Step 1: Download absolutely all necissary add-ons (1.2.0.1 patch, BW Patch, etc.)
Step 2: Download GEM+2
http://55and65.speedgeezers.com/gpl65/downloads.html
Step 3: Install GEM+2 Update
http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=200429
Step 4: Download and install TC mod
http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=200457
Step 5: Enjoy!
28 September, 2005
Watkins Glen GTP - Onboard!
Track Map
Now, for the first time in your life (unless you already own a copy of N2003 and the GTP mod), can see a full onboard lap of the Watkins Glen circuit. This lap is my PB in clear weather conditions, and was done online together with Gav and Rich as practise for the WOSEC race later in the month. So without further adiéu, here it is!
Right click, Save As (18,3 MB)
Now, for the first time in your life (unless you already own a copy of N2003 and the GTP mod), can see a full onboard lap of the Watkins Glen circuit. This lap is my PB in clear weather conditions, and was done online together with Gav and Rich as practise for the WOSEC race later in the month. So without further adiéu, here it is!
Right click, Save As (18,3 MB)
27 September, 2005
WOSEC - Watkins Glen GTP
[Saturday - 24th of September]
Track Map
As always, practise for this race started in the week after the previous one (Tunlanta for those who can't remember). I quickly crafted a setup (basically the gear ratios) for clear conditions, and soon modified it for ultra-long lasting. My pace in the first week suprised the top drivers in mye team (Gav and Rich), as I was never more than a few tenths off them in our online practise sessions (Look to the next post for an onboard lap ^). Heck, I was even leading one of them at one point! Unfortunately this is about the time my PC started acting up. Fortunately I got it up and running the Tuesday before the race, and managed to get back into the groove after my (rather miserable) NGPLS race.
By now the rest of the team had pulled away in terms of laptime, but I was still within about a second of the quickest times, and I was consistent! The time sheets in practise showed mainly 1:34s in clear weather and 1:32s in cloudy. All in race trim of course, so I (as well as the rest of the team, were) was more than ready to take on the 6 hours ahead. But I was also due for another team event, on pretty much exactly the same time as the race itself. Namely a floorball match, in wich I had to take part due to our team being rather down on numbers. So I qualified and did the first stint before dashing off to the game, but here's the qualifying, plus the first stint, in a bit more detail:
I put the car in 8th on the 19-car (or so) grid. Quite impressive if I do say so myself. Got away well without losing any positions and settled nicely into a good rythm, with a 2 second buffer down to- and up to the next cars. I passed a handful of spun off cars littered by the roadside every now and then, and could have found myself in 5th had I not hit one of them. That accident resulted in me being thrown up onto the barrier with nothing to do but call the tow truck, and wait the minute it took to bring my car back to the pits. I Re-entered the track, and I was down to 18th and a lap down. Within half an hour I had clambered my way up to 13th before handing the car over to my teammate "Koop", and rushing off to my match.
Well home a few hours later, and we were in 5th, the VTR2 car was in 2nd and the VTR1 car had lost a gear and crashed because of that. Gav, who was originally going to drive in the VTR1 car, had taken over for Koop and thus saved Koop the agony of a huge stint (or the car just sitting in the pits). After 20 or so laps, I re-took the wheel of our black Jaguar XJ9 and set off for what was going to be my best stint ever. I started off pretty slowly, mainly with 1:35s plus a 1:34 here and there, but gradually made myself feel at home in the 1:34s. Because of Gav taking over, we had reached the minimum amount of required driver changeovers. And since a changeover loses us a lap, I wasn't too keen on doing so as the two cars behind (SFH VROC and Hillcrest Racing) were barely two laps down on me. We all knew they were catching slowly, so I stayed in the car until the end. When driving I never felt particularly nervous, although I can't imagine how Koop and Gav felt, only hearing the occasional update from me via radio.
Hillcrest did a driver change, VROC did a driver change, Hillcrest spun. Hillcrest was now 3 laps down on me, and VROC down 2 due to the fact that they needed more pitstops to do. In the end I trundled home to a very respectable third, in formation with the VTR2 car (white) who came home second. A very impressive drive by everyone in the team, and I'm proud to have been a part of it. Good job guys!
