If I came back I'd definitely would beat you at that...

Stacy

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The fricton circle for my 911 Porsche resembles more of an oblong... I'm either trailbraking or accelerating while trying to get it to turn!

I dunno... Steve's got a good head start. But it's good to have goals, and you have to admit you'd look good in the R8.

VIR GT3 results posted

Congrats to Trevor on the wins, and good to see Shawn and Paul back.

Very interesting races for me last night. Decided to give the MP4 a try as wasn't sure which German car to buy. The first race I started off in 6th and one by one (well in a couple cases it was a 2 by 2) cars dropped off putting me in the lead. Scott recovered and tried to find a way around, but while the MP4 was awkward in the slower corners, it was good on exits and in a straight line. We had a couple side by side moments with only a single 0x contact. Towards the end Trevor caught up to us and on the last lap he managed to get by both Scott and I. So Merc, McLaren, and Audi on the podium.

Second race saw Trevor and Scott scrapping for the lead while Greg hounded me all race. I expect it would be entertaining to go watch the replay for the battle for the lead. We're holding station when the crew comes on the radio to tell me that there are 2 laps of fuel to go and haven't seen the white flag yet. Fuel warning light comes on before the white flag comes out. Can't back off as Greg is still very large in my mirrors. Come out of the last corner thinking I've made it, by just as get near the pit entrance the car starts to sputter then dies. Greg goes by and I coast across the line just a second behind him. Not sure why it ran out as had 3 gal left after race 1 and I only took 2 out for race 2. Made for a good finish though.

Zolder next week, which should be a new track for a bunch of us.

It was a tight battle at the front both races. Great fun.

GT Series

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Can't believe I scored 5 points for that disaster!

I forgot about the first race, and I had connection problems which caused me to join the race late so I did my best to stay out of the way.

Zolder FR20 results posted.

Congrats to Aurelien "Rels" on the wins. Hopefully we'll see more of him this season.

A bipolar night for me. The first race was clean and fairly consistent. After a few people dropped out in the opening laps was left chasing Tom, but he held station just 2-3 seconds ahead most of the race. At one point he went wide in turn 2 and I went by, but then I tripped over the very next chicane and gave it back to him.

Second race was a bit of a disaster. There was a gaggle of us running together and as soon as someone attempted a pass there were cars going everywhere. John and I tried going through one of the double 90s side by side by ended up coming together. A bit after that found Greg running wide in turn 2, and he would have been fine but I clipped the curbing there and ended up bouncing into him. Sorry guys. Did have a good run with Jay keeping me honest in the closing laps.

Have to say I wasn't overly impressed with the track. It was probably good before the chicane blight. Hopefully the GT3 cars won't flip into the air when they hit the curbing.

Heh...I've got to stop showing up, unprepared!

I bought the track, jumped into quali, borrowed Scott's setup and was surprised that I wasn't starting last. 1st race was a trainwreck...launched the car a couple of times over the sausage curbs. Wheels seem to be fine, but if you get the tub over one of these, call NASA mission control.

2nd race was better. I grabbed another setup and qualified 6th or something. At one point I was 4th with Trevor Mack closing in...but then I lost the rear at the triple chicane. I was surprised that I was keeping pace with some others. I was chasing Ken down a bit, but our gap was typically the same at the line...1.7 s. I was faster through the 3rd gear chicane, but I think Ken was faster through the last chicane. Fun.

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Jay Barthelotte

FR2 Fall 2016


Zolder seems to be a love / hate kind of track. I initially didn't like it, but once I found the groove I learned to really enjoy it.

Rels and I had a great battle. We qualified on the front row both races and were well matched in pace.

Race 1, I led from pole but Rels kept me honest by running less than 1 second behind the whole race. That is until I hit a curb in the closing laps and bounced off track, giving the win the Rels.

http://members.iracing.com/membersite/m ... d=17892879

Race 2, Rels got pole by 0.05s over me and led half the race until he spun off track, handing the lead to me. I had a good 6s lead after that, so I just puttered around letting Rels catch back up. But ironically, slowing down caused me to make more mistakes and I got aero damage on a curb. Once Rels caught back up, I could not hold him off and he slipped past me on the last lap to take his second win of the night.

http://members.iracing.com/membersite/m ... d=17893478

It was a fun night.

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Zolder GT3 Results Posted. Congrats to Scott and Art on the wins. Good to see Brian G, Shawn and Keith back at the track.

