Championship review by a Newbie

[SuperSWIFT]

First, thanks for Fillneuve for organizing, JCC for setting up the server, GC for hosting and all racers for the gentlemanly racing!

Before joining the GCCPnGDC League, I raced only offline with an old MS Sidewinder racing wheel. But early last year I upgraded to a G25, followed by a monitor upgrade (and subsequent graphics card, power supply, etc).

Now the reality factor of the P&G mode really struck me, especially with the excellent FFB patcher, provided with P&G v2. So much that when I revert to GTL now, I’m having trouble to enjoy it

With the new G25 wheel, I had to learn to drive again, using only Simulation mode and using the H-pattern shifter with manual clutch. After finishing an offline championship, I tried an online P&G Fun race (Hockenheim Short with TR4) and was hooked! Also, I was amazed at how much faster you guys were and what I did wrong (apart from car choice )

After the announcement for the GCCPnGDC last October, I was excited to take part, but had some doubts about my own racing abilities. My main goal would be finishing and not to be an obstacle for you other racers lapping me. In that, I think I succeeded. Almost all tracks were new to me and also I had to adept my set-up and driving style to tire wear and fuel use. I learned a lot and made some noob mistakes as well (wrong fuel load, forgetting to turn the engine off when in pits, etc). Also the pre-race tension build-up was new to me, with the fact that you need at least as much practice laps as the race will be to gain some experience on car set-up and behavior. Looking back at the results, I can surely tell at what race I had more time to practice and when not

Some remarks on the GCCPnGDC racing season (no critics):

1/ Would it be nice if the winner shares his racing set-up after the race, so the lesser gods can learn a thing or two? You are so much faster then me!

2/ Another suggestion I mentioned before in another post regarding car choice: I generally chose a car from the carset that I really liked. During the races, I observed that almost everyone always chose the fastest car from the carset (for instance in the Fat Cats & Featherweights race I was the only Fat Cat). It would make a race more interesting with a mixed field of cars. I enjoyed racing slower cars and have my own battle. Maybe race-winners could choose the ‘slower’ cars for the next race and show their supremacy?

All in all, I had a really good time racing with you and looking forward to a new P&G season

Cheers folks!

[paraDIABOLICA]

Let's use a system in which who won the previous race must use a slower car in the next event. If so, be careful in choosing the cars for there cannot be too much or to little difference in performance (2-5 seconds per lap i could suggest).

[Whoopster]

Most of the time set-ups are personal..... Sometimes i will be faster with someone elses set-up but it is at rare occassion.
Still if ur a "noob" at setting up cars it could help..

[PuG]

Originally Posted by SuperSWIFT

1/ Would it be nice if the winner shares his racing set-up after the race, so the lesser gods can learn a thing or two? You are so much faster then me!

See I tend to disagree when it comes to setups - in general you learn nothing by downloading, and overall the setup is only the sum of the driver. The problem you have with say using the race winners is you don't feel, or know the subtle changes that have gone into it, and ontop of that its been tailored for the driver and the setup may still be only average.

What you really want is a small guide (printed out so you can look at whilst ingame) which tells you what each setting in the garage does, and hopefully the overall result. I know theirs one available for GTR2 but can't find it off hand.

As for my own setups I never give them out, not because theirs anything special but I tend to prefer unstable cars with a tendency to oversteer due to my driving style. They wouldn't be suitable for someone else just to pick up, but I would hazard a guess Taco is the reverse and tends to prefer a stable setup with allot of mileage to test?

When I first started league racing back in the Alfacup I use to be rubbish, often 5 laps down at the end of the race and always last - but over the course of a season or two with allot of practice I managed to slowly claw my way through the field, and ultimately learn't you can't beat clocking up good mileage, and more importantly understanding the car your driving.

Between races I use to practise nearly every day for the full two weeks, and normally the setup would progress whilst and learning the track to a point you can match sector times lap after lap - and as result be very much on the limit during the race without making the mistakes. Some of best racing ive done was with Baracus and Stu but that was sometime ago :) we use follow each other virtually point blank all braking at the same times and rarely ever ruffling bodywork for the full 60 minutes.

Anyway, thats firstly why I think sticking to a selected carset season long is important, it allows drivers to learn the car, learn setups and carry them over from race to race, and also answer why I don't like 10 minute pick up races on Friday :) ive spent enough time over the years trundling around at the back, I enjoy being competitive and not just driving online for the sake of driving online :)

I think you've done well Swift (as allot of the drivers like Kent), and im sure next season your notice a difference.