AC Multiclass Abarth500/Mazda MX5#Silver City Raceway, Wed 19th April 2023

Wayne Morgan said:

bummer was in 3rd and lost it silly mistake
Thanks all

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I wondered were that place came from.

Good race for me, sandwiched between Carsten and Kimi, could not get rid of either of them, so I pitted, good plan.
Had a comfortable gap to Kimi after he pitted, kept pulling over to let Carsten by, I was in no mans land, no chance with Jason, too fast. Every time I pulled over Carseten kept following me. I could not lift, alway a fraught experience, three times over..
Then one became two and I just followed, shouted out over discord, don’t knock each other off, when I got around the corner I was going say 15 min to get a clean overtake , only to find them both spinning.

I kept doing nothing and gaining places, funny old game this racing.
Great race , many thanks to Han for his organisation, and really chuffed we are at Le Mans with no chicanes next week.




Noooooooo it is meadow dale, what happened to a chicane less Le Mans

Kek700 said:

Had a comfortable gap to Kimi after he pitted, kept pulling over to let Carsten by, I was in no mans land, no chance with Jason, too fast. Every time I pulled over Carseten kept following me. I could not lift, alway a fraught experience, three times over..

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Well,
we had a serious miscommunication there.

I was triing to hitch a ride in your draft, you kept playing coy
First time I was flumoxed as you pulled into pit entry (for the second time )
but after a while I got it, you just didn´t like my face in your mirror and wanted me to do the work so later you could capitalize from any mistakes I should make

Sorry to disapoint, the mistake was not mine but worked for you anyway.

If we should happen into a similar situation again just talk to me, should save both of us a trouser change

Race on Carsten

Kek700 said:

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Noooooooo it is meadow dale, what happened to a chicane less Le Mans

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And once again Han did the right thing,
if you want to drive straight for 5min just say the word, from my flat to the autobahn is about four minutes.



but it gets old fast (pun intended)
I think I broke the 200 kph twice this year, its just boring going straight.

MFG Carsten

I just want to sail majestically passed that chief Rotter Allan. Corners with me driving always scupper me in these races.

HF2000 said:

Thank you for your kind words, Dominic.

We organize Rookie events about every 6 weeks. But you mean on a regular basis?

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yes, i meant a dedicated rookie event perhaps once a week... i get the feeling that the number of drivers on the grids may start to increase as this merger with OT solidifies and the RD membership grows...

well, that is a really nice track with a good flow to it. all those high speed elevation changes were pretty thrilling. however, i must confess, that chicane got the best of me (not that hard to do ;0). i wiped out there at least 3 or 4 times. seemed kind of slippery through there.... after that, focus went to hell. still had fun though!

congrats to the podium finishers, the new guys, and everyone in between. nice driving!

That race was something... it felt like driving at "Extended Zandvoort", from the nature of the track. Rollercoasty and long. This was a race of grit and concentration... the lap was a metronomic choreography on a tight line from which no deviation was possible if you wanted to stay ahead. A true exercise on focus. And it strained my head and my eyes, also because I forgot to turn on the little lamp at the back of the room. Never underestimate soft lighting chaps.

I practiced in the weekend, just enough laps to find a line that was fast but not offroad. At practice I managed to find time on 3 corners and cut two seconds from my PB by watching others drive... that was competitive enough for me. Had a decent Qualy and got well off the line... until the first of two incidents on lap 1. I saw a car warping like an air-hockey puck (can happen), followed by a 'carambole' of cars I couldn't avoid (sorry Andre), due to which I ended up facing the wrong way and dead-last... so I put my head down and started to work on pulling off a "Checo" recovery race. It wasn't an easy task due to the nature of the track... you really have to wait for a safe place to pull a pass. I had one little off on the last stint, when tyres were fading, but at the end I managed to get all but 2 of the lost places back so I was quite content with it.

