F1 2011 Brazilian GP Sim & Comparison

Simulation of the Brazilian GP has begun! Here's the results so far:

Team: Red Bull
Driver: Mark Webber
AI: Professional

DAY 1
FP1
Weather: Dry
P1 1:12.621 - Prime (white/medium) tire

FP2
Weather: Dry
P1 1:11.991 - Prime (white/medium) tire

Things will be interesting from here on out. Both FP3/Qualifying day and race day show 30-ish% chance of rain. Guess the patch (which addresses that pesky wet weather tire bug and a bunch of other wet weather related issues) came just in time eh? I do have a contingency for the comparison stage, should my conditions not match the real qualifying and/or race. I'll just rerun the session under the right conditions. Easy enough. Don't know if I like the possibility of having to run the full race twice, but at least I don't have to worry about the AI setting dry times on inters anymore! Woo!

Day 2 FP3 & Qualifying results coming soon!


UPDATE 11/22

DAY 2
FP3
Weather: Dry
P1 1:11.751 - Prime (white/medium) tire

QUALIFYING
Weather: Dry to Wet
Q1 - P1 1:11.927 - Prime (white/medium) tire
Q2 - P1 1:11.024 - Option (yellow/soft) tire
Q3 - P1 1:18.312 - Option (yellow/soft) tire

Pole position against the pro AI! Woo! But oh boy this whole thing with the weather might have me buggered come race day. I qualified with the dry set up, but I'm taking a gamble using the adjustable preset. If it rains I suspect it might not come until the end, and I may well be screwed by my slightly lower times by then. One advantage I've got for the first 16 laps or so though is being out in front. BUT...I think I might have REALLY buggered myself not putting fresh options on for Q3. The ones I've got for race start are 77%...which puts me on 3 stops. I think this could have been, and should have been, a one stopper. Utter failure to pay more attention on my part. I know it was a 1 stopper for all the top finishers in the 2010 real life race. Oh boy. MAYBE I can get lucky if the rest of the front runners decided to set up like I did. I think I should be praying for rain sometime during my 2nd stint. Oy. Well I'll never make that mistake again...

Day 3 Race Day results coming soon!


UPDATE 11/23

RACE DAY
Weather: Dry to Wet to Dry
Laps: 71
Results:
1st WEB (me) 1:30:26.095, Fastest Lap 1:11.822
2nd BUT +1 lap
3rd VET +1 lap

So...guess the worrying was for naught, lol. Oh my was this an interesting one! During the first stint on the worn options, I had about a second on the next guy, which pretty much confirmed that everyone was set up similarly to me. Somewhere between wet and dry setup. Still had my speed advantage then, in the relative sense. Bad news came at the end of that first stint when it became clear that I would need to pit ahead of schedule for new options, as the current ones were so worn that I was almost spinning every time I put the power down out of turns. Crap. I pit on lap 15 instead of the planned 16, and come out in 7th. Like my test races, I was able to set consistently fast times and catch the cars in front either with just speed or by passing them while they were pitted. I actually was able to execute that fairly quickly. Somewhere during this 2nd stint on options I really start putting time between me and 2nd, even more so when I start knifing through traffic and my chasers start getting majorly held up.  Hee hee. As the laps wear on, I get the call over the radio that rain is predicted in 10-15min. OH. HELL. YES. Last few laps of the 2nd stint, the rain droplets are coming down, but not hard so I stay out. Scheduled pit comes around and I decide to gamble and go on options again, thinking that the dry line might remain a while longer. If I go out on inters now, I could chew them up and ruin everything. I have the pit delta and come out still in first, and by 30+ seconds. But...I notice near the end of the lap that its gotten quite slippery, and even though it doesn't SEEM to be raining hard, water is kicking up as I'm negotiating the final turns. I have to pit IMMEDIATELY for inters or risk being too slow/having a serious crash if I'm caught out on options with the track properly wet now. I pit and request inters. Thankfully the mistake only costs me one place since I had built a gap up again during that one lap on options. I'm out of the pits in 2nd with the race leader not far in front...and he HASN'T PITTED FOR INTERS. YES!!! I catch him within a lap or so, and as I am about to make a move down the front straight he pits! Haha! It was pretty much history after that. Another pit for new inters, since I didn't think I could make it to the end of the rainy period on the current set, and I come out in the lead again no problem. By the time the rain stops and I get the call to come in for my primes, I have over a minute on 2nd. Onto primes and back out in first. Clear sailing for the remaining laps until finally the checkered flag is waved. Woo!