Track Map
As always, practise for this race started in the week after the previous one (Tunlanta for those who can't remember). I quickly crafted a setup (basically the gear ratios) for clear conditions, and soon modified it for ultra-long lasting. My pace in the first week suprised the top drivers in mye team (Gav and Rich), as I was never more than a few tenths off them in our online practise sessions (Look to the next post for an onboard lap ^). Heck, I was even leading one of them at one point! Unfortunately this is about the time my PC started acting up. Fortunately I got it up and running the Tuesday before the race, and managed to get back into the groove after my (rather miserable) NGPLS race.
By now the rest of the team had pulled away in terms of laptime, but I was still within about a second of the quickest times, and I was consistent! The time sheets in practise showed mainly 1:34s in clear weather and 1:32s in cloudy. All in race trim of course, so I (as well as the rest of the team, were) was more than ready to take on the 6 hours ahead. But I was also due for another team event, on pretty much exactly the same time as the race itself. Namely a floorball match, in wich I had to take part due to our team being rather down on numbers. So I qualified and did the first stint before dashing off to the game, but here's the qualifying, plus the first stint, in a bit more detail:
I put the car in 8th on the 19-car (or so) grid. Quite impressive if I do say so myself. Got away well without losing any positions and settled nicely into a good rythm, with a 2 second buffer down to- and up to the next cars. I passed a handful of spun off cars littered by the roadside every now and then, and could have found myself in 5th had I not hit one of them. That accident resulted in me being thrown up onto the barrier with nothing to do but call the tow truck, and wait the minute it took to bring my car back to the pits. I Re-entered the track, and I was down to 18th and a lap down. Within half an hour I had clambered my way up to 13th before handing the car over to my teammate "Koop", and rushing off to my match.
Well home a few hours later, and we were in 5th, the VTR2 car was in 2nd and the VTR1 car had lost a gear and crashed because of that. Gav, who was originally going to drive in the VTR1 car, had taken over for Koop and thus saved Koop the agony of a huge stint (or the car just sitting in the pits). After 20 or so laps, I re-took the wheel of our black Jaguar XJ9 and set off for what was going to be my best stint ever. I started off pretty slowly, mainly with 1:35s plus a 1:34 here and there, but gradually made myself feel at home in the 1:34s. Because of Gav taking over, we had reached the minimum amount of required driver changeovers. And since a changeover loses us a lap, I wasn't too keen on doing so as the two cars behind (SFH VROC and Hillcrest Racing) were barely two laps down on me. We all knew they were catching slowly, so I stayed in the car until the end. When driving I never felt particularly nervous, although I can't imagine how Koop and Gav felt, only hearing the occasional update from me via radio.
Hillcrest did a driver change, VROC did a driver change, Hillcrest spun. Hillcrest was now 3 laps down on me, and VROC down 2 due to the fact that they needed more pitstops to do. In the end I trundled home to a very respectable third, in formation with the VTR2 car (white) who came home second. A very impressive drive by everyone in the team, and I'm proud to have been a part of it. Good job guys!
26 September, 2005
NGPLS - Nürburgring
[Tuesday- 20th of September]
Track Map
It's the mother of all racing circuits, Nürburgring übes alle!
...and I haven't practised one bit. My copy of WinXP was, um, let's just say it was acting up. Managed to reformat on the day before the race, and got about three laps of practise in. I was experiencing a wierd swerve just before Quiddelbacher Höhe, so I wasn't able to drive 100% as I normally do here. Because of this, no laptimes were logged and I had no idea what to expect for the race, on the very next day. Good thing I know my way around here already...
I entered the server, did the usual outlap and first hotlap. But something was wrong, no laptimes were being logged on my pitboard. I did another lap, but the same problem happened: No laptime! Great. Here I am, at my favorite track, and the server is acting up by not registering my times! I feared the worst for the race, and sat around waiting for the qualifying session to end...
