A-1 Ring Special - Post Race

[Ced Collins]

Ok I have to admit this one started out with a lot of doubt. People getting dropped joining, etc. Then the weirdness. Usually servers have an issue when more people join. When this one hit 18, all the weirdness stopped....Game On.

The qual speeds were insane. I have to commend those that made the quick jump and setup changes to get their SP1 cars ready. Mark in the 1:18's and Terry, Rick, Sandy and Rob in the 1:19's.

This was going to be a good one. And it was. For my race it was interesting running the old P1 spec and barely being able to keep up with the new P2 Spec. So I had some fun in the back of the pack all race long. Getting all I could out of that thing...lol.

Had some great battles with Gary and Mark L late and Susan and James early on.

Great Race Everyone.

[rickrey]

Wow 3 things about this race, besides it being LONG AS HELL with my fore arms trying to cramp, and me reminding myself to not grip the wheel to tight. The last 15 mins was, RUFF, sitting up trying to help my poor back, man I need to build a nice rig, this long stuff is killer
1. First and foremost. (THANK YOU) to ALL the drivers that gave passing room, I really do wish we could all be in a bar so I could buy a round, you all were GREAT!!!!
2. I owe Scotti L. a Big apology I had a run on you and did not think I clipped you, it was close, but I thought you had spun it, but on replay, I clearly tapped you and should have waited , till you got going, that was my fault Scotti and I am sorry for that.. Also Sandy, for collecting us both in that trap, you had nowhere to go.
3. The misfortunes of others helped me again, Mark was super fast and would have been tuff to beat, but he blinked out at the start and did not reappear. Rob, not sure what happened there but I saw his car flipping around on replay. Sandy hounded me , dang seems like the whole race, Great drive Sandy R . and to Scott the P2 terminator, for another class win
Thanks again All for the passing room..............

[Bob"oldnslo"Roberson]

I think I had everything go wrong that could. Got a great start and enjoyed some close racing for a while. Then my downshifting problem reared its ugly head. I kept pumping my shifter but to no avail. It would come and go. Made it really rough trying to race. Then I started losing power. Looking in my rear view mirrors showed me my problem. I was overheating and smoking like a teenager trying to look cool. Cars kept catching me and it was all I could do to hang on.
To top it all I had planned my fuel for one hour ....duh........so I had to make an extra pit stop.
But..................after all that ...........this was the most fun I've had in ages.
The P1 drivers commented on how we backmarkers gave them plenty of room ...well I'd like to thank them for being patient and not running over us.

[scotti]

Wow! Now that was fun! Had a great race, Had nothing for ScottR tho too heavy with the 1 stop routine..... Backmarkers were great as usual, no issues except the nudge I gave Susan, my apologies Rick, no prob....thought I spun it too although I thought you were ScottR....wondered how he caught up so fast
Overall a great race, 1.5 hrs is a likable stint for me, maybe not for others.....
See ya at next one...

[JABowders]

Red Weasel Racing Reports

Race Line: A1 Ring

What a weekend. The Red Weasels showed up early to enjoy the Austrian weather and beir, but also we wanted to do systems tests to ensure we had all your Weasels in a row.

Early on, Bob came over to our trailer and we sat and talked and shared a little insight with his car chief, and in a very short time he was able to field a Porsche Spyder EVO for the big show. Matter of fact just about all the teams did some testing with the newer cars. And with retrospect maybe the Rodents Warriors should have done it to.

But it was my decision to race what we brought to the dance and so we did. Mister Jerry Rigg did a fine job of putting a good setup under us and to prove it Miss Susan Qualified better than I did. But then I overheard her later talking to Gas Man Phil A. Tank for getting her fuel level just right to make to run she wanted to make. I opted for Qualifying heavy, just to get a feel for any last minute changes to the track, and lucky I did T3 was a bit slippery.

The Weasel’s race was OK, another issue at the start that caused my to stand on my binders but too late to not do damage to my splitter as I thunked the Weasel Wench as all sorts of chaos broke out in front of us as we tried to get off the line.

Within a few laps all was well and we gained a number of spots as other drivers were eager to push a little too hard in the opening laps, allowed the slow Weasels to scamper past and start to settle into mid pack spots.

I was able to get my slow Porsche up to P8 prior to my pit stop, I headed in two laps early due to noticeable degradation of my tires, Miss Susan had had some issues early on and had to stop to repair a little damage. And with my stop I forgot to tell the Wild Weasel Bunch to ignore the damage and just give me the tires and fuel so I ended up loosing an additional 35 or so seconds sitting in the Pits, luckily I had a nice cool drink and something to read as the mechanics repaired the nose damage to the number 92 Weasel ride.

