rF2 Special: FR35 @ Essington [now v1.03]

[Rouke]

go!

[Frank Oreskov]

I'm really sorry hardtohandle, when I saw you and tried to slow down the car understeered and I lost control and hit you

Then later I tried to use the downforce and kept a high speed but went off track, then off again, spun and totaled the car, not only the rear wing but also the right rear wheel. I have to say this car's behaviour isn't easy for me at all, nor that logical. Normally grip decreases with speed but these cars have low grip at low speed and then it increases until high speed, but then it's directly from total control to total disaster and it's a scalped-edge from one to the other.

[DaleB]

Not a great day for me, 1st race went very well, finished 4th but was running in 2nd for a long time. Damn I just wish I could take care of my tires like Rik does

2nd race I'm not sure what happened, my car felt totally different, very touchy & twitchy. Started 8th (last) and not sure why but as it turns out it didn't make any difference. Had two accidents in the first two laps, 2nd one I put it into the wall but I just couldn't control the car, so weird.

Anyway, congrat Rik for the win in the first race, not sure who got it in the 2nd. Good turnout again, 10 drivers for the first race and lost 3 but gained Steve for the 2nd race.

Wondering, should we move the races up an hour so it's not so late for everyone?

Also, do you think it makes any difference starting on the less grippy side of the track? I'm not complaining at all, actually think its kind of a cool thing to think about for qualifying, if it makes any difference as far a grip level.

[Rick Stratton]

Wondering, should we move the races up an hour so it's not so late for everyone?

Europe goes onto summertime hours soon yes? Late here too [for me anyway].
Apologies To Bret for mucking up your race. All was so good yesterday, today I could hardly finish a lap without trauma.

[Rik Walker]

Europe goes to summertime on the last Sunday of March so the 30th this year, ie for our race on the 30th Europe and the US will be back in line. I for one would have problems if the race time was permanently moved forward an hour due to meal times (too early to have dinner before the race and much too late afterwards, especially as I'm the cook!)

It was a stressful start to this race. First we were delayed on our way back from visiting my parents so after grabbing a quick dinner it was nearly 1930 GMT before I could try & join the server only to be hit by the join issues that others experienced tonight. I tried many times including restarting rF2, rebooting & uninstalling the mod. It was only when Rouke restarted the server again that I could get in, so thanks for that & I trust that all of those who had joined earlier could also join the restarted server.

I got pole with a 1:23.2 although I think a 1:22 might have been possible if the track had been fully rubbered as would have been the case without the need for a server restart. On the grid I realised I couldn't see the start lights from pole position but luckily with the formation lap I could position my car just far enough back in the box to see the very bottom of the red lights & the green ones. At the start I got a better one than Rouke but could see Grant closing fast and he took the lead into T1. In the high speed esses in S3 I was rather cautious not trusting the grip available when following another car and I'm afraid that could have contributed to Rouke making a mistake; if so then sorry

I followed Grant for a few laps and when he made a small error I was able to slipstream past him on the main straight. Unfortunately he immediately got it wrong and crashed at the hairpin leaving me well ahead. After that I twice made errors and hit the wall but the damage wasn't that great and I had enough of a lead to hold on for the win.

In the 2nd race I committed the ultimate noob error and span on the formation lap but no damage so could take the start from pole. I held the lead from the start but was closely pursued by DaSilva and after he crashed, by Rouke. I was struggling for confidence in the high speed sections and Rouke was closing a little especially in S1. But by around half distance I had got my confidence back, was able to sensibly take more risks and could open the lead a little. Rouke then hit a discontinuity in the wall that runs inside T1 which wrecked his car - I had hit that during practice so knew to give it some room! After that I was clear in the lead and won easily with just one error when I ran wide in the 3rd last turn. Only 3 of us finished this race

I found this combination much better than at Nurburg. Not sure how much was the track and how much the setup, I will need to go back and try Nurburg again to sort that out. I didn't experience any sudden high speed loss of control unless I clipped the grass and hadn't anticipated it, but those esses are very hard to get just right without clipping the grass...

[Mitch Simon]

What happened with the server button being grayed out, any thoughts?

