Sep 16, 2015
It’s been a long time since I posted something sim racing related on my little blog-Web-type-site-thing, but I figured it might be time to do it.
I work for a developer, our product is rFactor 2, that’s the racing game/sim (whatever the hell you want to call it) that I’ll be using.
My plan is to run a series of 48-minute races against the A.I. that should require one pit stop. They’ll use accelerated time to simulate a 24-hour lighting cycle in the 48 minutes (one hour lighting changes every two minutes). I’ll use normal speed realroad (rubber laid into the track, and normal fuel usage, tire wear, etc. I want to win the GT2 class, but would also like to avoid being lapped by the GT1 leader if I can!
Qualifying went well, but is never my strongest session, so I lined up 15th overall (5th in GT2).
The start went well and I quickly worked my way through the pack, battling both GT2 and GT3 entries. By lap 4 I held the lead in the GT2 class, 8th overall.
Once I got to the lead of the GT2 cars, the track became a very lonely place… I raced along for quite a few laps of total darkness, eventually seeing lights up ahead that ended up being GT4 cars for me to put a lap down.
On lap 10 I came in for my only pit stop of the race, though I had gained so much of an advantage in those first few laps, I came out right behind the battle for 2nd in the GT2 class.
After passing the 2nd-place car in GT2, I found myself 12 seconds behind the GT2 leader. He eventually pitted on lap 14 and that gave me a decent lead over all the GT2 and GT3 cars. Not long after that, the sun appeared and the track became a totally different environment, but again, a very lonely place to lead a race!
I lapped alone (except for the occasional GT4 car) the rest of the race, but steadily became aware that the lead GT1 car (the overall race leader) was approaching fast… While a shorter 10-lap stint had helped me at the start of the race, I was really beginning to suffer towards the end. By lap 22 (final lap), they were destroyed and although very drive-able, I had to take it pretty easy… Seeing that orange Nissan GT-R closing in to lap me actually felt like a lot of pressure!
My fastest lap was a 2:11 and that felt pretty comfortable really. I won my GT2 class and finished 8th overall, behind all the GT1 cars.
| Fin | Driver | Interval | Class | Cl Pos |
| 1 | Gary Randall (A.I.) | N/A | GT1 | 1 |
| 8 | Timothy Wheatley | +1 Lap | GT2 | 1 |
| 9 | Brewer / Auerbach (A.I.) | +1 Lap | GT2 | 2 |
| 10 | Gjoey Pete (A.I.) | +1 Lap | GT2 | 3 |
| 11 | Helio Grindelwald (A.I.) | +1 Lap | GT3 | 1 |