Race Diary: Virtual Motorsports Nurburgring GP 2.4 hours
It’s not often you get the chance of two hours and thirty minutes of constant Forza Motorsport action, so when Virtual Motorsports announced the Nurburgring GP 2.4 Hours event I jumped at the chance. And having finally finished the race last weekend, I’m glad I did, even if there were times when I was questioning my sanity.
The format was fairly simple. As a multiclass event you had the choice of racing an LMPC Chevrolet, or one of two German DTM cars, all fitted with drag tyres to force drivers to pit regularly. Having already raced the Mercedes in other events, I went for the Audi, which was potentially the wrong choice. Although the VM organisers worked hard to ensure both cars were very evenly matched, the Audi was definitely slightly more challenging to get the best times from, and that proved the case in qualifying.
The qualifying sessions took place on the two Saturday evenings preceding the event, with 60 minutes to record the fastest possible time. Knowing that family commitments meant I could only take part in the first qualifying session put the pressure on, and I paid the price. Just three laps in and I caught a kerb, span, and ended up damaging my bodywork – as Forza only repairs mechanical problems in the pits it meant I had to finish qualifying with 30+% damage all round, which didn’t help as I recorded a time over 1 minute, 57 seconds, compared to some of the fastest guys going 3 or 4 seconds faster per lap.
Race Day for the Nurburgring 2.4 Hours:
When race day arrived, I was pretty happy. Somehow I’d ended up on pole position of the DTM cars in my lobby, and as the results would be calculated purely on distance covered, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t one of the top groups. I’d also managed to cut a bit from my lap times, and importantly, found I could nurse my tyres a little longer before pit stops than I’d originally thought. Given that it’s a fairly long pit at Nurburgring GP, one less stop would definitely help my performance.
As the 3 LMPC cars in the lobby led round the 9 DTM competitors, I was anxious to get going, and couldn’t wait for the leader to announce 3,2,1,Go! My aim for the first few laps was to stay safe and consistent, so I took a fairly conservative line into the first tight hairpin, not expecting the second-place qualifier to launch himself across the grass and into my side as I started to accelerate for Turn 2.
So with 2 hours and 27 minutes to go, I had a reasonable amount of bodywork damage, and slipped back a couple of places into the bargain. One day I’ll actually manage to compete in that Audi with all the aerodynamics intact!
The race itself settled into a rhythm fairly quickly – two of the faster guys had shot off into the distance with consistently quick lap times, obviously having had similar issues in qualifying to me, but unfortunately solving them a little better for race day. Every so often I’d see an LMPC car suddenly appear beside me, often with a warning over my headset, but occasionally the drivers were so much quicker they didn’t need it – with multiclass the important thing is for the slower drivers to stick to their line and not do anything unpredictable.
After the first few stops I was feeling pretty good – a fairly consistent fourth with a reasonable handle on how the drag tyres were handling as they degraded over the course of laps 10-14 when they really started to lose performance. There was the odd moment, but no major off track excursions which had happened to some of the other drivers judging by the occasional cursing – and I’d also managed a fairly decent job of avoiding tangles with the LMPC boys. I think they did have a couple of moments with some of the other cars, especially later in the race when everyone started to feel the effects of concentrating for that long.
Coming up to the final 30 minutes, I’d realised that there was the potential for third – the final podium spot was held by a driver who was running a slightly faster pace on average, but wasn’t getting away. More importantly, I knew he’d just pitted, and didn’t think anyone could make it to the end without a pit stop, so I desperately tried to keep the pace up on my totally worn tyres for a couple of extra laps, watching the distance to third grow, but gambling on strategy.
Coming out of the pits thousands of feet behind, I knew all I could do was hit every braking marker, and hope. When he pitted with about 15 minutes left, I could have stopped and thanks him, but then the battle really began. Again my tyres were way past the end of their effective life, and he was a lot quicker on fresh rubber, so the gap started to drop after he’d got some temperature in them – coming into the final 10 minutes the gap was about 3000ft, then 2,500ft, then 2000. By the time the last lap came around, he was only about 600ft behind and closing fast, so I had to take a deep breath and rely on the fact that even if he caught me, I still had the hope of hugging the inside of the corners and blocking him.
