Americas R3E Racing Club is BACK!

[DND]

The Americas RaceRoom Racing Experience Racing Club is BACK!

Note: Club will now start at 9:00 pm ET from this event (07.16.2019) onward.

Hello, my name is David DeGreef, aka @DucMan888 more on that later. I’m 56 years old, married to Christine and live in Woodstock, Illinois. Not the Jimi Hendrix Woodstock but it does have a bit fame as it was the site for the filming of Groundhog Day.

I have been allowed to organize and host the R3E US Club, although as you can see from the banner it is more an Americas Club. The time is 9:00 pm ET on each Tuesday.

Before I go any further I would like to recognize the efforts put forth on establishing a US based R3E Race Club by members Christian Moreau, Lorenzo Bonder I hope to build off of what they started years ago.

I mostly am considered a mid-level runner in most events, sometimes higher, others lower. My sim racing began with the Geoff Crammond GP series and took a hiatus when the Sims of the day disappeared or turned more to, well something other than what I was used to, to be kind. I decided to get back into it with the console rush with PS3 and the GT series and ‘progressed’ from one console and game to the next until which I time I decided to build a PC and make it a hobby and commit to it.

So here I am today an active member with RD going on my third year, and the experience has been great. The only online experience I had previously was iRacing and after running the first club event here at RD I was convinced I had made the right decision as the racing is tough, but fair, and the incidents I have to admit are mostly self-induced. The community is well rounded in skill, experience and knowledge so fitting in is no problem.

I have since made R3E my go to sim with no regrets, as in the three years I have used it the sim has grown in content and quality and I can say with no hesitation it is the most user friendly sim there is in that you can pick a car and track and once you get acclimated you are off and running. At least from my perspective.

It has been my experience that my ability has improved by participating in the club events here at RD and with the help from members I have gained confidence in setting up a car, something I never attempted before.

Now why DucMan? It is a nickname given to me years ago not so much for the motorcycle I rode but the outfit of tri-color full leathers red boots and a tri-color helmet that provided a good deal of respectful ribbing, which I deserved and honestly enjoyed. Or could it be from the cartoon? I’ll stick with the former.

Hope to see you on the grid! Our next event will be in the wonderful Porsche 911 GT3 Cup at the Red Bull Ring this Tuesday 9th July - SIGN UP HERE.

For all the latest racing event in the EU and Americas time zone, check out the RaceRoom Racing Experience Racing Club here at RaceDepartment, and sign up for some fun!

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[Lentoveloz]

Congratulations and good luck. If I go back to running online it will be a great option.

 

[TrumpetReich]

Heck YES, I'm in. I've actually found myself near you on the leaderboards frequently and always try to beat your time (rarely happens). Looking forward to some races in our time zones.

 

[Michel Bélisle]

Great news! I really appreciate your commitment. I have raced with the European mates a few times on the weekends. Often, I wished I could have participated to the WTCR races during the week but the time difference did not allow for it. I am looking forward to it. Thanks again.

 

[John Addison]

Thanks for taking this on. The one thing really missing is more US time zone racing here. I'll make the ones I can. Good luck.

 

[Norseman]

Pretty cool to see this, but may I ask if the 8pm EST is when the practice would start, or is it race start time? I'm only asking because that equates to 5pm here on the West Coast, and I'm typically stuck in traffic at that time... But can make by 6pm, if that's when racing actually starts.

 

[Isaac Chavira]

Glad to have you as a sponsor for us. I would really love it if you ran TCR and GT4. I feel that has been missing from our shores for quite a bit. There's always a lot of F1 and GT3 only. Perhaps a mixed class Le Mans style series, P1, P2, GTR3 or IMSA P2, GTR2, GTR3.

Anyways I welcome this whole heartedly. Congratulations good sir. I look forward to your hosting! =o)

 

[J-F Chardon]

Nice one @David DeGreef ! Just retweeted it for you. Best wishes for this club!
https://twitter.com/raceroom/status/1146485342419214337

 

[Rory Wetherington]

This sounds great, Tuesdays are perfect so I'm in. I also have been looking for a Raceroom series but when someone works from 6pm to 6am Thursday thru Saturday it's hard to find one.

