Time Trial League - Rd 9 - Spielberg

Welcome to Spielberg, now known as the Red Bull Ring in Austria. 

In this round, we're using a slightly patched version of the beta 2015 F1Virtual track. 

Championship Standings

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

My notes on the track

For this round, I followed a similar set up style to Canada, though I ran with a mid-level rear wing and almost full front downforce for my keyboard attempts, and a similar brake balance to Montreal. I personally didn't want to go any lower, with the sectors 2 and 3 requiring a good level of downforce, but the first half of the track requires good top speed. 

I managed one session on the steering wheel, and I struggled with confidence to attack any corners. I was hoping to be able to attack turn 1 a bit more, but in the end, I could find no benefit over the keyboard here. The main advantage I found on the wheel was in the final two turns, particularly being able to use more exit at turn 10 and thus taking more speed through there. In the end, I was faster on the wheel, but only by two tenths, and my turn 6 looked particularly messy, though the laptime says I managed to get away with it. Let's see how I get on against the other competitors.

The Hot laps

It seems like all of us did not have much time to set a lap, with Duffer not able to participate in this round and thus sits in the pits, and many others only able to do a handful of laps. Just two of us on the wheel this round, myself and Carl. As ever, thank you Carl for another awesome video. 

Duffer: "I think, I'll have no time for me to made a time for Red Bull Ring 🙁."

32bobo32: "Unfortunately I cannot use the steering wheel at this turn as I still have pain in my injured elbow"

0:10 Gildoorf leads the charge on the top speed front, quite a way ahead of the rest of the field. 

1	Gildoorf	315 kph
2	KerleyF1	308 kph
3	Carl_gpgames	307 kph
4	Fongu	305 kph
5	32bobo32	304 kph
=	Prblanco	304 kph

Into turn 1 and we all try our best to avoid taking too much kerb. All of us take similar lines, with similar apex speeds, so Gildoorf takes a clear lead on the exit of turn 1, the rest of us really too close to call at this stage. 

0:22 As we round turn 2, yes, that curve on the straight is classified as a turn, and under the bridge, Gildoorf extends his lead, travelling 6kph faster than Kerley who is in third place. I've just snuck into second.

0:25 As we choose our braking points carefully into turn 3, the sector one times are set:

1	Gildoorf	00:17.113
2	Fongu	00:17.337
3	KerleyF1	00:17.410
4	Carl_gpgames	00:17.510
5	Prblanco	00:17.527
6	32bobo32	00:17.531

With only one proper corner and straight line speed the only factors in the short first sector, it's no surprise that Gildoorf's setup has him in the lead whilst the whole pack is very close, particularly 4th to 6th places separated by 0.021 seconds. 

Into turn 3, and Kerley and Prblanco run wide. It's possible to intentionally run a wide line through there if you can get a good exit out, but Kerley in particular just looks to have braked too late and lost time. Gildoorf, me and 32bobo32 seem to have taken turn 3 the best, and that's the order we exit the hairpin. Prblanco, Kerley are just a whisker ahead of Carl as we all race down to turn 4. 

0:38 Turn 4 is downhill in the braking zone, so it's easy to brake too late and run wide. But it is a wide corner, offering different approaches. Gildoorf and I approach the turn in very similar ways, but I am able to get more steering lock on with the wheel, and I'm able to close in. Carl also uses the steering wheel advantage to bring himself into contention at the front of the midfield, but its 32bobo32 who leads this battle. It's all still very close though. 

0:48 Turns 5 and 6 are where you need the downforce, but it also plays into the advantage of using a wheel where you can put on much more steering lock whilst maintaining your speed. I run too wide on the entry, which engages lots of steering input and neither Carl or I trouble the exit kerb. It means I don't lose anytime compared to Gildoorf in turn 5, and Carl takes third place. Kerley has a bit of a slide into turn 5, and drops a little behind Prblanco. 

On the entry to turn 6 and it looks like I have taken the lead, I'm right on the limit of the white line in order to get a wide turn in. But Kerley has another wobble, this time at the exit of turn 7. You can use the kerb in turn 8 as we all cross over the timing beam for sector 2. 

1	Fongu	00:30.754
2	Carl_gpgames	00:30.958
3	Gildoorf	00:31.012
4	32bobo32	00:31.018
5	Prblanco	00:31.195
6	KerleyF1	00:31.519

No suprises that it's the wheel users who top the sector times, with me just a bit ahead of Carl. Kerley's little mistake into turn 5 and turn 7/8 means he loses out a bit in this sector. 

