Round 1: Watkins Glen International - Classic Boot (September 23)

[TRG]

Race Time of day: 2021-09-18 13:35 1x
Race Length: 45 minutes
Max Incidents: Drive through at 13x, DSQ at 17x
Max Fuel: 50%
Start: Standing
Fast Repair: 0
Laps: 27

 

[mclachlanol]

Pre-Race Drivers Meeting Notes (@Formula 3 Series 2021/S4 ):

All right guys, welcome to PRL Thursday Night 2021 Season 4! We will have the race notes written out before each race, if you can try and check the forums each Wednesday to get caught up on any last minute announcements. We may announce a few things verbally before each race but we will try and keep it brief. With that said lets get started!

Since this is the first race of the season I'll go over the general race rules and expectations for the season:

• Qualifying:
  • Qualifying will be 30min open track best lap. We got lots of cars this season so it's going to require some practice and patience to get a good time in, we got tons of time though so it should be no problem for everyone to get in their best.
  • There are no blue flags in qualifying, everyone has a right to the racing line. We will have a mix of super fast drivers with some slower drivers on track, but the slower drivers are not expected to pull over for the fast drivers. They have a right to qualify just like everyone else. Best advice is to create and manage your gaps properly to avoid catching someone in front of you.
  • Talk to each other and help each other out. If you are on a slow out lap or had an off track and you got someone on a flyer behind you, let them have it and get setup for the next lap. Maybe they will return the favor another time.
  • Remember, it takes a couple of laps to get a good time in so there is no reason to come out of the pits late in the session. Help keep the track clean for drivers that are still out there trying to get a good lap.
• Race Starts:
  • It only takes one driver to mess up a start and cause havoc, All drivers are expected to practice their starts before the first race. Standing starts may be a new concept for some of us but that's no excuse to not practice.
  • If you do get a bad/slow start, hold your line. You might feel like you want to move over to get out of the way but that will only make things worse since the drivers behind you have probably already made their move to get around. Hold your line and recover the best you can.
  • Any incidents involving multiple cars at the race start will be automatically reviewed by the race stewards and repeat offenders likely will be penalized.
• Incidents during the Race/Chat and Forum Conduct:
  • Every race in real life has crashes during the race, we obviously will have a few as well. It's very likely that everyone will have at least one spin or wreck at some point during the season.
  • Sometimes you might be at fault. If that happens apologize, learn from your mistake, and move on.
  • Sometimes you might be the victim of someone else's mistake. If that happens, shrug it off and try to recover.
  • I completely understand how frustrating it can be to practice for a couple of hours just to be taken out after 1 lap, and although it may be common place to hear a couple of drivers going at each other during the iracing series races, that behavior will never be tolerated in PRL. I don't care if the other driver made a completely stupid maneuver and took you out, or if you are the fastest driver in the field, if you get on the radio and start cursing him out, you will get penalized and maybe even banned for the next race. If you got to curse, *****, whine, and moan, go ahead and do so but just don't hold the push to talk button when doing it.
  • This is a competitive league, and I will allow some "competitiveness" amongst the drivers. But always remember, we do not have to be friends but we must respect one another.
  • This conduct holds true for the PRL forums as well. Flaming, bullying, or aggressive language will not be tolerated in the forums and could result in a ban.
• Race Protests:
  • Race starts incidents involving more multiple cars will be automatically reviewed, everything else will only be reviewed if a protest is submitted.
  • I strongly suggest you think about the incident and review it first before submitting a protest. Or even talk to the offending driver before. If we find that there is not clear evidence of a gross mistake, or if the offense is minor and does not lead to any damage or positions lost, the protest will likely be denied.
  • Multiple submissions and denials during the season will result in the loss of your right to protest. So keep in mind, the protest system is meant to weed out repeated dangerous behavior, not to nit pick every little minor bump and/or off track.
  • All protests must be in the form of a saved replay. Please go here for more information: Protest System Info
• Lapped Traffic:
  • It's a long race and we got different driver speeds out there so undoubtedly there will be some lapped traffic during the race. Lapped cars are expected to help facilitate the pass. This does not mean completely pull over to the side of the road and let the leaders go by. In fact we rather have you stick to the racing line, be predictable, and just back off a couple of tenths on the strait.
  • Faster drivers are expected to make the pass safely on the strait unless the slower driver is obviously going wide to let you go. If you catch a slower driver in a twisty section you will need to be patient and wait until the next strait before passing.
• PRO/AM Classifications and Race etiquette:
  • So we have two classes racing every week, PRO and AM. We are treating this as a multiclass racing series where PRO and AM drivers are scored separately, i.e. the highest finishing AM driver will receive 35 points regardless of the overall finishing position.
  • Note - Team standings will be global points and not separated by class. This allows PRO and AM drivers to be on the same team.
  • Each driver will have [PRO] or [AM] in front of their name to distinguish between the two classes.
  • All drivers, regardless of class, are allowed to run their own race. Unless it's a blue flag, slower class drivers are not expected to yield to faster class drivers.
• Pit stops:
  • Fuel will be limited to 50% forcing a stop during the race.
  • Tire changes are not required but can be made if the driver chose to do so.
  • The driver exiting the pit lane is expected to merge safely back onto the track.
  • Drivers entering the pits are expected to announce they are pitting in if a driver is within one second behind you.

