Atlantic FB: Sebring

A comprehensive win by David! Rocket fast!
And dominating Championship win by Tommy.

This Sebring version track was so crappy for these cars I couldn't make myself practice, so I did one hour in my Nuerberg car and it ran fine so I left it at that.
I had no idea what others would be getting as I never got any reference or any posts, but the car felt great and with 2:13.7 Qual laps I figured it would be in the top 3 or 4.

So it was surprising to see no one at those lap times in practice. Though my car wasn't quite as nice online and I could not get under 2:14. But it was good enough.

I had not tested a race car, but it lapped the same anyway. 2:14:1 to 2:14.5 area for long runs, so I hoped to be battling in the top 3.
Though when David put in some rocket times I decided Top 4 instead!

Qualifying seemed to run the same as prior practice. But I only got my first 'safe post a time' lap before I slid wide and rolled the car on the 2nd lap. That was going to be a clue as to what the race would hold, but I didn't recognise it then.....

The car was that bit slipperier and that meant all the expected abilites were not quite the norm. And in the race it slid me wide by just a foot or so, in areas you enter and expect X amount of grip, and then just clipping the grass on those three cases sent me spinning - but at least I didn't wreck the car!
I don't think I got under 2:14.5 at best, and most were over 2:15, which was pretty well 1 full second down on practiced pace due to the lower grip difficutly. Sigh.
It is getting boring and annoying to have that pretty well every race.

So 5th was a good result under the duress and difficulties, but I could have had 4th with one less spin. And really, I had the pace (pre-race practice with less cars) to assure 3rd really.
I hadn't clipped the grass and spun in practice so I didn't know which places it really mattered, if at all, or not. Which is one downside of not practicing so as to find all things out!

Well i was at school today surfing the net between classes and saw there was an opening for this race, so i grabed it. I got home at 5:05, which gave me only a few laps to sort my car out before qualifying. I had another race at Road America in another series and so i took that setup thinking the 2 tracks were close enough. The first thing i noticed were the bumps, WOW! So i raise my car up and up to about a cm higher than i started (i started at 1.5 cm in the front). But overall the car felt pretty good.

In qualifying, i was on edge he whole time thinking that i needed a great lap to be near the front. I never expected to be on pole by half a second.

In the race, Tommy C got a better start and got around, but i made sure to keep Peter V behind. Tommy's car looked good also, but he just could not carry the speed i could. I got a run on him on the backstraight and made my move at Sunset Bend. From there, i just drove off into the sunset. I didn't think, i had a chance, but i just got lucky with the setup.

Congrats to Tommy on the title, i hope to challenge you for it next season. :)

Complete disaster for me.. Knew i wasnt going to contend for anything but maybe finishing on the lead lap.. but i was excited for this race none the less. First lap went really well.. but coming across the start/finish on lap two.. the sun ( the real one ) dropped below the horizon and my TrackIR decided to wake and join the fun.. UuUUUGH i was at full speed heading for the turn.. and suddenly all i see is the sky swirling around.. holy crap.. i start hitting keys trying to just stay straight and still get the view back to centered. But too late.. i slam into the wall.. and just hope to stay out of others way.. day over. total suckage.

I was in the same boat as Dave. No practice and as a matter of fact, I had just installed the track before I entered the server. I was really surprised I was able to use my Essington setup and get right up to speed. I managed to qual 8th after getting some damage, so I was also pleased with that. My best moment of the the night was the start. I was hellbent on getting the tires up to temp on the formation lap. I had them right up to racing temps waiting for the lights to go out. I had the best launch I have ever had in these cars and was passing cars right away. By the time I got to T1, I was all the way up to 4th place and someone on the inside punted me into the tire wall. Saw a ton of punting going on in front of me as I re-entered the track, still in Lap 1. Not sure if there were some new guys there or not, but they found out quick about the Lap 1 punting rule I bet. I saw drivers dropping right away, and I figured they were the ones issued drive-thrus. So much for my best moment! I still can't for the life of me figure out how I finished 7th. Obviously the front runners were a lot farther up the road, so I have no idea what was going on up front for guys to fall out by the wayside. Either way, I'll take it! Great racing you all this season. Grats to Tommy C and FMMS on taking the championship. Because of the new time-slot for this series next season, I will not be able to participate, but if there is a fun-run that I can do, I hope to see you all then!

