Thursday Night Pointless Race Night!

Just because I'm on holiday doesn't mean I'm not racing...

Tomorrow night's race is a non-league night. So I think we'll continue on with the Shuffle race as we did a fortnight ago.

Track:

I think the short course format worked well. Sprint racing being so much preferred when one has a cr@p car (NSX surprisingly I think). So we'll race Suzuka Circuit East Course.

That's the bit on the right obviously!

Chosen as a fast car can make it down the straights, but a handling car will gain on the corners.

Cars:

Well, it's a shuffle so George is going to get the NSX and Adam will have that behemoth muscle car thing. The rest of us can enjoy the awd cars eh! Seriously - computer chooses.

Format:

As usual, 9pm start. Unlike a league night, we'll just get into it whenever there's a few of us kicking about.

4 lap races, quick restart, no points, usual aids turned off etc etc.

I'll run 3-4 of those races then we'll move on to suggestions from the group...

After race shenanigans will be 587pp - as usual. And we'll decide a track, maybe open up to full Suzuka!

Race one highlights

Let's get the bad stuff out the way:

• Bit of a poor turn out, just three of us getting points last night.
• Turns out you can't race a borrowed car online. Booo!

And that's it, the rest was ace.

We swapped cars out for the Jag XKR (grrrowl!) and the Lexus IFS.

On paper the Jag was a smidgen faster (2pp more) on the track Paul in the Lexus made a mockery of that...

First race was excellent, Paul shot of to an early lead, but the boost, slipstream and penalties set up (did anyone get one? I didn't) meant that soon we were swapping car badges as we hassled him around the track.

Second race saw Paul out in front again, but a mash on the start/finish straight let me through and then it was all I could do to keep him from coming past again. Good driving Sir!

For a track that's renowned for no overtaking except in the pit (I seriously considered making it mandatory to have one) we managed to swap places many times through that race.

What did it for me was that following someone took so much effort not to out brake or crash as you vie for a position to overtake, generally half way up a straight, or getting the inside line on a particular corner.

I think if we know we're going to have a small field then street circuits work very well indeed.

So the results:

Race 1

1. Paul
2. Andrew
3. Evan

Race 2

1. Andrew
2. Evan
3. Paul

These results tell little of the swapping of places in what was an excellent sprint race. Thanks guys.

Next race next week - we'll keep it simple. Expect a shuffle race for the organised racing. More on track etc as we go.

Race on!

Race On - League Race Night. Race 1.

Here's a clue...

That's right, we're skidoo racing!

No, seriously, this week's racing is a slice of history

An iconic(ish) battle of beauty vs. brawn on a circuit that saw racers tremble with fear (and a hangover from the night before in the casino).

The track:

Cote d'azur or Monaco for those of us who've watched F1 any time in the past 30+ years...

It's famous for it's effort by the drivers, and here's an interesting quote about modern F1 racing there:

"By far the most frequently used are the gear change paddles. At Monaco, the average number of gear changes per lap is 55 - which equates to over 4,300 changes over the 78-lap race distance." Source.

The Cars

And what car are we doing this in?

Something special.

A choice of two something specials in fact...

They're shared out in my garage, they're tuned to 542pp each. And they're from the 60's (Paul you'll remember them).

In the green corner we have:

The Z28 RM '69.

Lot's of power, a bit too much low down. Doesn't rev particularly, but if you like muscle, this is a bad boy on 'roids.

And in the red corner we have:

The Alfa Romeo GIULIA TZ2 carrozzata da ZAGATO CN.AR750106 '65

Let's call it the Alfa.

Finesse, poise, a fecking big turbo to lift the pp to 542 points.

So there you have it, two cars from the 60's, both capable of a 1:45 lap of Monaco. Both very different race cars.

Both have been tuned to handle much the same. There's no tuning restriction on the race, but pp will be set to 542, which is the max of the slowest car.

