Time Trial League - Rd 2 - Imola

We're at Round 2 of the F1 Virtual and friends Hot Lap league, hopefully following the F1 2021 calendar. 

At the end of round 1, the standings are: 

1. Fongu
2. Gildoorf
3. 32bobo32
4. Prblanco
5. Carl_gpgames
6. Kerleyf1

For Round 2, we welcome Duffer to the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola. 

In terms of layout, there was a track released back in 2011 by KTC, but it did not have the revised Variante Alta chicane. A couple of us started doing some hotlaps, with the cc-line hampering the progress of those on a keyboard. I did some comparative laps on keyboard and using a steering wheel, and the difference was a couple of seconds. All credit to Prblanco for quickly creating a more accurate layout with a cc-line that is very similar to the original GP4 version. Immediately, the laptimes between the wheel and the keyboard got quite close, with me finding around half a second advantage on the wheel. 

I'll be referring to corner names rather than turn numbers. Just for comparison, I set a lap on the keyboard of 1.21.3 I can't remember exactly, as the save file was lost. On the wheel I set a lap time of 1.20.782. The advantage comes in Tosa, Variante Alta and to a degree Rivazza too, where on a wheel, you can put more steering lock and control your line a bit better. I've not used a steering wheel for very long, so there is no subtly on my throttle control, it's really just full power or full brake, I may as well be using buttons. So I would love to be running without traction control and manual gears, but I haven't learned how to get the speed out of that yet, so for me, I'm still running with those two driver aids on (as I would do on the keyboard). 

The times were close. Last time around, it was close at the front, with Gildoorf leading out of the final corner but was out dragged to the line with my low downforce setting. Yes, my friend, I will mention at every opportunity! 😂. 32bobo32 was also very close, so we'll see if the form will carry on onto Imola. Thanks to Carl_gpgames for putting together this video, another great job, and it's great to analyse our driving styles.

Let's watch the lap together and try and break down the key moments. 

Well, it's across the line and away we go and it's clear those who are running a lower downforce setup, with 32bobo32 hitting around 325kph just before the braking point, Carl hitting 320, and the rest around 315. Actually Gildoorf is way down with 309kph. 

Into the Tamburello chicane, and my aim was to use as much kerb in turn 1, and not use much kerb in turn 2. That's because as you're accelerating whilst turning right, it can make the rear end snap. The rules of our hotlaps is only simple setup changes, so no suspension changes allowed to try manage it.

So you can see, I don't take much kerb at all, whilst Gildoorf and 32bobo32 use it liberally. Coming out of turn 3, and you can see that I carry the most speed out, but 32bobo32 maintains his advantage, with Gildoorf also in the mix. Not too far behind, Carl and Kerley are neck and neck and Duffer and Prblanco are close together too. 

Coming into the tricky Villeneuve chicane, and it's Carl and Kerley with great top end speed. Gildoorf, Kerley and Duffer carry the most speed at the apex of the right hander - the field is tight together. Coming into hairpin at Tosa and the first sector split, 32bobo32 maintains his advantage from me, Gildoorf and Duffer slightly behind, Carl and Kerley within touching distance, but Prblanco a little behind at this stage of the lap. 

Into Tosa, and you want to brake late, but it's slightly uphill, so you're you don't want to brake too hard. You want to carry as much speed on the exit as you can. Notice the steering lock on of Carl and I using our the steering wheels. It will scrub off speed, but you can use it to your advantage. Notice as we come out of Tosa, how I gently ease off the steering lock, trying to maximise my acceleration out of the corner, compared to Carl, whose closed in on the frontrunners in the turn, but he releases his steering a bit more aggressively. Coming into Piratella, and 32bobo32 and gildoorf are neck and neck, with me slightly further behind now and Carl in my imaginary slipstream. 

Piratella, a high speed left hander which is downhill and opens up nicely on the exit. I managed to carry a lot of speed out of that, and close myself up into Acque Minerali. Here, you've got to be brave and not brake into the first part, but not outbreak yourself into the second right hander. It's 32bobo32 who blinks first on the brakes, with his lower downforce setting, and Gildoorf and myself both taking the the lead off him. Look at the speed difference between the top three as they head over the crest. Duffer, Kerley, and Prblanco also nail Acque Minerali well. 

Into the new Variante Alta, and there's no exit kerb like there is on the 2021 track, so you have to be careful on the exit. In the 2001 track on the game, you could throw it over the kerbs and straighten out on the exit kerb, but on this version you have to be super accurate to get around there quickly and get a good exit. Sector 2 times are in and its oh so close! I take the lead, by a slender 0.02 seconds from Gilfoorf, 32bobo32 just behind. Karl is ahead of Duffer by 2 tenths, who is ahead of Kerley by 2 tenths, who is ahead of Prblanco by a little over 2 tenths. 

Only Rivazza and some straights to go. I'm first heading into the first left hander, but I actually out braked myself and I'm carrying too much speed in. Look at me putting maximum steering lock on, like a pilot trying to pull up on his joystick. Gildoorf takes advantage and nips into the lead with one corner to go. 32bobo32 is a little scruffy in Rivazza but Carl also nails the two left handers. 

However, I've managed to carry more speed out of the first part of Rivazza and carry that through the second left hander, and I sneek back in front coming out the final turn. Just a relatively short blast to the finish line now, and Gildoorf is lacking in top end speed, allowing 32bobo32 and Carl to close in. Over the line and the results are in:

Once again, it was decided at the final turn, and I managed to eek out 2 tenths to the finish line. But Gildoorf did a truly astounding time on the keyboard, as I said above, I couldn't get near that kind of time on the keyboard in my attempts. Still, my keyboard time would have been good enough for second, but look how close it was at the end between 32bobo32 and Carl. It was an impressive first half of the lap, but maybe it was the higher downforce cars that made the difference overall in the second half of the track. Carl did a great time, a very clean lap compared to his Bahrain effort, making up 3 tenths on 32bobo32 in the final sector. He will be a contender on tracks to come. Again, towards the final group of cars, it's close between debutante Duffer, who just edges out Kerley, who also improved his skills compared to Bahrain, and Prblanco closing in on those two at the end. But then, he did create the changes to this track, so I'm sure that means something... just not points. 

The points system is classic 1990s, with points awarded for the top 6. The nature of the scoring system means the difference between winning and second is huge in terms of points, even if the lap times are incredibly close. The top 3 are the same top 3 as Bahrain, so no changes there, but Carl moves up into 4th with a great performance at Imola. Duffer earns his first points, and Kerley also adds to his tally. 

1. 20pts - Fongu
2. 12pts - Gildoorf
3. 08pts - 32bobo32
4. 05pts - Carl_gpgames
5. 03pts - Prblanco
6. 02pts - Duffer
7. 02pts - KerleyF1

Over to the Algarve for the third round of this little league, I'm really looking forward to spending lots of time at the great F1Virtual track.