DRIVERS'
BRIEFING
General Drivers
Briefing
for all rounds
Standard Starting
Procedure
Racing Stars From the Green Flag
in all rounds !
The racing at all rounds of the GPLAC Season 9 will
commence at the fall of the Green Flag.
As soon as the Green Flag falls you're racing all
the other drivers on the grid. This means that everyone must be very careful not to charge down
into
Turn 1 too hot. A number of drivers might all arrive at the same place at
the same time, possibly side by side and in each other's blind spots. Everyone
has the responsibility to be conservative and sensible. Be very
careful that there isn't someone beside you as you head towards and enter Turn
- and beyond.
In these long races, what comes after Lap 1 is
almost always far more important than what happens in Turn 1, Lap 1, or
even the first quarter of the race. No one will be happy if you take them out
on the first corner, the first lap, or anywhere else for that matter. Be
conservative, cautious, and cool. Even more so than in the current real life
Formula 1. The places you might make up on Turn 1 or Lap 1 are not what counts
here in most cases.
As twice world champion Graham Hill once said to an impetuous
less experienced colleague who caused several starting incidents in the
real-would F1 racing of that era , ~"You don't start when the Green Flag
falls, you start when the guy in front of you starts ". I guess by that
he meant, you don't mindlessly gun your car as soon as you see the flag drop,
but you use your intelligence to give regard to everything that's in your immediate
'action' environment, and adjust what you do accordingly.
Half GPs are long races. About an hour
of so. Be sure you last the first 10 seconds, the first 10 minuets, and the
first 10 laps.
Alternative Starting Methods
If you think you don't have the skill ( or
the nerve :-) to handle a Green Flag start at this level, or you just don't
want to take the risk of spoiling another driver's race on Lap 1 or Turn 1,
you can always either pull over ( park ) at the start or start from the pits to
remove yourself from the fray and confusion of the start.
Pulling over is the preferred method, due to some
GPL program technical problems that can happen with starts from the pits. See Starting from the
Pits below for the full explanation.
Care and caution should always be high in
your mind though, even with the employing of either of these
methods.
Parking
Parking simply means that you
pull your car over to one side, and even completely off the track if
possible, and well out of the way of other on-track drivers after the
Green Flag falls. Parking does not mean that you have to bring your car to
a complete stop in the process, but simply move off to one side of the
track and out of other's way.
Note that you should only do this
after the Green Flag has fallen and not before it. If you do
this before the Green Flag GPL will impose a black flag penalty against
you that must be served by a pit stop stop-hold-and-go penalty. GPL does
this because any movement of your car before the Green Flag is deemed by
GPL to be an offence. ( You're welcome to do so however if you'd rather incur
the penalty than be on the starting grid at all at the start, but be aware
of the resulting penalty ).
Also, it is highly recommended
that you indicate your intentions to Park by announcing 'Parking' in the
chat facility shortly before the start.
The left hand side of the track will be the
standard designated Parking Zone and all drivers Parking at the start should pull
over to that side of the track only.
Starting from the Pits
To start from the pits you simply don't
click the green button to join the grid at the race start. The green button
will then disappear, the race will start, and then the green button will
reappear after about 15 seconds, and remain there for about 2 minuets after
which it disappears for good. If you thus start from the pits, ( i.e. click
the green button the second time it appears instead of the first ) as soon as
the green button appears for the second time, you'll suffer about a 15 second
penalty. But as it'd be Lap 1, and all the other drivers would be being more
cautious than usual, or bunching up, and may even be very slow though Turn 1 and others -
all going through in a speed-reduced procession, the 15 second penalty may not be nearly as bad
as it sounds. You could well catch up to the back of the field before the end
of Lap 1.
Still be very careful though, as
you may not be the only driver starting from the pits. Never ( as in 'Never!
Never! Never!' ) drive along the pit stall lane just because it looks empty and
available. Move out into the pit driving lane at the tightest angle you can, giving
way to any cars already on the pit driving lane.
Please be aware, if you start from the pits you
may , depending of where your pit stall is in relation to the starting
line, be incorrectly scored by the GPL program as a lap down
on where you should be. We will try to correct this kind of incorrect lap
count in the final race results if we're made aware of it and its fair to
others to do so. Understand then that your pit board may then
be showing you incorrect information for the whole race, which in long
races can be very annoying as well as a disadvantage. Other driver's pit
boards may then also be showing them incorrect information
about you as well, e.g. telling them you're a lap down when in fact you're
racing for position, which is why we don't like people starting from the
pits unless they really need to. If a driver thus lets you pass without
contention, thinking
you're a lap down, they may then successfully protest you.
So ... Starting from the pits
is not recommended, but its there as a last resort if you feel you need
to.
If Unnaturally Slow
or Stopped then Vacate the track ASAP.
If you have recover from a spin or an off, or have to to retire
from the race at any time, there is a vital rule you must observe, which
stated basically is ... Get out of the way, and do it fast !
If
you spin out or crash, anywhere but especially after a blind corner section,
please get
off the driving line and out of the way with the greatest possible haste.
If you car can no longer move then retire as fast as you can to remove it
from teh track.