The cool thing about this race is that I had to make decisions and adjustments on the fly. Every gamble except that one with the options on my 2nd stop worked perfectly. The name of the game was preemptive pitting. Setup gamble was perfect. Timing of coming in for inters was perfect. I think when I went in for inters is what ultimately what won me the race, and that was my call.  Awesome! Not sure how this will match up with the real-life race this weekend. Its possible I may have to rerun qualifying and the race to match conditions. But boy did I have fun in this sim!!!

Real-life Brazilian GP Comparison coming soon!


UPDATE 11/25 - REAL LIFE COMPARISON

I'm comparing my time in the corresponding session to the real life top driver, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton. For race day, I'm comparing total race time and fastest race lap to the top 3 finishers and the aforementioned 3 drivers.


FP1
-0:01.190 WEB
-0:01.340 HAM
-0:01.404 VET

REAL LIFE FP1 POSITION
P1

FP2
-0:01.401 HAM
-0:01.568 VET
-0:01.596 WEB

REAL LIFE FP2 POSITION
P1

Real life FP3 & Qualifying comparison coming soon!


UPDATE 11/26

FP3
-0:00.709 VET
-0:00.846 WEB
-0:00.871 HAM

REAL LIFE FP3 POSITION 
P1


QUALIFYING
Q1
-0:01.354 BUT
-0:01.434 HAM
-0:01.540 WEB
-0:01.737 VET

Q2
-0:01.422 VET
-0:01.634 WEB
-0:01.787 HAM

Because I had rain in my Q3 I will have to rerun it in dry conditions, so it won't be included in this update. But, since I did in fact have the top time against real life Q1 & Q2, and therefore made it to Q3, I averaged all of my dry times from each session to use as an estimate of a possible Q3 dry time...

ESTIMATED Q3 TIME
1:11.856

ESTIMATED Q3 POSITION
P1 (-0:00.062 VET)

So there you have it...my average quick lap was enough to nip Seb's pole lap. We'll see what happens when I do the rerun after the race weekend has concluded! I'm pretty sure the real race is going to have more rain than I had in my sim, so I'm probably going to have to rerun that, too. Might as well do it all at once! lol.

Real life Q3 & Race comparison coming soon!


UPDATE 11/27

As it turns out friends, I will not be re-running any sessions. In spite of the fact that I had rain and running on inters in my race...well. It's not necessary for me to go back in and try to get better times for the comparison LOL. And the Q3 estimate was good enough for my purposes! So, here's the results for race day:

RACE 
-0:01:51.369 WEB
-0:02:08.269 VET
-0:02:18.969 BUT

FASTEST LAP
-0:03.502 WEB
-0:04.254 VET
-0:03.758 BUT
-0:05.387 HAM

REAL LIFE FINISHING POSITION
P1

REAL LIFE FASTEST LAP POSITION
1st

Even with rain, I still trounced the real drivers! 2 wins in 3 races! Woo! Now you know why I'm not bothering to rerun my race even though there was a difference in conditions. Ta-ta until next time F1 friends!

Halo: CE Anniversary Soundtrack Guide

While it's not too hard to identify which track is which, as the tracks on the Anniversary soundtrack are mostly clever plays on the original track names, I thought I'd make this quick at a glance guide to show which track corresponds to which.  the format is as follows:

Original track name/Anniversary track name

There are a few missing, either because they don't have a corresponding track or because the Anniversary track was different enough that I wasn't able to identify it against the original. Anyway, here's the list:

Opening Suite/Random Slipspace Trajectory
Truth and Reconciliation Suite/Honest Negotiation Suite
Brothers in Arms/Bravery, Brotherhood
Enough Dead Heroes/An End of Dying
Perilous Journey/First Step
A Walk in the Woods/Lions and Tigers and...
Ambient Wonder/Still, Moving
The Gun Pointed at the Head of the Universe/Unless You Mean to Shoot
Under Cover of Night/Cloaked in Blackness
Lament for Pvt. Jenkins/A Private Service
Devils... Monsters.../Demons and Heretics
Covenant Dance/Choreographite
Rock Anthem for Saving the World/Rock in a Hard Place
The Maw/Yawning Chasm
Drumrun/Strident
On a Pale Horse/Pale Rider
Perchance to Dream/To Sleep
The Long Run/Marathon Sprint
Suite Autumn/Suite Fall
Dust and Echoes/Flotsam, Jetsam
Halo/Installation 04

