That wasn't Jason (video is over 2 years old), but rather and example of the next track in this series' lineup.

I don't have Infineon yet, but from that video it looks like a nice track. I'll have to get it for the next race.

Speaking of which, if any of you iRacers on are on the fence about joining in on this premier series, best act soon! There are only 2 drop weeks and we're entering week three. If you don't run all the next 10 races, you will not be eligible for the prizes.

While none of us would have any chance at placing in the top three, there will be random draws from the list of participants who have run to full series. Currently there is only 89 participates who have run both races to-date. I suspect that by week 12 there will be a very small pool from which the prizes will be drawn. Good odds for winning a Skip Barber School!

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Ha no! (I wish)
I haven't even driven the track (I just bought it).... just posted that to show some lines and what to expect.

_________________
"The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."-William Gibson
1989 Van Diemen - Formula 2000 Continental

I purchased Infineon and tried it for the first time last night... Wow, it's tough! I spent a hour testing in the Skippy, using the driving line aid and referencing an onboard video clip of a hotlap from YouTube. Best I could do was a 1:50 (versus 1:45 WR), and I could not string two laps together without a spin or an off. Definitely need lots more practice.

There's talk on the forums about this being a tough track and speculation that it'll be more about survival than fast laps. I now see where they're coming from.

Open practice started today, so I plan to jump in a session tonight and work on stringing together a series of clean laps.

Here's a sample 1:45 lap for reference:

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

That track is actually what kept me from jumping into iRacing earlier, as the "demo" I tried used the Infineon track ...and I could never finish a complete lap despite many, many attempts

(Because even though you start off with the "I'm just going to take it easy and get a complete lap in first before going faster" ...the red mist takes over and off into the sand or concrete wall you go )

Stacy

_________________
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'll be online practicing tonight.

_________________
"The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."-William Gibson
1989 Van Diemen - Formula 2000 Continental

Looks like all of our practicing paid off as Jason & I had a pretty good race. I got my best finish yet and neither of us crashed nor took on any damage. Best of all, we ended up in the same split and nose-to-tail on the starting grid!

I started 14th and Jason 15th. This really worked out well for me during a first lap because, I knew I could trust Jason not to run into the back of me or try any kamikaze moves, so I could focus 100% on the traffic in front of me and play it safe.

Neither of us had very good pace, so our best bet was to drive safely and avoid any incidents. I think I let two cars go past me during the race. Once someone got within 0.5 sec, I'd just let them go as I knew they were faster. In the end we both placed much higher than our starting positions due to attrition.

Here are the current standings. Jason has held onto his 49th spot, and I've moved up 35 places to 54th. It's a shame that we ended up in the lowest Strength-of-Field (SOF) race of the week, but it'd really only make a few points difference.

Next stop.... Road Atlanta!

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

When the race started Scott was on my left and once we got into some formation of a line, I was able to control the traffic behind me.
However after the first few turns I wasn't liking what was going on behind me, I was on the racing line but had 2 cars in my blind spots, and I didn't trust them so I slowed and let them pass. By the 4th or 5th corner I was last.

However most of cars that passed me crashed within the first lap or two, so in the end this worked for me. By lap 3 I was already ahead of my starting grid position.

I just didn't have the pace to match or challenge Scott (or many others) so I played with a fellow backmarker or two. One guy was clearly faster than me but kept crashing/spinning every 4-5 laps, I tried to stay clear of him. Finally with 2 or 3 laps to go he crashed and retired, which put me in 10th position.

10th position is much better than I expected for such a painful track.

Currently Scott and I are 54th and 49th, respectively, out of 222 competitors.... Yaa top 25%!

_________________
"The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."-William Gibson
1989 Van Diemen - Formula 2000 Continental

Well that was a night to forget.
Started 18th out of 20 because I was 1min late trying to enter the last quali session.

Made a good start, saw someone in a red car hit the wall after turn 1 and it caused the field to slow down, but I was on the outside of it and I gained a bunch of places. I had good pace and was catching the two cars in front of me until I dropped a wheel on the last turn on lap 3(?) and spun into the wall taking out my engine.

15mins in the pits for repairs and I was back out on track, only 9 laps down.

Suspension was ok, but I had only 1/2 power on my engine. I was losing 3-5 seconds per sector due to lack of horsepower.

