Round 2 Montjuich 1975

I made a real mess of qualifying ... crashed under braking for T1 on both runs so I ended up at the back of the grid . Funnily enough my grid spot put me into a great 3-way battle with John and Doni for many laps, the slightest of mistakes by both drivers eventually allowing me past. I then spent a few laps circulating on my own until I lost concentration and had a spin. This allowed Doni to get ahead of me and again I had a great scrap with him until he made friends with the armco and I went by into P7. Then it was a case of trying to be consistent for the last few laps until the chequered flag was waved. All in all it was a satisfying drive on a challenging track. Congrats to Tim, Jukka and Laurent for their podium finishes. As usual I watched Caitlin's video immediately after the race ... another outstanding commentary, I don't know how you do it, Caitlin !

 

Qualified in P3. Quite happy about it since apart from Tim who was just too fast, the qualifying was really close between a lot of drivers.

Phil didn't get away well from the line and I got into P2, followed by Jukka who had a good start as well. In the last corners of the first lap Jukka surprised me by going to the inside early where I usually stay on the outside to turn to the inside later on, which I couldn't do anymore since he was there so I couldn't go full throttle or I would go into the barriers There clearly are some different lines in that part and I tried both his lines and mine later on.. Tim was already almost 2 seconds ahead drifting around corners happily From there on most of my race was within a second of Jukka. In the last sector I was a bit slower and I caught up to him in the twisty first section each time, where there is no room to overtake. When I got close Jukka went to a defensive line just enough so I couldn't position myself to attack. Forcing my way through would have meant contact for sure, and I didn't want to take us both out so I chose to keep putting the pressure on and wait for a mistake which didn't really happen, except maybe some bad exits or small slides I couldn't benefit from. So, well done to Jukka, I really prefer to be chasing myself but when you are looking at the back of the same car for the whole race .. haha. Still glad to finish on the podium !

Well done to Tim ! I read about your calibration issue. Somehow glad that happened or you would have made as all look even more like amateurs Sliding/driting around the corners consistently like he does is an art really. I can't do it myself without crashing every other corner and also often I am slower when I try it. You really have to do it properly to gain time as well. Other than that, I do think there is an issue with the tire drop off on these cars. There seems to be close to none. You can attack the whole race and still set qualy lap times at the end of the race. That is a bit of a pity and different from I think any car in AC.

Also really glad Paul picked up the speed on this one after he wasn't sure why he lost so much time on the Sudschleife. Well done there, you will be with the top runners for the next rounds from now on

First time I drove this track, really fun. Never played GPL as I didn't have a pc back then Next one Horsma is a fictional track, also a nice one though.

 

Thanks Laurent. I put in a load of practice and was surprised to be within touching distance of the podium.

 

Qualification
Think it was a PB and I was 4th. Damnit 5th, Godamit 6th. I was sat in the pits for the last couple of minutes

Race
Got a good start and to be honest I can't remember what happened next. I know that there was a lot of toing and throwing with positions but I'm not sure who I was battling. Got into 4th and had a bit of pressure for a number of laps until I looked back and there were no cars near me so I guess some problems for the guys behind. I concentrated on keeping my times in the low 1:32's or high 1:31's. Towards the end I noticed a car behind me so someone was closing in but they stayed a couple of seconds behind. Sorry I haven't got a clue who I was racing or who the guy behind me was. I find the onscreen leader board is crap. Way too much info. I just need a HUD like rFactor which simply shows the names not a load of info I have no interest in knowing. Is there a better AC app out there? I'm new to AC racing although I've had this sim for years I've never really got into racing in anger with it so I'm still trying to set things up.

Well done Tim. Slow done a bit mate this is getting embarrassing
Well done Jukka and Laurent for your podiums
Well done to all who finished and commiserations to those that didn't

Onto a race track I've never even heard of let alone race at so it will be interesting to find out what type of track it is.

Can any of us catch Tim?

Edit : Should have watched the video before I did my write as it showed who I was fighting. Great commentary by Caitlyn but can you show other cars in race rather than concentrating on one. Also shame about them skins not that I know which one I'm allocated another weirdo anomaly with AC.

 

As different as it may be, it's actually pretty much correct for the period - the only thing that will slow you down over the course of the race is overheating the tire and causing it to over-pressure.
Back in the 60's is was not uncommon for teams to run the same tires for an entire season, slicks only came about as a result of people noticing the cars started going faster on the worn out old tires that were running out of tread
And once slicks were invented it became possible to make tires softer as you no-longer had to worry about the tread falling apart (plus rubber tech was progressing rapidly due to ever faster cars of the period).