Personally I won't be changing the handling (I wouldn't though I suppose). I don't think there's a lot more to be had from them in terms of performance, so recommendation is to leave as is and race similar setups.

Pre-race shenanigans...

• Borrow one of my cars - Go to Profile, select me, the cars should be there, select and 'borrow'. Easy.
• Go to my lounge and check you can race there - I believe you can, but worth checking!

Race night official details:

Date: 24-Nov-2011

Lounge Open: 9:00 PM

Race Start: 9:15 PM

Lounge: FCT GT5 Andrew

Track: Cote d'azur

Laps: 5

Car: Camero or Alfa - from Andrew's garage.

Tyres: Open (Racing Soft)

Of course, comments and feedback on race selection welcome.

Race on!

Bernie Out

Race 1 - League Night this week...

First points race.

What's the car? Historic.

What's the track? Iconic.

What's the race going to be like? Epic.

More soon...

Shuffle On!

Another fantastic race night I think you’ll all agree.

And best of all, we’re getting a good field of participants in the league, so racing is always fun and close. Thanks!

But how close was it last night?! A tight track, shite cars (in the main), some boost, some penalties and superb racing to boot.

Again, as I said last night, thanks to all for being true gentleman racers. I think I need a mute button though – apologies to you Roderick, I think I called you on one corner, but the replay clearly shows at least 50:50, and really only some gentle rubbing. Oooerr. (Was only watching for the sport of the race, no grudges!).

So who came of best on the night? No idea. To my mind I think we all had a good finish in at least one of the races, so that’ll do.

Special mentions...

• Roderick’s first car - we’re all in awd boy racer cars and other manly motors – you got landed with the hairdresser’s Fiat Barchetta in a fetching sky blue. Fabulous!
• Followed the race after by scoring a Skyline. Karma dude, karma.
• George – “Did you see me lose it?” No mate, we’d need a camera in your living room for that. But that NSX was a handful wasn't it...
• And when I had the NSX I hung back (ahem, cough) to watch Adam and Roderick duelling it out. A supra and an RS4, drifting round the hairpins. Most excellent. Top driving guys.
• Adam – “Muscle car, pftt”. Haha, not a good car on that track eh!

And the after party...

Ended up being three of us back at the ol’ stomping grounds that is Deep Forest. Where we discovered that RUF make shopping trolleys, and that setting a PP limit is handy as it gives us something to aim for without having to try and discuss – always hard on the keypad.

Guess the car against the driver below, there was George, Baloo and myself in the mix:

Next race

Next race next week (the pressure!) will be announced this weekend. It’s the first proper seasonal race; points are to be had in this race.

Remember, turn up and start the race and you’ll get at least one point. Winner wins the number of points for the field. So, six start, six points for the winner, five for second etc. So even if you login, start the race then go have a beer you’re going to get a point. If we have only five starters the winner gets five points and so on.

I’m tempted to fix the points against the championship field size, but in the interests of keeping a gentlemanly race I’ll leave as is. Happy to discuss points mechanisms if anyone feels strongly about it. Do read the league rules for more detail around points and missing races etc.

Usual start time applies, 9pm for practice, around 9:15 for the first of two races.

Timeouts and missed races

Totally get that some of us won’t be able to make race nights, commitment on a weekly basis for leisure time is hard. Certainly I’ll be missing a non-league night in December at least. And given there’s the Christmas break and folks are away or with the in-laws we’ll keep commitment to the non-league nights at a minimum – no expectation there, other than top racing of course.

League nights, please do try and make it, as we’re all finding the racing is excellent, but really only because our field is so big.

One option for non-league nights that we might exercise is online B-spec racing. With that in mind, it may pay to get your B-spec driver’s skill points up a bit if you’ve not already done so. It’s also a handy way to get credits and cars (check an online list of what you could win). No promises, but as we get into the Christmas season we may all need to work a little to keep the league alive.

Bernie out.

