Assetto Corsa Round 3 Watkins Glen

Really enjoyed last nights race, great car/track combination, really showed how each car generates its lap time in a different way. Had a poor qualifying and managed to blow my engine by running wide over the kerb coming out of the last corner so started down the order.

Made a pretty good start and picked off a few places then got into a really good battle with Stef in the Ferrari (sorry for spinning in front of you @Stef Williams!). Managed to pull a gap until I stopped, I then rejoined behind @Philipp Pichler and @Yusuf Macit and the three of us had a great battle which faded to just me and Yusuf which was one of the best battles I've ever had in Sim Racing, very fair and clean (sorry for the one tap on the straight - i was looking in one mirror and you were in the other!), even managed to pull of a sneaky round the outside move at one pint which was great fun! Congrats to the podium and thanks to John for organizing and the commentary team for the stream, really looking forward to the next race!

 

Yeah dude, especially the side by side with double contact in the middle of the S .... that was awesome

 

Gutted....
So, started in P13 or so as I didn't get many clean laps in quali. I think if I'd matched my PB I would have been a few places higher, but no matter, I got my head into the game, and managed to pick up a few places to about 10th after lap 1.
My main focus was staying on track and waiting for others to make mistakes, and there were quite a few offs in front of me, including @Nathan Lockie and @Ricardo Carvalho I think. Got slightly tagged by Nathan but nothing major, and also had one mistake of my own where I smacked into the wall at the chicane. Fortunately no damage and not much time lost... After his spin, Nathan caught up again quite quickly but I managed to hold him off for a while until a mistake at T7 meant I went wide and he snuck round the inside. By this stage my tires were completely shot and we were almost at the halfway mark, so I decided to change tactics: I was going to go in a bit early and switch to hards to try and make sure they lasted the rest of the race. I think I've also figured out exactly how much fuel to put in at the pit, so I was hoping to be around P8/9 for the last half of the race.
Unfortunately, I was concentrating so much on messing with my pit controls that I came into the pits too hot... When the pit limiter kicked in, I was going too fast and POP! went the engine.... Managed to freewheel to the pits, but the repair countdown was barely moving... Reset and the penalty was 20 minutes controls locked (which is a pretty impressive time in which to replace an entire engine), but there was nothing else I could do.
At this stage, the eldest boy (5) came into the room, still not asleep and demanding a story, so off I went to be dad. I did actually check back in after he was asleep. My repairs were done, and there was about 8 mins to run, but I didn't come back out. I was a bit deflated.
Still, live and learn. Next time, slow down before the pits. I'm even wondering whether I should just go to neutral, if possible. May risk a penalty, but that's better than a blown engine, I reckon. Anyway, put it behind you Stef. Move on. Next up, Atlanta.

Also, another shout out to @Joshua Penny and the commentating team. It's so good to watch back the race and see what else has been going on. Just a shame you can't see the whole race and replay the off-camera bits.

 

I asked myself something similar, so I tried before the race to provocate a penalty. And I really entered the pit with full throttle in third gear but apart from locking up nothing happend.
This makes me curious how you managed that. Shifting down probably? (Which I did only after the limiter slowed my car down) Because thats the only way I know to kill an engine in AC.

 

I think I must have done. I was so busy messing with the pit window that I don't really know what I did.