Johno3

Hello Lee and AllStar, Very interesting and fair point, and if we were racing back in 2005, you would have actually had a last chance race to qualify tonight. The problem is though that we try, where ever possible, to follow the real life formula 1's, as I am sure you agree that is the aim of us racing. Therefore back in 2006 it was deicded that with some Wednesdays becoming free as the Hot Rod season finishes, we would try the double header. With taking the top 6 from the meeting before the championship day, this mimics real life perfectly, and also adds something different to championships which if run in the same format, can become quite boring. Sure it means that some may have to miss Wednesday, but I suppose the same is possible (all be it slighty less likely due to it being a weekend) with the real life F1's. When you get last chance races in the UK Open Championship, the World Final series, the Dutch Open if we had enough cars, you can see that the last chance qualifier as you wish for, features prominantly in the season. Thats another reason why we choose this option. I am sorry you feel as though you are missing out, but I hope that just explains why we choose the way that we choose. It mimics real life, and also adds variety and spice to the championship meetings which we run. Cheers Johno

Dont forget, usual championship rules apply regarding bookings. If you want your place on the European grid, you need to have booked in by 6pm, or your space will be taken by a reserve. Any bookings after 6pm, will be for the meeting after the European Race.

First of all, and I know I bang on about it, but I really want to say thank you to everyone who helped make tonight a success. Jimmy and Jarry did a great job race managing. Dan was superb sorting out the servers for both formulas, as was Kev stewarding the races. Finally, a big huge thank you to both teams for all theri effort in making this event a huge success. They really do deserve such a huge round of appaulse, so well done guys Onto the racing, and I thought it was really good tonight. Battles throughout the field. Well done to Jimmy for taking the final. Must stand a good chance of winning the main event tomorrow. Personally, it was a superb night for me. I was on a decent pace for once, and thanks to Hutch, I had a better wheel set up. Thank you very much for your help with that Hutch. I also changed my race view. I move out of the cab and onto the bonnet, and I found that I could hold a better line for being able to see the front of the car. Hot Rod wise, I only tried it at 6pm this evening, and I must say I am very impressed. I really loved the mod, and feel it has cracking potential next year. The racing was good, and although I wasnt quick enough, I did enjoy it, and tried to get out of the way to people if I could. So, the next thing I am going to ask is for your thoughts on the event tonight. Do you feel that the two formula option worked well? Is it something you would be happy to see tried again? What are my thoughts.......... Well i think it was a success myself. I still think there is room for imporvement, in that I think a half past ten finish is what we were aiming at, and I think it went a good forty minutes over. I think that again was my fault with trying a different format. I think we perhaps should of stuck to the normal format. In regards to changing mods, I had absolutely no problem with it. The practice time before the race starts is a great help, but I tended to find, more in F1, that I could do my times straight out of the block anyway. So I personally don tthink that this was an issue. It was more a case of finding a format that suits a two hour time limit a bit better. Anyway, both myself and Jarry are keen to hear your thoughts and views on the event. Cheers Johno

Practice chevy is the one ending .211 For the meeting though, we will use server 3, ending .92 Cheers Johno

Site is for tonights meeting, this thread is for thursday meetings, in order to keep things orderly. He will have you booked in now though And I assume your racing tonight, as I am sure Jimmy has you on the MI. Cheers Johno

Ta guys - had a good day and perhaps more importantly, a good drink!! Perhaps that explains why I am typing quite well tonight!! lol Cheers Johno

Can I just say a huge thank you to everyone involved in making this programme, especially Jarry who has put in many hours to make this as artistic as it is. He really has done a superb job. With all the plans now sorted, all that is left for you to do is come and join us, for what is set to be an epic event. Cheers Johno

Pleased to hear you are well and that health and safety will not be after you My lap times were aorund that time, with 13.8 at best. So yes I would imagine the best are doing about 13.4. JOhno

O yeah, try the fix by all means, but you will still need to keep your eyes out for MoR's version just incase its different. As he says he will release a version 0.6 which means that we wil probably all need to delete our versions. It wasnt meant as meant cinically, just I know he is at work at the minute, and after a 13 hour day it isnt the first thing he wants to do. He does work his socks off though, and if he thinks he knows he can get it ready for Wednesday, then I am sure he will. As an admin team, we wil be keeping our eyes over events the next few days, and always be in contact with MoR of course. Cheers Johno

