SimRacing.org.uk

UKGPL Season 17 - Amateurs Trophy - Race 1 - 65 mod - Spa-Francorchamps

Welcome to our existing drivers, our new drivers and to those brave souls stepping up from the Novices Division.  Last years champion Tim will be defending his hard earned crown against all comers and looks to be facing some stiff competition from an eager full field.  Sadly it appears that the downtrodden Cooper team will not be mounting a challenge this season after winning hearts and minds with such a good showing in season 16. How the mighty fall.

If you do see a Cooper on your travels wish it well and think of the fun you could be having trying to extract a competitive lap from the once mighty underdog.
This time around we have upped the ante and the Amateurs will race at Pro level with no resets allowed.
Chassis allocations are below- the same chassis will be used for all races this season, unless there is an adjustment agreed by the moderator.  Good luck!

Use caution at the start, as the field can bunch more than expected before L'Eau Rouge and the middle and back of the grid need to take extra care not to run into cars ahead of them.

Please use the updated 65 mod for this race.

The 65 mod update has surprised us as it was a low-key announcement, and it isn't available on the 'Legends of 65' home site, where the 65 mod is hosted.  However, the effort put into it certainly merits a season's testing, without which feedback and any further development would be made difficult.

The updated layout features are very welcome, with the ability to record best lap times at addon tracks and to have 65 specific tracks. The new collision boxes are also a great improvement.  Though the new slipstream code will need extensive testing, the preliminary race seemed to show that it would be a definite improvement in racing terms, without the controversy over its extent, as with the 66 mod.

It seems a pity that the opportunity wasn't taken for more extensive changes to the 65 mod, especially as this means that we'll be racing cars that have compensation for the absence of slipstream built into the top speed, yet with slipstream present.  Though it might be a consideration that an update with corrected and slower speeds would then not be useful for rank, as the cars would be slower, rank should always take second place to realism, and the ranks could continue with the original mod.  However, an extensive reworking of the 65 mod might have taken resources that aren't available to the community.  While I'm disappointed because I'm not keen on the concept of patches that make the carsets faster without regard to realism, at least it's still possible that we could still have a 65 mod v3 based on the 66 physics and made incompatible by the addition of extra cars to prevent the unrealistic faster 2.02 mod being used by overcompetitive racers.

Thanks to all involved with producing the update.  If the new slipsteam code works as well as it seems it might, perhaps it could help persuade the authors of the 66 mod to rework their code as well!

Please be in IGOR UKGPL chatroom by 8:55 p.m.
(You will need to set up a channel called #ukgpl if you haven't already done so)
IGOR and Race passwords: see above (#post_event_password)

Server ukgpl6
IP address TBC
Race date = 03-03-2009
Time = 21:00
Track = Spa-Francorchamps
Variant = 65F1
Damage Model = PRO
Qually time = 30 minutes.
Race length = 50% Grand Prix (16 laps) NOTE: - the updated 65 mod uses 16 laps for half distance


Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=208&theme=6)

CHASSIS ALLOCATION

FERRARI NickyIckx, Phil Thornton, Will Tway (reserve), Burtoner*, Asbjeurn*
LOTUS  StormCloud, Dave Randall, Bartosz, Bernie*, Steve Bird*, Geoff65*
BRM  NatanVix, Samb, Ginsters, Steve Bucket*, Ian*
BT11  CliveLoynes, John Roberts, Ken, Jethro, Fulvio
HONDA  EvilClive, Tim, Iestyn (reserve)
COOPER Lorenzo, if he joins, otherwise any visiting speed merchant
BT7 Hristo

*drivers also assigned a Novices chassis

65 Mod

These were the 65 drivers
BT7 Bonnier, Baghetti, Hulme (Bonnier drove for Walker)
BT11 Brabham Gurney Gardner Anderson Siffert (Siffert drove for Walker, Gardner and Anderson were privateers)
Lotus Clark Spence Rodriguez Mitter Russo Solana (and Maggs Hailwood Attwood Amon and Ireland for Parnell)
Ferrari Surtees Bandini Rodriguez Vaccarella Bondurant Scarfiotti
Honda Ginther Bucknum
Cooper McLaren Rindt
BRM Hill Stewart

The 1965 season was the last to use the controversial 1500cc formula which had begun after 1960, to the initial advantage of Ferrari.  The 1965 cars are smaller than the 1967 cars and have less torque and hence more grip.  It was claimed that they 'cornered on rails', however this allowed the Grand Prix series to retain the use of circuits which were otherwise to prove extremely dangerous.

