Time Trial League - 2022 Pre-season Test Report @Fiorano

Welcome to Fiorano in sunny Italy, host of the pre-season test for the 2022 Time Trial League. 

We're using the 2015 release of Fiorano for GP4, beautifully created by the F1Virtual team. 

We have seven participants at this test session, with nine in total having signed up for the season so far. Newcomers, JCaranti and Hinyaldee joined the action alongside returnees, Gildoorf, Prblanco, 32bobo32, Carl_Gpgames and me, Fongu. Check out the link to the league on the menu bar at the top for more entrants. 

The Fiorano track is a tricky little track. You start off with the longest straight on the course, and you break heavily into turn 1, but it opens up on the exit allowing you to pick up speed for the fast S bends, not quite flat out so quite challenging. Then you are back on the brakes in a turn for the tight turn 4, which leads you up hill, over the start/finish straight in this figure of 8 configuration. There's lots of room on the exit kerb. Turn 5 is another tight right hander, that leads you downhill into the tightest hairpin, it's difficult to get the car slowed down. Flat out, with a slight feather in turn 7 before a long sweeping turn 8 that leads you back to the finish line. A fairly short lap, but lots of different kinds of corners, as you'd expect from a dedicated test track. 

Rule Changes

New season means a tweak to the rules. Instead of finishing a lap with 1 lap of fuel remaining this was switched to starting the lap with at least 2 laps of fuel onboard. This sounds a minor change, but it caught out 32bobo32 who started his fastest lap with 1.9 laps of fuel. Thankfully it didn't affect his position, and this is only testing after all. 

There's also a change in the track limit rules this year, with the white lines all around the track defining the boundaries, as it should. Last season the boundaries included kerbs, so this will be quite a shift (certainly in my approach on the wheel). The main test in Fiorano for this is on the exit of turn 7, where there's plenty of kerb to run wide on, but now you have to keep at least one wheel on the white line. 

Setups

For the first time, we have access to everyone's set up data, thanks for Prblanco for compiling and sharing the data. These are the setups used on the fastest, submitted laps. 

We can see there's a fairly equal spread of inputs, with the four 'switched' drivers using the keyboard, whilst the analog drivers are all on wheels. 32bobo32 did do a few laps on the wheel, but still needs more practice as he couldn't match his pace on the keyboard. 

FW/RW are the wing levels, the majority of us running more front wing than rear, with Hinyaldee being the only exception. Gildoorf is running the lowest downforce settings, whilst I'm running the most wing, as I explained above. 

RB/FB are the brake balance settings, are you can see how much further rearward Gildoorf and my setups are. Carl_gpgames is running brakes extremely near the front. 

1G-7G are the gear ratios. Everyone is running seven gears, and the seventh gear ratio is really based on how much rear wing you're running. For me, I went for quite small differences in the lower gear ratio range, as I say, I felt this helped me out of the slower corners (whether it actually transpires that way or not I'm not sure!). 

The top speed is at the end of the start/finish straight, with Gildoorf having a good advantage on that front, with Carl_gpgames and myself some 7 kph slower. 

Fongu's notebook

For me personally, being pre-season, I was looking to shake off the cobwebs and just enjoy driving again. I was on the a keyboard, thinking a mid-downforce setup with a good balance would be a good mix between the high speed corners and the low speed ones. I also tried a very rear-ward brake balance as Gildoorf used to good effect last season to help with those pesky slower corners. I was happy to set a lap under 1 minute with that set up, as I found the limits of the car, learned good lines, good braking points, trying different techniques at different corners. I also experimented a bit with my gear ratios, helping me accelerate quickly out of the slow bends, and that gained me a few tenths. As I discovered last season, I can't simply translate my setup on the keyboard straight to a wheel, so I was interested to see Jcaranti trying out my setup on his early runs. I then went pretty much full downforce, I wanted extra braking and grip in the tight corners, and more speed through the higher speed ones. For me, this gave me much more confidence around the corners and I found around half a second. Overall I was happy to concentrate a bit of time on setup work and understanding how that affects my driving, and ultimately pace on track. 