Absentees
Please let us know as soon as possible if
you can't make your race so we can allocate servers etc as appropriately
as possible. You can use the Can't Make It icon at the
top of this site to generate an eMail to us. Don't wait for your Notice of
Race ( NoR ) advice please. Its much better if we know about
absentees before NoRs are sent out
rather than after.
Chassis Details
You have unrestricted freedom to use
whichever chassis you prefer at each round. But in Round 1 you should
drive the same chassis that you used to establish your pre-qualifying time.
Team members do not have to use
the same chassis.
If you use more than one chassis during the qualifying period, then your
official qualifying time will be the best time achieved in the chassis you
actually use in the race.
Engine swapping, as made possible by some
third party utilities, is not allowed.
If an engine swap is detected, which now can be, you
will be disqualified from the race and may face other penalties including
race bans.
Logging onto Your
Race
If you've not logged onto the server
by 15 minutes before the race start it may be assumed that you don't intend
to take part in the event. Your place may then be given to another driver on
the night depending on the circumstances.
If you know you're going to
be late to log on, please let us know beforehand so your spot is left for you.
Qualifying
The qualifying times set in a qualifying session will have a
direct bearing on your division assignment for the remaining rounds.
Therefore always qualify at your best
possible times.
Grid Formation
Always enter the grid with your brakes applied, as any significant rolling
from your grid position may result in a penalty imposed by the GPL program.
Such penalties must be served or the GPL program will disqualify you.
Because we use grids that are more spaced out than standard you
might find yourself on a more sloping part of the circuit than usual when you join the
grid for the race start. This may cause your car to immediately start
rolling, which can trigger the penalty. So always enter the grid with your
brake applied to prevent this.
Race Starts
Racing begins at the fall of the Green Flag.
Please take great care off the grid, into
Turn 1, and during Lap 1 generally. Your main focus should be to make it to
the end of Lap 1, and to finish the race. Remember, 1/2 GP distance races
are long events taking the best part of an hour, or more, to finish, and
there's no point ending your night after the first 10 seconds.
Because of the more spaced out grids, you may not be able
to see the Start Flagman from your position if you're at the back half of
the grid. In this case you have to watch the cars in front of you and start
when you see them start.
Long Race Car Care
The race distances in GPLAC 8 are 1/2 length GPs. The average race
distance we'll be running is about 110 miles long. These will take about an hour
to run, give or take 10 minute depending on the speed of the track. Long races have some special considerations.
Winning or even finishing a long race is more tactical
and thoughtful that winning a sprint race. In sprint races you can simply
drive every lap like a qualifying lap and hang the consequences. You can't
do that in long races. You have to drive as fast as you can within the
envelope of nursing your car to the finish. Its actually a more
actuate depiction of what racing real cars is all about.
All things being equal, the engines etc on
1967 F1 GP are very capable of lasting 110 miles. In real life, and in GPL
to, they can last twice that distance. The trouble is that many GPL drivers
are only used to much shorter races. In short races you can abuse your car a
great deal and not have to pay the price of it. In long races you have to
take care of your car.
Racing engines can rev to
or under their limit with little or no damage. However they generally can't
rev over their limit, not even by a small degree, without causing some
damage. Engine damage in GPL is accumulative. Every little bit of damage you
do over the race adds up. To make your engine last the distance NEVER over
rev it. Never free rev it. And don't make sloppy gear changes - over revving
or spiking the engine between gears. It's better to make very conservative
gear changes than have your engine expire at 3/4 or less of race distance.
Your suspension also
accumulates damage in GPL. So don't hit the curves hard repeatedly. Don't
touch walls, etc.
Most GPL drivers are not used to driving with the heavy
fuel loads needed to run a long race. Don't wait until the race night
for
the first time to feel what driving a heavy car feels like. Get some
practice with race distance fuel loads.
Race Results
Submitting
Race results must be eMailed to the League Director by the
first 3 place takers in each event as soon as possible after their event has
finished.
Race Results - Sending
In
The results required are the Export
results generated via the Export facility by GPL after a race has
been completed. The Export ' button ' appears only after all cars have
finished the race and the race results are completed.
Click on the word Export
after it appears. You'll be asked to give the file a name, which can be named in
the style of something like " GPLAC 9 Rnd 2 Div 1 " for
example. ( It's nice if you make it clear the series, round, and division
it pertains to ). The file will end up in the ' exports ' directory
of your GPL main directory. Zip the results file if you know how. Zipped or not, ( they're not that big anyway ), send them via eMail attachment to the League Director,
whose address should be on the Management page if you don't already have
it.
Replay Analysis results etc. are not what's
required, however, these can be a big help to add extra interesting detail
in the results presentation. If you know how to do a complete HTML Race Analysis
race report, please do so and send in the entire resulting directory with
all its components.
Long Term Absentees
Please advise us if you'll be absent from the series for a long
period of time, like going on holidays etc.
You wont receive any penalty of any kind, but you'll
be taken off the active drivers' list and you'll no longer receive the
driver's Notice of Race or be assigned a spot in the divisions.
It'll then be up to you to let us know as
soon as you become available again so we can reactivate you.
Best regards and good
Luck.
The GPLAC
9 Management Team