The 1965 cars are ideal for those new to GPL as they allow the tracks to be learnt in light reliable cars, however these are also full Formula One cars, and quite fast....  Jim Clark won the 1965 Belgian Grand Prix in a Lotus.  Graham Hill took pole in his BRM P261 with a time of 3'45.4 .  The 1965 distance was 32 laps.

David Wright's 'Legends' site http://fp.gplegends.plus.com/ has the download of the 2.0.1 version (under 'details') as well as being an exceptional guide to both 1965 and 1967, for those interested in Formula One history.  The 2.02 update is available here: http://www.jamesonline.net/ukgpl/1965mod_PATCH_v2.0.2_Setup.zip

Advertisment: A BT7 looking for slipstream in qualifying, would pay eternal gratitude.

She has instructed me to create a hole in the air. ;)

I want cash up front. :P

I recon CLive and I can run 2 abreast for much of the lap and then crash out of your way at the hairpin  :thumbup1:  ;D

In a Honda I should think that a hole in the ozone layer is most likely.

Due to the industrial grade barbecue that usually appears among the exhaust pipes.

How else does he keep the sushi warm  ;D

Looking forwad to this, just hope I have some time to practice now :)

Do I need to install anything new for this season, I mean on top of last one? All this talk of patches and test races has left me confused, don't worry its my normal and happiest state.

We're going to test the new 2.02 65 mod version this season.  The discussion is here: https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5890.0 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5890.0), reply #8 for the download as a .zip.  If you've got the patch already, that's it, there's nothing else.

Ta, I can't keep up with all these new goodies but I'm now ready to rumble.

Just done a outlap of Spa and GPL froze as I accidently passed through pit area at end of it, is that normal?

Nope, either you need to revert to earlier drivers, or to use OpenGL, or to use the new rastas which are on RSC- but RSC has disappeared.  We might be able to host them ourselves, if you need them.

....... or stop using Pribluda if that fails.

Have you been trialling the 60FPS patch?
Mine did that the first AI race I tried after changing back to 36FPS mode  :)
Just reload and go again and all should work again - did for me  :euro:

The 60fps patch 'shouldn't' do this - if FMG's suggestion works let me know and I will mention the problem to the developers...

Otherwise you might have my old rasterizer problem re pit freezes. To build on Jack's advice there are 4 choices;
1) Use new rasterizers and lose Pribluda
2) Use old graphics drivers - this won't work on newer graphics cards (eg mine)
3) Use OpenGL (this is the option I took)
4) Use OpenGL + the new rasterizer which works with Prib (tried it and kept getting freezes so went back to 3)

There is a patch for Prib so you can use it with the new rasterizers.

http://gplmz.bcsims.com/index.php?showtopic=3731&st=0

It's only for OpenGL at the moment

Actually on re-reading that it sounds more like you have very recent Nvidea drivers - my Games rig has the same fault. The only way around it that I found short of changing rasteriser was to purposely drive into the pitline at the end of my first lap.
The screen freeze is caused the first time the pitboard man appears in your stall - when the screen freezes just stop and then press escape and enter to leave the car.
You can then go back out and from that point on you shouldn't have anymore freezes, even if you do clip the pitlane and trigger the stall dude  :thumbup1:

Or just change to openGL or the new D3D rasta if you want to avoid that kerfuffel  ;D

I haven't installed that patch so no link there.

OpenGL just causes a blank screen for me, so thats out. Anyone got a link to those rastas?