[Bret Metcalf]

After struggling a lot the whole week trying to get a stable, relatively quick set up (Riks did the trick, i just adjusted the brake biase a couple of notches to the front and put more wing on front & rear), i managed a big PB to get into the low 1:25's.Obviously nowhere near to challenge the front runners but certainly good enough to ensure that I have a group of drivers to race with. First race start was great until the exit of T1 where i lost the car (Dork), anyways, a few corners later I was back up and overtaking a few spinners, must have been at least 4 peeps? Later on I found myself closing in on Rick. This is a strange thing actually because lately both Rick & I have had a few contacts, my mistake,Ricks mistake etc...almost like a magnetic attraction when on track , I was obviously very aware of that & was determined not to take him out by a rash move, was following Rick when he made a mistake (I think it was the essess?), he got out of shape and I then got out of shape as well trying to avoid any contact...ROFL. Rick got away and I was about 4 or 5 seconds behind, later on it was my turn to lose it (this time Rick was behind me) I span & ended up bumping into him and he went off, really sorry Rick Just one of those things

At one point I realised I had just too much damage, parked it and left the server. Plan was to make a coffee and then rejoin for race 2...big mistake that, as i could not rejoin.

I do hope to get my G27 either replaced or fixed because atm I'm using an old Momo, there is just no feel with it and for sure it's affecting my speed/pace and control of the car.

Yet another couple of wins for Rik...congrats

Regards,
Bret

[Rouke]

What happened with the server button being grayed out, any thoughts?

Its an issue with this build Mitch, and we are one of the very few servers whom managed to dodge this problem which shut down rf2 MP for almost everyone the past 2 weeks. We ran out of luck last night though
I wish I could gloat on us getting it right but tbh its just pure luck

Funny thing is, we got the join-issue with the Race profile, I restarted it last night and still no avail. then i switched to Club profile and all was good again.
So i'm gunna check what the differences might be.

Rick/Bret, lets stick with the Club profile for now. also please don't allow skin transferals. any additional http transferals (whether its content downloads, vmods or skins) is a liability in this build.

[Rouke]

I loved this combo so much! really brought out everything I like about rf2.
Funny enough it was not such a exhausting task as it was at Nuerburg even though with our speeds and accuracy on the limit at Essignton even the smallest mistake meant a crash. Crashed so many times this week hehe.

Race 1 was a shame, all went well until I ran out of downforce behind Rik. Not your fault Rik, I should have known better with all the club races I did. I was just to eager to slow down for safety.
But it meant I could not challenge you guys which was a real shame, was looking forward to that allot


Race 2

I was struggling for confidence in the high speed sections and Rouke was closing a little especially in S1. But by around half distance I had got my confidence back, was able to sensibly take more risks and could open the lead a little.

That's exactly how I perceived it as well, I knew my S1 was strong, been closing in on peeps all week in that section so closing in on you was eminent so it seemed and now I felt more comfortable racing close so already I was imagining us fight for it.
(how DaSilva got 3rd place btw is beyond me, he did not qualify, last week we had grid misplacements as well)
But as I got closer and closer Rik picked up some more speed and that's why I crashed, I just had to push even harder to make up for that, take more risks and then that wall in T1, something invisible sticking out I guess, totalled my car.
For a second I thought I could bring it to the pits for repairs but it was too risky as I could have easily ruined someone else's race with my unpredictable movements so I bagged it.

Even though I loved the Nuerberg event I have to agree this one was better. The track just made it click more so in the future we need to keep this in mind although i'm not sure which characteristics made it click.

[DaleB]

Yes, it was a great event, only downer, well two actually was we couldn't use the newer version of the track, it really is a much nicer version and the greyed out button issue.

This was the first time that issue has cropped up on me, I've read about and seen other people struggling with it but 1st for me. I agree with Rouke, lets just use default skins, although I used a skin last week and again I did get in with it this week, let's just eliminate that as a possible issue. I did try when I was greyed out, rebooted my whole system and went to a default skin first and it didn't make a difference but maybe because other people were already in it was the issue, who knows. What it really comes down to is ISI needs to figure this one out.

[Paul Langford]

Sorry guys I fell asleep as I had been up since 4am watching the F1 GP live in the morning

Hope it went well

[Rouke]

lets just use default skins, although I used a skin last week and again I did get in with it this week, let's just eliminate that as a possible issue. I did try when I was greyed out, rebooted my whole system and went to a default skin first and it didn't make a difference but maybe because other people were already in it was the issue, who knows. What it really comes down to is ISI needs to figure this one out.

You can still use your own skins Dale, server just wont send it to others that's all.

[Rik Walker]

(how DaSilva got 3rd place btw is beyond me, he did not qualify, last week we had grid misplacements as well)

Possibly because people had left so there are gaps in the grid when it is set using the batch command. That always caused issues in rF1.