We were lucky to have races last night as the iracing service was still updating with about an hour to go before the first race. Suspect a few didn't make it as there was a fair bit to download.

Those that did make it seemed to have a good time. Race 1 came down to who spun the least, which Brian Weatherbee won, but chasing Brian and then falling back led to some good dicing with Scott and Rick. Race 2 was a lot more steady up front, see below (cast of characters given at the end). Was going to do highlight clips but was easier just to keep the camera on second place.

Mid-Ohio in the Star Mazdas next week, then off to Road America the following 2 weeks.

Nice driving Ken!

Thanks. It's great to find a bunch of guys you race like that for the entire stint.

Race 1 was a little busier and went something like:

Started off in a train with Scott, Rick, Brian, me and Jeff. I get around Brian on lap 2 and started thinking about catching Rick and Scott in front. Didn't have to think long as next lap came across Rick's car sliding sideways through the exit of T1. Slowed and tried to figure out which way his car was going to go, but it stayed in the middle of the track and so gave him a tap to help get him moving again. This left Brian and Jeff in front as Scott fell back within the next lap. I got back around Jeff next lap and then Brian the following lap. The spotter seemed genuinely surprised that I was in the lead and while trying to think up an appropriate response I lost focus and spun in T1. This dropped me back to 5th behind Rick. Caught up to Rick as he and Art were dicing, and then Rick exited with a tankslapper in the heel of the boot. Around this time Jeff stopped for gas and to express his feelings towards his crew chief. With 2 laps to go got around Art but at this point there was nothing to do about Brian who put in a consistent run up front to take the win.

I tried to join the second race but I must of did something wrong, maybe its being rusty on when to join in. I missed the first race but when I joined the second race which I think said 8:45pm practice start, I was the only one in there and I noticed that Brian W. and Scott M. were connected somewhere else. When I exited out and tried to join in by using the steering wheel icon by one of their names the only options were to spot/watch or something else, but race was not an option. This sucks because after not playing for a year now I kinda really wanted to to this race and join you guys, maybe next time. Looks like a good race with lots of lead changes and alot of fun!

_________________
Brian
VP, AMP
#51 Vantage Motorsports

It sounds like you initially joined the 2nd session before we had finished the first, hence why you were the only one in there. Then when you exited and tried to join via the steering wheel icon in your "myRacers Online" list, you were attempting to join the first session for which registration had already closed (i.e. the race was in progress).

Had you stayed in the 2nd session, we all would have joined you in time, once the first race had completed.

It can be confusing. Would be nice if the League Sessions tab listed the start times for practice / qualifying / race as well.

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Ah, that would explain your name on the entry list Brian, but you not being there. The two sessions overlap a bit so if someone misses the first one they can go practice on the second while waiting for the first race to wrap up. It shouldn't be possible to join both sessions to race (qualifying for the first race is over by around 8:40, and the second server doesn't start until 8:45), however can still join the first session to spectate. As Scott said if you had stayed on the 2nd session we would have showed up just a few minutes before qualifying started.

I wondered if the two would overlap or not, that's probably exactly what happened. Around what time does the second race finish up?

_________________
Brian
VP, AMP
#51 Vantage Motorsports

About 9:50 (30 practice, 10 min qualify, 20 min race).

Changed the thread title, as will just add to this thread rather than creating a new one each week.

Results for last night Star Mazda races at Mid-Ohio can be found at:
http://www.danlisa.com/scoring/season_race.php?schedule_id=38802
http://www.danlisa.com/scoring/season_race.php?schedule_id=38803

Was good to see a new bunch of drivers from the ARMS league show up (Brian G, Paul, Jay), and newcomer Doug.

The start of race 1 was a bit hectic. There were cars sliding around in turn1 and then going in though 2 the spotter yelled "3 wide" when I was near the curbing and then there seemed to be a lot of cars going everywhere in my mirrors. This left John and I out front with a gap to the rest of the field. Got a better run down the hill and passed John who seemed to be having problems with cold tires. Pulled out a small gap on the first lap and then just focused on putting in clean laps. John and Brian G seemed to be behind me for most of the race but towards the end the names started to move around in the F3 window.

Race 2 started with less drama, though Scott's dancing car in T1 and T2 made it interesting. By the time we headed down the hill it was Paul, Scott, me then Art. Scott was dicing with Paul which allowed me to keep up, but it also gave Art a couple chances at me. Once things settled down we started to spread out a bit. Scott made a few little mistakes that kept me in contact with him, but then I made a few in the closing laps that spread us out again.

Off to Road America the next two weeks. It'll be interesting to see how the GT3 cars compare after the changes made in the last update

Edit:
Video of Race 2. Scott and Paul in the opening laps for 1st, then me pestering Scott, and then the scrap for 4th in the closing laps between John P and Art.

I was off pace the first race and started mid-pack. Then in the Keyhole on lap 1, Art got tapped from behind and spun into the side of me. Quick trip to the pits and I spent the rest of the race chasing down Randy, Keith, and Ralph.

