GRM - Gran Turismo 5 Racing League - Series 3

Pics from the Z06 race...

Viva la France...

Everyone (for the most part) played nicely through the first couple corners...

The "invisible twins" now have twin cars...

I jump 3 places as we go into Mulsanne, and give everyone a drafting buddy...

Nick should have stayed inside...

My view about 1.5 seconds before rear-ending Nick...

Indianapolis... no the other Indianapolis...

Close racing...

Nick meets barrier, gives up the lead... for the record I was a long way back at this point...

Good racing, despite the weather...

Aren't cones a 2 second penalty?

Paint job shows well...

Passing Grae for the lead after he had a slight bobble..

Here comes the dark...

I hit the world's smallest patch of grass (watch the replay) and spun at the start of lap 5, did engine damage, and then was no match for Graefin as we sped down Mulsanne...

As the sun rises, Graefin takes home a well earned victory!

I see i wasn't in the race long enough to show off my uber sexy Vette.

The gold chrome did look nice.

I'm sure it will show well at Monaco... if you show up...

Brad, np at all. I understood what you meant, after all, I was the one whining about using max penalties. I enjoy having someone to race with much more than a solitary run. My brief time spent in close proximity to Apex, T.J., and either Cam or concealer, I don't remember who was in the 97 type R, was the most enjoyable part of the evening. So my suggestion for lite penalties was to hopefully keep the racing closer. Having to limp to the pits on a long track pretty much ends your chances for a good finish. So, yes, it might have taken my win away but I wasn't the only person racing last night. I'm quite aware that everyone wants to do well in these events even though it is just a game. This is just my opinion and it's no biggy either way.

The "black brick" would usually hit 175 before braking for the first chicanne too. I'll bet the game designers took it into consideration to keep the HH candidates close in performance. It seems to me that they are all pretty competitive. Apex. it'll be interesting to see how the "arrow" does on a track where turn in is more important than top speed. The names "black brick" and "arrow" popped into my mind when I tried to draft by you last night. I moved out for the pass and immediately started slowing down and you started going back by. I got so focused on that that I missed my brake marker and slid into the sand trap. I've seen people referr to racing Volvos as bricks before.

That was Cam... i was in the army/puke/flat green/blue/grey Clio.

Nice pics yeah I had a good start in the Z06 race and was pulling away a little but, then the lock up to the wall, luckily I was right at the pits. Don't worry Brad, it's all in close racing, I had little wheel damage but it honestly was still fully drivable. But hey, just ask Ben, I kept it clean and consistent during the rest of the race

HH, yeeeaaahhhh, I just had fun LOL Alfa is definetly not a fast track kind of car. Monaco though is my favorite, hopefully my love for understeer won't be too bad.

Ben, love the color description lmao

In reply to NickF40: Nick said: "hopefully my love for understeer won't be too bad."

When did you start loving understeer drifter?

hahaha

yeah that's like wednesday, it was going from holy slideways oversteer to holy let's not turn on and off power understeer

you guys should see my Izuzu Trial Mountain Drift session

In reply to NickF40:

I tried one of the drift trial events in the seasonal section and managed a bronze but I didn't have a clue, just what I imagined I'd have to do. Lo and behold you get points by being sideways and making smoke, not speed. Once I got that, I got my points up enough for the bronze and hung it up. I did it with a Sylvia N.A. car. I can see where it would be fun with some practice. I've joined drift rooms @ Tsukuba just to watch the guys do some syncronized runs. Some of them did a pretty good job for a few corners but it must be really hard to keep it up for a whole lap.

Hey Brad, while looking @ your flikr pictures I ran across those of you and the kid watching "Top Gear". In all the pics the kid appeared to be watching intently.

Have you had time to give much thought to the next series? If so what cars will we be running? How about NASCAR stocks followed by Kei Cars

In reply to Graefin10:

Actually, I have given some thought to the next series....

• My initial thoughts for the 2 classes are GTs and Saloons. GTs featuring only Premium models that are FR, 2+2, HP, weight and tire restrictions. Saloons would be any 4-door car, HP, weight and tire restrictions. I haven't worked up the numbers yet.
• No thoughts on tracks yet.

Also, I am thinking of accepting a successor for admin and hosting duties. I have a challenge car that needs work in my garage. Job requirements:

• high speed internet
• availability on Wednesday evenings
• understanding on how to work excel / google docs
• time to watch the replays

In reply to BradLTL:

Those two classes sound interesting. I bought a used "saloon car" this morning.

