTM 2015 Series this weekend. We are at Red Bull Ring (A1 Ring) and it is going to be a variable weather race, probably starting full wet then eventually drying out. Practice has been terrible. Wet weather means reduced grip, reduced visibility, and increased noise. I just can't find any rhythm in these changing conditions. It will be tough to even just finish this race.

The last time I raced in the wet was in Montreal for Season 10 of rFR F1 World Championship. I didn't do very well, finishing 16th of 21 runners and 1 lap behind the leader. I don't even remember that race at all. I just know I had a very difficult time during practice and the race itself. Pretty much the same experience I am having now.

Anyway, I am currently fourth in the DTM Season Standings. Of the 33 drivers registered initially, only 20 are left, and only a dozen or less show up to race. So the points are relatively easy to come by as long as I finish the race. I'm not that far off in terms of the lap times either. As we approach the halfway point of this series, I think I can be happy with my performance, even if I still haven't found my balance with this DTM car.

The Perdition of Time

 

The first race of Racinnexus DTM Series is over and I feel sick. I crashed out on lap 2 and that was that. I was side by side with the league owner and mod maker in a flat-out right-hander sweep. I went over the kerb and we touched slightly; suddenly my car went into a slide and I didn't react properly and hit the wall. I lost the whole front body and the front right wheel. I made it back to the pits but there was too much damage for repairs so I had to retire. A DNF is not the best way to start a season.

I just can't figure out this DTM car. The car setup is weird to me; it doesn't seem to respond to changes as I'd expect. The increments to various settings are unusual, the differential preload is locked at 1 and the dampers (among other things) are a mystery. I can't help but think that everything is optimized to the league owner and mod maker's driving style. He was easily the fastest and won the race, despite not qualifying and starting from the back.

Now, I've got a week until the next race. I've got to find my balance and learn the track, Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain. Never raced at this venue before and I'm gonna need a thousand laps or so of practice I suppose. It doesn't help that I have things to do in the outside world. I am feeling a distinct lack of motivation for the coming event. 

Dream of Rad Duffer

Racinnexus DTM 2015 Series opening race is next week. 33 drivers registered, 12 races scheduled. I will be driving a BMW M3. Been doing some preseason testing the past two weeks. It hasn't been the best; I am struggling with the car and can't find my balance. I think I should just move all the weight to the back and try to drive it like a mid-engine car. About 2 seconds slower per lap compared to the fast guys. But at least I am not the slowest maybe. I expect to be in the top ten in the final standings.

I was also able to do a quick tour of all the tracks for SRO's Saleen Mustang Classics Series. I had a better time with the preseason testing of the Mustang. I find the car easier to drive that the DTM. It's like I feel the weight more or something. Maybe it's just because the Mustang is slower than the DTM. It could also be the series schedule; all street tracks. 7 races, each one a Death Star trench run except for Cleveland which is an airplane runway. I get so lost in the Cleveland race track.

Luther Stickell is Lord Nikon

The Super GT Season false started at first, so driver registration was extended. Subsequently the opening was postponed for a month, and afterward postponed indefinitely... but now the season is back on again. All the flaking made me decide to abandon this series. A shame really, as I had done some things to customize the car that I was gonna run here. And I was reaching a good level of preparation after doing a "tour" of all the tracks. Something about Japanese race tracks I can't describe. The closest word I can think of is elemental. Maybe it is just my elaboration.

So instead I have signed up for Racinnexus DTM series starting this September. It will be my first time to try a DTM car. From what I googled, it seems a DTM is similar in performance to a Super GT. Maybe all those laps in the NSX were not a total waste. Anyway, in an attempt to get sharp and to familiarize myself with league protocols, I have registered to run in the final event of Racinnnexus Scirocco V6 series at Mid-Ohio. I have raced on this track before, but my familiarity with the layout hasn't helped me in setting up the car. I need more practice.

I also registered for SRO Saleen Mustang Series. This one will start in October and take me all the way to the end of the year. I intend to do another "tour" of the tracks lined up for this series, just like I did with Super GT. Sometimes it hurts so good to over-prepare. Practice is its own reward, or something like that. 

Lag Rider - Retrowave Lockdown

Driver registration for Super GT has been extended, so maybe some new drivers are coming in. A new tire and engine patch has been released. Some server side tweaks I suppose, after the preseason testing in Okayama. A bit of a waiting game now, so I arranged for a private test in Suzuka. 

I've made some tweaks myself, perhaps the most important of them is the change of cockpit view. When you race with a sim rig, the cockpit view is a crucial factor in the simulation of speed and level of immersion. It's whether you feel you are inside the car or just controlling it from a distance.