On the grid, second-to-last, and all the other cars disappear within 5 seconds of me arriving. This can't be good. I start off really slowly, well aware of the fact that cars might suddenly appear right in front of me. And that's exactly what happens, in the Südkehre. After picking the bits of debris from my teeth I set off again, slightly demotivated. The rest of the race can be summed up with: Cars disappearing, no laps regisered and severely demotivating. It turns out I ended up in 3rd, so theoretically I could have won the bastard! As I had several unnecissary spins and accidents (the latter beng due to the laggy stuff problems). All I've got to say is: Nice time to pick to be a crappy server!
Track Map
It's the mother of all racing circuits, Nürburgring übes alle!
...and I haven't practised one bit. My copy of WinXP was, um, let's just say it was acting up. Managed to reformat on the day before the race, and got about three laps of practise in. I was experiencing a wierd swerve just before Quiddelbacher Höhe, so I wasn't able to drive 100% as I normally do here. Because of this, no laptimes were logged and I had no idea what to expect for the race, on the very next day. Good thing I know my way around here already...
I entered the server, did the usual outlap and first hotlap. But something was wrong, no laptimes were being logged on my pitboard. I did another lap, but the same problem happened: No laptime! Great. Here I am, at my favorite track, and the server is acting up by not registering my times! I feared the worst for the race, and sat around waiting for the qualifying session to end...
On the grid, second-to-last, and all the other cars disappear within 5 seconds of me arriving. This can't be good. I start off really slowly, well aware of the fact that cars might suddenly appear right in front of me. And that's exactly what happens, in the Südkehre. After picking the bits of debris from my teeth I set off again, slightly demotivated. The rest of the race can be summed up with: Cars disappearing, no laps regisered and severely demotivating. It turns out I ended up in 3rd, so theoretically I could have won the bastard! As I had several unnecissary spins and accidents (the latter beng due to the laggy stuff problems). All I've got to say is: Nice time to pick to be a crappy server!
18 September, 2005
RIP Michael Park
Markko Märtin's co-driver, Michael Park, died today in a crash during the Rally of Great Britain. May he rest in peace...
More info
11 September, 2005
NGPLS - Snetterton
[Tuesday- 30th of August]
Track Map
This was to be my first NGPLS race in the BRM, and I put in quite a lot of practise beforehand. I set a 1:27.67 quite early in pre-qualifying, and quickly improved to 1:26.1. Was doing consistent 1:27s and set a new PB (1:26.01) on the day before the race, gunning for a 1:25... I didn't get much qualifying done unfortunately, as my pc was acting up and generally just being a nuisance. So I only got 15 minutes to qualify, where I ended up in 10th with a 1:27.5.
This was actually one of my better starts. Probably due to the fact that my BRM is a hell of a lot louder than the other cars, and I could much more easily hear my revs as I dumped the clutch. Because of this I actually managed to ease away from the guy to the left of me, and get alongside the guy ahead by moving across the track. Not wanting to go off in T1, I braked early and I settled into 9th. Unfortunately I ran wide in T1 5 laps later, and lost a load of places. From here until 10 laps from the finish I was on my own, doing 1:28s and 1:27s with the occasional 1:26 blasted in for good measure.
I passed two wrecks, two laps in a row, in T2. As an obvious result of this I gained a crapload of positions, and actually found myself looking at a potential 5th, and very likely 6th. Unfortunately I stuffed it up in the hairpin a few laps later, and dropped down to 8th. I then passed a spun off Ferrari, and could see that I was catching another Ferrari on my pitboard. But with 3 laps to go, he'd had a spin in The Bombhole. I went for the gap on the inside, but he didn't see me, and as a result of that pitched me up on two wheels, and then onto my head... Down to 8th and filled with anger I pushed like the madman I am, and eventually passed a spun off Ferrari in T1. Looking at the gap up to 6th I settled for my current position, and cruised in to finish a highly respectable 7th out of 14 starters.
Track Map
This was to be my first NGPLS race in the BRM, and I put in quite a lot of practise beforehand. I set a 1:27.67 quite early in pre-qualifying, and quickly improved to 1:26.1. Was doing consistent 1:27s and set a new PB (1:26.01) on the day before the race, gunning for a 1:25... I didn't get much qualifying done unfortunately, as my pc was acting up and generally just being a nuisance. So I only got 15 minutes to qualify, where I ended up in 10th with a 1:27.5.