As it happens, I managed a better time than I’d predicted on the final lap as I watched the counter mercifully tick down to the finishing time – at the end I took third in the DTM lobby in my class by just 200ft, and I don’t think I’d have lasted another 30 seconds! A pretty close finished after 160 minutes of racing.
Endurance Racing Tips:
Although I wasn’t the quickest racer to compete, I did pick up quite a few tips for future races:
- Preparation: It’s obvious that more practice leads to faster lap times, but make sure you run laps with new tyres, worn tyres etc, and work out how far you can really push if you need it. Also practice running offline, as it’s bound to happen during the race (The Track Day Rivals events are handy for this as they force you to consider different lines for overtaking, even if it’s in a different car).
- Environment: It might not be as physical as real racing, but there’s still a lot of concentration involved. Make sure you’ve got comfortable seating, you’ve got adequate lighting throughout the whole race, and you’re able to stand up etc during pit stops as required.
- You: Make sure you get a good night’s sleep before the race, avoid hangovers, and have a drink handy – but don’t overdo it before the race unless you know you can make a toilet break during the pit stops. Some drivers actually rigged up a camel pack to drink during the racing just as real drivers do. If you’re a smoker, it’s also worth having a nicotine lozenge or two nearby if you don’t think you can finish the race without a fix.
- Car: Everyone wants to get the fastest possible car, but when it comes to endurance racing, you’re better off with something that’s consistent at 95% of the speed, and easier on the tyres. Having the fastest lap isn’t as important if you’re in the gravel every other lap.
- Calm: It’s important to stay calm and relaxed – tensing up will make you slower, and if I’d got annoyed at the first corner incident, I’d have just made more mistakes. You need to be able to think clearly, monitor tyre wear, and plan pit strategy all while heading down the straights at 150-200mph, so cool, calm and collected is the way to race.
Race Diary: Virtual Motorsport GP2, Season 2, Race 1: Road Atlanta
The racing season is underway once again with the Virtual Motorsport GP2 series which features the Seat Leon Supercup in a specific S613 tune for all drivers – which tends to mean close qualifying times and even closer racing.
So having had a few practice laps in the car, I’d adjusted to a front-wheel drive racer despite my preference for RWD or AWD machines. As it’s specified, it’s handles pretty nicely although any car can struggle with understeer when there’s that much power trying to get through the front wheels. As a result my practice laps were hovering between 1.29.500 and 1.30.500, which seemed respectable if not blisteringly fast.
Qualifying is a quick 5 lap affair, and it couldn’t have gone worse. Having completed a clean out lap, I then managed to screw up the following four flying laps for various reasons, leaving me last of the 69 drivers competing in the 10-14 car lobbies.
First race of the season and I'm dead last with work to do!
So the only upside was that things had to improve, and they certainly did in the first race – despite a couple of worrying moments during the first lap on cold tyres, I slowly started to move my way up through the field from 12th on the grid.With so many similar cars, the qualifying times had been relatively close even down to the final lobby, so it was pretty tough against some talented but very gentlemanly drivers.
Starting to catch the midfield
Over the course of 12 laps, I eventually managed to take 5th place which was a fantastic result, although it was frustrating that my lap times were comparable to the podium places – by the time I’d managed to get into 5th, the top four drivers were long gone and there was no way to pull back the deficit. But on the way through I’d enjoyed a titanic battle with F4H Castrol who pulled off some impressive overtakes, including heading into the tight final chicane three abreast as I attempted to pass another driver.
3 into 1 chicane?
And if you want to know how this particular corner played out, here’s a quick clip showing me taking some evasive action in the orange Seat as I was surprised by Castrol’s blue hatchback suddenly appearing out of nowhere:
Race 2 should have been easier – in the GP2 series, the second race is an 18 lap event with a mandatory pit-stop, and most importantly the first 8 finishing positions are reversed, which meant I was starting from third place.
