RBR MF Cup - S2 - Round 1 - Monte Carlo Rally

[Bruce D]

Finally the new season is here!

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/BruceD77/rd1-montecarlo.jpg

Thanks to LCD for the image

Monte Carlo Rally Event Info
-----------------------------
13-15 November 2009
RBR MF Cup Season 2 - Round 1

Rules
-----
Open to WRC, S2000, N4-N1 and A7-A5 cars
Tyre choice is free for all stages

Stages
------
Leg 1
SS1 - Paddys (New Stage) - Mod: Normal - Weather: Thick Fog - 4.8km
SS2 - Joux Plane II (France) - Mod:Monte - Weather: Covered Damp - 11.1km
SS3 - Pibram R (New Stage) - Mod: Snow - Weather: Covered Damp - 8.9km
SS4 - Las-Majadas V1.4 (BTB) - Mod: Normal - Weather: Normal - 16.5km

Leg 2
SS5 - Bisanne II (France) - Mod: Monte - Weather: Bad - NIGHT MOD - 5.6km
SS6 - Joux Plane (France) - Mod: Normal - Weather: Bad - NIGHT MOD - 11.1km
SS7 - Sipirkakin II - Mod: Snow - Weather: Bad - NIGHT MOD - 8.7km

Leg 3
SS8 - Cote D'Arbroz (France) - Mod: Snow - Weather: Bad - 4.5km
SS9 - Malaga-A700 (BTB) - Mod: Normal - Weather: Default - 6.9km
SS10 - Sipirkakin (Japan) - Mod: Snow - Weather: Thick Fog - 8.7km


Total Distance - 73.6km

Entries
-------
Send your entries to BruceD by PM or by email to [email:2v173xfd]rbrmfcup@gmail.com[/email:2v173xfd] Entry info as follows: Name, Country, Team, Car.

Submitting times
----------------
Start each stage using the "RSRBR2009" button under the "play alone" section, do your stage. The time will be recorded in the window at the bottom of RsCenter. If its not recorded, you did something wrong. Use "public sessions" tab and "Go" button for BTB stages.

Once you have completed the stages you wish to do, select the File menu and click on "Save times" The times are saved to your RBR directory under the folder "MyTimes". Once you have done all the stages, send all your html files to [email:2v173xfd]rbrmfcup@gmail.com[/email:2v173xfd] to be scored. Please note that more than 1 html file can be submitted so you don't have to do all the stages at one time.

Entries open immediately. Rally and entries close at midnight Tuesday 17th November 2009

[Bruce D]

Rules Reminder
--------------

The Rules for the RBR MF Cup is as follows:
Please note that you must have the RSRBR09 Mod and all its updates, available from http://www.rallyesim.com in order to compete in this league.
1. Entry
An entry for each event can be made in 2 ways - either by sending BruceD a PM on the Motorsport Forums website or by emailing it to [email:2k7dx8il]rbrmfcup@gmail.com[/email:2k7dx8il] All entries should be with the following information:
Name
Country
Team
Car*

