Race Report: Congress of Gamers Fall 2018

Congress of Gamers provided another great Championship Formula Racing opportunity.  This time around we had 8 drivers on the 1985 version of Francorchamps (PDF track map).

I now have a trio of Francochamps tracks.  The modern version (PDF) which saw use in F1 starting in 2007.  The first short version (PDF) that was used only in 1983.  For this race we used the version raced between those two.  It combined the bus stop and la source layouts from the 1983 version with the start finish line from the modern / 2007 version.  I anticipated that the track would run more like its 2007 than its 1983 sister.

Michael Polcen and Don Tatum must have had similar thoughts, built cars with 100 start speed, and bid highest for pole.  Michael just won out that bidding with 5 to Don's 4.5.

Lap 1

On the right you can see Michael maintaining the lead through Radison and onto the track's longest straight.  Don follows closely behind.  Daniel Nace sits 3rd, Paul Bernhardt 4th, Jonathan Smith 5th, Will Kennard 6th, Me 7th, Dave Nace 8th.

Michael and Don ran an excellent race against each other over the 2 laps we ran.  If I had to nit-pick anyone's plot this was one that stood out.  Don could have used a slip this turn, and the outer line to end up right behind Michael for another slip.  It might not have mattered, but the space or 2 he gains from next turn's slip might have made a difference.

As it was, Michael held the lead through out lap 1.  Above, the pack races towards Bus Stop for the first time with Paul now in 3rd but a couple spaces.  Daniel sits 4th now.  I made up a couple spaces down the straight with my 180 top speed into 5th.  Will sits outside me after some slips.  Jonathan is behind me in 7th and Dave is right behind him in 8th.

Lap 2

The very next turn, Michael starts lap 2 in the lead with Don right beside him.  Paul is still in 3rd, but Daniel and I are right behind him.  I get past Daniel with my higher acceleration down to La Source.

For much of lap 2 there are two separate battles at the front of the field.  Don and Michael for the win.  Paul and I for the last spot on the podium.

Don gets past Michael early in lap 2.  But it feels like Don made a sub-optimal play just to try and break up Michael's rhythm.  In fact, I heard Don say something similar to Michael after the race.

Above on the left is Don leading Michael a couple corners into lap 2.  By Les Combes, Michael has pulled even with Don.  Below, Michael has powered back into the lead.

Meanwhile Paul has continued to hold me off to keep hold on 3rd.  But the field is doing its best to contest that position too.

With bigger top speed, brakes, and more wear I would finally get past Paul through the final corner.  But neither of us could challenge either Michael or Don for the win.

No retirements and a fun time had by all.

Driver	Q (bid)	Start Speed	Finish
Michael Polcen	1 (5)	100	1
Don Tatum	4.5 (2)	100	2
Doug Schulz	7 (1)	20	3
Paul Bernhardt	5 (1)	60	4
Will Kennard	6 (1)	20	5
Daniel Nace	3 (2.5)	100	6
Jonathan Smith	4 (2)	60	7
Dave Nace	8 (0)	20	8

Analysis

Was that 1/2 pt of bid the difference between Michael and Don?  Was it that missed slip from Don early in lap 1?  Was it Michael's test to get to 180 down the straight with Don just out of slip position?

Hard to say for me, but it was definitely some excellent racing by both gentleman.

For myself, I have had decent luck with a 40 accel, 80 decel car on this track.  I decided for something a little difference and got some decent value out of the 60 accel.  I like running from behind on this track, but I know that this version and the 2007 version will likely spit out a winner from the front row and the best I can hope for is 2nd or 3rd.

Which leads me to like the 1983 version of Francorchamps best.  But only by a little.

Congress of Gamers Fall 2017 Post Race Report

Turn 1 sees 5 cars lining up for Eau Rouge.
Michael and Tim in front.

Eight cars pulled up to the start grid in Rockville Saturday at Congress of Gamers Fall.  I typically build a track revision for this race and this year we ran an old version (1983 vintage) of Francorchamps.  See my previous post for details on that track.

On the right you can see the results of turn 1 in the race.  Michael Schulz is in the lead after starting outside row 1 and out-gunning Don Tatum from there.  Tim Mossman moved up from row 2 after pushing his start speed to pull even with Michael.  Don, Will Kennard, and Kevin Keller filled out that large 1st group.  I'm in the white car in the middle distance while Dave Nace and Joe Powell bring up the rear.  The 3 of us started in the last 3 rows.

The 5 cars in front pushed through Eau Rouge and down into Les Combes as a pack.  But I had gained contact with the pack by then and Dave and Joe were not far behind. 

