Scenic upstate New York welcomes us for round seven of the Works Trophy at Watkins Glen. King Hiro claimed his first win of the season in Tunisia whilst an undercooked Beefpie failed to make an impression. Can Mr Shaw regain his mo-Joe or will Al make it Hell for him for the rest of the season?

Race list	iGOR
Server	UKGPL_GPG
IP address	62.195.32.131
Date	04-03-2012
Race time	Race starts at 21:30 UK time
Qualifying time	Between 30 and 60 minutes, starting no later than 21:00 UK time
Track	Watkins Glen
Mod	67
Damage model	PRO
Race length	45 laps
Replay	Available here

Reserve drivers please note; you must leave the server with 35 minutes of qualifying left, for a total of 5 minutes, to allow full timers to join.

The red zone will be fully moderated for lap 1 only. For this event the red zone will be from the start line to the exit of turn 4, Juncao. Other moderation will be on reported incidents only.

The chassis token system is explained on the Works standings page. Please ensure you choose a chassis that is within your budget, which can be seen by hovering the mouse over your points total in the standings.

 

pc problems.great way to loose 20 tokens.

Thanks to Paul for hosting last night, replay available from link in race post.

Hope UKGPL3 was solid enough. Entirely my fault that we didn't end up on GPG - I couldn't find the password and when I did it was the wrong one... All in all a totally disastrous night.

Congrats on the fine win Art. My race was bittersweet. While I'm annoyed at throwing a possible win away, I'm bloody lucky to have survived my off with all four wheels on the car. Quali was a poor effort, in around the midfield, but made a good start and vaulted up to 3rd in a couple of laps. The next 20 or so laps were me trying to catch Art and Bob up ahead but I was slowly losing sight of them lap after lap. After Bob's off, it was down to me and Art, and spurred on with a possible win on the cars, I slowly caught up and went for an overtake soon after.

It was really touch and go as Watkins is so hard to pass at, but I felt it was within the boundaries. Art tried to defend by taking the wide line and lost the back end on exit which left me with a small lead. I haven't led a 67 race for a very long time so was hoping I could end my drought with this drive. That plan lasted until about 5 laps later where I was daydreaming, braked too late, spun the car, and did several pirouettes that would make most ballerinas feel sick.

Amazingly the car survived, and even more amazingly it was still drivable. Tried as I might, I couldn't close the gap to Art and settled for 2nd. Pleased to make in on the podium after the disappointment of Carthage. Congrats to all finishers.

Sorry if my "reputation" scared you off the track Al.
Actually, I was very aware of how a wayward rear end might cause some mayhem and did my utmost to keep things tidy. I had worked so hard for so many laps to get within striking distance after a miserable qualifying session, that I had to take the chance when it came. It all started on the final corner where you got just a little out of shape which meant I was closer throught the Esses and able to pick up the to early enough to use the Waza power and get up the inside. Al was also in my blind spot and although I could hear his Cooper, I could not see it and when everything went quiet I feared the worst... GPL had finally made me deaf!! Hard luck Al  .

After Al, I could see a couple of cars way ahead and Prib told me that it was Doni and Fulvio and it took me another 10 laps or so to get within striking distance. Each time I was almost on Doni's tail I had to ease back as the tyre temps rose and more worryingly the oil temp approached the 260F nuke point for the Waza engine. Eventually I was in Doni's slipstream but the superior handling of his Fezza made finding a passing opportunity VERY difficult. Into the Loop is the only real place around here unless someone makes a mistake and so I had to pull the same move as I did on Al, although Doni did not have the good grace to attack the haybales and instaed insisted on making life difficult for me for the last 12 laps!!!

I felt that I had just enough raw speed to keep Doni behind and there was just a chance of catching Fulvio if he made an error in the final 10 laps, so I was reasonably content, having started almost at the back of the grid. Unfortunately we encountered 2 backmarkers at the final 90 on the penultimate lap and I Doni was so close behind that I knew I could not afford to lose momentum or he would pounce and regain 4th place. So, I forced the waza on a tighter line than I normally would take and screwed every HP out of the engine to get across the S/F line and up through the Esses to maintaim my advantage. The result was super heated rear tyres and oil temp at 259F as I approached the Loop. I just could not get the beast to turn in and drifted wide on slippery rubber. I thought I had almost saved the slide when the left rear found the grass and it was all over. I watched the remainedr of the race from the top of the haybles

Grats to Art for his first win, it has been coming for a long time  and to Sam and Fulvio for their podium places. Also grats to Al and Doni for some racing. 

it's our version of a formation finish