rFactor 2 Round 4 Hungaroring - Sun Aug 6, 2023

Not sure why but I was unable to change the tires with "no change" being the default. I decided that the tires were done and so was I.

 

Little race recap. And Q where my run was great, purple on 1st and 3rd sector but lost half a second in 2nd. Just couldnt find and feel the grip, felt like floating. Same rhing in race.
I was set for dry, dont know if it makes a difference that much anyhow.
Plan was to go without a stop and at 25minutes gone by, all looked ok. Few moments later front left looked at 35% so guessed gotta stop aswell. Dont know where suddenly lost big chunk of tyre. So probably braking too hard fo a awhile.
After pit it was a blast to race for those spots of 3 - 6. Lots cars around and water spraying everywhere. That and the fact that everyone around me really pro guys so it was most of the fun.
Was hard to see so note to myself to pump up graphics for these wet races. I got details pretty low since most of the graphics dont really need on normal conditions.
In the end had no fuel issues, only 38 liters of surplus. Apparenty we at G.E.A.R have things ok and dont have be so tight with budget.
@Neil Wood awesome drive and driver of the day for me as everyone can relate that race winner was just too fast today

 

Stream VOD

I did a little practice for this one, was a little worried of keeping up with all the sweeping corners. I was also a little concerned thinking there might be a drying line near the end of the race. I left my strategy options open and tried to think all my options through.

Got off the line pretty well and braked when the others did... well at least I think cars were there, just a wall of spray and red lights! How does anyone do this in real life?! Someone decided the pack slowing in front was the perfect opportunity to make it 4 wide and pushed up the inside. I let them have it and held my inside mid line through the first turn. Seemed to exit unscathed... RESULT!!! In the pack of cars and spray going up to the fast left on the top of the hill, FPS was BAD! I would be glad when the field thinned a bit. Was this unoptimised track perhaps? Might need to turn some settings down in future wet races.

In the early laps I found myself in a gaggle of cars, not too much pressure from behind. Kept my pace I wanted to do and observed the action ahead. I was extremely lucky in the early laps watching a car spin in front and I missed them.

I could see a few battles and also some tyre slipped. I did my best not to fall into the trap of doing the same and sized up my opponents. The gaps would open a close whenever a move didn't happen with the cars ahead. It actually got to a point where the cars ahead were holding me up! We closed up the gaps and we entered the fast left hander at the top of the hill. I think one car must have got on the kerb and ended up spinning to the left. The car ahead seemed to get fixated on their rear and followed them left. I was so close when all this checking up happened I needed to make a choice. Either brake really hard behind and possibly ruin the tyres or move into the open space on the right. I breathed in and thankfully got through unscathed again!!

Got a nosebleed from being so high up in the running order at half distance and drivers began to pit. I kept an eye on those around me and if they were pitting, I didn't have the pace or laptimes for the top 5 or so. Up to second and closing in on a car chewing it's tyres and again I was able to make it passed. Into the lead!!!!

I kept an eye on the relative times and watched the cars on new tyres making their way through but the time was ticking down. I was able to keep my pace relatively stable. Previous leader made their way past, there was no way I could defend with such a pace difference. Looking again at the relative and the time left, tried to keep concentrated on keeping it all together. Crossed the line 2nd!! I am really proud of that finish!

Spa next time... kinda bored of that place. Will we get rain? Or perhaps a mix of rain and dry? Should be interesting!!

 

Yup. There were 2 or three corners like that. Seems to be a problem with inconsistent track limits on all SRH tracks i've raced recently.
[Got a drive thru at Monaco when i cut the chicane to avoid hitting Neil, +2pts even though i waited for him to go by before i got back on the gas. The points had been building at that chicane thru the race, for any touch of the orange sausage curb, and the swimming pool where you've already hit a wall if all four are beyond the line.]

 

Beyond that...
Spent some time trying to get the graphics right. After Silverstone, i now know what a wet track is supposed to look like. You could see the wet on the road and you could see the dry line forming. Here, i couldn't get any of that, just a flat black surface and spray. This isn't another dig at SRH, but Silverstone was the first track i've raced that seemed optimized for S397's rain graphics and i was impressed.

Once qualy began i realized that the number of drivers that had joined since i'd last been on the track was causing a big hit to my fps and wheel feedback, so i left to tweak my settings lower. Sorry to all for any lag when i rejoined, but i just didn't have any feel for the track as it was and it was much better after.

At green i got a good start for a change and gained a couple positions in the first few corners. When it became apparent that i wasn't going to be able to pass anyone, i just settled in and tried to preserve my tires. It was going to be close on wear, assuming the track didn't dry enough to require slicks, i didn't know what the fall off was going to be like and i could see the guys ahead were beginning to struggle a bit.

Would have liked to get a fresh set of tires when the leaders did, but just didn't have enough gap, or pace, to pull it off. When Bradley and Toni caught up there was no point trying to defend. So I was just managing the gap John and was almost caught out by Kahel's pace once he got passed into 6th.

Well done on the broadcast, Rob.
Fun race!

 

The track limits are highly variable, monaco was a TL fest whilst hungaroring was nothing at all even when running wide (maybe because it was wet).

I have to ask john, why did you choose 60 mins for race length when the real thing is only 30-40 mins, I don't think the tyre life was designed with that length of race in mind. It stands in contrast to other championships like LMP3 Cup that are shorter than real race length, just wondered why.

 

lol I was sweating enough in the last one with Toni on my ass with just 60 mins, its good for lmp3 but for other championships centered around the sprint format it may be wise to make sure the tyres can handle the length so it does not turn into a purely tyre preservation competition.

 

Are you guys doing a rain setup or do you use the dry setup??

 

Adjust for rain.

 

I had it for dry

 

With rain I put wing at maximum value, if it had been dry I would have put less wing (about 8 - 10). Also I raised the car a little, less camber and softer suspensions

 

This Hungaroring is not too bad. Bit bright at midday though! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3014968490