By the second race I was starting to get up to speed. Started P3, and got Ken (P2) on the launch. (Tip: Use the clutch pedal and slip it on launch).
Car was wiggling all over the place in the opening laps, but I was able to keep up with Paul (P1) and after a few attempts took him for the lead. But it was short lived as a mistake in T11 allowed Paul to retake the lead and then he slowly pulled a gap.

Was a fun night. Congrats to Ken & Paul.

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Thanks for organizing, Ken.

Although I was having some technical difficulties (no sound, funny braking), it was nice to finally sign up, join a league and complete my first league races. I hope I didn't impede anyone's race. I quickly realized that I need to actually set up the car, rather than arrive and drive! Lol. Anyhow, I felt like I had to simply jump in and get going. Next time I'll join the practice session (I didn't realize that it started earlier than 8:30 pm).

I've bought a GT3 car (Ruf) and I'll figure out how to set it up for the next event. I've also purchased the tracks required for the league schedule. If anyone has any tips for a newbie, please feel free to share. So far, I like the physics, frame rate, etc.

Cheers,

_________________
--------------------------------------------------
Jay Barthelotte

Glad to see you join in Jay!

As for car setup, usually one or two people share their setups (within the session) with the rest of the group, so you could grab one of those next time. Feel free to ask for help anytime. If you have a mic, hook that up so you don't have type.

iRacing is not the most intuitive piece of software, so it'll take some time to get the hang of how everything works.

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

@Scott. I use the clutch at the start, just got a bit of wheel spin (made a nice cloud of smoke though )

@Jay. Good to get those first races in. Practice for the first race starts around 7:00 (90 minutes before qualifying). If you need a setup check the "Shared setups" in the setup menu after joining the server. If there isn't any there, just ask in chat. The Star Mazda weather changes to match the weather of the official iracing session from week to week, and the Mazdas are quite sensitive to it. They also take a lap or so for the tires to warm up, so they tend to be loose until up to temperature. The GT3 cars use the standard (ideal) weather so it's the same as the testing sessions and don't mind cold tires as much. Again if you need a setup just ask.

There is another thread in this subforum on iracing tips and tricks. If you don't see what you are looking for then by all means ask. I expect that some seat time and getting your technical glitches sorted will help quite a bit.

Thanks guys...looking forward to Tuesday nights.

_________________
--------------------------------------------------
Jay Barthelotte

Jay, I don't have load cell peddles like you but I know someone here does and there are certain settings in iRacing to make them work correctly, maybe someone here can chime in and help.
As for setups, like everyone said just ask. For last night, I didn't have alot of practice so I just used one of the canned iRacing setups with a bit of camber and tire pressure adjustment to even out the tire wear, that's it. Usually the baseline setups are a great starting point, don't worry too much if you don't get a chance to radically tweak before every race. Great seeing you online!

_________________
Brian
VP, AMP
#51 Vantage Motorsports

For load cell peddles:



This setting is in the Options->Drive menu. It's what mine is set at and seems to work well.

I have the Brake Force Factor set to ZERO for my load cell brake pedal as well.

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Congrats to Scott and Art on the wins. Steve and Kevin added to the ARMS contingent last night, and welcome to Chris. Great to see 15 drivers for both races.

A couple of eventful races. Started off with a little pushing and shoving at the start but that's bound to happen going three wide. Once things settled down there was a lead pack of cars and and group midpack. I decided to just hang at the back of the lead pack to see how it sorted out and after a few laps Brian W and Art exited leaving Scott and Trevor ahead. Was going to wait to see if Trevor could push Scott into a mistake, but found myself pushing Trevor instead. Managed a couple passes and repasses but then Trevor spun. By this time Scott was a couple second ahead, and he stretched that to about 4s with just a couple laps to go. Then noticed the gap was coming down. Scott's car seemed to be ok so figured he must be saving fuel. Was right on his bumper coming through the last sequence of turns, but I timed Tlast wrong and finished half a second behind. Scott still had 0.1 gal at the line, don't know what he was worried about.

The second race was much different for me, but see there was plenty of action though the field. The start was cleaner but I got a bump in the back braking into T1. The car felt fine but got a meatball flag so stopped at the end of lap 1. Credit to the crew, they had the car fixed in under 3s. Emerged 30s behind the next car so figured it was going to be a lonely race. However after a couple laps Trevor came out of the pits just in front of me. So we resumed the scrap from Race 1, including a big "outbraking myself- over under maneuver" in T3. Towards the end, between traffic and a couple small mistakes on my part, Trevor was about 3s ahead when the white flag flew. Got to T2 and found Trevor going sideways. Next corner find Brian G sitting off to the side. About this time John and Randy are discussing a push to get John's stalled car across the line. I slowed in the middle of the track as approached the line just as Randy was getting John rolling along the right side, figuring I'd wait for then to cross. A quick glance at the f3 interval screen indicated that wasn't a good place to slow down. The video below shows the view from Brian G's car and then Scott's car a couple seconds later as they approach the finish. My apologies to all involved.



Back to Road America in the Mazdas next week and then we're off to Spa.

