Round 3 - Fine Line @ Mills Outer Loop A - Saturday, January 12, 2013

We found some glitches at toban last week, which caused quite a few cars to drop out early unfortunatly, but we do it again and a quality, ISI track as we visit Mills Metropark - Outer Loop A this coming Saturday, January 12, 2013 for Round 3 of the Megane series.

Qualifying begins at 21:00 GMT (4:00 PM EST) for the 60 Lap Event at Putnam Park.

IMPORTANT: To race and earn points you must be signed up at our web site here... click the big blue "Join Today" Icon at the top of the page or go directly to the registration page by following this link...

Last Weeks Results: Toban Race Results
Current Standings: 2012/2013 Winter Megane Standings

Track and vmod download links available below.

Upcoming Race at a Glance:

Race Day: Saturday, January 12, 2013
Time: 19:00 GMT Practice / 21:00 GMT Qualify (2:00 PM Practice / 4:00 PM Qualify USA Eastern Time)
Server Name: FLR - Megane League
LiveMonitor: LiveMonitor with Hotlaps
Track: Mills Metro Park - Outer Loop A
Vehicle: Renault Megane
VMod: FLR-League-Mills.rfmod (to keep things clean its recommended to uninstall & delete previous FLR league mods from your mod folder before installing this one)
Race Length: 70 Laps (Approximately 90 minutes)
Fuel: 1x - normal
Tires: 1x - normal
Driver Aids: Auto Clutch allowed
Driver View: Cockpit or Nose Allowed

We are going back to normal tirewear since even 7x does not require tires in a 90 minute race, LOL! Come on ISI get on the ball!!! ;-)

The server is up now for practice. It is set to a 10 lap race for the times there are enough people who want to test it out in race conditions.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

 

Bump - Don't have access to the hotlaps right now, but there's been quite a few times posted. Race is this Saturday - sign up today and race for points this Saturday guys...

 

It's Time for times... ;-) Don't forget, the race is this Saturday @ 21:00 GMT (4:00 PM US Eastern / New York Time) and this Mills layout is a BLAST with the Megane! It's easy to sign up and join us for some great points racing - - just come visit our web site here: www.finelineracing.net and click the big blue JOIN TODAY button at the top of the page.

Here's the overall times, including times from the last practice race at this layout:

 

Race Day is tomorrow guys. Don't forget to sign up here: www.finelineracing.net if you enjoy the challenge of long races (approximatly 90 minutes long). Tomorrow the server will be reset at 19:00 GMT / 2:00 PM EST (New York Time) with a password - - only registered members will have access at that point, so sign up before then to race.

We qualify for 15 minutes at 21:00 GMT / 4:00 PM EST (New York Time) for the 70 lap race at Mills Outer Loop A.

Here's the practice times so far (Kalle and Ash are fast - - can they run mistake free???) ;-) :



We hope to see everyone tomorrow!!!

 

Already having nightmares about the last chicane! Think I'll ruin my race there. Don't know if it's the car or track or both but having hard times finding consistency. Will be interesting race.

 

Yeah there's a lot of speed to be gained OR lost there. ;-) If I push it too early, I drive off the outside/right side and get into the grass. If I cut the curb too much I spin it, LOL!

 

IT'S RFACTOR2 RACE DAY BOYS AND GIRLS!!!

Server Reset at 19:00 GMT / 2:00 PM New York Time for race length and password - - 2 hours of practice then we Qualify at 21:00 GMT / 4:00 PM New York Time for the big Mills 70 lap race!!! ;-)

Who can keep it on track for 70 laps today and claim the win??? Come join us and find out!

 

The server is now set for 2 hours of practice with the league password. The password was emailed to all FLR rFactor2 members.

It's not too late to sign up though if you would like to join this fun and challenging series. Visit www.finelineracing.net and click "Join Today" before 21:00 GMT and you too can join the fun! ;-)

 

Well, I discovered a bug - went off at the chicane there at the sector timing line and my lap didn't count, but overall it was a great race. We had a couple incidents that upon first review look like racing deals, although I think some better discretion could have been used since both times it involved cars who were not racing anyone for position and were on different laps...

Anyway, here's the detailed results: http://finelineracing.net/rFactor2/index.php?eventid=5

And the Current Standings: http://finelineracing.net/index.php?c=rfactor&page=rfactor_standings

Top 3 separated by 2 points, LOL! What a close championship it is!!!

I'm leaning towards Topeka for the next race - - will confirm soon.

 

No it's only 1 point separating the three of us! I found a bug too - from the scoring system. At Toban's race there's 2 points missing from standings starting from Kane.

 

I meant 2 points between 3rd to 1st - - yes 1 point between eacy. ;-)

 

Yeah, that was a bloody interesting race. The glitch you experienced Lance, I first noticed at Putnam, in the practice session. Ran off on the massive outfield and came on after the timing marker. Just like you, took another lap to trigger the marker.

Bunted and half spun at the start which left my monitor saying I should "repair all", but I couldn't feel anything really wrong. I would assume it was just body damage.
Also knocked by Lance at the end, but I wasn't going to catch Kalle with my munted arse tyres so no worry XD
And where did Kalle pull a 1:15.1 out of??! Insane man...

So yeah, tyre wear...hmmm...default setup could be to blame, but yeah. I dunno. No matter what I did at the end, I couldnt break under the 1:16. All this with 1X tyre wear too. Gosh darn it ISI XD

And wow, how much closer could it get in the standings :O

 

Hummm... That falls into the category of why were you or why were we racing. I looked at the replay and if anything, you turned down into me there, but I don't understand why. You were not racing anyone for position, we weren't on the same lap and I caught you like a bat out of hell.

