rFactor 2 Round 2 Spa

Other than a couple of quick test laps when originally setting this race up for wet conditions, I hadn't done any practice or setup work until getting on the server around 45m before Qualifying. Considering this and that none of my BVR Team mates had done any testing either, so had no setup ideas/tips to share, my guesswork and a few changes did give me something that strangely I could feel a bit better than the dry race at Hochkenheim. I still had to drive at 90-95% though in the wet conditions to keep a handle on things.

At the start I was able to put some pressure on Mark in 3rd place, such that I got a little extra speed through Eau Rouge and managed to sneek past halfway up the Kemmel straight. Not knowing whether a stop for tyres would be needed or not, I played a waiting game and tried to not let Flaviu pull out a significant gap. I was probably a bit lucky as Mark had a moment and dropped back, but that let Viktor through and added some new pressure for me to not let him get too close.

During the race there seemed to be odd moments when the rain appeared to ease a little bit, which was odd as the server settings where for it to be exactly the same throughout the race. The rF2 weather system divides the race up into 5 segments, so variability can be built in, so I'm wondering if, although our settings were the same for all segments, there is some minor transition blip when the weather moves from segment to segment. It was noticeable to me, but it wasn't too severe to cause a big problem. Of course it could've just been my imagination all along .

In the final quarter of the race I was able to close up a bit on Flaviu, but grats to him he drove brilliantly and didn't wilt or make a mistake under the pressure. My rear tyres wore more than the fronts and were Red by the end, so I did have to be a little more cautious in the final 10 mins or so. Overall 2nd place was a big fillip for me after a bit of a disappointing 1st race and being held in the wet made it feel even better .

I'd be interested to here from more of you how you liked/disliked the weather as it could possibly be incorporated for the odd race in other series in future.

 

I like the occassional rain. I think every series should have at least one rain event with no TC or ABS

 

Masochist!