In going back and listening to the original music, I realize how epic that soundtrack really was. What they created without the use of a live orchestra was well...incredible. So you can imagine what it really means when I say that the tracks are even more epic being played by the Skywalker Orchestra. Wow. So cool for all that great music to get the treatment it deserves. Well done 343i and Skywalker Orchestra. Thanks for making some of the most amazing game music in history even better!

Custom BOB Project - Update #3

My 0 brush is still holding! lol. Priming is now finished on the left arm. Right arm will be next. Lower body and one arm done. One arm, torso, and helmet to go! Then we can start with the color MUAHAHAHAHA lol.

Related blogs:
Custom BOB Project! 
Custom BOB Project - Update #1
Custom BOB Project - Update #2

UPDATE 12/14: I know it's been a while since this last post...Never fear, friends. I'm still working on BOB, but I've been busy with other things and I also had to wait for some supplies I needed. I have the first coat of primer on the front of the torso now...pics when the torso is done!

UPDATE 1/15/12: I had another hold up while I waited for more supplies, mainly brushes and thinner as well as more primer. Happy to report I was able to make the order and now have it in hand. A real update should be on the way soon!

F1 2011 Yas Marina Pro!

Yas Marina, the first track where I have found professional level success! When I say professional, I am referring to the difficulty level of the AI drivers. I have tried making the leap to professional before with limited success. In race only scenarios at Suzuka, Yeongam and New Delhi, I would start in 4th-6th on the grid, and though I would be able to get out in front, I would lose it when I pitted and I would never quite be able to go fast enough to get it back. I always seemed to top out at 2nd or 3rd. If I did qualifying, I was way down in the pack, compounding the problem.  When I finished my recent simulation of the Abu Dhabi GP at Yas Marina in 1st, winning by about 5 minutes against the Intermediate AI, I thought maybe it was time to give Pro AI another crack.

I'm still not certain if my result is because of real driving improvement on my part, or if its just because Yas Marina really agrees with my style somehow, but the race I did this afternoon was so much fun, and the victory against professional AI that I had been looking for.

After a success against the pro AI last night at this track in a 20% distance GP, I knew that I wanted to try a longer race this afternoon. This time I set it up for short race weekend (1 practice session, 1 qualifying session, and the race) at 50% distance. 28 laps would certainly expose any flaws in my driving that last night's 11 lap, 1 stopper might have failed to reveal. Qualifying would tell me a lot, too. When practice was over, I had P1, something I had never been able to do at this difficulty.

Onward to Qualifying. 6 or 7 laps on option/yellow and I was able to turn in a 1:39 to put me at the top of the time sheets. I returned to the garage and waited. With about 7min to go in the session, I started falling down the ranks, to 6th. Oh no, not again... With 5min to go, I went back out, and on my first hot lap I turned in a 1:38. P1!!! POLE!!! And it STUCK. I had NEVER been able to turn in a pole lap at this difficulty before. Things were looking promising. What's more I had gotten the realistic excitement of a real qualifying session, not turning in the pole lap til the very end!

