Qualified as usual, because of the foyt i just clocked a time, and the strategy was getting to the front as quickly as i could. I did just that with the first pit stop and the yellow, but then when i was behind the safety car and someone hit me. It was all over after that, a minute to repair plus another lap added because i was stopped on the track so i was "driving too slow". After that i just circulated to the finish.
That was me, too, Richard. I had just pounded the hell of Michael on the backstretch (see above), was trying to get back up to pace speed, survey the damage, find the car I'm supposed to be behind (as it kept changing) and figure out if I needed to pit again. I bumped the wall coming out of T4 and it flattened the right rear. When I caught field, the car slew around, bounced off the wall again, then caught you broadside.
Once again, you have my most sincere apologies! It was all my fault as I tried to salvage what I could of a bad situation. The last thing I ever want to do is take another driver out!
Jason White Racing Legend
Number of posts : 14725 Age : 47 Location : Ferndale, MI USA Registration date : 2011-12-25
It's been a few hours and I'm still upset over this race.
Managed to nab the pole, even though I did a .6xxx on the first session, as opposed to my official time of a .7xx. First 2 rows were as I figured they'd be, My Eagle and the Parnelli's.
At the start My only initial plan was to lead Lap 1, which I did. I had thought of back off and tucking in behind someone to save fuel, but the draft here was enormous, at least for me. I was working harder trying to stay behind people then at any other time. Had a GREAT battle with Dana, Scott, Alberto, and Jason. When the first round of stops came around, I was surprised by the number of guys pitting early. I let Dana go by me a few laps before I was gonna pit, plan was to pit wen I absolutely had to or when Dana pitted, whichever came first. So I followed Dana into the pits, stop went great, she beat me out, I figured she would. Caution flew I pulled out behind Jukka, and I summoned my inner Bobby Unser. I tucked in behind Jukka as we left the pits and it told me to stay behind him, however it was also going nuts changing who I was to be behind. We were behind the Pace Car, but as we went through Turn 1, I realized the Flag on my screen was still flashing...I hadn't taken the Caution. So I took off, I think I surprised some people as I went motoring by them, finally took the Caution and caught the Pace car, but not before dodging some wrecks around the track. To my surprise it showed me as the Leader, I apparently passed Dana at some point coming around and didn't see it. We went Green and I went to the front with Jason tucked in behind me. I debated letting him go by to get his lap back and then using him as a tow, but I realized we were pulling away from Dana and Co. and at a pretty good rate, so I just left it. About halfway through the run I did shift my line up to a more middle of the track type line to take some pressure off my tires, plus I was gonna go ahead and let Jason by me. But I must've gained something on that line because he started fading back, meanwhile I was still pulling AWAY from Dana.
On the Second stop I waited until I had to pit, as I was coming down Pit road I saw Dana behind me. As I came to my Box there was another Eagle in my way and Raul and I had a little nudge. I stopped and backed up and pitted, I had no damage and only lost a few seconds. In hindsight I should've slowed a little when I saw he was moving out of his box, but I was focused on the Lady behind me. After the stops Dana was now 25 seconds AHEAD of me, and I pretty much gave up at that point. I kept running as hard as I could and praying for a caution, but it never happened. 4th is good, I probably could've gained 3rd as I was catching David and Jacob at a really good rate but only came within 2.5 seconds of them before I opted to pit for a splash.
Like I said in my earlier post, I lost this race in the pits. I need to figure out how to get this car out of it's stall and up to speed a lot quicker then I am currently.
Congrats to Dana, Jacob, and David. This is win #3 or 4? for Dana this season. She pretty much has this Championship clinched as it is.
EDIT: On a more positive note for me, this was the first race I managed to finish without any damage to my car...Dan and the guys were pretty thrilled about that.
David Sabre Racing Legend
Number of posts : 5340 Age : 60 Location : england Registration date : 2012-02-25
Now I've seen the final results and the replay I'm clearly disappointed. Finishing 13th is the worse position possible. I've rather be 14th. There I miss the points for one position. Very frustrating as saving a third pitstop could have brought me a 8th final position. With the slowest car on the field that should have been an exploit. I was dealing my only card on the race at perfection. It was a cruel and tough decision to choose to lose time every lap (even other the Foyt) so to win time on the whole race by avoiding a final spash and dash. All for the worst position ever
Scott Urick Experienced Driver
Number of posts : 228 Age : 58 Location : Ohio Registration date : 2015-04-17
Hey, Richard. I saw what happened and was bummed. You and David (among others) had made one helluva run to join the gang of big-Offy boys flailing at each other and being picked at by the girl. And it seems some others got caught on fuel as well.