Are you part Cornish FMJ? That kind of "making do" or "getting by" is one of our greatest Methodist traditons, that method appeals to me :)

RSC is still down SG, so I have uploaded the rasterizers to the link below.....

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AZJ0UALF

Cheers
Geoff.


ps: I have some Cornish ancestors in my mongrel bloodlines...........lol

Here (http://www.trader.com.sb/Images/Solo_images/rastas.jpg)

Sorry. I'll get my coat.

P.S. Geoff posted them already. :)

Close, My Dad's family hail from Plymouth (plympton to be precise) so I'm nearly there  :yes:
I'm a massive fan of bodges personally, One of my old PC's used to have the chip set fan attached using Bluetack as I'd aquired a fan too large to screw down  ;D Best part was the fact it was near silent and kept things about 10 degrees colder than the old one  :angel:
My HiFi speakers are too big and heavy for conventional mounts so they're on top of some tall wooden cd stands, which in turn are on top of desks as I couldn't be arsed putting up shelfs which are big enough to take them, again I have less vibration/resonance than wall mounts would offer doing it this way....
It's probably best I don't go into the work arounds I've made on my cars over the years.... The Nissan currently has the Fuel flap held closed by a Pen through the hole as the cable operated release has broken again, and zip ties have featured heavily in mid journey running repairs in the Westfield (just to give you light tasters)  ;)

UKGPL.6 - IP address for tonight 80.5.200.198

The problem with screen freeze or crash when crossing the pit lane at Spa is not new.
Clive Loynes ( I think) suffered with this problem and eventually solved it ..I am sure there must be an old topic on the forum about it somewhere...maybe it was on the old Yahoo forum.

From memory, it will only happen on the first lap past the pits. So as long as you steer clear of the edge of the pitlane on lap 1 you should be ok for the rest of the race.

If Clive shows up tonight , it might be worth asking him exactly what he did.

I have never had a freeze or disco, but I have seen a flicker of the graphics as I pass the very end of the pitlane occasionally.

That's pretty much want I said above Clive  :P
Hence the comment about driving into the pits on the first lap (I should have stated first in qualifying really  :-[ ) and it would be fine from there on  :angel:

 ??? ??? :o :o :o

16 Laps ?????????????????ß


thats nearly 1 hour of racing ................

cant the race lenght set to whatever anymore due to the new patch ?

 :D

You can set the race length - normally 10 laps but 50% race distance is 16. Novices have 10 laps, bit easier for us  ;)

After managing to find a second in qualy and set a new PB without the aid of a draft, I took the start, made it into 2nd, 3rd after I lifted off for the kink after Eau Rouge, then got taken out by a very ambitious Nicky Ickx and it knocked me onto 3 wheels - thankfully the field missed me so I didn't inadvertantly wreck anyone elses race. Not very happy as I would have had a real good shot at a great result if I'd finished. I was not expecting him to attempt such an ambitious overtaking "pass" on the first lap, first 30 seconds of the lap, especially after everybody (and it practically was everybody) had said "take it easy" - clearly that means everyone except Nicky. P***ed off at the moment, so gonna go have a stiff drink to calm my qualy-heightened nerves. I was taking it easy at the start, as I knew it'd be a frantic 1st lap or 2.

Despite some close quarters syncronised driving, the Waza mobile's didn't seem to have the qualifying pace.
Clive pipped my by something like .1 of a second I think giving us 6th and 7th.

Looked good for battling the pack during the race otherwise....

Then while everyone was backing off for Les Combes Clive managed to put a rear wheel on the grass under braking and span into me - I think this must have damaged my engine as about 30 seconds later entering the Masta straight it started smoking and I lost power* :(
This was despite my not having over revved her and actually being at about 10k RPM so I'm guessing it was some sort of damage rather than stress  :'(
Limped round the remainder of lap 1 to ensure I wasn't last (  ;) ) and then retired.
Hope next race will go better  :hammer:

At least on the plus side John didn't have to worry about me too much  ;)


