joshrayman.co.uk Tumblr

Rallying

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 02:56:17 +0000

Although I shall not be able to afford this for some years (I did the research in the summer, it certainly will not be happening soon), some writing about a growing appreciation and want to better my ability at the sport (albiet virtually, for now).

Winter 2010

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:55:00 +0000

Haven’t posted anything for months because I haven’t really had anything to say. With the recording and promotion of Sunshine Paradise EP (now online, here, and being released on the 22nd November) as well as university work (for both myself and Jodie), nothing has really happened racing wise - sadly.

However, in order to sort this out, I will be sitting down and figuring out what to do later this month. I think it will entail not trying to raise money for a full season in 2011 (but a part-season or a few races), and redoubling efforts for 2012 in either Formula Vee or Formula Ford. I still believe the framework that is set up by these series (particularly Vee), along with the ideas I’ve had for promotion are sufficient to be able to raise some meaningful sums.

I am also toying with the longer-term idea of setting up my own racing team, so this may be the vehicle in which I return to driving myself. I am still contemplating whether I still want to come back to competitive racing, but I certainly want to return to the circuit in some way or another in the next couple of years.

That is all for now. Enjoy the music, if you so choose to go to listen to it.

August

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:23:09 +0100

I realise it has been a week now since I last posted anything to here, and really that’s because I’ve been too tied up traveling and doing music stuff to focus on any racing work. I was called up to fill in as second guitar for the Buck Brothers on their mini-tour next weekend, and also have been away from Skegness this weekend to see Violet Violet and Grammatic’s farewell gigs (in Norwich and York respectively).

The rest of this week will be commuting around the south of the country, visiting London tomorrow for a rehearsal before going to Chelmsford, Devon, Reading and Worcester. I do intend to revisit the first half of the F1 season once I’ve done with traveling for August, although I only have a one week gap to achieve this, as I am headed out to East Yorkshire for a brief holiday at the end of August, before I return to university. Hope to take in some mountain biking whilst I’m out there!

rFactor - BR Kart Mod - Buckmore Park Been putting Dave...

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 20:26:16 +0100

rFactor - BR Kart Mod - Buckmore Park

Been putting Dave Water’s Buckmore Park circuit through its paces on rFactor for the last couple days, I recommend it. BR Kart Mod is also one of the few decent kart simulations going at the moment… it has it’s flaws but it’s pretty immersive and the physics are stable enough to push hard.

As I waste more and more time...

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:59:00 +0100

sat commanding virtual vehicles around simulated race circuits.

I mentioned in another blog the other day (links below), I have noted with interest the developments of Codemaster’s F1 game which is due in about a month. It looks promising and they are saying the right things (from a sim racers point of view).

They did fail today with their Starforce insistence. I tried installing Colin Mcrae Rally 2005 (for all its faults, it does boast a decent range of rally cars across the eras). However, despite having an original DVD present, the game decided to push me through a reboot loop for their ‘protection system’. Ridiculous. I did manage to get it working, sadly it was hardly worth the effort. It seems to sit inbetween arcade and sim in a way that suits pretty much nobody.

I have spent the last week or so in my allotted racing time revisiting some of my other sims (which tend to have been sidelined since I got hold of NetKar). Sadly, they don’t really seem to hold a candle to the immersion afforded by the former (in my own opinion). Race On briefly enamoured me with its WTCC racing, as did LFS with its assortment of fictitious cars - alongside a licensed Formula BMW car which seems to pop up in a few sims.

In the end, they all feel a little too light on the ground, although LFS comes close. As does rFactor, but I had issues with that too in its installation - a mod decided to wipe out some part of the infrastructure and make sure that when it was deleted, the game was unusable (helpful). So I’ve learnt to be a little more apprehensive before removing stuff out of that.

I should probably stop playing games and do some work now.

Writings (Elsewhere)

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 23:09:59 +0100

I’ve been writing a fair bit of motorsport stuff over the last week, so I thought I’d link it back here… I tend to default to blogging on The Shadow Committee’s tumblr usually.