That is all I got for now guys! If you got any questions please ask. Thanks for joining and lets have a fun competitive season!


See you guys on Thursday!
Owen

 

[jalmenar]

CC: mclachlanol

To all participants,

The PRL Nascar league on Mondays is doing something really interesting and helpful for everyone, and I thought we should do the same for the sake of our 49 driver grid.

They are doing two rounds of grid start rehearsal during the practice session. And they do it for every race, not just the first race.

So what they do is, someone announce on the voice chat that all drivers should get on the grid for the first practice start. Then everyone gets on the grid, no order is needed, so first come-first serve. Then someone announces the green flag, and everyone goes for 1 lap, but they don't finish that lap. Instead, they all get on grid positions again and do a second rehearsal. It only takes 5 mins if everyone follows the instructions.

Although, this is not a perfect rehearsal, just doing this couple times will help most people get use to start from the grid. I guess most of us are used to it by racing in iracing. But, believe this, things are different when you are in a league, there is WAY more competitiveness (testosterone ) around the grid, and people will be looking to make position at the start. And honestly, they should do it, because if we are here (PRL), is because we want to compete, right??? BUT, we need to do something to at least make sure we have a good, fair, and respectful competition.

I think we should do the same. I mean we have a grid that looks like an endurance grid, 49 drivers, and two different classes, fast and slow cars. If we don't do anything, a lot of us will not even make it to turn 1. I know a crash will probably still happen, but at least I think we will reduce the risk of crashing on the starting grid. I want to make it to the first turn at least

Please give me thumps up if you agree with this idea. If we collect enough people, then we should go for it.

 

[Threefiver]

So, is this a "pit party" and then everyone rolls out and takes the green when they come back around? I like the idea and I am all for trying to get it right with practice but the immediate problem I see is that we are a standing start and so everyone would have to go all the way around a road course and then line up unless we picked a certain spot past the pit exit for our "grid" which wouldn't be all that realistic as T1 is typically where the carnage ensues.

It is doable but I think it would take more than 5 minutes. I'm all for it if we can find a way to streamline "gridding up".

Think of me what you will but I think clean starts will be accomplished more from respect than practice.

 

[TRG]

I couldn't agree more with that last statement. All the practice in the world isn't going to hold a hero back from being an idiot.

 

[Threefiver]

All the practice in the world isn't going to hold a hero back from being an idiot.

