FRL Announces Speed Week 7/26 -8/1

 The week leading up to the kickoff of FRL's Season 3 will be a festive one. The FRL is pleased to bring the Forzday racing community Speed Week from Friday, July 26th to Race Day, August 1st.

 Speed Week will commence with a prize event that will celebrate one year of the Forzday community online races. Three classes will run in three heats using previous cars that have been raced in the FRL. Heat one will be a 4 lap race on an (as yet) undisclosed track using the Mazda Miata's from last season.* Heat two will use the Vintage D-class racers from Season 1. Heat three will use the B-class Trans Am series cars from season 2. Points will be scored during all three races and the driver with the most points will win an authentic ALMS 12 Hours of Sebring ball cap.

 Monday, July 29th Speed Week continues with a Test-N-Tune session for the A-class Lotus 2-Eleven and the S-class AWD's. These will be two 12 minute timed sessions.

 August 1st is Race Day, we would like to get all participants to join in the race lobby around 8 PM so we can put all participant vehicles on the track for a group shot of both classes. The 1.2 hours of Sebring will begin at 9 PM Central time (subject to change if everyone is ready earlier).

 We look forward to an exciting week of festivities celebrating virtual speed, as we get set for Season 3 of the FRL and the 1.2 Hours of Sebring!

* If you do not have a car from a previous season, you will be able to find a usable car in the Forzday Club Garage.

Leaderboard Update 7/15/13

Lotus 2-Eleven

Andrew - 2:18.847
Ethan   - 2:20.205
Paul    -  2:22.200
Tony   -   2:22.669
Brandon - 2:23.377
Carter    - 2:32.040
Gabe     - 2:40.731

S - AWD

Andrew  - 2:12.113
Ethan    - 2:12.171
Paul      - 2:14.259
Tony     - 2:17.185
Brandon - 2:17.953
Gabe    - 2:23.383
Carter   - 2:30.139

No change to report in the S - AWD class, but there are several changes in the Lotus 2-Eleven class. Ethan, Paul and Brandon each make 1 second improvements. Tony knocks nearly 2 seconds off his previous best, moving him up one over Brandon and nearly beating in Paul's back bumper. The middle of the field just got a bit tighter.

Tuning Your Car For the Track

 Becoming a good driver is only half the battle. Your ability to recognize, adjust and push a car to its limits depends largely on having a car that can handle the input. If a car is not setup at all, or setup poorly, then even the very best driver will still struggle.

 Being able to setup a car is a very rewarding experience. But in order to do so, you have to know what you want from the car to begin with. Do you want the car to run flat through hard corners? Do you want it to drift the back end out a bit? How much slide is acceptable, or too much? These are the questions you’ll want to figure out before you begin making adjustments to your race car. Let’s look at some of the basic setup changes you can make that will begin to get your car set for racing. Once you play with these settings a bit, you’ll become more adept at making more finely tuned adjustments to fit your driving style.

 Tire Pressures – Often overlooked, tire pressures do affect the cars performance on the track. Generally speaking, the higher the tire pressure, the harder the tire. Less pressure may mean more grip. But it also could wear the tire prematurely in a longer race. After adding upgrades to the car, play with tire pressures first - before making other adjustments. After setting tire pressures and then making adjustments, play with the pressure again to see what fits best.

 Camber – In race settings, typical race camber will be set between -2.00 to -3.00 in the front and anywhere between -0.50 to -1.50 in the rear. This pushes the bottom of the tire out from the car, allowing the tire to plant harder in corners to improve handling.

 Spring Rates – Adjustments to the suspension itself really begin to define how the car performs. Setting spring rates higher allows the car to put more power to the pavement, but too stiff a spring rate can make the car sketchy, prone to spin around corners and the like. Slowing the spring rate too much can cause the car to feel soft and unresponsive. The same is true with Dampening settings. Slowing down how quickly the shocks perform can do much to smooth the car over bumps and apexes. But slow it down too much and the car will wallow around corners inefficiently.