*The Car entry will be open for Cup events but may be restricted on Fun Events.
2. Sending Results
Results must be emailed to [email:2k7dx8il]rbrmfcup@gmail.com[/email:2k7dx8il] All results must be in the form of the html file as produced by RScenter (see below). More than one html file can be sent (so you don't have to do all the stages in one go), but you may only do each stage once. If more than 1 time is received for a stage, the first time set will be counted. Please note that while a event's date will run from the Friday to the Sunday, you may do the rally at any time between when the entries open and the roadbook is announced (usually the Monday before the event), until midnight GMT on the Tuesday after the event date. Results will be officially announced on the Wednesday following the event.
3. How to compete in a rally
Rallies will consist of a number of stages as specified in each event's Roadbook. All stages may only be completed once (reruns and restarts are not allowed). If you retire from a stage you will recieve a "super rally" penalty of 3min added onto the fastest time set on that stage. You are only allowed 1 Super Rally penalty per leg of each event. If you use more, you are retired from the rally.
4. How to record your times
Start the RSCenter of the RSRBR09 mod. Choose the correct car, stage, weather, etc for the stage you wish to compete on. The start RBR by either clicking the "RSRBR2009" button under the "play alone" tab (not "rbrSSE" or your times will not be recorded)or (in the case of BTB stages), selecting the "public session" tab and choosing "GO" button. You will notice as the mod is loading RBR that your name and details will appear in the bottom screen of RSCenter. Complete the stage and exit RBR - you will now see your time is recored in the bottom screen. Repeat the process for each stage you want to do. When you have completed the stages (or wish to stop), select "File" in the top menu and then "Save Times" and the program will save your times as a .html file in your RBR/MyTimes directory. Once you have completed the rally, email all your html files to [email:2k7dx8il]rbrmfcup@gmail.com[/email:2k7dx8il] Thats it! =D
5. Championships
The RBR MF Cup provides for 3 main types of championships; the Cup, for overall positions, the Teams Cup, for teams positions, and Class Cups, for positions in class. The points system used is the following: 25, 21, 19, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 for all Cups. The best 8 results from 9 events count.
6. Teams
A team must consist of a minimum of 2 drivers, butthere is no restriction on how many drivers are in a team. A team's result will be the total time of the fastest 2 members of each team.
7. Classes
The normal classes allowed on Cup events are WRC, S2000, Group N (N4 to N1) and Group A (A7 to A5). On Fun Events there may be differences, but these will be specified in the Roadbook.
8. Pace Notes
You are not allowed to have any visual (picture) pacenotes, but you are allowed audio pacenotes (sound) unless otherwise stated in an event's Roadbook.
9. Damage
Only "reduced" damage is allowed. Anyone not using Reduced damage shall be given a penalty of 3min per stage that they used the wrong damage setting.
10. The Golden Rule
Have Fun!!!!

[lcd]

Finally new season starts! :) Schedule looks awesome!
Great selection of tracks and those weather settings, look so scary..! :D
Nice Inspiration there Bruce!
I wish all good luck and I hope there will be enough entries for this
first round, so there will be some bloody competition!

Of course, always remember-never forget this guy:
fQdAwuZXAWc

[NeverKnow]

I think this going to be a very tough rally but also one of the most interesting rally so far. Hopefully we going to have long entry list for this rally.
Though it's a shame that RBR game engine doesn't support dynamic surfaces so we can't have correct snow on the Monte stages like in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLW40SX3jb0).

[lcd]

...
Though it's a shame that RBR game engine doesn't support dynamic surfaces so we can't have correct snow on the Monte stages like in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLW40SX3jb0).

That would be so great Indeed...! That video shows the definition of snow driving over asphalt. ;)

[Francis44]

Already submitted my entry :) .

[Bruce D]

Yeah, 2 entries so far, Francis44 and myself. LCD, you running with GRACE again on this one, or is Hoofhearted back? Not sure about jimakos's fitness at the moment.

NeverKnow, I thought you might like the idea that the tyre choice was free (as it will be on all events)? ;)

Don't forget the permanent numbers for the season as follows:

1. NeverKnow
2. LCD
3. Hoofhearted
4. bennizw
5. Raybak
6. jimakos
7. Fred05
8. Redrover
9. BruceD
10. Macd

[NeverKnow]

NeverKnow, I thought you might like the idea that the tyre choice was free (as it will be on all events)? ;)
That's good as it allows some gambling with tire choice on some of the stages. You have the option to pick a safe tire or take risk like with an asphalt tire on snow hoping that you gain more time on tarmac than you lose on the snowy bit. It is like Rally Monte Carlo before the control tire was intoduced to WRC.

[lcd]

Haven't seen Hoofhearted around here lately, so really don't know If
he's following season2...
Guess I don't have a team mate for the moment!

I'd like to join Grace team-at least for this one-but haven't decided
In which class I will participate;I'd like to be S2000 but If there aren't
at least 4-5 entries In this class, there won't be any competition, so
I'll probably enter the WRC class...Which class are you In Bruce?

