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NASCAR Driver (Pro V)
 
Posts: 7785
Joined: 08 Apr 2002, 9:45 am

Post 14 Oct 2017, 1:11 pm

Ok, I'll start.

Congrats to Tim - an extremely well run race. An incredible thanks to Brad for marshaling. A great job and you kept us on pace.

Builds across the board were all pretty similar. I was surprised to see only a single 180 car. I had bigger brakes than most but I still managed to bust 'em up this race (what's new?).

I thought I'd try to run this big bastard in the middle and use my wear at opportune moments. A bid of 3 put me in middle/back. With so many similar cars, I probably should have bid more to get closer to the front.

As I should have known, when the pack of cars went into the 2-lane portion, I was stuck in the rear. That made it very hard to get into a good position to take the hairpin in one turn. I think this was one of the keys to this track. If you waste 2 turns on the hairpin, you lose a few spaces.

After the hairpin, I realized that I was forced into a 'from the back' strategy. I conserved my wear for the next lap and a half. No problems there, for the most part.

I hit the 'go' button in Gresil on the 2nd lap. It turned out to be too early as I caught up to the main chase pack early in lap 3 and, once again, found myself in the back of traffic when the track narrowed. That, of course, resulted in a failed late brake test and taking two turns in the hairpin - a death knell to my chances of a podium finish.

I did get caught up in the shenanigans from Turyko & Simone in front of Gresil but I can't really blame my result on that. Overall, I deserved the 7th place finish.

The track: Hmmm... I didn't like this one all that much. There were not many decision points from a tactical perspective (which I tend to be pretty good at). I'm not so good at big strategy, which this track lends itself more to. I was not a fan of no racing lines. You didn't really have to fight too much for position since the lanes in the corners provided pretty much the same outcome. For example on 5 of the 8 corners, you could get to the same exact position no matter which lane you chose. It either needs racing lines or two additional spaces in the +20 outermost lanes instead of a one space difference (something I see in Castellet).

I'd really like to get Doug's take on this track and wonder if his experience here influenced his choices in Castellet.

Regardless, the racing was lots of fun and I'll run on any track. This track was just not my cup of tea.
Indy Car Driver (Pro IV)
 
Posts: 110
Joined: 09 Sep 2014, 4:41 pm

Post 14 Oct 2017, 11:00 pm

It's been awhile since I've done an after action report, so here goes.

First, I'd like to thank Brad for a well run race.

I think this race went extremely well for me, starting from the seeding in the Grid and through the entire race. The dice randomizing Gods were with me this run!



SETUP

I was extremely happy with my build, especially when I saw that only 4 cards had max wear points. The key for me was to get a good top speed, and manage the brakes and accelerator carefully. I figured that having extra wear would allow me to maintain speed in the corners which allowed for a lower acceleration. This left me in a good position on wear and skill points.

Starting position bid

The starting bids were a log jam at 4.5 points, I got the favorable dice roll and had the inside position on the second row, which was a good place to start this race. The 1st dice roll was in my favor. Things were looking good!

Lap 1

Lot's of things happen on this lap.

Turn 1 I jumped the start speed successfully (2nd dice roll was a success.), but fall to 4th as Will uses his high start speed to move to 3rd.

Turn 2 I rolled for over acceleration (3rd dice roll was a success.) and move back into 3rd as the inside lane is left open. I was a bit surprised that the inside lane was open. I think other drivers were saving wear points.

Turn 3 I passed Jim for 2nd this turn as he opted for the outside lane in the corner. So 2 corners 4 wear spent, glad I had a bunch of wear at the start.

Turn 5 This turn finds us lined up for the first trip thru the Nouveau Monde hairpin. This corner seems to be the key to this race and getting thru it on one turn is key. Will is committed to the outside lane at his speed and I decide to take the inside lane. This decision comes with a dice roll for late braking. (4th dice roll was a success). With Will and I as the only cars thru the corner this turn the rest of this lap is a 2 car race for us.

I good first lap, but it was expensive. I had to drop 13 wear to maintain a gap on the pack on the first lap and to keep up with Will's torrid pace. I finish the lap with 1 more wear than Will and 1 space behind him, it's going to be a tight race.

Lap 2

Cody joins the lead pack, making it a 3 car race for the lead.

Turn 19 Will, Cody, and I all reach the Nouveau Monde hairpin and set up at the front of the corner.

Turn 20 Cody gets the initiative and uses the outside lane and pulls to the middle of the track past the corner. Will goes next and takes inside lane for the lead. I'm left to use the middle lane to maintain speed and not run out of asphalt. I really wanted to catch Will this turn, but was blocked by Cody.