Maybe / maybe not. I have done 20/30 laps, used a birmingham setup with slightly adjusted gears and am very happy and wont do anymore practice until just before the meeting on Wednesday. So not really at a huge disavantage. EDIT: Probably explains why I am not very good like

I know your desperate to race the track guys, but please be patient. I persoanlly would reread MoR's post. He will have a play with it maybe tonight, if not tomorrow. Dont be too downheartened, it will be sorted in time for wednesday and Thursday he says. Cheers Johno

With the upcoming European championship double header, we have decided to give you another chnace to send your skins to us. Doesnt matter how plain, this gives you the oppotunity to now race your own skins. In light of the recent rule change, as announced by Johno here, every driver is now allowed to make 1 chassis change for shale, and 1 for tarmac over the course of the season (should they desire to do so). Please remember that all rules with regard to skins (sizes, grades, real life replicas, etc) can be found on the UK Dirt website, in the RFactor F1 Rules section. And there is also the Skinpainting Guide, outlining the chassis available, converting your skins and getting them into game. Bear in mind that the recent rule changes are not on the website yet, and also that high res skins are now permitted (so if you missed out previously - this is another oppertunity for you to submit). Generic .veh files can be found here (thanks to MoR for making these earlier in the season) try and make your own for your cars and include them, but don't worry if you can't - each one will be checked / made / remade as appropriate. Deadline: Tuesday 5th August, Mid-day Upload your skins through the upload tool on the UK Dirt website - selecting the relevant option (and please be aware that all of your skins will have to be in a single zip file). I will keep track below of who has uploaded skins. Received: Chevy #11 - see booking thread Earache #492 - see semi final preview Oh, and if you already have a skin in game that you are happy with, don't worry it isn't going anywhere. So that's it, get painting and uploading if you want to. DanSkin will be releasing the skin pack on Tuesday night.

Superb track MoR. Love it already and only done 20/30 laps. Mine works fine, and I am afraid I dont know where to find all the data from. All I know is I run it on dx7, xp, and the full version of rfactor. Cheers Johno

Aye, we will be releasing a skin pack. I toldd him to do something plain and then I will allow him to update it when you have the time. Cheers Johno

Hello Chevy, You will be starting from white dont worry. For simplicity we just copied over the heat grades from the end of last season, but I will change it on the database tomorrow. Cheers Johno

Johno#3 booking in

Ok guys, this is coming up this week. I wil add details above throughout the week similar to what I did for the Heat F1 meeting. Look out for something a little different, appearing on the forum Monday /Tuesday time. Now in regards to bookings........ To book in for Wednesday F1: use the UK Dirt Site. To book in for Thursday F1: use this thread, and post here. To book in for Wednesday Hotrods: Click the link in Jarry's post above. As I said in another post, this has the makings to be a classic meeting, all we need now is your to support us to make it a success. Cheers Johno

First of all, thanks very much to Kev for running the meeting and also stewarding all the races. Congratualtions to Dazza, and the rest of the top 10 for making the first rfactor world final. Congratulations to Hutch on a very dominant performace throughout the night. The grand national was the only race where he struggled, but I think thats because there were no pile ups. I won the grand national and think I only lapped one person. Nice to Drumbstick back racing, and also congratulations on being the top points scorer of the night. Personally, a good night for me. Wasnt too slow, and just made a couple of errors at the wrong time meaning I went down the feild. I broke away in the grand national with Jimmy, and had a half spin which held him up and gave me a bit of a gap. Sorry about that Jimmy. In regards to the semi finals........ In real life, as Kev says, they are given final points, but the race is normally run as a heat (ever wonder why those battling for the national series play their jokers at their semi final? Stuart picked up double points for his second in the semi final at Kings Lynn - 40 I think). In regards to it being an extra race, it was decided as such because everyone will get a semi final, therefore no one is losing out. If we got an attendace of say 16-18, it gives a very dodgy two thirds format with two heats less than ten, especially if the semi final contains 14 or 15 of those drivers. Every driver should get two heats no matter what. So as I said, with everyone getting a semi final, there is no advantage to be gained in the long term, as those that didnt get an 'extra race' tonight, get the 'extra race' at Skegness, plus the oppotunity to score final points. Finally, can I just say it was great to see so many drivers racing. Next week is a big week for rfactor F1, with the unique double header, and it would be great to see as many people racing again, around Northampton, which will be out at some point this weekend. This event as the makings of being an absolute classic, and it just needs you the drivers to support us to turn it into a success!! Cheers Johno