Now the real test...the actual race. I was able to do what I've seen Sebastian Vettel do so many times - get out front in the clean air and open up the best gap I could before the first pit stop.  Before I knew it, I had a good 10 seconds on 2nd. But not the pit delta. Big signal to me that things were realistically difficult, and I was doing well, but not UNREALISTICALLY well. I come into the pits on lap 7, as planned, and its a good thing because my options from qualifying are SHOT. By the time I come out, I'm 7th. This could turn out like my previous tries at professional. How high could I climb? Would the cars in front of me get away like before? I head out on prime/white. I had good luck at this track being fast on the slower tire, so all was not lost in my mind. On the next lap I passed all but the leader coming down the finish straight as all the cars were pitted. Hee hee. Score one for my adjusted tire strategy!!! (more on that later). Felipe Massa is still in front of me. Way out, because I can't see his dot going around the track map. 10 seconds back after the first sector. 9 after the next. I'm picking up time on him, flying through sector 3 where I am often quickest of all, close to starting my second lap after pitting and...MASSA IS IN THE PITS. I fly past to reclaim the lead! After a LONG stint on the primes, I come out of the pits JUST in the lead (I think I cut off the guy in 2nd lol)!!! I start opening up the gap again. If I remember correctly I also had the advantage of a tire mismatch. The guy behind me was on primes. Time to do some real damage on my fresh options. Checking the strategy indicator, it was looking like I would come out behind again after my last stop, in 6th or 7th with just 6 laps to try and get it back. Then as my 3rd stint is winding down...I start opening a gap. The tires on the car behind me are slower and also going off as he nears the end of his stint. ADVANTAGE ME! On my in lap,the strategy indicator is now saying I will come out in first...AND I DO!!! Alonso, in 2nd, never got closer to me than about 10sec during that final stint, again on options. Clear sailing to a sweet, sweet victory where I lead for all but 2 of 28 laps. And I beat Alonso by a resounding but quite realistic +23.662sec, with a fast lap of 1:38.914!!! WOO-HOO!!! I may not have had much in the way of battles with other drivers in this race, but it was a major thrill driving SMARTER than them. Very Vettel-esqe.

Which brings me to my explanation about the tire strategy that I used. The recommended strategy called for option, prime, prime, option. One look at that sent up warning flags for me. I was very concerned that a second stint on primes would make me too slow should I come out behind other drivers at that point. I knew I had enough option tires for another option stint in lieu of a second prime stint. The question was did I have the wiggle room in the wear department to cover the whole race. It was looking like I might not, until I added one extra lap on my worn options from qualifying. Those options were at 69%. The last lap or two might be interesting, but it was a gamble I was willing to take. I had to if I wanted option, prime, option, option, which I felt was the smarter and much faster way to go. It was a very near thing on that last lap of the first stint, with the tires in the red and wanting to let go as I tried to accelerate out of the turns in the last sector. But I made it. Barely. I firmly believe that my tire strategy may have been what really let me win the day.

This race also made me feel really good about the result I got from my 100% sim that I ran to compare to the real world drivers. I could see in comparing the times I set in both that my performance in that GP did not benefit from the lowered AI difficulty in the slightest. It wasn't a fluke either, because all told I was actually a fraction quicker in this 50% GP today. I duplicated qualifying on pole, and actually turned a faster fast lap of the race with the more difficult AI. I feel like that really legitimizes what I did before, which is pretty exciting seeing as I wiped the floor with the real world drivers in that 100% sim!

The thing I always dread when it comes to racing game AI is getting "stuck" between difficulties, where its either you win by a mile, or you can never quite win because you're just not quite good enough no matter how hard you try. I hope that what I've been able to do at Yas Marina is indicative of overall improvement in my driving that will translate to all, or at least the majority, of the tracks on the calendar. I much preferred the challenge of out strategizing the other teams on pit stops, and really having to drive my best to open a gap. And though I led almost the whole way at Yas Marina this time, when I looked at the time sheets, I won by a realistic margin. I didn't win because the other drivers were artificially slow - I won because I was just BETTER. This win on professional is how I want the game to feel and play out when I play, and I really hope I can be up to snuff at other tracks. But hey...I'll always have Yas Marina. ;)

Custom BOB Project - Update #2

I've used the replacement brush a couple times now and things seem to be holding up ok. Maybe the one that self-destructed was just a dud. I have high hopes of making it to the end of this BOB project without needing to order more brushes. Fingers crossed! Then I can order new brushes, thinner, and paint when its time for my next project. I acquired some critical pieces for that next project the other day, which I was so excited about that I am STILL doing a happy dance. Anyways, back to BOB...

Primer is finished on his waist/backside armor, which means his bottom half is officially finished being primed! The arms/hands have gone a little different than I planned. I had a lot of paint left over on my palette after I finished the first coat on the forearm, so I went ahead and did the hand next and then the upper arm before putting the final coat on the waist/backside. It wasn't a problem to do the entire arm and hand at once, so I'll do the other side the same way after I finish the current arm. Turns out that I didn't need to be worried about painting the tiny finger armor plates - the 0 brush I'm using handled it perfectly! I'm still not sure what I want to do after the arms are finished. I had planned to do the helmet first, but now I am thinking I might do the torso first. Practically I don't think it really matters much. More a question of what will satisfy my OCD LOL.

