Hello, racers!
As you're probably well-aware, this is going to be one of the most demanding rounds of the 2008 season, and I want to make sure that we're all properly prepared and in the right mindset for it. FE Gold offers a lot of challenges--high curbs, tight pit entry/exit, and lots of places to go off at high speed. In all likelihood, we will not see another SC-free race like we did at KY2. But we can minimize the chaos if we work together on it. Here are some things to keep in mind:
1) Last race we saw a dramatic improvement in the way you all handled lapping and being lapped. This was great to see, and I hope that it continues on this tighter, more difficult track. Lapped cars and lapping cars alike must realize that FE Gold contains corners that tighten drastically and can prevent cars from going through side-by-side. We strongly recommend, for example, against attempting passes into the chicane, or through the final downhill corner in the esses--these will almost always end in disaster. Please, just use your heads and remember that 4 hours is a very long race. If you lose a few seconds waiting for a safe place to pass, there's almost always time to make it back up.
A quick refresher on the dos and don'ts of lapping/being lapped:
Drivers are expected to queue at pit exit in an orderly fashion. There should be NO bumping in the queue. If somehow contact in the pits knocks an innocent driver across the pit exit, the incident will be reviewed and the driver who put him there will be given a harsh penalty.
In order to hopefully lessen the chance of this happening, we have added the following bit to our FE3 layout:
We ask that the first driver in line with a closed pit exit stop where the signs indicate so that there is a nice "buffer zone" before anyone is in danger of crossing the line. FE Gold is already a tight pit lane, and this addition makes it a little tighter. We ask that you do not use the final pit box, except in case of emergency.
3) For this and subsequent rounds, we have introduced a SC Alert command: "$SC". It must be in all caps--$sc will not do anything. We encourage drivers to bind this command to a wheel button or to an ALT/CTRL+F-key bind. When used, the bind sends a visual alert to all connected admins with your car number, driver name, and current sector. Admins will then train their eyes on you and assess the situation.
This alert should be used if:
Please do not abuse this bind, and do not spam it. One use per incident, please.
4) The pit entry on this track is particularly tricky, as it comes on the inside of the exit of a high speed corner. Please, in entering the pits do not slow drastically while on the racing line if there is a car behind you. If a car is following closely and you need to pit, consider using your blinkers to indicate that you are pitting.
The pit entry commit/blend line is marked out by poles. By the time you reach the white perpendicular lines, you must be within the yellow lines.
When exiting the pits, be aware of cars approaching from behind. As long as you are within the yellow exit lines, you have the right of way, but that doesn't mean you need to make things difficult for cars on-track. The pit exit here dumps you directly onto part of the racing line, so don't try to contest position with a car going much, much faster than you.
5) There will be LOW WIND for this round, as the forecast for Kingston shows 10-20mph winds tomorrow. Please make sure to get some practice in with a variety of conditions in the low wind range, as this is going to play further havoc tomorrow.
Password is the same as it has been for previous rounds. New teams will get a PM.
6) Please, please, please have someone from your team available on IRC/Ventrilo/TS. This is not just so you can contact us, but also so we can contact you (in events like lag, skin problems, etc). IRC is the most central hub, and also the least resource-intensive.
7) The tracker can be found at: http://dbpservers.com/igtc/
As you can see, there is a regular and an ajax-powered version of the tracker, as well as a fastest laps page.
Each team name on the tracker page can be clicked, and the team page will provide some vital stats, including laptimes compared against cars ahead and behind.
Good luck out there!
IGTC Admin Team
As you're probably well-aware, this is going to be one of the most demanding rounds of the 2008 season, and I want to make sure that we're all properly prepared and in the right mindset for it. FE Gold offers a lot of challenges--high curbs, tight pit entry/exit, and lots of places to go off at high speed. In all likelihood, we will not see another SC-free race like we did at KY2. But we can minimize the chaos if we work together on it. Here are some things to keep in mind:
1) Last race we saw a dramatic improvement in the way you all handled lapping and being lapped. This was great to see, and I hope that it continues on this tighter, more difficult track. Lapped cars and lapping cars alike must realize that FE Gold contains corners that tighten drastically and can prevent cars from going through side-by-side. We strongly recommend, for example, against attempting passes into the chicane, or through the final downhill corner in the esses--these will almost always end in disaster. Please, just use your heads and remember that 4 hours is a very long race. If you lose a few seconds waiting for a safe place to pass, there's almost always time to make it back up.
A quick refresher on the dos and don'ts of lapping/being lapped:
- If you're being lapped, do not contest a clearly-presented pass.
- If you've been lapped, do not attempt to re-pass immediately.
- If you're lapping, be clear to the driver ahead what you intend to do. Do not surprise them.
Drivers are expected to queue at pit exit in an orderly fashion. There should be NO bumping in the queue. If somehow contact in the pits knocks an innocent driver across the pit exit, the incident will be reviewed and the driver who put him there will be given a harsh penalty.
In order to hopefully lessen the chance of this happening, we have added the following bit to our FE3 layout:
We ask that the first driver in line with a closed pit exit stop where the signs indicate so that there is a nice "buffer zone" before anyone is in danger of crossing the line. FE Gold is already a tight pit lane, and this addition makes it a little tighter. We ask that you do not use the final pit box, except in case of emergency.
3) For this and subsequent rounds, we have introduced a SC Alert command: "$SC". It must be in all caps--$sc will not do anything. We encourage drivers to bind this command to a wheel button or to an ALT/CTRL+F-key bind. When used, the bind sends a visual alert to all connected admins with your car number, driver name, and current sector. Admins will then train their eyes on you and assess the situation.
This alert should be used if:
- You've flipped.
- You are out of fuel.
- You are stuck in the sand.
- You are involved in a wreck that involves a significant portion of the field or that is blocking the track
Please do not abuse this bind, and do not spam it. One use per incident, please.
4) The pit entry on this track is particularly tricky, as it comes on the inside of the exit of a high speed corner. Please, in entering the pits do not slow drastically while on the racing line if there is a car behind you. If a car is following closely and you need to pit, consider using your blinkers to indicate that you are pitting.
The pit entry commit/blend line is marked out by poles. By the time you reach the white perpendicular lines, you must be within the yellow lines.
When exiting the pits, be aware of cars approaching from behind. As long as you are within the yellow exit lines, you have the right of way, but that doesn't mean you need to make things difficult for cars on-track. The pit exit here dumps you directly onto part of the racing line, so don't try to contest position with a car going much, much faster than you.
5) There will be LOW WIND for this round, as the forecast for Kingston shows 10-20mph winds tomorrow. Please make sure to get some practice in with a variety of conditions in the low wind range, as this is going to play further havoc tomorrow.
Password is the same as it has been for previous rounds. New teams will get a PM.
6) Please, please, please have someone from your team available on IRC/Ventrilo/TS. This is not just so you can contact us, but also so we can contact you (in events like lag, skin problems, etc). IRC is the most central hub, and also the least resource-intensive.
7) The tracker can be found at: http://dbpservers.com/igtc/
As you can see, there is a regular and an ajax-powered version of the tracker, as well as a fastest laps page.
Each team name on the tracker page can be clicked, and the team page will provide some vital stats, including laptimes compared against cars ahead and behind.
Good luck out there!
IGTC Admin Team
