VM SpecRacing Series 7 - MSM Repsol

Awesome pic of Clark

that my new sig. Thnks Skismo, where did you find that?

Having trouble at Silverstone, mostly due to this version being completely different than FM4.

The extreme camber with minimal aero seems to work, but i am running similar times to my full aero tune.

Figured out where i am running wrong.

Besides for just not being consistant through turns 3 to 4 to 5 ( tricky ), i found all of my time through turns 10-12, and 13.

I stay in 4th gear with minimal braking from 10 through 12, then brake and shift to 3rd for turn 13.

Side note - stay away from some of the curbs at corner exists,i found they spin me out 98% of the time.

Ran this morning and was in the 24's from lap 2-4 out of 5.

Now at 2:24.361 on rival.

I'll post the full tune if you guys are interested.

Thanks for all the insight Clark.  turns 10-13 can be very very fast but one kiss of the curbs and its all over.  

More photos here http://www.virtual-motorsports.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=364&t=5343  and if you find wheelwash's webpage and facebook page there are more pics.  A couple good pics of Dom too.  

Unfortunately I might have to attend a work function on race night.  It starts at 6 my time, an hour after the race starts.  With a little luck I will not have to go.  and if I cant make it, good luck guys!

Awesome Job guys!!!!!!!!!!! Consistency is King!

Race Re-Cap:



Dom Qualified great and started 5th, I tried to push it too hard and made 8th, both in the A lobby.

Race start went well for me, took a nice line into turn 2 (lap 1)  putting me right into 6th place, it was jockied for and i lost it 3 or 4 corners later.

TG Virality lost it and hit a barrier about 6 laps in giving up 3rd place.




The remainder of race was a battle 3rd place to 6th. ( Dom 3rd, Flight 4th, Ccarter 5th, Clark 6th ).

Flight took an early pit subjecting Ccarter to the MSMwich:



Flight eventually made it past the brick wall that is Dominic Mako and Ccarter thought he would have a go at it as well. He proceeded to Bobbo dive bomb the shit out of turn 16, over shot it and wound up right back where he started.
Pic of his over shoot:  You can see his car looks way out of line for the next corner.



It was a battel for 4th (DOM), 5th (Ccarter)and 6th(Clark) for the remaining 6 laps or so. Lap 16 I starting pushing hard to try and make a move on Ccarter and at the end of lap 16 i was in reach.

Meanwhile- apparently Dom's Dog was barking, his wife was sleeping, and he was yelling = Not racing at his best.

Lap 17:

Got a great drive out of turn 5 that put me on Ccarters inside for turn 6. (after watching the replay, both Ccarter and i hit the brakes at the exact same time)- i carried a little more speed into the corner and took 5th place.

Shake and Bake:



After, Ccarter stated it was a team effort ( i hadn't spoken one word to Dom all race ) Go Team!!. He must have been flustered as he fell to 7th at final.

Best race of the series so far, IMO.

Well done guys  

Nice recap and pics Clark.   Love the term MSMwich.  Sucks Dom had some interruptions, but still great job.   So carter was dive bombing and crying about team effort?  Most guys have hobbies to get AWAY from the bitches  

Dom is king at holding position. I don't think I have ever been able to pass him in a race. I think Ccarter was very frustrated at that. The divebomb was a cry for help.

Getting passed by Dom's teamate at the end of the race most likely just compounded it. I watched the replay, after I made it by him, he was all over the road and fell back quite a ways.

Another Great Race and great results for MSM/Repsol.

Dom calling me a son of a bitch was the highlight of my night.... thats all i have to say.

side note: shoutbox is in a constant state of loading for me.... anyone else?

I enjoy simulation racing games more than other multiplayer games because the results are so immediate and final. In a FPS game you might get killed, but then you respawn and you can shoot down the person that killed you many times over again. In sports games you might surrender a goal or touchdown, but you get the ball again even out the score or pull ahead and win. In racing, either you beat the other guy or you don't. Once the race is over and you lose, you've lost that race for good.

In the world of motorsports, there are very few "upset" where an inferior driver or car find real success, like Fisichella and Jordan winning in Brazil. These upsets take a series of events to take place in particular order. Such an upset took place during Round 4 of the VM Spec Mustang series at Catalunya National, propelling me into 3rd place on the podium, despite the fact that SEVEN OTHER DRIVERS had faster lap times. And so I present to you...

