a short view back to the past

OPC1 Prototype Challenge - Preseason

Oldschool Endurance League's new series OPC1 Prototype Challenge is on. Races will be around 90 mins long, no driver swap allowed. Three different cars are available, the Dallara Audi R8S, the Dome Honda S101, and MG Lola Judd B01/60 X26. I pick the Dome Honda S101 for more power and top speed advantage.

Preseason testing has been difficult. The engine keeps blowing up and I have to keep short-shifting to complete a lap. It is not an enjoyable driving experience, and my lap times are slow. Maybe I should just switch cars or something. I open up the engine.ini file, looking for info about the optimum RPM limit setting. Turns out I set the RPM limit too high. With the proper setting, I can now wring the engine out to the redline and utilize the power.

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OPC1 Prototype Challenge Round 1 - Daytona Road Course 180 Miles

With Daytona's basic track layout and my straight-line speed advantage, pole position is a possibility. But Elia Tartari is still the superior driver and the reigning champ of OEL. I give it everything I have, and at the end of my Qualifying run my hands and feet are shaking and there is a jackhammer in my chest. I take pole position by 0.007 seconds.

The race is a different matter altogether. First, I consider the fuel strategy. The capacity of the fuel tank dictates at least 2 stops for a 51 laps race. With a long pitstop, lengthy pitlane, and very slow pitlane speed limit, 3 or more pitstops will take too much time and is not viable. So, 2 pitstops and 3 stints of 17 laps is the way to go.

There are six different tires available: 2 types of compounds, ZR and S4, with each compound having Soft, Medium, and Hard options. The ZR compounds have the better grip overall, but they heat up too fast and that makes them hard to use optimally. I lack the talent to use these compounds, so I choose the S4's. 

The Hard S4's are too slow, and I don't need the durability for a 17 laps stint. The Soft S4's offer the best grip but only last for 10 laps more or less, and then they fall off a cliff. The Medium S4 seems to be the correct compromise. But after checking my individual lap times and my overall stint time, the Soft S4's are still the best. Even if I slide around for the final 6-7 laps of the stint, the time gained during the first 10 laps are good enough for a faster overall stint time compared to using the Medium S4's. I might be wrong.

I get a good launch at the start and at the end of the first lap I am in the lead, 2 seconds ahead of the ET. For the next 10 laps or so I am able to maintain the gap, and then the tires die and ET reels me in. He tries some overtakes but I am able to defend until it is finally time for my pitstop. As I peel off into the pitlane, I brake too hard at speed limit line and spin the car. I lose a bit of time recovering and turning the car around. At the end of the pitstop cycle I am in 2nd place, some 20 seconds behind ET. I am able to nibble away at the gap for another 10 laps and then the tires are dead again. ET pulls away and easily increases the gap. Just as I enter the pitlane for my second pitstop I get hit with the dreaded disco and that is the end of my race.

hello Dennis of the Internet

HRL Super Formula 2022 Series - Postmortem

(pic from HRL Discord / Iker Vera)

Another series in the books, big thanks to our host Iker Vera, all the participating drivers, and everyone else at Humble Racing League (HRL). Nahuel Spirka is the champion, and he was miles ahead of everyone else. Seems like he figured out the bizarre physics of this mod and won 6 of the 8 Races. He was also usually on pole position and by a considerable margin. Just a dominant performance all throughout.

As for me, I finished 3rd in the Driver Standings. The team I drove for, Action Express Lotus, also finishes 3rd in the Team Standings. Apart from the series champion, I was the only other driver to score points in every race, which includes a podium finish in the final round at Suzuka. 

It was a difficult run of it overall. I started the series 4-6 seconds per lap slower than the fast guys and could only fight for the lower points paying positions. After doing a deep dive with the car and trying various setup tricks I got up to 2-3 seconds slower per lap. The number of drivers showing up to race was also drastically reduced and this brought me up the pecking order. It was really only my attendance that pushed me up the Driver Standings. In terms of pace, I was nowhere.

computer says no

F1 Classic World Championship 2001 Season - Round 7 Monaco

I got the call up to race in F1 CWC 2001 season a month ago for Round 3 in Brazil. Unfortunately, there was too much lag to be able to race. It was the same problem that prevented me from running in the previous 2000 season. A number of drivers have come and gone since then, and I got invited again to race in Round 7 in Monaco. A nightmare of a track to make a season debut, but I was up for the challenge. The ping times were too high and spiky again on the practice server, but on the official race server the connection was good enough for me to race.

With fuel and tires rate set at 4x, there were two strategies to choose from in the 20 laps race. You could go two stops with the Softs or 1 stop with the Hards. Of course, I tested both strategies and found that it was faster overall to go with the two-stopper. The faster laptimes with a lighter car and grippier tires would overcome the time saved by doing one less pitstop with a heavy car and less grip. However, in Monaco where it is tight and there is no room to overtake, track position is king.

I qualified 3rd with a so-so lap, and this put me in a position where I had to be aggressive and decisive. EcoWarrior qualified ahead of me, but based on his early race pace it was apparent that he was doing the 1 stop strategy. It was a short race, so I knew I had to make a move soon if I was going to make my pitstop strategy work. Years of being a backmarker did not prepare me for this situation.

My first lunge, going into the right hander that leads into the hairpin was clean. And then it looks like EcoWarrior runs into me at the corner exit. I missed the braking point going into the hairpin and hit the wall, but I didn't hit EcoWarrior at all. The next two bumps towards the end of the lap were my fault it seems. The first hit I misjudged his speed (maybe he braked too much) and the next hit I didn't place the car correctly (he had space on the outside but turned in). I'm not sure about the "terminal suspension damage" though. Damage was set at 60%, and if the "crash" was hard enough to affect EcoWarrior's suspension, I think it would have detached my front wing as well. The final overtake on Rush I think would have been clean, but Rush turned into me at the exit. I think he was surprised that I was there and that I got alongside. Anyway, I accept the penalty which is a grid place drop in the next race.

I suppose it wasn't a great race overall for me. I got 2nd place at the finish, and I made it happen on the track. At Monaco, too, of all places. But maybe some drivers will think I made some dirty moves.

Race Results

image from Adrenaline, F1 CWC Discord