This was actually one of my better starts. Probably due to the fact that my BRM is a hell of a lot louder than the other cars, and I could much more easily hear my revs as I dumped the clutch. Because of this I actually managed to ease away from the guy to the left of me, and get alongside the guy ahead by moving across the track. Not wanting to go off in T1, I braked early and I settled into 9th. Unfortunately I ran wide in T1 5 laps later, and lost a load of places. From here until 10 laps from the finish I was on my own, doing 1:28s and 1:27s with the occasional 1:26 blasted in for good measure.
I passed two wrecks, two laps in a row, in T2. As an obvious result of this I gained a crapload of positions, and actually found myself looking at a potential 5th, and very likely 6th. Unfortunately I stuffed it up in the hairpin a few laps later, and dropped down to 8th. I then passed a spun off Ferrari, and could see that I was catching another Ferrari on my pitboard. But with 3 laps to go, he'd had a spin in The Bombhole. I went for the gap on the inside, but he didn't see me, and as a result of that pitched me up on two wheels, and then onto my head... Down to 8th and filled with anger I pushed like the madman I am, and eventually passed a spun off Ferrari in T1. Looking at the gap up to 6th I settled for my current position, and cruised in to finish a highly respectable 7th out of 14 starters.
08 September, 2005
WOSEC - 6 Hours at Tunlanta
[Saturday - 27th of August]
Track Map
This was my best ever WOSEC race ever, despite me not having done a single lap before raceday. I was very consistent, rarely lapping outside the 1:17-1:18 range with the occasional 1:16 hammered in for good measure. 3 laps in the middle of my stint, however, were quite the mess due to a lapper not catching my hints about where to pass me. Causing me to go off in T1, and then go off several more times trying to make up the lost time.
Because of my very little practise, I only did one stint in this race. When I wasn't driving, our car had managed to get a stop&go penalty, get flipped on it's roof and have to cope with a fair amount of backmarkers! Despite all this, we managed to clamber our way up to 3rd place overall, a well deserved result if you ask me.
Track Map
This was my best ever WOSEC race ever, despite me not having done a single lap before raceday. I was very consistent, rarely lapping outside the 1:17-1:18 range with the occasional 1:16 hammered in for good measure. 3 laps in the middle of my stint, however, were quite the mess due to a lapper not catching my hints about where to pass me. Causing me to go off in T1, and then go off several more times trying to make up the lost time.
Because of my very little practise, I only did one stint in this race. When I wasn't driving, our car had managed to get a stop&go penalty, get flipped on it's roof and have to cope with a fair amount of backmarkers! Despite all this, we managed to clamber our way up to 3rd place overall, a well deserved result if you ask me.
Back on track
Sorry about the massive break. My PC had gone tits-up, and my simracing carreer kind of ground to a halt as a result of that. I've gotten a new HD (120GB, whee) and a clean install of XP installed a few weeks ago, so everything should be running much more smoothly now.
10 August, 2005
Another personality test...
| What military aircraft are you? EA-6B Prowler You are an EA-6B. You are sinister, preferring not to get into confrontations, but extract revenge through mind games and technological interference. You also love to make noise and couldn't care less about pollution.
|
| Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests. |
---
ph34r...
29 June, 2005
WOSEC - 12 Hours of Sebring
[Saturday - 25th of June]
Track Map
I got the honour of doing the practise/qualifying/first stint job in the VTR3 #86 car. I spent most of practise just moseying about, checking the gears and trying to be consistant. My qualifying outlap went fine, but for some whacky reason I disconnected entering the corner before the back straight. Connected again, got half an outlap done before another disco. Sprinted upstairs, nicked the network cable from dad's room and plugged it into my PC. Reconnected fine but Happy Hour had started, so we were dead last. No matter, this is a 12 hour race and grid position means nothing for us slower folks.