I'll send my entry as soon as I decide which car I am going to use! ;)

[Bruce D]

No problem being in GRACE again. I'm going to be running in S2000 for the season, well as long as it takes to take the class title and then maybe switch to WRC cars later in the year. Looking at some of the times, if I can just keep the car on the road long enough I can compete with the front guys so it might be worth me throwing a spanner in it all.

[Macd]

looking forward to this. night stages will be AWESOME. YEAHHHHHH, hoping to get back after the disappointment that was the pentti rally although tarmac isnt my strong point.

[tannat]

Shakedown stage?

Perhaps I overlooked it....

[Bruce D]

No shakedown stage, I haven't planned it. Plus I'm trying to make these more "old style" rallies which didn't have shakedowns. Given the way I've maxed out the calendar it will be tricky to put in shakedown stages.

[J4MIE]

Sorry guys I can't do this, the 2009 mod thing took up far too much room on my pc so I had to get rid of it :(

[steve_spackman]

Unable to enter for the first couple of rallies. Shame has it looks really exciting...But i shall be following it...

[Bruce D]

Hmm, had more people tell me they can't do it than can. And tannat is trying to pull off some really complex installation processes for this thing so hopefully he can have it sorted out in time.

I do have another guy entering from another forum but strangely enough his entry never made it to my email box. I'm trying other methods to get his stuff.

So far 5 definate entries but I know of at least 2 missing still, possibly a third as well.

[lcd]

I'll be behind the wheels of a Citroen C4 '06 for this season!
Just sent my entry In! I'm sure there will be new entries during the season,
as everyone will be amazed of the level of realism RSRBR09 has to offer! ;)

[Bruce D]

Citroen didn't have a C4 in 06, they were still using the Xsara. The C4 only came into being in 07. :s

Got your entry, thats 6 now. Send PM's to a few other guys but heard nothing from them.

[lcd]

6-8 entries per event Is OK! Though I'm sure there
will be more to come, after season starts... ;)
What's the point having many entries but no consistency?
Don't forget RSRBR09 Is very demanding...

[Francis44]

Don't get me wrong, RSRBR09 is a great mod but it requires a way powerfull machine and some aspects of it, like the new BTB stages, have been reason to have some people on rallyesim forum complaining.

I guess with older stages, the ones who came with the game, you could still have a good challenge, this use of the BTB stages may throw some people off but i guess that's it.

[Bruce D]

Yeah I know - on my machine only the Tervainemi 15 km is a little slow, but the rest is fine. But when I was doing stand-alone rallies and using the BTB plugin all the stages were slow. Its the textures that BTB uses. It doesn't convert well to RBR gives too high a resolution. I think the bumpmapping is a bit too strong too.

Funny enough BTB's GTR2 tracks don't have the same problem, but the file size is massive compared to ones made in 3DSMax

[lcd]

...on my machine only the Tervainemi 15 km is a little slow, but the rest is fine...

Me too!

[Bruce D]

Oh well, we'll only see it once more in the coming season

[Bruce D]

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/BruceD77/EntryList.jpg

The entry list so far. 1 new competitor, should be interesting to see what happens. Entries are still open until the end of the event (unlike last season) so there may be one or two extra entries.

[Macd]

why does it say 14 for me when my number is ten?

[Bruce D]

My bad!

As for the non-top 10 numbers, I think I might make the numbers you get on this event be your numbers for the season too. What do you guys think?

Or alternatively everyone who scored in the championship will get their numbers according to their finishing positions, in which case the list will look like this:

1 NeverKnow
2 LCD
3 Hoofhearted
4 bennizw
5 Raybak
6 jimakos
7 Fred05
8 Redrover
9 BruceD
10 Macd
11 ps29
12 J4MIE
13 Francis44
14 306Cosworth
15 Tannat
16 ProductionCup
17 steve_spackman

[Bruce D]

I did my first 5 stages last night - my word is it slippery on those stages! Very very tricky conditions.

And Macd, if you thought the pacenotes were bad on the BTB stages before, wait until you try stage 3. There are bits with no pacenotes whatsoever! Basically you have to drive all these stages by sight rather than the notes. The fog on SS1 makes it really tricky (combined with a really bumpy surface).