* I've just done 2 whole laps of Spa (realistic damage) foot to the floor at 13,500rpm (limiter ;D) without blowing up, so I guess this means clive is indeed the culprit  :hammer:
Anyway, nothing you could do to avoid it so no hard feelings mate - SHE won't be pleased though  :scared:

A fun race while it lasted. I qualified a lowly 13th but by managing to avoid the first lap calamities, I found myself into 5th by the end of the first lap. Trying to catch the others infront, I hit the hay bales on lap 3 just before Malmedy but no harm done except a loss of speed. Then me and Fulvio had a battle for 5th which raged for a couple laps. We were then side by side on the way into the Masta Kink and I foolishly went for the outside line rather than drop back behind Fulvio. I hit the chicken wire, lost a couple places but the tank-like BRM was still going strong despite the thrashing I was giving it.

I then saw a leading 4 battle for the lead up in the distance but alas, I couldn't catch them. Later on it appeared that Clive and Natan had a tangle with their cars so I found myself in 3rd, enjoying a battle with Bartosz. On lap 10, still running in 3rd but unable the catch the leading pair of John and Fulvio, my left front wheel clipped the grass through Eau Rouge and I lost the back end, slammed into the barrier, rear wheel missing, and rejoined onto the racing line with Geoff, Bartosz and Storm having to take evasive action. Geoff and Storm emerged unscathed but Bartosz wasn't so lucky and spun into the scenery. Sorry if I ruined your race.

So, an eventful first outing. I guess my consistency needs to improve for finishes. Was fun battling with you all. Look forward to the next one  ;D.

Plymouth! U dirty northern barsteward ;)

That was a real opener that.

Pleased with pb in quali and amazed at pace up front :o My new found confidence didn't last long as the new slip stream stuff caught me out everywhere. Just terrified by how quickly some gained on me and apologise if I did anything unexpected as it all happened to fast for me. I know I turned in on Evil when I thought he would be way back, sorry :'( Also surprised by some lines through pit lane and pits, isn't that naughty? Didn't look quicker anyways  :-*

Spent rest of race just rebuilding my ego and pretty happy to return to somewhere near a good pace and respectable finish. I hope to feel less frightened in next race  :wheelchair: Congrats to all finishers.

Is there any way to tell if the new patch has been applied correctly? It certainly didn't feel like anything different to me and others, especially on the first lap breezed past with ease.

Anyway. Got in from playing in the snow and settled down at 8.55pm to have a quick trawl round my regular internet stops. Fortunately, simracing is on the list as I completely forgot about this and jumped on the server without having turned a lap since, well, can't remember.

Didn't do anything exciting in the race really but briefly ascended to 3rd in the last two laps. Geoff was fighting back and we were two abreast and both nicely on our own halves of the track when he warped right across me and I was in the hay bales. A bit annoying after such a long race but a quick trip through the replay showed it was just a no-fault lag crash, so there we go.

I would have settled for finishing ahead of Tim before the race, so that'll do (... clutching at straws a little here)

A bit annoyed myself that it ended that way Storm, I was enjoying that battle, to the hilt, and i was amazed that you didn't cover the corner on the last lap as I'd already passed you there once before. Still, I'm never one to look a gift horse in the mouth...and last lap, podium position on the line....well ya gotta have a go, don't ya?

Average qually, was happy with my time though and spent the last 10 or so minutes relaxing whilst the pit crew prepared the car... ;D Been finding the Lotus a lot more difficult to get off the line than the Honda last year, so most of the row behind went past off the start. Took it easy for the first lap, just keeping tabs with the gaggle in front of me, and waited patiently til the field strung out a bit to have some racing room. Once the field strung out a bit I set about picking off cars in front one by one....and passing a few sad wrecks by the roadside. At one stage, chasing my Clark-Hill team mate Bartosz, well he got my heart rate up thru la Carriere when he got a bit squirelly on the exit and I nearly had to take avoiding action.