Below you can see the result of the field thinning out as we enter the mid-field section.  Michael spent some wear to take the lead again.  Don pulled up even with Tim while the rest of us held position.

Michael, Tim, Don Will, Kevin, me... into the mid-field.

Almost the end of lap 1 and Kevin joins Don
and Michael at the pointy end after Tim's spin.

Nothing too exciting happens the rest of lap 1 until the leaders make their way through the old Bus Stop Chicane.  Tim took the corner for 2 wear and a chance roll for what he is convinced would have given him the eventual win.  He spun despite spending 2 skill.

Kevin and Don ended up catching up to Michael as they exit the Bus Stop -- 3-wide heading into La Source.  Pretty much everyone ends up passing Tim as a result of his spin.  You can see Tim in 7th here.

As we began the 2nd and last lap of the race a couple turns later, I jumped out of my car and rookie Anna Pisto jumped in to finish the race -- waving off many of my suggestions as she went.

Through Eau Rouge again and down to Les Combes for the last time, Anna has pulled the white Tyrell into the lead pack just behind Kevin.  Don and Michael are still right behind Kevin as well but Kevin has more wear than anyone right behind him and already seems to have the race in hand.

I forgot to take pictures after this... Michael made a chance roll here.

By the time the cars have rounded Pouhon.  Kevin and Don are back out in front of the field.  Michael has damaged his car and makes a chance in Pouhon but pulls off instead of crashing in Fagnes.  Anna has some wear left but will come up short of 2nd after a couple missed die rolls.

Will pulls back into 4th and Tim falls back to 8th.  Kevin wins and Don gets 2nd.

Final Track Thoughts
Because this was a new track effectively, I wanted to talk about it.  I love it.  I've always liked Francorchamps -- maybe more than some -- but I like this version the best.

Starting at the beginning of the long back straight was a lot of fun.  Getting 5 cars through Eau Rouge is super interesting with all of the lines and slips and choices.  And we had a bunch going into that corner on lap 2 as well because the old La Source profile is wider and has a higher line that makes it a lot less of a bottle-neck than the modern version of that corner.

6 cars getting through La Source at the end of lap 1!

I will say that I like the modern Bus Stop better than the old one.  I love the modern bus stop.  But the old bus stop is not bad, it just is not as interesting.

All in all, the track became a lot less of a race from the front leaner.  It became very hard to pull away and I definitely think I will see people run this successfully from the back.  I can't wait to get this out into the wild more.

A New/Old Francorchamps Track for CFR at Congress of Gamers

10 cars going through La Source on turn 2
on the modern version of Francorchamps

I've gotten into the habit of creating variations of existing tracks for the races I've run at Congress of Gamers and Winter Game Fest -- held in my hometown of Rockville, MD.

This year I decided to do an older version of the famous race track situated in Francorchamps, Belgium.  This is an OLD track that dates back to the 1920s.  It started life as a 14 mile long monster connecting the towns of Spa and Francorchamps.  That track was last used by F1 in 1970.

It would be 13 years before F1 returned to a much shortened track akin to what is used today.  In the years between then and now, there was some tinkering to the track that resulted in the modern version first used in 2007.

I modeled the 2007 layout for Championship Formula Racing earlier.  It is an interesting track in that it is very long and looks like it would cater to race from the back strategies.  But in real races it tends not to as discussed in my recent categorizing of tracks post.

My hypothesis is that the quick run into La Source thins the field and gives front of the pack cars a boost they never quite lose in most races.  Thus my interest in the 1983 version of Francorchamps.

1983 was the first F1 race on the new, shortened Francorchamps and is the only F1 race on that track that used the old start / finish line which was located just AFTER La Source.  This is where the start / finish line had been for the entire previous history of the track.

I left most of the track the same as very few changes seem to have been made from 1983 to now.  The two places big changes had been made were at La Source and the Bus Stop.  In the end I was able to get two new tracks out of this because in 1985 F1 returned to Francorchamps and the only change from 1983 was that the start / finish line was moved to its current location.  This layout stayed in affect roughly through 2005 and the advent of the modern layout.

• 2007 (modern) Version [pdf]
• 1983 Version [pdf]
• 1985 Version [pdf]

Lets look at a couple of the non-start/finish line changes.  La Source looked a fair bit wider back then.  So I made it 3-wide and re-profiled it in general.

1983 / 1985 version of La Source.
You can see the back of the starting grid just after the corner.

