Time Trial League - Rd8 - Montreal

We're in round 8 and yes you've read it correctly, we're in Montreal, Canada and not at the Red Bull Ring. The F1 Virtual guys decided rightly not to have a double header on the same track, and sticking to the calendar, the Austrian Grand Prix was originally due in the next round, with Montreal being replaced first by the Turkish GP, and then a few days later by the Styrian GP. So the Red Bull Ring will be next week's competition, but for this week, we're not restricted by Covid to do some laps around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. 

We're using F1Virtual's 2013 version of the track available here http://f1virtual.blogspot.com/

Championship Standings

1	Fongu	62pts
2	Gildoorf	44pts
3	32BOBO32	22pts
4	Prblanco	20pts
5	Carl_gpgames	17pts
6	Duffer	14pts
7	KerleyF1	03pts

The track

Personally, I love this track, it's a nice mix of permanent track and street track, and I feel the F1 calendar is missing this track which always gives drama. The first sector is tight and twisty, the second sector has a couple of unique chicanes, and the final sector is all about long straights punctuated by a hairpin and a chicane. Traditionally we are used to seeing F1 cars sport low downforce trim around here.

32bobo32: "I really like this track"

Duffer: "I love this track 😀"

In terms of differences between keyboard and steering wheel, at first I didn't think there's much difference, but then I managed to find a full second advantage. Personally, I had more confidence to attack most most corners on the keyboard than on the wheel bar a few key exceptions. The issue I had was how much I was able to use the kerbs, or in this case, avoiding the kerbs. The last round at Paul Ricard I could attack all the kerbs without any risk, but that's certainly not the case here. Turn 6 in particular was a kerb that if you touch it on the wheel, you are dragged into a spin. Turn 8 was another turn I struggled to take any kerb, but it was slightly better on the keyboard. Having said that, there are gains on the wheel in turn 1, a kerb you can attack, and at the hairpin at turn 10, where on the keyboard, you are waiting for the cc-line for seemingly forever before you can release the power. To combat this, I found I had to overshoot the corner a bit, miss the apex, but I could get the power and turning done sooner and it gave an overall benefit. Turns 13 and 14, the final chicane, is where most of the time can be lost and found. These kerbs you can attack, but you have to be careful not to overshoot turn 13, and you have the 'wall of champions' to avoid on the exit of 14. 

Even 32bobo32's early enthusiasm began to wane: "I spin at every kerb of the track 😩"

Prblanco: "Yeah, kerbs killed me more times I can count. Started avoiding them all"

32bobo32: "I can drive faster than keyboard in Sector 1 but not in 2 & 3 😩"

For set up, and I'm really not one to talk about set up, I chose a low downforce route, setting 3/20 on the rear wing, and an ambitious 8/20 on the front. I also chose a very rear biased brake bias. This made the car extremely nervous on the keyboard, and for me, undrivable on the wheel, so I had to tone the setup down a bit on the wheel. I have a natural inclination to attack corners and be a bit aggresive, feel the car under me and wrestle it around. But it's the laps where I'm smooth that I found I was significantly faster. On the keyboard, I was able to set a time of 1:15.1 but there is a little more time to find, possibly a 1:14.9 if I can get all my best sectors together on one lap. On the wheel, I found I could set a 1:14:5, but as the times got lower, I needed to find more time. 

As Duffer and I were laying down markers for the week, surprisingly it was Gildoorf who was struggling with setups and lap time:

Gildoorf: "I will have to copy someone else's setup this week."

He wasn't the only one struggling with setup choices:

Carl: "struggling a bit with brake balance...I need a car that is very responsive."

32bobo32: "I can't solve a lot of understeer...It's impossible to me to dance in turn 8&9...I lose 7/8 tenths each lap. I tried everything... Stany away from kerbs, ride kerbs, take a clean line, be agreesive or quite... Nothing to do😩"

Duffer, however, hit the groove straight away: "When i made my 1:14.259 it is with original setup. I just change wings"

Then Prblanco said, "Surprisingly, the Wall of Champions is probably the one corner I never spun"

32bobo32: "Ahahaha true"

Moments later...

Fongu: "you were saying.... 😡" as I bounce off the wall of champions on a hot lap.

Track Limits (again!)

Michael Masi was busy again checking our laps, all of us on notice after the events in the last round. 

Both Duffer and I were testing the limits in turn 14, the final bend. The rules allow us to use the kerb, but the all-white section is not allowed. (Top screenshot = Duffer, bottom screenshot = me)

Masi: "please submit your laps to race control 😅"

Fongu: "oh dear, summoned to race control 🥺... Masi have mercy 🤞🏼"

Masi: "In both your screenshots, RR wheel appears to be on kerb. But it's so much on the limit, I'll have to mod a camera to be sure 😆"

Thankfully, I was able to improve my time with a clean lap, but Duffer's verdict was in. 

