Got a new wheel! ... so I should be able to join in time for Lime Rock! (if I can get my membership back up and running on time)

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"The sport is more important than anything. More important than any of the people in it." - Gilles Villeneuve

That's great Rejean. Let us know if you run into any problems.

GT3 Mid Ohio results posted.The new GT3 season results can be found at
http://www.danlisa.com/scoring/season_s ... on_id=4635

First round of the new season last night. It was quite an adjustment to jump into the GT3 cars after driving the slower cars all
summer. Good thing we picked an easy track to start off. The Skippy series starts up next Tuesday at LRP.

Video from Race 1 (when it's done uploading)

Great video Ken! You need Trading Paints though.

I had a lot of fun. I miss iRacing after taking the whole summer off.

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Thought you car looked a little bland Scott.

Skip Barber results for Lime Rock park posted. Congrats to John and Jeff on the wins last night. Good to see Reg join in. The results can be found at:
http://www.danlisa.com/scoring/season_s ... on_id=4652

Couldn't seem to lap consistently last night. Car seemed to push on exit. Played around with John's setup had used at VIR and then tried Jeff's and Art's but couldn't seem to keep the car from pushing wide on a lot of the corners (thanks for sharing guys). Keith and I had a good scrap at the start of the first race but after a few laps he just started pulling away, and Rejean was keeping me honest. In the last few last Reg was starting to get closer with the gap less than a second at the line.

Second race started off even better as Jeff, John, Art and I mixed. Was as high as second at one point but then lost ground as John and Art made their way through. We went side by side over the the hill and on to the front straight at one point which gave Jeff a healthy lead. After that though just couldn't seem to put in a decent lap which wasn't helped by drifting through T1 a few times. Hit the grass doing that once and spun which let Keith by.

Road Atlanta next week in the GT cars, then to VIR Grand West in the Skippys.

GT Road Atlanta results posted.

Congrats to Scott on the wins. Welcome to Michael.

Road Atlanta is usually a bit challenging but it seemed a little extra tricky last night as the grip wasn't consistent. Had problems getting a clean lap in both qualifying sessions. Started practice with the setup Art shared last race and it seemed ok but was off the pace, then tried the one he shared last night and while quicker is was a handful. Expect there was a lot less wing. The race started off with John and I not trying to run over Art who was relatively slow in a straight line. After getting by Art, John was putting on the pressure and got by but then had a spin near pit in. After that was fairly lonely, but towards the end the grip seemed to go away. The car got unsettled a few time near the connector road which sent it out into the gravel a couple times. This let Jeff through and Ryan just a second or two back. Eased the car around the last few laps so not to lose any more spots.

Second race was a little better. Turned on TC and added a bit more rear wing (I think Hole 2 is more wing than Hole 1, wish they would say that in the tips rather than more wing angle mean more downforce). After the first lap it was just Scott and I out front. Managed to stay within drafting range for most of the race so it was just Scott giving me a tow Then on the last lap I lost the backend near the connector road. Just got the car up to speed as John came along. Thought he might draft by on the back straight, but a little wiggle from him meant that I finished 0.5s ahead.

VIR Grand West next week and then VIR Full in the GT cars.

I am enjoying the strategy and thinking that comes with the new tire model and the dynamic tracks. It certainly makes you think of calming down, because if you keep cooking it your tires are going to lose their grip, and then you're in the sh!t.

The good thing is if you pull back a bit and drive a calm, clean lap then you can usually get your grip back. I did that when fighting with Jeff because I was overdriving and then I lost any grip I had. I cooled it off for a lap and a half, and then I went for it.

Yes, you can really feel it when you overheat the tires by pushing too hard. The long sweeping turn 1 is probably the worst. Overheat the tires there and it can take a few laps for them to come back down to optimal temps.

That's one thing I've learn while practicing this week... If the car starts to understeer, back off and let the tires come back to you. Don't try to force the car to turn or you'll just make things exponentially worse.

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Skip BArber VIR Grand West results posted.

John and I picked up the wins last night.

Didn't realize that we were going to be using every inch of VIR last night until practice. While it all looked familiar it was hard to put together a clean lap, especially at some of the connector roads. One spot was giving me problems, so instead of taking another 3 minutes to go around to try it again I just drove back on the grass to take another crack at it. First time I got a "wrong way" and a black flag. Second time I got a "wrong way" and a DQ. Luckily I know the admins well so got that cleared before qualifying.

Have to thank Art for the race 1 win. He seemed to hold up the pack in turn 1 at the start, and then was kind enough to take John out before the end of the first lap. Jeff trying to launch off the grid in neutral probably didn't hurt either. After that Jeff would close in to 3-4 s during the race and then drop back again.