But on a night when nothing seemed to go right and the lobby had suffered immensely with connection issues, I managed to fluff the start and the opening lap, meaning that I’d dropped from 3rd to 6th. As the pits opened on lap 3, a couple of drivers took the chance for an early break, and I followed shortly afterwards to try and clear my head and re-focus. Luckily I was able to put in some consistently quick laps at the start of the stint and made up a couple of places as the pitstops resolved themselves to put me back up to 4th – despite occasionally catching the leaders earlier in the race, I just couldn’t be quite consistent enough to close enough to put in a challenge for the lead, so in the end settled for 4th – again, not a terrible result given my start to the evening.
So overall I’m disappointed that I qualified so badly, but happy that we eventually got to enjoy two great races with some good drivers and I salvaged two respectable results. Given the level of driving in all the VM series, it’s as tough to make up places in the last lobby as the times I’ve qualified in the top two, and the fastest times in our races would have been competitive up even in the 3rd lobby. Plus I’ve got more races to get to know the Seat and iron out the tendency for it to try and swap ends under braking – tracks with less camber on the corners will definitely be a little easier.
Race Organisers: Virtual Motorsports
Race Series: GP2 Season 2
Race Meeting: Round 1, Road Atlanta
Positions: Race 1: 5/12, Race 2 4/11.
Now it’s all about the special Nurburgring 2.4 hour event on Saturday, followed by the toughest series challenge yet – the VM Super GT series, which features Japanese high performance touring cars with no assists, no guiding lines, and some of the toughest drivers in Forza. I’m one of a minority of drivers currently running the 2008 Nissan GT-R so it’ll be interesting to see how it pans out, especially following on from 160 minutes of racing the R2 DTM Audi the night before…
May TopGear Car Pack arrives for Forza Motorsport 4
The May Top Gear Pack has arrived for Forza Motorsport 4 today, adding another 10 new cars to the total available in the game (Check out the complete Forza Motorsport 4 car list), and showing that although the launch Season Pass deal has ended, Turn 10 will be continuing to release new cars for the Xbox’s top racing game. We’ve also got the Porsche Pack to look forward to, although there is growing concern that so far there has been no news or rumours of additional tracks to add some needed variety.
Importantly, the May TopGear Pack is not part of any deals, so it’ll cost you 560 MS Points.
Again there’s a decent amount of variety in the cars selected, so here’s a rundown:
The May TopGear Pack for Forza Motorsport 4:
2012 Hennessey Venom GT: It makes perfect sense to base a car around the Lotus Elise, but then give it over 1,000 horsepower and lighten it a bit, which is probably why only 5 real cars will be built in 2012, because there are probably few people who fancy a 1,200 twin turbo 6.2 litre V8 in a carbone-fibre car weighing only 2,685 pounds. That means 0-200mph in 15.3 seconds which is almost 10 seconds quicker than a Bugatti Veyron can manage.
1977 AMC Pacer X: One of the icons of ’70s car design as made famous in Wayne’s World. By comparison with the Hennessey, the Pacer X has 100 horsepower in a 3,000 pound car.
2011 Ford Transit SuperSportVan: Ford starting making hot examples of the humble transit back in 1971 with possibly the most famous being the Cosworth-engined Supervan 2. This slightly more sensible version has a 3.2 litre 198 hp engine from the Transit Jumbo to add some fun.
2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon: Featuring the new Pentastar V6 engine with 280 hp and 260 ft lbs of torque, we’ll wait and see what it’s like on the track.
1966 Lotus Cortina: Our most eagerly awaited car for Forza – the legendary rally and touring car winner which was made famous by the likes of Jim Clark. You get 115 horsepower with 2,060 pounds of weight, and the joys of hearing the dual-Weber carbs.