With my mid race pit stop performed it was now going to be just a nice afternoon drive to the end, it would get a bit exciting for Miss Susan having to pit again late in the race for fuel, a residual effect for pitting early. As for me I was able to claim a spot from Tom as he too had a late race stop, and as he exited Pit Road he was breathing hot and heavy down my neck, and at speed I was able to hold him at bay as he waited for his tires to get to temperature, unfortunately it was with only five or six minutes remaining and I was concerned that my rears were starting to show cords, so with two laps to go I slid to the side and let Tom have the spot, I just didn’t have the tread left to fend him off. Lucky for me as I crossed the line I check my tire status and both my rears were down to half a block and red. I’m afraid had I pushed it for those last two laps I would have crossed the line with only rear tire residue flapping as I would be limited to flopping my way to a finish. So instead, I drove a pair of easy laps and finished in style.

And yes, it was an enjoyable race, even if we had no way of being competitive with the faster SP1 cars.

Thanks for the racin’, see you next time.

James
Head Weasel

[RobGuru]

Ugh... I mean just mo' freakin' Ugh!

I found the handle on the car during the pre-race official test and really started to get comfortable with the Pug. It seems to take a couple specific driving habits to allow it to really go.

Qualified P5 with a lap in the 19s as Ced mentioned. Promoted to P4 when Mark disco'ed at the start, and I guess I got into P3 by T1. Rick and Sandy drove away from me a little bit while I edged away from the leading P2 cars. Once settled in, I was able to keep a 3-4 second gap to Rick and Sandy, which I was happy with as I just wanted to go real easy the first stint... conserve some fuel and manage tire wear to ensure that I could do a one stopper. Rick and Sandy then got together, which promoted me to the lead. Sandy got close with Rick immediately in tow, and we ran a bunch of laps pretty much nose to tail. I guess Rick and Sandy both had additional slip as I edged out to a 10 second lead at about the 30 minute mark or so. Looking really good... good fuel readings and nice balanced tire wear.

Then... D - I - S - A - S - T - E - R !!!

Same thing happend as during the Interlagos round. My screen went blank although the game didn't crash. I was on the front straight at the time, so I tried to edge right and hold there, but of course I couldn't see anything so didn't know where I was. I sincerely hope I didn't collect anyone or end up in a dangerous location. I didn't hear any loud crunches so I think everything was OK. So, electronics problem puts me out of a comfortable lead. UGH!!

For Ced, this was a problem on my end, not the server end. It's likely the nVidea graphics problem that many guys experience in rFactor. I've had occasional problems before, but have been pretty stable for a year except the two PORRS complete graphic crashes. I'll probably try the current drivers to see what happens. So, no need for you to troubleshoot anything on the server end related to my demise.

Grats to everyone for putting on a good show... which I coulda made it to the finish!

Rob

[scottr]

;D Quixotic Racing wins big. Congratulations to Rick on his successful conversion to P1. Yes after getting bumped off the server twice in practice I was nervous about the race but it was all smooth. Unless that is what got Mark the server seemed solid for the race.
At the start the smoke was thick and Bob got the jump on me. Scotti and the Capt were close behind. I had planned 2 stops and run medium tires so I settled in to get them up to temp. About lap 3 I turned up the boost and started working on Bob. I had a ton of down force so passing down the straights was hard. I finally out braked him and did a fender scraper pass. I was fast enough in the twistys to pull out a gap and get into cruise mode. After the first pit I was back to 7th but soon cycled back up to 5 th. I'm not sure who pitted or dropped but I soon was showing in 4 th and stayed there till the end.
The Evos do seem to be the best of the p2s not so much that they are better than the pre patch cars more that the patch changed all the old car settings and made them slower. I never could get the Courage back up to speed. The Evo is sweet handling as a Porsche should be but its gonna make the field all Germanic. OK by me they all kind of look alike anyway. See ya ll in Portugal

[markurban]

Congrats to Quixotic guys on their double wins!!!

The night started out a bit flakky with 2 CTDs early in the practice session, but it settled down after that so I figured I was good to go.

Got in a good practice session where I learned a bit about the new Audi and was able to find a setup I could get around the track at a good pace. I knew during the race it was going to be a bit tricky as the car was tail happy exiting the second and third right hand corners, so I worked on rolling onto the throttle exiting those during quals and the car really responded to it.

Filled her up with fuel and rolled to the grid, P1. The green dropped and I got away well then the world ended. Disco...night over....at least I got to eat dinner a bit earlier than I expected.