I had a few scraps along the way to recovery, with Antoine and William among others... that was fun racing guys, you gave space but didn't coy. I hope all the first-timers had a good experience, despite internet shennanigans, botched pitstops and a challenging track (quite something for a first race online)... I think you all did well. Keep coming and focus on consistent driving, and the speed will follow. We've all been there

Congratulations with the class wins to Allan and Jason and all podium finishers and thanks to Han for the organisation. Quite a choice of circuit this time, despite the battering I really enjoyed it!!

See you on the next one lads!

Well, what can I say? That truly exceeded my expectations in terms of fun and thank you to all the regulars for welcoming us noobs I was very anxious beforehand but I need not have been, you were all great. I was even brave enough to make a cameo on voice chat which I try to avoid like the plague as I have a slight speech impediment from a mini-stroke a few years back. I'm so glad I did it as yesterday I had to PM Han to say I wouldn't be there due to work commitments but I got home in time. Hopefully I don't get fired this morning.

That track is a baptism of fire though. When I first signed up and downloaded the track I headed out into practice and just said to myself "nope" If you stick with it though it actually really grows on you, I'll be using it again. I think it worked really well with the Mazda too. My pace improved throughout the past three days, nothing spectacular but at least I didn't put on the clown show I worried I might. When running with other cars I could see immediately that the long left hander followed by the slight right handed incline was killing me compared to everyone else. I always had to lift going up the hill as if I tried to go flat I would hit the same bump and spin, no confidence there at all.

Two incidents unfortunately. Into T1 on lap 2 I was running very high up the field due to the lap 1 carnage I had elegantly skipped through it haha. However, into T1 on lap 2 I made contact with someone, not sure who, and I got bogged down in the grass on the inside and had to wait for a gap to come back on. I'm not really sure what happened, I'll view the replay later, but it's possible it was my fault. it didn't feel like it in the car at the time but it never does, does it?

Then, I had some good racing with Simon, Raul and a couple of others. Three in front began to battle and I was closing in as they lost time but I had a rush of excitement nosebleed and lost control at the top of the hill leading into the S bend losing a number of places and a chunk of time.

The majority of the rest of the race was pretty lonely until I had a super fun battle with @RS242 for a few laps near the end, just grabbing the position at the death. Ricardo, I did wonder why you were suddenly so slow at that point and now when I read about your struggles I can see why. I enjoyed it though, it got pretty close at times but never any danger of contact.

So many words, can you tell I'm excited? This is the first time I have ever done anything but hot lap in Assetto Corsa and I've never even driven a race against the AI, AC was just never my sim but I'm finding some appreciation for it now (bit late eh?) - I even had to go and buy some DLC to play last night Also, it's the first time I've done anything more than sprint races in MP. I had overlooked the 60 min race, now that was a new experience for me haha

I'll be back for more and when I've done a few of these I'll look to hop into some of the rF2 and AMS2 stuff. I really don't have time for this but I'm single so it'll be fine. Looks like it will probably stay that way too

thegreatradish said:

I'll be back for more and when I've done a few of these I'll look to hop into some of the rF2 and AMS2 stuff. I really don't have time for this but I'm single so it'll be fine. Looks like it will probably stay that way too

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I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed it so much Will!
And yes, keep coming 'coz you are doing great man...

dbx71 said:

yes, i meant a dedicated rookie event perhaps once a week... i get the feeling that the number of drivers on the grids may start to increase as this merger with OT solidifies and the RD membership grows...

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Being at the bottom of the table myself I have to admit I have mixed feelings about this.
On the one hand it would be more welcoming to new members if the skill ceiling is low.
But on the other hand I like to have such a mixed field, really gives you perspective and keeps you aiming high. And allows you to jump on other people's cars to see what are they doing different and from there you can learn a lot.
I would suggest delaying these events until we start struggling with spots for the regular race.

thegreatradish said:

The majority of the rest of the race was pretty lonely until I had a super fun battle with @RS242 for a few laps near the end, just grabbing the position at the death. Ricardo, I did wonder why you were suddenly so slow at that point and now when I read about your struggles I can see why. I enjoyed it though, it got pretty close at times but never any danger of contact.