The gt3 cars were much better behaved over the curbs at Zolder, though see a few get the bounce wrong and go for a spin at the chicanes. Spent the first race chasing Art but never got close enough to really challenge. Scott slowed down a couple times in the early stages (course cuts?) but then pulled away.

Second race was a lot of fun. Spent most of it trying to judge how long the nose of the Mclaren was by getting 0x's from touching Art's rear bumper. Brian was right there so as soon as Art and I started to dice he was in it as well. Scott then got into the mix after having recovered from an earlier spin. Fun ended for me when I spun after clipping some grass trying to make room for Art through one of those double 90s. Almost took him out in the process. Made a quick stop in the pits then chased down Keith, and set off for David but ran out of time. Didn't watch the replay but heard Brian had a dramatic finish.

Suzuka next week in the FR20s.

Yes, the second race was great fun with four of us all battling for the lead. Lots of wheel-to-wheel, even three-wide at times.

I kept making lots of mistakes in that race though and fell out of the battle. At one point I spun in a section of the track which had walls on each side and it took me a good 20 seconds to get turned around again. lol

GT Series


Look forward to next week.

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Suzuka FR2.0 results posted.

Congrats to Scott and Mark on the wins, good to see Paul out again.

Thought the FR20s might seem slow on a big track like Suzuka but with the number of cars out it was a lot of fun. Lost a bunch of places at the start of Race 1 when T1 got very crowded. Was surprised to find Trevor behind me after that, but didn't take long for him to find a way around. Turned out to be useful as he'd slow down the cars in front of me every time he worked his way by them. John and I chased each other for most of the race and then we caught Brian. At one point had to check up to avoid Brian and that was all John needed to get by. I think in the end the 3 of us crossed the line covered by 1s.

Race 2 started with me getting a wobble on cold tires going into the S's. Managed to bounce along the grass and get it back on track without hitting anything and rejoined right behind Steve. Took a couple laps to catch him, but he was good enough to let me by when I made a move (didn't see him get any incidents either ). Then had a good long scrap with Tom until he dropped back with just a few to go. Found Art a few seconds up the road and was thinking I wasn't going to catch him unless he had another spin, and with about 2 laps to go found him going slowly on the back straight. He kept me honest until the end. From the radio chatter it sounds like there was lots going on near the front of the field.

Should be fun going back to Suzuka in the GT3s next week.

I packed her in early. I had 5 good clean laps but then went off and smacked the nose. Got the tow and sat there for 3 minutes while the clock ticked down. Went out and smacked the nose again almost immediately lol. Did not feel like waiting again. Too bad, I like Suzuka, just made small mistakes and blew it. Hope to be back for the GT's.

I like these cars and I love Suzuka. I had decent pace in Practice 1, Quali 1 and Race 1. Unfortunately, I had a webpage glitch when going to the second race. Once I got in to Quali 2, I realized my brake pedal wasn't really working. I was really disappointed that I couldn't run in Race 2. Time for a new load cell.

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Jay Barthelotte

Fun races. Suzuka is an awesome track.

I had a great first race. Starting to notice a trend with my second races though... Always seem to make mistakes. Maybe too tired.

FR2 Fall 2016

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

I am rusty but that was fun. I tried Scott's setup, but spun twice in 1/2 a lap and thought I might be better off with the baseline setup, it was a bit slow, but safe enough for me to get through the race. I haven't been online at all, so I need all the cushion I can get.

I should be ale to do more races during the winter series (2017).

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Paul

Suzuka GT3 results posted.

Congrats to Trevor on the wins.

A couple of eventful races. Cars going everywhere it seemed on the opening laps of race 1. Wasn't long before it was my turn when clipped the grass at the end of the back straight. Tagged Scott before the car stopped spinning (at least I was told it was Scott, just saw a flash of car through the tire smoke). Towards the end was keeping an eye on Dave and didn't notice Scott catching me. He was right on my bumper in the last chicane and he won the drag race to the line.

Second race was watching Trevor pester Scott for the first 3-4 laps and then I seemed to forget how to get around the set of turns leading on to the back straight. Let Ryan through the first time and then John. Chased John for a few laps but it didn't go well when I attempted an optimistic pass approaching the same corner. I slowed down on the last lap to let John by only to have him run out of gas before the chicane. Gave him a push, but Tom still crossed the line ahead of us.

Oulton Park Circuit - Intl w/out Brittens, next week. Wonder if we'll keep our tradition of someone ending up in the lake.

