Indianapolis 500 [May 20th]

the start it was chaos, grid wasn as it has to be so i didn expect green flag, so it was and lost many positions, it was nothing what happened then, on my 1st pitstop, i was in group o very latest ones, didnt expect problems , but, just 1m before my pitspot there vas car and i didn want go before hin and start reverse to my slot not end with hit if he leave the spot, so plan wait some seconds he leve but then BANG, got hit car 180 degree spin , damage, more than 60s repair, , lost many laps, then must give up positions when lapped, and i have good speed for race hoping to to15 (pray for top10 with luck)

next pitstop i forgot watch if there ir repair planed (as i brushed lightly the wall without feelable damage) so another lap lost.

so it was my last oval race , because for me it is only waste of time because no oval race was good for me , only waste of time and god headache at end

big frustration today (and i can have more succesfull race in GT3 at SRS , instead i choiced this historical event)

my goal was to finish in the TOP 10!

a real burn from astern!  P9th
spend alot of time last week with the Loyd Ruby mechanics and the Heating guys tweaked it perfectly
( lol i i did   )

also the strategy worked to swap tires in between pitstops only 1 side gain me lots of positions
aswell TURN OFF REPAIRS during kissing the walls twice.

but man ow man that start

laggy as hell , more luck then what so ever to get clean through all that mess
i feel pity for everybody who suffered from that and who were  NOT that lucky

im thinking to brink back Jp's Indy track and reduce all textures to 1024x1024
as i remember well those races went ok  gasoline alley and early 73s races  but also the server was much stronger  back then i think

overal despite of the outcome ( fuel ) im very happy with this result!                          

Sorry for chatting during warmup laps, but i was convinced it will be restarted, as there were so many massive issues reported. Thankfully, the warping/appearing/disappearing of cars settled down some half a lap before the green flag.

The race itself was quite all right, but not really eventful for me. Austin disappeared and i lost touch with Pascal&Richard after the second pit stop. It was an obvious race for P4, until Pascal lost a lot of time in pits and i grabbed P3.

The car was amazing throughout the whole race. General standard of driving is very high at HSO, there were no issues at all. Anyway, i'm looking forward to the other two 500 milers with yellow flags and more tactics involved.

Thanks, see you next time. And congratulations to Austin, he was a class of his own.

Jacob Fredriksson wrote:

Lots of strong feelings I see. That's Indy for ya.

I had my best Indy 500 on HSO.

A statement that's valid for me, as well. Even more so as it is the first Indy I was able to finish. At last!

That start was a bit wild with cars all over the place and wall and one almost running into me coming from above. That one took its toll, I had to take a deep breath and find a rhythm, but that put me back down to 25th, including some cars that didn't survive the first lap From there, I struggled a bit to get the car up to speed and it took me a whole while until I was able to run constantly under 49 seconds. Actually, it didn't click before halways into the second stint. For most of the race, it was a pretty lonely affair for me, rarely being close to any cars in my competitive environment, so for the first 185 laps or so, I cruised along the track in fourth gear, stretching my fuel load as far as possible, gaining one position after another, some dropping out by technical gremlins, others by pit stops.
I made a little tactical error early in the race, though. Having tried and tested a bit along the way, I decided it is worthwhile to change my inside tires only on every second stop, but I didn't do my maths completely and thus I ended up having to change both sides going for that last 12 or 13 lap sprint. Cost me about 8 seconds when I needed them the most, and having changed both sides at the first pit stop might have helped me getting earlier into the right groove. And I misread my display and forgot to add two laps on the lapcount and thinking my last sprint is just like 10 laps. Luckily I added a few litres for good measure...
I left the pits for the last time and just some four seconds ahead of me was Alberto, so it was time to ignite the second stage of my rocket and went after him. I shaved off no less than half a second of my personal best in this few laps and got within 1.5 seconds of him, but on the last lap, I decided to put in fourth gear on the back straight, as fuel was getting reeeeeaaaaally tight. Exiting T4, my engine started to sputter...
Well, 11th. Could have been worse, but I was actually hoping for a Top 10 finish, but I probably lost to much early on, when I couldn't find my rhythm and was cruising alone all of the time. But what's even more satisfying, the car was very good, part of that probably being me going in fourth all the time, which made the rear more stable exiting the corners. The car always let me know early on when I was pushing to hard, I could place the car always where I wanted it to be, and that helped me immensly. I always kept a safe distance to the wall, and I just had a short brain fade about halfway into the race hitting the apron in T2, which resulted in a wild slide and a loss of about 1 1/2 seconds, but I could controll the situation.