Second race was a bit more exciting. Art got the jump on John at the start so got to watch John work his way back around. Then took advantage of Art's highly varied approach to T3 to move into second. However it didn't last long as seems Art couldn't find his brake marker while looking through my rear wing. Limped around to the pits and came out over a minute behind Randy. I don't know if letting him know I was chasing him had any affect or not, but shortly after Randy was making his way to the pits. Tried the same thing with Keith but wasn't as effective (though did notice he didn't record a fast lap that race). Found Art waiting just before the line to let me have the spot back, but instead I slowed and pushed him across the line. The server didn't even record a 0x despite pushing him fairly hard for several car lengths.

Back at VIR next week in the GT cars.

GT VIR results posted.

Congrats to Jon on the wins.

Bit of a rough night. The MP4 didn't seem to want to turn and the RUF wanted to turn even when I didn't want it to. Punted Art and John in the race.Early on I was expecting Art to get on the gas coming out of T1 but didn't realize he wasn't until it was too late. Late in the race I ran over John when I didn't allow for the slower cornering speed of the Mclaren. After letting John by took the opportunity to let Art by as well. Almost hit Art again in the second race for a similar reason in T3, and had to take to the grass to avoid. Did have good scraps with Tom both races that were incident free, and was good to see him on the podium for the first race. Hopefully it will be a little cleaner when we get to Monza. Less difference between the cars and a little more grip wouldn't hurt.

Skippys at Road Atlanta next week.

Monza GT results posted.

Art and I came away with wins last night. Though most of that seemed to be down to car choice as the RUF had about a 2s advantage over the other cars. Kind of curious as to why. The BMW and McLaren seemed fairly equal, and for the brief bit I was following John in R1 the straight line speed seemed to be the same. At VIR the BMW and RUF seemed close, but the McLaren struggled. For what it's worth I gained over a second using Art's low downforce setup, compared to the one that had used at VIR.

The start of R1 was exciting as John managed to get in between Art and I. Was short lived though as found myself facing John's car going backwards through one of the chicanes on the first lap. After that drama there was about a 5s gap to Art that couldn't seem to close that down, so that's where we finished. Good to see everyone get through that first chicane at the start.

For R2 managed to stay close to Art at the start, and then got by after he had a course cut at a chicane. Over the next 5 laps he was trying to find a way by, but he had a few wiggles and then a mishap with a barrier which dropped him back a bit. Then he must have had a bigger one as he dropped back to just in front of Keith. Almost drove off a few times watching the monitor to see if Keith and then Tom would catch Art.

Summit in the skippys next week should be fun. Then Okayama in the GT cars. If anyone has chance to try the BMW, McLaren and RUF there let us know how they compare.

GT Okayama results posted.

It's getting bad when I can win both races.

Grid size had a large part in that. Only 5 drivers for the first race, and then Keith disappeared for the second bringing us down to 4. Good thing qualifying was reasonably tight. Jeff, Art and I were only separated by a few tenths for both races, and Tom wasn't too far off for the second race. The first race Art and Jeff kept each other busy in the opening lap to let me pull out a small lead. Jeff then kept me honest for the entire race, just waiting for a mistake. Second race I made a poor start so was in the middle of a 3 wide going into T1. Somehow came out ahead by T2. Was short lived as in the second lap I was watching Jeff have a spin getting on to the back straight and then almost lost it myself. Did end up on the grass which let Art into first and Tom right on my tail. Chased down Art after a few laps and just as started to get close he had a moment on the infield section. After that it was a bit lonely. Tom was kept busy as Art and then Jeff chased him down after their spins.

Monza Jr next week in the skippys and then the last GT race of the season at Suzuka GP.

We should soon start talking about what we want to do for next season. Would a change in cars help with attendance? A different night maybe? ( mind you if we switch from Tuesdays I might start showing up at some of the club meetings. )

I can only speak for myself, but I love having the GT cars as an option. I run them normally so that lines up well. Realistically it has nothing to do with the Regulars as to why I've been absent, I've barely played iRacing at all over the last while. This is just down to higher priority commitments that I simply couldn't get around.

The day works well when I can manage it, and the car choices are good. I've never been a huge fan of the Skippy, and I bet we could convince Scott to show up more often if we dropped the Star Mazda into the rotation

For me it's just been an absence of time, not car selection nor day-of-week.

Hope to become more regular in the near future.

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Me too. Although I do favour the Star Mazdas...

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Jay Barthelotte

I think of the open wheelers the SM is the best bang for buck car in the group, though it will be interesting to see how the Formula Renault cars come out.

