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NASCAR Driver (Pro V)
 
Posts: 7810
Joined: 08 Apr 2002, 9:45 am

Post 09 Aug 2020, 9:37 am

My random thoughts on the race:

Build - I’m convinced of the advantages of a flexible car that can still function with damage. I typically break something and this race was no exception. That also means no running from the front. I chose middle this time (60 ss, small bid) hoping to be at the hairpin in 2 turns.

The aggressiveness in T4 & T5 resulted from not having a detailed plan - I was going to run an opportunistic race and I saw opportunity. A chance roll in a slow corner was a worthy risk and kept me in the front pack.

Arghhh… blown brakes in the early going. I made them work with only a few subsequent brake rolls.

Hitting the exit row in Scheivlak is worth spending wear on - it’s the only place you can really accelerate out of. Rando took a naked chance to do that late race and it paid off.

The 120 corners on the backstretch kept the 180 engines in check. Without those, Rando and Tim would have run away with this. Of course, without those, there would have been more 180’s on the track. Or even 200’s…

Overall impression: A fun track with lots of open racing. Merino’s tracks often blend long straights with slow (check… really slow) corners, presenting a different challenge than most of Doug’s tracks. We’ll see some more examples of this in the Fall Squall.

Finally - congratulations to Rando, who was one pip away from a win, and Tim for riding their big engines onto the podium from the back of the field. To the CFR newcomers, Kelly & Joe, I hope you both had fun and learned a bit more about this lovely game. Tim and Kevin - I’m glad we pulled you into this format. It’s not quite as good as ‘in person’ but has the advantage of bringing people together from anywhere. Will & Don: Always in the mix and always fun to drive against.

See y'all on the track again, some in less than 2 weeks.

Drive fast & take chances!
Mike
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Indy Car Driver (Pro IV)
 
Posts: 140
Joined: 09 Sep 2014, 9:06 am

Post 09 Aug 2020, 11:53 am

Rando thoughts here (the view from second place).

Mike, thanks again for running this, and congratulations on the win.

Car design, I'm firmly convinced that this track wants 180 top speed. I goofed, I designed my car for 3 laps not two. For a two-lapper I would have gone with 40 brakes and a bit more skill. During the race I decelerated by 60 six times, but I could have managed a few of them slightly differently... Hmm, perhaps 60 decel is the better choice. Plus it allows for breakage without complete disaster.

Anyway, the race progressed according to my plan. I cleared the third corner on move 6, two full moves behind leader Don, but he had a lesser car and fewer resources. Also a full turn behind the mid-pack of 4, also with lesser & fewer.

Move 9 I cleared the 5th corner at 120 so I could go 180 the following turn, letting my powerful engine roar (and catching Kevin in the process). He and I stayed joined at the hip, we ground down the "mid-pack", then I used my big engine for more passing on the long front straight. I'm 3rd after the first lap (up from starting 7th), still with a reasonable 5 wear.

1st corner Will has dived inside me, I'm looking ahead and unless I spend all 5 wear in the next 3 corners with a 100 / 60 / 80 (which was not a crazy idea), then slowing was the order of the day. However, Mr. Polcen was not going to allow me that 100 / 60 / 80, so I had to slow for turn 1. I chose to slow all the way to 60, spending no wear, so as not to tangle with Will. He was clearly surprised that I slowed so much. It allowed me 6 / 80 at no wear cost, still keeping the inside advantage. My slow speed contributed to Kevin's spin, I fear, and also threw Jow off his preferred line.

Will and I side-by-side the next three moves, right through corner 3, I saved one wear vs him by keeping the line, then needed a naked accel to stay side-by-side move 21.

Move 22 was a vital one - and I goofed. Will went 140 to my 120, he grabbed control for the upcoming critical corner 5. I just didn't think ahead clearly enough. If I didn't clear corner 5, that would be "never catch him" territory, so to fix my error I went for a naked chance on move 23. For those of you at home, don't attempt this maneuver, it is not safe. However, I got lucky with a less than 50% chance of success, and thanked my good fortune.

Now already at 140 I made my big engine roar, made a 200 (naked top) roll. This might have been another mistake on my part., because when you roll too many dice, they can bite you. What make the "optional" roll? Instead, 180, then 120, then 140 (1w), Then 200 would probably have been better. In any case, suddenly Will and Don were small in my rear-view, and only Mike was ahead of me. His damaged brakes weren't hurting him too much.

Mike's path had nice tempo on the pair of 120's on that back straight, mine not so much. 140 in the first of those corners (to avoid the brakes roll). Then 120, then a mere 180 again (avoiding a double roll). Finish the final corner one space behind Mike, and time to finish the race with more dice. Plot 200, double-push (SAFE!), tied (behind) Mike. Final move -- push top again -- FAIL!!!!! Mike makes his 180 naked top roll and crosses the finish line a nose ahead of me. Well done Mike, and you gave the fans their money's worth.

To summarize, I had a pretty good design, moving 180 or higher 7 times. To me that justifies the top speed design. I rolled three times with skill (start 2S, a late brake and an accel), then seven times successfully with no help (including a foolish chance), then the 8th (final) roll, the odds caught me, and therefore I didn't catch Mike. I can't complain, I actually got luckier than perhaps I should have, and second place was a very good result in this talented field.

Track design notes -- I like the very clear black & white corner speed postings. They are a a bit larger than necessary, though Also, I can't read the dang corner names in that italic font. Let's go with block lettering, please.
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NASCAR Driver (Pro V)
 
Posts: 7810
Joined: 08 Apr 2002, 9:45 am

Post 10 Aug 2020, 1:49 pm

Rando wrote:Track design notes -- I like the very clear black & white corner speed postings. They are a a bit larger than necessary, though Also, I can't read the dang corner names in that italic font. Let's go with block lettering, please.


Thanks for the great write-up, Rando!

I like the speed limit signs as well - noted on size. The corner names looked fine in Photoshop. I didn't realize how small the font would be in TTS. Also, I was on my laptop and there was no way I was reading those during the race. Lessons learned!