If I were in your position, I would have let me by at the first opportunity instead of trying to race someone not on your lap - - but that's just me. ;-)

 

Why was I/we racing? Dont want to lose 2nd place do I?
You were a lap down, making an overtake into a corner where the line involves trail braking quite hard and deep, to then square off the corner. The line that I used slowly moves into the inside while braking, flick the car round and power out hard. You should have noticed the line I take in the laps you spent behind me, and made a clean pass of it, or wait and see if I make a mistake somewhere. Measure up my driving, and do a move when you have got a good drive and know you can finish a good pass.

What I remember seeing last (as I knew you were right there and was checking) was you behind me, then just edging up equal with my bumper. I was then focused on the corner after that though, thinking you wouldnt try it, especially as you were a lap down car. Turns out you left your braking a bit later and softer which pushed you up equal with my car as I turned in.
I've looked at the replay, I start my line into the corner from the track edge, you are on the inside, but stay out with your line. A block pass with a narrow line would have worked well I suppose.
I had 3rd place about 10-15 seconds behind, and did not want to lose 2nd place. I couldnt catch Kalle, but 3rd could catch me.


Did you lose a place?

 

I meant 1 point between 3rd to 1st - half point between each and there's still a bug in the scoring system!

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I believe it was the damage in your car and not tires (unless they kept overheated). I experienced similar thing at last race when damaged the car multiple times. No matter how hard I tried and how good the lap felt I was constantly half second slower than before. It may be that pit crew can't fix damages 100%.

I was thinking the same about Lance's qualifying lap and we all know what he replied and I guess pulled mine from the similar very dark place. During the race I started to feel it's going to be my day but Roberto was, as usual at Mills, trying to steal the fastest lap. So I started pushing and few laps later 1:15.109 was shown on screen. I almost forgot to brake for T1 while thinking "wow, that should do it!" I guess all planets were aligned just right and together gave needed additional gravitational pull making that lap possible. For real it didn't feel that special and guess just happened to put all parts together. There was no draft during the lap but at the last chicane only right rear tire was on the white line. So guess it would have been considered as illegal lap if happened on qualify but on the other hand cutting the last chicane by so little didn't give many milliseconds advantage.

These are difficult situations when a driver lap down is faster than guys at front. It can also be seen that you didn't have much chances to improve your position but Ash wasn't that far from me and Matt wasn't very far from Ash. One mistake from me or Ash and things could have changed. I know it's frustrating situation to slow down and just wait. At last race I was lap behind the guy in front of me, overtook him but couldn't pull gap fast enough and got drive-through penalty for not obeying blue flags. Maybe there shouldn't be blue flags on those situation for a lap or two.

Still can't believe I was able to drive through the last chicane 70 times in a row without going wide or spinning!

 

Yeah, tire wear just seems almost irrelevant at the moment. The tires do feel different as they wear but the lap times aren't affected much and if anything seem to get faster somehow. Several people, myself included, ran their fastest laps near the end of the race. And Kalle managed a 15.283 on lap 57. (!)

Anyway, it was a lot of fun racing you guys. I went in thinking I could make a 2-stop strategy work but I didn't have my act together at all with the planning, so it was a right mess almost from the start. I knew I could complete 23 laps per stint at full speed so I just needed to find a way to get an extra lap (not even half a lap, really) in one stint. But like an idiot I ran about 6 laps in the first stint in fuel-saving mode (short-shifting) before I realized the formation lap I hadn't accounted for made it impossible to do 24 laps in that stint. Then on the second stint I had it figured right and saved enough to reach the end of lap 47, which would leave me free to run hard the rest of the way.

Except I pitted at the end of lap 46 instead and threw away 2+ liters of fuel. That set me up for having to conserve again in the final stint or just accept that I needed to stop again. Either one would work as I wasn't under threat of losing 3rd place with an additional stop.

I ended up saving enough on the final stint but then started misreading the lap info (I never raced rF1 much) and convinced myself I had to stop with one to go when it was really the final lap. So I took the checkered in the pit lane but could have finished without stopping that last time.

No regrets in any case, other than not preparing better. I don't think I could have given you guys a fight if I had just run flat out anyway, which is why I tried the two-stopper. If I hadn't botched the execution it could have been interesting.

 

I was observing your pit stops too and at some point I was convinced you're about the make it with just two stops. So I started to save fuel too but after something like 10 or 15 laps I felt it's not going to work. So I switched back to plan A and started to build some gap again. Yeah, tires felt just like brand new at that point (laps 56-61) and was able to set good times.

 

Well, it's a matter of knowing where you are in the race. You were not in danger of losing any positions and were not going to lose any time to the car ahead either had you let me go. I was racing Tony for position and was much faster. I had the inside line and if I were in your position would have braked early upon seeing the car behind go inside.

I certainly would not just run my "normal" line and turn when there is someone on the inside of me.

I still luv u man! ;-)

 

I'll double check that, but still see one point between 1st - 2nd and 1 point between 2nd to 3rd. I'll verify tonight though - thanks for pointing out the scoring glitch on Roberto.

Actually I had a great chance to improve my position as I was in a battle with Tony for 4th place and I was MUCH faster at the time than Ash. It makes no sense for him to race me at that point. All he's going to do is slow himself down and slow me down and possible end in a wreck, which happened but thankfully didn't hurt our spots for the most part.

It did take any chance I had at catching Tony though.

 

Anyway - - that's racing. It's nice to have these debates after the race. It was real professional in the race, which is what we want. Let the debates take place after off text so folks can race in peace. ;-)

Thanks again for coming out guys and here's to a great championship battle!