ACC Monday Pre Season rules and driver swap test races

Thanks Marty, again really solid advice! Technique with the GTR i think is critical and I might need a bit more time working ACC to get my head around it. It's a bit of a change from AC where I found it very simple to work a setup around my driving style because even small tweaks were immediately noticeable.
Big swings like a 7 increment adjustment are generally saved for the head scratch moment when I'm just looking for a direction, but I'm beginning to think that either setup isn't that important in ACC or that there is something fundamental in the behaviour of GT3 cars that I'm overlooking (my other sim racing is mostly touring car based).

I have put up a practice server that has a 15 min qualy and 20 min race at Brands hatch and a 5 minute pit window for compulsory tyre change.

RaceOnOZ.com 01 *AUSTRALIA* ROOZ Monday/Wednesday Pit Window Test Password Server q10 r20 pit window 5m

This server has a password "rooztest" if anyone wants to do some testing to see if this feature works as designed.

I have shortened the sessions in the pit window test to 10q 20r. I may have fixed the crash as I originally had pitstops allowed in practice from when we did the driver swap tests. These dont work without driver swaps in the current build anyway and by disabling that I had no crashes from the test server.

Tomorrow night I will try make the 2x 30 min races with a Mandatory stop for tyres and see if the server is stable in practice when this goes up before the race. Or anyone else that does test the server post here if you have a UE4 game crash which is the main issue we have had with forced server rules and driver swaps in the current build.

This Monday is the Honda only race at Brands Hatch, I will give it a second attempt at testing the pit window, there is a practice server up with password "rooztest" setup at Brands with 10 min qualy 20 min race with a 5 minute pit window mid race and no race refuelling allowed. If anyone can test this server and see if they have any UE4 crashes in this server or if it runs ok.

Monday at 7:30 aest the race server will go up, if there are no crash issues for anyone during the 60 min practice session it will be kept that way to test the pit window. If there are still game crashes then we will revert to an open 60 minute race in the Hondas at Brands but ideally testing the pit window would be more usefull.

Currently there is no penalty for not stopping in the pit window so it makes using this in a league format mostly pointless still but at least in a fun run we should all be able to manage to make a stop.

I did test the practice server again today with no crashes, if anyone wants to test this its only on the passworded server as we cant force rules in an open server currently. The rules aren't enforced anyway in results so that would make it useless in an open server anyone with no penalty for those that dont do the mandatory stop, possibly the results files will show it someone does the stop but will need @SteveDrivingSlowly to check that out after we have a test race.

Had a drive around and did a pit earlier - no crashes for me - although the menu did not clear the mandatory pit stop (?)

Was looking through the data of past races and the pit stop data seems to be almost random - I think probably problems with that. If we can complete a race with a whole bunch of people in this will definitely help to try and work out what it all means.

In other news I love driving the Honda.

Had a quick run on the server today, did quali and one 20min race, didn’t have any game related issues.
Didn’t realise that here was a compulsory stop window but actually got notified to make sure I do a stop before the window closed which was handy

And after another quick run I seem to have broke the load cell in the brake pedal so wont make it today. Has not been a good run recently with all the performance issues and now this. I think I have spares somewhere, will need to see whats involved in changing this

dude that’s no good! Good luck with the fix.

Server is up, will be a 60 minute sprint race at Brands hatch, a 10 minute pit window (must change tyres) mid race and no refuelling allowed during the race. Password is still "rooztest"

Results from tonight, well done to all that made it tonight.



With race results you can also click any drivers name in session to get full lap data from the session. Thanks to @SteveDrivingSlowly who's doing good work with our results for now.

Hopefully after 1.1 we will be able to run a full season with rules, and full results where we can actually enforce things like pit windows as currently these are only a suggestion. No penalties for not stopping in the window and the results files dont show who made a pit stop and what they did in it.

Meaning all we could really do is run single session sprints, with even enduros unable to limit stint times meaning the cars that can run longer have a pretty big advantage. The Honda could probably do a 2 hr race on a single tank which may almost make up for the fact its pretty slow.

That was a fun race thanks for organising. I was so far off the pace, lots to learn.

Happy to get up into 6th though.

Its a pretty tough field here even with the relatively smaller numbers, as numbers build there will be more people to race at the front mid and back of the field. Lets hope 1.1 brings a boost in users to ACC or at least we can get more for when we can run a proper full league season.

I had a very fun and eventful race.

On lap 1 there was a collision between two or three cars right in front of me and I got caught up in the aftermath, clipping Nanlatt and spinning. This put me dead last with 12 seconds to the next car. I got my head down and tried to get on with it although I couldn’t find the same pace I had in practice. I worked my way up to 7th behind Mael but was not catching him - pushing led to a few mistakes and losing time so I decided to knock it back a notch and wait for my chance.

During the pit stop I somehow made up 6 seconds which put me in the perfect place to take advantage of Mael going off soon after the stop. 6th place.

Next was a fuel mishap for the Captain, which put me in 5th. Then something happened with Frost (fuel as well?) and I was in 4th!

Qualified 7th, down to 12th and back up to 4th - I’ll take that! Thanks for the race gents!

Dishearteningly off the pace (compared to the fast guys, I brake too early, get on the throttle too late), and battling myself with too many spins and light touches of the barriers that damaged my car. Just weird spins, mid corner, on corner exit, that dent your confidence and make you nervous that you're going to spin again. But similar to Steve, I qualified 10th and somehow finished 5th.

I don't know how to make up that extra speed - if I try to brake later, I don't make the corner, and if I try to get on the gas too soon I spin.

Onwards and upwards to Spa!

I found this car really tough to learn and had the exact same experience with it last week. I put a lot of hours in over the weekend to try and get my head around it (I think I drove 8-10 hours on brands in the honda in the last week).

I am by no means 'fast' and still struggle for consistency - I got into the low 1:25's and generally averaging mid 26's to low 27's. I practiced by running 30 minute races against AI at around 90% strength - start at the back and try and fight your way up the field. This forced me to get off line and use different braking points all the time and when you get a clear lap you really relish it. This was a bit of an 'aha' moment for a noob like me - because I was suddenly focusing on the feeling of the car in each corner and the speed I was entering at rather than trying to hit the exact same braking point on the track with max braking force every time like I had been previously. I found braking earlier and softer on some corners was much faster, and getting really smooth on the throttle was critical with this car for safety and consistency.

In the race last night I was really affected by the early crash - it is amazing how your concentration and plan can just evaporate like that! I think that is one of the things I like most about this - it is a real challenge of skill, strategy and mental attitude as well - makes you admire the fast guys even more.

I went back to the Ferrari and drove Barcelona and set a new PB 1 second faster than before the Honda practice...so I think definitely a lot learned this week for me!

I was battling the same demons @Wally. To be so off the pace on a short track.......I think the nature of the track means small improvement everywhere will make a big difference. I found getting the turn in point right to be the biggest challenge.

What time did you manage around Barcelona @SteveDrivingSlowly ?

1:44.6 which is still more than a second off the fast guys here, and I think I ruptured a testicle getting it too.

Haha....I did a 1:44.8 last time we were there in qualy. Might have to give it another shot, see if dealing with the Honda has helped me any. Mind you I didn't put in the practice effort you did.....