Test 1 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sign ups October 21

Please sign up here for the first official preseason test.




All sessions will be
1 hours testing
20 mins qualifying  
10 lap race
Wether will be one slot and CLEAR
In game time will be 12:00 right through with REAL TIME escalation.
There are no points for these events and they are purely for testing and group running experience.
Standard DSRL rules on etiquette apply.
Test will start at 21:00 GMT

At all times the right chassis must be run ie Speedway on ovals and Road on Road/Street

For this test it you must use the Speedway car not the road course car with your preferred engine.
Vehicle  assists will be set to authentic.
Racing line will be off
Cockpit view forced on.
Also the in game license system will also be on

In
DSRLReadingRich (HOST)
OctoberDus06

I'm in if company leaves in time. Three issues:

1. The "ratings" system is a disaster. If you are constantly testing out scenarios, against A.I. and human, you will never get any higher. I'm sure it's completely SP biased.

2. The tires on IndyCars at Indy are bugged. They get to about 400 degrees within 2-3 laps. The car is still drivable with enough downforce.

3. Damage and penalties are a real problem. Damage is unrealistic, as a tiny scrape can ruin your race on an oval.

Are the lobbies fixed yet? I heard you can't run with more than 10 people, if that?

Depending on numbers I’m not putting AI in. There far to savage on the ovals and have some funny lines.
The ratings system isn’t great but it will stop intentional wreckers having too much fun. Also the penalty system is what we have unless we have people who just watch the races back I’m afraid it’s what we have to use.
The damage is a bit of a issue I lost a wheel in performance impacting which I didn’t expect but again it will keep the days of thnudet guys from wanting to much of the action.
The tyres I find get don’t heat up this time of year I wa even contemplating setting the date to May. I’m running pretty low DF and don’t have many problems unless the tyres go cold.
I hope so we have a test on Fridays for the prototypes which should let us know.

Out, won't be able to make this session unfortunately

DSRLReadingRich wrote:Depending on numbers I’m not putting AI in. There far to savage on the ovals and have some funny lines.
The ratings system isn’t great but it will stop intentional wreckers having too much fun. Also the penalty system is what we have unless we have people who just watch the races back I’m afraid it’s what we have to use.
The damage is a bit of a issue I lost a wheel in performance impacting which I didn’t expect but again it will keep the days of thnudet guys from wanting to much of the action.
The tyres I find get don’t heat up this time of year I wa even contemplating setting the date to May. I’m running pretty low DF and don’t have many problems unless the tyres go cold.
I hope so we have a test on Fridays for the prototypes which should let us know.

Hey Rich,

Quick question... if the series is being raced with known drivers as we did last year that issue of intentional wreckers is not an issue is it so the ratings would not be required in that respect? Or is this test lobby going to be open so anyone can join?

IN

I'm under the impression that the ratings system works well. The only time I've unfairly lost points is when the lobby crashes and it gives everyone negative points. This has not happened to me since the update. If everyone is clean I say keep the ratings on that way we can all improve our rank.

I wasn't meaning to be negative to the ratings system as such as i've no idea about them at the moment although admit to never having been that keen on them but just thought that as this was a test session and the first on an oval you might be negatively impacting them for no reason.

DSRLReadingRich wrote:Depending on numbers I’m not putting AI in. There far to savage on the ovals and have some funny lines.
The ratings system isn’t great but it will stop intentional wreckers having too much fun. Also the penalty system is what we have unless we have people who just watch the races back I’m afraid it’s what we have to use.
The damage is a bit of a issue I lost a wheel in performance impacting which I didn’t expect but again it will keep the days of thnudet guys from wanting to much of the action.
The tyres I find get don’t heat up this time of year I wa even contemplating setting the date to May. I’m running pretty low DF and don’t have many problems unless the tyres go cold.
I hope so we have a test on Fridays for the prototypes which should let us know.