A simple no would have sufficed. I wouldnt bother racing if thats how people get spoken to. If you read the topic, you would see that I gave him a simple no. He then decided to go on about it. Earache, I wasnt annoyed at your initial request, but to explain to why you cant have you skin, and for you then to go on and on and on is out of order. We are people that do this for enjoyment, and we dont enjoyed be told do do a skin pack a matter of hours before I meeting. We like to race and practice too. Johno

I am sorry earache, but your constant moaning has really annoyed me. DanSkin, who does the skinpacks, has been at work all day, then has his own semi final to take care of as well. To do a skinpack you have to do the pack and install it on the server. It also means that we are making unnessessary packs which gets people all confused. I have told you that you can have it in the game next week, when we have a scheduled a skinpack. The fact that you have gone on as really annoyed me. You let us know that you have a skin about 5 hours before a meeting when everyone is busy doing things. You have had all week to tell us that you are doing, or in fact have a skin, and you choose right before the meeting. Thats bang out of order in my opinion, and in fact, if no one submits any skins next week, I may even tell Dan not to bother with yours for the rudeness that you have shown. I dont expect to hear anything else said on the subject, or you wont be having your skin in the game at all. Johno I

I am afraid not tonight earache. Its no longer about just putting it on a pack. It has to be installed onto the server as well, and Dan is currently at work. You will be fine to use a novice skin, and there is another skin pack to come ahead of Next weeks european double header, so we will put it in for you then. Cheers Johno

Sorry to hear that - you have been cancelled.