That's all for now. I'll be back soon!

Related blogs:
Custom BOB Project!
Custom BOB Project - Update #1 

Custom BOB Project - Update #1

Things are coming along slow but steady. Can't say its been totally smooth though. I killed my main brush somehow. Totally fried and split. Ugh. I have another one that is a slightly different size that is uncontaminated so fortunately I can use it for white/white primer, but its not ideal. Its meant for super small detail so it takes longer to paint the large areas with. If I can just make it to the end of the project without having to order another brush, I'll be happy. Definitely need to replace the ruined brush and get some acrylic thinner before my next project though. *sigh*

Priming is finished on the lower legs, butt armor (lol), and on the jetpack. First coat has been applied to the waist and backside piece (the butt armor goes over the backside piece). I will put the second primer coat on the waist/backside tomorrow, and then I'll probably be taking a break as I've got other things going on over the weekend. The plan once I get settled back into doing more painting is to prime each of the arms next, then the helmet, and the torso last. Not sure how many stages it will take to do the arms, but I'm thinking it'll be one arm at a time, maybe upper and forearm to completion, giving them one coat per session over two sessions, then the hand to completion over two sessions, then same on the other arm.

Related blogs:
Custom BOB Project! 

Abu Dhabi GP F1 2011 Sim to Real Life Comparison

FP1 & 2 are on the books and here's how things are going so far. Just to remind everyone, I'm comparing both my time in the corresponding session AND my fastest lap of the entire sim to the real life top driver, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton. For race day, I'm comparing total race time and fastest race lap to the top 3 finishers and the aforementioned 3 drivers.

FP1
Session
+0.475 BUT
+0.349 WEB
+0.335 HAM
-0.017 VET

Fastest
-01.735 BUT
-01.861 WEB
-01.875 HAM
-02.227 VET

Real Life FP1 Position
P4

FP2
Session
+0.897 HAM
+0.379 WEB
+0.351 VET

Fastest
-01.058 HAM
-01.576 WEB
-01.604 VET

Real Life FP2 Position 
P7

I beat Seb in FP1! Woo! lol. In regards to FP2, there is something important worth noting. I did NOT go out on the soft tires in my FP2. My times were set on the mediums. Having been able to watch the real life FP2, I know that the drivers set their times on the softs. We know that softs are at least a second faster than mediums so... If we shave a second off of my FP2 times to account for the tire difference between myself and the real drivers...I beat everyone in FP2. Theoretically. lol. I'd say its pretty impressive that I got that close to their times running on the medium tire.

I'll be back with FP3 and Qualifying results tomorrow!


UPDATE 11/12 

FP3
Session 
+01.249 HAM
+0.822 VET
+0.798 WEB

Fastest 
-0.448 HAM
-0.875 VET
-0.899 WEB

Real Life FP3 Position
P8


QUALIFYING 
Q1 
Session
+0.046 HAM
-0.339 WEB 
-0.650 VET

Fastest
-01.254 HAM
-01.639 WEB
-01.950 VET

Q2 
Session 
+0.094 HAM
+0.012 VET
-0.293 WEB 

Q3 
Session 
+0.481 VET
+0.340 HAM
+0.104 WEB

Fastest 
+0.470 VET
-0.094 HAM
-0.330 WEB

Real Life Qualifying Position
P5

Seems like I was right to expect a good result this weekend! I was faster than everyone but Hammy in Q1 on the primes, for starters. The best part though? Not only did I make it out of Q1 this time BUT I got all the way into Q3 and made P5 on the grid!!! Woo hoo!!! So excited to find out how race day goes! See you all with an update after the race tomorrow!


UPDATE 11/13

I'll let the numbers speak for themselves. The only thing I can say is Ohhhh Myyyy...

