a lingering malingering

 
I've been having a rough time, testing the newly released OEL Historic Endurance Touring Mod. The cars are just tail happy curmudgeons that don't respond to setup changes at all. It doesn't help that there are only few setup parameters that can be changed, and so little range in them. The tires have no grip, there is no aero, there isn't even a rear anti-roll bar. But that's how they did it in the 70's I'm told. I'll just have to adjust and learn if I want to race in this upcoming series.

I don't know, but it's no fun trying to figure out how to drive these cars fast. You hit a bump; snap oversteer. You go over a crest; snap oversteer. You miss a shift and hang on the rev limit in any gear; snap oversteer. You push the brake pedal too hard; snap oversteer. Sometimes I can catch it with a little countersteer, but then I've lost time and confidence. Mostly I am spinning out, or sliding off the track, and sometimes I'm into the wall.

I guess I just don't have the skills to race with these cars. It's all very discouraging at the moment. I even tried it with the Traction Control active, and though it did mitigate some of the oversteering, it totally nerfed the car in terms of throttle response, acceleration, and top speed. And what is the point of utilizing historic style physics if you are going to switch on the driver aids anyway?

It reminds me a little bit of those Racing Nexus torture mods from a few years back. Wow that league was hardcore no driver aids allowed. But we had a very open and customizable car setup, and that is not the case here. 

There's even that bizarre response where the car will just flip itself over on corner entry if you max out the front anti-roll bar. (Long ago, when I was racing with NR2003 - Redline GTP, this was called the "Mazda Flip".) There is just something strange with the overall dynamics of these cars. Maybe it's just me.

Point Nemo

 

another gout flare it seems

on my throttle foot too

well blow me down

gotta detox again 

and alleviate this pain

the money is gone anyway

time to stop partying

start racing for real

like all those years ago

when I won

an "and" credit

Back to Virtual Speed Masters for Series 2 - F1 2012. Gonna race with the HRT #23 car. 12 races total which will take us into next year. I'm familiar with all the tracks on the schedule and the car is just an evolution of the previous F1 2011 mod we used in the first series, so it shouldn't be hard to prepare for the races. However, I did not bother with the KERS / DRS plugin again, so I am expecting to be slower than the frontrunners. We'll see how it goes.

gassed up mid

I decided to withdraw from the FWC-VEE 4 Hours of Spa event, after several CTD's during the Practice and Qualifying sessions. The crashes started when the server started to fill up with the drivers/teams; there were 26 teams registered for the big race. Maybe my vintage PC just couldn't handle the grid. But I remember I was able to race in AMF with a grid of more than 30 cars. Maybe it was the cars themselves since the mod we used featured graphically heavy, highly detailed car models. Maybe it was the RFE plugin which has been known to cause system instability. I don't know.

Anyway, all those practice laps and fitness training were all for naught. I even decided to skip the HRL Stock Car Series opening round for this event. I feel enfeebled by the frustration and also the practice fatigue. I need to re-motivate myself and focus now on the HRL Stock Car series. That mod has been patched with a physics update. I think I will have to learn a new car all over again.

bloody wolves chasing me through some blue inferno

Summer break is over; it's back to sim racing. I return to HRL for the Stock Car V8 2014 series where I will run with Titan Fury Racing Team. Looks like a big grid and I have no idea where I will be in the pecking order. At first, I thought this was going to be like a NASCAR kind of deal, but this is Brazilian Stock Car. Turns out the car itself feels more like a circuit fighter than a speed oval bomber.

Meanwhile I'm also going to solo drive another big Endurance event, the FWC - VeeRace 4 Hours of Spa. I'm back in a Lambo Huracan, but an EVO2 this time. I'm having a tough time in testing with this car. The base is a bit understeery, but if I try to set it up so it turns in at a high speed corner, it becomes all twitchy at low speed turns. And I also have to work on my fitness.