Pleased to hear it

1st WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI FINAL - KINGS LYNN Thursday 31st July 2008 This season’s first World Championship Semi Final will take place on the shale way of Kings Lynn. Kings Lynn has already hosted three meeting this season, and has produced three different final winners. The tractor tyres on the outside make sure that you need to concentrate throughout the race, and it is important that you try to avoid the armco so not to damage your car. The racing though has been spectacular, and very fast. Dazza has picked this track, and therefore must start the race as favourite. He may well be pleased that some of his main rivals, Sybe, Kruiz and MoR, have had to pull out, but there is still plenty of talent on the track to make sure this race will be a cracker. There are also a few guys that will be trying to get to the front from the back of the grid, namely Drumbstick and The Green Genie. Neither should be ruled out at challenging for a podium position, and should Dazza not get a good start, then perhaps the victory. I can now confirm that it will be the first 10 cars across the line that make the World Final grid at Ipswich on Thursday 18th of September. Any driver failing to qualify, or unable to attend their semi final, will have one final chance at the consolation semi final which comes in September. The format for the night will see the semi final being an extra race on the night. It will be slotted in between the heats and the final, and in regards to the national points, it will be given final points (i.e. 25,20,18,16.......) Anyway, as is tradition, he are the runners and riders for the first UK Dirt Rfactor F1 World championship Semi Finals. ---------- DAZZA #290 ROW 1 INSIDE Appearances: 17 / National Points Position: 1st / Total Points: 520 / Race wins: 11 / Final wins: 2 / UK OPEN CHAMPION Dazza has really started to dominate Rfactor F1 in recent weeks. After a shaky start, he really settled in and has two final wins to his name. He took the first title of the season in fine style, having to come from the back of the grid in order to win the race. He has also won a final already at Kings Lynn, in a meeting which he totally dominated. Many have him down as the favourite for the race, and as long as he gets off the start, I think there is little that can stop him gaining a front row start for the world final at Ipswich. PREDICTION: WINNER ---------- LEEK #39 ROW 1 OUTSIDE Appearances: 18 / National Points Position: 6th / Total Points: 321 / Race wins: 4 / Final wins: 3 LeeK is one of those drivers that needs a grade in between blue and red. Lee is clearly far too good from blue, as his three finals wins have shown, yet finds it hard going from red. His final wins have come on both surfaces, and his Kings Lynn form is not too bad, taking 34 points in his first meeting. For Lee, much will depend on how he gets away. If he gets stuck on the outside, he may find he slips down the grid and has to fight his way back to the front. I would be very surprised if Lee did not make the world final, but I think you may find it is in the second half of the top 10 rather than the first half which he would crave. PREDICTION: TOP 10 ---------- SYBE #315 ROW 2 INSIDE Appearances: 16 / National Points Position: 7th / Total Points: 299 / Race wins: 7 / Final wins: 2 Sybe will unfortunately not be taking up his position on the grid due to Holiday commitments. ---------- IRONMAC #288 ROW 2 OUTSIDE Appearances: 18 / National Points Position: 10th / Total Points: 264 / Race wins: 6 / Final wins: 0 Ironmac is one of those drivers that appears to get very little luck. Had some good success in semi finals in Heat F1, and will be looking for that luck to follow him over to Rfactor F1. 6 race wins suggest that Ironmac is no slouch, and you would be correct, but he openly admits that this is one of his worst tracks. In his first two meetings here he only scored 12 points, but that improved in the third meeting here where he scored 23 points. He will find a space next to him, with Sybe not racing, and this will enable him to get to the inside. He should qualify, but like Lee, could be in the lower half of the top 10. PREDICTION: TOP 10 ---------- KRUIZ #136 ROW 3 INSIDE Appearances: 11 / National Points Position: 8th / Total Points: 299 / Race wins: 7 / Final wins: 1 Kruiz will unfortunately not be taking up his position on the grid due to Holiday commitments. ---------- DANSKIN #236 ROW 3 OUTSIDE Appearances: 16 / National Points Position: 12th / Total Points: 243 / Race wins: 10 / Final wins: 1 / DUTCH OPEN CHAMPION Dan would be the first one to admit that he has had rather a mixed season to date. Sometimes he can be brilliant, as signified by his cracking drive to take the Dutch Open, and other times he can give up too easily. Much will depend on the guys mood, if he is up for it, he will go well, if he is not, then he may struggle. He admits himself that he would have preferred the Skegness semi final, but his record does seem to suggest improvement at Kings Lynn, as the last time he raced there he got 27 points. Should definitely make the top 10 as long as he doesn’t give up and finishes the race. PREDICTION: TOP 10 ---------- MOR #137 ROW 4 INSIDE Appearances: 13 / National Points Position: 5th / Total Points: 348 / Race wins: 3 / Final wins: 2 MoR will unfortunately not be taking up his position on the grid due to work commitments. ---------- TOSH #8 ROW 4 OUTSIDE Appearances: 4 / National Points Position: 20th / Total Points: 108 / Race wins: 1 / Final wins: 1 Tosh has only been able to make limited appearances this season due to working. So far he has raced two on the tarmac and two on the shale. His final win came on the shale of Bradford and he scored a handy 22 points at the last Kings Lynn meeting meaning there is no doubt that he is comfortable on the shale. With no one next to him, it should be easy to tuck into the inside line, and with this, enable him to make up a few places. He may get a top 3 finish out of the race, but should definitely get a minimum of a top 5 finish. PREDICTION: TOP 5 ---------- MARKY #18 ROW 5 INSIDE Appearances: 12 / National Points Position: 17th / Total Points: 160 / Race wins: 1 / Final wins: 0 Marky has made a good few appearances this year, and is one of the quieter drivers in F1. Started the season at white and was quickly promoted after the first meeting. He then went to blue after the first grading