I know this has been taking a lot of your time. If you're successful in getting a volunteer will you have time to continue to race with us? I hope so. I think that all of us are getting better at this. Do you know if PSN has organized events? Or are there other options to find an online league? I've entered several random rooms and to tell the truth didn't enjoy most of them. I suppose it's just that many players are quite young and begin to annoy others intentionally.

Oh, are you going to post a build thread on your car?

In to vote for a no-holds barred no restrictions Saloon series.

IMO... No holds barred tuning tends to ruin diversity. Everyone would just build maxxed out M5 or C63s. Capping it would allow other cars without big engines to be competitive.

I would still race with you guys. Just might miss a race here and there.

I am keeping a webpage / blog on the build... But it is light on information at this point. I am keeping the cards close to my chest on what it is and other details. Some things will be shared, but the car won't be publicly revealed until the Challenge.

I like the format of one class where there is a diverse field and one that is a spec class.

I need to get busy on my garage project myself. My BMW has been off the road since last October and I've essentially not worked on it since March or so. I was aiming to drive it to the Mitty this year and when that deadline was missed I lost momentum.

Brad, I am in the middle of trying to find a new job and possibly relocating. Otherwise I would volunteer to run the next series. As it is, I've not been to motivated to give this current series my full attention, much less try to run the next one.

In reply to BradLTL:

Brad said: "I am keeping the cards close to my chest on what it is and other details. Some things will be shared, but the car won't be publicly revealed until the Challenge."

I don't blame you for that. It makes sense if you're seriously trying to run up front on go for a win. There sure have been some well engineered cars since the start of the challenge events.

I'm just not reliable enough to take on the role of admin. of the series. I have periods of being unable to do anything except lay down and be still. I've entered a couple of race nights being far from at my best. I'm sure we all can say that though. Also, my knowledge of computer use isn't adequate. I have no idea how you did the spread sheet with all the applicable cars on it. That sure was helpful. You posted it after I'd already tested most of the contenders and at least I found that my testing had been accurate. I was considerably faster in the Volvo than the Integra that T.J. is using and the Focus RS that you use but both of you are very fast in those cars. I was fast on long tracks in the RS but I couldn't make it turn @ Tsukuba. I don't know how you did it but you got yours to turn fine. I have learned a trick or two since then though. I sure do hope that the series and the participation doesen't fall apart though. It gives me something to look forward to every week and I'm far from tired or bored with it.

Its cool. Worst case I can run the next series, just may not spend much time outside of the bare minimums.

I'm going to run a 24 lap HH practice race in about 10 min. in my lounge if anyone wants to join me.

BradLTL wrote: IMO... No holds barred tuning tends to ruin diversity. Everyone would just build maxxed out M5 or C63s. Capping it would allow other cars without big engines to be competitive. I would still race with you guys. Just might miss a race here and there. I am keeping a webpage / blog on the build... But it is light on information at this point. I am keeping the cards close to my chest on what it is and other details. Some things will be shared, but the car won't be publicly revealed until the Challenge.

The HH class hasn't turned out to be "un-diverse" at all, but there's clearly a car or two that are the fastest. At the end, we're really doing it for fun.

I know i wouldn't run either of those cars, personally.

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:

Agreed. But if HH would have been limited to say 350HP, do you think the races would be better or worse?

I personally love the Z06. It's a very good handling car and not overpowered like the ZR1 maxed out can be . . . well, it's fun too, it just stresses me out sometimes trying to really use all it's abilities.

BradLTL wrote: In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac: Agreed. But if HH would have been limited to say 350HP, do you think the races would be better or worse?

I don't think they would have changed. It's not just about power, and that would hold true to saloons/sedans as well. It's quite obvious that we're more worried about having fun (otherwise i would have chosen a different car for HH) than crushing the competition. We already have a Spec race, we even made a conscious effort to not have duplicates in the HH race.

Plus when you give "more rope" so to speak, driver skill starts to count more, and not in the same way as the "spec" series. If you bite off more than you can chew in the fastest car and miss one corner because it's just so much to deal with... you're losing a lot of time.

You think any of us are capable of running 3 perfect laps at the Ring with traffic in a full-blown Lotus Carlton?

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: You think any of us are capable of running 3 perfect laps at the Ring with traffic in a full-blown Lotus Carlton?

I've yet to run a single perfect lap of the ring in any car.

BradLTL wrote: In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac: Agreed. But if HH would have been limited to say 350HP, do you think the races would be better or worse?

I thought the idea was to let the sport tires be the limitation. With a 350 hp limit I don't think the races would be that much different.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: If you bite off more than you can chew in the fastest car and miss one corner because it's just so much to deal with... you're losing a lot of time.

Europa