Race 1, I got a great launch off the grid and went from P3 to the lead by turn 1. I had Trevor on my back bumper for the first four laps until he out-braked himself going into the hairpin and hit my left rear corner. This resulted in me getting the meatball flag, so I limped around to the pits for a fast repair, reentering the race in P5.

A few laps later, Ken lost it in 130R, and spun off the track in front of me. I though I was in the clear, but he forgot to hold his brakes and rolled backwards onto the track in front of me. This resulted another meatball flag for me, so back to the pit I went for a second fast repair.

I reentered the raced in P6 this time. Got past both Dave and Ken on the very last lap to finish 4th.
http://members.iracing.com/membersite/m ... d=18051305

Race 2, I started from pole with Trevor hot on my tail again. But I made a mistake on lap 5 which allowed Trevor past, and continued making multiple mistakes from there on out, continuing my weekly second-race-flounder trend. I ended up finishing a distance 2nd from Trevor.
http://members.iracing.com/membersite/m ... d=18051921

GT Series

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

FR2 Oulton Park results posted.

Congrats to Scott on the wins. Good to see Ralph back out on track again.

I had nothing for Scott, since he was about 2s faster than the next car in qualifying. Ryan was keeping me honest for the first part of the race. Then Brian came through trying to unlap himself after the McEwen magnet got him again, but just as he was getting close he must have had a problem and dropped back again.

Mark showed up for race 2 and thought he would give Scott a run at the front. But he made a mistake early on which let Ryan around him and while they were sorting that out Scott pulled ahead and wasn't seen again. I got by Ryan after he lost momentum in that last series of corners leading on to the pit straight while Mark was going through. Mark would pull out a lead after that and then make a mistake and drop back again. After a few of those he spun in T2 and didn't see him again. There were a few people that would start to reel me in only to drop back. Ryan, Brain G, John, and Ryan again all gave it a try. It's a wonder I didn't lose focus watching the timing window.

Should be interesting trying the GT3 cars at Oulton next week. The track didn't seem overly wide in the FR2s.

PS Thanks to Ryan and Scott for sharing their setups (used Ryan's in the first race, Scott's in the second)

Oulton is one of my favorite tracks. Having run the official series at Oulton last week definitely helped.

FR2 Fall 2016

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Oulton Park GT3 results posted.

Congrats to Trevor on the wins.

Interesting car/track combo. Challenging running solo and hard to find a place to pass when racing.

First race was a bit of a mess for me. Jay and I got together in the opening lap. Car didn't feel quite right so stopped for repairs, and somehow got a speeding penalty despite having the pit limiter on. Made a few more mistakes before settling down and yet still somehow ended up 6th.

Second race was a lot more fun. Track seemed to lose grip but the McLaren seemed to be making more power. Had a brief scrap with Art in the opening lap, then chased Scott while Brian chased me. That ended when I got sideways in that last 90. Brian tried to straighten the car out by tagging the back end. Art was following closely after that and made a brave pass going into the chicane. Since we got through that relatively unscathed I figured there must be other places moves like that would work, which made the final laps quite entertaining. Surprised that a lot of those contacts came out as 0 inc.

Road America up next.

Fun track...lots of character. I wish I was in town to try it with the F Renault, last week.

I showed up unpracticed and it showed. I had a good start for the first race, but ruined Ken's race by tapping his back end in the first turn. Sorry Ken.

2nd race, I started the race without force feedback on the wheel. It felt like I was driving a K car! Weird glitch. It happened another time when I went from the garage back into the session.

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Jay Barthelotte

Love the track. Not so much a fan of the cars. They are so numb compared to the FR2.0.

GT Series

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

FR2 Road America results posted.

Congrats to Scott on the wins last night. That also makes Scott the FR2 series champion for the season.

The FR2 was an odd fit to Road America. Not terribly fast in a straight line and didn't seem that good in the corners. I tried the setup Scott shared (thanks!), and his setup from Suzuka and the Suzuka one was just a few tenths faster despite having a little more wing. Still had to tiptoe through a few corners with both of them. Was hard to pick up a tow from the car in front unless you were with about 0.5s.

Brian make a great start and went from 7th to 4th by turn 3. However it was short lived as he spun on the exit of 3. I got by Art on the front straight after he made a mistake in Tlast. Spent the rest of the race watching him in my mirrors less than a second behind. We went side by side through T3-T4 once and then settled back in to our holding pattern. He had a good run on me out of tlast on the final lap, but was still a car length behind at the line. Trevor left the fight with Scott up front which gave both Art and and I a podium finish.