1992 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4: One of two classic Japanese saloons in the pack, this is a turbo-cahrged, four-cylinder, four-wheel drive sedan, with 237 horsepower and front-wheel steering to help you turn.
2012 Smart ForTwo: The first micro car to be released to the American market, the Smart ForTwo is just 106 inches long, with 70 horsepower from the three-cylinder engine. We’re not sure it’ll topple our current comedy car favourite – our S Class Toyota Aygo, but we’ll give it a try.
1990 Subaru Legacy RS: Before the Impreza came the Legacy which started the firm’s off-road success with 200+ horsepower from the EJ20G engine and all-wheel drive.
2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8: Built like a brick outhouse, the bungalow-sized SRT8 has a 450hp Hemi motor producing 465 lbs ft torque with 0-60mph in under 5 seconds assuming you can afford new tyres.
1965 Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII: Up there with the Lotus Cortina for European car fans, the Austin Healey was Jensen built with a 147 horsepower 2,912 cc six-cylinder engine. Perfect for classic racing.
Virtual Motorsports announce GP2 Series 2
If you’re tempted by racing in a competitive series featuring every driver in the same car, then you might be interested in the Virtual Motorsports GP2 Series 2, which will put all racers in the 2007 SEAT Leon Supercup at S613 performance index.
Starting on May 1, 2013, the series will run on Tuesdays at 13:00 CST / 19:00 GMT / 05:00 AEST, and will feature a two-race format with partially reversed grids. Tracks on the schedule include Road Atlanta, Iberian International and Tsukuba, followed by Maple Valley Raceway, Infineon Raceway, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and the Nurburging Grand Prix Circuit before finishing up at Sunset Peninsula Raceway on June 19th, 2013
You’ll also be able to compete in four championships, with a Drivers Championship, Teams and Privateers Championships, and for all drivers new to the event, a Rookies Championship. The series is sponsored by Turn 10, so those finishing at the top of each championship receive unicorn cars and in-game credits, or credits only for the Team Champions.
You can sign up via the Virtual Motorsports Forum GP2 Series 2 Forum.
Want to take part with OnlineRaceDriver?
If you’re interested in taking part, and fancy being part of a friendly team who hope to do well, why not join up with ORD driver Badger Gravling (That’s me!) to be part of a team entry? If you’re interested, let us know in the comments, or look me and the ORD Forza Motorsport 4 club (ORDC) up in the game and send us a message/application to join.
Drag Racing Forza Style
How well does Forza simulate the drag strip?
Even so, it has to be said that the most glaring fault of Forza drag racing is the absence of a working starting tree. As anyone in drag racing will tell you, “he who cuts the best light usually wins”, –but in Forza4 there is no light to cut. There is a static tree and an automatic launch system, but there is no way to jump the start, or do a perfect .000 launch on your own. In fact, every launch is perfect as dictated by the game software. That is, you can start too slowly, or you can leave the line perfectly on time, as the computer allows you to do. The car will not move until the computer does a count down. There are no reaction times like in real drag racing either, (a critical aspect of the sport.) It’s sad really, because it takes away from the sport the very essence of what drag racing is all about, and that is, the start of the race.
Forza vs Real World on the Drag Strip
Since we can’t dive into simulated drag racing as a competitive sport in Forza (even though many have suspended their disbelief and do drag racing anyway), we can still talk about how well the cars perform and what might be the best way to run a good time. The 20 real cars I selected were cars that have known 1/4 mile times from various major publications over the years. These officially tested times are within plus or minus 0.3 tenths of their absolute best times. As tested they were completely stock, just as the Forza4 cars were. The only exceptions were the two production factory race cars of the bunch, the 1968 Hemi Dart, and the 1964 Ford Thunderbolt. These two cars were fitted with drag racing slicks, since the real cars were also.
