User 52121

OK video of tonight's race recorded, imported... and now uploading. Should be ready by the morning.

I didn't watch most of it but from the bits I did see... some good stuff in there.

Anthony Nguyen

Just watched the video. Laps, 1-3. If I farted, Jim would know what I had for dinner from the night before. It was awesome.

User 52121

Looks like Anthony found it right after it finished uploading overnight LOL.

Here it is:

It was definitely a good time. I got a great start (thanks clutch pedal!) and I think I made up 2 spots in the first 50 feet. I spent most of those first few laps (where we were nose-to-tail) thinking, "Don't screw up... don't screw up..." LOL. Total bummer about Ted and Anthony collecting each other in T5 there, it was fun to watch from behind, we had a nice train going there for a while. Very intense.

A little side-by-side around the 9:00 mark with Justin and I was fun... though as Justin mentioned, it slowed us up enough to let Julian by. After that, the few remaining times I had a run on Justin with the draft, I lifted and tucked back in behind... figured I'd rather just stay tucked in until then end, then maybe make a move on the last lap. After I got bumped and spun in T5 somewhere around lap 6 or 7, the stupid car got stuck in neutral! The bump/spin wouldn't have been all that bad if the damned car would've just gotten into gear! I swear I sat there for 30 seconds and all I had was neutral. ARGH. I watched P3 and P4 walk by me as I was sitting there idling/revving/grinding/going nowhere, and eventually resumed the race in P4. I tried to put my head down and run hard to maybe regain a podium spot, and I was making progress, but realized with 1 to go it probably wasn't going to happen. Then I caught a small bit of luck, and P3 spun on the last lap exiting T8, and I got by. Phew!

loxner

Sweet video Jim!

FWIW...I've found that when it sticks in neutral, your best bet is to let the revs die down then upshift it. If you try to downshift, it sits there blipping the throttle each time, effectively preventing itself from going into gear. Real PITA when it happens.

Really jealous of you guys with clutch pedals now...after the most recent updates, the car bogs horribly on auto-clutch launches even if you keep the throttle to the floor and pop it from N to 1st. Rolling starts anyone? Anyone? Bueller?


The main thing I took away from the last few races is that I need to work on my consistency/keeping my cool in the actual race. I can run decent times in practice, but once the race starts; the mistakes start happening, and before you know it, I'm .5sec-1.5sec off my practice pace. Think I might start running some of the iRacing series races just to get more experience with that.

User 52121

Thanks I SO wish the dang "ticker" worked in League races! If I get bored one of these days I'll go back through some of these replays and build my own cool overlays. Unless - anybody out there have an interest in pretending to be Bob Varsha?

As for the shifting - thanks for the tip. Apparently this trans is a little different. I used to run the Grand Am series in the DP a lot, and as long as I stepped on the clutch, I could engage a gear. The RUF doesn't seem to work that way.

Yes the car gets off the line nicely with a clutch.

*crickets*



I think that's true of everyone, and even in real life racing. Open practice is different in that there is no pressure! If you flub up a turn in practice, it doesn't matter. Flub up a turn in a race and suddenly the guy that was 4 seconds behind you is now on your butt!

Vehicle dynamics, driving skills, all that - IMO the PRESSURE and racecraft is what iRacing truly trains you for. As close as the RUF might be to a real cup car or whatever, it's doubtful anyone's REAL car drives exactly like it, so IMO using iRacing to learn how to drive your real car isn't all that great above and beyond the basics. But the pressure, the consistency, and the mistakes, are all very real. Use iRacing to learn how to handle the mental game with yourself. I've walked away from many races in iRacing completely soaked in sweat.

tasracer

Gonna host a mid oh

90 min P 15Q 15R later this evening

Please vote for a 2 hr slot

6-8?
8-10?
730-930?
9-11?

Post suggestions or time slot idea

HoBoJoe

9-11 or 8-10, later is better for me.

User 52121

Times are EST right?

9-11 first choice
8-10 second choice

ny991

8-10 for me!

abqautoxer

8-10est is best for me.

tasracer

So looks like 8-10 is in the lead so far

I'll wait till 5 or 6 to post final time

Maybe 830-1030? Is best compromise?

Keep chiming in

Trying to accommodate as many as possible

JustinL

That's a strategy that I've used a few times too. Sometimes pressuring and battling is more costly than just chilling out. If you back off a bit and let the guy in front drive out the windshield instead of the mirrors both people can go faster and build a gap to the group behind. Ted took the defensive line up the front straight when I was behind him. The first time he did it, I stayed wide and put the pressure on him which caused us both to have to check up into T1 as I couldn't apex and he couldn't set up. That let Tony get REAL close through T2,T3. Second time through, he went defensive, but I pulled in behind him and we both were able to go full speed through T1.

I find the game theory/prisoner's dilemma fascinating and how the changing situation changes the optimum strategy.

The situation with Jim and Julian was similar in that when Jim and I decided to compete, Julian profited. Jim eased up a bit and I could run faster to catch Julian which in turn also pulled Jim up with me. It's a shame Julian spun as it certainly would have ended up with another 3-way battle for the lead.

tasracer

If it wasn't for my bone head qualify line idea in 3

I might of been around for the fun

As I was just worrying about justin I had no idea the others were close
Thought we were pulling a gap

User 52121

Nope I had you clowns on radar lock right in front of me

User 52121

"The game" and playing with strategy is what I LOVE about racing. Sadly, the "driving around the track" stuff isn't really the fun of it for me anymore. I love the strategy. It's part of why/how I can show up at a DE event, run 1-2 sessions, and call it quits (while other DE'ers look at me like I'm nuts for leaving 2-3 sessions on the table). No strategy, no dogfighting, just gets boring after a while.

I have more fun on my Lemons team being team captain and coming up with pit and driving strategy than I do the actual driving.