Idea for weekly Grand Prix Legends league

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:48 pm

What's the current team/car list?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:48 pm

DChaps wrote:
pk500 wrote: Let's target a start of 10:30 p.m. (EST) Wednesday, Feb. 3.
I don't think there is a Wed. Feb 3 this year. Next Wed. would be Jan. 31 and the one after that would be Feb 7. Sorry to be a pain in the ass.

Ok, I'll stick with Ferrari. I will be Eddie Irvine to Randy's Michael.

Correct you are, Don! Brain fade ... Let's go for next Wednesday, Jan. 31.

Take care,
PK

mixdj1 · Post by **mixdj1** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:56 pm

It looks like I'll be out of town on business the first two races and I know I've got more business travel beyond that so I'm probably out for the first series.

Hopefully this will last and I can jump in on season two.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:40 pm

FINALLY BENCHMARK!!!!

After a series of laps in the ol' Eagle, I turned a 1:06.83, and then followed that up with a 1:06.82 the next lap.

First benchmark ever for me

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:42 pm

TCrouch wrote:FINALLY BENCHMARK!!!!

After a series of laps in the ol' Eagle, I turned a 1:06.83, and then followed that up with a 1:06.82 the next lap.

First benchmark ever for me

WOW!

Congrats Terry!!!!!!!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:59 pm

Nice going, Terry!

Take care,
PK

Smurfy · Post by **Smurfy** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:58 am

Well I've installed the 2004 Demo along with GEM+/Igor.

It took me about 1 hour to tweak my force feedback settings to keep the steering wheel from causing my whole desk to shake. After that, I find that every time I quit a session or a race GPL crashes.

Anyway, I tried the Lotus with default setup for the first time and I could only manage a 1:11.1 around Watkins Glen. Perhaps I can play the role of backmarker who ends up deciding the race winner on the 17th lap?

So I doubt I could fit well within the league. Maybe I should just stick with non-league races until I am up to speed?

A more pressing issue is I simply don't know how to connect to an online race and how to communicate among the players. Could someone fill me in on that?

Thanks,
Smurfy (a.k.a. Ferhad)

P.S. I'll take any car other than the Lotus.

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 1:23 am

Guys, I'm out as far as league racing goes. Don, you'll have to find yourself another teammate for the prancing pony.

Sorry...

Randy

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 1:49 am

RandyM wrote:Guys, I'm out as far as league racing goes. Don, you'll have to find yourself another teammate for the prancing pony.

Sorry...

Randy

That's too bad man, I was looking forward to it. Everything ok?

Anyone for Ferrari, or should I just switch on over to Eagle. Who needs a big handicap?

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 1:51 am

Smurfy wrote:Anyway, I tried the Lotus with default setup for the first time and I could only manage a 1:11.1 around Watkins Glen. Perhaps I can play the role of backmarker who ends up deciding the race winner on the 17th lap? So I doubt I could fit well within the league. Maybe I should just stick with non-league races until I am up to speed?

Don't worry about that at all. I have been playing this sim off and on since 1998 and I still usually turn laps at the 1:10-1:11 range during a race. You will be just fine.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 2:02 am

Smurfy:

I've run 1:08.9 in hot-lapping, but I'm always in the 1:10-1:12 range during races. That hot lap was a golden moment -- not a regular thing!

You'll have plenty of company at 1:10-1:11, man! Glad you're with us.

Take care,
PK

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 9:14 am

Another lesson learned in the life of Randy: Don't make big decisions under the influence of red wine!

I was really feeling low last night and shouldn't have just bailed like that. I would definitely like to stay in the league and I don't want to bail on Don who seems like he'll be a great teammate.

So, sorry for the stupid false alarm. Note to self: don't post late at night, when feeling blue, or when drinking wine!

However, in the clear light of morning, I will also say I'm going to kind of fade into the background noise a bit. If ya'll want me to host or contribute anything in particular to the league beyond just showing up and racing, please let me know. Otherwise, I'm just going to pipe down to avoid stepping on toes or doing things that tick people off, albeit unintentionally.