Turn 21/22/23/25 Lots of lead changes as Cody, Will, and I jocky for position. Turn 21, Cody takes the lead with his big engine and I fall to 3rd. On Turn 22 I pass Will for 2nd, and on Turn 23 I get the lead briefly from Cody. On Turn 25 Cody regains the lead but spends his last wear. So I feel pretty good with 4 wear left. I've spent 7 wear this lap, but I need to hold the last 4 wear points for the last lap. So at this point it's time to conserve my car.

Turn 26 Cody tries to shake me by going to the outside lane after the corner, but I was able to hook up on his spoiler for the slip next turn as we raced side by side into lap number 2. Having tried this move myself, I was ready for it.

Lap 2 went extremely well, as I maintained 2nd position, I'm feeling pretty good about how the race is going.

Lap 3

Turn 33 Cody forced me to the inside lane at a cost of 1 wear point, but I take the lead this turn! I was really wanting to save that wear for later, but this turn saved me a late braking roll next turn.

Turn 35 Here we are at the dreaded Nouveau Monde hairpin again. Cody plays it safe and takes the outside lane and doesn't complete the corner, as I drop 2 wear points on the inside lane. I feel pretty good being the only car to come out of the hairpin this turn, I just have to hit my marks on the rest of the corners. Only 1 wear point left, but the cars with the most wear points are at the back of the pack!

Turn 38/39 I drop my last wear in the Sampson corner and clear it. On turn 39 I decided to roll for over acceleration, as it makes the rest of the lap a bit smoother. I was sweating this dice roll, but was able to push my car to 160 mph (5th dice roll was a success), and I was home free!

Summary

As for the car setup and bid, I think I nailed the setup and with a favorable dice roll the bid was fine. This race can be defined by the Nouveau Monde hairpin, setting up and getting thru that corner was the key to this race. In looking back at this race, I made good use of my wear points on the first lap to stay in a small lead pack, this track allowed for a lot of side by side racing which kept the race interesting. As Mike pointed out, the corners other than the hairpin were not an issue once I was in the lead pack. Getting forced inside in the first few turns, while costing me wear points, actually helped get me to the front. And for me a key to this race was 4 successful rolls, which as we all know is unbelievable for me! 3 of the rolls came in the first 5 turns, so I'm glad I was done rolling when the randomizing Gods struck later in the race.

Thanks everyone for a great race!


Kudos to Fabio and Will for joining me on the podium.
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NASCAR Driver (Pro V)
 
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Joined: 22 Sep 2014, 6:07 pm

Post 15 Oct 2017, 9:24 pm

I'm not that good at making a full summary. But I'll try to at least comment on some of the stuff.

BidI decided since I went 100 start I would attempt for close to the front, and luckily at 4.5 the only drivers ahead of me were 60s. Knowing that, I pushed my start and just ripped my way through the opening corners for the lead.

Lap 1 - Man did stuff seem to work out at first there. I did everything I could to keep myself ahead, and was very happy to realize I could pull the block in Samson and then fly out of that corner on my skill roll. The gap there was preety nice, but coming to the line I knew I would be in trouble.

Lap 2 - This was my big mistake of the race. I had hammered my way through the corners due to the ability to 160 to Monde and use my 3 chip in the first lap. I decided to do the same the second, and sorely realized how bad of a mistake that was as the lead up to Monde completly destroyed any advantage that the turn gave me. At that point I knew i wasn't going to be able to out spend Tim, Cody roared up as well, but I could see he was going to run out and decided to bid my time.

Lap 3 - This was the damage control lap, and for the most part I pulled it off. When I saw Fabio charging, I knew I was probably not going to stop him, and thus primarily focused on running a good lap for third. I gave him a little trouble in Samson, but as expected with what tires he had left he had me beat in the corner. From there I just ran stuff safely pushing the engine a little and it worked out.

I would say the track was definitly different from alot I've seen and Monde and Samson were good battle points. I agree with mike though, especially Paradis/Scierie. Unless the line was packed with a bunch of cars, you just weren't going to see much bumping, or even use of the inner corner, especially at 120. It's a cool course though,.
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Indy Car Driver (Pro IV)
 
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Joined: 26 Aug 2015, 8:57 am

Post 16 Oct 2017, 6:03 am

My short answer is that I agree that the track is missing decision points.

I have some thoughts on how to improve it, but it is not high on my priority list right now.