Champion Motorsport Série Internationale Du Mans Driver Meeting Notes

Event: Four-class ILMS Sportscar Series Round 2

Date: 20-MAR-08

Venue: Autobahn Country Club – Full Course

Event Start Time: 9:00 PM Eastern

Race Length: 90-minutes

Server ID: Champion ILMS v2.0

Server IP: 69.28.242.218



Special Notes:
This circuit has several key features that will aversely affect your race if you’re not aware of them or fail to pay attention to these Drivers Meeting Notes. Therefore it is in your best interest to make sure you take the time to thoroughly review these notes before joining the server for the race Thursday night.


Orange Zone:
The ‘Orange Zone’ for this event has been designated as the area of the track extending from the starting grid to the exit of turn 3. For additional information about the ‘Orange Zone’ policy please review section 2 of the ILMS series rules and regulations.






Race Start:
Unlike most tracks, this track does not have any starting lights anywhere along the grid! The start of the race is graphically represented by the drop of a relatively small green flag located at the top of the starter’s flag stand, however even for drivers located at the front of the grid this animated flag drop will be very difficult to see.



Therefore we are strongly recommending that every driver turn on his or her HUD display at the start of the race and toggle to the 'race time clock' menu. The character space used for the race clock will be blank just prior to the start of the race. At the moment the race starts the clock will appear and begin to count down since this is a timed event. Use the appearance of this clock as a virtual ‘green light’ to mark the start of the race. – FYI: This technique is an excellent resource anytime that you find yourself on the starting grid and you’re having trouble seeing the starting lights.


The race time clock menu prior to the start of the race…




The race time clock menu once the race starts…



Remember, when the clock starts, so does the race.



Pit Entrance:
The pit entrance is not as clearly marked as most tracks tend to be and as a result it can be easy to miss or overshoot the pit entry. Therefore we recommend that you take a few minutes to make sure you know exactly where the pit entrance is located and spend the time to practice your pit entry before the race.





Pit Lane Speed Limit Boundaries:
Unlike most tracks Autobahn Country Club does not have lights or lines marking the entrance and exit and/or pit lane speed limit boundaries. Therefore in order to help everyone avoid possible pit lane speed limit penalties we have illustrated the locations of the pit lane speed limit boundaries. Please note the physical attributes of the track and pit lane near these boundaries.

The start of the pit lane speed limit boundary begins roughly where the pit entry road leading from the track splits with the left fork leading towards the paddock and the right fork leads into the pit lane. Look for the end of the inside (left-side) fence.



As you make your way back out onto the track the end of the pit lane speed limit boundary is roughly marked by the end of the right-side fence that separates the track from the pit lane just after you pass the flag stand.

As you exit the pits, at all times during pre-race practice and testing and during each session of the main event, you are required to stay to the LEFT of the blend line as you reenter the track. Furthermore, during practice and qualifying all drivers are required to yield to any and all approaching oncoming traffic.






Potential Trouble Spots:
Major Bumps
One of the more prominent track features that may aversely affect your race is a series of bumps that are located on the ‘back straight.’ These bumps, which are located on either side of the track, can unsettle your car to the point where you may loose control of your car. In fact this can even happen during the formation lap. For your own sake make sure you take to the time to know where these bumps are located and drive accordingly.



During the course of the race this straight is a natural passing zone however the bumps on one side of the track may be worse than the other, therefore two cars driving side-by-side may find themselves coming into contact during what may have started out as a relatively benign passing attempt. In order to avoid these sorts of problems drivers are encourage to adjust their setups to help minimize the effect of these bumps.

Raising the ride height and bump stops of your chassis and increasing both the front and rear bump settings of your shocks can help reduce the effect these bumpy sections of the track have on your car. This is because what typically happens when a car looses control going over these bumps is that the chassis has been set to a minimum ride height with minimal bump stop stops, however the rapid and dramatic change in the track’s vertical elevation with this sort of setup allows the chassis to move too far. With little or no restrictions on the vertical chassis movement this causes the chassis to bottom out hard and which in turn causes the car to become unsettled and the driver to loose control.

As always, your chosen setup is basically be the end result of a series of compromises, for example adding more wing increases cornering speeds, but it also increases drag and reduces your top end speed. The adjustment of your suspension to handle these bumps will be nothing more than an additional aspect of the compromises that you and your race engineer will be considering as part of your setup and race strategy. You can choose a low suspension setting and accept the possible risk of your car becoming unsettled as you drive over these bumps or… you can adjust your suspension to give yourself the maximum flexibility of choosing a race line, but with the possibility of reducing some of your straight line and/or cornering speed.



Turn 8 Mystery Spot:
We’ve also uncovered a very unusual problem area with this track at the inside of turn 8. As you can see by this video clip, if you loose control of your car and come into contact with the barrier on the inside of turn 8 just under the flag stand your car may be thrown clear across the track in the opposite direction. In fact you’ll be thrown so far in the opposite direction that you will be immediately disqualified by the server. Therefore no matter what happens do your best to avoid going off the track at this corner.

Good luck everyone and have a safe and fun race!