Looking at the list of cars, there are a couple of things you’ll notice right away. One is that the speeds are a lot closer to the real cars than the times. Speed is an indicator of horse power, whereas time is an indicator of traction. It seems that the boys at “Turn10″ have done a remarkable job getting the simulated horsepower and torque correct. They should be given a real pat on the back for this alone, because it is nearly perfect. On the other hand, the track surface is woefully off the mark in terms of absolute traction. It’s so bad that it can’t be easily compared to any known asphalt surface. The best analogy would have to be that of a partially wet track, it’s just that slippery. This is surprising since T10 knew of this problem in FM3 and even corrected the friction ratio for the strip in that game.
Of all the drag strips in FM4, Sedona was proven to be slightly more sticky than the others, so I used it over the rest for best results. For those that have never been to a real drag strip, you have to understand that “sticky” doesn’t quite describe how much grip there is. Stand long enough in one place on a hot summer day, on the track, and your shoes will be stuck to the tarmac like glue. On a real track, it’s not the track that lacks adhesion, it’s the stock tires. Forza tires seem to be relatively fine and in keeping with known performance characteristics, but the tracks are no where close to reality.
Getting the perfect drag racing start
So what do you do to get a good launch on a track with about the same grip as a greasy McDonald’s drive-thru on a rainy day? Hold her to the floor of course! Well, not exactly lol. I’ve found that the best result is to hold it wide open during the computer count down, and then at just the right moment when the computer goes to 1sec and is about to let you go, you let almost completely off the throttle, allowing the engine to, “fall on its face” down around idle, and then ever so carefully feed the throttle back in as you try to limit wheel spin. The other method that works about as well, but is harder to master is to hold the throttle just above idle, and when the computer releases the car, slowly give out steady amounts of throttle avoiding wheel spin. Either way will net you about the same times, but neither way is what real drag racers do! In real drag racing you will either load the engine up with the brake while applying throttle, or you will sit at idle and then mash the throttle to the floor when you see that last amber light come on.
The Chevy Bel Air didn't make the real world vs Forza list
The other thing you can see on the list below is that the real cars are about one second quicker on average in most cases, even when they have a similar trap speed. This is the proof that tells you the Forza cars are suffering in the traction department, but I don’t blame the tires nearly as much as the track. Only one of the Forza cars was able to beat its real-life counterpart, and that was the 1966 Chevy Nova SS. It was a good half second quicker and 7mph faster falling well outside of the variable margins for this car. Of the 20 cars tested the Enzo Ferrari came the closest to replicating the real cars performance. The 1968 Hemi Dart was the worst simulated car when compared to the real thing at more than 2sec slower, and almost 20mph down on the top end.
As a group, the Forza cars were significantly slower but consistently comparable in a progressive way just like the real cars. In fact, if you ignore the times altogether you have a near match from fastest to slowest when comparing the two groups. The 10th place 2002 Camaro SS was about the 10th place car in the same group on the Forza side for example.
Each car was given about 6 passes to get a good run out of them. Doesn’t mean you couldn’t do better, you can, but only by a tenth or two which is within the acceptable range. Even the real cars will vary about this much depending on the car, the track conditions, the weather, and the driver.
My conclusion is that T10 has the cars very nearly perfect in the ultimate measure of performance known as drag racing. What they didn’t get right was the virtual track traction, it’s so bad that you wonder if anyone at T10 has ever been to a real drag strip before. Oh, and the lack of a fully functioning tree is unforgiveable. But hey, there’s always Forza5 and the hope they will finally get it right then.
Full throttle,
AAR GTDon
| Real | Forza | |||||||
| Car | Engine | Time | Mph | Time | Mph | |||
| 1 | 1968 Dodge Dart Hemi w/slicks | 426cid | 10.30 | 135 | 12.481 | 116 | ||
| 2 | 2002 Enzo Ferrari | 366cid | 11.00 | 136 | 11.331 | 137 | ||
| 3 | 2005 Ford GT | 329cid | 11.20 | 131.2 | 12.231 | 123 | ||
| 4 | 1964 Ford Thunderbolt w/slicks | 427cid | 11.76 | 122.7 | 12.214 | 118 | ||
| 5 | 1967 Corvette Stingray | 427cid | 12.072 | 117.67 | 13.465 | 110 | ||
| 6 | 1965 Shelby Cobra S/C | 427cid | 12.70 | 112.7 | 12.731 | 122 | ||
| 7 | 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda | 426cid | 13.25 | 109 | 14.480 | 106 | ||
| 8 | 1970 El Camino | 454cid | 13.44 | 108.17 | 14.765 | 106 | ||
| 9 | 1970 Dodge Super Bee | 426cid | 13.49 | 105 | 14.331 | 111 | ||
| 10 | 2002 Camaro SS | 350cid | 13.55 | 105 | 14.397 | 104 | ||
| 11 | 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge | 400cid | 13.70 | 103.6 | 14.747 | 102 | ||
| 12 | 1970 Chevelle SS | 454cid | 13.70 | 103 | 14.714 | 106 | ||
| 13 | 1970 Buick GSX | 455cid | 13.80 | 101 | 14.947 | 101 | ||
| 14 | 1971 Mustang Mach 1 | 427cid | 13.90 | 102 | 14.780 | 105 | ||
| 15 | 1956 Jaguar D-Type | 207cid | 13.90 | 100 | 14.964 | 107 | ||
| 16 | 1965 Pontiac GTO | 389cid | 13.940 | 99.81 | 14.847 | 103 | ||
| 17 | 1969 Hurst/Olds 442 | 455cid | 14.03 | 101 | 14.931 | 101 | ||
| 18 | 1968 Firebird | 402cid | 14.070 | 100.81 | 14.780 | 103 | ||
| 19 | 1969 Camaro SS | 396cid | 14.70 | 98.7 | 14.847 | 102 | ||
| 20 | 1966 Chevy Nova SS | 327cid | 15.10 | 95 | 14.662 | 102 |
Virtual Motorsports announce special Nurburgring 2.4 Hours race
Virtual Motorsports have announced their first one-off Forza Motorsport 4 Special Event of the 2012 season with a testing and challenging Endurance race. The challenge will be to cover the greatest distance in 2.4 hours of driving at the full Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit, with absolutely no assists or circuit guides allowed. That means it’ll be as much about surviving as driving close to flat out.
And the cars chosen for the event will add to the challenge. It’s a multi-class race with the faster option coming as the 2012 Chevrolet FLM09 in the LMPC class, with a set-up which gives in 600 horsepower at R1 938 PI. Meanwhile the second class on track will see a DTM rivalry between the Audi A4 and Mercedes C Class R2 machines with just 470 horsepower and real-wheel drive to make things interesting.
The race itself will take place at 13:00CST / 19:00 GMT / 20:00 BST on Saturday, May 5, 2012, and to take part you’ll need to register on the Virtual Motorsports forum and participate in either of two 60 minute qualifying sessions which run on Saturday April 21st and Saturday April 28th at the same times. In addition to prizes for the individual top ten, there will also be rewards for the top ten teams and privateers.
Badger’s Race Diary March 10,2012 “Consistency is key”
It’s been a while since I last managed to update my race diary – unfortunately work has got in the way, but I’ve still managed to cram in a number of races. So although you might have to wait forever for me to finally upload more photos and videos, here’s a rundown of how I’ve faired in the three championships since my last update.
Rllmuk Classic Roadsport: Rd 2 Nurburgring GP (Short)
The C Class series visited Germany for round two, and despite the home track for the VW Golf’s, it was always going to be a struggle. In addition to the quick car and driver combo of our own ORDC Bladerunner in the Lancia, there were also a trio of Renault 5 Turbos to contend with, headed by frontrunner Meatball46.
A decent qualifying result saw me third on the grid, just ahead of my ORDC VW team-mate Pjeedai. And it proved that it’s the Golf that struggles off the line rather than the driver, as we were both swamped at the start. Somehow I managed to make it through the tight hairpin Turn 1 unscathed, but could only watch as the Bladerunner and Meatball46 pulled away. I knew I couldn’t catch them, so concentrated on keeping everything tight, hitting every apex, and making sure I stayed ahead of my team-mate.
