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Ballast

Author Topic: Ballast  (Read 39073 times)

Offline marty

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Re: Ballast
« Reply #60 on: November 04, 2015, 01:46:06 PM »
Regarding ballast, I think this shows it evens the race pace up considerably.

Race 2 at Spa in the fr3.5



Here is the race pace in series 2 formula abarths at Imola. Notice all gaps just keep spreading out over the race, compared to the current season where most people were fairly even pace with the leader.



Still some seasons without ballast may be fun or even just success ballast as in last season. Its been interesting starting so far back in the packs and I think in the long run everyones driving in close quarters will improve the more we all do it.

Offline Wally

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Re: Ballast
« Reply #61 on: November 04, 2015, 01:58:47 PM »
Yessiree. That's the goal, to bunch the field up just like that, and give more people close racing.

I would only expect to use ballast sometimes, certainly not all the time. It really works best for single-make seasons. Otherwise, moderate success ballast can compress the field a bit, but again, won't be used all the time. It depends on the cars used.
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Offline Guybrush Threepwood

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Re: Ballast
« Reply #62 on: November 04, 2015, 02:30:58 PM »
So far I think ballast has sort of jumbled everyone up as opposed to bringing everyone closer together.  Will be interesting to see if it improves by the end of the season.  Possibly going from Zandvoort to Spa accentuated the ballast deficiencies as Zandvoort you could drive around the ballast, where as Spa really punishes you because of the long straights, and there isn't much you can do about those.

Mugello will be the real test as to where the ballast system sits as it's a mixture of a long straight and lots of twisty bits.

I do miss the reverse grid races :)

As a change up I wonder whether we could pick one car make with a few different tyre types and simply have people using the slower tyre depending on their performance.  Something like the GT86 with it's ECO, road and semi-slick tyres (i think there is one more type?), as an example.

Offline Wally

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Re: Ballast
« Reply #63 on: November 04, 2015, 05:28:06 PM »
I think it has brought cars closer together. If you look at another fast car race we did at Spa, the McLaren P1/LaFerrari, the top 13 cars finished within 2:15 of the winner. In our last race at Spa just now, the top 13 cars finished with 1:22 of the winner. That's a lot more compressed.
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Offline Guybrush Threepwood

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Re: Ballast
« Reply #64 on: November 04, 2015, 06:22:12 PM »
Yes, it has bought everyone closer, but re-arranged the field at the same time.  So the rubber band has flicked back on itself, so to speak.

Offline marty

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Re: Ballast
« Reply #65 on: November 04, 2015, 07:38:20 PM »
With the weight GB has carried so far I'm amazed he has done as well as he has, out qualifying me quite often and out racing me too. I know how hard it is to race with 135kg against guys with not much so having 170kg would be pretty brutal. But at least credit to GB he clearly isn't sandbagging at all and giving it all he has each lap. This means hes not really reducing ballast but I wonder if maybe a softening of ballast at the high end to give the quicker guys more hope of a win. As is unless others crash we really have no hope beating a guy on lower ballast able to put in laptimes that are impossible with the heavy ballast. Then in a race your quite a sitting duck so even it would be best if laptimes could be evened out including the top 2 or 3 that manage upon very low ballast and have speed others properly weighted have no hope with.

I'm not saying some people are gaming the system but clearly some are lol, I mean If I wanted to finish a couple spaces further back I could pace myself too but its clear the top 5 or 6 weights are pretty much going as hard as they can just to be able to compete. Yet some guys have a fair bit of pace in reserve if you challenge them a little. ;)

You did say more points go to the guys with more ballast, but how exactly is this as its possible some don't realize this and so may be giving up pace for less ballast which in turn gives them less points even if they get better finishes.

Offline Wally

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Re: Ballast
« Reply #66 on: November 04, 2015, 07:58:37 PM »
You get 0.5 points for every whole 30 kg of ballast carried. Says so in the rules!
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Offline Freezer

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Re: Ballast
« Reply #67 on: November 04, 2015, 11:32:48 PM »
As is unless others crash we really have no hope beating a guy on lower ballast able to put in laptimes that are impossible with the heavy ballast.
Another perspective -
As is unless others crash we really have no hope beating a guy on lower high ballast as he is still able to put in laptimes that are impossible with the heavy lighter ballast.  :)

Offline Guybrush Threepwood

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Re: Ballast
« Reply #68 on: November 05, 2015, 06:35:40 AM »
As is unless others crash we really have no hope beating a guy on lower ballast able to put in laptimes that are impossible with the heavy ballast.
Another perspective -
As is unless others crash we really have no hope beating a guy on lower high ballast as he is still able to put in laptimes that are impossible with the heavy lighter ballast.  :)

You flatter!  I did qualify 13th and 6th though and then finished 4th thanks to crashes and then 13th, so not quick enough! :)

Offline marty

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Re: Ballast
« Reply #69 on: November 05, 2015, 02:11:44 PM »
You get 0.5 points for every whole 30 kg of ballast carried. Says so in the rules!

Thanks Wally now I dont need to read those rules.  ;D

As is unless others crash we really have no hope beating a guy on lower ballast able to put in laptimes that are impossible with the heavy ballast.
Another perspective -
As is unless others crash we really have no hope beating a guy on lower high ballast as he is still able to put in laptimes that are impossible with the heavy lighter ballast.  :)

We can switch ballast then it sure sounds like the lighter cars have it tough.  :'(

Last nite something went pop in my computer after a power surge. A not good smell followed and it wont boot. I suspect its the motherboard which is a bit of a bugger as its hard to find a replacement for older sockets. The cpu and ram are still fine though so Id rather just fix this then replace all that. Will have a reasonable second setup once I upgrade fully.

Not sure If I have a spare mainboard at home or it may have just been the psu so will need to check. But quite likely may not be up for the next round as sourcing a suitable replacement wont be easy to find.

Until Im back up Wally will need to keep up with any changes for the server. I can do stuff from the spare computer or laptop but I dont even have ac installed on those.

Offline Wally

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Re: Ballast
« Reply #70 on: November 05, 2015, 05:27:16 PM »
Good luck getting it fixed. I've had a fried mobo once upon s time too, but I was able to replace like for like.
I'll look after the practice server.
“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”

 

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