Randy

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:29 am

Glad you're staying in, Randy.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:34 am

Terry's lineup post from the prior page remains accurate. Still need to hear from the remaining three guys!

Lotus
Piggy
JonVon

Ferrari
DChaps
Randy

Brabham
PK500

Eagle
TCrouch

Unknown/Unassigned
Jamie
Smurfy
Provo

Z and Mix are out. It would be great to get a 10th person so we have five two-car teams. If anyone knows of an interested driver who is roughly in our skill range, let us know!

Thanks,
PK

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 11:28 am

Terry in that Eagle is gonna be tough to beat. Anyone know of a GPL method of adding weight to a car to handicap someone?

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 11:33 am

I don't know, in practice I've looped it more than a few times already and have only mustered 3 1:06.8x laps in my first night of practice last night. I did race the AI a few times to get in the habit of running with other cars, since it always seems to change my ability to control the vehicle though

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 11:58 am

It's good to dice with the AI cars for practice. The main thing is to be aware that network lag can really hose you if you're side by side in the middle of a corner. Just a bit of lag can create contact where none existed. So it's generally better to pass in a straight line or at least be on opposite sides of the road when you do

But still, if you can pound out 1:06 hotlaps and throw the car off the track, you should be able to do 1:08-1:09 in race trim without pushing yourself or the car beyond your limits, which is going to be better than what I can do.

In my 'heyday' in the GPL leagues several years back, I encroached into the 1:07's a few times in my Ferrari at the Glen, but typical race laps where I drove within myself were closer to 1:09-1:10, with the occassional bobble adding onto even that.

The main thing (and this is true for all racing, but especially true in GPL), is to find a 'comfortable' race pace where you can drive within yourself and post consistent laps. People who try to hotlap their way through races don't usually succeed, especially if the races are longer. So don't fret about your spinoffs while hotlapping. You'll still be the guy who's hard to catch just driving within your comfort zone.

Randy

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:00 pm

Btw, what's the race schedule like? Is Kyalami the first race? If so, maybe we could have the DSP server set to run Kyalami so we could practice together late at night. Right now it's just the Glen, so I've not been logging into the server.

Randy

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:04 pm

RandyM wrote:Btw, what's the race schedule like? Is Kyalami the first race?

Yes. Complete schedule posted on page 1 of this thread.

Take care,
PK

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:28 pm

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:32 pm

OK, I'll watch the DSP server and start hopping in for open practice when it's set to Kyalami.

Smurfy · Post by **Smurfy** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:49 pm

Since I'm the newcomer, I think I should go with the Cooper - Kinda like entering F1 with the old Minardi team

Is there anything special I have to do on Igor to set the DSP server or to join a chat group?

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:42 pm

Guys, I didn't know that the Eagle was quite as good a car as it is when I decided to run it in the series. It doesn't seem quite fair to me if people are running consistent 1:09 and 1:10's in a race, and I'm rolling out 1:06's and 1:07's. It just becomes a race to see if I screw up for the most part until people pick up speed and get quicker. Piggy can already beat me, and Randy can if I blow it, but I didn't know that the Eagle was such a straight line speed demon. Where's Adam when we need him

But seriously, I'm contemplating running the Cooper instead since I can still turn a quick lap in it, but the car isn't overpowering. It's either that or the Honda.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:47 pm

Smurfy wrote:Since I'm the newcomer, I think I should go with the Cooper - Kinda like entering F1 with the old Minardi team

Is there anything special I have to do on Igor to set the DSP server or to join a chat group?

Nothing special that I had to do, man, as long as you've installed the bandwidth patch. I had issues with carsets at first, but if you run defaults, nothing special at all. I just fired up IGOR, clicked on the DSP server and entered the password, siam007, and I was off and running.

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:58 pm

I have no problem either way Terry. Maybe Smurfy can have the cooper anyway and team with you as the Eagle?