OZFM V8 Series X - Feedback

So as we conclude another series, this time with a different format to what we've had in the past we'd like to hear what you guys think.
So post here any feedback you have on the series, specifically on the format, the organisation, what you liked and what can be improved for future V8 and other series.

Needs more cowbell

This was my first event with the OZFM team.
Just wanted to thank all involved.

I came in last most races but started seeing seconds fly away from my PBs.
Everyone was friendly and always gave myself and other slower racers room.

Tuesday nights worked really well.

I didn't like the races with compulsory pitstop windows.
In the event of damage early in the race, I had to pit before the window.
I think racers who need to pit for damage early should be exempt from having to pit a second time inside the window.
The additional pit made it impossible for me to catch the back runners and I couldn't stay on the lead lap.

ThresholdAU wrote:
I didn't like the races with compulsory pitstop windows.
In the event of damage early in the race, I had to pit before the window.
I think racers who need to pit for damage early should be exempt from having to pit a second time inside the window.
The additional pit made it impossible for me to catch the back runners and I couldn't stay on the lead lap.

 We'll tidy that up when we run it next time that you can pit prior to the pit window only for damage and this will count towards your pitstop.

However, the pit stop races were made to simulate a compulsory fuel stop, if you pit for repairs before critical lap you would have to pit again to ''splash-and-dash'

only issue i had was not starting on time, should close the lobbies with 5 mins to go.

Much like Threshold, I'm new to the V8 series with OZFM, with this being my first season. A big thank you goes out to the organisers - it was a great series. I too found my driving improving substantially during the season (these cars were the first ones that I turned ABS off!).

The only item I'd improve is the start times. 9pm is a bit of a late start for a week night, and if we're delayed to 9:30+, it just gets later. A prompt start would be ideal. Of course, you need to balance the inclusive/friendly nature of the crowd (which is great), with the firm hand of an unwavering start time.

Cheers,
Alf

Yeah my only firm gripes would be lag and late starts (less racers per room could help for both?).

For less racers per lobby.

I've been racing over at VM and they have a policy that if there is enough for 1 and 1/2 lobby's then they will cap lobby's at 12 per lobby. This has been in place over there since FM4 as they stress tested and found that 12 was the best option. Just something that we could look into for future high volume series

Starting times have always been a challenge as we have to deal with the time difference from New Zealand to Western Australia. Most of the bigger events we try to run over the winter months so Day Light Savings does not affect start times.

9pm has always been the ideal start time for most of the members to fit in with the huge time zone we all live in. The hosts try to open up the lobbies at 8:30 to give all racers 30 minutes to be ready including the usual network issues. The ones that roll up with a minute to spare are the ones that make the start later then finish later. And they sometimes bring in their own network issues that delay the race even longer.

Maybe the host should police the lobby open and close times so races start at the advertised time. Don't make it by a set time you miss out. Or ditch the 9pm and make it 8:30pm start. If all ready to race before 9pm just go race!

I like the idea of a few less on the grid per room. 8 minimum with up to 12 per lobby. You should be able to add an extra racer without too much dramas.

As a member who can not join in on a Tuesday I would like to see a Hot Lap inclusion with qualifying. We post up all the times and use them to sort the grid, would be nice to allow ALL members a chance to add a time even if not racing.

Ditto on stricter start times. I know there are some with specific circumstances eg I remember one particular person who knew they could race but due to work could only get in by the skin of his teeth. We knew he was coming so we allowed for that and it didn't delay us really.

Anybody else who just has in their head that rocking up at the last minute is a "she'll be right" scenario I wish would think again. My situation is that every 2nd week or so I work overnights. I'm often forcing myself to wake up early to get in. Then when delays happen because of last minute joiners (5min sure but sometimes drags to over 30) that's not only sleep I could have had, but there's a good chance I have to bail to get to work because there's now not enough time to complete the round for me.

Regarding 2 week format, loved it. Agree on the pitstops for damage to be counted. And at the start I was hoping for more rubber seeing as no traction but thanks to enough people sharing tunes I could cope and enjoyed the series immensely.