Results

There was an air of excitement at Fiorano, looking to see if there was any change in the pecking order, trying to catch a glimpse of the new cars and new helmets. But as always with testing, there are those struggling to get run time, whilst others were pounding around fine tuning their cars. It's difficult to know whether the times are truely representative of the competitive order or not, or whether some teams were sandbagging. We'll only truly know when we get to the first competitive round. 

Purple times are fastest of anyone. 

Green times are personal best times. 

For those who uploaded more than one lap, the yellow times means that there was a faster sector time in one of the other laps that were slower overall. 

Quickest in all sectors is Jcaranti, who sets a blistering pace on a wheel, over half a second from the rest of the field. This is surely a warning shot to the rest of the field for the start of the season proper. Congratulations to Jcaranti.

I'm pleased to get a time in the 58's on the keyboard - I wanted to use the test session to understand set up a bit more, and maximising it for my driving style. 

Gildoorf sets the third fastest time, struggling a bit with the final sector. Prblanco, on the wheel, is just slightly behind his fellow compatriot, with only the top four able to set a sub 1 minute lap time. 

32bobo32 was also in the 59.7s with his disqualified lap, but he'll be pleased with with his 1:00.00 lap time. 

Hinyaldee ran with no driver aids on the keyboard (you can't turn off steering aid on the keyboard easily (though it is possible in GP4Tweaker)), a brave decision but a lot of his time was spent controlling the car. Spectacular indeed, but unfortunately not particularly quick. 

Carl_gpgames was able to set a time on the wheel, but with a lack of on track running time is confined to the back of the field. 

Reactions

Prblanco: "Congratulations @JCaranti for the win and the three best sector times!"

Jorge: "Massive admiration to @Fongu understanding his control of driving. Many of the tracks i havent raced nor tested in years and others are brand new to me like Saudi Arabia. Thank you very much for everything."

Fongu: "Congrats @Jcaranti on your impressive preseason pace. I look forward to future duels ad the season commences." 

Hinyaldee: "I need to up my game!"

Prblanco was able to offer some helpful advice to Hinyaldee's interesting driving technique...

Prblanco: "Two things seemed very unusual to me about your laps, first is that you drive without F7 Traction Control with a non-analog control scheme, which seems very difficult to control; second is that you use more rear wing than front wing, which induces understeer. Maybe try playing around with these?"

It's good to see the banter remains strong going into the new season... 

32bobo32: "Why am i fast in S3 😂😂😂?"

Fongu: "New season, new rules, new @32bobo32 habits 🤣!"

Gildoorf: "Amazing S3 @32bobo32, wish I could be that fast, I simply had no idea how to draw the best line at last turn. Rear brake bias make the car bounce so agressively to the left"

We hope Duffer will return, we haven't seen him since the middle of 2021

Duffer: "For me the motor isn't in the car yet 😀"

Personally I was just happy to get a clean lap in, but watching the replay back, it just seems like a leisurely Sunday drive, not really braving the limits, just smooth and serene. It certainly didnt' feel like when I was setting the time, as 32bobo32 shares the same sentiment:

32bobo32: "Very smooth drive! All replays give me a smooth drive feeling, It seems so easy to reach the time... When in cockpit the feeling is the opposite 😂"

Testing Photography

With no official TV available during the test, some car liveries remain a mystery. However there was some leaked images from the test that I can present to you.

Carl_gpgames running a message of support for Ukrainians

Fongu in his new car on his way to the second fastest time

This is reported in Autosprint magazine as a possible picture taken inside PinnaGP factory 🤔

We look forward to the new season starting up in a few weeks time. It's certainly whetted the appetite of some of the competitors. There's still time to sign up if you're interested, full details are available on the GrandPrixGames forum thread: https://www.grandprixgames.org

F1Virtual & Friends Time Trial League 2021 End of Season Awards

As we look forward to a new season of the Time Trial League, I wanted to reflect on the 2021 season. 

In case you missed it, here's a reminder of all the rounds of the 2021 season. fongugp4.blogspot.com

I polled the participants, 

Best track of the year

32bobo32: Sochi... pure delight for eyes!

Gildoorf: Zandvoort. I used to hate this circuit until @Paulo Blanco releases his fabulous version.

Kerley: The best circuit to enjoy racing was Interlagos (my home circuit). But I have two mentions: First Sochi. Great work of the F1 Virtual team! Best non-original GP4 circuit to drive, without a doubt. Second was Portimão. I know it's in the distant beginning of 2021, but I believe it was on this circuit that I learned the most from the tips and encouragement of other drivers and I felt like part of a real race grid.