That all paid off when an unfortunate challenge at the chicane saw Bladerunner spin, allowing me to pick up a slightly undeserved second place behind Meatball46
Race 2 was similar, besides a bit of a mid-race battle with Meatball46 before succumbing to the inevitable, and a faultless race from Bladerunner extending his lead at the top of the championship.
So a 2nd and 3rd was probably one place better than I could have hoped for, and does mean that I’ve made up some of the distance on the battle for second and third in the championship after my terrible first round. Sadly next up is Tsukuba, probably the worst track for the Golf, so anything will be a result there, but after a couple of good podiums for Pjeedai, he’s my main target on track!
Rllmuk Classic Roadsports Round 2:
Race 1: 1) Meatball46, 2) BadgerGravling, 3) Pjeedai, 4) Blade Runner, 5) SharkyOB
Race 2: 1) Bladerunner, 2) Meatball46, 3) BadgerGravling, 4) Beezerly, 5) Sharky OB
Standings: 1) Bladerunner 112, 2) Pjeedai 88, 3) Beezerly 84, 4) Meatball46 82, 5) BadgerGravling 78.
Virtual Motorsports Classic Series Rd 3: Tsukuba:
You wouldn’t typically think a 1966 Chevy Nova was the ideal choice for the short, tight and twisty Tsukuba track. And you’d be pretty much right as the set qualifying lobby saw the front runners disapear into the sub-1 minute laptimes, and the Nova wobbling round to qualify in the 4th lobby.
But one benefit of the multiple lobby system is that it almost always leads to close racing, and that’s definitely what happened. Having been lucky enough to start on pole I had a 41 minute battle with the fast Corvette Stingray of Rancidblaze, seperated by less than 100ft for much of the action. A couple of times Rancid took the lead, but I managed to stay calm, relatively consistent, and was able to capitalise on a couple of mistakes, and after the mandatory pitstop I headed into corner one just ahead of the Stingray as it rejoined the track on new tyres.
Having lost a potential race win at the first round after a TV-related disaster, history almost repeated itself as a steering wheel failure for one driver left his car stuck in the middle of the final corner just as I came round at the front of the field. Somehow I managed to avoid him, lost drive and dropped to second for the closing stages, but an unlucky mistake by RancidBlaze saw me manage to retake the lead and then park the fortunately wide Nova on every apex to hold off his determined challenge, crossing the line first by about 10ft.
Virtual Motorsports Round 3: Tsukuba Full:
Lobby 4: 1) BadgerGravling, 2) Rancidblaze, 3) EZT RacerX, 4) OMG FLck, 5) GLR Puckhead.
Rllmuk Classic Touring Cars: Rd 2: Hockenheim GP:
So back into A Class Tourers and the Team OnlineRaceDriver.com Mercedes. Whilst various other teams and drivers have made some changes, leading to a new team running a pair of Lotus Carlton’s, and an early switch for one driver to a Ford Sierra RS500 from an adventurous atempt in an Alfa Romeo, we’re sticking with the 190Es. What they lose in a straight line they make up for with consistent handling for the short 8 lap races, which don’t allow you to recover from a mistake.
First up was qualifying, and I was happy to put the Merc on pole, ahead of Bladerunner and Pjeedai (Meatball46 was absent from this round, meaning that I had one less rival to worry about with his quick RS500). The Mitsubishi Starion of Bladerunner is blisteringly quick off the line, and that meant I had to give way at the first corner, and then settle down to try and counteract straightline speed which saw him pull away even when I was right in his tow on the straights. Luckily I could close massively on the corners, and had managed to stay close throughout the race as the midpoint had been reached.
I really wasn’t sure I could mount enough of a challenge, until a real life distraction slowed Bladerunner slightly, and I was able to not only pull alongside yet again, but stay there for 2-3 corners in a row, finally managing to nip cleanly through and holding the lead to the flag.