Unfortunately. the FWC-VeeRace event will clash with the HRL Series schedule, and I am forced to miss the opening round at Interlagos. Too bad, as I consider Interlagos my home track, but the Endurance race at Spa is too big to miss.

hope for our future is now a stillborn dream

OEL IMSA GTS1 Series - Round 6 Virginia International Raceway

I qualified P2 and took the lead early despite a botched start. Gokhan was within striking distance when he crashed into the killer hay bales at the esses. That gave me some breathing room, the gap to Elia hovering around 8-10 seconds. Elia was considerably faster in practice and qualifying, so I knew he had some more pace to unlock. After the pitstop cycle, Elia had cut the gap to about 3 seconds and the duel was on. Lap after lap he got a little bit closer. I didn't have the speed to break away and I didn't manage the traffic well either. Less than 20 laps to go and we were nose to tail. Elia made a few attempts to overtake but somehow I was able to soak up the pressure, defend the position, and win the race.

blinker fluid

Virtual Speed Masters F1 2011 WCP Series - Postmortem

With the summer break on, the last three rounds of this series have been cancelled. David Alonso is the champ, winning 8 of the 16 races that were run. I end up 3rd overall, after the Ferraris ahead of me withdrew their entries and the points that they scored were deleted from the standings.

I didn't have the raw pace of the fast guys, but I got some podiums and even a win when I was able to prepare adequately and optimize the car setup and the tire strategy.

A bit of a turbid series really; this league is new (this was its first season), and the drivers and admins are still finding their feet. But we all must start somewhere, and I enjoyed the races here which is the most important thing. Anyway, some protocols have been established and the next series will certainly be better.

propeller beanie

 

OEL IMSA GTS1 Series - Round 5 Mosport

It was looking good; I had the speed to get P2 in Qualifying and had seized the lead at the start of the race. Although I had a heavy car (I had fueled up for the full race distance to cut down my pitstop time), I had enough race pace to keep the chasers behind me. I thought, if I could stay ahead and control the pace, my strategy would gain me a bit of time in the second half of the race. 

Just on lap 5 we came upon a backmarker already, and I misjudged the closing speed. He was behaving erratically, and we were at the tricky switchback section of the track. I ran into the back of him as I was trying to overtake. He got punted into the wall and it ended his race. Meanwhile, I lost the lead and fell behind about 10 seconds to the fast guys.

I got rattled and I couldn't recover my rhythm. Maybe the damage from the incident also compromised my car, I don't know. But the fast guys pulled away and the time I gained from my quicker pitstop wasn't enough to make up the gap. So, the series championship is lost. It is double points in the final round, but still I have been eliminated from contention.

Time has won

the design is very human

 

[04:49] <Alaster> vanity promotes documentation

[04:50] <Alaster> documentation generates history

[04:50] <Alaster> history creates vanity

[04:51] <Alaster> documentation is evil

reality check bounced

Virtual Speed Masters F1 2011 WCP Series Round 10 Hungary

David Alonso, championship leader and winner of 3 of the last 4 rounds, was absent. Gokhan Kaya was the pacesetter but he disco'ed at around half distance. The rest of the grid was struggling with tire deg. And so, the victory was there for the taking, and I took it. The race win vaults me up to 3rd in the standings as we reach the halfway point of this series. 

you thought it would be different this time

 

OEL IMSA GTS1 Series - Round 4 Road America

I was very optimistic about this race because there was a BOP (Balance of Performance) patch coming that promised to get me closer to the pace of them Esperantes. I put in some intense practice sessions with the A-spec to gather some reliable data and find out just how much improved the new car would be. It turned out that the B-spec was almost 2 seconds per lap faster in Road America. Also, based on my test sessions with the AI, I think the Nissan is now the fastest car of the bunch, if only by a slight margin. So, I had no more excuses if I didn't have the speed to keep up with the frontrunners.

Indeed, on Race Day I could match up with Gokhan Kaya and nearly outqualified him. But Elia Tartari once again unleashed his alien velocity and was more than 1 second a lap faster than me. On lap 33 of 45 I was in 2nd, more than 40 seconds behind race leader Elia but about 15 seconds ahead of Gokhan in 3rd. That was when I got disco'ed. Later I found out that Elia's engine had given up on the last lap, gifting Gokhan the victory. 