Was enjoying chasing Sam down, til he looped the green Sherman tank in l'Eau Rouge, very thankful I was thru before the barrier turned him back onto the track, and collected Bartosz :( I was hoping Bartosz was gonna keep Stormy off my back for a while, and give me a chance to skip away a bit... ;) Never mind, all worked out in the end. Commiserations to all the pilots of the smoking wrecks, and especially  my other Clark-Hill brethren, Jethro....an unlucky first corner tricycle.....Tim also out with a damaged motor on lap 1.
All in all, ecstatic with bottom step of the podium and really happy with my overall drive. Made some very tidy passes that stuck, and only 1 minor mistake that cost me a couple of tenths. I hope I can keep this up for the rest of the season.

Big thank you to JR for squaring away some bad habits from my driving and helping me get a comfortable gearbox setup that worked a treat. And hearty congratulations to Fulvio and JR, for occupying the upper two steps. Great job guys. Some very useful points in the Team Champs for Clark-Hill Racing to boot. A special mention for Doni Yourth, his first race with UKGPL and the sole Cooper punter in the field. Brought it home in 8th place amid stiff opposition from Steve B1rd, Dave, Phil and Dave Randall. Good job Doni, hope you enjoyed yourself. And the question remains.....who kidnapped Hristo??
Geoff.

Oh I don't know, pulling back the 3 odd seconds I'd labouriously eeked out....in 3 laps I might add, was pretty spectacular from where I was sitting. I managed to respond to your attack by setting my most consistent laps of the race in the block from lap 12-16. You still managed to haul me back in. Great drive Storm, it's crappy that someone is always on the losing end of lag. You are gonna be hard to beat this season.... ;)

 :cursing: Why I aughta!

 ;D

 :(
Race Length: 50% Grand Prix
The PRO damage model will be used.


My fault ,
I even  didn’t notice there was the idea  to change anything on amateur race for season 17 .

Well , as  I changed over to ukgpl last year just because to get free from  races without possibility off shif-R and of races with off about 1 hour race length…
I have to change again..

Did run 2 full seasons under pro/no shift-R  rules  and to me it turned out as a fun killer:
imo
< longer race distance don’t create more thrilling races
< no shift-R at all only highers up level of being frustrated ,when it comes to  lag/warp or slightly mistake on its own or by other driver…


as I really enjoyed you folks here it would be sad to leave .
If there is a place free at Novices trophy , would it be possible  to take part if I use slowest car there is ?

Regards
Nickyickx
 :)

I'm quite happy with my results. Before the race I was hoping to finish in top 10, so 5 place is excellent for me :)


I have enjoyed that to.


Thats racing, things like that happends. For me it's just race accident.

I'm quite angry on myself, because after my trip into Belgium's fields, I lost my concentration and made a few mistakes witch cost me a lot of time.



That was scary moment;)


I believe that He went to wist his family, in the galaxy far far away ;)

PS: I really like racing with PRO rules. That made racing more real 8)

Please, Nicky, don't be ridicilous. First of all we had a month of discussion about next season and you never said anything, why do you do after the season has started?

I've seen endless times how non-pro races turn out to be - they're a massacre and a source of great frustration. Just as a prime example I'd mention the free 65s GBGPL race at Mospot a few weeks ago. When people know they can get away with being reckless because whatever they do they can always continue that leads to nothing good. One may ruin someone else's race and continue like it's nothing as it ALWAYS happens in intermediate races, especially in leagues lacking solid rules. This is not the case in UKGPL, because in the years of racing I've had pro damage was always for the better and incidents were taken to a minimum. When they happen the moderators take very good care to analyze the accidents and hand over penalties.

As for the length of races, it's exactly longer distance that makes for a more serious league and presents bigger challenge for everyone and their personal improvement. When the races are short it turns to a hotlappers fest. You never get a feel for accomplishment when short races end. You have no chance to make up for any mistakes you do. Slower drivers have much lower chance to win in short races because reliability is less of an issue.

I'll be honest with you and say you've been involved in accidents very often and most of the time it turns out to be your fault. At the same time I'll say you seemed to have seen through your mistakes and acknowledged them which has led me to think you'd learn with time. But after this race I'm not sure. Why don't you be honest and say you're quitting so you wouldn't take the blame for the T1 incident? Anything else just looks like crybaby stuff to me. Instead of getting better you prefer to quit but retain your approach to gpl online racing which obviously you see as the correct one. I hope you won't quit because you're fast and we have very good battles in almost each race, but when you talk such nonsense it puzzles me to what you really want.

