AC Multiclass Audi TT/Mazda MX5@Riverside, Wednesday 9th March 2022

[davejevons]

No worries mate! Just out of curiosity, I don't know if it was overzealousness in getting onto the racing line for the first corner or you didn't saw me; in the latter case if you don't have it already, you could try some radar app (I'm using Helicorsa), they're very useful to avoid side by side incidents like ours, for (us?) single screen users.

Thanks Omar. I had a quick look and I think it was a bit of both. I also use helicorsa and was surprised it didn’t flag you (Jim didn’t say anything either) but looking at the replay we errr… just drive into each other. Doh!

Let’s try again next week

 

[Alfred Wayne]

Decent race on my end, good race from those around me. I like using the NASCAR layout of this track for "car testing", but it's a whole different track with those extra turns before the chicane vs the NASCAR layout which goes straight in. Don't think I nailed that turn once

Good pressure from Kimi over the last 15 min or so . Luckily I got my off tracks out of the way early on and could stay ahead at the end.

Not sure where my pace went today. I still haven't opened all my boxes from the move, so it might still be packed away somewhere

 

[Dzul]

So, I had a decent qualy and quite a good race but little mistakes cost me time and places...

The start went well, I managed to avoid the first-lap incidents at the esses and first hairpin (thanks @Douglas Aird for giving space) and came out right behind Paul @Shed 17. I did manage to follow him and Andre @a_murel for a few laps until one of my tyres decided to caress the sand a bit and ruined my corner exit before the long straight. After that I somehow could keep the fast boys ahead in sight but had Paulo @pcmoreno with a steady pace on my rear mirror. All was going well until the Audis started to catch up and traffic got hectic at the esses a few times... Now, most people were careful and diverting the faster cars left and right as usual worked well... in theory. Coz the speed difference in this particular sector of this track felt daunting at times. And taking your eyes off the racing line to check how close behind an Audi is, to try to predict where it will catch up and adapt to keep your pace, is quite unforgiving on the esses. So, as by many experienced, I went off-track a couple of times, one of which put me almost on the wall and cost me a place to Paulo, and another one to Doug later on.

I managed to recover, stay on the black stuff and catch up, and when Doug had a moment a few laps later I got that one spot back. I was catching up to Paulo as well but on the last laps my tyres and the hairpin-chicane before the long straight at the back were not friendly to each other anymore and I brushed off the time gained and just couldn't close in anymore. Behind me I had Omar @maxilogan on better tyres and pace closing in so I'm glad the race was done before that gap got too close for comfort. So overall it was a good, busy race... with quite a fun practice session trying to give and take tows before and after the Nascar corner together with Andre...

Congratulations to the winners and podiums, and looking forward to the next one chaps.
Thanks for organising and keeping our banter down Han! Sorry about that again lads.

 

[HF2000]

A very nice race for me with an unexpected win! From my point of view all drivers (Mazda and Audi) were very respectful and helpful to eachother which made it a very pleasant event. Thanks all for that.

Qualified 6th after @Hazzatron19 did an amazing job in his last qually lap. That guy can be really fast! With more consistency I bet he will go for the podium.
As I was in practice and qually about half a second of the pace of the frontrunners, I didn't have much hope for a podium and would settle for a top 5 result. But after @Kek700 , @Fiberoptix and Harry had something (I have to look at the replay for that), I found myself 3rd behind Thomas and @JamKart22 . I expected those two to be too fast for me so I concentrated on not making mistakes as Jari behind me had similar pace.
Then first Colin went into the pits and later Thomas took a bite of sand in the T9 hairpin, I was the leader astonishly. Up till then I didn't use the P2P so with about 15 laps to go I started using that on the long straight. With a bit of luck with the Mazda's I could stay ahead of Thomas for the win.
So a win without an actual overtake action (apart from lapping Mazda's) but still satisfying.

Congrats to the other podium, especially Carsten with his 2nd win in a row and @pcmoreno with an excellent debut in our community. And thanks all for racing tonight.

See you next week on track at ????

P.S.: @Allan Ramsbottom : only 3rd and 14s behind Carsten??? You'd better get rid of that DD wheel

P.P.S.: @Allan Ramsbottom I was the first three races with my DD wheel also slower than with my G27 so no worries.

 

[pcmoreno]

I'm really happy with the end result and I was shocked to have made it to 5th position on the mazda.
After the practice session I was like, oops I am way over my head here with these guys. So indeed it was a really good debut.

Consistency was "mostly" on my side especially since this was my 2nd 45 min race up to date(I mostly do 20, 25 min races). It was really nice to be chasing @Dzul and then being chased by him keeping my concentration in check.

As for incidents there were not that many on my part. I did suffer from the same problem of being chased by an audi on the esses and taking too long checking the rear mirror and ending up going off track. Also bumped @Dzul once because for some reason I decided to follow him going wide on a turn as well(but it was me that ended up losing an extra sec there so all good) and got a small nudge(of no consequence) while being overtaken by murel. Two concentration lapses on the two last laps cost me about 6 secs but my gap to the 6th places was big enough by then.

Looking forward towards more racing with you guys

 

[JamKart22]

I had good pace on this circuit and was happy to be P2 after quali. I also made a good start so was in the unique situation for me of leading a race. I held a 1 sec gap over Thomas for 20 mins but the Mazda's allowed Thomas to get right on my tail going down the back straight. P2P couldn't help me out drag him and we went side by side round the banked section. Me on the inside and Thomas on the outside.

I then drifted slightly to the outside and just gently nudged the back of Thomas's car. As he straighten up I hit him again and got ricocheted into the pits. A sad end to a great battle. At least I didn't ruin Thomas's race. I then had a battle with Tim and Robert to try and salvage something from the race.

