Round 5 - Imola

[Chris]

The title decider!

General Information
Date: Saturday 1st August 2015
Server Name: RACEDEPARTMENT.COM Thrustmaster AFM
Start time: 19:00 AEST (09:00 GMT)
Skin Pack: DOWNLOAD
Virtual Time of Day: 14:00
Starting Track Grip: 93%
Fuel Usage: 170%
Conditions: 26C | Clear
Racing Laps: 25 | Standing Start


Technical Notes & Track Briefing:
Track Length: 4.909 km
Top speed: 245 km/h
Turns: 17 (8 right, 9 left)
Tyre Wear: Moderate

Track Map & Red Zone:
The red zone for Round 5 applies during the first lap only, and covers an area from the start line, to the exit of Turn 3. Incidents that occur in this zone will be looked at and scrutinized more heavily, and may be punished more severely. The objective of the red zone is to promote a clean start to the race so that everyone can get through the first lap unscathed. Erratic changes of direction, contact and crashes will be penalized more harshly if found guilty.

Track Limits:
Article 6.1 of the 2015 RaceDepartment League Regulations states that all drivers must maintain at least two wheels within the white lines of the track at all times when under normal control of their car. Whilst article 6.1 applies to the entire race track, the stewards will pay particularly strong attention to the following areas of the track. The cutting penalties outlined in the Stewards Notice Board thread will be applied to drivers who take liberties with these areas too often.

If you cut the track limits when under normal control of your car, then you must lift off throttle 100% for at least 1 second. If you are clearly not under control of your car, then exemptions can be granted. What is deemed to be "under control" or not is up to the discretion of the stewards. Imola features many areas where exceeding track limits can gain you large amounts of time. Particular areas of concern include turns 5, 8, 11, 13 and 16 (see track map above).

Pitlane Exit:
Drivers are allowed to cross the pitlane exit line during the practice session only, so long as they do not impede other drivers. During the qualifying and race sessions, crossing this white line when exiting the pits is strictly prohibited and will be policed. You have been warned!

Don't Forget!
You are required to be present on TeamSpeak during all rounds of the league. Upon joining the RaceDepartment TeamSpeak server, you can set up your teams' Sub-Channel within the Assetto Corsa channel, using your team name. Then the League director will send you a text message containing the password for the server.

 

[Sun Levi]

Is it just me or is this the worst track for this car lol This is going to be challenging for sure

 

[Chris]

Feels okay to me.
Just Acqua Minerale is tough, but it's not too bad. Silverstone was the worst IMO with the bumpy surface and aggressive kerbs.

 

[Sun Levi]

Funny because I think Silverstone is so much easier than this, one of the easiest on the calender actually . This and Monza imo are the trickiest, the rest are pretty good

 

[Sun Levi]

For me this car takes Acqua Minerale pretty well actually. I find Tamburello, Villeneuve, Tosa and the Rivazzas really difficult, but it feels very rewarding when you get them right

 

[RenZ_]

I agree Sun, those corners are a pain at the limit and you have to walk a very fine line to be fast. I just thought it was my lack of experience at this track.

Looks like hard work IRL too

 

[Sun Levi]

haha I actually watched that video last night, before I drove the combo

 

[RenZ_]

haha I actually watched that video last night, before I drove the combo

Hah, I went through all the "imola formula" videos (minus F1) to get some ideas. Actually I do that every week for something to do before bed.

 

[Sun Levi]

Haha same here, every league round so far during the booking period I watch heaps of formula onboards of the track we're racing at to get some ideas

 

[Jamie]

Hah, I went through all the "imola formula" videos (minus F1) to get some ideas. Actually I do that every week for something to do before bed.

Haha same here, every league round so far during the booking period I watch heaps of formula onboards of the track we're racing at to get some ideas

So thats the secret hey ??? Something for me to do while hanging about at work then

 

[Sun Levi]

So thats the secret hey ??? Something for me to do while hanging about at work then

Haha, I talked about real life onboards in my guide It gives me ideas on where to place the car

 

[zAmboni]

Haha, I talked about real life onboards in my guide It gives me ideas on where to place the car

Did you post a guide somewhere and I missed it?

