An eclectic note

So, this is just FRIGHTENINGLY good:

Also this video is everything about what I can't do in the Skippy yet (I don't know why I can't embed this one):

http://youtu.be/2YdZJxJskac

* smooth

* hitting apexes

* balanced

* effortless

* fast

Finally, some cats hitting apexes and powering to the track out point:

After doing nearly 50 laps(!) with AB in the Skippy last night as a familiarisation exercise (muchos gracias) I went back to the RUF at COTA and stayed up to 2FrickenAM (Australian Eastern Stupid Time), and finally got down into the high 1:34's.  By geez, I have some consistency to work on and where the top guys find another 3 seconds I have no idea, but now I really do enjoy the S's there and I really enjoy that track I have to say.  That first corner is so deceptive, have to brake so much earlier than it looks.  I still can't nail the 2nd to last corner, it looks easy, but I just can't do it well (I do a fine pirouette).  The fast sweeper just prior is just unbelievably good fun when you know you can plant the right foot and get the boost up, wow, electric.

3 Screen Cockpit Planning

Filed within the "This is how crazy obsessed we become" department, I began to think ahead to a 3-monitor setup extension to the Next Level Racing Wheel stand.  I've personally been having to tear down and setup the wheel stand and computer in front of my 50" Pioneer Plasma TV in the lounge room each and every time I wanted to play.  I also therefore need to compete with my wife's desire to watch a bit of TV now and then, so my racing time is sporadic, and usually very late (once she's in bed).

So with the thought towards setting up a more permanent place within the house, I started a SketchUp model of our spare room to see where/if it would fit.

It's an early iteration of the drawing.  I'm using the dimensions of a potential monitor pick of a BenQ XL2720T, and based it on the wall mounting dimensions, but the screens do look a lot deeper than I thought.

I do want to flesh out the detail of this model (because I'm crazy) so that it looks a bit more realistic than these bounding boxes, but this first iteration has at least confirmed that the original location I thought it might fit in within the spare room, won't!

This does not bode well for the queen sized bed that is currently in this room (not rendered in the pic).

Summit Point - Short Configuration practice

In preparation for the carnage this Sunday I started a testing session at Summit Point Short tonight to familiarise myself with the track.

It's an interesting configuration to someone used to the normal long track.  The short configuration has you cutting through and across from the start/finish point to Turn 3.  In the normal configuration Turn 3 is a fairly tricky high speed/high stakes corner, where most people put a wheel off into the dirt every lap.  In this short configuration since you are approaching it from the cut through at a slower speed there is much less risk and the corner feels toothless.

There's a section of S's at the back that I can occasionally take flat out in 3rd.  On a good run I'll change up to 4th and take the second last corner flat out as well.  This short configuration will be good for close racing as the straight away is much reduced; there will be less of an advantage to getting a great entry out of the last corner.

I clocked a 1.09 in this session.   Replay attached(if I can work out how), many improvements to be made!

An Experiment with Custom Camera Angles in iRacing

Last night while I was trying to get the kids to go to sleep (emphasis on the 'trying'), I experimented with custom camera placements in iRacing.  I wanted to learn how to setup some different views, and thought I might try to piece together a whole circuit set of cameras with a certain 'feel'.

I took the previous nights Mazda MX-5 race at Laguna Seca that Andrew and I raced in and focused the camera on one of the other participants that was in the mix.  This allowed the cameras to see some closer racing.

I went for a low down, 'intense', look, trying to capture the cars pitching in and sliding into the apex, and feel close to the action.  There's still some work to do here, a few spots down the straights where the action isn't as intense as it could be, but generally pretty happy with the result.

Here's a lap of Laguna Seca with the camera setup.



Where am I?  I span out in Turn 4 and was last for the first part so you can't see me here, but managed to finish 4th in the end as everyone else had issues of their own.  Yet another example of keeping going even when things look grim.  Was a fun race!

If you're interested in doing doing your own camera setups, I found this PDF got me started in the right direction.

If you'd like to try my camera set, you can download it here.  The .cam file needs to go in an directory close to where your Replay files are stored, which for me on my Windows computer is C:\Users\psmith\Documents\iRacing\cameras\tracks\lagunaseca\ .  This is a track camera, so needs to be placed within a directory for the named track.

Once you've placed the file there, launch a replay, or start a session and then:

1. Hit CTRL+F12 to bring up the advanced camera editor
2. Hit the Load Track red link at the bottom - this will bring up a file chooser which should show the "Laguna Custom 1.cam" file which you should select
3. Within the "up arrow" camera selector in the bottom-middle you should now see a new "Low Down" camera to select.
4. Choose and (hopefully) enjoy!

Tragic Racing - Race 1 - Okayama Short

The beginning of the Tragic Rcing series didn't disappoint at Okayama Short.

After being too anxious with teh loud pedal exiting the last corner and spinning around Paul struggled to find cornering speed, while Ned couldn't keep 4 wheels on the track.  This left Own and Andrew to fight it out in a nail biter of a finish!

Owen showed  prowess and pressured Andrew into a slight mistake in the penultimate lap and took the lead for the last lap to the finish!

Paul proves he's faster

After starting at Laguna many months ago and having travelled to tracks around the world, Paul returned to epic Laguna Seca.

Finding time nearly everywhere on the track led him to remove 3 seconds off this prior lap time. Yes. THREE SECONDS.

There is still more work to do on the approach to the corkscrew...but there may be more seconds available.

The next test...how many laps can he stay in the 1.46's before finding the cruel Laguna sand...