1. Team Orders

2. Motors TV

3. Codemasters F1 Game

I’ve started to contribute to The Future’s Bleak more often on F1 matters, and hope to do so for the rest of this season. And also make the most of Motors TV whilst I have it here in Skegness, as I will lose the privilege in September when I’m back in Norwich.

Confessions of a Racing Driver – Pt. 2 (Fitness)

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:36:13 +0100

Confessions of a Racing Driver – Pt. 2 (Fitness)

Plans

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:00:16 +0100

I may be able to reveal some plans in the next few days! Exciting stuff.

In other news, after doing some research, it would seem that 750MC’s Formula Vee is a much more cost-effective route into single seater racing. Having been at Cadwell for the last two days (I was there for a job interview this afternoon), I was lucky enough to witness them in action yesterday, and chat to a couple of the runners.

The series is televised to boot, check out some of their video’s here (in the future, it is unlikely the front page will still have this content, but for now : Brands Hatch 1 Program 2 Part 4 and Snetterton Program 1 Part 2 are the Formula Vee races online.

For now, I am working on the ‘paperwork’ aspect, dealing with preliminary sponsorship searching work, and some website modifications.

I also had the pleasure of revisiting TOCA2, the game modelling the 1998 BTCC series. Its Van Diemen Formula Ford support series was surprisingly fun too… although the steering is more realistic than later Codemaster’s efforts (living in hope for the Formula One game imminent), it still does feel ‘on rails’. It did turn out a laptime that is within the realms of possibility at Snetterton. So kudos for that.

Physics

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 01:54:22 +0100

Tonight’s topic is, I feel, an interesting one to motorsport… whereas we tend to all be taught what to do, why we do it is often left untouched. I’m currently in the process of reading Brian Beckman’s Physics of Racing - which hopefully will answer some of the questions. I figure A level physics will take me most of the way in understanding, surely?

Whilst I sat in a wall once again with a bizarre setup on the F2000 car at Snetterton in NetKar, I started to actually think about the process I had just going through. The inner wheel had picked up and unloaded, so having lost 25% of my contact patch, the car elected to continue in a straight line towards the barriers. It baffled me how I’d never really thought to think through that process. Tending in the past to err on the side of caution, particularly with race cars (given that I only ever owned one, it does make sense this apprehension), I figured now would be a time to understand my way through the physics of cars, and specifically car setup.

I figure it’s worth a few tenths.

I also acknowledge that as someone that should be ramping up to a heavy exercise schedule, this distorted sleep pattern probably isn’t in my best interests. Thems the trade-ups of being a habitual musician for the last two years. Perhaps I can work my exercise around my noon wake up time frame. I don’t think drivers briefing will be so lenient.

Confessions of a Racing Driver - Pt. 1

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:55:00 +0100

Confessions of a Racing Driver - Pt. 1:

My first in a series of blog’s covering my path back to racing race cars.

I passed 1,000km on NetKar today...

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:32:00 +0100

at Newbury circuit. Don’t know whether to be impressed or worried. Either way, preparation for Snetterton’s round in the F2000’s shall start soon… hopefully I will be able to participate this time around (after being unable to find the server for Aviano…)

Car Setup and Aviano Race

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 13:50:11 +0100

This morning has been preparing and trying to bring down my PB in order to be vaguely competitive (although the prevailing reason is I tend to fair worse in sim racing than out on the circuit, I am currently making an effort to assimilate the driving philosophy of gaming) in the GPChampionship race I signed on to do this weekend.

I qualified stone last with a 1.29, but this morning I managed to lap in the 28’s… if I can get into the 26’s by the race tonight - within the pack - I will be satisfied.

I’ve noticed whilst tweaking the setup how my strategy and logic within car setup has altered drastically from my old league days… changing from making the car balanced with a rear-heavy brake bias; to making the car effectively unstable, then controlling it with a front-orientated bias.

This achieves the same net goal of an oversteer-favouring car, but I’m starting to find my old setup ideas tend to produce a car that is both unpredictable, but also certain to spear into a wall if I overshoot a brake point and have to decelerate rapidly. I’m still in early days of exploring the new setup, but so far I’m finding it allows me more confidence in the car, despite generating a little more understeer in the braking zone.