On the grid I had some graphical glitches, due to my computer not being the most up to date, so I took it nice and easy in the start. Settled into a nice rythm a few laps in, after passing the TPTCC car on the outside into the last corner. There was a small gap up to the WR Racing car, that kept expanding and decreasing. Can't really remember what happened next as the rest of my stint was pretty standard without much action. I handed over to Sim after having a small spin heading onto the backstraight, originally planning on doing an extra lap "just to be safe".
When Graham's gremlins arrived, Gav hopped into the car and reported a smokey and nonresponsive engine. Refusing to belive it I hopped in myself and the car was fine, so I did 6 laps while the rest of the guys tried to figure out what to do. Eventually we all agreed on putting Rich in the car, and he could set off on his extremely ultra-mega-bloody quick stint.
Edited my setup a tiny bit offline, so it was pretty much perfect when I took over after Sim at around the stroke of midnight (here in Norway). We were two laps ahead of the TPTCC car so I just took it really easy (but still doing 1:52s, actually pushed for a few laps near the end and got a 1:49 almost immediately). Unfortunately it got a bit too sloppy near the end after lapping a mono-geared Mazda, when I rode the kerb a bit too much onto the backstraight and I got T-Boned. Minimal damage, I continued, while listening to the soothing and calm words of Rich and Gav. If they would have had their houses to themselves I'm sure they would be yelling "GET THE F***ING CAR TO THE FINISH IN ONE PIECE ALREADY!!!" so thanks for restraining yourselves.
On another, not too important note: I felt a bit like Tiago Monteiro crossing the line: Torn between being happy for the 4th place (wanting to scream "WOOOOOOHOO!" at the top of my lungs) and slightly ashamed for having messed up so much near the end.
Track Map
I got the honour of doing the practise/qualifying/first stint job in the VTR3 #86 car. I spent most of practise just moseying about, checking the gears and trying to be consistant. My qualifying outlap went fine, but for some whacky reason I disconnected entering the corner before the back straight. Connected again, got half an outlap done before another disco. Sprinted upstairs, nicked the network cable from dad's room and plugged it into my PC. Reconnected fine but Happy Hour had started, so we were dead last. No matter, this is a 12 hour race and grid position means nothing for us slower folks.
On the grid I had some graphical glitches, due to my computer not being the most up to date, so I took it nice and easy in the start. Settled into a nice rythm a few laps in, after passing the TPTCC car on the outside into the last corner. There was a small gap up to the WR Racing car, that kept expanding and decreasing. Can't really remember what happened next as the rest of my stint was pretty standard without much action. I handed over to Sim after having a small spin heading onto the backstraight, originally planning on doing an extra lap "just to be safe".
When Graham's gremlins arrived, Gav hopped into the car and reported a smokey and nonresponsive engine. Refusing to belive it I hopped in myself and the car was fine, so I did 6 laps while the rest of the guys tried to figure out what to do. Eventually we all agreed on putting Rich in the car, and he could set off on his extremely ultra-mega-bloody quick stint.
Edited my setup a tiny bit offline, so it was pretty much perfect when I took over after Sim at around the stroke of midnight (here in Norway). We were two laps ahead of the TPTCC car so I just took it really easy (but still doing 1:52s, actually pushed for a few laps near the end and got a 1:49 almost immediately). Unfortunately it got a bit too sloppy near the end after lapping a mono-geared Mazda, when I rode the kerb a bit too much onto the backstraight and I got T-Boned. Minimal damage, I continued, while listening to the soothing and calm words of Rich and Gav. If they would have had their houses to themselves I'm sure they would be yelling "GET THE F***ING CAR TO THE FINISH IN ONE PIECE ALREADY!!!" so thanks for restraining yourselves.
On another, not too important note: I felt a bit like Tiago Monteiro crossing the line: Torn between being happy for the 4th place (wanting to scream "WOOOOOOHOO!" at the top of my lungs) and slightly ashamed for having messed up so much near the end.
