SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - Driving rFactor: A Fast Lap at Orchard Lake Grand Prix

Simulation Title: rFactor
Developer: Image Space Incorporated (ISI)
Racing Mod / Series:
rFrancis’ ProtoRacer Proton v1.1, German Sim Mod Foundation’s (GSMF) Porsche Carrera Challenge (PCC) 2005 v1.2
Venue: Orchard Lake Speedway’s Infield Road Course
Location: Washington, Pennsylvania (USA)
Dimensions: 2.31 mi (3.713 km), 6 turns
Details: Road Course in the Tri-Oval’s infield, used for endurance racing.
Rules: No Flag Rules
Weather: Sunny, 10 AM, 25°C
Difficulty: Auto Clutch - ON
Comments: A challenging circuit that combines the high speed banking of the oval with the tight turns of the infield.

Introduction

SimHQ is about to host it’s second endurance racing event, “The Deuce”, a 2.4 hour driver challenge using ISI’s rFactor racing simulation game. Making use of rFactor’s superb physics, mutli-player code, dynamic lighting and accelerated daylight feature, racers competing in this grueling test of man and PC will face the added challenge of dealing with varied lighting conditions that will span the entire range of daylight in only a few hours’ time.

In order to better prepare would-be racers for this event, SimHQ continues its highly popular “Fast Lap” racecraft series with an installment that covers how to straighten the curves at this superb racing venue.

Background

Located in the heart of Pennsylvania, Orchard Lake features not only a competitive NASCAR-style tri-oval with moderate banking, but also boasts a complex infield road course suitable for racing series like the Rolex Grand Am or American Le Mans Series. Similar to Grand Am’s 24 hours of Daytona, which uses the infield race track at that famous tri-oval circuit, “The Deuce” endurance race will make use of Orchard Lake’s road course as the sun makes a quick lap of the rFactor world.

And what a challenge the infield can be! Pavement irregularities, flat or negative-camber corners, tight hairpins and blind turns all stand ready to challenge the driver in his or her pursuit of ever-quicker lap times.

Like many other endurance racing series, “The Deuce” will feature multiple classes of race cars, each featuring various levels of performance and speed. To keep things simple, yet cover all the bases to conquering this track, our article today will investigate the techniques required to race two representative classes of race car. Representing the high-end of racing power and technology, the Proto-Racer Proton is a purpose-built prototype race car similar to those raced in the Grand Am Rolex Prototype series. Fast and maneuverable, these cars chew up the track at Orchard Lake and deliver some very quick lap times, but demand some degree of care in the faster corners. Demonstrating that consumer road cars can be converted to exciting and competitive racing machines, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars are based on the venerable and sexy Porsche 911 chassis, but significantly upgraded for racing operations. These cars are substantially slower than the Prototypes, but despite the relative speed difference the Porsches still deliver an exhilarating performance on the twisty sections of the track and are quite competitive in their own right. Both of these cars will not disappoint when looking for a rewarding and exciting ride at the ‘Lake. After this article, take the time to try them both out, to fully experience the different driving qualities each has to offer. They’re both worth your time.

With all that squared-away, let’s hit the garage!

Go To Page 2

Click here to go to top of this page.