I remember reading a blog last year about this brit that got to the national final and got to 12 on the beep test, im thinking there is no way that guy is a gamer lol.
Good news and bad news. Good is that there are still 14 places up for grabs, and those who can get into the .03's will be through. 1.04.1xx is the best so far. Bad news is that I think only G27 users have any hope. The rigs are really awful. I didn't realise how spoilt I've been using my Fanatec and Thrustmaster gear. I practiced with FFB at it's lowest and surprised myself with a 1.03.2xx, and could do high 3's on my out lap. I went there quietly confident. Doing the Bathurst race I couldn't reach the pedals (yep I'm short but no midget) so I was forward on the seat and had my legs in the air. I whacked the walls a few times and thought I won't bother going back but my mate talked me around. For the qual with a tight track and lots of direction change having no FFB was impossible for my poor brain. I nearly had a spin on the back straight because the wheel doesn't try to self center. If you have a G27 or a wheel that you can turn the FFB off get practicing. I got a 5.3xx on my out lap as I was trying to get a bit of feel for the wheel and couldn't better it as each time I would push it I'd lose control of the car and blow the lap. I'm disappointed personally but think a few guys here who have logitech gear could pull off something special at a live event with enough practice. And to be honest I've had such a great weekend I left the tent laughing at the end and had a few beers and enjoyed the racing.
The fact that there is no force feedback is an absolute disgrace. Don't get me wrong, I love my setup with the G27, and maximum FFB, but I've always thought the feedback was weak. But nothing at all? Come on.
Yep international track. Blk edition not mask. Tcs and abs 1, all else off. The shifter paddles on the rig I used for the Silverstone time trial were r00ted as well so practice watching yr gears. Another hint is to practice with sound way down cause you can't hear anything.
when there is a lack of feel of whats going on, the key is to underdrive. atleast this way you will be within a second of what your best will be.
I set up the wheel this morning and do a few laps. 1st time I've had it out for a while. Did a 104 flat so I was over a second off. Didn't feel comfortable in the rig but that's the way it goes sometimes.
Bad luck monstar, you'll get another chance during the online qualifiers. Hope you and everyone else can make it for that. Congratulations on the baby too
I was in attendance at the F1 for the weekend, and also at the Nissan Marquee for 2 runs at the GT Academy live event. The initial qualifying run was a breeze to qualify for the next stage, I could have spun twice and still made it under 2'18, not bragging or anything but it wasn't that hard If you just took your time and drove cautiously where needed, aka downhill section. Ran 2'10 and 2'11. The Silverstone time trial was a different story If you were hell bent on getting a fast time that is. The feedback was non-existent, the sound was muffled, due to outside interferences and lack of earphones, that's two very important sensory mechanisms severely diminished. The car wasn't that hard to drive but you needed to be very slight with your steering inputs, particularly exiting corners and when the car seemed to be becoming unstable, soon as you started over driving or over correcting, you would fail. Of the 10 laps I did, 6 were either spun off's or invalidated, so my efforts were really poor. Should have been in the very low 03's with my sectors If I just linked a lap together that is, in the end managed 1'03.9 in my 10th and final lap, I was alerted by the guy that I just set the fastest time of all of the live events to date (all of 2 lol). I met Tepez (online Id, was the yellow car in the final race of 2010 national final, forget his name) and his friend, we were all complaining of the bizarre setup and lack of feel for the combo, but I knew that there was no point in any of us complaining as everyone had the exact same setup as everyone else, so the playing field was still even. I asked him If he was excited about having another crack, he said he was nervous, I said you will breeze through this, and after downing a coffee or 2, he probably got the best time of 1'04.3 of the eligible participants, although I didn't hang around to find out. I expect the time I did to be easily eclipsed by the talent in Sydney but thought I'd like to input my 2 cents, the whole event was run really well, not much waiting, easy touch pad registration forms, and 6 rigs that were very comfortable. Only issue I had was the distance it was from everything else, It was a long time consuming walk to get to the extremities of that side of the track where it was located.
the video from my laps in a formula ford at lakeside http://s1163.photobucket.com/user/BenjaminSmith01/media/20140324_160754.mp4.html http://www.ffea.com.au is the website for them. also Ash Walsh from the V8 Development series is one of the instructors that volunteer for them. Great for getting some actual seat time before GT Academy