Masi: "@Duffer this one is invalid... we'll add a 0.5s penalty to [your] Sector 3 time.. Or [submit] a backup lap"

Unfortunately, Duffer was unable to improve on this disqualified lap of 1:14.110:

"I have upgrade S1 -0.167, S2 -0.320 S3 welcome champions wall 😭😭😭😭"

The Hot Laps

Credit to Carl for putting together these great videos and keeping the soundtrack fresh for each round. 

0:07 Top speed check going into the first corner, and yes I've finally found the setting to change to kph, which by the way is not easy to find in the menus.

1	Fongu	309
2	Gildoorf	304
3	KerleyF1	304
4	Carl_gpgames	303
5	Duffer	296
6	32bobo32	294
7	Prblanco	292

It's me running the lowest wing level, getting a great run into the start finish straight. Gildoorf, Kerley and Carl are running similar levels of wing, whilst the rest are looking for more grip with their setups. 

Carl: "I go for high downforce...not comfortable with no grip in the corners"

32bobo32: "Me too"

Carl is the first to blink on the straight, braking earlier than everyone else, but feathers his braking more into turn 1, doing very well in not locking up. Me and 32bobo32 take lots of kerb in turn 1, but I run really wide in turn 2, with Gildoorf and Kerley joining me on a similar line. There's a bump as you run across the pit exit, so it's usually best avoided, but it's not entirely detrimental to your laptime. 

Using the beginning of the exit kerb at turn 2, and we see Prblanco and 32bobo32 vying for the lead, closely followed by Carl, then Gildoorf, me and Duffer in close succession and then Kerley not far behind. 

0:20 Going into turns 3 and 4, and you don't want to out brake yourself. Here, you can use the kerbs, but you have to be careful. Prblanco, Duffer and me are able to get lots of kerb in turn 3, and Gildoorf and me use a lot of grass in turn 4. By the end of the the exit kerb in turn 4, and I have just taken the lead, only just ahead of Prblanco and Duffer. Still in it are Gildoorf and 32bobo32, with Carl, who was quite hesitant through the chicane, now dropping back. Kerley, who ran wide in turn 2, but otherwise has been clean and tidy so far, is falling behind. 

0:28 Sector 1 times as we round the kink at turn 5. 

1	Fongu	20.928
2	Duffer	21.042
	Prblanco	21.042
4	Gildoorf	21.185
5	32bobo32	21.274
6	Carl_gpgames	21.311
7	KerleyF1	21.731

Despite running a low downforce setup which should have disadvantaged me, I am able to control it over the kerbs and maintain the advantage when the higher downforce runners ought to be at the front. But it's tight, Duffer and Prblanco setting identical sector times a tenth behind me. Gildoorf, the quickest keyboard runner is close in 4th, and 32bobo32 and Carl are all within four tenths of my sector time. Kerley, also running on a keyboard, is 8 tenths down.

Carl: "sector 1 @PrBlanco @Duffer 😳"

Carl: "P6 😢🤮"

Turn 6 is tricky, how late do you brake, what line do you take, how much kerb do you take, what line do you want for turn 7, how early can you get the power down into the bent straight. In the end, we all take similar approaches to turn 6, but there's a big difference by the exit of turn 7, Prblanco, me and Duffer are clearly carrying much more speed out of turn 7, with Gildoorf, Carl and Kerley just a little slower. 32bobo32 is far too cautious and loses a lot of time not just on the exit, but all the way down the curved straight. 

0:36 Under the UBS banner, and it's Duffer who edges into the lead just ahead of me and Prblanco. Gildoorf is still in there too. Carl and 32bobo32 have fallen back a bit now with Kerley not far behind the pair of them. 

0.41 By the time we get to the Emirates bridge towards the end of that straight, and my low downforce has regained me the lead, Gildoorf is just a hairline ahead of Prblanco, and Carl has caught up some time on the straight too. 32bobo32 is only just ahead of Kerley. 

Turns 8 and 9, these are vicious kerbs, let's just say I've lost count of the times I've ended up facing the ambulance. However, I discovered my issue is not the kerb as such but I was carrying too much speed into it. Once I cracked it, I could attack that kerb, as does Carl, Duffer and 32bobo32. 