-=Hristo=-

This promises to be a great series, just hope that I can stand the strain!  Slipstreaming has certainly added a new dimension to 65s.

Managed a 3:36 in qually which gave me third on the grid.  Wondered why nobody appeared in font of me and was then struck with the shear horror of the fact that we were starting three abreast.  Eeeek!

I bogged it down whilst trying to preserve the engine for a long race and so lost a place or two but I think that we made it through L’Eau Rouge.  I had a Honda in each pocket as we climbed the hill to Les Combes.  Someone hit the barrier there, probably Jethro as I didn’t encounter him in the leading group.

Natan was first to blink.  He did a spot of impromptu hedge trimming at Malmedy which put me third.

I had Nicky in front and John Roberts just in front of him with a fast recovering Natan just behind me.  On lap two I was making life difficult for Nicky and as we exited Masta he decided to run down the middle of the track.  I went down the right hand side although I had already established that his Ferrari was quicker than my BT11 after the slipstream effect had dissipated.  As it happens, he squeezed me over so far that one of my wiggles, that resulted from fighting my beast off the grass, sent Nicky into the hedge.

I closed on John  over the next lap and made a nuisance of myself at Blanchimond on lap three.  It actually opened up an opportunity to go for the inside at the second left but I held back, not sure if John knew where I was.  It’s difficult to keep track of everyone when your own car is taking all of your attention just to stay on the grey bit.

As it happens, John left room for a little’n so that was perhaps a chance lost.

Gave him some more grief at Les Combes on lap four and again at Malmedy before drafting past on the way to Masta.  John probably lifted to give me Masta but then we went through Stavelot side-by-side.  I held on to the lead as far as La Carriere, where it all turned to rat’s.  We had Natan for company by now as well.

I think that we had been side-by-side through the left-right before and at La Carriere I stayed on the inside.  John pulled a switch on me and crossed over to my inside.  I had gone in to the corner expecting to have to keep it tight and was surprised to make contact with John on my right.  John had put a wheel on the grass in his efforts to avoid me and the subsequent wobble meant that he gave me a tap that sent me off down the grass.  100% racing incident in my book, with no blame on either side apart from my not knowing where the hell he was.

I was recovering from this incident when I caught up with Dave Randall near La Carriere.  He had a grassy moment which induced a lurid slide on my part and resulted in another trip down the grass but I don’t think that we actually touched.

That put me bog last of those still running.  I caught and passed Phil at about lap nine.

In front of me I now had what looked like a swarm of bees, consisting of  Steve, Doni, Mr Bucket and Dave Randall.  I managed to pass Steve at Stavelot but the next lap saw the end of my efforts. 

As we approached Masta with Dave Randall in front of Mr Bucket and me behind them, Dave’s Lotus disappeared for a good 100metres just at the point where you turn in.  I think that this spooked Mr Bucket as he slowed and stayed left.  I also slowed, not knowing what was going to happen next.  We made it through Masta with Mr Bucket just to the left of me and ahead by about a metre.

As I moved to slot in behind him Phil arrived like a bright red exocet  to my left.  This relieved me of one wheel and fired me into a building on the other side of the track, where two more parted company.  (Didn’t see you coming Phil.  You were about two red pixels when I started Masta.)  Thankfully Phil was able to continue.

I think that the format is great, with long enough races to make engine reliability an issue.  Is the mod team working on a Radar Patch so that I can keep track of where everyone is?

Well the racing was great fun , swapping places all the time .

I was hoping that you wouldn't see the old switch-a-roo trick coming and you didn't ... perhaps a bit too well!