[NeverKnow]

In my opinion competitors number should reflect their performance last season. So their number should be in what position they finished last season. The number should also remain the same for the rest of the season so if a competitors wants to make a skin for their car they don't have to change their number on the skin every rally. For those who are new to the championship should get next available number which isn't taken.

[lcd]

I agree! Meanwhile, just finished my C4 skin for this season
(you'll have the chance to see It In screenshots
I'll post after rally finishes) and I'm starting day1 tonight!
Is anyone else around here, making a skin of his own-I know
NeverKnow Is In that stuff, since last season...

[Bruce D]

Updated entry list - numbers corrected and now 8 entries

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/BruceD77/EntryList2.jpg

[Francis44]

Is there any possibility to run for Baker Motorsport team now???? Or is it too late!!!!

[Bruce D]

No, I can change you guys at any time until official results are released. So if you guys are teammed up then fine. I'll make the change right now.

That's great then, it makes 3 teams that are running for the team points.

[Bruce D]

So entry list version 3

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/BruceD77/EntryList3.jpg

[Macd]

I was expecting a bigger entry.

[tannat]

I was expecting a bigger entry.

The console players had to leave. That may have dropped a few...

[Bruce D]

Didn't think 8 was that bad. Yes we lost the console players, plus bennizw gave me the impression that he wasn't interested in running RSRBR09, which is ok, everyone is entitled to do their own things. We've gain one brand new player, we've got another brand new one just sorting himself out and then he may join. And so far I know that jimakos is injured and J4MIE said he couldn't do this one. Thats another 2. I haven't heard anything from Fred05, steve_spackman, and Hoofhearted seems to have vanished. Also I don't think I got hold of 306Cosworth to tell him this event was on. So the potential is there to increase the numbers but we'll see how it goes.

[lcd]

Day 1 was quite adventurous! After an Ideal start with a clean run of Paddys
came Joux Plane II! The sectors where there was snow/ice on the road were the worst;
I drove carefully (and slower) there, to avoid unpleasant surprises!
In Pribram R, had my usual close encounter with those barrels :D fortunately over 1st pass
only and later on, I took a wrong turn and lost some valueable time to find my orientation back!
Tha last stage of day1, Las Majadas was a disaster! I suffered very early In the stage,
from a rear left puncure and though I should not risk, I pushed too much and had a terrible off
( must have counted over 6 rolls! )
After that, with serious 4 wheels damage, It was Impossible to keep my C4 straight!
It's a miracle I finished!

Let's see what the night stages are going to bring...

Some shots of day1 are coming shortly!

[lcd]

Enjoy:
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6429/79092749.jpg
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1306/92418667.jpg
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/5205/46742434.jpg
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4490/28501805.jpg
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/711/12158853.jpg
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/2847/87518136.jpg

Bonus photo :D :
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/9279/14229013.jpg

[Bruce D]

Love the bonus pic! Hehe...

BTW did you use filters for your screenshots? Otherwise your graphics settings are unbelievable!

Finished my rally last night. Made a mistake 500 metres from the end of Joux Plane and crashed big time into a barrier so I had to take a SuperRally there. Was a stupid mistake, I heard the note but just didn't back off early enough. Otherwise rally was very tricky but at least I finished. I think thats important now for me - finishing rallies and then not using SuperRally's.

[lcd]

BTW did you use filters for your screenshots? Otherwise your graphics settings are unbelievable!

You can make RBR look like this, thanks to Yiotis!
Just go here:http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BO702R54

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/386/bannerzv.jpg

For car lights reflections go to
Photoshop/Filter/Render/Lens flare! :D

[Francis44]

Just finished my rally too, spinned the car so many times in Joux Plane and a wheel broke on Las Majadas....

Not soo good performance :D !!!!

[Bruce D]

Who hasn't had a bad one? ;-)

BTW LCD, how is the framerate hit with that ENB series thing? Bad or not really different?

My pc ran Need for Speed Shi(f)t fine, for eg.