ANATOMY OF AN UPSET

Step 1. Qualify higher than expected

At the Brazilian GP in 2003, Fisichella qualified on a wet track into 8th position. His previous best that season was 13th and would start 17th in each of the next two events. That 8th place start was a high-water mark for him. Similarly, I managed to qualify 4th on the grid for Catalunya, my best this series.

Prior to the 15 minute qualifying session, I did about 42 laps the last two days to practice, but I never did more than 6 laps at a time. As such, most of my experience in the car was on cold or slightly warmed tires, which makes a difference in FM5. Once the session got started, predictably, I nailed my best time on the third lap by posting 1:23 flat. My best in practice had been just over 1:22.9. I floundered around the rest of the session, doing mid 1:23 and 1:24 times, before hitting 1:23 flat again at the very end. This turned out to be the best time in our qually lobby by .3 and as mentioned before put me 4th on the grid.

Step 2. Nail the start

The beginning of a race is always the most dangerous time, as everyone is bunched together and any mistake can cost you multiple positions on the first lap. I was starting on the outside, and as the timer wound down to start the race, I decided I was just going to hammer the throttle instead of feathering it. This turned out to be a bad idea, as both Clark (directly behind me) and Flight) directly to my right inside) gained ground heading into turn one. I made contact with one of the two cars on the inside, but barely managed to hold off the challenge into turn two and three, one of the trickiest section on the National circuit on cold tires. That will come back into play later in the race. Regardless of my less than stellar launch, being able to hold onto the outside of turn one had saved me two spots through lap one.

Step 3. Drive consistent and defensive

From the MSM Rules of the Road:

"There will be times when you're the slower car, but somehow end up out in front...Making a single defensive maneuver is appropriate, such as scooting low to take up the inside line heading into a turn."

First through third sped off into the distance. I was never going to catch them, but Flight and Clark were hot on my heels. Each time they got close they'd have to check up or make a mistake trying to defend their spot from the other and lose ground to me. Meanwhile, I was doing my level best to stay in the 1:23.3 range lap after lap, making very small errors, but nothing big enough that someone could fly through. I was carrying more aero than most for this event, which meant I would surrender ground on the front straight, but I would be able to defend and stretch some distance through the middle portion of the track.

Step 4. Plan your pit stop

Harkening back to that Brazilian GP, Jordan opted to pit very early in order to save fuel during the inevitable safety car sessions. Afterward, Fisichella admitted they likely didn't have enough fuel on-board to complete the full race distance, saying "Honestly, it was on the limit."

The previous week at Silverstone, Flight was stuck behind me again and pitted very early. He ran a handful of laps with a free track, while I stayed out, made some costly errors, and had the spot nicked from me on the pit exchange. Back to Catalunya, Flight had an off-track excursion in front of Clark, lost his spot behind me, and decided to pit early again. I started to have a flashback at Silverstone and knew if he got a clean track again and I stayed out I may lose 4th yet again.

I jumped into the pits two laps later, but to my horror I saw a gaggle of blue dots heading down the front straight while my car dawdled down pit exit. I announced my exit and pulled out inches in front of the first car. It was so close that he nudged my rear bumper through turn one and almost peaked out in front on turn 2/3. I managed to barely stay out in front though, losing only a bit of time in that defense. I overheard flight say something on his pit exit that only became important on reflection. It was something like "Don't worry, you guys will go past me." I realized Flight had come out behind the group of cars I just narrowly missed. Now I not only maintained a clear track in front of me, but he would be delayed by that group as well.

Clark, probably thinking of the same strategy we were, came in a couple laps later himself (now 4 laps after Flight). Now I watched in angst as his blue dot was coming down pit exit and I was still too far away to spot him on the track. He managed to come out just in front of me now, turning the tables completely. I literally said "You son of a bitch!" over the headset, forgetting I had unmuted myself a few minutes ago to exit the pits. Cold tires did not suit Clark though, and he ran well wide after turn one, affording me this one single opportunity to sneak by with my now warm tires. I managed to thread my way by and took back 4th position yet again after the pit exchange!

Step 5. Someone needs to crash

When you and your car are up against the limit, you're only going to travel so far up the field. Something bad is going to have to happen to someone further up the road. In Brazil, the rain was torrential, causing the world's most expensive parking lot to form along the side of the road as championship contenders Schumacher and Montoya DNF'd. later in the race, the other Jordan car to Fisichella had a suspension failure and skidded right by him, collecting Panis instead. This good fortune and near miss helped to propel him ever closer to the front.