My (virtual) rig for the summer…

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:18:42 +0100

My (virtual) rig for the summer…

Day One

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:29:57 +0100

And joshrayman.co.uk is online and raring to go. Today (or rather, yesterday) I also began the fitness program, which consisted of two rather short jogs (15mins and 30mins) alongside some circuit training and some back exercises… because I probably should see to actually sorting that out if I wish to go racing in any capacity in the future.

I also followed up a couple of job opportunities whilst I’m back in Lincolnshire, hopefully that will raise some of the money needed to go test a Formula Ford in the Autumn, which we are planning to be filmed and made into a promo video for the sponsorship campaign - exciting stuff.

I spent the rest of the day pottering around on NetKar with no real goal - I did spend a fair few laps testing the tyre model to destruction. I managed to rack up 150km on a set of F3 tyres, and although the grip they provided at that point was hopeless (and in this game, it matters) they were for all intents and purposes : working.

So I’ll resume my distraction of breaking tyres tomorrow. Alongside some more Formula Ford work, I am quite drawn to the Aosta Race Circuit and its various variations and elevations on offer - so I will be exploring the driving model through that. Also will be looking into making up a replica-Track IR device using a webcam and an LED - if I can find an LED.

However for tomorrow, I shall be forcing myself back into the studio as The Shadow Committee, as I have avoided working on the song Long Way From Home for too long now. Between beach runs and other assorted exercise goodies, obviously.

Commence.

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:48:40 +0100

Little more than 48 hours to the official beginning of my 2011 racing campaign and I have pondered over the last few weeks, since I decided that this was - once again - for me: why am I so intent on pursuing such an expensive and limited-option career path?

I do not have the answer, although I do intend to discuss it at some point here. So for now I shall have to be content with starting from scratch – no money and no racing licence – with the end goal of competing in Formula Ford next year. This also includes actually working towards my fitness and trying to reverse what the last two years of eating fast food, sleeping and occasionally even going to play or discuss music at UEA.

With the self imposed deadline of 30^th June for my previous lifestyle, I’ve noticed the acknowledgement, though excess of ordering in the last few days. Having had two takeaways in the last few days, and up-rating through the pizza size guide, there is a tacit nod to the fact that these excesses’ days are numbered. Only time will tell whether I stick to this plan, however. The exercise segment to the fitness plan I hope will be easier to implement, as I am planning to join the local (well, effectively local) velodrome-orientated club, in Scunthorpe. With Skegness’ rather limited exercise options on offer, I think some road cycling and beach running will be my other primary options. I have to be wary of the minor back injury I suffered recently, so I will be working on strengthening up muscles as well as the core cardio.

I have also noticed, whilst watching some obscure GT race on Motors TV last night, how my perception of time has somewhat adjusted back to what could be considered ‘normal’. It took me a while whilst watching a pair of Ferrari F430’s fight tooth and nail for the last five minutes of their race to lock into how close they were really racing to each other – whilst they traded lap times around 0.002s apart. It also dawned how casually I have been watching Formula One for the last few years – or maybe how little it matters in the category. Excellent, well paced race between the two however, it was nice to see them fighting around Spa Francorchamps in such (relatively) unorthodox locations. An attempted move into the left hand corner after Bruxelles illustrated this point well.

Unfortunately, aside hunting for sponsorship and a job to help the racing cause on its way, there is little else I can do right now in terms of actual racing, so I’ve settled for NetKar Pro as my sim of choice this summer. In a straight fight between itself and iRacing, it eventually convinced me over with its model of the 1600cc Formula Ford and a selection of British race tracks that are gradually being converted over the the game by the community. If I were to consider the Skip Barber Racing School at a later date, iRacing would be ideal preparation.

I have joined the GPChampionship for NetKar, as pickup racing on the game is scarcely populated. Their F2000 category (Formula Renault, to everyone else) has a 50-strong championship table and appears to regularly run A, B and C heats (15 cars per race), so I look forward to participating soon. The next round is at Snetterton (home, pretty much) too, that should be good.