Ferrari Challenge Celebration race

[Ardius]

This was Biggles' idea but seeing as no one has jumped up to organise it, I'll happily do so. So here goes.

Ferrari Challenge Celebration!

Car
F355 Challenge

Circuits
Spa Francorchamps (20 mins)
Mugello (wet) (20 mins)
Mont Tremblant (20 mins)
Silverstone (wet) (20 mins)
Circuit Gilles Villenueve (20 mins)

Meeting time
10pm GMT+0
(UK time: 11pm)​

This is to celebrate first of all the game (series), Ferrari and also their recent victory at Spa-Francorchamps! Using the old school F355 Challenge is a nice nod to the old Sega game off which this game is inspired. Its shame we don't have Suzuka too.
A selection of twisty but high speed tracks, as I believe this is what Ferrari's are all about, speed and handling.

In the unlikely event there are more than 8 of us, hopefully someone else could organise a 2nd room? Also, could someone with a mic host the races? I would host them myself, but there are others who are better equipped for the job.

 

[jjaisli]

I'll be there! Good choice of tracks too!

 

[Biggles]

I'm not clear what time you are talking about exactly? 11.00pm British time, 12.00pm Portuguese time, 6.00pm EST?

That's a lot of driving! May I suggest, at the least, cutting Spa down to 20 mins & perhaps eliminating Montreal (although I know that's jj's fastest track ). Also PLEASE could we do Mugello dry & Silverstone wet - it just seems more appropriate to me.

Long races are great, as long as someone doesn't make a big mistake & fall way behind...

 

[Biggles]

Oops - double post.

 

[Ardius]

Hmm, I'll cut Spa down a bit because its a bit long. But I do want to drive Gilles Villenueve because it ties into the Ferrari theme nicely.
Oh and I don't really need to explain why I want Mugello wet...but I will happily make Silverstone wet too.

Is someone up for hosting then? I don't have a mic to use for hosting it effectively, so if not I'll just wait a couple of minutes between races for people to get ready again.

Oh, and yes its 11pm British time, I don't really know what times for other countries because not everyone uses +1 for summer time. Its in just under 2 hours time from the time of this post.

 

[Biggles]

As we are on the topic of the 355, can anybody explain this for me:

I was looking through the Leader Boards last night & noticed that the lap times for the 348 Challenge are almost identical (slower by less than 1/2 sec.) to the 355 Challenge. This seems a bit odd as, according to the game stats, the 355 has 100 more BHP & weigh quite a bit less.

 

[Vincent Viceroy]

I'll be there. GTP_Vincent_Vice.

Who's hosting?

Can we do Spa last?

 

[jjaisli]

I'll host if you like...

 

[jjaisli]

Vincent--I just sent you a friend request. If you accept it I'll send you an invite to the lobby.

 

[jjaisli]

Thanks to to SimcoeAce for suggesting the race and to Ardius for starting the thread and putting it all together.

I was watching the ALMS race from Mosport until a few minutes before start time and sitting at the edge of my seat as the battle between the F430GT2 from Risi and the C6R GT2 Corvette went nose to tail for practically the entire last hour. And boy did it get me in the mood to race on-line.

I was quite excited and encouraged to see that there were 6 Lobbies already opened and only 2 of them were with the F430. So perhaps the big spike in sales over the last month is encouraging others to join in the fun.

But rather than make an open lobby I decided to keep it private to make sure anybody from GTPlanet had a chance to join in.

I sent a few other people I saw on-line on my friend list an invite but there were no takers. I sent a request to Saarinen69 (Mhailwood) but realized he wasn't on my friend list and I'm sure not 100% certain he received the invite. I'll add him next time I log in).

With that I have to say, we entered into 2 & 1/2 hours of excellent, high quality racing with no stability problems and virtually no lag. I can't say enough about how impressed I am with Ferrari Challenge (when it works correctly and everybody has a stable connection). It provides a tool for superb, side by side, on-line racing that's simply a joy from start to finish. And I hope as some of us transition over to Supercar Challenge that it provides an even better platform for our favorite hobby.

I'll get through this quickly as I have an early day tomorrow myself:

Race 1 - Spa - 20 minutes - dry:
1. SimcoeAce
2. JJaisli
3. Vincent
4. Ardius
5. GTP_Hun
Biggles really has this track down. I was able to pass him for the lead after he made a mistake and hold it for many laps. But a small mistake at Fanges allowed him to make up about a second and before long he was by. His pace clearly showed, being nearly .75 faster than me on this fastest lap. Most of the rest had very competitive times as well. In general, he seemed to make up time around Puhon and I pulled away at La Source.

Race 2 - Mugello - 20 minutes - wet:
1. SimcoeAce
2. JJaisli
3. Vincent
4. Ardius
5. GTP_Hun
Ferrari Challenge really does a respectable job of simulating wet conditions. I thought I had this race in hand until a brief off allowed Biggles to get by and from that point, I was never really in contention again. My lap times were pretty competitive (I think I even had the fastest lap) but Biggles was simply too consistent.

Race 3 - Mont Tremblant - 20 minutes - dry:
1. Vincent
2. GTP_Hun
3. JJaisli
4. SimcoeAce
5. Aridus
If only. Looking at the lap times, this is a race I should have won. This is probably my favorite track and lap 7 was enough to secure me the 3rd fastest time on the leaderboards behind Segel--no easy feat. But in an overeager move to get on Vincent's rear, I put a wheel on the grass on the very first corner and slid off. In a feat of pure embarrassment, I repeated the move again several laps later and lost nearly 10 seconds getting back on the road. If the race had gone on for 1 more lap, I MAY have been able to grab second. Could of should of would have. Easy to say now. But it's a tough track to pass.

Race 4 - Silverstone - 20 minutes - wet:
1. SimcoeAce
2. GTP_Hun
3. Vincent
4. Ardius
5. JJaisli
As I've never had good rhythm at this track, the result was expected. But aside from a blistering pace by Vincent (fastest lap by a country mile) and the outright win by SimcoeAce, I dont't think any of us truly distinguished ourselves here. Lots of rather sloppy driving all around. Had Saarinen or PiotrB or Zedux joined us for this race, we probably all would have been lapped.

Race 5 - Redwood Park (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve) - 20 minutes - dry:
1. JJaisli
2. Vincent
3. SimcoeAce
4. GTP_Hun
5. Adrius (DNS)
What Silverstone is to me, Redwood Park is to SimcoeAce. And it's not an ideal track because like Monza and California Speedway, there are several areas where you can blatantly cut corners and not get a penalty. It may not be my favorite track. But I just seem to have this track down. Completely. It flows like milk into a glass and it always gives me a good feeling to hit the curbs and sail through the chicanes, "just right". Unfortunately, Ardius had to turn in so it was just the four of us left.

Using the current FIA F1 points system, the totals come out as follows:
1. SimcoeAce with 41 points
2. A tie JJaisli/Vincent with 36 points
4. GTP_Hun with 29 points
5. Ardius with 26 points (although keep in mind he did not take part in the final race)

Thanks again to all those who participated for a night of good, clean, enjoyable racing.

 

[Biggles]

Couple of excellent races with JJaisli at Spa & Mugello. After allowing JJ to squeeze past me at Spa I really had to work hard to stay in touch. Only an extra fast lap & a slight mistake by JJ allowed me to get by in the last lap. Again at Mugello it was a very tight race with JJ, with basically one mistake allowing me to take the win. By this time, it had become evident that Hun's long absence from the game (combined with some reports of heavy drinking ) had effected his "racing readiness."

I was surprised to find that I was off the pace at Mont Tremblant, struggling to keep in touch for the first few laps, then falling well behind after sliding off at the dreaded first corner. Good racing by Vincent & Hun & an Honourable Mention to JJaisli for putting in some very fast laps to almost catch up with the leaders after making a couple of "pit stops"!

I think I put in a pretty good race at Silverstone: after going off at Maggots at the start of the very first lap & falling 7 or 8 seconds behind the leaders, I was able to steadily pull them in & ended up some 18 seconds in the lead with a string of steady error-free laps. Not too sure what was going on further back!

Redwood Park: never one of my stronger tracks! As expected JJaisli stormed into the lead & never looked back. I eventually picked up the dreaded chicane penalty allowing Vincent to get by & then entered into a battle of the chumps with Hun, with both of us making frequent errors, as we fell further & further behind the leaders. I don't hate this track, but like Monza, I can never quite figure out what to do with the chicanes,as the game doesn't make it quite clear what is & isn't a fair line through these turns. As a result, I always feel like I'm either cheating or being too conservative in my line. My poor showing at both Mont Tremblant & Montreal, suggests that I am unable to respond to the pressure of performing in front of a home crowd.

All in all, a good night's racing. I will say that 5 x 20 minute (+) races is a bit much IMO. Three of the races: Spa, Mugello, & Mont Tremblant featured some pretty close racing, where the longer format remained interesting, but Silverstone & Montreal did not. I tend to think, that with a relatively small field, 10 minutes is a good race setting with perhaps one "mega-race" of 20 - 30 minutes. In any case, the longer races certainly allow time to get into a rhythm & refine the racing line in a way that shorter races don't.

 

[jjaisli]

Thanks Biggles. 👍 Spa was actually very close. I think there was a lot of give and take with the gap between us around 1.5 ~ 2.5 seconds for most of the race. I wasn't going to mention that you actually got by on the last lap, so thanks for that. ... I know at one point, maybe 2.5 laps from the end you brought the gap down to <1 second and that's when I started sweating. And I kept checking your position and had a slight bobble going through Blanchaimont (a pretty dangerous place to get it wrong).

I didn't realize you finished that far ahead at Silverstone. So I guess I'll have to revise my opinion of that race, at least as far as your own performance goes. I don't know what it is about Silverstone. I don't dislike the track but I have absolutely no flow or rhythm here what-so-ever. No matter how fast I go, I feel like I'm taking the wrong line through every corner. I don't outright despise it as I do Paul Ricard Everybody takes that maggots-becketts complex like they're on rails. I feel like an eel on ice.

I should have clarified driving rules for Montreal. The last Chicane I consider a free for all. If the AI cut it, it doesn't seem reasonable not to. Especially because the penalty zone is so vast--if you don't cut it, it makes for too much disparity between drivers with different lines. I think most people take this as a given. Having been to this track in real life, I can tell you there are rumble strips across the left side section which prevent you from doing that. But they aren't in the game. For all other chicanes, my rule is curb riding is perfectly acceptable SO LONG as you keep two tires on the road. It really irritates me when I see people cut straight across the grass at the 1st right-left complex. You can easily gain about 2 full seconds if you really blast through there and there's no penalty. It's one thing to curb ride like crazy. But it's another to leave the track all together.

All in all, a good night's racing. I will say that 5 x 20 minute (+) races is a bit much IMO. Three of the races: Spa, Mugello, & Mont Tremblant featured some pretty close racing, where the longer format remained interesting, but Silverstone & Montreal did not. I tend to think, that with a relatively small field, 10 minutes is a good race setting with perhaps one "mega-race" of 20 - 30 minutes. In any case, the longer races certainly allow time to get into a rhythm & refine the racing line in a way that shorter races don't.

Biggles you big wuss! 20 minutes is barely a 'stint' in sports car racing. Try going 2 hours! I agree that 2 & 1/2 hours (total) of racing was a long night. And poor Ardius, who set both the format and the time, couldn't even make it through to the last race. But I think trying to keep one's concentration straight through for 20 or even 30 minutes, especially at that pace, is incredibly challenging. Both at Spa and to a lesser extent, Mugello, it really worked to your advantage. Had both of those races only gone 10 minutes, I would have won--something to think about. (Actually, if Spa had gone for only 18 minutes I would have won).

In truth, I wish the races could be extended even longer. But because of the fact that this game does not model tire wear or fuel stops, I think setting a 30 minute limit makes sense. Which, I just have to say again for the record, in the REAL Ferrari Challenge series, there are no fuel stops and tire changes are only allowed in case of puncture or imminent danger. So the lack of pit stops in this game never really bothered me.

 

[Vincent Viceroy]

Cheers guys for the races last night. I really enjoyed all of them...shame I made so many mistakes. At the end my hands were really hurting.

Can't really add much to what's already been said but...

In truth, I wish the races could be extended even longer. But because of the fact that this game does not model tire wear or fuel stops, I think setting a 30 minute limit makes sense. Which, I just have to say again for the record, in the REAL Ferrari Challenge series, there are no fuel stops and tire changes are only allowed in case of puncture or imminent danger. So the lack of pit stops in this game never really bothered me.

...I would like to see some extended races too. Hopefully in Supercar Challenge we can get a long-stint series together for each track over the course of a few months, or something.

 

[Ardius]

Yeah, I didn't really plan on it going over 2 hours so after Silverstone I was pretty tired.
Good racing anyway, I was pleased to at least keep on the pace and put in respectable laptimes seeing as I haven't played this game for a while.

I was a little annoyed I kept making little mistakes at Silverstone, but at that point I was pretty tired.

 

[Hun200kmh]

must ... stop ... drinking ....

Well, what can I say, last night at Spa I thought myself as FC's Luca Badoer

Anyway, it was a fun night with friends. Spa and Mugello were something to forget, only at Mont Tremblant (my best race by far) I felt it was all coming back. Vincent, however (in-race) and Jeff (post-race, when I read the best laptimes) made it clear I was still very off the pace.

Silverstone was hit-and-miss (literally ), got 2nd place just because Vincent made a couple mistakes more than I did.

Redwood Park was a total mess but after 10 minutes I wasn't even trying. It's a track I avoid everytime I host and - I don't know why, I used to like it in the "Grand Prix" games of old - I really don't like driving it in FC.

Special mention to Vincent, I guess it was the first time we raced and he has earned a lot of respect from me. Great driving, especially at Mont Tremblant! 👍

 

[GTP_ENERGIYA]

Sorry i missed out joing you. My FC disc is damaged.

 

[jjaisli]

must ... stop ... drinking ....

Well, what can I say, last night at Spa I thought myself as FC's Luca Badoer

👍 Mario! Yeah, I really feel bad for Luca. He's wanted this his whole life and now he must feel truly out of his depth. He won lots of races in lower formula. And some of his races with Forti or Minardi in the mid 90s, he clearly had the better of his team mates. But a few season out of the car and he turned into Jacques Villenueve. If he's still in the car at Monza, which I doubt, perhaps we'll see him come to life as you did in your 3rd race.

Yes indeed, my hat's off to Vincent as well. An excellent racer with good skills and very fair lines! Respect! LOL I was especially impressed at Mont Tremblant. To go 20 minutes at this track with a fast pace and virtually no serious mistakes is very impressive. 👍 Ironic that he should suddenly 'show up' on what was billed to be our last great 'hurrah' with Ferrari Challenge as it fades into the twilight with SCC, Shift and GT5 on the horizon.

And Ardius I know is capable of much more. This lad clearly showed me the way in round one of FC World Championship a few months ago. It's clear when you haven't played FC in a while that you lose the 'edge'.

I'm sorry you weren't able to join us Jason. It's sad to hear that your disc is damaged. I wonder if it's even worth it for you buy a new one or just pick up SCC.

 

[Peter]

Well, Ferrari Challenge arrives tonight, so I hope PS3 arrives not far behind it.

 

[jjaisli]

As we are on the topic of the 355, can anybody explain this for me:

I was looking through the Leader Boards last night & noticed that the lap times for the 348 Challenge are almost identical (slower by less than 1/2 sec.) to the 355 Challenge. This seems a bit odd as, according to the game stats, the 355 has 100 more BHP & weigh quite a bit less.

Just for the record, I think the game has the secs wrong on the car selection screen. The 348 Berlinetta had 300-bhp. The 348 Challenge had 320-bhp and weighed about 150-kgs less than a standard 348 and about 60 kgs less than a 355 Challenge. So it would make them much more comparable. But I am amazed how competitive the lap times are between the cars on the leaderboards. It's almost dead even. The 355 does "feel" quite a bit faster.

 

[Biggles]

Well, I for one, wasn't surprised by Vincent's ability, as I've raced him before & was well aware of his speed. In fact, I was more surprised that he wasn't challenging JJ & myself at Spa & Mugello.

Those first two races could have gone either way, but I have to admit to letting out a (non-mic-ed) whoop when, after lap after lap of plugging away, I finally snuck past JJ on the last lap at Spa - that's just the mean kind of an SOB I am.

Like Hun, I rarely run Montreal if I can avoid it, so I haven't really figured out the best racing line. But, as with Monza, so much seems to depend on a couple of chicanes, & the game doesn't really make clear what is a legitimate line through those chicanes, which makes me feel a bit about those tracks.

I think the Maggots/Becketts sequence at Silverstone is one of the hardest sections of any track to get right - there are so many different ways of approaching it. I find the key at Silverstone, especially at Club, Abbey, Bridge & Priory, is to brake early, coast & let the weight shift to the outside tires[/I], so that you can get maximum speed & control through the apexes. This is where FC seems quite different from GT5P, where such nuances of weight transfer barely seem to be modelled at all, & you certainly can't feel them through the FFB.

With regard to the length of the races: we did do FIVE 20 minute races, which in effect meant almost two hours of racing, which is a fair amount. I'm thinking an hour & a half would probably have been just right - 3 x 30 mins, or 4 x 20 mins. Anyway, my wife definitely thought it was too much!

My change of name was not in a (futile) attempt to dominate the leaderboards (something sarrinen/Mhailwood could no doubt manage if he set his mind to it!), but a strange result of having my PS3 repaired: the reconfigured account still says GTP_SimcoeAce, but it appears as Simcoeace on the PSN. Also, annoyingly, my PS3 recognizes my Nokia headset, but doesn't seem to be able to actually link with it.

 

[Hun200kmh]

Biggles, you do have two PSN accounts don't you? It doesn't matter what name you have in your XMB user, you can even call it "I eat Focke Wulfs for breakfast", what matters is the email adress and password you gave for your PSN account.