Here is my custom view. This is done by making some changes in cockpitinfo.ini file.

Here is the default view inside the Nissan GT-R with equivalent seat settings.

Another change I made are the car sounds; I use the default FormulaIS.sfx but with the brake hiss turned on. I fixed the distorted rear view display with a mirror.bmp file. I also submitted a livery to the league. That made me wonder, does the size of the texture file of your car affect your car's performance? I checked the league folders and saw that my car texture file was more than twice the size of the safety car texture file.

It is probably better to test at the preseason venue in Okayama. We have plenty of data from there to compare with the performance of the car now with the new patch. But testing in a different track could expose some unforeseen balance issues that would have otherwise remained hidden if you stayed in the same track doing the same lap all the time. Besides, I miss Suzuka. This track is one of the all-time greats.

Lag Rider - End Street

The outside world has gone crazy. Pesky humans scared of an invisible bug have imposed a degenerating lockdown. Both innocent and guilty, all must wash their hands and hide their face. An insidious new normal looms on the horizon. But for a while, at least the smoke cleared.

Meanwhile, lost in the wild country, crippled by dreams of racing glory, Alaster drives to the last. The voices attempt to name themselves... : Ambient : Automaton : Devices : Database : Elaborator : Contrarian : Litanist : Retcon : Brainfade (Who am I missing?)

So I go through the motions. I try to control my wanton dispassion. I tell myself that this token resistance is just the byproduct of a half-hearted desire to return to the oblivion. I need a conclusion.

starch your engines

At OEC 5 Hours of Le Mans, I started 17th out of 24 cars and finished 8th. I ran as high as 7th and was trying to keep the position in the final laps but a two driver team reeled me in and I had to give up the place. With that performance, I think I finish 2nd overall in the Season Championship standings. Unfortunately the standings have not been updated. I think I was the only driver to start and finish and score points in all the races of OEC Season 1. I got 3rd place in the Daytona 3 Hours and 2nd place in the Nurburgring 2 Hours.

I said I would take a break after OEC, but a new league opened up running Super GT and I just had to sample the cars of this All Japan series. So I ended up signing up for this 8 race series. Gonna run a Honda NSX which I painted in "Capeta White." The mod is a little rough, I had to use a default .sfx file, and I had to Google for a rearview mirror fix. Thankfully, there was a solution available; a small .bmp file placed in the correct folder. I put the file up on the league's message board. I hope the fix helps other drivers in the league.

I did my shakedown and preliminary testing in the Green Hell. I was able to find a good base setup and got 6:42 on the Tourist layout before I moved to the venue for the preseason test; Okayama International Circuit. The last time I ran here, it was way back 1998 I think, in Geoff Crammond's GP2. I checked out some video of GP2 at Aida on Youtube and found the track layout in the old school simulator to be quite similar to the current one we are running in rFactor. Kudos to a simulation that's almost 25 years old.

The Super GT Preseason test is this Sunday, and the season begins a week later. 14 drivers total have signed up, and as usual I expect a lot of drivers during the opening races. I have no idea what laptimes the other drivers are doing because there is no practice server open. I have been winning full distance test races against 100% strenght AI.

anonymous clouds

The big race is on tomorrow night, the OEC 5 Hours of Le Mans. I will be driving solo against some really fast drivers and teams, some of which I haven't raced with before, as this has become a joint event with MRtI League. I'm in the lower midfield on the practice leaderboard, but I think I will be in a better position in the race as most if not all of the fast drivers won't be driving their car the whole time. I should be able to make up some time against the slower drivers of their respective teams.

I was able to complete a half-distance practice run and was planning to do the full 5 hours against the AI, but my left shoulder and my lower back are starting to hurt, so these last few days I have been doing just 1 hour runs. Anyway, I think the setup is good, not the fastest but predictable and easy to drive even as the fuel load goes down and the tires wear out.

What's crazy is I still have a chance to win the overall championship. I thought Dimitri had won it all, his lead in the points standings too big to overcome. He has dominated this season, winning every race he has entered except for Spa where he disco'ed. But I checked the rules recently and found out that this special event awards more points than the usual. If Dimitri doesn't score, and I win, I will get enough points to take the season championship. It is not impossible.

There's been talk that rFactor is dying and this event will be the last great race for the rFactor platform. It is hard to deny, as most of the serious competitors and leagues have upgraded to rFactor 2 and other more advanced simulation software years ago. It seems that the few good drivers still on rFactor nowadays are guys with low-end PCs or have no means to buy the latest software (like me). The others, they seem to be beginners or dabblers who are just trying out sim racing.

