UKGTL Season 7 - Portland - Feb 26

[Phil Gilliland]

Not sure what happened there Phil. I thought you left room on the outside but then closed the door on me, sorry if I was to blame.

No problem mate, I was actually trying to race you for position but the thing was sliding all over the place.

Not so sure about back markers, I nearly ended my race a few times with people
not moving out of the way, out braking me at the end of the pit straight (not hard to do )
having to take evasive action

I nearly took you out twice. Sorry about that, I was trying to let you past but that M1A is so fast in a straight line I was having difficulty judging where best to place myself to be least of a hindrance.

[Tibernius]

At least I was top Cobra Hats off to you Tibs for giving it a go, hope you had as much fun as I did before you left, flaming and backwards through the pearly gates I hope

I was enjoying it (despite having to spend 1:20 in the pits having the suspension replaced), when my PC froze. Completely. Pressing Esc didn't work, niether did Alt+F4. I had to switch it off at the PSU.

[phspok]

I could have made a pass attempt at least once, sometimes a couple of times on each lap
but I was desperately trying not to hit you, as the car speeds/braking zones/turn in/ corner/
exit, were vastly different. I got two cut track warnings throwing it onto the grass to avoid
contact, and spun once to avoid ramming you into the 1st chicane, after that I decide
it was going to be a lonnnggg race, and I would have a go only if it was risk free.
Outdragged up the straight after us all getting tangled in traffic, so that was fine
Actually one of the high points of my race was a drag race out of the last turn with at least
3 lappers, one slewing from side to side, the others trying to avoid him, and me going 3 abreast
with Prib and two more I think, that was a "Oh nooo, please don't let them outbrake me again!!!"
my head tortoised into my neck expecting a thump which didn't happen, top marks guys
for that one  

[Samb]

Another frustrating race. The first 10 laps or so were good fun, running in 12th place battling a few DeTomasos in front. Then my anti-virus decides to pop-up and minimise GTL at the last corner to tell me it's updating itself. I was lucky not to hit anyone but I smashed into the barrier and the car never really felt the same after that. Then at the end of the straight, the anti-virus then minimises GTL again, to tell me it's finished updating! Bloody thing cost me half a minute, a damaged car and a few places.

I regained 12th place by about half race distance when I came into the pitlane. The pitstop took over 2 minutes with the mechanics fixing whatever was wrong with the car. Another lap lost and I found myself down in 16th. The rest of the race, thankfully, was more straight forward and rather enjoyable. Maybe Hockenheim will provide a better luck next week.

[Phil Gilliland]

Anybody else having problems with replays? All of them after the last Goodwood race at the end of Jan CTD. Fresh install on a different system = same result, don't get as far as loading the track.

[Wiltshire Tony]

Easy mistake to make but are you sure your not trying to load the sub-folder that the replay is stored in?
Actualy check your replay folder for the file. Don't laugh, I've done it and had and as a result had exactly what you describe happen.

[Minton]

Yeah Matt that was cool, i had to go round the out side of someone in tha last corner which give you a nice run...illl have to watch the replay.

[pribeiro]

"FUN"tastic race.
A big thank you to the car and track choice. Just awesome. 

Congrats to your win and mad pace Madd. 
Dan managed to put a great pace on GT40 also.
SBG, what happened? You were in front aswell (good Cobra driving there).
The front 914 runners, hats off to you.
And the 2600 Capri guys were fantastic too.
Well done to all. Great driving guys.

As usual, i didn't practice a single lap before the event. 
Therefore, i wasn't surprised with my 15th place on grid.
The start was very good, i managed to climb 5 positions. 
First half, due to lack of practice, i was in expecting mode...meantime,
a few intereting fights, but the huge one was with Tinman, untill the pit stops.
Before any pit i was in P7, when i pit i forgot to disable the repairs and spent
2 minutes in pits.  fuel added and fresh tyres, returned to track on P12.
(1st stint 35 laps, 2nd stint 25 laps) so, less laps to the new tyres allowed me
to push harder that i could unlaped myself to Phil. Phil was a true gentleman,
he realized that i was a bit faster by then and let me overtook him, cheers mate. 
On the last laps Tinman was there one more time to light my night and we had
another intense and fair fight untill the end. 
A thank you also to Matt, for understanding our own battle allowing us to carry on.

I must say again, thanks for the new tracks and car combo, really awesome.

Cheers.

[Phil Gilliland]

Easy mistake to make but are you sure your not trying to load the sub-folder that the replay is stored in?

Cheers Tony, that's exactly what I was doing. 

[TinMan]

On the last laps Tinman was there one more time to light my night and we had
another intense and fair fight untill the end. 

I really enjoyed that. I wasn't going to do anything silly because in our last 2 races together (one GTL and one P&G) I've been behind you and seen you get shockingly knocked about by drivers who should know better.

Thanks for a great fair race.

Cheers

TC

[BillThomas]

.Bill a little bit too polite, you dont need to drive on the grass to let me through old chap

Cheers

Probably not intentional.  I couldn't always maintain the balance speed right to keep lift off oversteer through the series of corners - went on to the grass instead of turning.  Later on with no one behind me and a lap down I just got careless.

Apologies to any 914 drivers; it is extremely difficult on that track to find a suitable place to let you by, as the long straight made it difficult to let you by on the last part of the lap, without either slowing down the straight or roaring by again.

Not a happy night.

Bill

[Ade]

Good race that happy with the class win not so happy with dyno getting the lap record for class with my setup well done mate.


                                              Cheers Ade

[spanner]

The race finally felt like the season started. Went with the 914 as it was quite stable through the corners but it still lifts the inside wheel around some of the corners making the FFB dropping to almost nothing. A good start off the line but felt like i was being held up around the corners and then losing it down the straights so made a split second dive inside Geoffers who was taking a wider line, sorry about that. Tried a fight back from the rear and seemed to end with large gaps each side of me but then seemed to get confused getting tangled up with people lapping, people being lapped, people who were a lap behind but were quicker than me etc! Just tried to follow Phil and then Sam who somehow came from nowhere.

And we have a proper track next week as well

[Legzy]

Well I finally got round to watching the replay & it confirmed what I feared.  That was quite possibly my worst drive to date.

I was intending to take the M1a but wimped out as I feared I'd spin out too often, so did a last minute swap to the far slower (1:19 - 1:23), less practiced Panty... thinking it was the smarter choice for me for an endurance.

Qualified in 19th but figured I'd speed up with practice as the race went on. My 1st 5mins were good as I managed to climb upto 12th spot briefly after about 4 laps. Then I had my 1st spin. I'm ashamed to say I span 7 more times in the following twenty minutes with some shocking driving on my part. I don't know what on earth I was doing  Anyhow that period saw me rooted dead last in 19th or 20th.

I managed to buck my ideas up for the following 50 mins & managed to work my way up to 14th were I pretty much stayed till the end with some far more average driving on my part (bar a couple of late spin son the last couple of laps ).

In conclusion, I had a couple of decent laps with Tony/Bill to enjoy & that was about it. One to forget for me, which is a shame because I thought the cars/track choice was very good (i.e. there was no obvious car to choose). If I'd put my normal level of practice into this race (or stuck with the M1a) I'm sure I'd have enjoyed it more. I hope I have a good drive at Hockenheim, I need one.

p.s. sorry to everyone I got in the way of  & a thanks to Tony for waiting that time 

[Steve Holmes]

Unofficial Lapchart