Congrats Tim and Axel! And you too Sam! And congrats to all. This is a real test of patience.
I had expected this might be a spec race. I was surprised when Clive was the only other Porsche I saw. For 0 tokens, the Mk. 1 would have been more appealing. The Porsche is by far the best bargain, like the Mk.4 at LeMans. I had thought about taking the Mk. 1. But I thought Tim might beat me if he chose a Porsche. It appears my knowledge of the track is still much greater than his.
I only mentioned resets prerace because I think they're very important in learning this track. I'm impressed that Sam didn't need one. I don't think many have good knowledge of this track. I've probably done hundreds of resets. It's only recently that they've become rare for me.
I planned my season shortly after the schedule was posted. I've chosen what I thought would give me the most points over the entire season. I could have taken the Mk. 1 for this race but I decided I wanted to set a record that might last longer than myself.
I think my qualifying lap was clean. I can't remember hitting anything. That would be my 2nd clean lap. I did one in the Mk. 1 too. I'm getting close in all the cars now but I still seem to bump at least one or two guard rails or walls.
I was a little cautious. I was pleased to break 34:30. That seems to be a time I can reliably reproduce with the Porsche now. I start having difficulties when I go for 34:10s. I'm still not sure how I did a 34:04. It would have been a clean lap too, except I turned in too soon once, and clipped an inside wall.
The race didn't go as well. I hit a concrete post once. I locked a front wheel two or three times. One of those resulted in a heavy hit on a guard rail but I did keep the car pointed in right direction throughout the race.
Sam, you probably don't need 1000 laps. 200 would probably get you and Tim close to my times, maybe even better. When I first started driving GPL, I did two laps every Sunday morning for 6 months. That would be 50 laps. At that point I was getting a general idea of what I needed to be doing. I'd still forget where I was 2 or 3 times a lap. Now I'd guess I have 200-300 laps here. I'm thinking I might know the track better than Vaccarella now, but I do still forget where I am on occasion. I mistook one turn for another turn during the race.
You're getting there Tim. I was stuck in the low 37s for a long time, the low 36s for a long time after that and about 35 flat in the 910 and 330 for a long time. Lots of practice and a great interest in the prototypes are what's got me to this point.
That sucks for Clive. He finally chose a car well suited to the track but couldn't race. I hope you can solve your problems.
That was an interesting choice of cars Axel. I thought you might take the easy way out like me and choose the Porsche. I also would have thought you might choose the Mk. 1 or Mirage. But I understand. I was tempted by the 330 and Lola. I intend to start working on the 2F at Targa. I'm curious what might be the 2nd fastest car for me, the T70 or the 2F?
Here's a few hints. The red and white warning signs usually represent something to me. I use them as a marker to begin turning, lift off the throttle, brake, or downshift. I think there only 2 or 3 I pass at full throttle. You can do donuts on the asphalt to the right of the pits to get some heat in your tires. 5 or 6 donuts and then locking your wheels before leaving pit road seem to be good for 10 seconds on an opening lap. For a while I had my first pit stall at Campofelice. That made it easy to set the highest gear for all the cars. It also helped to learn sector 4 well too. I should do that again. That will allow me to start a lap with warm tires.
The cars. The 910 and Mk.1 are easiest. Initially, I tried to learn Nurburgring in the 67 312 and Targa in the 330. I spared myself a lot of grief by later using the Porsche to learn those tracks. The big block Fords are easy in a certain way. They don't require many gearshifts. The key for me seems to be remaining patient and holding the rpms just below the red line near the end of most short straights. The 2F, I need more practice. The 2D, a nightmare, I can't get it to turn well. I spin a lot or clip something from running a little wide. The Lola and 330 are fun but difficult. Their good acceleration means they'll easily get you into trouble. The Mirage is similar but less extreme.
I hope someday I can get Helmut Marko's 3 liter Alfa on this track. The Porsche 908/03 would be a lot of fun too. The 512S and 917 would be interesting, in a "oh my god! I'm gonna die!" kind of way.
A 70 or 71GT mod would cover just about all the cars I'd like to see in GPL.
My apologies for the long post.
Thanks guys. I appreciate you letting me race with you.