Prblanco: Silverstone, even without graphics it was the most enjoyable track for me to drive on, the layout is just pure goodness

Fongu: Portimao, a fantastically reproduced track and great fun to drive, lots of different line available on keyboard an wheels, I really enjoyed that round. 

The winner is, based on most mentions is: 

Sochi (by F1virtual)

There are many splendid tracks available for GP4, but the latest from F1Virtual raises the standard once again for track building, a deserved winner. 

2022 Blog Update

It seems like an annual event now, for me to tidy up my blog, but I've updated large parts of the blog so that it's hopefully easier to navigate. I've updated pages ready for lots of 2022 content for GP4 and the Time Trial League, and I've fixed a lot of the broken links to model photos, though I still have some way to go.

There's a much smaller menu bar now: 

• Model Reviews: one link to all things about models including sub-pages
• GP4 Downloads: one link to all my GP4 downloads and sub-pages
• GP4 2022 Download Sources: a new page with links for all 2022 content for GP4 that I know of
• Time Trial League 2022: a new page for a new season
• ebay shop: I've not got anything listed there, but I may sell a few models at some stage. 
• donate: If you want to leave a small donation, here's a link to do that. 

2022 Time Trial League Car: Team Fongu TTL001 "Tribute"

It's a new season for the F1Virtual and friends Time Trial League. 

Here's the official league thread: https://www.grandprixgames.org

Along with the expansion of the grid, we will also be allowed personalised helmets and personalised cars between the seasons 1998 - 2008. 

Today, I wanted to launch the livery I will run this year. 

Team Fongu

Sorry, I'm all out of inspiration, it's just Team Fongu. 

The motto is latin for 'to God be the glory'. 

Team Fongu TTL001 "Tribute"

Again, no inspiration for my team name, just simply the initials for Time-Trial League. 

01, because I jumped around which car I drove in the first season. It's also in honour of winning the first championship and the honour I have to run the number 1 on my car. It's 'double o' 1 because I'll be flying the British flag. 

As Ferrari have in the past given their car a name along with the model number, I've done the same calling this 'tribute', for reasons that will become obvious. 

Team Fongu TTL001 "Tribute"

Shape

I've picked an old friend, the 2008 Red Bull RB4 - or the Toro Rosso STR3, shaped by me and template by Raulongo. It's an Adrian Newey car before his succesful days with the team, in a car that clearly has its roots from the 2005 McLaren. I think it's a really pretty shape, after removing some of the extra wings. 

Livery

The whole design philosphy is not original, but a tribute to some of my favourite livery ideas from the past. 

Firstly it's the return of the 1997 Jordan livery along with the snake on the nose and scales on the sidepods. 

The wings are inspired from the mid 1990s Ferrari. 

The rollover bar also takes inspiration from the 1994 Simtek, more on that a little later.

There's a small hint of Renault Sport from around 2017/2018 about it too. 

And finally there's an early 2000s Sauber inspired reflection on top of the sidepods. 

Mixing all that together, I feel, are a fitting tribute to some of my favourite design features from liveries gone by. 

Tributes

Instead of going for a main sponsor, I wanted to run some tributes to drivers lost in Grand Prix since the 1990s, and those still fighting against serious injuries. 

As readers of my blog will know, the 1st May 1994 was the first weekend I fully remember getting into F1, and there are tributes to two drivers lost that dark weekend. First Roland Ratzenberger, who lost his life after a suspected front wing failure which hurtled his car straight into the Villeneuve corner barrier at close to 200mph. As Jordan ran a red rollover hoop, I felt the Simtek tribute to Roland would be a suitable replacement. 

The very next day, we lost three-time World Champion, Ayrton Senna. Both sempre Senna and the Senna S logo appear on the car. Jordan ran a tribute to Senna at the 2004 San Marino GP, so that's another livery inspiration. 

We also lost Jule Bianchi at a wet 2015 Japanese GP, and #JB17 still features on the helmets of Gasly and Leclerc. 

Seven-time World Champion, Michael Schumacher may not have sustained his serious injuries in a racing car, but I wanted to recognise and support the difficulties for the family in his long battle with his health since that skiing accident. 