At Catalunya National, now well into the race, I still had Clark hanging out about 200-300 feet behind. First through third were long gone though, a distant memory of cars I once saw at the beginning of the event. It seemed they were still in the midst of a close battle. Unfortunately for them, there was a lag spike while they were in close proximity, which totally wiped out one of the competitors. Half a lap later I saw the victim, a smoking hulk limping his way back into the pits. I felt bad for the guy to have his race ruined outside of his control, but I inherited third place by this twist of fortune in my favor.

Summary

The 2003 Grand Prix in Brazil ended early, with Fisichella taking the first place trophy by a rule technicality that had him in first place the lap before this event was red flagged due to a crash on the front straight. He had actually been passed by Kimi before the race was officially ended, and had to hand him the trophy a day later in one of the most awkward F1 ceremonies ever performed.

Clark harassed me to the bitter end, and had there been a few more laps I'm not 100% sure I could have fended him off. On the Virtual Motorsports website he posted "Having been racing with Dom for the past 3-4 years at MSM, I know how difficult it is to pass him and how well he protects his position." It took a bit of luck and all five of those steps above to put me into third place though, just like Fisichella needed everything to go right to claim his first (and Jordan's last) F1 victory.

Amazing write up Dom.
Many props from the VM crew on your post.

 Again, it was a great race and I am so glad that i could be a part of it, you son of a bitch

Excellent write-up Mr. Mako!  If only the audio was recorded for that race, it was one of the funniest moments in my forza career...

Well guys, its finally here!  Prague week!  Not only is short reverse my favorite layout, I'm sure it is your favorite as well!  OK, BS aside, this track sucks!  walls walls and more walls followed be a chicane that can be totally cut without dirtying lap times.  All the ingredients a kid with an H2 in a hopper lobby would love.  If we have a lobby bigger than 2 people this should prove to be a mess.  I might have to pull a Dom and mute my mic this week.  I'm anxious to hear how your guys' first few practice sessions go.


Another amazing Wheelwash photo of Dom

I've not run a practice lap yet, but plan to tonight. Someone commented that the pit entry can be hard to spot, so if you run some laps you may want to check out where the entry and exit is for the pits on Prague short reverse.

Holy crap this is an awful circuit. I think I'm skipping this round. Jesus it's terrible.

I just ran a few laps pretending the chicane was part of the road.  I ran a decent sub-105 lap. There is no one speaking of the chicane in the forums, other than this post, "[size=11.818181991577148]PRAGUE SHORT REVERSE[/size]
[size=11.818181991577148]CHICANE - BE SURE TO NOT JUMP THE CHICANE WITH THE WHOLE CAR"[/size]

Just noticed XessIV posted a quick 103.8, so I decided to watch his replay.  He also ran as though the chicane did not exist.  Not sure what to make of that but the 2.5 seconds you make up by cutting through the curbs is a pretty big deal.  This race might be fun if you can get away with only 1 pit stop.   

Also guys,  I have been super busy at work and may not make it home in time for qually.  Should make the race though.

It is a terrible track. I followed wheelwashes ghost and the chicane cutting is present there as well and I followed suit.

I'm going to be interested to see how it is handled during the race tongiht.

My wife has a work outing, I will most likely be able to make it, but if there is any race to skip, it would be this one. We do get 1 throw away race.

Well I had an excellent race, started last in A lobby and had a couple of good passes.  lap 35/38 was in 5th place and on pace for a 104.1 and the Xbone kicked me out.... Disconnected from lobby...  Super frustrating.  nice job Clark

No Team MSM pics on the Wheelwash page http://w11.zetaboards.com/Wheelwash_Racing/topic/10106855/2/
But god damn he takes some excellent pictures!

Yas Marina Corkscrew seems to epitomize the "slow is fast" mantra. There is a tricky chicane near the end of the lap that you can almost straightline if you line up the turn before it. I saved about half a second nailing it down that way and have posted 2:15.5 so far.

Very technical, It seems like you can gain / lose time every corner. Every corner requires a little different point of attack.

2:14.7, there is room for improvement.

Mustang Tune

Spoiler:

Here's were we stand with two races left. Clark likely has at least 3rd locked up, and might be able to steal 2nd with some luck. I'm only two points ahead for fourth, but I've outraced Ridin Sideways head to head in the last three consecutive races. Skismo is in 6th, and will need to really push hard and hope Ridin Sideways gets into some trouble to get 5th away from him.