Race two started off with Scott and Trevor once again out front. Art and I fought over 3rd place in the opening lap which left John get in between us. I had a 2s gap at one point but John was chewing into it each corner. On lap 4 came across Trevor recovering from an off near the kink. I was expecting him to pull away but found he was holding me up a bit and soon had John and Art both right behind me. Then in the last series of corners Trevor spun, John went wide in Tlast leaving Art and I back to the same situation as the first race. Gap stayed fairly steady for the remainder of the race and we finished just over a second apart. Based on the lap chart is looked like there was a good scrap mid pack between Randy, Dave and Tom.

GT3 wraps up at Road America next week. Let us know what you'd like to try for fun runs in December, and what you'd like to run for series next season.

I can't share your feeling about the car and track combo. I actually find the FR quick and fun at Road America, and I quite enjoyed the races. I fluffed the start in R1, but at least that kept my clear of Jay and Randy and their battle. I was going well until I ran foul of a recovering Trevor in the sharp left hander. He didn't see me coming and bonked in to my sidepod. It did set up a good end to the race where I passed Jay on the third last lap, and then Ralph on the final corner of the final lap.

Race 2 I had a good start, but Randy got stuck in neutral, so I had to slam on the brakes. From there it was just a case of running well and without trouble to get up to 4th behind Scott, Art and Ken. Attrition certainly helped.

For next season, I still support running the FR2.0 for one of the weeks. Maybe the Nissan GTP on the other week? I would also support the rotating series of cars on the ring again. I found that fun as hell.

For the fun run....Audi's at the ring?

I'll probably be out more in the winter 2017 series.
I too enjoyed the Ring races with different cars each week, I like oddball stuff.

Anything new coming in the next build? When is dirt coming, That would be mega fun.

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Paul

Heh, yeah. not sure where Tom was but I was really focused on Randy slowly getting bigger and bigger in my rear view. That was my mistake, because while I was watching my rear view I missed a breaking point by a lot in the last turn on lap 8 I think. I limped it into the pits but it ended what could have been a really fun last couple laps with Randy.

As far as the next winter series I could totally get behind a return to the ring.

I also thought it might be fun to run a A or B class nascar cars on official nascar road courses ( only about 6 in iRacing but may alternate with Official F1 courses to stretch it out? )

For December fun races? Skippys and Mx5's at Limerock are tons of fun.

I'm sure whatever you all put together for next season will be fun.

Looking forward to next week back at Road America.

The oval cars with road course setups are some of the most fun cars in the sim IMO, just so hard to drive, huge power, no grip, really takes some finesse and concentration to get them to work.

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Paul

FR @ Road America: as usual, I arrived without any practice. I qualified okay, but my race results were train-wrecks. 1st race: I got bumped off the track on the first lap 2nd race: I jumped the start, black flag. Fun car and fun track...I enjoyed the rhythm.

When will the Ferrari 488 be available? That might be a fun car. Has anyone tried the Audi 90 GTO? That might be fun too. Someday, it would be cool if iRacing brought back some of the DTM or British Touring cars from the 90's...great racing. I like running formula cars, so another formula car series would be great.

As far as tracks go, I like the challenge of the Nurburgring as well. I enjoy running different cars on it. Again, as an occassional iRacer, different tracks would be fun to learn.

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Jay Barthelotte

I just noticed that the Formula Renault 3.5 and Ford Fiesta RS WRC are coming soon...they'd be fun.

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Jay Barthelotte

Running oddball stuff and changing it up every week with different cars and such is fun for hot lapping, but I don't find it as fun for racing. Too many people spin/wreck themselves out of contention and you end up with our small field strung-out all over the track with most people driving alone.

I have the most fun when I can drive a full race without taking myself out or others. For me, it's fun when I have enough car control that I can run wheel-to-wheel with confidence that I'm not going to cause an incident.

To get to that level of confidence with any car / track combination, I need a lot of practice, more than just the 90 minutes before a race on Wednesday night. And I'm too busy competing in the official series to spend extra time practicing for one-off oddball league races.

That's why I like it when we select a series which closely follows an official series. That way the time spend practicing has more value as it can be used to kill two birds with one stone: official & league. And I have more fun because of increased confidence with the car / track.

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR