Friday Night Index Racing

[Marcus Garvey]

Assuming everyone has their cars dialed in to run within a second of the target time; if you spin and lose say 5 seconds, you will never be able to gain that back without running under the target time unless everyone else spins, too.

Of course there are ways of gaming the format, such as building a powerful car that parks it in the turns so that you can easily pass everyone on the straights where it is easy to pass and forcing everyone else to make their pass attempts in the corners while still adhering to the target time. Obviously, if two cars are running identical lap times but one has more power, the car that makes up all its time in the turns is going to have to drive much harder and the more powerful car is going to motor by on the straights. Just ask anyone who runs a Miata in STL.

As well, everyone's strengths are different. Someone who does not struggle to run consistent laps can dial in a car much closer to the target time without breaking out, for example. Folks who do struggle to run consistent laps might be inclined to give themselves some more headroom to the target time as they may just gain a second or more during the race out of nowhere. It happens, and creates different advantages much like the varied car selection does. Some folks drive the car much closer to the limit of traction leaving a smaller margin for error, and some folks tip-toe around course. The drivers that operate closer to the limit most of the time may be able to dial their cars closer to the target time without much fear of breaking out, while the tip-toeing driver may have some extra overhead they can burn up to help recover from mistakes. It's a very different type of racing than typical competitive spec racing.

There are a lot of ways to play this game; the format isn't unprecedented and the tricks aren't either. The idea with parity racing is not the celebration of the winner but the enjoyment of driving with the traffic itself. Someone who tallies their enjoyment by number of wins might not find this particularly appealing, and it might not be an ideal outlet for them. You'll never know unless you give it a try.

 

[Whitey093]

This format looks awesome. It should be used as a chance to have fun and use different cars using the target time as an idea of what pace to hit to keep people generally near each other. If people attempt to "game the rules" or push the line though this series will be doa. There are nights to feed your ego already, this night looks like a good opportunity to relax, have fun and build comraderie within snail. I will attend when i am able to.

 

[Lessen]

I so wish this was on Project Cars, although the game wouldn't be a great base for the format. Bring on GT Sport!

 

[CoachMK21]

My crew is ready for a busy Friday night. After a good test and tune session, I feel moderately confident I won't run too fast and hopefully be competitive at the same time. I was surprised how slow of a car I'd have to get to be slower than 1:55.0 at Laguna Seca. And at the same time, 1:05.0 at HSR is pretty fast without getting a crazy fast car. Good work @JLBowler.

 

[SAMHAIN85]

Yeah HSR is no bueno with a fast car and ds3, but in this format it doesnt really matter.

Should be a fun night. And a good opportunity to snap some cool race pics

 

[USERID_77a23]

Will this be one room first come first serve or is there a possibility to open two rooms. Only asking cause we had 8 in a room practicing last night and that didn't included quite a few who have responded with interest here.

 

[JLBowler]

I hadn't anticipated more that 16 but the format does lend itself to multiple rooms if necessary.

 

[GTLehman]

I hadn't anticipated more that 16 but the format does lend itself to multiple rooms if necessary.

And we are doing 9:30 correct?

 

[JLBowler]

And we are doing 9:30 correct?

9:30 ET is correct for this week. If those that want to race want to make that later, I'm OK with that. I will be up for going through the races more than once if anyone else wants to do that as well.

 

[CoachMK21]

I probably won't make it now I thought my kids had their track meet tomorrow, but it's tonight. I'm not sure what time I'll get home, but I'll check here to see if it's still going or if there is a later session going.

 

[SAMHAIN85]

Bummer Coach! Like Bowler said, maybe we can run it multiple times. And its sounding like lots of people will be showing up, so there's a good chance it'll be open for awhile. Hope you can make it

 

[GTLehman]

Bummer Coach! Like Bowler said, maybe we can run it multiple times. And its sounding like lots of people will be showing up, so there's a good chance it'll be open for awhile. Hope you can make it

I am pretty sure that I can make it at least for a while tonight if not the whole thing. I've really enjoyed practicing for it andwould like to see it last as a regular thing.

 

[Lessen]

Well, after being outside at work, I'm friggin tired so house work is just gonna have to wait until tomorrow. I'll see if I can get up to speed for this..

 

[GTLehman]

- I should be showing up slightly after 10p @JLBowler

 

[JLBowler]

Room is open. It's a club lobby set to public. I'm not at the rig right now but feel free to run laps at Laguna Seca while we wait until race time. I'll be along in a few minutes.

 

[JLBowler]

Second post updated with races for next week.

Please give any feedback you might have regarding tonight's racing or the format in general.

Is the start time acceptable to all? We could finish the three races in less time than we did tonight and start later in order to be done around the same time if that is what the group wanted to do.

How was the length of the races?

Do we like the endurance format or would a set number of laps be a better way to go?

 

[GTLehman]

Second post updated with races for next week.

Please give any feedback you might have regarding tonight's racing or the format in general.

Is the start time acceptable to all? We could finish the three races in less time than we did tonight and start later in order to be done around the same time if that is what the group wanted to do.

How was the length of the races?

Do we like the endurance format or would a set number of laps be a better way to go?

I really liked the endurance setup, and I think 20 minutes was perfect. A later time works well for me personally. A different day might be better like Tuesday or Thursday, spacing it out from Sunday.

 

[varga]

Second post updated with races for next week.

Please give any feedback you might have regarding tonight's racing or the format in general.

Is the start time acceptable to all? We could finish the three races in less time than we did tonight and start later in order to be done around the same time if that is what the group wanted to do.

How was the length of the races?

Do we like the endurance format or would a set number of laps be a better way to go?

For me it was all positive......20 min Enduro was just right.......the variety of cars/trucks was fun to race......and also the large weight differences!......I wanted to be a busy bee in the miata....

I had a blast as did others......also it is a nice touch of fun on a TGIF!

 

[CoachMK21]

So what were everyone's car choices? I'm curious if anyone had the same or similar strategy as me.

 

[Lessen]

I think the concept is brilliant.
The length of the races is good.
This is a good style of racing for a Friday.
The time should work for most who are interested. I like the consistency with Sunday.

It's kinda like a meld between the Sunday series and the ole Monday Night Miata series. Really close battles the entire race, but major mistakes are still costly. A little laid back, but not careless. Few and simple rules, but lots of variety.

Unlike the ole MNM, this is not a series that can be run competitively with 0 prep. It takes a bit of research to find a car that works or tune a car to work properly for the track/time combo. I felt in the way and I didn't take large enough swings at my car to get it right so I decided to leave so I didn't frustrate myself after breaking out 3 times in race one. My only suggested change is limit it to 2 track/time combinations but keep them different enough that one would most likely not be able to do both with the same car, or at least not without major changes. Less may be more... maybe.

 

[GTLehman]

So what were everyone's car choices? I'm curious if anyone had the same or similar strategy as me.

The two cars I picked for Laguna and autumn were the Ferrari Dino and Lotus Esprit. In testing they were pretty close to the mark with just enough extra performance. The Ferrari 330 I chose for the HSR had the same strategy but much more speed - and the only one I got to race. It corners well and had great power. As a matter of fact I de-tuned the power 20% which resulted in a 3 second laptime handicap. It still gave me some reserve and I still had plenty of power for the first lap.

 

[varga]

So what were everyone's car choices? I'm curious if anyone had the same or similar strategy as me.

For the Laguna and Autumn ring I ran the eunos 89 Miata.
For High Speed Ring I ran a beautiful black Alfa Romeo C8 Competizione.......

 

[Rednose58]

Give consideration to a time limit for lap 1 too. I think most pick a car with some reserve capability so that you can keep with the pack and make up time here and there where you are slowed down during the lap. So, the guy with a lot of reserve can pull out a significant gap on lap one and then just maintain the gap without dropping below the limited time. With a bit of nitro I managed to do that on lap 1 at Laguna and I missed a lot of the fun at the back. On Autumn Ring I held back on lap one and was in the action. At HSR we were three faster cars at front, so we could drift off and away from the pack on lap one and then try to outsmart each other.

 

[CoachMK21]

For the Laguna and Autumn ring I ran the eunos 89 Miata.
For High Speed Ring I ran a beautiful black Alfa Romeo C8 Competizione.......

I planned to use the Eunos 89 Miata (same one for this Sunday) on all 3 rounds. It took some tuning to get to 1:05's at HSR.

 

[Rednose58]

Here is the collection of cars that raced last night.

Spoiler: Laguna Seca

Spoiler: Autumn Ring

Spoiler: High Speed Ring

 

[CoachMK21]

The variety of cars (and trucks) is awesome. I'll make sure to make it next week.

 

[JLBowler]

I came in with minimal practice time but it was enough to have some really good back and forth racing. HSR was the exception. I didn't get enough testing in the draft and just didn't have the car to keep up.

@Lessen I broke out a couple of laps at Laguna Seca and just kept going because the racing was that good. There were three or four of us going back and forth for 2nd through 4th or 5th place for multiple laps.

Given the prep time that is needed to figure this out, how does everyone like the idea of two tracks with times and run it two times? I'm thinking run combo 1 then combo 2 then repeat it for a total of four races but with the prep time for two combos.

 

[SAMHAIN85]

So what were everyone's car choices? I'm curious if anyone had the same or similar strategy as me.

Laguna:

Autumn Ring:

I didn't get a snapshot of the last race at HSR because we were having some lobby issues.


Last night was a blast. It was casual yet competitive at the same time, and theres more strategy to it than you'd think.

One route you could go would be to tune/de-tune a car so it allows for a near perfect lap to be within lets say .500-1second over the index time, which is what I did for Laguna. It meant I could run as hard as I could knowing I wouldn't have a breakout lap. Doing it this way meant nitrous was vital for me, since there'd be no way to make up for any lost time since my car was already de-tuned to the gills. My only problem was I only had the nitrous level at 15%, and while it helped it still wasn't enough to allow me to catch up to the index time on some laps. And especially on the opening lap, I got smoked.

The other route I saw was people had plenty of "car" leftover, and on an all out perfect lap probably could've done the lap in 2 seconds under the index. Obviously nitro isn't needed for a car setup like that, as you can make up plenty of ground in a sector or two WOT.

My rally wagon and tricycle for the last 2 tracks didn't allow for nitrous, so I made sure they'd run under the index on a perfect lap. This meant I had to pay attention to sector times, and after awhile you can figure out if you're going to be under or over the index just by each sector (presumably if you nail a perfect remaining lap)

I also didn't account for draft, and I'm glad I found the OMG practice lobby beforehand to mess around with weight and power even more.

I had some great battles with people I wouldn't normally be racing side by side with lap after lap. As for any suggestions I don't really have much to say, everything seemed to work out just fine.

 

[Lessen]

Wow! I'm surprised those minimal specs of my car were so closely aligned with most in the room. I felt like it was waaaay too fast for that race at Laguna. I don't know how you guys run to the break-out time because there were times where I was braking before the line and still blowing the time by a almost a second. This is like a completely new style of racing. Maybe I'm just not good at driving to a slower laptime. It's definitely not like driving consistently at the limit. That's far easier I think.

 

[basswerks1]

This was great fun. Maybe we could run some themes eg FR, FF only or by make or even by country.
Looking forward to the next episode