Finally, a former Jordan driver, Alex Zanardi who had already lost both his legs in a horrific Indycar crash, went on to gain a paralympic gold medal before having an accident with a truck that left him in a lengthy coma. Thankfully he is no longer in a coma and has been back home since December 2021. 

Suppliers

I wanted to choose suppliers that fitted the colour scheme, so Renault is the engine supplier of choice and Agip is the fuel supplier. I've also chosen Good Year tyres with OZ wheel rims, again for that nostalgic look. 

Partners

The car was painted on a Lenovo laptop on free online platform Photopea, situated on an Ikea desk. I currently drive a Seat and Racefans.net is the F1 website I follow the most. There's also some GP4 logos, the game I've been most involved with for 20 years.

Number 1

I chose to put the number 1 on the car, rather than race with my preferred number 33, which dates back to my ice hockey days as a netminder, as well as the number of the first house I lived in. 

The number on the nose is green, highlighted by a reflective silver, which is another tribute to old Team Lotus. On the rear wing, I've gone for the classic 80s/90s Ferrari style. 

And finally, there's the link to this blog in prominent position on the rearwing. 

Helmet

I actually have a bicycle helmet with this livery on, it's based on the old TV test cards that used to feature over night when there was no scheduled programming. The dark grey is actually chrome, and I've added the snake eyes onto the visor strip to tie it back to the car. Thanks to Oggo for the lovely helmet template, and thanks to Christian Fittipaldi's face for being the best driver to represent me... or rather I'm too lazy to change it from the last helmet I was working on. 

I hope you like it, hopefully I'll continue to have a competitive season. 

Testing has begun in Fiorano, and we look forward to seeing the new look cars and liveries and perhaps get a hint at the competitive running order... or will there by any sandbagging. Anyway, I look forward to giving my new livery and helmet a test... shakedown ... pre-season run. 

Time Trial League - Rd22 - Yas Marina

Welcome to the final round of our Time Trial League. It's been a truly fantastic championship, we've seen some really tight battles, we've seen some controversy but ultimately, we've all had a lot of fun. It's almost sad to see the end of a season, but it's good to have a bit of a break. 

The final round takes place at the Yas Marina circuit. There's no updates to the 2021 version in GP4 yet, so we're on the classic version of the track, created by F1 Virtual

It's been a really busy few weeks for me, so sadly I haven't had time to enter this round, but I would have really enjoyed this last chance to blast around this track. So I'll be joining you as a spectator for this round. As always, thanks to Carl for putting the video together. Clearly I went home early and left the trophy on the car. 

We have more wheel users this round, Carl as always, Prblanco and 32bobo32 joins in with his new wheel set up. Unfortunately his set up still needs some adjustments still and we're hoping he'll get them all sorted for next season. Prblanco did submit a lap on the keyboard as well, but it was two seconds off the pace from his other lap. 

0:09 - The first corner is a rather innocuous 90-degree corner, but it leads into quite a long flat-out section. It's really about getting a good exit and not losing too much time here. Gildoorf and Prblanco shoot into an early lead. Prblanco is slightly ahead through turns 3 and 4, but Gildoorf brakes much later into turn 5 and is slightly ahead. Kerley is in third right now, just ahead of 32bobo32 and Carl. 

The first sector beam is really kind of pointless here, but here's confirmation of the running order. 

1	Gildoorf	00:15.884	+0.000
2	Prblanco	00:15.895	+0.011
3	KerleyF1	00:16.238	+0.354
4	32bobo32	00:16.381	+0.497
5	Carl_gpgames	00:16.506	+0.622

0:24 - It's noticable how much kerb the wheel users can take, and all three of them make great gains on the keyboard runners here, with Kerley in particular losing out in this tight twisty section. 

The speed-trap is at the end of the long straight before turn 8 where Kerley is able to claw back some of that deficit, whilst also explaining why he was struggling so much in the slower corners. 

1	KerleyF1	335.6	0
2	Gildoorf	325.4	-10.2
3	Prblanco	317.5	-18.1
4	Carl_gpgames	317.3	-18.3
5	32bobo32	314.3	-21.3

Gildoorf is also carrying much less wing that the others, but nowhere near as little as Kerley's. That advantage gifts Gildoorf back the lead from Prblanco, whilst 32bobo32 is only a fraction ahead of Carl. 