 

[UMC 22]

Pretty cool to see this, but may I ask if the 8pm EST is when the practice would start, or is it race start time?

If you read the event post you will see that all sessions are listed with their start times:

Tuesday 09/07/19
Practice: 20:00 ET (30 minutes)
Qualifying: 20:30 ET (15 minutes)

Warmup : 20:45 ET (5 minutes)
Race : 20:50 ET (40 minutes)

Note that once qualifying is completed, you can NOT join the server. You must be on the server before the warmup session begins.

 

[Norseman]

Nil

 

[sc4dr]

I'm in!!

 

[DND]

Congratulations and good luck. If I go back to running online it will be a great option.

Thank you, the response has been very good and hope you give it a try. Been doing the Sunday club events and couldn't ask for a better group of people.

Heck YES, I'm in. I've actually found myself near you on the leaderboards frequently and always try to beat your time (rarely happens). Looking forward to some races in our time zones.

Friendly competition is what is all about , keep pushing

Great news! I really appreciate your commitment. I have raced with the European mates a few times on the weekends. Often, I wished I could have participated to the WTCR races during the week but the time difference did not allow for it. I am looking forward to it. Thanks again.

My pleasure, if we can show a strong showing more days will come I'm sure. And those front wheel demons will make an appearence.

Thanks for taking this on. The one thing really missing is more US time zone racing here. I'll make the ones I can. Good luck.

I am so happy to do it John, see ya on the grid

Pretty cool to see this, but may I ask if the 8pm EST is when the practice would start, or is it race start time? I'm only asking because that equates to 5pm here on the West Coast, and I'm typically stuck in traffic at that time... But can make by 6pm, if that's when racing actually starts.

I will look into our options on your suggestion on time, I am looking at methods to achieve an optimal start time based on interest. But for now we'll keep it 8:00 ET. Thanks for the interest.

Glad to have you as a sponsor for us. I would really love it if you ran TCR and GT4. I feel that has been missing from our shores for quite a bit. There's always a lot of F1 and GT3 only. Perhaps a mixed class Le Mans style series, P1, P2, GTR3 or IMSA P2, GTR2, GTR3

Anyways I welcome this whole heartedly. Congratulations good sir. I look forward to your hosting! =o)

Thank you for the kind reply and rest assured my heart is firmly placed in multi class. But first we need to get full grids and then ...oh boy the possibilities.

Nice one @David DeGreef ! Just retweeted it for you. Best wishes for this club!
https://twitter.com/raceroom/status/1146485342419214337

Thank you J-F giving us a shout out. As you can see we have sparked some passion and your help is appreciated.

This sounds great, Tuesdays are perfect so I'm in. I also have been looking for a Raceroom series but when someone works from 6pm to 6am Thursday thru Saturday it's hard to find one.

So then we can count on you every week? Just kidding...kind of, but glad to have you on the grid.

 

[Dirk Steffen]

Thanks you are committing to this David!
There has been a long dry spell in US time zone based events with Scott having held up that flag solely over a long time.

Due to this many (myself included) had taken their online sim racing time elsewhere a long time ago (in many cases also their general activity here on RD) as the rigid EU times that allow simply for zero commitment from a large part of the user base around the world (with times in the deep night and seemingly zero will to even consider more flexible times by pushing or pulling 1 or 2 hours on certain days to allow people in other time zones to participate - although everyone pays for the exact same RD subscription fee EU or elsewhere).

I just as it happens have reinstalled R3E and now finally got it running (by help of a friend, NOT by help of the official RaceRoom support as those fellas let people hang in limbo with support tickets for months).

I am looking forward to follow your event activity and hope some tin top racing involving Porsche cars is coming our way as that is the stuff I live for.
I wish you good luck and hope you have a thick skin and lots of patience as that is what it seems to take with the commitment you have taken on here at RD.