 

[Sun Levi]

It was a little guide I made before the league started, it was for the pre qualifying thing, I'll add you to the inbox, I made it for the guys who were ~ 2 seconds off me

 

[zAmboni]

Got ya. I was hoping it was a step-by-step guide on how you go about tweaking your setups .

I delved into trying to tweak things and get my head around the spring/damper settings last night and I finally felt like I could actually feel the handling change in the cars by tweaking things a bit. After watching that FA video I wanted to see if I could just go abuse the curbs like he did, but I was getting horrible bouncing (even on high speed corners), but I think I may have sorted that out a bit.

I've got a over a week to see if I can get things to work a bit better, but by that time, I am sure the Sun and Ben will be in the 1:37s

 

[Sun Levi]

It was only up until now that I started looking more into setups, in the Formula Abarth league I legit just downloaded setups from the RD setup section and only changed the wings lol I still have no clue what I'm doing though

 

[zAmboni]

I really have this problem in that I don't exactly understand why a tweak here and there changed handling one way or another. I have read through George and other setup guides, but most of the times things just don't click.

Read last night someone mention "set up spring rate/ARB, then mess with dampers, and when you have that settled, then camber/toe". So my first thought was OK car is too wallowy in the fast corners, increase spring. I increased spring rate, but then the car was too bouncy. Ok get rid of bounce with dampers, but If I decreased fast bump the car would just bounce, if I increased fast bump the car was more sliding around corners.

Spent over an hour messing with the dampers before I thought "well, maybe I increased the spring rate TOO much." I lowered the rate a notch and now it seems I have a usable zone with fast bump setting where it isn't either bouncing or sliding.

I still need to find optimal lines through some of these corners. Because of the elevation changes, what may seem to be the fastest way though a corner is not necessarily the actual optimal line. For example, going for the apex at Tosa doesn't seem to be the fastest for me, and it seemed that on one lap I found a spot (not on apex) that had grip and got a good exit...and now I cant remember where that is on the track .

 

[RenZ_]

I learned setup theory from competitive RC racing. Those little things are so sensitive to setup, you have to know what you are doing to be at the front. There was a "setup bible" written by one of the RC car manufacturers (XRAY from memory) but I can't find it, had some fantastic information. I will post it when I find it.

Fred you are on the right track with the spring rate and fast bump adjustments to reduce bounce, on this track I also have a little more aero stability in the form of reduced front DF. IMO it is worth the slight understeer in some sections (last corner) for the extra stability at T3, T6 and T10. Obviously this is very generalised advice and other factors will affect the setup significantly.

Once I have a setup dialled I am happy to share it (after taking some entry oversteer out ), especially now Sun has won the championship

 

[zAmboni]

Ya, I have a bit a notch or two less wing in the front than the back because there is just too much oversteer if they are equal. The damper setting always seemed like black magic with some ppl saying "dont mess with it" so I had kinda ignored it. But with my session last night I wish I messed with it earlier because I know that it could have helped me a bit with the last FA league (It was hard to be aggressive when you feel that any hint of touching a curb would put you into a spin).

Before I started messing around with some of the settings last night it was a crapshoot to find good times ("the car just wants to go where it wants to go!"), but now I kinda feel that I can put the car on the track where I want it to go a little bit better.

I wouldn't mind seeing your setup, even if it is only to compare them to see if I am on the right track .

 

[Chris]

especially now Sun has won the championship

 

[Jamie]

I learned setup theory from competitive RC racing. Those little things are so sensitive to setup, you have to know what you are doing to be at the front. There was a "setup bible" written by one of the RC car manufacturers (XRAY from memory) but I can't find it, had some fantastic information. I will post it when I find it.

Fred you are on the right track with the spring rate and fast bump adjustments to reduce bounce, on this track I also have a little more aero stability in the form of reduced front DF. IMO it is worth the slight understeer in some sections (last corner) for the extra stability at T3, T6 and T10. Obviously this is very generalised advice and other factors will affect the setup significantly.

Once I have a setup dialled I am happy to share it (after taking some entry oversteer out ), especially now Sun has won the championship

Happy to see both the current setup and the guide too. Thanks Ben