I agree that the incident was just one of those racing things and it's pity that you lost places because of it .

john

Grats to our podium finishers!  Well done, chaps.  Blistering speed and consistency.  And hey!  I can say that I know Geoff Heard, too!  Call me a groupie...I don't care!   ;D

I got pretty good pace out of my Cooper T77 in qualifying and didn't expect too very much more from it.  I didn't secure the benefit of a tow in my two timed laps.  I was relieved to start dead last.  As my first outing with the UKGPL and on PRO damage, I didn't in the least want to get into Eau Rouge with wheels within wheels.  And as Clive noted above, I was a bit shocked to see us all grid-up in a parallel layout.  OMG!  A recipe for disaster, that!

As for my race, it went pretty well.  In an email to my good mate, Glyn Lloyd, a fellow ADC runner who's just started his UKGPL career over in the Novice Div, I rated my performance as only 7 out of 10.  Deduct 2 points for blowing a pass maneuver on Dave Randall going into Blanchimont; I had a great tow from him but simply went in too deep.  Deduct 1 point for throwing rocks up into Phil's face.  (Nothing like getting the Boss PO'd!)  Deduct a final 1 point for general errors like getting too close in the slipstream(I may have the revised, smaller collision box to thank for not getting into a whale of a shunt!), and not taking in the Big Picture(ie, even if I'd passed Dave, he would surely have nailed me back early in the final lap).

I threw up a few chat messages indicating following drivers to pass.  Was that OK?  Didn't want to cause any agro for those lining me up but if it's a distraction, I'll cease.

Enjoyed myself and am looking forward to further events with the UKGPL.

On the question of PRO damage and longer races, I'm all for both.  I've essentially left the ADC GPL events as they allow unlimited shift-R's.  In checking my race results for them in just 2009, I see that I competed in 31 races with fully 13 of them resulting in my retirement.  It's my policy to not reset if eliminated in the race; some have expressed their displeasure of this.  Two dnf's were engine failures.  The balance of 11 retirements...fully 35%...were due to shunts NOT ONE of them down to me.  I'm here with the UKGPL in hopes that the fact that PRO damage is the spec will see a dramatic reduction in that percentage with members driving to a higher standard knowing full well what will happen if they don't.  The longer races also add an element of stamina as opposed to a sprint.  While my first event with 16 laps of Spa was easily the longest GPL event that I've run in a long time, it's by no means crippling since I also run enduro events of substantially greater duration in both GTR2 and GTL.  50 minutes is a piece of cake!   :)

CU next round!

Doni

Hands up to the grid layout  :-[
In my defence I had, so I thought, set it to the 'Paul Jackson' loose layout. Will do a bit more double-checking next time...

LOL  Wondered what the hell that was all about.  I guessed what they meant but didn't have a clue who they might be aimed at.

Chat of any description is frowned on in both practice and the race, with the exception of "PIT IN/OUT" messages.

Chat at the end of qually is a particular problem for any poor soul who might be on a do or die last gasp effort.  No chat should take place until the guy with the flag has given in.

You probably did, for a 67 race.  ;D

I think that the tracks that are part of the original 65 season have their own 65track.ini and that needs changing as well.

That's usually me at most circuits - here I went for a last attempt to see if I could extract any more speed from the car and promptly threw it off the road at Blanchimont. Go figure! ;D

Hristo, why did ya not bother for this race then? I was looking forward to having a battle with you, then going off into the distance. :P

Nicky, why now do you only acknowledge that Amateurs this year is Pro? It's been said for the past month, as Hristo said, that Amateurs would be 50% GP distance, Pro level, I assume to bring it more on a level with Division 1. Division 1 has usually had very little to go in the way of incidents and moderation, because the penalty for mistakes is much higher than Amateurs. If you want Shift-R, Novices in the Cooper or BT7 or another car suited to your abilities would be about right for you I reckon. Or join another league - if you're not bad in the 67 cars I could possibly hook you up at Vader Trophy for a test race or 2 - PM me if you're interested. I really wasn't happy with you taking me out 30 seconds into the race at the time, especially after the time I'd set in practice/qualifying, but I'm now over it, and will watch the replay to see what chaos ensued where. ;)

Clive Loynes:- yeah, that was me at Les Combes strewn all over the circuit, after Nicky attempted something that shouldn't have happened. Sounds like a good race though, will watch the replay when it's up. ;)

Yeah, the new patch creats a new ini for all the original tracks - I'm guessing it also does Clermont and east london as you're required to have them installed before adding the update  :thumbup1:

It caught me out too on 5UKGPL.