Race on!

17/November @ 9pm

Event details:

Track

Eiger Nordwand

The Eiger Nordwand Short Track is a fictional tarmac circuit based in a real-world location in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland. The circuit is one of four layouts currently existing in the area, all of which are present in Gran Turismo 5. The Eiger Short Course also appeared in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. The circuit is a short, highly technical course with a quadruple-hairpin switchback section, seven other tricky corners and a number of significant and severe camber and gradient changes. The course has an overall elevation change of 246ft, more than circuits like Trial Mountain, Suzuka Circuit and Laguna Seca Raceway. Source here.

Race

We'll do a shuffle race. Baloo and I tried this last night and think it'll work well. Expect 3 races of 4 laps each in the official race night.

Cars in shuffle race are auto selected. So no excuses or preference to tuned cars (though mine was obviously slower than Baloo's, no question there ;o)

After race shenanigans

Deep forest, or maybe Apricot Hill? - 'Run what you brung' up to 587pp (we can limit that further if you like).

Car choice: Something mad & bad. Think RUF, or similar. "Cars only a mother could love".

Have fun and see you there!

Race night 17th November.

Hi folks.

It's race night again already!

Actually, this week's racing is a no-points race. What does that mean? Well...

• League rules are relaxed a bit.
• No official timing/spreadsheets etc.
• No points for the championship.
• No commitment from me to write up the race night.
• Feel free to invite a friend - they'll need to send me a friend request.

And what about the racing?

• Typically cars are open garage, but limited by:
• PP points - <600 in the most part.
• Some other classification - like age, road cars only or similar.
• Track choice may be a manufactured road track or a GT5 selected track.
• Expect a late selection - it's about racing not practising.

What's worked in the past is driving to the mantra: "It's about the race, not about the win". Which basically means that the most fun you're going to have is probably in the pack somewhere rather than out in front. So select a car (if it's an open garage) that handles well rather than blitzes the other racers.

Also, we'll be 'gentleman racers' in this - I'll have penalties set to low (or off) but if you punt someone, or they go off as a result of your actions, let them catch up - the next corner it could be you.

In fairness, our first practice race was perfect, so keep that up.

More as I get it...

Bernie out.

Race 0 Results

Marvellous

Phew what a race. What a race night in fact!

Firstly, with six racers in the mix it proved to be a good grid, a promising start for the season.

And what about the car – fast for sure, but the cornering? Not so much... Certainly that car would rank up there as one of the harder drives that we’ll have in the league, you just couldn’t be mean to it or you were suddenly facing the wrong way!

I think the rules worked well. I got penalised for corner cutting, but curb jumping was OK. Also, major bangs seemed to be penalised too. Having said this, what a bunch of gentleman you all were. Good (mostly) clean racing and the only rubs and knocks were accidental. Fantastic!

What of the results? (See below for official results) I can’t comment on everyone’s race, as I was too busy racing myself. But I can say that George seemed to have the measure of that car, two clean easy (?) victories there that had it been a points race would have netted a cool 12 points. Slick driving there champ!

And a mention for Evan, who’s first to admit newbie status – that was a tough car on a tight course chap, everything else will seem easy from now on (maybe!).

I’d welcome feedback from the group about race setup and management – I’m Ecclestone so it won’t make any odds anyway (Joke!). Seriously, any gripes, wows or general feedback most welcome – feel free to comment on this article – it’s then visible to the group.

One change I will make is to lengthen the end of the race, as I noticed some of you were still racing when the race ended in the first race. There has to be a limit otherwise if you walk away from your console we’d have abandon the race, but thinking more in the lines of 45-60 seconds rather than 30.

If I recall, we had damage – none, catch up – light, slipstream – strong, penalties – weak. All aids & tuning were off. Did this work for folks?

Another thing I noted was that there’s some mileage in organising the after race thrash, especially when the race is a short one like last night (too short?). Happy to make it a more formal race session, but we’ll stick with only first two being points races if only because I’ve got the spreadsheet set up like that...