I also enjoyed the two week format, but id like to hear peoples thoughts on the length of the series. I think 10 weeks would be nice, 12 weeks max

I think most of the issues have been brought up...
- 2 week round formats good.
- 850pm room lockouts. Get the rooms started at 9pm. Got much better towards the end of the series, but few races never started until 20 mins after the scheduled 9pm start in the first few rounds.
- 12 round series would be difficult on FM5 anyway because there are only 3 circuits on the game lol.....
- pit stops in unsure about....their inclusion is fine, no issues there, but some have been caught out in incidents beyond their control sooo 2 stops would lessen the damage to those disadvantaged, buuut racing incidents are bound to happen when we are hammering for position, but flick on the V8s next round and incidents outside the pit window are a case of "shit happens" whether you at fault or an innocent bystander. Hard call, but im swaying towards the latter.
- Using this series points table as a baseline, we should create two-car teams based on the previous series standings, and have one of the front runners team up with one of the folk in room two or three. The advantage of this would be that a teams race would not be dominated by the 4 or 5 fastest blokes in the series, but also the knowledge and tuning skill that one of the lead racers have can assist and help improve the room two or three folk. The teams chamionship disappeared after two or three rounds this series....
- The support series sounded good, BUT it added to the work load and prep for the series, and it seemed to suited most not to have a total committed night to FM5. Some dont get a whole lot of game time during the week, so Tuesday night is a time where they can jump onto COD or whatever for a random bash. I reckon we just have quali by itself on the night, and each to their own after that.

A few hiccups at the start aside, it turned out to be a pretty decent series overall. Well done to those in the backround for running the show.

Forgot to mention about the support series. I thought I was going to like the idea at first but think I prefer sticking to one car at a time, especially when they're the beasts. Don't have the motor skills to chop and change.

I agree re the support series - I really liked the idea, and liked the choice of car, but in the end I found that I just couldn't get interested. I guess it was because the support car wasn't the main focus. Although it might have helped if there had been a points table for the support cars (maybe...).
Also enjoyed the longer quali sessions, although this did make the season quite long (which is not necessarily a bad thing). I suppose the longer the season is the more likely it is that people will need to miss sessions here and there, which arguably screws with the points table and probably contributed to the overall participation rate at the end.
Great series though, and had a lot of fun - thanks to all for organising and racing.

Just an idea, not sure if it would appeal to others or even work - if people were still interested in the idea of a support series, it might be easier to get involved if we didn't need to worry about tuning the car? (eg a stock series? Radical? Mini Cooper? A different stock C or D class classic every week? The porsche was a bit of a bitch to hop into right after the V8s) Possibly look also at only 1 25 minute quali session, with results to determine both races (or results of R1 to determine R2 or reverse grid or whatever) the following week. This would make racing for a bit of fun after quali not so much a late night..

What the man above me said.

If there is only a small group keen to race in a support series on the qually week then set up the qually rooms to cater for this.
Say 32 sign up for the V8's but only 14 want to race in the support race. They run together for the support race and qually while the others fill the other lobbies and just run qually quickly then go play something else.

The Ruf... Was built up during the first few weeks of FM5. Another member had also the same idea and very similar build. They run the Carrera Cup along side the V8's. Not much else was ready to roll other than the FWD Scirocco when we tried to fill in the qually week.

LOL 12 rounds! 12 weeks would be 6 different tracks

Drop the pit stop window all together or at least close the compulsory pit window about 5 from the end of the race.

OK, who is in charge of Series 11 hype?

HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE

Too soon to get some info and threads up?

Project cars

Forum ded

12 weeks until P Cars!
I expect a large number of us will start progress in that game, but may still play some FM5

12 weeks, take away the usual forum desert that is December to mid january that's another 4 weeks
So 8 weeks left
Then there's the 6 week muscle car series
2 weeks.

We're not running another V8 race on FM5 before project cars comes out.

I'll have to redirect my hype towards another series for the meantime
F190 looks like a lot of fun