And that should be emblazoned on the front of the official PRL league t-shirt

 

[jalmenar]

Threefiver

Yes, that's how they call it, a "pit party" we just have to make few modifications to adjust it to our starting format, because they do a rolling start and we do a standing start.

everyone rolls out and takes the green when they come back around?
No. Instead of rolling out, we all take a place on the grid, then the first driver (or the organizer) says "green green" and we all start. Then, after turn 5 or 6 we all slow down until we reach the grid again and do it all over again.

we are a standing start and so everyone would have to go all the way around a road course and then line up
Yes, we all have to go around once and grid, then start following the signal of the first driver. The first driver is the only one that will not have a valid practice, but well, they can switch for next practice.

unless we picked a certain spot past the pit exit for our "grid"
The track already has the grid spots marked. The only problem is, the track only has 20 or something spots, not 49. So some drivers will have to take a place by eye and hope they are in line with everyone. Not much we can do about this.

T1 is typically where the carnage ensues.
True, and there is really not much we can do about that. However, this practice is about the start of the race, not turn one. F3 (official races in iracing) is well know for having a lot of problems-accidents at the start of the race. There are too many techniques on how to start a race (clutch, no clutch, brake on, half gas on, etc). So a quick practice to have a reference before the race I think would help.

I'm all for it if we can find a way to streamline "gridding up".
Thanks for your support , lets see who else joins the cause. I know it's not a perfect rehearsal, but I think it's better than not doing anything. I think everyone will have more situational awareness after they rehearse the start.

 

[jalmenar]

I couldn't agree more with that last statement. All the practice in the world isn't going to hold a hero back from being an idiot.

True, but this rehearsal is about how we start the race, not about how we take turn one. Taking turn one is definitely up to everyone and respect is the key, nothing we can do about that. With this rehearsal the idea is to at least have a clean standing start, so we all can make it to turn one. From there, is up to the FIA

 

[jalmenar]

All the practice in the world isn't going to hold a hero back from being an idiot.

The word of the lord

 

[Threefiver]

I guess I think differently because I still consider T1 the start of the race because on most tracks we race at its a very short run down to T1. I can't speak for Pro because I didn't run that class but I felt like last season in AM was pretty good for the most part but then I was usually mid-field or better so can't speak for that either. Last seasons forum is I guess gone now but I don't really even remember much in the way of protests. It seemed pretty clean to me overall. Probably the biggest reason I have hung around here is due to the group of folks in AM.....we all make our mistakes and are sometimes overly aggressive but it is a great bunch to race with.

 

[Wingnut]

I couldn't agree more with that last statement. All the practice in the world isn't going to hold a hero back from being an idiot.

It also does t keep that one idiot from not putting it into 1st before the lights go out and not moving when they do.

 

[TRG]

I'm just waiting for someone to get spicy and put it into R (Race mode)

 

[AlexF]

GG all !
David, Rod ... you guys... your too fast ! nice one !

 

[TRG]

I couldn't agree more with that last statement. All the practice in the world isn't going to hold a hero back from being an idiot.

Looks like we've got some heroes again this season. May the stewards reign down on you and show no mercy.

 

[tegatai]

bonaduce Hey Daniel, apologies for our collision last night. I was so focused on closing the gap and getting a great launch out of the final turn that I failed to consider that you might be making a pit entry. Up until that point we had been having a pretty good battle. Looking forward to racing with you next week

 

[Threefiver]

Johnny Luna,

I hate that we crashed...from my replay it looked like netcode and you had blinked out on me several times...not sure if it was me or you having the issue. Once you started going around I had nowhere to go.

 

[CajunGrit]

@Cacocofre - Please be more careful when exiting the pits. As you can see in this replay, I am on a fast lap as you come out of the pits on cold tires. You then attempted to outrace me for track position. In case you missed it, I cut off the inside line going into Turn 5 to make it abundantly clear that I needed you to stay behind me. But you went for the overtake anyway and then immediately ran off track. We have a 30 minute qualifying session, there was no need for you to ruin my lap like that. Please use better judgement in the future.

 

[bonaduce]

bonaduce Hey Daniel, apologies for our collision last night. I was so focused on closing the gap and getting a great launch out of the final turn that I failed to consider that you might be making a pit entry. Up until that point we had been having a pretty good battle. Looking forward to racing with you next week

No worries, I chalked it up to fierce battling and blamed my crew chief for not calling out pit until after I rounded the last turn.