26 June, 2005
Vader Trophy - Oulton Park
[Wednesday - 15th of June]
Track Map
I knew there was going to be chaos at T1 so I sandbagged my way through qualifying, almost managing to qualify last. After the green flag was dropped, I engaged first and patiently (read: slowly) made my way toward T1. Sure enough a bunch of cars go off and this time I have loads of time to avoid them, but then I get blasted off the track in Cascades just after saving a huge slide. I reset the car and rejoin dead last, but pass 3 of the cars involved in a 5 car wreck in the hairpin. I pass the two remaining cars as they tangle into Knickerbrook and I'm all by myself in 8th.
I get caught by Gav exiting the hairpin on lap 5. Unfortunately I try to hard to make it through Druids quickly and I exit the asfalt. Needless to say Gav got by, as did Ian so I'm now in 10th. I then proceed to spin off at Cascades on lap 7, luckily without losing position. Then on the same lap, I make a meal of getting around the right hander after the hairpin, and I have a little excursion on the grass. The same happes, on the same lap, at Druids (Sim passes). Another spin in T1 on lap 9 while chasing down Sim, plus an off at Cascades... After a few laps without spins I pass Sim exiting the final corner on lap 13, and can let Neil through to lap me. Sim sneaks through down The Avenue, and we both spin out of Cascades. Of course he is allowed the first reset, so I had to wait twice as long before I could reset my car.
A few laps (and a stupid amount of spins) later I crossed the line in a lousy 11th.
Track Map
I knew there was going to be chaos at T1 so I sandbagged my way through qualifying, almost managing to qualify last. After the green flag was dropped, I engaged first and patiently (read: slowly) made my way toward T1. Sure enough a bunch of cars go off and this time I have loads of time to avoid them, but then I get blasted off the track in Cascades just after saving a huge slide. I reset the car and rejoin dead last, but pass 3 of the cars involved in a 5 car wreck in the hairpin. I pass the two remaining cars as they tangle into Knickerbrook and I'm all by myself in 8th.
I get caught by Gav exiting the hairpin on lap 5. Unfortunately I try to hard to make it through Druids quickly and I exit the asfalt. Needless to say Gav got by, as did Ian so I'm now in 10th. I then proceed to spin off at Cascades on lap 7, luckily without losing position. Then on the same lap, I make a meal of getting around the right hander after the hairpin, and I have a little excursion on the grass. The same happes, on the same lap, at Druids (Sim passes). Another spin in T1 on lap 9 while chasing down Sim, plus an off at Cascades... After a few laps without spins I pass Sim exiting the final corner on lap 13, and can let Neil through to lap me. Sim sneaks through down The Avenue, and we both spin out of Cascades. Of course he is allowed the first reset, so I had to wait twice as long before I could reset my car.
A few laps (and a stupid amount of spins) later I crossed the line in a lousy 11th.
06 June, 2005
04 June, 2005
Back with a vengeance
Jumped into a pickup race today with my fellow Monster Masher, Topi, at Rouen a few hours ago. After the race I submitted my player.ini to GPLRank and this is what came up...
-----------------
Update time: Rouen-les-Essarts 1967, BRM time 1:58.748 session P improvement -0.761
Update time: Rouen-les-Essarts 1967, BRM time 2:00.210 session R improvement -0.121
GPLRank score = -33.814 (no change)
Monster of GPLRank score = -109.930 (change of -0.761)
-----------------
If you have GPL, you can download the replay of my lap here.
-----------------
Update time: Rouen-les-Essarts 1967, BRM time 1:58.748 session P improvement -0.761
Update time: Rouen-les-Essarts 1967, BRM time 2:00.210 session R improvement -0.121
GPLRank score = -33.814 (no change)
Monster of GPLRank score = -109.930 (change of -0.761)
-----------------
If you have GPL, you can download the replay of my lap here.
02 June, 2005
Vader Trophy - Rouen
[Wednesday - 1st of June]
Track Map
As you already know, I have taken a (some say unhealthy) liking to the BRM. Due to this I decided to swap to the tank for Vader Trophy, as I could see myself having a lot more fun in it as opposed to the Cooper. An hour or two before the race I was consistently doing 2:00s so I was looking forward to the race.