RACE
Fastest Race Lap
-0:04.447 HAM
-0:04.490 ALO
-0:04.140 BUT
-0:03.598 WEB

Race Time
-0:02:42.628 HAM
-0:02:51.028 ALO
-0:03:08.428 BUT
-0:03:18.328 WEB

REAL LIFE FINISHING POSITION 
P1

FAST LAP 
1st  
 
I WON THE ABU DHABI GP!!! WOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOO!!! BY ALMOST 3 MIN!!! AND I TOOK FAST LAP!!! WOOOOOO!!!! lol. My first win against the real drivers, and 2nd podium in 2 races! YEAH BABY WOO!!!

Custom BOB Project!

Guys, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Ranger Elite. This awesome little fellow is the subject of my latest figure customization project! Those of you that were around for last time know that my last project, recreating my Halo 3 spartan, was a huge success. I very much enjoyed the process, painstaking as it was, and I have been very much looking forward to an opportunity to do another custom. That's where Mr. Ranger Elite here comes in. This latest project will turn this little guy into none other than...

...This. That's right. That gold Ranger Elite that we so LOVE to wipe out, BOB! As many of my Halo friends can attest, I developed an almost fanatical obsession with wiping out BOBs that started after one of these guys RUINED a perfect speed run by making me roll my truck. From that moment, it was ON. A rather hilarious video of myself and my buddy Laraxa abusing the Winter Contingency BOBs followed, and every time a BOB hunting challenge comes along, we relish the chance to hunt and kill BOB. So yeah BOB has become a special iconic figure in my Halo Reach career, and it is with great pleasure that I will now get to recreate him by customizing a Ranger Elite figure.

I was thrilled to discover that not only my figure, but also the paint, arrived today! Here's the first of many in-progress pictures I will post as I work through this BOB project:

Here we see Mr. Ranger Elite all cleaned up and drying out in prep for the paint test I will do later this evening. Just going to apply a bit of the yellow to one of the toe armor plates, then let it dry to see how it looks. The yellow looks way bright in this photo, but its actually more the color of a road sign which should be perfect. If its a little bright, it should look better once the black wash is applied to dirty it up. If the paint test goes well, the jetpack will be the next thing. I'll paint and finish it completely with the wash as a sort of test for the rest of the figure.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll update later with a pic of the paint test.


UPDATE

As you can see, the paint test did not go the way I hoped. Mr. Ranger Elite will have to get the full white primer coat treatment. The good news is that when applied on clean white, the yellow is a lot more golden than it looks here. When all is said and done I should have a near perfect BOB.

  Primer coat #1 applied to toes, lower legs and jetpack. This should help the yellow look the way its supposed to. But its about 3 times more work! lol.

Abu Dhabi GP Simulation - F1 2011

It's that time again F1 fans and friends! My F1 2011 simulation of the Abu Dhabi GP at Yas Marina has begun! Day 1 is complete and here are my results so far:

Team: Red Bull
Driver: Mark Webber

DAY 1
FP1
Weather: Dry
P1 1:40.738 prime - (white/medium) tires

FP2
Weather: Dry
P1 1:40.483 - prime (white/medium) tires

Update with Day 2 FP3 and Qualifying results coming soon (probably tomorrow)!


UPDATE 11/7/11

DAY 2
FP3
Weather: Dry
P1 1:40.225 - prime (white/medium) tires

QUALIFYING
Weather: Dry
Q1 - P1 1:39.828 - prime (white/medium) tires
Q2 - P1 1:38.528 - option (yellow/soft) tires
Q3 - P1 1:38.962 - option (yellow/soft) tires

Pole position for race day! Woo! Update with race day results coming soon!


UPDATE 11/8/11

RACE DAY
Weather: Dry
Laps: 55
Results:
1st - WEB (me) 1:34:29.258, Fastest Lap 1:39.014
2nd - BUT +2 laps
3rd - VET +2 laps

Yeah...I think I need to up the AI to professional, at least at this track, lol. I beat Button by a tad over 4 min, lapping him twice lol. I did well this race to check the tire strategy before the start - they had me set for opt, opt, opt, prime, and considering the tire bug, I adjusted it to opt, opt, prime, opt. Now, I'm not sure if I fell victim to the bug anyways, because I had 3 option stints even though they weren't consecutive, or if my third set of options were just scrubbed cuz I was low on tires, but the last stint on the scrubbed options was interesting with the tires being in the red the last 5 laps lol. Even though it didn't save me in the wear department, I think putting my option stint where I did was one of the reasons I had such a large lead by the end. Anyways that was my first time redoing the tire strategy and it all worked out fine so I feel much more confident about doing that in future races if it becomes necessary. I need to think about being more careful with my option tires in qualifying, perhaps doing an out +2 and in strategy in Q2, and maybe Q3 also...I can always go back out in the last 10 min or so if need be. I think I could still set P1s in the first 2 Qs without so many laps, and then I wouldn't get myself into so much trouble come race day hehe.