[Bruce D]

BTW your link says that its been downloaded too many times (?) but I got it from the rallyesim site instead.

[Macd]

Anyone else noticed some stuttering on the Las-Majadas V1.4 stage?

[Francis44]

BTW your link says that its been downloaded too many times (?) but I got it from the rallyesim site instead.

Ok so no problems then??!!

[Bruce D]

I was talking about the graphic update. Don't worry, Francis44, I got your times. ;)

Haven't got anyone else yet, but Monday should see a flood of them coming in.

[lcd]

Finished the rally, but had some graphics problems guys, never had
before (could It be because of win7 I Installed a few days before rally begins?)
I had a crash to desktop, In SipirkakimII-bad weather (It run OK under good conditions)
and In Malaga (It didin't load at all) :(
So, Bruce, charge me with a super rally In leg2 and In another one In leg3!

Here's my report:
Leg 2 was just as expected: Slippery and tough!
I tell you one thing: my average speed In Bisanne II was around 75km/h !!!
Joux Plane was much better but, like leg1, sectors with snow/ice on
the road, gave me a lot of spuns.
In Sipirkakim II, I had a crash to desktop- super rally here!
( Bruce, Ignore my Sipirkakim II time-just tested If It works under
good weather...)
Leg 3 was a drama! After a great run of Cote D'Arbroz,
suffered from a crash to desktop In Malaga-A700 (super rally #2)
While the rally was near the end, In Sipirkakim, I had a terrible crash
out of nowhere, and there came my retirement!

Overall, It was a very challenging but frustrating rally...
The choice of tracks and weather were good, but In my opinion
Monte Carlo Mod Is good only graphically, as In my opinion
handling has some serious flaws... ;)

BTW, ENB settings don't affect my framerate at all.

Here are some photos of leg2+3 and a video of my dramatic retirement:
Photos:
http://img36.yfrog.com/img36/3404/24840950.jpg
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/9130/72782841.jpg
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/2567/79322206.jpg
http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/8535/47677682w.jpg

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Er4nyaKl3w

[raybak]

I've had dramas with the setup on my computer and now it's crashed. Will have to be a DNS as heading off to do a real rally tomorrow. It's a bummer but looks my home computer is stuffed. Will have to work on a new one once i'm back from Classic Adelaide.

Ray :(

[NeverKnow]

Raybak, good luck to you with your rally! :up:

Finished day 1. Nightmare start to a rally. On SS1 i was afraid to push as I couldn't see anything and about 3km into the stage on fast left I went off. Avoiding trees it took me some times to get back on the road. It was actually a junction and medium corner if you ask me and it caught me offguard.
SS2 I had many near offs. Lost the rear in many places and ended up hitting the barriers or walls which was present at the time.
The last two stages I actually liked and on SS3 on the second loop I really started to push. Shame about SS4 notes as they were pretty poor. Though the stage reminded me more of Rally Catalunya with it's flowing corners and very high speed section. I hit about 230-240 at late part of the stage but was always braking too early as the notes didn't do good job describing the stage.
I'm not expecting anything from this rally as I possibly lost too much time on the first two stages. So my aim is to finish the rally and see where I ended up, preferably in top 8.

[NeverKnow]

Day 2 and 3 finished. I really struggled on night stages and took very slowly but still managed to get some moments. Like on SS7 I had many close calls and late into the stage I was off in a easy left corner. I turned too late to the corner, did 180 and flew off the track backwards into the field. Lost some time there.
I had to take superally on SS9 because RBR failed to load the stage, on my laptop it loaded fine though.
Very tricky rally and don't know how fast was I compared to others. So I will wait for the results.

[NeverKnow]

Here are some pictures:
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj267/t6nns/rally001-1.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj267/t6nns/rally002-1.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj267/t6nns/rally003-1.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj267/t6nns/rally004-1.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj267/t6nns/rally005-1.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj267/t6nns/rally006-1.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj267/t6nns/rally007-2.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj267/t6nns/rally008-1.jpg
I will upload a video of my calamities when I get the chance.