Great driving by all on the grid, too! It was a real pleasure tonight, even though parts of my body hurt terribly now!

Provisional results are up.  The operative word being provisional.

Those of you who are using the forum as a platform to shit on the organization, all I can say is that I'm very disappointed that you can't wait 5 seconds to calm down and then send your concerns to us via PM like we have asked you to 1000 times now. That is all have to say, and will say, on that subject.

Petr Hlavac wrote:

Sorry for chatting during warmup laps, but i was convinced it will be restarted, as there were so many massive issues reported. Thankfully, the warping/appearing/disappearing of cars settled down some half a lap before the green flag.

Those who insisted on setting their graphics at 33+ cars visible were inviting warping to happen.  We are all well aware that rF1 is an old platform, and reducing the number of cars drawn during a race with this many participants should be common sense by now.  The fact that people can't set their graphics appropriately for the task in hand is not the organization's fault, it's the participant's fault.  For the record, Pascal had his cars visible set at 20 and had no problems. Those of you who are thinking of suggesting that having less than 33 cars visible is dangerous, you are speaking beyond your competence.  20 would allow you to see ten cars in front and ten behind.  That is plenty to know what is going on, including emergency situations.

After practice and the warm up I was quietly confident I could battle right at the front, was able to lap in the 47s after only a couple of laps and would get progressively quicker as the fuel went down and the car handled great in traffic, unfortunately that hope disappeared at the first corner of the race.

As I hadn't done either of the practice races I was just going to be conservative at the start so as we headed into turn 1 I tucked in behind Martin but he suddenly slowed with his engine trouble and I had nowhere to go but into the back of him, which gave me front end and front suspension damage. After that the car just had massive understeer and no top end speed, was considering parking it as was so far off the pace but as it was Indy and possibly the only race I do this year I decided to keep going.

The first 120+laps just dragged on as the car was horrible but each pit stop I would take more rear wing off and adjust tyre pressures and after my 4th stop with the wings now on F-30 R-7 the car was in an ok shape (was still abit understeery and horrible in traffic) and I could start to push again and for the first time I could get into the 47s, after that the final 75 laps just flew past and even though Jacob passed me during the final stop I was able to get back passed him and hold him off till the finish, was a great clean fight  and I set my best 2 laps on the final 2 laps.

Overall I have mixed feelings about the race, will always think what would of happened without the damage but to get through the issues, make the car competitive again and finish the race in 6th place is some success for me

Well done Austin and everyone that finished and big thanks to all the admin involved in putting on the race  its been a fun few weeks just wish I had more time to practice this past couple of weeks!

What an eventful day! First off I would like to thank all the HSO admin team, I know how much time, work and effort that goes into such an event everyone should be very thankful to have such a great staff.

As for the race. Early going the car was incredibly tight! It was hard for me to keep pace in the beginning but once the fuel started to burn off it was on rails.
I was almost certain I wouldn't make it and took a gamble and went all out, come to find out it would pay off in the long run as I was clear of traffic the car was perfect.
Almost blew it up twice had 75% engine health by the end.
With about 20 laps to go I started to get restless and felt very uncomfortable. Decided to take it easy a bit and just bring it home. Still can't believe I made it.

Great job to all the finishers. Everyone should be proud, it was a looong race.

My goal was to be around at the finish. It definitely wasn't pretty but a finish is still a finish.
A little confusion at the start with cars not lined up right. Was able to get away cleanly though.
As the race unfolded, each fuel stint had mistakes that I could not overcome and found myself drifting backwards in the field.

To Jonatan and Jason White, My apologies for the contact I made to you both during the early part of the race.
After looking at the replay, both were caused by a lack of patience and truly my fault.

Congrats to Austin, all the finishers and the organisation for putting on a fun and challenging event.

Jason White wrote:

Petr Hlavac wrote:

Sorry for chatting during warmup laps, but i was convinced it will be restarted, as there were so many massive issues reported. Thankfully, the warping/appearing/disappearing of cars settled down some half a lap before the green flag.

Those who insisted on setting their graphics at 33+ cars visible were inviting warping to happen.  We are all well aware that rF1 is an old platform, and reducing the number of cars drawn during a race with this many participants should be common sense by now.  The fact that people can't set their graphics appropriately for the task in hand is not the organization's fault, it's the participant's fault.  For the record, Pascal had his cars visible set at 20 and had no problems. Those of you who are thinking of suggesting that having less than 33 cars visible is dangerous, you are speaking beyond your competence.  20 would allow you to see ten cars in front and ten behind.  That is plenty to know what is going on, including emergency situations.