In the end I finished 17th (because 3 others dropped out), 11 laps down.
McIntyre finished just ahead of me... 16th... 9 laps down.

It's a shame, of all the tracks we've run so far, this was my favorite!

I think that puts me at 235pts and McIntyre at 223pts, he's closing the gap!

_________________
"The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."-William Gibson
1989 Van Diemen - Formula 2000 Continental

I can't wait to be part of this in season 2. Seems like fun! Then again, I haven't done a race with the Skippy yet, so we'll see how that goes over the next few days.

You know, ever since I've been starting races from the pits I've been placing way higher and finally moved up a class due to keeping it clean.

I just feel like I'm holding everybody up while the "grid count down" runs out it's whole 60sec though...


...and when you need that secondary pit time, you might as well pack it up I find.

Stacy

_________________
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!

Both Jason and I forgot about this race until yesterday, so neither of us got any practice until the evening of the event.

At least I had some experience on this track before, so it wasn't so bad. However, Jason didn't even own the track... He bought it only a couple hours before the race.

That said, it was indeed a night to forget. I qualified mid-pack (10th of 20), but dropped a rear wheel on turn 1 of lap 1 which sent me spinning across the track and into a wall. After a 2:20 minute tow, I spent another couple minutes in the pits getting "required" repairs before heading back out. But the "required" repairs were not quite enough as the car was barely drivable. So I limped around a lap, and came back into the pits for 9 minutes of "optional" repairs.

When I finally got back out on track, the car was much better but not quite 100%. I was still about 2 seconds / lap off my normal pace. Still I managed to move up 3 positions from 18th in the remainder of the race.

Here's the results:

Here are our point standings:

And here's a graph of our points accumulation:

Now that we're four races into the 12 week series, we can determine how many people can potentially qualify for a prize. There are only two drop weeks, so only those who have completed at least two races so far can qualify. Currently that number is a mere 111 people.

Of those 111 people, only 75 can afford to miss one of the remaining 8 races, and only 50 can miss two remaining races.

What I have found is that a large number of people who crash in the opening laps of a race simply quit as opposed to sitting it out in the pits waiting for their car to be repaired. You need to complete so many laps before the race is counted, so these people essentially miss a week. If they do it enough times, they'll take themselves out of contention.

Plus there's the high probability that many people will not be available to run each of the remaining races due to schedule conflicts or life in general. So I'm pretty confident that the current 111 number will whittle down quite a bit before we reach the series end in August... And that means much better odds for Jason or I to win one of the random draw prizes.

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

When I'm trying to regain SR, I'll do that too... Start from pit lane and avoid the 1st lap mayhem. Plus I'll drive super cautiously, and not pass anyone unless they go off the track in front of me.

But that's counter productive when trying to compete in a series like this Skip Barber Racing School Premier. I did try starting from the pits on one of these series races but it was a mistake. In that particular race, everyone got through the first lap clean and I lost many positions (and points) for no good reason at all.

As for packing-it-up after you crash, that's the worst thing you can do for SR / iRating / points. The way the SR system works, it's very much to your benefit to stick-out the repairs and get back out on the track for some more laps. It will minimize your SR loss and possibly negate it. Plus, by getting out on the track you could very well gain a number of positions through attrition alone (as other people drop out), which will help both your iRating and championship points. So never quit until the checkered flag drops.

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

But as you say the optional pit work hardly ever fixes a car right and your in everybodies way or even worse the car darts out in front of people lapping you...

Can you just sit tight in the pits and go out on the last lap (much like we would do at AMP to count points after completing half the laps)?

Stacy

_________________
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!

Yes, you're right... sometimes the car is undrivable even after all repairs are complete. In that situation there's not much you can do.

Well, you could repeatedly drive outside of your pit stall and get multiple tows back. That will increase your lap count (and possibly finishing position). But it's also against the sporting code, so you risk getting protested if someone takes exception to the tactic.

If the car is at all drivable (meaning you can control it enough to stay on the track), I'll always head back out even if I'm slow. Just keep out of others way.

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

This week the series goes to Watkins Glen. And it just so happens that the regular series is at the same track this week. So there will be lots of opportunity to practice.