2007 / modern version of La Source

The bus stop has gone through a lot of changes over the years.  This version is roughly right for the time period (they made so many changes, I am not likely to make versions of them all).  This older bus stop is a little faster and splits up the back straight differently than the current version.

1983 / 1985 version.  Note how much closer to the kink in the back straight it sits.
The couple extra spaces are effectively on the other end of the corner.

2007 / modern version of the Bus Stop.

I am excited to run this track October 7th at Congress of Gamers to see if behaves more like a race from behind track than its modern cousin.  I hope to see some of you out there.

CFR Race at Congress of Gamers, Fall
October 7th, 2017
9:30 am teaching demo and set-up
10:00 am race start

2018 Organized Play Season Will Be Huge!

Well, it certainly shapes up that the second season of Championship Formula Racing will be bigger than the first.

I've updated the calendar and there are already 4 in-person seasons or tournaments planned plus 3 more single race live events and the 2 Play-by-email seasons that are already underway but will count towards the 2018 season as they are still in progress.

Congress of Gamers -- Summer

The first race of the 2018 season will be held August 26th starting at 10:30 am at the Congress of Gamers in Tysons Corner, VA.  If you've been to the event in Rockville by the same name, expect the same event in a different setting.  Sadly, I will not be able to make that race but Michael Polcen will ably steward.

For more information about the Congress of Gamers see their web page.

Also note that I plan to run races at the Congress of Gamers in Rockville to be held October 7-8 and the related Winter Games Fest in January.

Detroit CFR Season

The big newcomers to this calendar are the biggest seasons planned for 2018 -- one in Detroit and one in San Marino.

The Detroit series will feature 8 races and starts September 8th.  This is a great group of veteran drivers that are more than happy to bring in new-comers.  Check out their web site for more details.

Flag of San Marino -- home of CFR's newest tournament

San Marino Season

The San Marino season is planned for 9 races starting September 26th.  This will be the first CFR event to take place in Europe.  Given the large number of Italian fans of CFR, the interest from San Marino makes sense.  Check out the web site for the San Marino gaming association that is running the season for more information... if you can read Italian.

Tournaments for PrezCon and WBC are planned as usual.

Play By Email

There are two email based seasons going on right now.  Mine and the Redscape series.  Both run 3-race seasons with multiple races to accommodate all of the participants.  Both use a ladder system to advance drivers between the heats.

For more information about my series, see that page on my site.

For more information about the Redscape series, email me and I will pass you on to Mr. Polcen.

Long time driver, Robert Rund is also thinking about putting together a email race using the pitting rules.  If you are interested, email him.

Silverstone 2010 to be Raced at Congress of Gamers

I want to do something a little different this weekend and run an odd, one-off F1 track.  The 2010 F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone used the modern layout but the previous year's start/finish line (PDF track map)... something I've never run before in CFR.

In 2010 a good chunk of Silverstone was redone but the new pit area was not complete so they ran the race using the old pits and start/finish line.  The modern version of Silverstone was not run using its existing start/finish line until 2011.

If that sounds fun or you don't care about the track and just want to race, come by Congress of Gamers in Rockville, MD on Saturday.  The race will be at 10:30 AM Saturday September 24th.  CoG is a great deal.  If you pre-register you can go both days for $20 and its not much more at the door.  Kids 16 or under are just $5.

Live CFR Race Scheduled for Congress of Gamers

I will run a CFR race on the big tracks in Rockville, MD later this month at the Congress of Gamers.  CoG is a fun little convention near where I live.  I went last year for the first time and brought CFR then too.

The CFR race will be at 10:30 AM Saturday September 24th.  CoG is a great deal if you pre-register you can go both days for $20.  Kids 16 or under are just $5.

I'll be bringing the big 1/64th scale tracks.  We'll use the core rules, and the race will qualify for driver rankings, BUT very rookie friendly.  Get there a little before 10:30 and I'll teach you to play.  Sit near me during the race and I'll help you out during the race as well.

CFR this Sunday at Congress of Gamers

Championship Formula Racing will be making a live appearance at Congress of Gamers, Sunday the 27th at 1:30.  I'll be running a full 3-lap race on a 1/64th scale track.  If you've seen the set-up at WBC, you know the drill.  A final decision on track has not been made.

If you've never played before, come at 1:00 for a demo.

I also volunteered to run a game of Steampunk Rally (BGG), fresh off the Kickstarter.  I'll start with a demo at 5:00 followed by a race at 5:30.  So stay after CFR and make it a full day of racing games.

Congress of Gamers is a local Rockville, MD con that is a really great value.  If you show up just for Sunday, it will cost you $7 at the door.