So that's all for my Abu Dhabi sim. I am very excited to see how I stack up to the real race times after this weekend. I'll be back with a comparison blog of course. It is worth noting...I beat Sebastian Vettel's still standing 2009 race lap record by 01.265...I am feeling good about my chances against real life this time! :)


UPDATE 11/9/11

Something else interesting has come to my attention as I looked over my sim data and times from last year. Aside from beating Seb's fast race lap record that he set in 2009, I beat his total race time from 2010 by 5:07.579...FASCINATING! But when we look at the 2009 race where the fast lap was set? Well that's not so amazing...Seb beat my sim race time by 25.844. And my time would only have gotten me 5th. Hmm. Of course, what gimmicks did the cars have that year? I can't remember. I'd say last year is much more indicative of what to expect this year. And if things go like last year, I will be the race winner by a mile and hold the new fastest Yas Marina lap record!!! Will my times hold up? We will find out this weekend!

Buddh International Time Trial - F1 2011

Since we JUST had the inaugural Indian GP, I decided to go back and run a time trial at Buddh International for comparison to the fastest times from this year's GP. When I ran the numbers I got some surprises.

My Fastest TT Lap
Team: Red Bull 
Sector 1: 27.324
Sector 2: 26.360
Sector 3: 30.584
TOTAL: 1:24.270

Fast Lap Record
-0:02.979 VET 2011

2011 Best Sector Times
Sector 1: -13.685 HAM
Sector 2: +4.134 VET
Sector 3: +9.909 VET

2011 Fastest Lap
+0.092 VET Q3

It's that last one in particular, the fastest 2011 GP weekend lap, that REALLY burns me. I lost to the real Sebastian by just NINE HUNDREDTHS OF A SECOND. It's gnawing at me, because I'm pretty sure I can find that teeny bit of time to beat him! Wish I could have been this quick in qualifying during my sim, too...theoretically if I had been fast enough to make real life Q3 and turned it during my sim Q3 session, it would have been good for 2nd on the real grid, beating Hamilton by two tenths of a sec and some change hehe! Ah well...woulda coulda shoulda!!!  The biggest surprise for me was the sector times. Clearly my setup and style gave me a MASSIVE advantage in sector one (probably didn't hurt that I was dumping 100% of the KERS with the DRS open down the back straight after turn 3 lol). But WOW was I SLOOOW in the other 2 sectors! Its crazy that I was so fast in the first that it made up for the rest THAT MUCH. Crazy!

Yas Marina Time Trial - F1 2011

Started my 'simulator' runs to begin prep for my simulation of the Abu Dhabi GP by doing some time trial-ing at the Yas Marina track. Some interesting data came out of my session today when I compared my fastest lap with real life driver performances at this track. First, my fast lap info:

Team: Red Bull
Sector 1: 17.573
Sector 2: 40.870
Sector 3: 38.606
TOTAL: 1:37.050 

Now to compare what I did to the official track lap record, and last year's real driver performances: 

Lap Record
-0:03.229 VET  

2010 Best Sector Times
Sector 1: +0.176 VET 
Sector 2: -1.493 BUT
Sector 3: -0.793 VET

2010 Fastest Lap
-0:02.344 VET Q3
  
 Not bad! 3 seconds faster than the track fast lap record, and I shattered Seb's 2010 Q3 time by 2 seconds! This was my first time driving the track, but I seemed to get the hang of it pretty quick. I still have some work to do on getting turns 2 & 3 right consistently, but other than that I got things pretty well nailed down. Very fast, fun, and busy track. Looking forward to doing the full race weekend there! I'll come back and update with a comparison to this year's real life times after the race...


UPDATE 11/13

2011 Best Sector Times
Sector 1: +0.165 VET
Sector 2: -0.987 VET
Sector 3: -0.280 HAM

2011 Fastest Lap
-0:01.384 HAM Q2