If the AC F1 content from the 60's wears out faster (I've not done a long enough session in an official AC lotus or Ferrari) then it's probably simulating modern 'historic' compounds which are decidedly grippier and more advanced than the real tires of the 60's!
In interviews Geoff Crammond specifically stated that they didn't bother implementing tire wear into GPL for this very reason - the game can simulate punctures, and also mechanical failures to a far greater level than AC does though (one of the reasons GPL is still going strong I think).

I've just watched the replay of the start of the race. Looks like I missed out on a lot of fun.
Jukka gets driver of the day for his start - 5th to nearly 2nd before the 1st corner, and sneaking into 2nd before the end of the lap!
Gutting for Fabri, after Phil bogged down he got mugged by most of the grid - good effort fighting back up the field again.

Also very pleased to see Doni getting to grips with these cars, looking at his lines and gearing it's obvious he's a GPL'er

Anyway, I've chucked a short vid of my qualifying together for those who are interested in how I made the speed here. I also grabbed a couple of shots from early on where most of the grid is still together.
I honestly don't know how those 2 laps are so fast, they're scrappy as anything - more rally driving than grand prix driving. Early in qually I had some beautiful smooth laps that were upto half a second quicker - but they always ended in a locked wheel or too large a slide... Shame, as they're much more satisfying to watch.

The exit from T1 on the first lap.


Laurent's stock view for nearly the entire race!

 

It was me.
After a hard Qual (close lap-times), I started from 4th position. I went in the funnel of the first corner and lost a lot of positions. I find myself 7th and during the race I can make two overtakes. In the end I had Paul into my gunsight, but he was quite distant and was going fast enough. So I finished 5th.
A shame, with my pace I could aim for the podium.

Unfortunately, I continue have disconnections from server, even though my internet line is perfect. This time I was lucky it happened before the start and I managed to join in time for the start.
Does anyone have ideas for the solution?

 

Great fun dashing about Montjuich! I'm starting to learn more about the sim and the McLaren M2B. I actually got to within three seconds of Tim's best lap. Lordy! Grats on a fine win, Tim! Well done to Jukka for P2 and to Laurent for a close P3. I must go back into my replay cap and watch that close finish.

I got into a splendid little punch-up with Bill & John in the early laps. That was keen if a little tense. The order only changed when one of us would capitalize on the error of the other. And there were plenty. I drilled a few barriers along the route with the last causing substantial damage that had the steering cocked well off-centre. I pitted hoping for a repair but I don't know how to invoke that or even if it's at all possible. Gave it one more lap before deciding to retire. Fun while it lasted!

I recognized Bill's name in the entry prior to the race from a previous life but can't quite place it. Perhaps GTL? Good sharing the road with you again, Bill!

 

RaceConnect, Doni ... and good to cross swords with you again too, Sir

 

Thanks for congrats and kind words from you Tim After shocking bad qually, start was really special one, maybe one of my best starts. But I think it is not enough to take driver of the day from you Tim. You just crushed us all. Paul, I can try to catch Tim if I get little faster car I mean I just barely could beat him last season on car that was faster (what I have heard from specialist, I am so slow learning new car to test them against each other that I can´t really test it myself) that I think it will be hard to beat him on same equipment. Hoping (praying) that Tim was so overpowered on this track because this track was so twisty and suitable for his unbelievable drifting skills (I am really poor drifter) and that I can give at least some challenge on other tracks. I have never driven GPL (which is shame that I stopped driving just when it came, on my first simracing stint) and have only some years with these cars so I am really pleased if I can keep up at Tims pace at all. Laurent was really giving me pressure all race long and couple of times when I touched a wall slightly I thought he will get me but luckily that didn't happened. Good job on keeping it contact free Laurent for 45min of so close racing *I take my hat off*.

Are you using teamspeak when racing Fabrizio. I have started to think that teamspeak is giving trouble with my motion simulator (or motion cancellation to be exact) and when I spoke about this on x-simulator forum someone said that he has also noticed lag on game when using teamspeak.

 

No, I don't use teamspeak or other programs when I'm racing. Maybe my computer is only too old.
In any case when I played at air simulators, I used constantly teamspeak and I had no troubles.