FM5 VM Challenge Series 1

The new FM5 Challenge Series 1 has been posted at the webpage below.  This will be an 8 race series starting July 7.

http://www.virtual-motorsports.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=397

Drivers will be required to use all four cars posted: #007 Aston Martin DBR9, #92 BMW M3 GT2, #4 Chrevrolet Corvette ZR1, and #91 Viper GTS-R:



The schedule for the 8 events is listed here:



If you're interested in participating with teammates please post in this thread.  We'll try to get at least three to a team, so that when one member misses a race, the other two can still score points.  If not, we'll pair up people by twos.  Thanks.

Interest partners:
Hillcrest
Clark
Bobbo
ridin sideways

I'm in

Ok so I got really bored and threw together a livery this, It's only on the beamer so far but if a team wants to use it I'll put it on all 4 cars

Spoiler:

I've got another one in the works as well for a second team, I'll post that sometime tomorrow my time hopefully! (hint: major sponsor is one of the minor sponsors on this car)

And here is the other one, I may do a few more if people want other ones done, I've kept them both pretty simple so its easy to adapt to all 4 cars

Spoiler:

That DHL one is pretty slick looking.  I really like it.  If I could make a recommendation it would be to add a few more smaller sponsor logos in the usual places so it looks more like a real race car.

Bobbo's partaking in this series depends on my money count, I know Clark will be entering Hillcrest, so try and get ahold of him

CallMehDarkside wrote:Bobbo's partaking in this series depends on my money count, I know Clark will be entering Hillcrest, so try and get ahold of him

Woah, Clark will be doing what?  

if he has a ponytail it should make it easier for clark

Dominic Mako wrote:That DHL one is pretty slick looking.  I really like it.  If I could make a recommendation it would be to add a few more smaller sponsor logos in the usual places so it looks more like a real race car.

Thanks dom, still a WIP, is there an MSM Logo at all, I know we used to have one in the FM4 days

I'd be interested as well! I definitely could benefit from getting some peoples tunes. I will not flake!

We have 5 potential drivers interested so far.  With one more we'll be able to field two teams of three.  That will give each team the best chance to score maximum points, because if one driver misses a race the other two will still score points.  

We still have about a week and a half before the first race begins.  I'm curious if anyone has considered the car selection strategies yet?  My gut tells me save the M3 for when the courses have tight, low speed turns, like Long Beach, Silverstone, and maybe even Spa.  The Corvette should be saved for Le Mans.  Any other thoughts?

I am here to officially throw my name in the hat for drivers that WILL par-take in the VM Challenge Series. Hoping to get 2 teams of 3

Awesome Bobbo! make sure you sign up at VM!

So it looks like we'll have 2 teams of 2, Im pretty set on running one of the liveries that I've done, its all unlocked to me so I can share one or both but I'm happy to team up with anyone! You should know though I'm not the fastest and will most likely be in the 2nd lobby though.

I think that group of 4 will be the final MSM contingent.  I'l leave it up to you guys to decide how you'll be paired up.  I know Sideways has pretty good attendance in the past VM races.  I wouldn't worry about being ultra-competitive.

In the past Clark has pretty much gone with whatever livery he gets, as long as it isn't something silly.  I think Bobbo has already started to put some work into a Snap-On Tools design as well.  I'm not sure what Sideways has been up to.

I haven't seen any discussion yet regarding the car or tune options to use at the first race.  Has anyone actually started testing for the first race?  Maybe a group test session this upcoming weekend could be arranged?

I haven't started testing but, I've been thinking about car choices so far I've been thinking
Vette: Bathurst, Le Mans
Viper: Nurburg, Spa
Aston: Rd America, Long Beach
M3: Silverstone, Rd Atlanta.

Im definitely set on the tracks for the Vette considering how long you spend on full throttle on both those tracks but not 100%. 

I wont be able to make a practice session friday night but i could sat or sun night

I think the vette is definitely the way to go for bathurst, but that is probably worth 1 whole grain of salt.

Got the vette to 200.8 but can't get it to go any faster.

For my paint all I did was a remake of the grandsport theme with a white center stripe and 2 red stripes on the fender. I decided to do something within my limited abilities!

Definitely interested in a practice session.

I will post my test results later tonight of the cars I have tested and tuned for each track. Also with their sexy looking liveries....that aren't done yet....oops

All of the cars will end up looking like this, obviously the logos will change place to place depending on how I can fit them on the side skirt, or in the case of the Aston, I couldn't fit them there. It's not 100% done, but here is the Snap-On DBR9!

Looking at tuning, for Bathurst I'd recommend running low aero considering that if you're going to pass someone on this track the safest, and best option is to pass on the straights. So far I'm hitting 202 through the chase. Its a little twitchy through the top of the mountain but I think I can fix that with mechanical grip rather with aero grip

Anybody still running this?

With the announcement that after the IndyCar/VM Challenge series are being switched. As in the next North American Series will be the IndyCar series, I will NOT be par-taking in this series, I want to get myself geared up for IndyCar while also learning to get faster. 

I also believe Dom will be doing the IndyCar series as well

Team of 3 then?

I've been doing some more testing, I think the viper  may be my choice over the vette, purely to save it for road america

I find these cars to be way more fun than the indy! I would rather vintage f1 than indy. The pre series was nuts and some of the people are so ridiculously fast. I think traction and stb should be set off for these series!

So we need to have team status turned in before the race, I'd propose that considering there is 3 of us we just run as Team MSM if that is ok with other members. Livery wise Im running the DHL one, I have that for all 4 cars done for it. I'm not sure what the VM requirements for team liveries are though. Clark and Sideways, if you need a livery let me know and I can do one for you, Happy to do requests as well. 

With the times that I'm running so far I'm hoping for pole in lobby 3 or not last in lobby 2. After playing with the viper I decided to switch back to the vette, I was faster over the mountain with the viper but i was just losing out on straight-line speed compared the the vette, which on this track will take priority.

My plan for the race: If I start at the back of the grid I'm going to hang back a little and wait for someone to make a mistake and move up that way. I'm expecting that all lobbies will have at least 1 safety car due to the nature of the track so hopefully i can use that to my advantage too