It was a good race!!!

I made the exact same mistake in the same corner in both races, you'd think I would of learnt my lesson from the first race but apparently not!

@Ken: I did play with the A Class Impala a few months ago and did for the most part was able to get a symmetric setup. I remember it taking a long time to keep adjusting things until finally it passed tech. Painful!

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Brian
VP, AMP
#51 Vantage Motorsports

I owe an apology to Ken for apparently being a magnet of destruction for him, and for everyone for being the bad one on the R1 start. Race 2 was a bit of a hard one because Art went a bit wider than I expected at the bus stop, and I lost sight of him so I slowed down and took to the middle of the road to try and avoid any contact. Unfortunately that made things a little weird around me, causing Ken to spin a bit. Then I cocked it up with 5 minutes to go, and with a 3.25 minute drive back to the pits, it was just as well to call it quits.

I also need to apologize to Jay for harassing him. I suppose it was karmatic justice that I had such a terrible pair of races. I was only joking!

Thanks. That extra 30 minutes of practice I did on Monday night really helped.


How did things differ from your expectations? As the pole sitter, I did not go full throttle until the green flag. Not sure what others did behind me.

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

No worries Ryan. They were just racing deals. First one was just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The second one I had slowed a bit when you and Art were side by side but got on the gas again once you cleared him, thinking you had done the same. But turns out you were going slower than I had expected so had to avoid you just as was exiting the bus stop. So that one was just as much me as you. Although really it was Art that started it.



My definition of "Go" is when the polesitter starts to accelerate, full throttle or part throttle. When you said "go on green" I was expecting a steady speed and then start to accelerate hard when the green flew. Not medium acceleration as soon as the pacecar exited and then full throttle at the green. Going as soon as the pace car exits is fine it's just not what I would call "go on green", as the rest of us have to react to what the polesitter does, not wait for the green flag. Judging by how a few cars went by me both starts they must have decided to go when you did and not wait for the green. Not a big deal, just that it caught me off guard when you said "go on green", and then started to go before the green was out.

Hmmm, well the pace car peeled off while we were all crawling through the last corner. I did speed up to mid-RPM (1st gear) once we entered the front straight, then held it there until the green dropped. Maybe that caused the confusion?

The only alternative I can think of is for us all to turn on our pit limiters and switch them off on Green. That's the only way we'd all start with the exact same speed.

Or forget about the going on green concept and just let the pole sitter dictate when to put the hammer down.

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

There were only a few seconds between the pace car exit and the green. I just wasn't expecting that first bit of acceleration after the pace car excited, and most seemed to take that as a sign we were going. Yeah, the pacecar did act a bit weird diving into the pit so late.Suspect this may not be an issue at some tracks.

Maybe just hang back from the pace car so you set a reasonable speed out of the last corner while the pace car finds it's way into the pits.

I'm ok with the polesitter dictating the start, just as long as he doesn't say one thing and then appear to do another.

Sorry for the confusion.

If I’m lucky enough to get pole again, maybe I’ll try using the pit limiter to regulate my speed from the final corner entry to the green flag. And I'll maintain radio silence to keep everyone guessing.

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Karma is a bitch muthafawker! lol

I adjusted my pedal set this past week and I think it really helped me with better braking 'feel'. Now I simply need to reinforce the Playseat pedal plate...it deflects way too much when I load up the brake pedal.

I really enjoyed that track/car combo and my lap times helped me stay close to the leaders during the first few laps. But I think I was slow through the last corner. During the first race, Brian got it right and passed me shortly after that corner. At some point he ended up behind me again and ended up along side me before the bus stop. The timing wasn't great to give him the corner and I ended up slowly losing the back end on turn in. I lost that place, 12 seconds and another place...doh! The second race went pretty well. Ryan made a nice pass on me, but then I took the position back. At some point, I noticed he was no longer behind me. Ken made a pass on me for 3rd and I didn't get to take it back.

Initially, I tried the Falcon around the Nordschleife and it was a real challenge to keep it on the track. I think I'll try to spend some time this week with a NASCAR to see if it might be a better choice. I can see this car/track combo as the most challenging yet!

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Jay Barthelotte

I decided the wall on T1 exit looked lonely so I decided to give it a front wing. B!tches love front wings.

This next race is going to be a complete sh!tshow.

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Paul

Yeah, going to a lot harder to get in a clean race with this group of cars. The 2011 Impala didn't seem so bad with the road setup. Have to lengthen the rear diff a bit to keep it from hammering on the rev limiter on the long straight, but then it makes the 4 spd very noticable on the rest of the circuit. The 2013 impala was a little insane... it was getting light in places that didn't even have to think about in the other cars. Though could be that the setup I hacked together to pass tech was garbage. The older Falcon was better than the impalas, but will require a lot of restraint compared to the GT1 cars. Have to get used to being on the other side of the car too.