I beat my old PB in qualifying with a 1:59.5 placing me 11th on the grid, a tenth of a second behind Jannis Koopman's Ferrari and over a second ahead of Jamie Mason's Cooper. My start was not exactly good seen as I spun off in the first corner, but I didn't collect anyone and I actually avoided the customary lap 1 wreck. By the end of lap one I was all the way up in 7th place, having passed several crashed/spun out cars. I drove steadily until lap 4 when Gav in his Cooper made a wee mess of his braking for Scierie, and we touched. I got going without getting passed, but I made a real mess of T1 and got passed by two Ferraris.
I didn't trust Gav with the inside for Scierie for the next lap (:P) so I moved over, barely keeping him behind. I run wide in T1 and Gav is alongside me, we go into T2 side by side and I exit just ahead of him but I also run wide. He goes for a run around the outside for the right hander, but unfortunately I squeezed him off the track. On lap 7 I catch Gui's (ridculously slow) Lotus into Gresil, and in my rush to get by I touch him and do a complete corkscrew, thus losing two places. I do a series of pirouettes in T1 on lap 9, but can keep my 11th position. I drive more or less all by myself from lap 7 to lap 15 when I pass my teammate Chris Kirk (Brabham) plus Gui after the last corner, and a flying Mark Egan after T1.
I cross the line just over a second ahead of Kirky, and eleven econds behind Ian Woolham. Finally I managed to finish a VT race and not feel disappointed with the result.
Track Map
As you already know, I have taken a (some say unhealthy) liking to the BRM. Due to this I decided to swap to the tank for Vader Trophy, as I could see myself having a lot more fun in it as opposed to the Cooper. An hour or two before the race I was consistently doing 2:00s so I was looking forward to the race.
I beat my old PB in qualifying with a 1:59.5 placing me 11th on the grid, a tenth of a second behind Jannis Koopman's Ferrari and over a second ahead of Jamie Mason's Cooper. My start was not exactly good seen as I spun off in the first corner, but I didn't collect anyone and I actually avoided the customary lap 1 wreck. By the end of lap one I was all the way up in 7th place, having passed several crashed/spun out cars. I drove steadily until lap 4 when Gav in his Cooper made a wee mess of his braking for Scierie, and we touched. I got going without getting passed, but I made a real mess of T1 and got passed by two Ferraris.
I didn't trust Gav with the inside for Scierie for the next lap (:P) so I moved over, barely keeping him behind. I run wide in T1 and Gav is alongside me, we go into T2 side by side and I exit just ahead of him but I also run wide. He goes for a run around the outside for the right hander, but unfortunately I squeezed him off the track. On lap 7 I catch Gui's (ridculously slow) Lotus into Gresil, and in my rush to get by I touch him and do a complete corkscrew, thus losing two places. I do a series of pirouettes in T1 on lap 9, but can keep my 11th position. I drive more or less all by myself from lap 7 to lap 15 when I pass my teammate Chris Kirk (Brabham) plus Gui after the last corner, and a flying Mark Egan after T1.
I cross the line just over a second ahead of Kirky, and eleven econds behind Ian Woolham. Finally I managed to finish a VT race and not feel disappointed with the result.
31 May, 2005
"It puts hair on your chest!"
Yesterday I joined a pickup race at Monza, 'cause I was bored and that was the server with the most drivers. I moved the shifter knob to the left side and entered the server in the Beast From Bourne, I was ready to kick ass! And indeed did I kick ass, doing a 1:30.77 in qualifying I beat my old PB by half a second, and this was with a shifter knob as opposed to the paddles I used to use. The race was good fun, with various battles with various cars. Most fun was a pass I made on a Lotus into T1: I slipstreamed all the way from Parabolica, he took the inside for T1, I downshifted and slid around the outside of him :D
After that I had a nice chat with the aliens in VROC, before quitting and going to bed a happy camper.
After that I had a nice chat with the aliens in VROC, before quitting and going to bed a happy camper.