 Sway Bars – Sway bars tie the suspension to the rest of the car. Setting them very stiff can cause the car to stay flat, but may make it prone to sliding out.

 Playing with these 5 settings can do much to improve a car’s performance on the track. Try making adjustments to just one area at a time and see if it makes a difference in track times. The easiest and fastest way to do this is to enter a track via the “Test Drive” section, under the “Upgrades” tab. Once on the track, if something doesn’t feel right you can instantly access the vehicles setup menu and make needed adjustments. Happy tuning!

Leaderboard Update

Here is an update of the Leaderboard at Sebring:
All times current as of 7/9/2013 at 8:00 am.

Lotus 2-Eleven:
Andrew  - 2:18.847
Ethan      - 2:21.364
Paul        - 2:23.240
Brandon - 2:24.238
Tony      - 2:24.750
Carter    - 2:32.040
Gabe      - 2:40.731

AWD - S:
Andrew   - 2:12.113
Ethan       - 2:12.171
Paul         - 2:14.259
Tony        - 2:17.185
Brandon   - 2:17.953
Gabe        - 2:23.383
Carter       - 2:30.139
Ross         - 2:46.113

 Interestingly, the gap is wider at the top for the identically equipped 2-Eleven's. Yet, only 1.5 seconds separates the middle three posted times. It seems this car reacts quite differently for all drivers. It will be interesting to see how this field shapes up as the season progresses.

 So while the Lotus is unclear, AWD promises to give us some lights-out good racing from the get-go. With only 6 seconds separating the top 5 drivers on the leaderboard, this should translate into some tight racing on the track. Just over three weeks left until the 1.2 Hours of Sebring presented by Locust Lube.

Stepping Up Your Game - Tips on Becoming a Better Driver

 So, you finally got around the track and posted a fast, clean lap time. Great! Have you ever then gone into the hot laps screen and compared your time only to find that your still seconds slower than your nearest rival? It can be disappointing, but doesn't mean you simply can't be competitive. Sometimes the tiniest adjustment can lead to tenths of a second of improvement, and that could mean all the difference in a race. Here are a few tips on improving your driving style.

1.) Pay attention to the clock - Knowing where you are at is important in order to know where you are going. Try this: pick a favorite track, or perhaps the next track on the FRL schedule, check and see what your fastest lap time is on that track in the Hot Laps section of the game. Knowing where you are on the Friends list is important in knowing how much faster you need to drive. Then, run laps. While doing so, pay attention to your split times. Those are times through particular sections of the track and appear in green (if faster) and red (if slower). Keep tabs on what helped you to go faster through each section (or slower). This will help you set a benchmark for what is helping and what isn't.

2.) Be conscience of your speed - The general mindset in any race game is to go as fast as possible, however possible, regardless of physics. With Forza 4 however, physics does play a key role in how the car gets around a track. If you over-speed into a corner you are penalized with a slower lap time. In a race, it often means getting bumped or passed. Therefore, when practicing laps, pay attention to your car speed into and out of corners. Make note of how fast the car can enter a corner before slipping 'up' the track and onto the grass. Then  make an effort to slow the car down to the correct speed BEFORE entering the corner. Once you learn how to get the car into and out of the corner at proper speed you will notice your lap times will improve. There is an axiom in racing: Sometimes slower is faster.

3.) Choose landmarks - One of the things that will often hurt a drivers ability to adapt and learn a track well is to rely on the in-game driving line. This is a useful tool when first learning a track, but can be a hindrance to developing an advanced racing style. Once familiar with the track, try turning the race line off and look for landmarks alongside the track to use as clues for upcoming turns. Often these are marked with meter (distance to corner) signs. Knowing how quickly your car needs to slow down can help you time your setup for the corner by using these landmarks. This gives you an advantage in a race. Knowing where you are on the track and using landmarks can help you make adjustments to your driving line and can give you an advantage in setting up a pass or extending a lead.