Rich, I'm just not sure the ovals are race-able in the IndyCar right now, but I'll be happy to test. What is this Friday thing? I'm on now if I can help. The best classes to run on ovals are, in order:

1. Group C1 (they have lots of cars like the Sauber C9 now)
2. GTO (old school GT from the mid 90s)
3. GT1 (these cars are a blast. Like a supercharged LMP1)
4. LM GTE (stable and thumping anywhere)

Tires should not heat up to 400 degrees (and I've tried all pressures) under any circumstance. And it happens only at Indy, with any car. The front right becomes too hot and ruins the race. That is, if the DSQ from entering pit lane at 2mph over doesn't boot you. That is, if you make it through a lap without being dinged, and your ffb feels anywhere close to normal.

Ovals needs so so much practice to even get right. Having all these issues is going to end in disaster. I certainly hope they patch the game before any of this starts. I liked your idea of running a GT class oval series first. Humans will be as big of a problem as A.I. on ovals. Unless you can get through a 50% race in NASCAR w/o wrecking, I'd say you don't even get a rookie stripe. I'm just as bad, but fortunately the NASCAR game has helped significantly. If only pCARS2 would have been made right....

Yeah Hurts got my idea since the usual guys don’t really crash much it is a way for all of us to “rank up” in a relatively safe environment.
My point of wreckers was more if new guys join us with the thought of Plato-ing the field into turn one, it happens and we just have to live with it.
I’m not really having to many issues on ovals especially Indy though I would like a bit more weight in the steering but that could be a by product of the much much reduced downforce again tyre issues haven’t surfaced other than on really cold tracks.
Also the ovals are some way away yet we’ll probably have 4 or 5 patches by then.

I'm feeling better about ovals. I have gotten to where the steering is acceptable, though not perfect. At least I can feel bumps and catch over-steer. I also found that the tires are bugged in SP only. When I went on line, my setup worked well. In fact, I did a 40.02 at Indy. I know Rich has a 39.77 out there somewhere, but I can still trim out, and that wasn't with a draft. lol. Anyway, looking forward to the test. I feel confident that a bunch of guys with oval experience and lots of patience could make these fun.

Isn't qualifying going to conflict with this? Justin Timberlake pushed it back to 9pm your time. lol.

Maybe go off at 10p your time? Better for me too. Then again, F1 isn't at the top of my food chain in racing, so I could catch a replay.

OctoberDusk06 wrote:I'm feeling better about ovals. I have gotten to where the steering is acceptable, though not perfect. At least I can feel bumps and catch over-steer. I also found that the tires are bugged in SP only. When I went on line, my setup worked well. In fact, I did a 40.02 at Indy. I know Rich has a 39.77 out there somewhere, but I can still trim out, and that wasn't with a draft. lol. Anyway, looking forward to the test. I feel confident that a bunch of guys with oval experience and lots of patience could make these fun.

39.7

OctoberDusk06 wrote:Isn't qualifying going to conflict with this? Justin Timberlake pushed it back to 9pm your time. lol.

Maybe go off at 10p your time? Better for me too. Then again, F1 isn't at the top of my food chain in racing, so I could catch a replay.  

I don’t know is he. I mean I don’t mind at the moment there doesn’t appear to be much interest other than me and you any way but yeah I’m cool with 10pm my time though I’ll probably DVR it any way.

Good luck with this tonight. Shame there aren't more of you to test it out but at least it might mean you don't get so many lobby problems that seem to happen once abigger group try to get together like in the Sportscar test last night.

Hammerpgh wrote:Good luck with this tonight.  Shame there aren't more of you to test it out but at least it might mean you don't get so many lobby problems that seem to happen once abigger group try to get together like in the Sportscar test last night.

May be more will turn up on the “day” so to speak.
Apart from the one time I’ve never really had lobby issues once it was open so I hope that continues. My brand new spangled 65 meter eithernet cable might help as well.

After seeing what time the qualifying is on I’m gonna be online at the stated time if people wish to join that’s fine if not that’s fine too

I'll join if I can

l Havana l wrote:I'll join if I can

Oh yes sir you can.

Still don't know about qualifying, but I'll be there Rich, in about 60-90 mins. Gotta eat with Parents. Hope some can make it a late night.

Finally got some running in and had quite a good night with Hurt and Havana running a bit of Indy and Texas.
October I see you joined the party but I couldn’t hear you and when the other guys left still couldn’t so not sure if that was a glitch or what but just encase I was ignoring you.