I've felt a change in the attitudes of the racers I encounter now on the grid. It's like they are just toying with their cars. They don't seem to appreciate the very idea of online sim racing, and how far it has come. I think it is ordinary to them, just like any other multiplayer computer game. I don't know, it could be just my perception. There are still many leagues running rFactor, but the competition seems to have been watered down. Maybe I am just looking in the wrong places.

And so, even if I have improved in my driving, I am still just a backmarker. A-last-er, always last. It seems the real competition has left me behind. I have no idea, no plan on how to acquire rFactor 2 or any other current sim racing software. I leave it to the Racing Gods for now. Anyway, I am thinking of taking a short break after this Le Mans race. I have withdrawn from the Formula One 1991 series, and I got some stuff to do in the outside world in the coming weeks.

overmorrow

Signed up for a newly opened league, FORMULA 1 rFactor 1991. I'm back in my favorite Minardi and it's all systems go. The car is great fun to drive and I think I won't be far behind the fast guys here. 24 drivers signed up so far, so there will be a huge grid in the opening races.

Races will only be 20 laps but Damage is set at 100%, so I expect a lot of action leading to dire consequences. Fuel and tires are at 3x so at least 1 pitstop is necessary, but Mechanical Failures are switched off.

There will be a preseason test at Interlagos in three days, and it will be a good chance to see where my place is in this grid. There will be 16 races total and the season champion will receive a Steam key as prize. Racing with a Minardi in Interlagos? I'm coming home.

FORMULA 1 rFactor 1991 Season Races

Update: They changed the schedule from Wednesdays to Mondays and Thursdays. Twice a week races with only 2-3 days practice in-between will be tough. There's also been talk of becoming a fixed setup series, but it has been open setup on the server so far. It is a new league and there have been plenty of changes in the last few days, like the damage setting and tyre wear. I'm thinking of withdrawing from this series.

---

Of course, my mind is still really at the event of the year; the 5 hours Le Mans Race - OEC Season 1 Finale. It's on in less than two weeks and I am waiting patiently for the track download. I am fighting for 2nd place overall in the championship standings and I will train hard for this race.

Update: Been doing a lot of practice on the server so far, some long stints with heavy fuel, but mostly hotlaps with a light car. Just tweaking the setup and finding a few tenths here and there. I'm in the midfield on the leaderboard. A lot of the new guys are really fast.

Cryonic Canticle

SRO Sports 2000 Series - Final Standings

full results here

Congrats to Jim Giannopoulos, Series Champion. Miguel Santos was the only driver who had the speed to challenge, but he had some uneven performances. Fabio Lozio was the surprise winner of the final race.

6th place overall ain't the worst but I expected more. I had the speed for some podium finishes based on the lap times, but in the races I would often get stuck behind someone and just couldn't make the overtake. Going into the final race I was third in the standings by a slim margin of 2 points, but a bad case of brain fade resulted in a crash and I dropped down 3 places in the championship. I also crashed out in the fifth round, and you can't expect a good final result with two DNFs in a six race series.

Anyway, that series is over. Now I can focus on the final two rounds of OEC Season 1, including the 5 Hours Le Mans Race. The admin says this race will include entries from MRTI League, so I am expecting a big grid.

Bakku-shan Pageant

Returning to SRO for the Sports 2000 series. From the SRO Forum:

Sports 2000 is a restricted-rules class of two-seat, mid-engined, open-cockpit, full-bodied sports-prototype racecar used largely in amateur road racing. Sometimes known as S2000 or S2, the class was developed by John Webb, then of the Brands Hatch racing circuit in England, as an affordable form of sports car racing, essentially a sports car version of Formula Ford 2000. The key attributes of the class were a body design reminiscent of two-liter Group 6 sports racing cars like the Chevron B21 and Lola T-212 but with an ultra-reliable and inexpensive drivetrain comprising a two-liter "Pinto" overhead camshaft engine with very limited allowed modifications and the well-proven, VW-based Hewland Mk 9 transaxle. S2000 aerodynamics continued to evolve beyond their 1970s Group 6 roots, with very 'slippery' cars featuring spats over the wheels becoming the norm.

I like the car, it feels like a classic LMP. Setup parameters are limited and I am still trying to tame the back end, but I have been able to put in some decent laps. Nobody else has tested on the server so I don't know where I am on the grid. Only six drivers registered so far for this series.