So, if you still remember what email adress and password you used to create the GTP PSN account, just create another XMB user, call it whatever you like (suggestion: "... and Messerschmidts for dinner!", go to the PSN icon, choose "existing account" and fill in the username (email adress) and password you had for the GTP_SimcoeAce account.

 

[jjaisli]

Those first two races could have gone either way, but I have to admit to letting out a (non-mic-ed) whoop when, after lap after lap of plugging away, I finally snuck past JJ on the last lap at Spa - that's just the mean kind of an SOB I am.

Hmpf! And to think you had the cheek to do it before crossing the line. But it was indeed a great race. I think I lowered my my fastest lap of Spa on the leaderboards by a few tenths and I know during the middle of that race, you I and both ran at least 3 consecutive laps in the mid 2.36s as the gap crossing the line was almost dead on. Considering I was only about .5 behind you at the finish line and the fact that I seemed to be nailing Au Rouge like a hammer last night, I wonder how a draft up the Kemmel would have eventually panned out had the race gone a few laps longer. But not to be. Congratulations again. 👍

Like Hun, I rarely run Montreal if I can avoid it, so I haven't really figured out the best racing line. But, as with Monza, so much seems to depend on a couple of chicanes, & the game doesn't really make clear what is a legitimate line through those chicanes, which makes me feel a bit about those tracks.

I think as a track, Montreal is much more intresting than Monza. (Although, from an historical perspective, I love Monza) And I'm rather surprised Biggles, that you of all people, who extol the virtues and nuances of Ferrari Challenge's physics model--the gain or loss of time from the car being balanced or unbalanced as a result of weight shifting through those chicanes, can't appreciate the difference the driver can make at this track--especialy through that entire first and second complex. I'll stop here becasue I might knock myself out with all the hubris. The fact that I go pretty well here is purely coincidental. At any rate, I'll endeavor to improve my lines around Silverstone. It kind of irks me that I have such a hard time there.

With regard to the length of the races: we did do FIVE 20 minute races, which in effect meant almost two hours of racing, which is a fair amount. I'm thinking an hour & a half would probably have been just right - 3 x 30 mins, or 4 x 20 mins. Anyway, my wife definitely thought it was too much!

On Friday night I was telling my wife that I "required" a good deal of leisure time this weekend. Her eyebrows arched as she asked why, which is never a good sign. Well, I explained, F1 Qualifying is Saturday morning, followed by the Grand Am race from Montreal on Saturday Afternoon, then the F1 race on Sunday morning and the ALMS race from Mosport on Sunday afternoon. She just looked at me and said, "Why don't you just tell me when you WILL be free?". Then on Sunday I told her that I also required a few hours in the evening. She looked at me like she couldn't believe what I was saying and asked, "For WHAT?" And stupidly, I said, "Well, Biggles has suggested a series of Ferrari Challenge races in honor of our past history with the game." She just looked at me, completely flat, rolled her eyes and walked away. I'm glad she has a sense of humor about these things because I was literally laughing hysterically at her reaction as she walked away.

My change of name was not in a (futile) attempt to dominate the leaderboards (something sarrinen/Mhailwood could no doubt manage if he set his mind to it!), but a strange result of having my PS3 repaired: the reconfigured account still says GTP_SimcoeAce, but it appears as Simcoeace on the PSN. Also, annoyingly, my PS3 recognizes my Nokia headset, but doesn't seem to be able to actually link with it.

Try this. Go to this Screen:

Or go down two settings to "Manage Audio Device" and make sure that your Bluetooth earpiece is set as mic and output. It may recognize the device but you may not have it configured to send the send output to it.

 

[Biggles]

Hey, I'm not questioning the skill required at Montreal, but good lap times do seem heavily dependent on those @#$%! chicanes. I know I tend to spend most of my time at my favourite tracks: Spa, Mugello (the best for good, tight races IMO), Mont Tremblant, VR, & Vallelunga, followed by Silverstone, Infineon (fun, but almost impossible to pass on), Hockenheim, Misano, & Montreal, more distantly followed by Homestead, California, & Paul Ricard.

I'll take your tech advice & see if I can't get myself sorted out...

 

[hm66]

hi guys
I'm sad that i missed this event.It's my favorite car and i think i would have given you a run for your money.Still remember the battle i had with biggles some weeks a go.EPIC
Hope we can do it some other day.

 

[Biggles]

Too bad you weren't there mhm. It would have added a little extra pressure...

 

[jjaisli]

Actually I have Henrik to thank for my showing in the event. By pure coincidence, he and I were racing the 355 that morning and I was able to get some practice in with this car. And I think I used up my allotment of silly driving errors in my races with him, including, but not limited to, driving off the road while looking backwards to see where he was.

BTW, Biggles, any luck on getting your earpiece working?