29 May, 2005
WOSEC - Spa (Night)
[Saturday - 28th of May]
Track Map
After the disaster that was Silverstone, I had no intentions to start the race whatsoever. Besides, Spa is a very narrow track when in a Sauber C9 at night and I still haven't gotten the hang of close proximity racing in the Sauber. The start, or should I say starts, were a joke. The race had to be restarted at least 10 times due to The pacecar refusing to go up Eau Rouge, Pileups and cars going missing after the said events.
When the race eventually got going, my car got pushed off the track at Les Combes. No damage done and we continued, eventually settling into a 15th place after the first few laps. Everything went really smooth until not long after refueling/changing tyres, when the car suddenly went off on the exit of Stavelot. The car was too damaged to continue and we were forced to retire our car.
But there was still hope that the primary car could win, as it was leading by well over 40 seconds after the first driver change. But after a mere 3 laps the ignition died on the way to Blanchimont, also being forced to retire... The VTR2 car lasted until a while into the first driver's second stint, when his PC crashed causing him to crash hard into the wall and severely b0rking up the car. There you have it, all cars out of the race.
Track Map
After the disaster that was Silverstone, I had no intentions to start the race whatsoever. Besides, Spa is a very narrow track when in a Sauber C9 at night and I still haven't gotten the hang of close proximity racing in the Sauber. The start, or should I say starts, were a joke. The race had to be restarted at least 10 times due to The pacecar refusing to go up Eau Rouge, Pileups and cars going missing after the said events.
When the race eventually got going, my car got pushed off the track at Les Combes. No damage done and we continued, eventually settling into a 15th place after the first few laps. Everything went really smooth until not long after refueling/changing tyres, when the car suddenly went off on the exit of Stavelot. The car was too damaged to continue and we were forced to retire our car.
But there was still hope that the primary car could win, as it was leading by well over 40 seconds after the first driver change. But after a mere 3 laps the ignition died on the way to Blanchimont, also being forced to retire... The VTR2 car lasted until a while into the first driver's second stint, when his PC crashed causing him to crash hard into the wall and severely b0rking up the car. There you have it, all cars out of the race.
28 May, 2005
Now you, my screaming fans, can watch me race :P
Download NRTV and type in 195.20.109.80 in the IP adress field. I'll be in the VTR3 #86 car doing the 2nd stint and 4th & last stint, the race starts 12:30 BST / 13:30 CET.
25 May, 2005
It's here!
My beloved MOMO Racing arrived at the post office yesterday at 15:00, and I picked it up 2.5 hours after that (had to wait for dad to come home+have dinner). As soon as I got home I went straight to the PC, put it all together and fired up GPL. Now I knew that there'd be no Force Feedback, since GPL was made before the days of FF, but it still felt a bit wierd. It also felt rather strange in GTR, but after increasing the sensetivity a few clicks it was perfect (despite the lack of FF). I raced around Donington all the rest of the night, trying to "find my car" until it was almost 23:00 and I had to go to bed, boo-hoo.
Had a few practise laps at Spa to get a feel for the track/wheel, and I now know how it works to put it that way. I still need to work on consistency, so I'll devote most of tomorrow to that. I'll also be re-formatting the PC to try and fix a few problems I've been having (not a virus, but it's messed up my fonts) and see if the FF will also start working.
Had a few practise laps at Spa to get a feel for the track/wheel, and I now know how it works to put it that way. I still need to work on consistency, so I'll devote most of tomorrow to that. I'll also be re-formatting the PC to try and fix a few problems I've been having (not a virus, but it's messed up my fonts) and see if the FF will also start working.
22 May, 2005
Can't wait! :D
Ordered the wheel last night, it should take 2-3 business days to ship so I'm eagerly awaiting Wednesday to come. As soon as I get it I'll have to:
*Test GTR which I bought on Saturday
*Test a new track (Panchine) released for GPL
*Practise for the WOSEC race at Spa on Saturday
The WOSEC race is during the nighttime, so I have also gotten a pair of Nightvision goggles for that little edge.
*Test GTR which I bought on Saturday
*Test a new track (Panchine) released for GPL
*Practise for the WOSEC race at Spa on Saturday
The WOSEC race is during the nighttime, so I have also gotten a pair of Nightvision goggles for that little edge.
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