[NeverKnow]

Videos:
SS1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGlCUIUhI58) - incident 3km into the stage.
SS7 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCTGALJb5CI) - about 4 minutes into the stage are two accidents.
SS8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hjtcqg61jY) - near the I had a spin, almost forgot about it.
Thoughts about the mods used. Monte mod is good, though there are few issues with grip which can't be changed to make it better, at least with this game engine. Though the feeling was like a proper Monte Carlo Rally, being on the edge all the time and guessing where the grip is.
Though I think the headlights in the night mod are little weak.

[Bruce D]

I which junction you're talking about in SS1. I crashed there in practice and then side swipped the tree on the real run, its definately a medium corner, not a fast.

Times in so far from LCD, NeverKnow, Francis44 and myself. DNS from Tannat, Raybak and Paul Minnar, although Tannat will be submitting some times just as a way to judge his speed, which I said is fine.

Still waiting for the Macd, then I can do the results.

Worrying amount of technical issues from people though. Makes me wonder about using different weather conditions and BTB stages.

The one that really surprises me at the moment is that I'm fastest on both the BTB stages, although I'm miles behind at the finish!

[Bruce D]

Question for NeverKnow - what DDS setting do you use to get the transparency on the windows from Photoshop? Sorting out the skinning of my new car and need to know so I don't get black windows, and I see you've done so on yours.

[lcd]

Re-Installed RSRBR09, and weather problem with Sipirkakim II
(snow mod/bad conditions/niGht mod) solved! Stil can't load Malaga...
You may exclude BTB stages from rallies schedule, but I feel we must
have various weather combinations, as this makes It more challenging...

[lcd]

BTB loading problems solved after Installing some missing library files!
MalagaA7000 finally worked!

[NeverKnow]

...what DDS setting do you use to get the transparency on the windows from Photoshop?...
I use DXT5 when exporting the image but keep in mind I'm using Gimp when editing textures. Though you need to define alpha-channel to declare what is transparent what is not. In Gimp there's something like transparency and set color as alpha-channel. I adjust the color of the windows(darker or brighter) until I'm happy with the result. Don't know if it correct way to do it but this is the way I'm doing it.
Maybe these might be of help:
http://www.bhmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=34483
http://www.bhmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=33038
http://www.bhmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=39166

About the BTB stages. Some of them are very good like the sprint stage, sweet lamb and tervaniemi so I think it would be shame not to use them. I think before the roadbook is published maybe it might be possible to announce what BTB stages are going to be used on the rally. This way we can see if there are some problems with it and there are still time to choose other stages in it's place.

Seems like I need to make a fresh install as well to see if it fixes the problems I'm having with the Malaga stage.

[Bruce D]

Well there will be no BTB stages in Sweden, just the way my line-up worked out, so everyone has a while to go. And I think the ones in Portugal have all been used on fun events recently anyway.

[lcd]

...Seems like I need to make a fresh install as well to see if it fixes the problems I'm having with the Malaga stage.

Try this: Download MalagaA7000 archive from here
http://forum.rallyesim.fr/viewtopic.php?f=328&t=1609
and the place It-Without unzipping It-In RXRSRBR09 folder In
rbr main folder; It will probably work OK!

[NeverKnow]

Try this: Download MalagaA7000 archive from here
http://forum.rallyesim.fr/viewtopic.php?f=328&t=1609
and the place It-Without unzipping It-In RXRSRBR09 folder In
rbr main folder; It will probably work OK!
Thanks!! Will look into it at the weekend.

[Macd]

Sorry about the wait guys been at the RAC all weekend, doing my times now

[tannat]

Bruce

I relized that while I have the two stages in RBR basic that I do not have the proper mods (i.e. night and snow) for the rally for my route to conform with everyone elses.

Never mind my submission for this round and i will try to get my act together for the next one.

Cheers,

Tannat

[Bruce D]

Ok Tannat, no problem.

Right, I have Macd's times so I'll now be working on the results. Should get them out by this afternoon.