Thanks Rich. It was probably my fault. I was on long enough to get a glimpse at your and Havana's times, and so I sat there trying to beat them for three hours, naturally. There is a major bug in Single Player, though, were your tires go to max temp. So, I ran some on line and time trial. I am very comfortable with the feel now. I can even say it's better then Forza for me. lol. If we get a good oval group, this will be a blast.

I never thought I'd beat Rich's time, but I did some research. Turns out, Scott Dixon went fastest this year, at 38.766. Rich, you are at about 39.799 so just a second off. Havana is almost exactly at Dixon's speed in TT. I managed to run a 39.325 with my race setup, and then decided to steal Havana's setup out of frustration. I got to 38.977 or so, and so I'm close to Dixon. I'll stop when I get there. Havana's setup was fast, but I could tell it was probably a qualy setup, but who knows? I didn't save it. Now that I'm in the zone, I think comfort, as they say, will always trump qualy speed in a race here.

I can get it much lower than a 39 as long as I’m patient.
I find ovals addictive to the point I just zone out and can’t see anything other than the track.
I hope the guys that do sign up for the series practice the ovals at least with AI.
Also Texas is a bit special I actually felt dizzy after running it.

DSRLReadingRich wrote:I can get it much lower than a 39 as long as I’m patient.
I find ovals addictive to the point I just zone out and can’t see anything other than the track.
I hope the guys that do sign up for the series practice the ovals at least with AI.
Also Texas is a bit special I actually felt dizzy after running it.

Ahhh...Texas. The best race in the world, every year.

Paul Tracy also called it "a fast track." Bruno Junqueira said it was the fastest track he had ever driven. An awe struck Nicolas Minassian compared it to a riding a roller coaster. Hélio Castroneves called the track "physical," due to the banking, and Cristiano da Matta echoed the sentiment.

The first serious concerns about driver safety occurred on Friday afternoon. Dr. Steve Olvey, CART Director of Medical Affairs, would later report that two drivers felt dizzy and disoriented after running their cars at over 230 mph (370 km/h), and that they felt they could not control their cars. The identities of the two drivers were not disclosed, but Tony Kanaan and Alex Zanardi later claimed they experienced the symptoms. Adrian Fernandez also reported to the media he was experiencing dizziness. Olvey said in his 25 years of working in motorsports, it was a problem he had never experienced.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_Firehawk_600#Saturday_practice

Heart rate is higher at ovals, concentration has to be 100% - 100% of the time. Energy spent is double that of a road course not because of physical exertion at all. Ovals are rarely about being faster or even being a great road course ace. They are about being able to "see air" like the late great Dale Earnhardt used to be able to do. It's why Tony Kannan has lasted so long and the very essence of what makes IndyCar and only IndyCar the ultimate test of driver ability.

They are a shock to the system. Any driver worth his salt will tell you that. Some drivers openly admit they will not run Indy because it's too dangerous due to ovals. I'm sure you all have noticed that drivers look like they took a dose of Amphetamines after they get out of the car at the end of an oval race. That's when the fights happen. It's because the adrenaline is still pumping, minutes after the race has ended. They are that mind bending. I'm sure you get used to it at some point...but not in IndyCar I imagine. I have done a lot of road racing, and dropping me into Charlotte would scare the crap out of me. It's like a bungee jump that I never did either. lol.

This is how the drivers do it to the best of my knowledge:

1. Get your steering right (ffb for us, but more DoR and turn in feel)
2. Get your car tuned right. This relates to #1, but also to other things, and makes you fast. It's the only thing that will.
3. Get used to what Rich referred to as "focus" and doing it in your sleep. Under 40.
4. Last, but most important, is getting used to running in traffic. This is critical and, I fear, what might doom most oval races. The only thing that I know of on the Xbox that can help with this is NASCAR Heat 2. PC2 just does not have the A.I. to do it. And you don't need to be going fast to understand how critical it is.

I used to like the IndyCar 2 seater advert with Mario Andretti with him focusing on everything except the track while the passenger is having a brown pants experience in the back. Always made me chuckle.