Moderator's Report
The Rouen race provided some very close battles with the Lola's proving to be the favourite car again. It is a shame that no team has bought the Chapp 2F as that might have offered a chalenge, but it would also have made a large hole in the tokens, of course.
Until this race I had very little to moderate because the driving standards had been very high and the rolling starts were making lap 1 pile ups less likely.
But... we had a little fracas on the warm up lap at Rouen didn't we? ??? After watching the replay from all cars that were involved it seems that the tail of the field got a little left behind going up the hill after Nouveau Monde. That was not really a problem as Al was maintaining a steady and reasonable pace at the front and that gap would easily have been closed up before racing started. However...ahem!! cough!! it did not work out quite that way :o/.
The slower cars closed up on the tail of the rolling grid at almost twice their speed and caught them at the long right hander on the back straight, which of course meant that the cars leading this mini chase had to slow rather quickly to avoid overtaking the rolling grid. Whilst the first car managed to slow quite effectively, the next car was forced to take slight avoiding action which would also have been fine, if the next car had not been caught completely unaware and had to panic brake. The resultant slide set off a chain reaction that ended with 4 cars scattered across the track!!!
Advive ....... Provided that the leading car on the rolling lap limits his speed to approx 80mph everyone should be able to maintain their positions without any great effort. You should expect to drop back out of some of the tighter corners on the rolling lap and then plan to close of steadily on the next straight. You should aim to be approx 3-4 car lengths behind the car in front when racing starts and that means on the approach to the last corner on lap 1. There is no advantage to be gained by being right on the tail of the car in front of you as you will gain more by being able to take a clean line through the last corner at YOUR pace without having to make adjustments for the driver in front making a misjudgement.
No reports were submitted for this incident but in view of the fact that the incident was on Lap 1 and sent 4 cars into a spin, I think I have to award a penalty. see below
Later in the race Paul is about to be lapped by his Mark and commits the ultimate sin by actually hitting his team mate.
No report has been posted about this ( hardly surprising as they are ( maybe still are? ) team mates but I think it is worth commenting on in general terms.
Lapping is one of the times that contact often occurs and usually it is because the slower car is "trying to be helpful". Whilst any driver leading a race or involved in a close dice with another car appreciates a backmarkers efforts not to get in the way there are some guidelines that can make everyone's race a little less stressful.
If you find yourself about to be lapped...
Hopefully you have Pribluda running and can see that the faster cars are going to catch you soon. In which case you will be watching your mirrors as the fire breathing aliens come screaming up behind you. If you don't use Pribluda ( it is not comulsory) then you will have to be very aware of what is happening behind you by careful use of your mirrors.
IF, and only IF, you can move smoothly and obviously off the racing line before those cars about to lap you get too close then move over and drop your speed enough that they will have gone past you before you reach the next corner. This obviously works best if we are on a long straight.
If you are caught unawares by the approach of cars about to lap you DO NOT PANIC and swerve across the road in a last ditch attempt to leap out of the way. Far better to stay on the racing line and maintain a predicatble and controlled course so that the faster car can make a simple overtaking move. The only thing you need to do is to ease off slightly to allow the pass to happen. This does not mean jumping on the brakes, just a 20% lift on the gas that allows everything to happen before the next corner.
If you find yourself about to enter a corner when you are caught and cannot get out of the way, once again do not panic and try and do something sudden. Far better to take that corner as normal and allow the pass to take place on the next straight section.
Drivers that are about to lap a backmarker do not want to guess play a guessing game about which side they should pass and appreciate positive positioning of the car they are about to pass. It is also important for the faster driver to exercise a little patience and not expect the backmarker to throw themselves into the scenery. Any contact is bad news and will usually end someone's race, so waiting whilst the slower car gets around that corner without spinning in front of you is probably a good idea :o) after all he is probably going as fast as he can and is not deliberatly holding you up.!!
This week's lecture is now over. :o)
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Later in the race Paul is about to be lapped by his Mark and commits the ultimate sin by actually hitting his team mate.
No report has been posted about this ( hardly surprising as they are ( maybe still are? ) team mates but I think it is worth commenting on in general terms.
Lapping is one of the times that contact often occurs and usually it is because the slower car is "trying to be helpful". Whilst any driver leading a race or involved in a close dice with another car appreciates a backmarkers efforts not to get in the way there are some guidelines that can make everyone's race a little less stressful.
If you find yourself about to be lapped...
Hopefully you have Pribluda running and can see that the faster cars are going to catch you soon. In which case you will be watching your mirrors as the fire breathing aliens come screaming up behind you. If you don't use Pribluda ( it is not comulsory) then you will have to be very aware of what is happening behind you by careful use of your mirrors.
IF, and only IF, you can move smoothly and obviously off the racing line before those cars about to lap you get too close then move over and drop your speed enough that they will have gone past you before you reach the next corner. This obviously works best if we are on a long straight.
If you are caught unawares by the approach of cars about to lap you DO NOT PANIC and swerve across the road in a last ditch attempt to leap out of the way. Far better to stay on the racing line and maintain a predicatble and controlled course so that the faster car can make a simple overtaking move. The only thing you need to do is to ease off slightly to allow the pass to happen. This does not mean jumping on the brakes, just a 20% lift on the gas that allows everything to happen before the next corner.
If you find yourself about to enter a corner when you are caught and cannot get out of the way, once again do not panic and try and do something sudden. Far better to take that corner as normal and allow the pass to take place on the next straight section.
From the faster drivers point of view, the last thing he wants is a guessing game about which side to pass the car in front!! Also there is an obligation on the faster car to make the pass safely and if that means being just a little patient and giving the backmarker the chance to negotiate the corner before moving over then give him that time.
Contact is likely to end in tears for both parties and may even end both drivers races, so give each other every chance to continue.
Lecture over for this week. :o)
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Lap 5: Dave Ranier runs slightly wide and Sky attempts to make a pass on the inside.Sky is unable to hold his car to the inside half of the track and hits Dave sending him into a spin.
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Al Heller has admitted that he made a second shift/R which unfortunately is not allowed under the rules and is thefore disqualified.
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Paul misjudges the speed of the cars in front on the rolling lap and rear ends Nigel causing achain reaction that involes 4 cars.
rear end shunt 1 place + lap 1 incident so 1 extra place lost