Prblanco and Carl get their braking just right, taking lots of kerb at the apex. 32bobo32 is carrying way too much speed and is understeering like crazy through this chicane, having to get out of the throttle at the point he should be nailing it. He's almost running too wide on the exit as Kerley sneaks up behind him. 

1:07 - There's not really been any corners of interest to talk about yet, and we've done two sectors. 

1	Gildoorf	00:43.601	+0.000
2	Prblanco	00:44.146	+0.545
3	32bobo32	00:44.485	+0.884
4	Carl_gpgames	00:44.555	+0.954
5	KerleyF1	00:44.917	+1.316

With those long straights, Gildoorf puts his set up to great use as he eeks out his lead, but will the wheel users with their bigger rear wings be able to haul Gildoorf in through the final sector? Perhaps surprisingly, Kerley doesn't set a particularly good sector despite his top speed advantage, I suspect he's really going to struggle in S3. 

Overall after S2, here is the running order and gaps.

1	Gildoorf	00:59.485	+0.000
2	Prblanco	01:00.041	+0.556
3	32bobo32	01:00.866	+1.381
4	Carl_gpgames	01:01.061	+1.576
5	KerleyF1	01:01.155	+1.670

The now non-existent turns 11-12-13 and 14 are a series of tight corners and a chicane, which Gildoorf effortlessly dances through with aggression and speed. He is driving beautifully as he has done all season. Prblanco lines up his car well, but could be much more aggressive with the speed he can take through there. 32bobo32 is using lots of kerb when he's not overshooting the corner and is testing all the track limits as the kerb finishes in turn 13 and 14. Carl looks like he's on a leisurely Sunday drive, whilst Kerley struggles to find the limit on his way through. 

1:19 - Turns 15 and 16 are flat as you prepare to brake for the tight section around the hotel. Gildoorf lines himself up nicely through turn 17, as does Prblanco. 32bobo32 is locked in a battle with Carl, as he once again aggressively understeers, using as much kerb as he can. Kerley nearly loses it, going too deep into the corner. 

Prblanco is keeping Gildoorf honest here, and he's hoping he can make some gains using the wheel in this sector. Gildoorf is visibly closer to the limit, carrying great speed through the double left handers, whilst Prblanco shows us how to drive with only an inch of your wheel on the white line and be within track limits. Carl continues to close down 32bobo32 as he neatly takes the left hand bends, whilst 32bobo32 forgets about the right hand side of the track on the exit of turn 19. Kerley also neatly drives through this section. 

1:38 - We're into the final two turns, and they are deceptively tricky and you can gain lots of time here. Turn 20 is super fast, but you have to be brave and super committed, as Gildoorf usually is, using all the exit kerb available. Prblanco, whilst keeping Gildoorf honest, just does not have the same confidence through here. It's not going great for 32bobo32, who is starting to look lost... it's like he leaps to surprise that a corner has suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Kerley takes a good amount of speed in, but is hesitant to get the power back on again on the exit. 

The final turn is an opportunity for Prblanco to gain on Gildoorf, but he's too far gone as the two cross the finish line. Carl runs a bit wide in the final turn, but it doesn't matter, because 32bobo32 is having another shocking final sector, as Kerley begins to close in on him. 

Across the line they go. 

1	Prblanco	00:43.553	+0.000
2	Gildoorf	00:43.724	+0.171
3	Carl_gpgames	00:45.829	+2.276
4	32bobo32	00:46.605	+3.052
5	KerleyF1	00:48.078	+4.525

Prblanco sets the purple sector times rather unsurprisingly, but its Gildoorf who is able to keep the gap down to under two-tenths of a second, doing heroics on the keyboard once more. There's a massive gulf between the leading duo and the chasing pack which Carl leads through sure and steady driving, ahead of 32bobo32. We expected Kerley to struggle, but he's lost 4.5 seconds in this sector alone. 