4.) Play with various driving lines - Once you've learned how to recognize and use landmarks on the track, try taking different lines around the corners. Take note of your split times to see if a particular line helps you or hurts your time. This can help you find faster ways around the track. It also benefits you in a race by forcing you to be adaptable in traffic. You may not have the choice line through a curve, knowing how your car will perform outside the preferred line will help you to maintain and perhaps even advance your position in traffic.

5.) Learn to drive a manual transmission - This can be a difficult challenge, particularly for someone new to the game. But the rewards of learning this method are very rewarding. It allows you the flexibility of keeping the car in its power band longer. It also allows you to use the engine to break the car through corners instead of using (and possibly locking) the breaks, which may slow the car too much. The bottom line is that manually running the car through gears will almost always result in faster lap times than an automatic car.

 Practice these tips and you'll be running faster laps in whatever car you are driving. You'll be able to adapt in traffic better, and you'll be moving up the leader board with each track. Our next Helpful Tips article will focus on setting up your car to perform better.

Revised Points System Announced for Season #3

 FRL officials have met and are ready to announce revised scoring rules for next season's championship points. The new scoring system will look like this:

Points will now be scored to account for 10 drivers instead of 8:
20, 16, 13, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1

Additionally, you will not earn points for every heat raced. Instead, your average position over the three heats will be tallied and your points will be scored based on the average position over the three races in the class being run. In the event of a tie for average position, the driver with the faster lap time will be scored ahead.

 Lap times will not be scored for each heat. A driver's fastest lap time from all three heats will be taken for each driver and then scored from fastest to slowest. Also, there will no longer be a penalty for 'dirty' laps. With a larger number of drivers expected on the track, and due to Forza 4's strict rules on registering 'dirty' laps, this penalty will now be dropped. However, a bonus point will be given to each driver that leads a lap in any heat.

 Your scoring breakdown will appear like this:

 Heat 1:          Position:              
Driver 1              1                      
Driver 2              3                      
Driver 3              2                      

Heat 2:           Position:
Driver 1               2
Driver 2               1
Driver 3               3

Heat 3:          Position:
Driver 1               1
Driver 2               3
Driver 3               2

Fastest Laps (over all three heats)
Driver 1           1.29.750
Driver 2           1:31.500
Driver 3           1:29.950

Driver 1's average position over the three heats is 1.334, scoring him top spot and 20 points. Driver's 2 and 3 both average 2.334 over all three heats. However, Driver 3's best lap time is faster than Driver 2 and thus takes the 2nd position and 16 points.

With this system in place, emphasis will be placed on overall performance. In addition, scoring will be lower over the course of the season (drivers will not score into the 1000's as would happen on the old system).

Countdown to Season #3

 It is hard to believe it is already July. This off-season has been longer than the previous winter off-season, but the year has certainly been flying by and we are now one month away from the kick-off of the third season of racing in the FRL. 

 So far, most of the series top drivers have been putting in quite a few laps into practice and developing their cars for the new season. Brandon Adkins has pretty well locked in his choice for an AWD steed, and has put some practice in on his 2-Eleven, which he seems to be doing very well in. He may be the dark horse to watch once the green flag drops on the series. Andrew Steppat is setting the bar once more, posting top lap times at several of the series tracks. His partnership with Audi looks to have been a fruitful one.

 The rookie team this season will be the combined garage's of Gabe and Carter. Their entry into the series may well push the starting field over 8 cars, which would be an FRL record. At the very least, they will be introducing a new level of racing from the rookie class that may well challenge our more experienced drivers. We look forward to seeing how the Rookie of the Year battle shapes up between these two.

 Excitement is building! With a good mix of track types, car classes and drivers, this season may well be the most interesting one to drive and watch yet. 

 Be a part of and follow the action of the 2013 Season #3 of the FRL on Thursday nights at 9 pm Central time beginning Aug. 1st with the 1.2 Hours of Sebring. Keep an eye on the FRL blogsite for updates:  http://forzdayraceseries.blogspot.com/

 Follow the FRL on Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_FRL