Cheers

 

[Majuh]

I just as it happens have reinstalled R3E and now finally got it running (by help of a friend, NOT by help of the official RaceRoom support as those fellas let people hang in limbo with support tickets for months).

So what was the reason for your problems with the game?

 

[DND]

Thanks you are committing to this David!
There has been a long dry spell in US time zone based events with Scott having held up that flag solely over a long time.

I am happy to contribute the best I can to promote sim racing in general to people of all ages and abilities. And if I was remiss in excluding Scott in my launch post let me say here I appreciate his and everyone that volunteer their time to bring race clubs to the masses.

I am looking forward to follow your event activity and hope some tin top racing involving Porsche cars is coming our way as that is the stuff I live for.
I wish you good luck and hope you have a thick skin and lots of patience as that is what it seems to take with the commitment you have taken on here at RD.

Cheers

Our first event is the Porsche 911 and the next event will also include cars with tops .
As far as thick skin I guess up to a point as everyone is entitled to their opinion and as long as it is not personal in a disrespectful, and deliberately attempting to hurt or demean someone I'm ok with suggestions and constructive criticism. If the 'comments' are otherwise towards me or others I will stand up.

Thank you Dirk as I am glad you raised this point and as the folks that are staff and hosts are mostly volunteers and receive no compensation other than the encouragement and gratitude from others in bringing club events to us.

So if you get a chance give a thumbs up to the host of club events @Ross Garland @Craig Dunkley @Ricoow @JoelK @Jamie @Daniel Monteiro as they are putting on events to try and appeal to the majority, even when the combos are not their cup of (insert beverage here).

And finally I like to extend an invitation to you and join a growing grid on Tuesday evening.

 

[EchoWhiskeySix]

David, this sounds great! One suggestion would be to move the times back at least 1 hour on weekdays to increase west coast participation. 5PM is too early for many in the Pacific time zone considering that is when most people will be getting off work and driving home.

 

[Jamie]

I am happy to contribute the best I can to promote sim racing in general to people of all ages and abilities. And if I was remiss in excluding Scott in my launch post let me say here I appreciate his and everyone that volunteer their time to bring race clubs to the masses.


Our first event is the Porsche 911 and the next event will also include cars with tops .
As far as thick skin I guess up to a point as everyone is entitled to their opinion and as long as it is not personal in a disrespectful, and deliberately attempting to hurt or demean someone I'm ok with suggestions and constructive criticism. If the 'comments' are otherwise towards me or others I will stand up.

Thank you Dirk as I am glad you raised this point and as the folks that are staff and hosts are mostly volunteers and receive no compensation other than the encouragement and gratitude from others in bringing club events to us.

So if you get a chance give a thumbs up to the host of club events @Ross Garland @Craig Dunkley @Ricoow @JoelK @Jamie @Daniel Monteiro as they are putting on events to try and appeal to the majority, even when the combos are not their cup of (insert beverage here).

And finally I like to extend an invitation to you and join a growing grid on Tuesday evening.

All the best David. I am sure you are going to enjoy yourself in your new role.

 

[Michel Bélisle]

@David DeGreef
Are you open to the idea of making a poll for the race starting time?
I live on the East Coast but I would not mind if the race was later in the evening. If it helps with participation, I think it is worth a shot.

 

[DND]

David, this sounds great! One suggestion would be to move the times back at least 1 hour on weekdays to increase west coast participation. 5PM is too early for many in the Pacific time zone considering that is when most people will be getting off work and driving home.

@David DeGreef
Are you open to the idea of making a poll for the race starting time?
I live on the East Coast but I would not mind if the race was later in the evening. If it helps with participation, I think it is worth a shot.

EWS and Michel, next event I am including a poll to get a feel of where people are that are visiting the club page and based off this I will address the start time accordingly. Don't want to leave anybody out if at all possible...stayed tuned and vote next week.