Into turn 9, and the keyboard runners are a little at the mercy of the cc-line here and have to use the raised white kerb on the inside. If you use it too much, it drags you onto the orange sausage kerb and it destroys your lap time. The wheel runners are are able to give it a wide berth. 

By the end of the exit kerb, Duffer has eeked out a little lead over me, Gildoorf and Prblanco are incredibly close together, with Carl, 32bobo32 and Kerley not far behind. 

0:51 Sector 2 times have been set, let's see how we all did:

1	Duffer	23.775
2	Gildoorf	23.813
3	Fongu	23.821
4	Prblanco	24.129
5	KerleyF1	24.156
6	Carl_gpgames	24.185
7	32bobo32	24.481

It's a fairly short sector, but Duffer sets the pace, and Gildoorf is right there on the keyboard just pipping me, the three of us incredibly close together, just 0.046 seconds from first to third. Amazingly just as close together are the next three, Prblanco, Kerley and Carl, separated by only 0.056 seconds! 32bobo32 who lost all that time on the exit of turn 7 is unsurprisingly slowest of all in that sector. 

Gildoorf: "What a surprise making the most of S2... two chicanes where I thought steering wheel would be far away."

Adding all that up though and here's the running order:

1	Fongu	44.749
2	Duffer	44.817
3	Gildoorf	44.998
4	Prblanco	45.171
5	Carl_gpgames	45.496
6	32bobo32	45.755
7	KerleyF1	45.887

It's all incredibly close, with me just ahead of Duffer and Gildoorf. Just behind, we have Prblanco who is also in contention. A bit further back, we have Carl, 32bobo32 and Kerley just a tenth behind him, but about a second behind the ultimate pace. 

0:54 Into the hairpin at turn 10, as mentioned above, there's a definite disadvantage here on the keyboard. The thing with this hairpin is not the hairpin itself, but the long straight that comes after it, so getting the right line out, getting the accelerator on early and getting maximum speed on the exit is the key here. For me, I make a bit of a hash of this corner! First I take too much inside kerb and then I nearly lose the back end on exit as I switch off my TC. Kerley and Gildoorf, our only keyboard users both go wide, but Kerley clatters the wall on the exit. Duffer, Carl and Prblanco all carry too much speed in, but Carl and Prblanco decide to turn in early and have a wide exit, the slowest way around a hairpin. Duffer takes a clean line, just a few metres wide of the apex. 32bobo32 probably takes the hairpin the best out of the lot of us, gaining back some lost time. 

By the kink in turn 11, and it's too close to call between Gildoorf, Duffer and myself, but importantly, Duffer and Gildoorf are travelling nearly 20kph quicker than I am, me being the slowest out of everyone. Prblanco and Carl are running close together, having had better exits than me. 32bobo32 and Kerley are still fairly close together at the back. 

1:11 It's getting near the end of the lap, and by the Pirelli bridge, I've retaken the lead, running 10kph faster than Gildoorf and 20kph faster than Duffer. Carl is also quick down the back straight and is gaining on Duffer. Prblanco is being caught by Kerley and 32bobo32, who is now bringing up the rear. 

Duffer: "There are more possibilities for setup look top speed before the chicane. My top speed is 314 if I remember well 😉"

Turns 13 and 14 are the most important corners on this circuit, the place where the most time is gained or lost. Gildoorf and I are together coming into turn 13, but I'm carrying nearly 30kph  extra compared to Gildoorf at the apex of turn 13, but Duffer is carrying an extra 15kph on me! 32bobo32 also has a lot of confidence and takes turn 13 at a similar speed to Duffer, the common demoninator with those two is that they both use maximum steering lock in turns 13 and 14. 

At end of the wall of champions, and Duffer and I are carrying around 215kph, 32bobo32 around 210kph. Around the 205kph mark are Prblanco and Carl, with Gildoorf around 197kph. Kerley was right in the pack going into the chicane, but he's far too nervous, the slowest through turn 13, and he clatters his second exit wall in as many chicanes on the exit. Unlike the first wall encounter where he was able to maintain speed, the wall of champions bit back as he ricochets off it at around 174kph. 

Down the final straight and I'm able to use my low downforce to be the only one over 300kph over the line, but what's the order going to be?

Sector 3 times are:

1	Fongu	29.252
2	Duffer	29.442
3	32bobo32	29.594
4	Carl_gpgames	29.700
5	Gildoorf	29.829
6	Prblanco	30.322
7	KerleyF1	30.448

Despite my terrible hairpin experience, my low downforce setup pays off, and it's probably the best I've taken that final chicane. Duffer is close behind, as he challenges for the win for the first time this season. 32bobo32 has a great final sector, making amends for his poor second sector. Carl and Gildoorf are close together, whilst Prblanco and Kerley are both struggling, losing a second in this sector alone with Kerley hitting two barriers, and Prblanco running too much wing. 