My main problem is time as well. I haven't touched iRacing since last winter some time. I play hockey Tues and Thurs, so those are out. I don't really know which night I could use up for a 'scheduled' event. I would like to get back into the swing of it though.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

The Renaults might be good as new cars always generate some interest. They announced another GT3 car is in the works, Audi R8 LMS, but doubt it will be released by next season

BTW I expect Scott will be switching over to the MX-5s.

The R8 LMS Ultra and the Mercedes SLS AMG are set to be released in the March build. They might get the Nuremburgring and the MP4-30 in to the build next month.

Cool. The ring could keep us busy for a while:
Another piece of content that will be shipping in the December build is a track you might have heard of called the Nürburgring. We will be releasing the Nordschleife and GP Strecke as two separate tracks, but if you have both you will be able to combine them as into one long circuit as used in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring. All told, the tracks will have 12 different layouts including the “Tourist configuration” which we will use in a hot lapping competition when the tracks are released.

The full course might be good for a hangover challenge event new years day.

Suzuka GT3 Results posted

Both SMI drivers were very solid last night with Art on point and Randy on the podium both races.

Wasn't sure what to expect from the race as it's a hard track to be consistent on as there are so many places where it's easy to make a mistake. Didn't have to wait long for the first one as coming out of T1 saw John's car off near the wall on the right and just as thought it was safe to gas past it shot across the track right in front of me. Was surprised the car still drove straight after a T bone like that. Had a good scrap with Tom after that. He seemed quicker on the straights and through the kink, but would catch him in the twistier stuff. Good fun until he ran out of track. Caught Jeff and Randy near the end but wasn't going to be easy to get by. Jeff put 2 wheels off at one point which let me through to Randy, but it was short lived as I fell off with just over a lap to go.

Pole for R2 didn't last long as Art went by on the inside of T1. Think I was keeping him honest though as they first few laps we were lapping faster than our qualifying times. We both made a few little errors but nothing that allowed a pass or more than a 2 s gap. With just a couple laps to go I got a wiggle coming up through the S's which resulted in a slow down penalty by the time I gathered it up. Good fun though up til then.

That wraps up the GT series for this season. Spa next week will wrap up the skippy series. Time to sort out what we were doing for a fun run on Dec 15th.

We are going to have a non-points "funrun" on Dec 15th at the usual time and format using the (free) 2011 IRL car at Spa (the iRacing Indy series is running the newer DW12 @ Spa that week). We will likely pick a fixed setup to use since those cars can be challenging to setup. Probably something like the medium DF road setup. If you have a good stable setup for the car/track please share it and that may be the one we use.

I was going to suggest the Lotus 79 at Monza, but this works too! Hopefully I will be able to make it for the fun run, as I was always intrigued by the Indycar (mostly because of my failed season in it).

Bring on the spins!

iracing servers were down last night. Seems they had issues with the new build, or were simply overwhelmed by the number of people trying to download the Nurburgring.

Hope to see a few out for the funrun next week with the old indycars at Spa.

For anyone that is planning to run the old indycars at Spa Tuesday night the server is set to use the iracing supplied Medium Downforce setup.

Even with full downforce that thing can bite some viciously. It will be fun to see how we get on!

Oh, and you should note: we're doing a rolling start to add to the mahem and the pitin chicane is quite tight 2x2, what could go wrong?

Heh. I just performed a massive update. I haven't turned iRacing on since last winter!

I'm excited about the Nurburgring and some of the new cars. Before I make a purchase, have you guys talked about what we're doing for the next series?

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Jay Barthelotte

Last we talked about it, it was looking like Star Mazdas and GT3s. We had also kicked around doing a funrun with the Nurburgring on New Years day.

Good fun last night. Congrats to Paul and Jim on the wins. Great to see a few more drivers out.

I wasn't sure I was going to make the race. The wind knocked the power out after supper and it came back on with about 10 minutes left in practice. Debated if should join without having done any laps in the indycar yet, and not having been on iracing since the update, but figured "what could go wrong?" Found the car was as easy to drive at first then realized I was using too high a gear in most corners. Once started dropping down a gear or two it started making more power and got much trickier, especially the low speed corners. Suspect if was using a lower downforce setup it would have been a lot harder to drive.

First race was a bit of a mess but somehow the car survived despite a few self spins and Jay and I making contact trying to go though ER side by side. Second race was much better. Was nipping at the heels of the Tom, Art, Ryan battle for a few laps, then 1st gear bit me a couple times which lead to scraping with Jay again. Somewhere near the end found Art and Tom strewn about the track so was gifted a couple spots.

We'll try to set up an event over the holidays. Something on New Years Day maybe. Stay tuned.