1	Fongu	00:48.091
2	Gildoorf	00:48.125
3	Carl_gpgames	00:48.468
4	32bobo32	00:48.549
5	Prblanco	00:48.722
6	KerleyF1	00:48.929

Adding the two sectors up and I've taken a slender lead from Gildoorf. Carl is just ahead of 32bobo32 with Prblanco and Kerley both not far behind. 

1:05 It's a short lap as we approach the final two turns on the track, Gildoorf looking to use his straight line speed to close in on me. Lots of confidence required in turn 9, the dark green astroturf is there to be used and Gildoorf and I are the only ones to maximise it, within but close to the track limits. Carl is very hesitant, and 32bobo32 and Prblanco both take advantage through turn 9. 

Similarly in turn 10 and you can really attack that and use all the exit, and it's Kerley who tops the apex speeds as he reels the midfield back in. Prblanco, in contrast, is by far the slowest, nearly 30kph slower at the apex. It does mean that Kerley runs wide at the exit turn 10 and has to correct it too. 

1:18 Across the line on the shortest track of the year, let's look at the sector 3 times:

1	Fongu	00:21.224
2	Gildoorf	00:21.671
3	32bobo32	00:21.753
4	Carl_gpgames	00:21.931
5	KerleyF1	00:22.054
6	Prblanco	00:22.267

No real mistakes from me, taking full advantage of more aero and the steering wheel input to lead the field through this sector, with Gildoorf dropping four tenths through there. 32bobo32, who was only 0.006 slower than Gildoorf in S1, is within a tenth in S3 too. But it's Prblanco who brings up the rear of the field in this sector.

1	Fongu	01:09.315
2	Gildoorf	01:09.796
3	32bobo32	01:10.302
4	Carl_gpgames	01:10.399
5	KerleyF1	01:10.983
6	Prblanco	01:10.989

That massive advantage in the final sector means I take a huge win, with Gildoorf nearly half a secnod behind, and 32bobo32 a second behind me, in third. Gildoorf takes the keyboard honours in this round. 32bobo32 earns another podium, but it's incredibly close at the finish line between him and Carl. Even close are Kerley and Prblanco, just 0.006 between them at the line, both earning points finishes. 

Just for comparison, I wanted to compare my keyboard lap time with the one I submitted and Gildoorf's lap.

		S1	S2	S3	Lap Time
1	Fongu (wheel)	00:17.337	00:30.754	00:21.224	01:09.315
2	Fongu (keyboard)	00:17.395	00:30.877	00:21.298	01:09.570
3	Gildoorf	00:17.113	00:31.012	00:21.671	01:09.796

Gildoorf's low downforce set up wins out in S1, whereas my wheel and keyboard laps are near identical. In sector 2, and my slightly scruffy wheel lap is almost matched by my keyboard attempt, both a few tenths quicker through that sector. Sector 3 finally, and again there's next to no difference between my lap times, both laps four tenths quicker than Gildoorf's lap. It was sector 2 that was the difference maker on the wheel, but my keyboard lap, and setup choice, meant my keyboard lap would have been enough to win me this round. 

Reactions

Gildoorf: "Tough round, it was closer than I thought. Congrats again, @Fongu for S2  recovering. Thanks @Carl_gpgames for great vídeo and great soundtrack as always👏🏼👏🏼"

Prblanco: "Oh wait did I lose by 6 thousandths? 😱"

Gildoorf reacted simply to watching the wheel users using plenty of steering lock "😩"

Championship Standings

1	Fongu	82 pts
2	Gildoorf	54 pts
3	32bobo32	28 pts
4	Carl_gpgames	23 pts
5	Prblanco	22 pts
6	Duffer	20 pts
7	KerleyF1	5 pts

Carl is the only real mover this round, jumping up from sixth to fourth in the standings. The rest of us strengthening our positions. 32bobo32 is now eeking out a lead over the midfield after a brilliant round. Kerley uses this opportunity to earn a couple of points, moving his tally to 5. 

Carl: "@32bobo32 is leaving the midfield, we must stop that! 🤣 ...  I would really like to win the midfield battle 🤣"

We have a bit of a gap before the next round; time to recharge our batteries, or perhaps someone will take advantage of the time to get lots of practice in for our next round, which is at my home track, Silverstone. 

Well with a lack of any meaningful quotes, I leave you with this anecdote: 

Carl: "about wheels: do you know that issue in GP4 when the wheel turns left at the start of a race? Once I was picking something up from the floor while GP4 was loading, in the exact moment the track was loaded I went back up, the wheel turned with full power and hit my chin. It hurt for almost 1 week 🤣 felt like an upper cut in boxing"