Actually, i lowered graphics and decreased the number of visible cars to 19 right before the start of the race, so that wasn't the issue.

Anyway, reading your post about stepping away from HSO, I want to thank you for all you've done. Especially your voice during TV broadcasts will be terribly missed!

From what I saw in my convertible that you were all jealous off was the racing was great. I followed the battle for 2nd most of it and Richard and Pascal put on a great display! Austin, huge congrats man  

I can see the frustration from many people, all I would say is, and this is aimed at no one,before slating anything at all. Ask your self, if you put in hours apon hours of hard work to make this event happen. To then have hardly any thanks, gratification or even satisfaction out of it. To instantly read people criticise the work put in. Then how would that make you feel?

I’ve been admin of a past league. Let me tell you. It’s fuc**ng shit.

So with that said. Thank you admins for this. It was great to see and watch.

Unlike many I didn't have hardly any issues at the start. The car felt good but a soon found myself alone mid field, I picked up some damage from hitting a loose wheel from an accident, but surprisingly the balance ok. Then forgot to cancel damage at the next stop which cost me a lap. From then on it was a hard slog to finish 13th. Personally I would prefer full course yellows, I know it will end up a long race but it also gives you a bit of a breather.

Well done to Austin,Richard and Petr.
And thank you to Jason and others for organizing.

Michael Drechsler wrote:

Jacob Fredriksson wrote:

Lots of strong feelings I see. That's Indy for ya.

I had my best Indy 500 on HSO.

A statement that's valid for me, as well. Even more so as it is the first Indy I was able to finish. At last

For me, my low starting spot turned out to be a minor issue. I knew the start would be messy. If you hadn't counted on that, okay then. Kudos to the admins for sticking with it, issues are inevitable. The guy on my inside did not understand where he was supposed to line up, and messed up the order, but that made the start easier for me, and I could gain quite a few spots since people were so nervous around me.

And then the race began. Some tight racing in the early stints, but then all that mattered was not losing too many seconds in traffic. I ran in 4th the first few stints to save fuel, so I could go at it in 3rd for the last 120 laps. Some close racing with Remmen, White and especially Sabre in the beginning.

The middle stages just flew by. Pitting for 2 tyres whenever I could, didn't lose any time at all in those stints, though it became quite loose after 60 laps on one set of left side tyres.

And in the end, through attrition, well executed pit stops, and driving that I felt really good about, I had a sniff at 6th. After my last stop, I came out a second ahead of Forster, but he drove really well to catch me, and then pass me. He made his fastest lap on his very last lap, and I did my fastest on the penultimate lap or so. That's how I like to finish races, really going at it.

So to summarize: I finally had a somewhat competitive Indy 500, zero wall contacts or damage, many fine overtakes and dogfights, and a finish with no "if-if-if's". I pushed the car as high as I could possibly push it. That's how I measure a great race.

Thanks everyone for hosting and participating. Looking forward to Pocono!

Pascal Mikula wrote:

No F*cking comment on this race.

rFactor's oh so great repair system throws me into a 62s pit stop, practically making me lose all positions I had in the end. And yes, I turned damage repair off even though I touched the wall. Idk why it decided to screw me, but it did.

Next to that, I also second lots of things Scott said. It was a mess, but at least we got it going.

And the fact that I went into winner's circle at the end had a meaning. A strong one. 

What was your strong meaning?

Strange to be happy finishing in 17th, several laps down?
After such a strange week filled with PC problems, missing carb days, reinstalling mod 15 min before race, not knowing if I would be booted at the start, and lining up last in 33rd place... YES I am happy!
VERY thankful for the patience of Jason and Alberto, giving suggestions, while prepping for own race and keeping things on schedule

Eventful lead up to my first oval, never found much speed, and the car wasn't helping.
Was hoping for a lot of over aggressive action to damage the rockets ahead, or just a few average brain farts at the start to propel me up the order. But despite the long race everyone was pretty well behaved. The start on the other hand was filled with gassy craniums!  

