Muscle Inc, Weekly Online Races

[DirtDriver]

Well, the first official Muscle, Inc. Online races are done. Good racing all around. There were surpisingly few collisions (which is always a disappoint to me because I rely on them to move me up...lol).

Race officials are reviewing a contact incident on Maple Valley. A certain Barracude apparently broke an axel and kocked my poor ole SS into the wall..twice. Oh well, accidents happen.

Open2nd was strong, no matter what he was driving. And in a couple of races Big Moo engaged warp drive and appeared either on my bumper or in front of me as he came out of light speed.

The B700/DOT formula is working really well.

We also ran the optional ALS race. Not one, but two drivers broke 1:53 and another was just about to kick the door down when the race ended. Wicked fast!

Connection problems plagued us, though. I don't think I was able to keep more than six guys in the race. Seems we lost one or two every race. Hopefully, we can get enough to sign up next week so we can run two rooms of six.

Thanks, drivers. Excellent races tonight. Post your own debriefing in this thread.

DD

[DirtDriver]

One of the interesting things I learned last nite was that we get pretty separated by lap three. Since I planned longer races for these official events I can see that consistency and the ability to maintain contact with the pack, or at least the car in front of me, is critical. Otherwise, the race is over pretty fast even though you still have several minutes of laps to run.

DD

[Hoplee]

*BREAKING NEWS*

The driver of the Flowmaster Brand Barracuda is now in custody after having led police on a 9 mile chase. Officers on the scene report that the 'Cuda would've gottten away if it hadn't suddenly veered into one of them. The name of the perpetrator is being withheld until family members have been notified.

in other news...

recent Gallup Polls indicate that a majority of Americans believe it is impossible to block someone who is already passing you.

(mea culpa DD, seriously boneheaded move)

[DirtDriver]

Hell, it was all part of the fun...lmao...I think I might have assisted someone into the dirt on the first lap in the sweeper, meeself! I figured it was just karma...

DD

[Hoplee]

I tried to make up for the 'Big Fish Fiasco' by running clean and quiet at Mugello. The ZR-1 needs work, but a 2:00.xxx isn't a bad place to start. My FCT cars on slicks are running 1:57.xxx after tons of tuning and laps. I think that once I nail down my braking points, the ZR-1 might give them a run for their money. Didn't Open2nd run a 1:59? Nice time that!

[Open2nd]

Actually Hop I only managed a 2:00.135.  Damn it all, I still can't beat that sub 2:00 mark I've put upon myself.  I'm actually slightly pleased with this 2:00 time though.  Again it came with the GT 500BBB.  That thing is serious when it comes to a handling track.  I have only hit a 2:00 one other time, and that was in a 1970 ZR-1 that wasn't MInc spec.  Kudos again to Blooze for that!

I love the post race reports...  If the ALS race hadn't been so engaging for me, I may have written something up for the MInc race, but I pretty much lost track of everything else during those 10 laps of Silverstone.

[Fit4aking]

Had a good time runnin last night.  Being a constant back-marker was wearing on me at the end.  The MI cars I have ar OK and my one ALS car well it needs attention.  I learned that swapping tires outside of my comfort zone for the sake of hotlapping grip takes its toll after 5-6 laps.  The ZR-1 did ok in the beginning of a race but boy did she fade fast.  Left front tire temps well over 200 at Mugello and right front was't far behind.  That cut my cornering speed to around 58-62 on any of the constant sweepers.  I think I developed that mid-turn understeer DD claimed was so good to have.  Maple Valley was a treat till I plowed into the side of 1CH3AT.  I'm a firm believer that cosmetic damage actually damages the car.  I has a TON of oversteer after that.  The rear was all over the place and transitions were challenging to say the least at speed.  Sunset Penninsula introduced me to "The Hoplee Hop" coming onto the apron.  I lagged out but was starting to develop understeer in the 1st turn anyway so I'm pleased.

Time to re-evaluate my builds for online racing vs challenges.

[JG4tr]

Morning Gents, A few thoughts on the morn following my first online event...

First of all, thanks for all the hospitality and patience shown to a newcomer to the group going out to OldSchool and the rest of the crew !
Secondly, thanks to all of you who graciously allowed me to pass them by volunteering to go offtrack.
My heart was really going for the first few laps and it was a lot of fun. With more experience tuning and driving these MInc spec cars, I should be able to actually make a pass ON the track. I definitely see the need to start adding more additional power / less weight reduction builds to my stable now.

I wish I had thought to save a replay of Maple. I would have like to see what it looked like when I drove right thru that other Vette. Sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodnight. On my end it looked like LIVE had an issue and everybody started dropping from the race on lap7 and by the end of lap8, I was all alone.
It took half a dozen reconnections and couple of console reboots before LIVE would stop showing my entire friendlist as all offline and by then, most of you actually were offline.
Special thanks to iCh3at5 for letting me hang around afterwards with him and his friend 'Tut. I appreciate the favor of the 'loanercar' and intend to return it after I see if I can get it to match his laptime. Although after I've messed with it, he may not want it back.

I'm really looking forward to participating in more races and challenges with a great group like y'all.
Thanks again, JG