V8 Supercars

Great job by everyone today at the Bullrun event. I saw alot of good racing today.

For me the day ended early as rFactor decided to lockup coming out of T3 around lap 12 I think.

Tommy was hot on my tail. Hope I just disappeared and did not cause you issue Tommy. I will have to go look at the replay.

Was a blast while it lasted. See you all next Saturday.

Kev

Well, i'm exremely happy to grab 2nd today. I had been having problems with this track locking up my game. After my bad GTL race this morning i wasn't ready to call it a day yet. i deleted the tacks .HAT file and bingo, it worked.

I got maybe 20 minutes to get a setup, and then some how i qualifyied 4th?

In the race, i got a great start and took the outside going into turn 1. going into turn 2 i was 3rd. i got loose throuh the esses and lost another spot.

I had a few other incidents like braking way too late in turn 1 a couple times, including 1 wall shot.

on lap 18 i took the lead when everyone else hd pitted and held it until my pit stop.

As people ahead made mistakes or got dropped, i inherited spot up to 3rd.

For the last 10 laps or so me and Axis had a great battle which went all the way to the finish. nice close clean racing, it was a awsome time. i have to say my first 36 laps at this track in these cars was lots of fun. i hope to beable to race with all you great drivers again soon.

David "Nissan Man" Banta

Thanks Todd I am guessing you know about the headlight DQ.

Kev

[ TW edit: Yes. One of the drivers is shown both in the results file and the replay as completing all laps and crossing the line with a well-deserved finish. The replay continues to show the driver and his finishing position on the cool-down lap, where he flashes his lights to congratulate the winner and then leaves his lights off. Five seconds later his finishing position is suddenly dropped to the bottom of the field ... A DQ, apparently, for driving without headlights in the dark after the race was already completed. Hired goons have been dispatched to the driver's house to chastise him for this egregious faux paus, but that doesn't mean we're going to let a bug skew the results. The finishing order has been properly fixed. ]

I gotta give props to Todd for taking the extra time to fix the results. I was the one that got the DQ AFTER the race for flashing my headlights and then leaving them off. So tell EVERYONE you know that when racing rFactor at night, do NOT turn off your lights.

[edit: Two gentlemen of, -shall we say dubious character- showed up to my house this evening to properly chastise me on proper headlight ettiqute. After serving crumpets and tea, the evening ended with them both getting back into their spanking new Chrysler 300 and promptly showing off some pretty amazing donuts in the parking lot -with their headlights on of course.]

That being said, most of my race went pretty uneventfully until the last 2 laps where I was able to catch up to some cars dealing with traffic. T. McNeil and I got side by side for most of the last lap and it came down to the last 2 feet before the finish line where I beat him by a bumper length. Sweet Victory! Muahahaha. ...or something.

It was a typical race for me. First, start at the back for safety's sake. Then wind my way through the carnage and around the few folks who are actually slower than I am. All the while doing my best to keep the car in one piece. I ended up coming in 12th-- which is about the norm.

The start at dusk threw me a little bit. I too had expected to start a little earlier in the "day". All of the headlights coming on knocked my FPS down to 18, so I was even slower off the grid than normal. I did go straight to the left side wall in order to give the person behind me a clear shot to get going. My FPS were back up to normal once the field spread out.

I made a few more mistakes than my usual half-dozen. I came into turn one hot a few times and went to the grass. I completely missed the braking point one time and really went off. I managed to keep the car under reasonable control in the grass and didn't hit anything. I lost a few spots though. I also had a few more offs, as well as screwing up my line in turns. Maybe the next time we are to run a race at night, I might practice a few laps at that track at night-- just to get my bearings. :)

I ended the race with just a little bit of minor damage on the right-hand side. I tried to cut the slow right-hand turn early in the lap (T4 or T5?) as close to the inside wall as possible. I brushed it once or twice.

Greg Haley, if I'd thought of it sooner, I would have nudged you when you were caught on the banking. I did think of it, but not until I was already going by. I didn't want to risk a DQ by backing up though.

Team RPG Racing, such as it is, celebrated the race finish by going on a little trip to watch the shuttle launch. A decent race was followed by a decent launch. The little bit of cloud cover took a little away from a very spectacular sight.