period but found it hard initially. Just when t looked he had settled down, he was down graded to yellow. He has only raced one Kings Lynn meeting, and scored well from the yellow grade. May find it hard going trying to come from mid pack, but I expect him to creep inside the top 10, especially with a number of cars missing. PREDICTION: TOP 10 FINISH ---------- TOM D #112 ROW 5 OUTSIDE Appearances: 15 / National Points Position: 13th / Total Points: 219 / Race wins: 2 / Final wins: 0 TomD has had a very good start to his Rfactor F1 career. Starting at yellow, he quickly was promoted to blue. He had one meeting at blue, and was quickly promoted to red. This perhaps came a little too soon for him, as after one period he was back down to blue. He sees to have settled now, and is climbing the points chart again, looking to get that red roof back. Is surprisingly lower than one may expect, but has the capability to get up through the field, especially as he can use the bumper to good effect. Certainly one of the drivers to watch from the back, and should get a top 10 finish. PREDICTION: TOP 10 ---------- THE GREEN GENIE #298 ROW 6 INSIDE Appearances: 3 / National Points Position: 21st / Total Points: 100 / Race wins: 5 / Final wins: 1 / SCOTTISH CHAMPION The Genie has raced 3 meetings so far this season, each with a high degree of success. Had a good first meeting from yellow, which seen him get upgraded to blue. He then raced two tarmac meetings and scored very highly in both meaning he was upgraded to blue. Won the Scottish Championship after a great battle with DanSkin, and this experience will stand him in good stead for this race. He has not raced on Kings Lynn in UK Dirt, but I would expect him to be fast. Add that to his ability to use the bumper, and he should definitely get a top 5 position, and may even sneak a top 3 finish. PREDICTION: TOP 3 ---------- ALLSTAR #500 ROW 6 OUTSIDE Appearances: 1 / National Points Position: unavailable / Total Points: 38 / Race wins: 1 / Final wins: 0 Allstar made his debut in Rfactor F1 this past week on the tarmac of Hednesford. Little did he know that it was to be one of the most successful debuts in Rfactor F1 history. Not only did he score a massive 38 points, but he also took the grand national race by storm. Based on his performance, he has been upgraded to blue, and it will be interesting to see how he gets on from there. This will be his first appearance on the shale, and in such a big meeting, but if he does as well as he did in his first meeting, then he will easily get in the top 10. PREDICTION: TOP 10 FINISH ---------- SPIKE #221 ROW 7 INSIDE Appearances: 11 / National Points Position: 26th / Total Points: 34 / Race wins: 0 / Final wins: 0 Spike was a little dubious making the change to Rfactor, but once he got into it, he has really enjoyed it. After a shaky start, he is really starting to get the hang of it, and it is only a matter of time until he is proudly wearing a yellow roof, having in recent weeks come close to taking the chequered flag. This race sees him start from the back however, and on his least favourite surface, shale, thus he may find it hard work. One thing you can guarantee is that this guy will use the bumper, and he will be ready to capitalise on any mistakes that any driver on the grid may make. PREDICTION: JUST TO MISS OUT ---------- DRUMBSTICK #41 ROW 7 OUTSIDE Appearances: 2 / National Points Position: 25th / Total Points: 35 / Race wins: 0 / Final wins: 0 If there was one person that you would need to watch in this race, it would be Drumbstick. Unfortunately due to illness, he has not been able to race as many meetings as he would like, and has even been downgraded to red. But class is permanent, and this guy is as fast as anyone on the track. His skill in amongst traffic will be a huge advantage for him, and his ability to post consistent lap times when he gets out on his own should ensue that despite being so far back, he secures a top 3 finish, and thus give him a good chance of taking the gold come the big day at Ipswich. PREDICTION: TOP 3 ---------- WALKER #74 ROW 8 INSIDE Appearances: 1 / National Points Position: unavailable / Total Points: 1 / Race wins: 0 / final wins: 0 Walker was another driver to make his Rfactor debut at Hednesford in the final world championship qualifying round this past week. Starting from the yellow grade, Walker found it hard going, but managed to reach the first Rfactor milestone of getting his first point on the board. Thursday will see his first meeting on the shale, which could well mean that it will be hard going for him. If results were based on enjoyment, then Walker would win this semi final, as he loved his debut in the Rfactor mod. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and I think he will find it hard to qualify. One thing is for sure though; he will give it his all! PREDICTION: JUST TO MISS OUT ---------- TINMAN #248 ROW 8 OUTSIDE Appearances: 1 / National Points Position: unavailable / Total Points: 0 / Race wins: 0 / Final wins: 0 Tinman will unfortunately not be taking up his position on the grid. ---------- EARACHE ROW 9 INSIDE Appearances: 2 / National Points Position: 38th / Total Points: 0 / Race wins: 0 / Final wins: 0 Earache so far as only made two appearances in F1, and this has meant that he has struggled to score points. He has done one meeting on the tarmac, and one on the shale, so he has experienced shale racing before. He has not raced at Kings Lynn to date, and this will be a slightly different proposition for him given the huge tractor tyres on the inside. It is unlikely that he will qualify in the top 10, but he will be giving it his all. This race will provide valuable experience for him, and I am sure when all is said and done, he will enjoy himself. PREDICTION: JUST TO MISS OUT ---------- Well that’s it for the preview; it is now time for the action to take place on the track. I have made my predictions for the race, and may have in some cases cursed some people which I am sure they will not thank me for. In some cases people will feel they will get higher than I have predicted them, and this is what makes Rfactor F1 so exciting........ My prediction could be totally wrong and anything could happen. So remember..... Thursday 31st July @ 9pm - Kings Lynn Semi final - get yourself booked in.

Of course you can. The semi final is likely to be an 'extra race' anyway, so everyone will get two heats as normal. Cheers Johno