Welcome to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez situated in Mexico City, a classic track, modernised for the current bread of Formula One cars.
We have been using the RSCT track, which is based on a beta .dat file by F1 Virtual's Prblanco. https://www.grandprixgames.org/read.php?4,1110546,1110563
The Track
The track itself has some long straights to consider in your setup choice. Then you have lots of tight and twisty turns, so you need a nimble car that will point where you want to go. It also has some medium speed corners, ones that demand aero grip and a good balance. Setup is going to play a part in this one.
I've not done any laps on the keyboard here, again like the last round, I've only had one session on the wheel to settle on a setup, and bang out a good lap. I didn't think the CC line was particularly fine-tuned, I think it will hamper some of the progress of the keyboard users.
Gildoorf: "I've tried Mexico today. Racing with keyboard looks like riding on rails."
The kerbs are also a little unpredictable; they are inviting you to use them but sometimes (too often times for me) it would spew you out into a wall. Whilst there's good ingredients to a track I ought to like, I personally found it my least enjoyable round I've attempted this season. Maybe I was over driving, maybe its unfamiliarity, maybe its the nostalgia kicking in and missing the old version of the track, maybe we've been spoilt by some excellent creations (mainly from the F1 Virtual boys) of late and this is based on a beta work, whatever it was, I wasn't enjoying it, and I feared my lap would ultimately be poor and uncompetitive.
The Hotlaps
One of the problems with the tracks are the placement of the sectors, so unfortunately we can't provide you with sector times this round.
0:16 - The first thing to notice is the top speed, or the lack of it on my part!
|
1 |
32bobo32 |
329.8 |
0 |
|
2 |
KerleyF1 |
325.2 |
-4.6 |
|
3 |
Gildoorf |
325 |
-4.8 |
|
4 |
Prblanco |
319.3 |
-10.5 |
|
5 |
Carl_gpgames |
319.3 |
-10.5 |
|
6 |
Fongu |
316.3 |
-13.5 |
I am running 13kph down from 32bobo32, with Prblanco and Carl running similar levels of wing on their cars - there's a clear divide in setup choices between the grid.
It means that I'm the last to the first corner - although it's close between me and Kerley. But I can brake later, and on the wheel, I can choose to take more kerb if I can get it right. I figured out that by keeping it tight around turn 2, you can take turn 3 flat out by taking a fair amount of kerb. I'm not sure it's possible on the keyboard, I haven't tried, but everyone else has to lift or brake to take turn 3. By the time we come under the Rolex bridge, it's neck and neck between Gildoorf and me. Behind us, there is a tight battle lead by Carl, followed by 32bobo32, then Prblanco and Kerley. Because of my good exit from turn 3, it means I minimise any straight line speed loss down the straight into 4.
0:31 - Gildoorf and I are tied at the hip through turns 4 and 5, although I do take an extreme amount of kerb in turn 4, and on the exit of turn 5 my exit speed is compromised. In the midfield, Carl follows my line in turn 4, but doesn't line himself up well for turn 5 and loses out to 32bobo32.
Into turn 6 and I lose out braking on the kerb, running wide on the first part of turn 6 and losing out to Gildoorf who takes a much tighter line and establishes a lead. 32bobo32, Carl and Prblanco are almost in sync through here in the video, going through turn 6. Kerley is right on their tails.
0:48 - Gildoorf is first into turn 7, and allows himself to use all the kerb in turn 8. For me, I spent a lot of time taking turn 7 too fast and spinning, so I was probably a bit hesitant through there on this particular lap. Turn 8 is flat and Gildoorf and Carl avail themselves of the inside kerb. Turn 9 is also flat, but you're preparing yourself for turn 10.
0:54 - It's here, in turn 10, where I make massive gains on Gildoorf, being able to take much more kerb, I am 25kph faster at the apex than my main rival.