Prblanco: "I wish I had tried a lower downforce setup this time. There's so much to be gained in S3"

1:23 Here are the final results:

1	Fongu	1:14.001
2	Duffer	1:14.259
3	Gildoorf	1:14.827
4	Carl_gpgames	1:15.196
5	32bobo32	1:15.349
6	Prblanco	1:15.493
7	KerleyF1	1:16.335

Gildoorf: "Wow, @Duffer!!! You got this track spirit, man!!... I have not faced any particular issue on this track. I was just not fast enough 😂😂😂"

Duffer: "With a perfect s1 i can pass under 1:14.000... I like this kind of track"

Fongu: "If you can do this, you can have the victory" 

A time in the 1:13s was possible, but it wasn't easy to achieve, I was just 0.002 off it. If only I had a cleaner run around the hairpin. Duffer enjoys his best showing to date. Maybe I'm a bit like Jackie Stewart, I do just enough to win, I was around the 1:14.5s when Duffer started putting some serious laps in and I had to get back at the wheel, and after a few hours, I had one run left and I finally managed to get that lap in. 

Gildoorf has been a victim of many of us jumping over to using steering wheels the last few rounds, and he was in with a chance of a win going into the final chicane, a familiar story all season, but he must be gutted 8 tenths was lost there, finishing just ahead of the midfield. 

Gildoorf: "Lower speed through last chicane:

                @Duffer : 176kph

                @Fongu : 154kph

                @Gildoorf: 134kph

That's where this stage was decided. At 150m brake marker @Duffer was some 50m off and out of a sudden jumped to the top over the kerbs"

The midfield was lead by Carl, with 32bobo32, Prblanco and Kerley all making costly errors on their quickest laps. I honestly think with a bit more time and a bit more composure, we'd all be running quite close times, even Kerley. 

Duffer: "In the midfield is very close."

Reactions

Fongu: "Great work on the lap @Duffer I really had to push to beat you, I very nearly didn't."

Duffer: "I'll try to made better for the next round 😁"

Gildoorf: "Congrats, @Fongu and thanks for shared setup! I'd be locked at 1:15's for sure."

No problem, my friend. 

Carl: "Congratulations to @Fongu for his very impressive lap, he really went to the maximum and deserves this victory! tremendous battle between him and @Duffer!🍾🍾🍾"

32bobo32: "👏👏👏👏 Congratulation mates! And thanks @Carl for the video!"

Couldn't have said it better myself. 

The keyboard runners were left disappointed by what the wheel runners were able to achieve: 

Gildoorf: "My problem was turn 10. CC line does not allow a shorter approach, let alone position right side over the Kerb. All those tenths of second avoiding the exit wall ruin my lap...In yellow, my line. In green, a desired line."

Kerley "I saw your laps, specially Fongu's ones, and it's just impossible for me to do something like that on the keyboard. In the first lap that I saw from Fongu, in the first left turn, he passed the car over the red part after the kerb. In this part, I can't even go over the kerb...it looks like the car is locked onto rails...and I'm not using steering assistance. "

Prblanco: "If it makes you happier, I couldn't go below 1:16 on keyboard"

Kerley: "I just look like Yude Ide again.... hahahaha...Sorry for my fans... 🤣🤣🤣... that hairpin os the worst part for me as keyboarder... All others turns, even with keyboard, are such enjoyable! Turns 3/4, 6/7 and 08/09, with a car that lost the rear and need to put it in track again... I love it! The circuit is amazing and F1virtual made a great work."

I feel your pain Kerley, I'm just glad I have both keyboard and wheel to play with. But compliments to F1Virtual for this great track. 

Championship Standings

After round 8, here's the pecking order:

1	Fongu	72
2	Gildoorf	48
3	32bobo32	24
4	Prblanco	21
5	Duffer	20
6	Carl_gpgames	20
7	KerleyF1	3

I extend my lead over Gildoorf having taken my 6th victory of the season so far. But just look at that midfield! Just 4 points separates 32bobo32, Prblanco, Duffer and Carl. Duffer and Prblanco have both missed a round, but both gained points fighting for victory. You can tell it's getting serious with 32bobo32, Prblanco and Duffer, all now regular wheel users. Kerley's 3 points looks pitiful, but he's a victim of the points system that only rewards the top 6 finishers. But there's clear evidence of improved driving, he just needs to get one good clean lap together and he'd be right in with the rest of the midfield. 

32bobo32: "Nice championship!"