At least the BOP patch worked well, and I can fight for a race win now. Too bad there are only 2 more rounds remaining in this, the final series from Oldschool Endurance League. 

must be the water

OEL IMSA GTS1 Series - Round 3 Lime Rock

I thought I might be able to keep up with the Esperantes here in Lime Rock given its short layout. But they were more than a second faster per lap and I fell 2 laps behind the leader by the checkered flag. There must be some way to unlock some pace with my car. Maybe I will try a low downforce setup in the next race since I already have the Stability Control active. There was also some talk of a BOP Patch (Balance of Performance) coming up.

luminiferous aether

Virtual Speed Masters F1 2011 WCP Series Round 4 Shanghai

I got a podium finish in Shanghai after starting down in P8. And I also got the Driver of the Day award. I didn't have the pace of the frontrunners, but I managed the tire wear better. With one less pitstop compared to the fast guys and some overtakes early in the race, I was able to move up the order. An encouraging result, especially after I had to sit out the previous round in Sepang due to connection issues. 

clickbait thumbnail

OEL IMSA GTS1 Series - Round 2 Mid Ohio

I gave up trying to figure out the setup for my car in this series and turned on the Stability Control. Instantly the car behaved as expected, I could use the kerbs and take on the bumps without any fear that the car would slide or spin out. And then I felt relaxed, and I could go for the limit and do a hotlap.

But even with the Stability Control helping me, in race trim I was still around 2 seconds slower per lap compared to the Esperantes. They are just plain faster, having more horsepower and with lighter weight. Even in my test sessions with AI drivers, the Panoz was consistently faster than the other available cars.

Not making any excuses though. I know I can win a race in this series if I do my best and get help from circumstances. I mean, I did lead a few laps in the race, but only because the two guys ahead of me on the grid botched their starts. It was only a matter of time before I would get overtaken, but if I drove better and maximized the car's capabilities, I could have kept the lead for longer. In the end, I finished more than 1 lap behind the winner.

press X to doubt

Virtual Speed Masters F1 2011 WCP Series Round 1 Melbourne

I knew coming into this race that I was going to be running at the back because I didn't have the KERS/DRS plugin working. Indeed, I was the slowest guy out there. With tire wear rate at 3X, the conventional strategy was to do 2 pitstops. I planned to do just the 1 pitstop (by running hard compound tires in the second stint) because with my lack of pace there was no chance if I did the same thing as everyone else. It was all moot when I went wide and hit the wall on the opening lap, and I had to immediately take an extra pitstop for repairs. 

I fell way behind, and I didn't have the pace to catch up with the pack. That's when the scanner and the timer started glitching. It seemed a disco was imminent, and I was losing time due to the lag warp. It wasn't crucial when I was a distance away from the other drivers. But when the fast guys caught me up to put me a lap behind it became very dangerous as the cars were blinking in and out.

So, I made the decision to just park and DNF it, but the brakes blew up anyway. I neglected to check that Mechanical Failures were set to Time Scaled, and I did not setup the car for the race distance. Just a lack of preparation and a terrible performance overall. Sucks to be a backmarker again.  

don't judge by the book

I have withdrawn from the AMF GP3 Series. It was fun racing against such a big grid and being seen on a YouTube livestream, but it was also frustrating getting punted off every race. It just wasn't worth all the practice laps to just get crashed by inexperienced and casual drivers.

So instead, I have signed up for Virtual Speed Masters F1 2011 Season. I return to the HRT team that I raced with many years ago. I've done a few shakedown laps and it's been good; except I can't figure out how to make the KERS/DRS plugin work. I'll just make do without it, even though I will be running at a disadvantage. I don't think I'll be at the sharp end in this series. Anyway, it is a long 19-race schedule and there will be plenty of chances to do well against a better grid.

robots and these guys

OEL IMSA GTS1 Series - Round 1 Miller Motorsports Park 

I was way off the pace, almost 3 seconds per lap behind the fast guys. This is the most frustrated I have ever felt trying to setup a car. I just don't feel connected to my car at all. It behaves so unpredictably, particularly over bumps and kerbs. It feels so volatile at the limit. The tail wants to snap and when it does there is little chance to recover. It punishes me for every error. And even when I get it right there is no reward; I'm still slower than my rivals. It doesn't help that the setup parameters have so little range. Minmaxing the values don't seem to affect the car much. I just can't figure it out. Looks like it is going to be a tough series.