[lcd]

Looking forward to stage/split times! ;)

[Bruce D]

Report
------

Wow, what a way to start the season! A really slippery and tricky event, drama on almost every stage, 5 changes of lead amongst 3 drivers. NeverKnow should have won, but didn't. Macd should have won, but didn't. In the end it was the only one to do the entire rally without a SuperRally... Francis44! But he wasn't quickest, or even 2nd quickest driver in the event. So what happened?

Well, Macd took the lead in the fog on SS1 (Paddy's), opening up a 12.5sec lead over Francis44 with LCD, BruceD and NeverKnow forming the chasing pack, however Macd lost time on the next stage (the first run through Joux Plane) and Francis44 grabbed a 27sec lead from surprisingly the GRACE Motorsport duo, LCD leading BruceD with the OMV bunch bring up the rear. Not what you'd expect to read, but it was early days.

The OMV righted the leaderboard on the next stage while the GRACE team had a bad run (both going off on the Pribram stage), but Francis44 was only under 2sec slower than Macd on the stage and therefore enjoyed a 1min 2sec lead over NeverKnow after 3 stages. Macd launched a big attack on SS4 and, thanks to Francis44 breaking a wheel, took the overnight lead at the end of leg 1, only BruceD and NeverKnow able to hang on to him on this new stage. At this point Macd was 19sec ahead of NeverKnow with Francis44 54sec behind.

Macd spun away his overnight lead on the first stage of Leg 2, letting NeverKnow into the lead for the first time, but Francis44 had taken 14sec out of him and was now just 22sec behind. But then in probably the biggest dominate display ever in RBR MF history, NeverKnow killed everyone on the second run through Joux Plane, taking a massive 1min 6sec out of his nearest challenge, which was again Francis44. NeverKnow took a further 3sec out of Francis44 on the next stage to secure a 1min 31sec lead at the end of Leg 2 over Francis44.

Macd was back to his blistering pace over the first 2 stages of Leg 3, but the big drama was NeverKnow suffering from a technical problem and taking a SuperRally on SS9, thus handing Francis44 a 1min 30sec lead going into the final stage. NeverKnow managed to grab 20sec back on the last stage but it wasn't enough. The final stage claimed both Macd and LCD, with the latter being forced to retire having used a SuperRally on SS9 as well. This meant that BruceD snuck into 3rd place overall at the end of the rally, despite being over 5min off the pace. OMV were the only team to finish with 2 cars.

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/BruceD77/MCResults.jpg

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/BruceD77/StagetimesMC.jpg

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/BruceD77/Standings1.jpg

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/BruceD77/Teams1.jpg

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/BruceD77/WRC1.jpg

Results book is here - http://www.mediafire.com/?weqytnyzxzx

Next round is Sweden on the 11-13th December 2009. No BTB stages in this one so it should be a fair fight.

[Bruce D]

Overall I'm kinda happy with my results. Seemed to loose too much time in places but that car was extremely tricky to drive in the conditions. I probably would have done better in a S2000 car. Anyway, 3rd is great for me, my best result. I'll have the 08 Focus from the next round so that should be better.

[lcd]

Wow, what a way to start the season!

I agree on the whole! This season Is going to be real tough!
Gongrats to Francis! A great tactics victory there! :up:

I'm looking forward to next round so badly, as Monte Carlo didn't
turn out as expected ( those grip Issues and loading crashes
spoiled all the fun... :( )

P.S. Love your report Bruce;so professional! :)

[NeverKnow]

Congrats to Francis for the rally win! :up:
Overall I'm happy with the results. I guess later into the season the extra points might become handy as the Monte demostrated that anything can and will happen and anyone can win the rallies if the conditions are right.
This rally really was full of drama and battles on almost every stage. Very good season opener.
I really liked the report, very entertaining and interesting reading. :up:
Will look forward to Sweden and what surprises that event holds.
I will probably drive S14 there but will have to talk to Macd and our team sponsors first.

[Bruce D]

I'm glad you guys liked the report, decided to add something extra to the results contents. Also note the extra stats in the results book.

Yeah I didn't have the time to sort out the 08 Focus for this event and I think I did badly because of the 04 car. Man, you just touched the throttle and the thing went mad, too much torque low down which I've noticed with this car before. Will be nice to have the 08 Focus plus some S14 Imprezas at this next one.

After a 4 week mad rush its now a whole month before the action picks up again. Oh well, guess I'm going testing in the snow then! :D

[lcd]

Maybe It's too early for predictions, but I feel those Monte points
might turn out very precious, towards the end of the season...

[Bruce D]

Well I still say its a 4-way fight for the title between NeverKnow, Francis44, Macd and LCD, with maybe someone else throwing a curve ball into the situation here and there.

And don't forget the "best 8 of 9 scores" drop points system, which I put in originally to help people who were going away over the December period but it may be a championship decider too.

[Macd]

Why are we the only team who scored points ?

I had a awful event. Kept spinning and crashing.

[Francis44]

Again, im very surprised by this result and, yet again, im not the fastest. So only shows that the season will be a very interesting and though competiton.

Im thinking about changing the machine for the next rounds,and if I do, it will be a S14.

I've been testing the car and it feels pretty good, and in the next event im definitely going to give my max.

Congrats to all the drivers, really awesome event.

[Bruce D]

Hmm, had a crack at that S14 this morning (yes 6:30am this morning I was playing RBR! Can life get any better?) and found it felt very "heavy" to me. The steering didn't feel very responsive. But maybe that will make it better and I don't know how setup tweaks will help.

Gave my Ford a spin too, just to check out the skin. Not perfect but it will do. The odd errors seem to be from a bad template. Anyway...

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/BruceD77/Minime.jpg

[lcd]

Hmm, had a crack at that S14 this morning (yes 6:30am this morning I was playing RBR! Can life get any better?) and found it felt very "heavy" to me. The steering didn't feel very responsive.

Yes, Indeed! I find S14 a bit heavy too...
Stil, I've found out recently that modifying the suspension geometry of the car,
specifically the caster, you can give the steering more or less sensitivity.
(more caster = more force arriving at the steering and vise versa)
Give It a try (remember to continue without saving,
unless you're sure you like those settings...)

[NeverKnow]

Now that the rally is over maybe there is someone willing to share what tires was chosen for what stage. I'm wondering if there was performance difference with different tires. I'll start:
Dry tarmac tires: SS1, SS4, SS9(?).
Wet tarmac tires: SS2, SS5, SS6.
Snow tires: SS3, SS7, SS8, SS10.

[lcd]

I personally, didn't notice any good,no matter the tires I used!
Apart from snow stages, where snow tires were fine, In all other
stages (Monte Carlo mod) I used wet tarmac tires as
dry tarmac/snow tires made my car spin like crazy...Not that the
wet tarmac ones, were 100% appropriate!

[lcd]

In my opinion, It was more a matter of tracks physics that a choice of tires!
In Monte Carlo mod, where there wasn't snow on the road, grip was OK! You spun only If you drove on the icy sideways of the road...Unfortunately, on the sectors the whole road was covered with snow, there was no way to keep control...

[NeverKnow]

That's why I am asking the question as there wasn't any 100% correct tires for the Monte stages. Maybe someone chose snow tires for them because in my opinion they work very well on the snow and ice parts of the stages. Though you'd need little softer setup for that than the tarmac one.
I noticed that on the snowy patches there was enough grip if you drove in the wheel tracks on the road and if you drove one white stuff it would get skiddish pretty easily.

[Bruce D]

Well, NeverKnow, whatever you did on SS6 worked! ;)

Oh Macd, to answer your question earlier, only OMV scored points because the rules say that the team must have a min of 2 finishers per event in order to be classified in the team points. I forgot to add in the team results on the results book.

As for the steering settings, I'll give them a go LCD cos I want to start working on the setup for Sweden with the Ford.

[lcd]

By the way, have you noticed any differences between normal/snow mod
for Finland tracks? Seems the mod where the trees are green and gravel-ish road surface Isn't Included In RSRBR09...Remember the Mod Suede?
Looked so awesome!

[lcd]

Hey Fred05! What's up mate? Have you built your pc on not yet?