John

Wow, that was shaping up to be a very fun race! I had no experience with the V8 cars prior to this race, nor had I ever seen the infamous Bullrun track. Both are...shall we say very unique experiences. ;)

The race started out scary! I could see NO ONE in front of me. They literally ALL disappeared except for maybe one car. So I approached the first turn with loads of caution and in the process gave up a couple spots. By turn 2 or so things were back to normal, but that was a scary start to a race for sure!!

I'd decided to shoot for a 2 stop strategy since I didn't know these cars and I'd heard horror stories about LF tire wear. I soon realized as it came time for my first stop that this was the wrong choice. The car was still running great so I could've easily one-stopped it. D'oh!! :(

I only had a couple incident during my firs two stints. One was when I approached Susan and I was going to wait to make a pass until a straight, but it looked like she went wide to let me by. I ducked inside, but soon heard a car hit a wall. I hope I wasn't the cause of that, Susan! If so, my apologies....

The other incident was with Kev. We were battling it out, it looked like he got a little sideways, and then POOF he was gone! So you didn't mess me up, Kev. I just didn't know what happened to you. :(

So as I approached my second pit stop I opted for no tires and just enough fuel to finish. I came out of the pits and still was in 5th spot or so, which I was more than content with. However, as I exited the last left hander on the course (before the final bowl) I touched the grass. I backed out of it, but the car took off to the right and slammed the barrier ricocheting me across the track.

I had lots of damage including at least one puncture, but figured I'll pit since I'm so close to the pit entrance. I nursed it in, pitted, and nailed the gas when I was done. The car felt weird, though. VERY weird. Turns out the pit stops don't revert back to a default setting after you've pitted so my crew didn't change my blown tire. Dangit!!

So I could either nurse it ALL the way around and risk hitting someone, I could try backing up down pit lane risking a DQ and an accident, or I could just escape and end the misery. I opted for the latter.

Otherwise, it was a great race and I look forward to running these cars again!

Tommy

Ah-ha! Here's where ya enter in the race reports, starting to figure this site out now :)

What an incredible race! First off, I just installed a new vidow card so the game is looking and running very sweet. Previously that start with all the headlights on would have brought my FPS down to the teens, but this time I almost blew the start 'cause I was just amazed at how amazing everything looked and how smooth it ran lol.

I was on the edge of my seat the whole race, there weren't very many laps where I wasn't racing very close with someone and having a great time.

Those last 10 laps with David were so much fun. As we got closer and closer to the end of the race, I kept thinking that I have to protect my position by driving at the top of my game, but make sure I don't cut David off or force him to make a mistake: "Keep it up, 2 laps left and you're in 2nd, watch your line! don't cut him off! watch your line! don't cut him off!" lol
I couldn't keep my eyes on my line, kept looking in that rearview, and it was my downfall. Messed up turn 1 trying to look ahead and backward at the same time and got a bit squirrelly going into turn 2 and that was all David needed, he make a great pass and kept ahead the rest of the lap to bring home 2nd.
Sure, part of me wants to be a little disapointed in myself for letting my nerves get the better of me, but a day later I'm still smiling about how much fun the race and that battle was :o)

Ax

"I gotta give props to Todd for taking the extra time to fix the results. I was the one that got the DQ AFTER the race for flashing my headlights and then leaving them off. So tell EVERYONE you know that when racing rFactor at night, do NOT turn off your lights."
S. Whitestine

Ahhh..thats what happened. I wondered why you weren't in the standings after the race. I didn't stay on the server long enough to find out. It was bladder and cig time.

That was some great racing at the end. I was trying to be so effin' careful, not knowing how close we really were, I think all the damage I incurred in my second half wall grinding gave you the edge coming to the line...I doubt I had any aero left...;-)
Super Job you guys.
terry

Sorry I missed the race guys. I had some work issues come up and I didn't get back in time. Too bad I was look forward to this race. It sounds like it was fun.

Well, I've waited 2 days to post, and still found that I'm extremely mad about it. So I'll make it short...

I didn't even make a lap, I don't know what was going on up front where a pileup occurs before I even got to the bridge, but if that's the kind of 'fun' were going to have, I can do without it. Nor did I consider this 'good racing'.

I think what makes me the most angry is that I was really looking forward to a FUN afternoon at my *favorite* track, where I usually do well, instead I'm the first car out of the race through no fault of my own.

I don't really care who's fault it was, but I don't need this kind of crap on what is suppose to be 'fun'.

Jan