By the exit of turn 10, I am back in the lead. In the midfield, and Carl uses the wheel to eek out the slenderest of leads over Prblanco, 32bobo32 whilst Kerley has a big moment in the middle of turn 9 and has to correct an almighty slide. It's interesting that Prblanco and I use turn 10 as an exit kerb, we're not so concerned about treating it as a corner, but straight-lining it using the kerb as much as we can. Carl then sweeps to the left of the track to have a shorter distance through the kink and that edges him into third place.
1:04 - Into the twisty stadium section, and turn 12 is always tighter than you think, it's really inviting you to take too much speed, as Carl finds out and loses time on the exit kerb, allowing Prblanco in front. Kerley runs really wide an loses a lot of time in turn 12. We all lock up trying to slow the car down for the tight, left-handed hairpin.
Into turn 15, and I'm using all the kerb available to me to stretch out my lead over Gildoorf. In the midfield it's super close between Carl and Prblanco as they trade places from turn to turn, with 32bobo32 still in with a shout of a podium finish. Kerley is not far behind, but 3rd is probably too much of an ask at this late stage of the lap. Carl is also able to use a lot of kerb in turn 15 like I do, but it's Prblanco who gets to the final turn first.
1:26 - Across the line we go, and I take the win, ahead of Gildoorf, who has performed heroics on the keyboard once more. I had set my lap very early into this round, and it was nerve-wracking watching Gildoorf get closer and closer. In the end it was enough, and running more wing gave me a vital advantage in some turns, particularly turns 3 and 10 that seemed to seal the deal for me.
Onto the podium now and strange things are happening. If you watch the video carefully, you'll see that Carl just manages to out-drag Prblanco crossing the line in third.
Prblanco seems to enter a wormhole that spews him out a few metres back, to which 32bobo32 then crosses the line, then Kerley.
Prblanco: "What's going on over there, it looks like I have two finish lines 😳🤔"
So watching the video, it appears that Carl is third, Prblanco is fourth (the wormhole effect is the replay restarting), 32bobo32 fifth and Kerley sixth.
However, the official times set, and I've double checked it myself, says this:
|
1 |
Fongu |
01:19.221 |
+0.000 |
|
2 |
Gildoorf |
01:19.523 |
+0.302 |
|
3 |
32bobo32 |
01:21.485 |
+2.264 |
|
4 |
Carl_gpgames |
01:21.604 |
+2.383 |
|
5 |
Prblanco |
01:21.790 |
+2.569 |
|
6 |
KerleyF1 |
01:23.473 |
+4.252 |
It's 32bobo32 on the podium, followed by Carl just ahead of Prblanco, and Kerley having dropped back a fair bit. Thanks to Carl for investigating for any video issues, but we will have to go with what the official times state. Here's the official statement from our own Michael Masi:
"Ah, whatever. This track behaves weirdly. Let's not lose our heads"
It was an interesting midfield battle, because apart from the leading two, the other four were given time extensions from our guest steward, Oggo, so they didn't have much time to optimise their setups and laps and in the end, besides Kerley's mistakes, it was really quite close between the lot of them.
Reactions
Championship
|
1 |
Fongu |
144 |
|
2 |
Gildoorf |
106 |
|
3 |
Prblanco |
71 |
|
4 |
32bobo32 |
55 |
|
5 |
Carl_gpgames |
46 |
|
6 |
KerleyF1 |
23 |
|
7 |
Duffer |
20 |
Here's the updated standings after round 18 at Mexico. I extend my lead in the championship having taken my second win in a row, my 12th victory this season. I'm told that if I win the next round, I'll be crowned champion, which incidentally is in Brazil, home of three of our competitiors.
Gildoorf continues his solid run of fine finishes with another second place, the pair of us a full 2 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Prblanco was in the thick of the midfield fight this round, but ultimately his third place seems secure for now. 32bobo32 extends his lead over Carl with another podium finish, whilst Kerley also adds to his tally.