I, myself, agree with the pits being closed at the point the yellow is thrown. rFactor is a little dodgy with ovals and full-course yellows -- especially if you modify .gdb's from the ISI-god's perception of the sim world. And, after all, this is a new mod and some growing pains are expected as the HSO developers are scratch-building tracks to give all of us the most realistic experience!
So, for anyone who found themselves caught out on fuel by the pit closures, here are a couple of considerations.
Drivers will need to factor in that lap needed to assemble the field behind the safety car as they figure out their fuel strategy and/or decide how far they want to push their fuel during the race (a tactical call).
There is a saving grace however. If the yellow comes out just as you are intending pit for fuel, the pits are closed, and you absolutely can't make one pace lap, YOU CAN STILL PIT and receive full service! The drawback is that you will receive a penalty for pitting while the pits were closed and moved to the end of the line for the restart. Not a plus, but it does keep you in the race.
As a long-time oval racer in rFactor, I've been in the exact situation. It's hard to peel off when you're in pitched battle like today's. But since, as it seems from this race, somebody dumped it making an early pit stop, it is something we all need to keep in mind.
Scott Urick Experienced Driver
Number of posts : 228 Age : 58 Location : Ohio Registration date : 2015-04-17
Now I've seen the final results and the replay I'm clearly disappointed. Finishing 13th is the worse position possible. I've rather be 14th. There I miss the points for one position. Very frustrating as saving a third pitstop could have brought me a 8th final position. With the slowest car on the field that should have been an exploit. I was dealing my only card on the race at perfection. It was a cruel and tough decision to choose to lose time every lap (even other the Foyt) so to win time on the whole race by avoiding a final spash and dash. All for the worst position ever
Sir, what you managed IS STILL AN EXPLOIT!
Raul Jereb Racing Legend
Number of posts : 1490 Age : 50 Location : Rijeka, Croatia Registration date : 2013-05-28
On the Second stop I waited until I had to pit, as I was coming down Pit road I saw Dana behind me. As I came to my Box there was another Eagle in my way and Raul and I had a little nudge. I stopped and backed up and pitted, I had no damage and only lost a few seconds. In hindsight I should've slowed a little when I saw he was moving out of his box, but I was focused on the Lady behind me.
Hahaaa, so we were both looking something else! I was looking in the RPM needle, and the moment I started to move, I saw you in the mirror and got frozen!!! I took no damage, now Im relifed when I saw same for you!
My race was acctualy quite good. It is very interesting how deffendeble is the inner line of the track, so I used it most of the time. Kowalski forced an overtake and we touched, so I got a damaged suspension early on, but the car remained drivable, even not so fast in corners.. I hoped to stay within leaders lap, but yellow cought me in the pits, and I lost it.. pretty calm until the end...
great fun in any case! thank you all and congratulations to the winners!
Jukka Närhi Racing Legend
Number of posts : 1905 Age : 38 Location : Finland Registration date : 2009-12-17
Later, I had a run with Alberto until he dropped out and then tried to hang onto Dana; I do hope it was just lag and not a brake check on lap 50
Apologies for that. I dropped from my fuel-saving fourth gear to my racier third because the Davids with their more powerful engines were starting to reel me in. I tried to pull out a bit of a gap before doing so but there's really never enough space to comfortably lift here.
Of course You losing momentum there caught me by surprise but my cat-like reflexes, for once, had me stab the brakes in a blink of an eye It did occur to me shortly before I should probably leave a bit of a gap between us but I don't know, I quite liked the slipstream.
Sorry, I didn't mean to throw any wrongful accusations
Lee Simpson Club Driver
Number of posts : 126 Age : 74 Location : Ohio, USA Registration date : 2015-01-12
Great race afternoon. Thought I had a good qual setup and an OK race setup, but found out I had neither. My race strategy shifted pretty quickly to "stay out of trouble and finish under power." Ocassionally I could get racy with a backmarker but mostly I was on my own. In the end I finished at speed, in 11th. First time scoring points was like a win for me.