Race 2 followed a similar pattern, with Bladerunner again making a slight mistake, but this time much earlier in the race as I suspect he was trying to make up for his earlier second place. What should have been relatively comfortable was thrown into disarray slightly when I lost concentration for a split second and went sailing across the gravel before rejoining, but the only person to really lose out was my second-placed team-mate Pjeedai, who was slightly blocked when I came back onto the Tarmac, and lost out to Bladerunner. But I think we can all be happy with an all-ORDC podium! It also means 4 wins from 4 in this series and a 16 point championship lead.
Rllmuk Classic Touring: Rd 2 Hockenheim GP:
Race 1: 1) BadgerGravling, 2) Bladerunner, 3) Pjeedai, 4) Wev, 5) SharkyOB.
Race 2: 1) BadgerGravling, 2) Bladerunner, 3) Pjeedai, 4) BalhamBadger, 5) Wev
Championship: 1) BadgerGravling 120, 2) Bladerunner 104, 3) Pjeedai 86, 4) BalhamBadger 84, 5) Wev 70.
Virtual Motorsports Classic Series: Round 4 Bernese Alps Club:
And we’re finally up to last night, which saw the Classic Series visit the tricky and twisty Bernese Alps track with camber changes, evil kerbs and a complete lack of testing time which saw me running pretty much the same set-up as Tsukuba, which wasn’t ideal. Somehow, though, a laptime in the one minute 25s saw me move up into Lobby 3 for the first time, which was my aim when the season started.
The pressure was on a little – having spent 3 races in lobby 4, I’ve got to know some of the drivers who regularly qualify around my times and I’ve built up some experience and trust in them. Lobby 3 was a new field, with faster drivers, some of whom have been Lobby 1 drivers in previous weeks.
From seventh on the grid, I was a little fortunate at the start to get a good run, but then failed to capitalise by being a little too cautious for once. As things settled down I was in a solid 6th, and managed to keep a decent distance to the group in front, and through the first few pitstops found myself as high as fourth, despite the determined efforts of the Volvo 242 Turbo of ZA Warudo trying to find a way past and skilfully managing to avoid me when I had a couple of moments. Eventually he came past, and I settled down to what became a slightly lonely 6th place with the main battle between me and the track. Considering the tricky nature of the track and the fact the anti-clockwise bias was cooking the front right tyre early on, I’m pleased with that.
Virtual Motorsports Round 4: Bernese Alps Club:
Lobby 3: 1) MRT Tazkumi, 2) EZT Spartan, 3) VVV Zeragon, 4) G JC 96, 5) F4H ZA Warudo, 6) BadgerGravling, 7) F4H Tito, 
F4H Bullet, 9) Preacherman23, 10) EZT o Sollelf.
FM4 March Pirelli Car Pack: Chevrolet Corvair Monza
Porsches back in Forza 4 with the Porsche Expansion Pack in May
Porsche fans will be celebrating as the Porsche Expansion Pack has been announced for Forza Motorsport 4, with 30 models from the German sportscar maker, 20 new Porsche-centric events and 10 new Xbox Live Achievements worth 250 extra Gamercore points.
It seems as if Turn 10 Studios and Electronic Arts may have buried the hatchet, with seven new Porsches for the Forza franchise in the mixure of 30 new and classic models. So far the 2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic and the 2010 Porsche Boxter S have been official confirmed with more car details in the coming weeks. And it won’t just be humans enjoying the rear-engined fun as the AI drivers will also have access to the new cars.
Obviously the release will coincide with some Porsche-theme Rivals Mode events and new dedicated multiplayer hoppers. The Forza Motorsport 4 Porsche Expanison Pack will be available on May 22, 2012 and costs 160 MS Points ($19.99).
Are you excited Porsche are back in Forza?
So are you one of the many people who were upset to find there were no Porsche models in Forza Motorsport 4 at release? Or have you managed just fine without them? Let us know in the comments…