Sorry to see that happen, and to see you guys so frustrated, I know, it sucks!!! At least nobody got hurt or had to travel to get to Indianapolis. We've seen this sort of thing in real life, except after crashing themselves out, drivers dont throw grenades at the Pagoda
                     

Was mostly an uneventful race for me, except nearly pinching my buddy Thiago into an apron or collision situation in the first stint, phew! And a fight for 11th row supremacy with Mick Chapman that went right to the end.
Hope I didnt cause tension while being lapped, as I was not positive of oval etiquette.

Awesome display Austin!  Great watching Coxon fight on replay , and totally stoked for Petr  

Nevermind, you all got it via PM.

scott, the admins decided to run a race a certain way, if you have a different opinion, then by all means share it. but after the race is over, what the heck is the point about making these complaints??? your logic fails me sir.

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it has already been said, but it needs repeating, hso thank you! some of us DO appreciate everything you do, the hard work and loads of time that goes into not only organizing, running, broadcasting, and archiving all the events but also creating cars and tracks from scratch so we can have amazing races. I really don't get some people and what they expect from organizations like this, the moral of the story is, you just can't please everyone. for the rest of us that are pleasantly pleased, THANK YOU HSO!

best,
dave

Must to say that from admin side all was prepared well. Only problem was chating of several guys during first pace lap which brings that chaos into the rest of the racers. Perhaps if they will wrote into the chat "ok" or something like that to let to admins they see everybody it will bring into our brain the feelings of safety start which is coming.
Thanks Hso for organising this event because this is legendary and to be the part of it is great feeling.

Martin Lacina wrote:

Must to say that from admin side all was prepared well. Only problem was chating of several guys during first pace lap which brings that chaos into the rest of the racers. Perhaps if they will wrote into the chat "ok" or something like that to let to admins they see everybody it will bring into our brain the feelings of safety start which is coming.
Thanks Hso for organising this event because this is legendary and to be the part of it is great feeling.  

Yes, The chatting is what confused me, not the organization. Chatting combined with invisible cars, made me think everyone went back to the garage. Sat on grid with finger on ESC, only to find everyone was already entering turn 3

Parti 18 ème,terminer 8 ème ,sans incident,sans casse.Pas mal,pour un vétéran.
Bravo au podium,et tous les participants qui ont passer le .

Merçi HSO,pour l'organisation.

1 1/2 days later, I come to the conclusion I approached the race to passive, to defensive. Having basically wasted half a tank of fuel that I did not use, and seeing I could shave off half a second of my laptimes when going hot in third gear, there was certainly some more potential. I haven't yet figured out my exact stint lenghts, but it seemed as if they turned out to be a little longer than what I tested out the day before. But well, this race is over...

Additional Honors for this year's Indianapolis 500

As we didn't have a single Rookie make the field for this years Indianapolis 500 Event, we've decided to follow in the footsteps of the real life event and not give out a Rookie of the Year award but hope more Rookies will show up for next year and impress us then.
Aligable drivers would have been those that debuted at HSO this year with no past experience at HSO before.


But we do have two other awards to give out and they are as follows:


   

Jigger Award  |  Steve Parker

This award is named for Jigger Sirois, the real-life first recipient in 1969.  It goes to the driver who experiences the hardest luck during the Month of May.
Steve has proven many times, especially in IROC in 2016, that he has some good race craft and pace in heavier cars, something which incompasses these '74 machines. Having also done a lot of pre-event laps proved that he wanted to do well.
To then only get to travel around 10 yards after blowing his engine when setting off for the formation lap; merits Steve recieving the Jigger Award for our 1974 Indinapolis 500.


   

Bob Wilson Award  |  David Jaques

This award goes to the most sportsmanlike driver.
David showed us everything that the Bob Wilson Sportmanship Award is about.
For one, David drove every single make of car in the event while helping others with setups and teaching them how to drive these machines; which under the new regulations drove very differently compared to those of 1973. Even during the closing hour before qualifying he was still driving other cars than his own to help others.
During the race he showed courtesy and respect for other drivers, both in fights and when lapping, and didn't get involved in any incidents in terms of contact.
All this we admins feel make David a worthy recipient of our second ever Bob Wilson Sportmanship Award.

Congratulations David and Steve

Jonatan Acerclinth wrote:

Additional Honors for this year's Indianapolis 500

As we didn't have a single Rookie make the field for this years Indianapolis 500 Event, we've decided to follow in the footsteps of the real life event and not give out a Rookie of the Year award but hope more Rookies will show up for next year and impress us then.

I thought I was a rookie? And Thiago?
But dont think I deserve a reward haha

Congrats DJq
Congrats?? Steve

None of you debuted at HSO this year.