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It was a great battle William, I enjoyed it.
I could see you creeping in my mirror in those last laps and I knew I would not be able to keep you back until the end of the race. I still tried my best.
Great clean racing and an honest and deserved pass, well done!

Glad you enjoyed it and hope to see you again in the next events.

You learn your race craft by racing against as many variables as are put in front of you, Han, Brian and Markus have managed to create a race series that encompasses all types drivers, in a fair environment.
It is up to you to learn how to read a race, this environment does just that.
Unlike talent, how to run a race is learnt.

RS242 said:

Being at the bottom of the table myself I have to admit I have mixed feelings about this.
On the one hand it would be more welcoming to new members if the skill ceiling is low.
But on the other hand I like to have such a mixed field, really gives you perspective and keeps you aiming high. And allows you to jump on other people's cars to see what are they doing different and from there you can learn a lot.
I would suggest delaying these events until we start struggling with spots for the regular race.

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i can see your point. grid sizes are really good right now, i would hate to see them get thinned out prematurely... and there is a good mix in skill levels which makes it fun for all involved as you say. and, honestly, the 'rookies' have been pretty damn fast lately! doesn't seem like they need a trainer format.
however, i believe some folks have come for one race, been blown away and decided that racing online here is too intimidating, which is a shame... those are the individuals i was referring to, allowing them to ease into this. yeah, maybe it would be best to hold off a while. or possibly do those rookie / promotional races once a month instead of every 6 weeks.

dbx71 said:

i can see your point. grid sizes are really good right now, i would hate to see them get thinned out prematurely... and there is a good mix in skill levels which makes it fun for all involved as you say. and, honestly, the 'rookies' have been pretty damn fast lately! doesn't seem like they need a trainer format.
however, i believe some folks have come for one race, been blown away and decided that racing online here is too intimidating, which is a shame... those are the individuals i was referring to, allowing them to ease into this. yeah, maybe it would be best to hold off a while. or possibly do those rookie / promotional races once a month instead of every 6 weeks.

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Well, after the race if I don't see any messages from the newcomers I'll send them a PM to ask about their experience and encourage them to stay involved and offer them help.

On this subject, maybe something that could happen with a growing community in the future, which is that we run out of grid spots for everyone. So I'm already thinking about two events at once, one for the faster guys and one for the rest. But since we don't have a rating system, I need to figure out how to divide the participants. An option is to use the driver standings for this.

But we will address that when this luxury problem becomes real.

and here is a video of andre's gymkhana moves from my POV. somehow managed to blow the wheels off! nice come back after this!

dbx71 said:

and here is a video of andre's gymkhana moves from my POV. somehow managed to blow the wheels off! nice come back after this!

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Had to look twice to see it

I saw that in my mirror, just about crashed myself laughing at it

@thegreatradish,
Glad you enjoyed yourself,keep coming back,it only gets better,you wont a beat a better bunch of guys,and if you can take a bit of friendly ribbing,you,ll be ok here,i get a bit aimed at me now and again...Im single...Love it and if you see me on in praccy feel free to ask for a few tips and i might oblige if the mood takes me lol...
..

Allan Ramsbottom said:

@thegreatradish,
Glad you enjoyed yourself,keep coming back,it only gets better,you wont a beat a better bunch of guys,and if you can take a bit of friendly ribbing,you,ll be ok here,i get a bit aimed at me now and again...Im single...Love it and if you see me on in praccy feel free to ask for a few tips and i might oblige if the mood takes me lol...
..

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OK. Are you telling me that divorce is the best way for me to get better?

Personally I prefer the lottery, if it is just fast and slow everything get predictable and boring.
I like watching the newbies get better and learn, then start to get to the front.