Contrary to advice given elsewhere I went high into turns and across the start/finish "straight" when I saw the leaders (faster cars) closing in and that seemed to create minimal interference for all involved. Something I learned 15 years ago or so racing in a GPL oval league.
And, I noticed later that I did get a lot of TV coverage as they generally follow the leaders and the leaders passed me at least five times.
Thanks to the HSO team for putting on another fine event!
Last edited by Lee Simpson on Mon 12 Sep 2016 - 19:12; edited 3 times in total
Martin Lacina Experienced Driver
Number of posts : 475 Age : 43 Location : Czech Republic Registration date : 2016-02-16
Really dont know why i got a DQ in 5 lap. Im not aware any mistake. Suddenly server kick me off the track. Im really dissapointed.
You were right behind me when you disappeared. I thought that was very strange. Maybe the DQ was for not stopping for the stop & go penalty.
Is it possible the server ordered you to the back for a slow getaway on the pace lap, and you missed this ?
Its a bit strange. True is that i have a small problem with start in the pits. With this sensitive engine i have everytime affraid to rev the engine during acceleration but server normally wrote me that i have to be behind Richard Coxon. Any kind of info about stop and go i didnt get.
Jason White Racing Legend
Number of posts : 14725 Age : 47 Location : Ferndale, MI USA Registration date : 2011-12-25
My race actually started to go wrong way before Comcast decided to fail on me. Lined up third; best qualifying of the series so far, but immediately found that I had a very serious push in traffic. A couple of times I had to lift off to avoid glancing the Armco off turn 2. So I hung back for a bit until I could make my first pit stop. Lap 28, I dove for pit road, made a wing adjustment, got two tires and fuel in only 13 seconds, which made me happy But then came the worst possible thing -- a yellow just after I had completed the stop. Now everyone who hadn't pitted would have the luxury of doing so under yellow, and I was effectively a lap behind the leaders. On the the restart, Fitch was leading and got around me. I wasn't about to harass him since I was a lap down, but I stayed in his slipstream for the next 20 or so laps. Together we pulled out a huge gap from second place, and the wing adjustment I made was paying off. Then Fitch pitted, which restored me to the leader lap. I came in on green once again, and exited on the tail end of the lead lap. Then all my telemetry disappeared, and I was out. On the plus side, I set the fastest lap in the race, and I have an excellent baseline for the Michigan Twin 125s. Many thanks to Scott for the excellent setup work
Bob Wilson Club Driver
Number of posts : 180 Age : 85 Location : Milwaukee, Wisconsin Registration date : 2016-03-15
Congratulations on scoring points Lee It was good racing with you for a few laps until I had a lapse in concentration on lap 71 and brushed the ARMCO coming off turn 2. A tip for all new drivers: The race is not over until the checkered flag is displayed and you are still running. Running 11th on lap 71 don't mean beans and thinking about how well your doing will put you into the wall at 200 mph speeds. This is what I did Sunday Congratulations to Dana and every one associated with the broadcast. It was a fun race even if I did put myself out
Scott Urick Experienced Driver
Number of posts : 228 Age : 58 Location : Ohio Registration date : 2015-04-17
It was my pleasure, Jason! Your performance provided a little personal redemption after my screw up. You were on your way back to the front.
I'm sorry about the bad push in traffic. That's very hard to test without getting some like cars on the server before hand. That will be addressed before we return.
Jason White Racing Legend
Number of posts : 14725 Age : 47 Location : Ferndale, MI USA Registration date : 2011-12-25
During our HSO broadcast, Jonatan and Pascal mentioned the dangerous history of Michigan's backstretch guardrail. In fact, the track has a history of dramatic incidents, many happening during the Michigan 500. This piece put together by ABC shows why it takes incredible bravery to dice in open wheel cars at 200+ miles per hour.
Jason White Racing Legend
Number of posts : 14725 Age : 47 Location : Ferndale, MI USA Registration date : 2011-12-25
Home 
Subject: Re: Round 7 - Michigan (Sep 11th) 
Sun 11 Sep 2016 - 23:23
, Jacob & David.
You losing momentum there caught me by surprise but my cat-like reflexes, for once, had me stab the brakes in a blink of an eye 
It did occur to me shortly before I should probably leave a bit of a gap between us but I don't know, I quite liked the slipstream.
Congratulations to Dana and every one associated with the broadcast. It was a fun race even if I did put myself out