Hi Guys. I had lots of fun during Nov 4th practise and races. Could not get my mic to work though. Sorry if I caused any of you any racing issues. My first time iRacing a fast car (Ruff) and was using standard set-up. Hope to get some practise in at the tracks you use and get in on the fun regularly...

Until next time I can join in...have lots of FUN!

_________________
Kevin Sibley
1984 Pontiac Fiero Custom 355 SBC V8

Thanks Kevin, glad you enjoyed it.

Congrats to Scott on the wins last night at Road America. Very impressive, especially Race 2 where he spun at the start and made his way back through the entire field in about 2 laps. Time to take a second look at the apps he is running in the background.

Had lots of fun in both races. Art, Paul and I were running close at the start of race 1. At one point Paul and I where passing Art on both sides going into T3 but I decided the outside of 3 wide wasn't a good place to be. Then I started to dice with Paul which let Art get away. Paul and I exchanged positions a couple times but near the end couldn't get close enough to challenge. Highlights below (Art Paul and I, Paul and I, Keith and Jeff, Randy and Brian G).



Race 2 was Brian G and I trading places mostly, with Scott and Paul (at least twice) coming through to mix things up. Sorry about pinching you at the kink Brian, was trying to leave enough room but hadn't tried going 2 wide through there before (though noticed you didn't try passing me there after that )

Video below shows Scott's fall from pole and recovery, and then most of the scrap between Brian G and I :


Next Week is Spa in the GT cars. Haven't quite sorted out the non-points event on the 25th, but start to look around for someone you want to share a drive with.

I think Scott had an app that races for him. He was sitting there drinking beer, watching. He might have done the first few corners and did the spin, which is his style, the rest, no so much!

Fun races, Ken and Brian lost a 6 sec advantage to me in one lap running side by side at almost every corner! Was fun to watch.

_________________
Paul

Nearly lost it in Turn 1 / Race 1 too...

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

The Star Mazda are fun to drive. I need to find the time to practice. Thanks for sharing your setup, Scott...it was helpful for my arrive and drive! Lol. I tried to get my chat working...not sure why my mic isn't coming through. Did anyone here me say "Would you like fries with that?".

I didn't like the Ruf p car I ran last week...I might buy another eligible car for Spa...or spend some time on set up.

_________________
--------------------------------------------------
Jay Barthelotte

@Jay: Didn't hear anything from you all night. The little box popped up indicating you opened the channel, but no audio. Check your mic settings in windows (Control Panel-> Sound -> Recording and then select the device and check it's properties, especially the levels) and maybe try recording something with the windows sound recorder (under accessories). Then make sure the correct device is set for the microphone in the iracing options. If you are still having problems with your setup let me know, a house call will only cost you beer.

You and Kevin did pick one of the trickier GT3 cars. The BMW and Mclaren are both easier to drive than the RUF (haven't tried the GT40). I'm still using the baseline setup with the RUF.

@Paul: You surprised me how quickly you caught up in race 2. In both races figured would lose ground to the other cars once started dicing with the car in front. The smart thing would have been to just stay in the draft until the last couple laps and then try to get around, but that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun.

Thanks Ken...I'll look at my mic setup again. I played with the setup of the Ruf 911, last night...I got it much better, but it still doesn't like to slide around much...the back end isn't catch-able at all. I might try some more before going to a different car. A Star Mazda with fenders would be great.

_________________
--------------------------------------------------
Jay Barthelotte

Try the BMW Jay, its much easier to deal with vs the 911, same as in real life!

_________________
Paul

Thanks guys...I'll try the BMW. Ha! You know it, Paul. Funny...I was thinking the same thing. The P car in my garage does the same thing! Not sure why I'm surprised! However, the 997 GT3 I drove was actually pretty good.

I miss my Lotus Elise...is there one available in iRacing? Lol.

_________________
--------------------------------------------------
Jay Barthelotte

NOV 25 NON POINTS EVENT

We're having a non points event for the Nov 25th (between the races at Spa), so we thought it would be a good chance to try team racing with driver swaps. Details below but basically we're going to run one long race in our normal time slot and have teams of 2 share the driving by changing drivers every 20 minutes.

Practice : 90 minutes starting at 6:00 EST/7:00 AST
Qualifying: 10 minutes starting at 7:30 EST/8:30 AST (best qualifying time by any team member used)
Race length: 80 minutes
Track: Lime Rock Park (no chicane)
Cars: GT3
Drivers on a team: 2 (no more or less)
Driver changes required: 3
Driver stint length: ~20 minutes (i.e two 20 minute stints for each driver)
Unlimited "fast" tows.

The race is set up as a single league event so should show up under the league sessions page.

If you haven't tried the team racing/driver swap thing then this video should be quite helpful:


We'll likely set up a test session on the Sunday or Monday evening before the event so people can try driver swaps.

PS I'm looking for a team mate that wants to drive the RUF.

This should be fun!

Who wants to join me in the BMW?

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

I'm good with the BMW!

_________________
Brian
VP, AMP
#51 Vantage Motorsports