@Jay. I thought you might get back around going after climbing the S's so had to be defensive going into the bus stop.

I had to recal my pedals before the race as noticed if I stood hard on the brake (load cell) the throttle would come on slightly. The TSW pedals are built on a metal frame but even so if shove hard enough there is enough deflection to move the throttle pedal slightly.

I'd suggest only including stock cars that have a proper road setup, the 2013 car has nothing. The 2011 is actually ok, but not really all that wild.
Or maybe just add ALL the stock cars, truck, late models, etc.
The gen6 car is fun, super late model is good, it drives exactly like our pro stock.

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Paul

Excellent suggestion.

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Jay Barthelotte

The idea was to run the Aussie V8s, the NASCARs were just filler for the other 2 spots (max 5 cars). If want to run the 2011 Impala and say the Prostock that's fine with me. Checked on the other forum and no one seemed to care what NASCAR we ran.

Were running the same group the next event as well, so can switch up the cars a bit if someone wants to run something else, the truck for example, the next event.

Will be setting up the server later today. Let me know if anyone has a preference for the 5th car (the Aussie V8s, 2011 Impala, and... ?).

Throw in the Super Late Model, though that might hand Paul a big(ger) advantage.

Done. Servers have been setup if you want to verify.

Congrats to Paul and Trevor on the wins. Good to see Jeff and Jim back.

Certainly an interesting bunch of cars to take to the Ring. Thanks to everyone taking it easy at the start, looked calm and collected from what I could see going into turn 1 for both races. Nice to see 3 different cars lapping around the same times.

The first race started off with Brian(Impala) leading followed closely by Paul (Super Late model) then me (2012 Falcon) with Trevor (Impala) just a few seconds back after clearing the rest of the grid. At some point Trevor dropped back a bit letting me focus on Paul and Brian at the front. On the third lap Brian seemed to be struggling withe the tires and eventually let Paul and I through. Paul's tires seemed to be going off as well by the end of the lap so when the white flag came out I decided to push a bit, which was my undoing. Misjudged Paul's slower cornering speed and spun trying not to hit him (had tapped him twice before this). That let Brian back around. Had thoughts of catching Brian, but adjusting the LF on some armco took care of that and let Trevor through. As it was, limped to the flag just ahead of Scott

Not sure what happened with qualifying for race 2. I was just about to the bridge on the back straight on a clean lap when it closed qualifying. Sounded like others were also on clean laps. It's weird because the server settings should be the same between each race, I just change the practice length and start time from the previous race. And in the first race I watched Paul go around and it added time to the session so he could complete his last lap. Will have to ask iRacing what's up.

Followed Trevor and Scott at the start of race 2. Scott was taking some interesting approaches to a few of the turns, then on the long run up the hill with the sweepers he ran wide on one of them. Thought was going to side swipe him but just missed him. Brian took advantage of this and we rubbed doorhandles at the last kink at the top of the hill with Brian winning out. Followed Brian around to the back straight and discovered that the rev limiter on the Falcon was set just a couple mph faster than the Impala's top speed, pulled ahead by the end of the straight and managed to stay there for most of the next lap, then had a spin just after the mini carousel (back got loose over a small crest which hadn't happened any of the previous laps). Chased Brian down over the next lap and tested the top speeds out again on the back straight (the Falcon was still just slightly faster ). Managed to put in a clean lap after that to finish behind Trevor. See there were lost of incs with these cars, but was better racing than I had expected.

Next week is the Indycars at Mosport which should be lots of fun. We are supposed to run the same group of cars at the ring but noticed no one drove the newer Falcon or the Holden. If no one is planned on running those two cars we could swap them for a the truck and maybe one of the other Nascars. The Caddy would also fit in well with this group. Let me know what car/truck you'd like to run in this group for the next Ring race and we'll see if we can fit them all in.

@Ken, don't drop the Holden! I was testing with both cars (Impala & Holden) before last nights race. Both are fast but I choice the Impala just because I found it so much fun to drive because you could actually hustle the car around a few corners and not swap ends. I don't know what I'm doing for the next race but don't drop the Holden yet.

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Brian
VP, AMP
#51 Vantage Motorsports

I think my favourite part still had to be how unpredictable the cars could sometimes be. It bit me quite a few times, but the most amazing part was when Paul or Jay, John and I drifted through one corner one after the other. Apparently it made quite a smoke screen for poor Randy, but it was a hilarious sequence of events to watch. Who'd have thought you could synchronize drift stock cars?

Later in Race 2 I smacked a wall, and while it wasn't terminal it caused me to hit the wall again later on which caused some engine damage. I was 20 or so seconds ahead of Jay at that point and pouring smoke but I kept on, completing two thirds of the lap with my car just hobbling along. I managed to maintain enough of a gap that I made it to the pits, and came out only 5.5 seconds behind Jay and 1.2 behind Randy on the last lap. Managed to fly past Jay on the back straight to get 4th back in the nick of time.

I liked his combination and look forward to the next go, along with the Indycars @ Mosport.

1st race was a blast, great racing with Brian and Ken, we were all more or less within 1-1.5 seconds for 3 full laps almost.
Brian's tires went off the cliff on the 3rd lap, mine were not far behind. I was hanging on and having to overslow a lot on entries, I think this caught Ken out a bit, as the V8SC held on to its tires much better.
I thank him for not punting me, but he spun, too bad as he would have surely got me at some stage on the last lap.

Would be nice to fix the qualifying issues for the 2nd races at the ring.
2nd race I ended up starting last, trying the V8 for the first time, carefully picked my way through, got to Scott and he spun in front of me, I had nowhere to go, hit him and the wall, tried to keep going but alignment was pooched and I struggled to keep it off the Armco, slid off not long after the 1st contact with Scott, car seemed drivable, but the sim said I had too much damage. Rage quit at that point..

Those cars were a lot of fun, I have always enjoyed the roundy cars for road racing, lots of power and not much grip = fun, I might be biased though.

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Paul

The V8 was a beast. It would break loose under acceleration over bumps and snap spin. It would also lock up the rears under braking and spin again. Maybe for many a hairy moment.

I found myself wishing for AWD.

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Sorry i missed the races last night. I was trying to get in but was having issues with iRacing. Error 22 and error 23. Spent 2 or 3 hours trying to fix it to no avail. After some research i discovered an issue a couple people had with the holden that seemed to require a full OS reinstall to fix. Funny though as i was intending to run the impala and no-one else seemed to be running the holden. Maybe it was enough that it was on the list. Everything else loads perfectly. I may just swear off the V8's forever. Anyway. should be good to go for irl at mosport.

The stock car: the ultimate understeer/oversteer machine. When you get it right, you feel like a world champion. When you get it wrong, you feel like the Canada's worst driver.

What a challenge. I like that you can manage the understeer and oversteer, but the grip is low and it leaves you wanting more. However, I like how it trains you to be more patient and easy with your inputs...these cars will make you a better driver.

The Ring is bumpy. After trying the Falcon and Impala, I decided to use the 2011 Impala. I started with the Road America setup, then tried to soften the spring rates...that didn't work for the high speed turns, so I reverted back. The only thing I changed was the rear diff ratio. I think it was 4.30 and I went to a taller 4.00. I could have went taller, but it doesn't work well for the slower corners. Event the 4.00 was barely worth the increased top speed on the long straight.

Like Brian said...man, the tires fall off! I wanted to start with lower pressures, but you really miss it the first lap or two.

I'm looking forward to the Indycar at Mosport.

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Jay Barthelotte

@Brian. No problem to leave the Holden in but if it's preventing some from entering the race might have to drop it (BTW That's really weird David!). Brian let me know the weekend before the next ring event if you are planning on using it.

@Paul: I'm welding a big push bar on the front for the next race.

Still waiting for a reply from support on the qualfying issue. Nothing useful from the post on the forum yet. One person suggested it could be that the aborted qualifying was set to be a "lone" qualifying session instead of "open". But when checked the results table it states that all qual sessions this season have been "open" qualifying sessions. Will double check that it is set to open for the rest of the season just in case. Hopefully support will come back with something.

Looked at the replays and in the first session it added ~6 minutes to the qual session (total session length almost 27 minutes) while drivers completed their laps. In the second race it ended the session at about 20.5 minutes. What I suspect is that it stops at the scheduled 20 minutes if no one has set a time by the end of the scheduled time (ie if someone sets a time before the 20 minutes is up then it will extend the session to let others complete their laps, but if it doesn't see any times then it figures no one is qualifying and stops the session at 20 minutes). If that's the case will push the second race ahead a bit (I joined about 6 minutes into qualify for the second race and just missed out on setting a time).

BTW Looks like it does the grid order by order of road iRating when no one qualifies. Twigged to this when noticed that the orders are almost the same each time there are no qualifying times set. So all you have to do is get your irating up over 3000, like Trevor, to ensure a good starting position.

Ah, makes sense about the qualify order if nobody sets a time.
That's bad for me, as I only log on to do the league races, unless we fix the no time issue.

I agree to just move the 2nd race out a bit to ensure we can all get in and set a time.

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Paul

Dont drop a car. It's my issue. I need to fix it. I will be away working when that track/car combo comes back around anyway.

Ok David, thanks for letting us know.

BTW Another option is to do solo qualifying. The reason we were late for R2 was because R1 qualifying was extended 6 minutes, which cut into our R2 qualifying time. If the first Q session had ended at 20 minutes then we would have had a full 20 minutes for Q2.

What time does the practice open tonight? My pickup hockey is cancelled so I'm going to try to make it on.

Cool. Practice starts at 7. Just pick the med down force setup from the iracing setups.

PS iRacing did an update this morning so allow a few minutes to download the new stuff.