Ditto on the no prep, sounds like a few of us were in that boat. I just used my Essington setup as well and it worked fair enough.

I'd tried to do 3-4 laps offline in the ten minutes I had to spare before qualifying, but something felt off; the car was dead and I had very little steering feel, which was odd with these cars. Hadn't run Sebring before so I figured it was something unique to the track.

No matter; no time to figure it out so I got online and found suddenly the car felt totally different. The grip was back and it felt like an FBMW again. I've heard of that happening before, but this was the first time for me - weird.

Qualified midfield which was fine with me. I had little idea where the limit was, braking points, etc., but figured I'd watch others in the first few laps and figure it out. Had to be at least another second to be found I guessed.

All moot since I never got through the first lap. Got a decent launch, but had to go around the car in front which was slow off the line. No problem till I saw a car weaving around and dive bombing through the field into T1. It was Amir, who went by six cars going into T1 and drop kicked Bob into the weeds by entering the corner way too fast. No way he'd have made the corner on cold tires if he hadn't used Bob for a bank shot. Looked like he bounced back into the rear of TG, who went way wide as a result. I followed the racing line through but got hit when TG tried to turn back down onto the line. We were both in each other's blind spot it looks like, but it ended up with us both backwards and broken. He was able to continue, but my car was so mucked up I was afraid of getting in the way of the leaders as they came through while I tried to get back to the pits, so I bailed.

Don't think Amir got a drive-through, or at least didn't see him stop until after he tangled with Chris later in the race. Suggest a bit of patience there, Amir - you spent about as much time off the track as on. Slow in, fast out you know... ;-)

'grats to David on a convincing win, Chris for 2nd and Tommy C for 3rd in race and season championship.

as for my "race"...

not exactly the way i wanted the season to end.

unlike some people, ever since the cars were updated i've had to work hard just to achieve times that are 1 - 1 1/2 seconds off pace. when i joined the server i had a car capable of low 15s all day, which i knew would be at least a second off-pace, but i figured this could still net a respectable finish, given the nature of the track.

but then i screwed up qualifying by paying too much attention to a driver who appeared to have decided to race me on the first timed lap, having closed the distance between us on the out-lap. i brushed a wall and my steering went cockeyed. the rest of the session was a struggle and i was releived to at least salvage 14th grid spot.

oh well...

but then race time comes, and as the formation lap starts i discover that i still have the cockeyed steering wheel and odd handling!?! i'm a bit flustered now, and plow thru the turn-in to the chicane, brush the tires and my wheel straightens a little!?! i considered hitting another wall, to see if that would help more, but decided instead to just work my way back to the grid and see if working all the controls at standstill would recalibrate them.

not only did it not recenter my wheel, but i discovered that my G25 now had the full 900 degree rotation, as opposed to the 400 i have it set it at!?!

with the momo i was in the habit of calibrating the wheel before each session with DXTWEAK. i think i'll return to that practice.

so the race starts and i'm just trying to stay out of the way and not hit anyone as i try to figure out how to drive this thing. didn't quite manage that and put it into the wall after a few laps.

made a lengthy pitstop and when i returned to the track, the suspension was still very twitchy from the damage but at least my controls were back to normal.

of course the car was much slower for the abuse, but at least now it was a lot more fun to drive.

Tommy G was now chasing me down very quickly (about 2 seconds per lap!), and as the gap closed i tried to get more out of the car than it was capable of giving me. he was only about 3 seconds back when i dropped a wheel off at turn-in for T3 and spun on what turned out to be the last lap. nothing i could do but watch him go by at that point.

still, it was fun as always.

Third to last race of the S5 season, last race of the FBMW's, and I'm itching to get it over with.

Qual:
Thought I might have had the field covered until Banta decided to drive faster than practice :)

Race:
Led Banta for a little while, had trouble getting a good line thru Le Mans which is important, considering the length of the following straight. Might as well just hung a "Pass Me" sign hung off my tail :)

I was so happy to just wrap up the season, completing the double trifecta on driver and team championships w/Chris.
I am so tired, and the night's not over.