Here's a video showing a lap around the track with the championship leader:

I'll be doing a bunch of regular series races leading up to the Wednesday night premier event, both for practice and to get my iRating back up. The rest of the competitors in my split would be furious if I showed up with my current 386 iRating and destroyed the race's SOF.

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

I managed to get a bit more practice in for this week's race. Did a couple regular series races (held at the same track) earlier this week. However late last night I got home 1 minute too to make qualifying, so as a result I ended up starting 18th on the grid.

Jason and I were in different splits this time. He did not qualify neither and also started 18th on the grid of his split; both of us in fields of 19 competitors.

My race went really well. Aside from clipping the grass couple times through the inner loop, I didn't turn a wheel wrong the whole race. When in open air I was turning low 1:12's / high 1:11's, and even improved upon my personal best lap time. All the other racers I encountered were very composed and respectful. There was no first-lap mayhem, and overall a very clean race.

When it was over, I crossed the line in 6th place (my best yet) and a mere 0.155 0.308 seconds from 5th. I was quite pleased with the result.

Here's the full results:

Here are Jason & I's current point standings. We both moved up a fair bit:

And here's a graph of our current points accumulation:

As for the number of competitors who can potentially qualify for a prize... It's down to 90 people now. Of those 90 people, only 64 can afford to miss one of the remaining 7 races, and only 43 can miss two remaining races. The odds keep getting better for Jason or I to win one of the random draw prizes.

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

I only practiced for about 45mins before the race. I had never driven Watkins before last night.

I started 18th but within 2-3 laps I was up to 12th place.
I was running well, despite a spin entering "the boot" (for which I didn't lose any places) until I lots focus for 1/2 a second and crashed.

I didn't think I hit the guardrail that hard, but the game showed my rear tire on the other side of the wall, and locked me there.
After a tow and 10mins in the pits I was 7 laps down.

When I left the pits I was putting in faster lap times (with a damaged car) than the next few cars ahead of me. I think I could have placed as high as 8th, but with the attrition I ended up 12th anyways, which isn't bad for being 6-7 laps behind.

_________________
"The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."-William Gibson
1989 Van Diemen - Formula 2000 Continental

.308 maybe

That was just a test to see if anyone actually read this thread.

I stand corrected.

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

That cracked me right up!

Brian is our one and only virtual fan
Want us to send you an email with our autograph?

_________________
"The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."-William Gibson
1989 Van Diemen - Formula 2000 Continental

This should add value to my autograph... I just noticed that I got new award resulting from last night's race. Woo hoo!

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Way to go Scott!!!! I'm rooting for you!

Is everyone getting primed and ready for Brand's Hatch this week?

It's going to be my first event in the series, so I know I won't make a big points splash, but hey, it should be fun!

I've done two races and three time trails in the Skippy @ Brands Hatch so far. My qualifying times is 4.5 seconds off pace. I could not get 5 consecutive clean laps in any of the 3 time trails (i.e. DNF), and I spun (multiple times) in the 2 races. It's gonna be a rough one!

Oh, and I got demoted from A 4.99 to B 1.45. I think I burnt myself out. Ha ha!

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

With the stunt (or should I say shunt) I pulled at a Star Mazada race earlier today, I might be going the same way I quite like Brands Hatch, but there are a lot of corners where you can push more than you think...and the other half you're pushing much harder than you have a right to

Very true. I think it'd take lots of laps & studying to be fast here.

Speaking of which, here's and example of how it's done:

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Good learning video, problem is you don't know what kind of set up he worked on. I find even with the Skippy set up means quite a bit. The best I managed in practice was 1:46.009 or something like that. More practice is in order.

What scares me the most about that video though is the amount of cars on the side of the road, or in the dirt

Wow, after four races with 10-16 inc. each, I finally ran an incident-free race, came in 1st, and set a new personal best lap of 1:42. Still nearly 4 seconds off the WR, but an improvement at least.

If the premier race on Wednesday is anything like the regular series this past week, simply staying on the track and avoiding any incidents will all-but guarantee a good finish. Expect lots of attrition.

_________________

1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Hrm... maybe I should try driving this track before 45mins prior to the race tomorrow night.

_________________
"The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."-William Gibson
1989 Van Diemen - Formula 2000 Continental