top of the sharts

Another crazy race in the AMF GP3 Series. I survived not one but two barrel roll flipovers to finish 3rd out of 25 runners in Round 2 at Bahrain. Damage was set at 50% but I was still very lucky not to lose any wings or wheels in both incidents. I was the second fastest driver all throughout, had qualified 2nd, and should have finished in the same position as well if I had stayed out of trouble.

Lucas Taraciuk took the victory and was comfortably faster than everyone else. He fought a great hotlap duel on the server against Magyar Janosh in the days leading up to the race. Unfortunately, Magyar Janosh (who set the fastest lap time overall after more than 500 practice laps) did not show up for the event.

A fair result for myself I suppose. You can't expect a clean race when it's just a short Sprint against more than 20 other drivers, most of whom seem to be novices that appear to be using keyboards or game controllers. It is still great fun and quite entertaining, but a lot different from the Endurance battles that I favor.

Race Livestream

Race Results

disappearing polymorphs

image from Magyar Janosh

 AMF GP3 League S1 R1 !!!! - YouTube

Result 250112-3Af - GP3 AMF, Melbourne Park Circuit (01 - AUS - Melbourne '15) - VA SERVER 1 - rFactor - Simresults

I signed up as a wildcard for AMF GP3 Series - Round 1 in Melbourne, thinking it was going to be a simple sprint. The car was easy enough to drive and I also knew the track. I didn't expect that there would be over 30 cars coming in and going out during the event. It was the biggest grid I had ever run with in all my years of online sim racing. 

The Practice session went fine. I was able to put in some good laps and tweak my car's setup. There wasn't much traffic on the track, although there were plenty of joins and leaves, and much chatter. The chatbox was a constant, flickering distraction. By the end of the session, I clocked the 3rd fastest lap.

The Qualifying session was much more frantic. With over 30 cars fighting for a good grid position, there was just no space to do a proper flying lap. I couldn't unleash the pace I had found and qualified in 7th position. I could have been as high up as 2nd, had I been able to replicate my fastest practice lap.

The Race was full-on mayhem. There must have been an incident on every lap; cars spinning, bumping, crashing... and even some lag warps and stuttering. I got punted off early on in the opening lap and fell down to 24th. Mired behind the traffic, I couldn't push and had to carefully weave through the slower cars and avoid the numerous incidents happening all over the track. I recovered to 8th place at the checkered flag.

What a wild and wacky race, it reminded me of when I ran on public servers many years ago. It seemed more like an arcade game mad dash than a league sanctioned event. Maybe there should have been a 107% qualifying time cutoff or maybe an entry limit of only the 20 fastest drivers. Anyway, I enjoyed it, all things considered. Maybe I will try again in the next round of this series.

I was very happy to see good old Tripp on the track again. A long time ago, I was feeling low and was considering quitting all of this when I found Tripp's website and joined his league. It renewed my enthusiasm for competition and kept me going on this racing fantasy adventure.

off thick fire

OEL IMSA GTS1 Series - Six races, all on North American tracks, and four cars are available: the Lister Storm GTL Evo, the Lotus Elise GT1-S, the Nissan R390 GT1, and the Panoz Esperante GTR-1. I choose the Nissan because of its Group C foundation and Japanese origination. It is not the fastest car of the bunch; I think that distinction belongs to the Panoz. My estimation is based on the performance of the AI during offline practice.

True enough, in the test race at Sonoma, I am more than 1 second slower per lap compared to Elia Tartari and Gokhan Kaya who both are running Esperantes. So, it seems I am going to have to find something extra and have a bit of luck to win in this series. It doesn't help that I am not familiar with all the tracks on the calendar. Looks like there are a plenty of intense practice sessions ahead. But I got the number 1 on my car this time around and I am confident and ready for this challenge.