As for OEC Season 1, I was able to get 3rd place in the opening round at Daytona Road Course. Next up, Sebring. No track download or practice server yet, so right now it is just the waiting game.
(pic from OEC)

Diehard Returns

Virtual Open Wheel Series - Season 5 - Review

The fight was close all season long, and Jakub Kalbarczyk takes the Driver's Championship from Max Reichel, 4 wins to 3. Szymon Kuczyk finishes third in the standings, no wins but several podiums and scoring points in every race. Massimiliano Ribolli was one of the fastest, taking some pole positions and taking points in every race he participated. Peter Jones and Edijs Batars were both  frontrunners and got 1 win each. Super reserves Justin Meister (2 wins from 3 races) and Jacob Reid (1 win from 2 races) were both outstanding as substitute drivers. Joe Gillett completes the top ten, showing great speed but unlucky in some races.

As for myself, I finish the season in 8th place. Not bad, but I expected better. The three DNFs due to disconnection definitely did me in. For sure, I would have finished 7th in the standings without the reliability issues. The top 6 though, they were all clearly faster than me during qualifying and the race. Even if I did figure out how to start quickly and not lose a lot of positions in the opening lap, I don't think I would have been able to keep pace with them.

And that is the story for me pretty much every round this season. I would do well enough in practice and in qualifying, taking the 5th-7th position. But I would always bog down at the start, undoing all my hard work and would sometimes even find myself in last place. And then I would make up all the lost positions eventually and finish right around where I started. I think it is my relative inexperience running the parade lap, a fixture of VOWS league. I was always so nervous during the formation, driving too slow and losing heat and the grip of the tires. 

In the Team Championship, Eight-Six retains their title, thanks to their consistency and their super subs. Crousette Grand Prix did push them, and were leading midway through the season. Reedingame Studios was fast all season long and takes third place while Apstineo Force Polonia finishes fourth. I guess you can say I carried Spector to fifth place, but without James White's points in Silverstone we would have lost the spot to Prime GP, who came alive in the latter part of the season.

OEC Season 1

Next up, it is back to Endurance Racing. I entered my own team in the inaugural season of Open Endurance Championship. The races will be 3 hours long, with special events at the Nurburgring , and at ... drumroll ... the Le Mans! Here is the Season Schedule:

I've raced on all of these tracks before, except for The Bend. I have been testing the car (Porsche 911RSR) at Dubai Autodrome and was able to set it up to my liking easily enough. I will train hard as I will be driving solo for all of the races. It is gonna be a blast!

Little Green Men

Fantasies and dreams cloud your mind, until you wake up to the persistent nightmare. You are a backmarker, there is no contention. But with practice and tuition there is a chance that the midfield could be competition. So, you fight anyway. A few others are concerned about your performance because they have their vanity to blame.

All these years racing, yet I have never been a front runner. Practice can create competitive comprehension, but there is no complicit conjuring of courage, nor confidence. Still, the Racing Gods grant me the opportunity of absolution. I choose only what has been given to me already. Judge my fate.

It has become strange to laugh and be happy and enjoy the world. For there are others who suffer even now... a vindictive chronomaly that bothers me at my merest. More faces more names more conceit. More idle thoughts more inane ideas more elusive elucidation. Could we have seen it all? No one tells me no.

Feel my tendencies and let it shine through; no matter how good this food tastes, it will become shit in The End.

litmus

VOWS Season 5 Midseason Report

We've reached the halfway point of VOWS Season 5 and I currently hold 9th position in the standings. I started the season started well enough with 6th place in Australia. However, I followed it up with two consecutive DNFs, due to disconnection, and that put a damper on my campaign. I did alright in the next three races and scored points.

I probably would have scored on those races where I got disco'ed, but even with those points I don't think I would have placed higher than seventh in the standings. I just don't have the pace to fight with the fast guys, and they are all ahead of me in the championship table. I can safely say I am fastest of the midfield and my current position is what I deserve.

I have to work on my starts. Every race so far I have not started very well, dropping to the back then having to fight my way back to where I started. We run the formation lap at VOWS, and I am too nervous to weave left and right to keep the tires warm. The launch control is a safe option but it is slow compared to launching manually. Just need to practice this phase of the race more than I usually do I guess. It is just so scary to be aggressive when the everyone is so close together.

As for the Team Championship, we are so far in 5th place, with me scoring all the points. Juris doesn't seem to practice as much I do, and usually shows up on race day looking to use my setup. Maybe he is busy with other things. No problem for me really, but if he could score points we could maybe challenge for 4th position.