The overall times are:

1	Gildoorf	01:43.209	+0.000
2	Prblanco	01:43.594	+0.385
3	Carl_gpgames	01:46.890	+3.681
4	32bobo32	01:47.471	+4.262
5	KerleyF1	01:49.233	+6.024

Gildoorf closes out the season with his second straight win, a classy drive to close out the season. Prblanco is competitive here, but is unable to extract the most out of the wheel to really challenge for the win. I'm sure he'll be happy with the second place finish, his first in that position this year, with a relatively small gap to the winner. Congratulations to Carl for his third podium finish of the year, despite being at the back of the pack at the end of the first sector. He'll enjoy beating 32bobo32 for the first time since Turkey. Further back 32bobo32 once again falters in the final sector, having run quite strongly for over half the lap. Kerley enjoyed a good first sector, and will enjoy two points for completing the rest of the lap. 

Carl: "Congratulations to @Gildoorf to win our last race of the season! @Prblanco was following closely and deserves his P2! for myself, i'm happy to score another podium. 🙂 🍾🍾🍾

It's been an amazing season, thanks to all of you @Fongu, @Gildoorf, @Prblanco, @32bobo32, @Kerley F1, @Duffer! Let's do it again!"

Fongu: "Congrats on another excellent victory @Gildoorf"

Gildoorf: "Thanks, @Carl_gpgames. Flawless lap, congrats for another well deserved podium, mate! @Prblanco, amazing performance recovering a lot of ground at Yas Hotel section. It was a fantastic first TTL Season, what a great achievement from all of us! Now looking forward 2022 Contest, let's go!"  

32bobo32: "Congratulation mates! A really nice Championship! My First One ever!" 

Prblanco: "It seems I finally got my second place 😆" 

And just like that, the season is over. You'd think we'd all be on top form, having had over 20 rounds to hone our skills and put on a really good show for the final round. That was the case for two of the competitors, but the driving standards of the others speaks more of a need for a break! 

Final Standings 

Thanks to Prblanco for this lovely graphic as we close out the season. 

With 14 wins from 22 rounds, never finishing lower than second the championship, the table says I rather dominated it. The reality was that there was only a few rounds where that was the case, but there were some hard fought victories in there, some of them I'm quite proud of. 

Gildoorf takes a commanding second place finish, deserving of more than just four victories. He's the only one to use the keyboard at all rounds, being competitive in all of them, never failing to finish on the podium. Only two of those podium finishes were third places, which speaks of the great quality on displayed on every type of track we visited. An incredible performance, exemplified with his fine victories at the tail end of the year. 

Prblanco had a rollercoster kind of a year, with four victories and six other podium finishes. But he did finish in the bottom two on five occassions, as he flip flopped between using the keyboard and a steering wheel. A lot of the credit to the wonderful tracks we raced on this year has to go to Prblanco, especially newly updated tracks at Imola, Zandvoort and Losail this season, as well as small updates on previous works unmentioned. Good cc-lines ensured that keyboard players had a chance and that can't be understated how valuable that is to the competition. 

32bobo32 has given us lots of joy over the season and boasts eight third place finishes. We lose count of how many times he looked competitive only to throw it away with a dodgy sector here or there. We hope he gets his wheel working properly and we look forward to more battles in the next one. 

Carl ends the season on a high with a podium finish. Ever smooth on the wheel and pedal application, there's been a few glimpses of how fast that style can be. This championship would not be anywhere near as fun, and these reports would certainly not exist, without his dedication to making the videos and motivating us all to compete. 

Whilst Kerley has spent a lot of time at the back of the pack, there's been visible improvements in competitiveness, after taking on board advice and putting it into practice. Two podiums mid-season in Russia and Turkey were most definitely highlights, as well as nearly getting on the podium in his home race in Brazil. He's also competed in every round, not all of us could say that. 

Duffer competed fairly regularly at the beginning of the year, showing some great pace at a few rounds, and nearly getting the victory in Montreal. It's a shame he never had the motivation or time to do more rounds, but we look forward to him getting his new wheel and pedals setup in time for next season. 

I just wanted to thank all the guys for kindly inviting me into this competition, for your dedication in creating these great tracks so that I can beat you at them. But seriously, it's not been an easy year for anyone and it's good to have some good-natured fun and banter as we all found new ways to enjoy this 20-year old game. I hope you've enjoyed following along as we head off for a bit of a break. Expect some shake ups to the format when we return next season when we do this all over again.