Race Night Results

Race 1

1. George
2. Andrew
3. Paul
4. Baloo
5. Rod
6. Evan

Race 2

1. George
2. baloo
3. Rod
4. Andrew
5. Paul
6. Evan

Results sheet here

Next League Night

We’ll have a better car next time, or at least something that can get round a corner...

And, maybe one of the F1 circuits? (that didn’t narrow it down much did it).

Next week

Next week is non-league night. What does this mean? Basically no commitment to race required but an arranged time if we want to race online - time will indeed be 9pm on Thursday again.

I’ll put out some rules so we know what we’re racing but happy to change on the night as we see fit – if someone else wants to propose a session setup, let me know and we’ll race that.

AOB

Keen to keep this blog alive so if anyone has any articles, commentary or fancies showing off a favourite car (take pic, export to USB etc etc) then feel free to drop me details and I’ll post it up.

Race 0 - 10th November - Autumn Ring

Welcome.

As an opener to our audacious season of racing, we bring you a classic raceway. In fact Autumn Ring was what started it all for us, it was the first arranged FCT GT5 circuit we raced on, so its befitting to start this season on this track.

Lifted from another source:

Tuning guide: Since this course never gives much room to gain lots of speed, you’ll want to keep the gear ratios pretty close. That said, like the Mini track, you might want to keep the second gear relatively tall, since so many of the bends have you hanging around in that gear’s RPM range. A taller second gear means you won’t have to shift as often, or bounce off the rev limiter endlessly.

Recommended Car: Nimble, responsive cars— lightweight MR, FR, or even FF.

So there we are. We of course are going to be using stock Lounge cars so for this one, the car that's the star:

That's right, the AEM S2000.

What's more, it'll be on Racing Medium Tyres - so you might want to practice your drifting a bit before hand.

Usual rules apply:

• Race length will be 5 laps (so a short race). Official will be two races. First in grid order, second in reverse grid order.
• Start time will be 9pm BNE for practice (I'll endeavour to have my lounge open before hand) and race starts around 9:15pm.
• Nudge rules, catchup rules and all that other jazz, as per the charter.
• Manual aids disabled.
• Auto box enabled for the disabled.
• Tuning prohibited - i.e. it's a race as it is event.

My lounge: Andyc709292. I think I've added you all as friends in my GT5 session, so I'll see you there.

Bernie out.

It's back folks...



FCT GT5 Series kicks off on the 10th of November.

What's new? Not much really, here are the changes to the splendiferous rules from the last season (that failed along with the PS Network earlier in the year).

• Races night is Thursday night.
• Alternate weeks are league nights and non-league nights (more about that in a minute).
• Because the FIA works so well, we're introducing similar.
• This means that tracks will be chosen for their racing merit - no round robin selection.
• Marketing and monitoring of the series will be down to a 'president'- Jean Todt style...

Somehow I'm thinking of this right now:

Anyway...

• Alternate weeks will be open racing based on PP points, some weeks it'll be many points, some less so, really a mix to give us an enjoyable experience to fully explore GT5's racing capabilities...
• Race night will be in the old format:
• 9:00pm start
• 9:15 race start
• Turn up and start you'll get a point etc etc. It's all in the previous rules.

The Charter can be found here

Who's welcome?

Anyone in Flight Centre for the first no-points race, we'll see how we go with numbers, if we need to open it up to a wider audience we'll do that before the next race.

What else is going on that's going to make this special?

I'm looking into saved replays that can be shared out internally - stand by...

When does this fantastic opportunity get to present itself to us?

First race is the no-points practice race on 10 November.

First points league race is 24 November.

Make the date, make the grade, make the grid look busier than a council car park on the weekend.

Let me know if you're in before the 10th.

Cheers

Andrew 'Ecclestone' Collett.