I reflection I should have been a bit more cautious and had a go back a Thomas latter on. But in the heat of the battle I'm reluctant to make it too easy for anyone to pass!

Congrats to the winners and thanks as ever to Han

 

[stigs2cousin]

P.S.: @Allan Ramsbottom : only 3rd and 14s behind Carsten??? You'd better get rid of that DD wheel

When checking the replay you´ll see that this quip is completely unwarranted .

Allan got cleared off P1 in the first lap by an Audist and made a great comeback from the shadow realm.
After all he´s 1,5 sec faster than me
(Sorry Allan, but this won´t get old for a while )

Let´s just say the class winners can consider them selfs lucky as their competion were taken care of .

See you in the east
And have you noticed how Han has assured his Victory this time?
Be sure we will make you pay for it


MFG Carsten

 

[Hazzatron19]

I didn’t even know the Audi had push to pass

 

[JamKart22]

I didn’t even know the Audi had push to pass

Doesn't make a massive difference but can help. You get 15 shots per race and practice but not quali.

 

[Shed 17]

One of the reasons I came back into the Mazda was to try to build some consistently and speed so I was really pleased how close I could get to the fast Mazda guys here.
A good start again and I followed Allan and Carsten into the esses but the incident ahead with Allan and the Audi’s made me lift allowing Andre through.
I got a tow off of Andre on the straight and got by at the kink and held onto to P2 for the remainder of the race.
I did lose some time with Audi overtakes as did Carsten, so while I could keep in touch with him, I wasn’t quite quick enough to mount a challenge. Also I had one eye on Allan as he made his way back through the field but he ran out of laps.

Looking at the fastest times, I was pleased with my overall performance and that’s the second P2 behind Carsten in consecutive weeks. I’d be happy with that every week but something tells me that the Allan and Andre show will soon be appearing at a track near you soon!

As usual thanks to Han for organising, these races run so smooth and I’m surprised you weren’t hired by the FIA, congrats to the podiums and well done to everyone who made this another successful race.

 

[pcmoreno]

See you next week on track at ????

Are you asking for suggestions btw? @HF2000

 

[Kek700]

I sat on the start line with a sixth sense, this is not going to go well, I have done so many races now the feelings are usually correct. But “hey ho “ you never know.
Some one, not sure, went on the sand in the first series of s bends, why do you always seem to follow and do the same. I seemed hell bent on making sure my premonition was correct.
After that I was hard hit by the Mazdas, not that they did anything wrong, far from it , all were most helpful. In the end Thomas and Han had too much pace over me to close a gap of about 6 to 10seconds, and by the end of the race I guessed that Han was on P2P so that did not inspire any confidence, then a Thomas did a mid 36 and that was me “well” done up like a kipper.
K
3rd was my eventual outcome, and to be honest in the circumstance I was “with in” all the problems I had , lucky to get that. I did keep an eye on our fast charging new comers
who probably had the same grief as me, which at least helped my fruitless cause.
Well done podiums, and off course @HF2000 for organisation.

 

[HF2000]

Are you asking for suggestions btw? @HF2000

Thanks. Suggestions are always welcome but I have an agreement with Brian that we racing the same track as the GT3/GT4 on Sunday (normally) so not sure if we will follow up on that.

 

[stigs2cousin]

Thanks. Suggestions are always welcome but I have an agreement with Brian that we racing the same track as the GT3/GT4 on Sunday (normally) so not sure if we will follow up on that.

If you´d ask me I´d suggest Bridgehampton.
But `m not sure how that would be welcomed as that´ll be the third time in arow that we play
"in the sands"

MFG Carsten

 

[HF2000]

If you´d ask me I´d suggest Bridgehampton.
But `m not sure how that would be welcomed as that´ll be the third time in arow that we play
"in the sands"

MFG Carsten

How about another sandbox: Bahrain! Last year we followed the F1 events when avaiable on S.GP.
Participants liked that because they learned the track on Wednesday, then saw the onboards of the F1 and raced it again in the GT3/GT4.

I have yet to discuss this with Brian.

 

[stigs2cousin]

You´ll make a good choice.

Personally I´d prefer something more classic and technical, but i got my wishes twice in a row, so now let someone else take the blame.


MFG Carsten

 

[pcmoreno]

as a beginner I prefer club style tracks over grade 1 F1 tracks. But then again Barcelona, Portimão and Magny-Cours are among my favourites.
Mosport was a recent find I really enjoyed.

As for the MX-5/TT combi, maybe Goodwood is a nice one

 

[HF2000]

as a beginner I prefer club style tracks over grade 1 F1 tracks. But then again Barcelona, Portimão and Magny-Cours are among my favourites.
Mosport was a recent find I really enjoyed.

As for the MX-5/TT combi, maybe Goodwood is a nice one

Goodwood is certainly one that will come somewhere this year.

 

[Hazzatron19]

Quick question on starts. I assume everyone goes clutch down, 1st then clutch up. I guess you could rev it load then slam into first as lights go out? I got warped for jump start when I had my clutch down and went into first gear, rocked the car and that was enough apprently thanks really good race by the way loving these Wednesday events

 

[Douglas Aird]

I didn’t even know the Audi had push to pass

15 per session, excluding qualifying. It's activated as Kers so you need to map a button to that.

You get a short burst of extra power then a cooldown before you can use it again. You should see a counter on your HUD to tell you how many you have left. If it's white you can use it, when it's in use it's red and when on cooldown it's blue (from memory).

On a long lap you can probably use two, possibly three (unless it's the Nords!).

Another cool thing is that the rear side windows of the Audi also shows the counter, too, so you can see if your opponent has any left (if you are close enough). It also flashes when it's being used.