It will be fixed for next race.

 :D :D
Sorry folks  , but please keep in mind my english isnt that good .
So maybe I expressed myself  missunderstandable .
Saying my fault should mean that I blame myself for not taking notice of the change over to 50%GP race distance  and pro levele with no shift-R.

And it wasn’t my intention to say something again that or complain on .
All I wanted to say is that for me personally a long distance race is too much for me after a long working day to extract fun out of it.
I never meant there is something bad on pro level or long distance races in general. Its just my personal opinion that I dislike it.based on above reasons.
And off course I respect other opinions on that  , no question .

And yes , my reason for joining this nice UKGPL 65mod league last year was built on the fact that race distance was short and shift –R with following pitstop was part of the rules .

Thx Turkey Machine for that Vader Trophy idea , ( Max West still racing in there ? he was my team manager back those GP3 league days ) ,
But  would prefer to race 65 mod and first off all to stay here in this league. Cause as I said , I really enjoyed the way its managed and people talk to each others .
I like the English humor and its fun to me to try to build up my  English a bit .. and as I said yesterday in chat I am sorry for that you been droped out  .
( My only intentions yesterday where not to been  rear ended  like it happened to me that often during the practise race days before . So may to that fear I went in to that turn too fast   , makes it look ambitious . sorry  ).

Regards
NickyIckx

Very pleased you are staying Nicky!!!  I wouldn't want to loose the star driver of my new team (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&team=151) ;)

(P.S.  I think we need a team web site)

There was only going to be one division of 65s last season, so when we began to have two grids they both had to be int because of the need to be able to run on a combined grid.  

Many drivers prefer pro, because it encourages proper shifting and also more responsibility during the race, even though that means that only a proportion of drivers will finish a full race.   However pro drivers are prepared to pay the price of having retirements, even for incidents caused by an external factor, because it makes for better racing.  It also implies the responsibility not to overreact to any incidents, whatever the cause.

When we moved to pro we said that any drivers who prefered int, or shorter distances, could join the Novices in a slower car, that hasn't changed after the first race.  With Steve and Geoff preferring pro, there is the space to add further Coopers to the Novices.



 

 

I gotta say I was really surprised by how everybody was "on it" from the get go, considering the length of race and how there were no 2nd chances. I went very carefully for about 10 laps :) Not complaining, I was just very surprised how much confidence you had in each other, yourself and me, sorry I let a few of you down. Still learning (after all this time ::)) that there is world from getting an ok pace and racing "balls out".   


You are anti pasties?

Yes, Max is still with us as far as I know! At least he was last season.

Just don't be as ambitious with your overtakes - plan them, think them through, look for drivers weak spots, compare them to your strong spots, and know the person you're racing - a good driver will respect the overtaker, I'll usually let people go, on a short track like Albi or Watkins Glen, it's likely easy to overtake effectively, on a long track like Spa or Nurburgring (still can't believe that's a D1 race, who the F&%$ thought that one up?! :P) it's more difficult because the speeds are so similar.

@Ginsters: who could be anti pasties? A good Cornish Pasty can't be beat! You should know that. ;D

Clive et al...

Yes, sorry, then, for the chats for "<<< GO <<<", etc.  I was so fearful that I'd be steamrollered in my little Cooper that I wanted to make it quite clear to those slipstreaming me that in no way, shape, or form was I going to put up a fight.  I'll be keeping schtum from now on.  Promise.

And I see that Phil has posted a note elsewhere regarding the very same in-race chat occurences.  Message recevied...loud & clear, Boss!   :)

Doni

 :D :D :D :D :D :D


what you think Phil ,could our mechanics paint a cooper fezzy red ?

( yeah , team website would be cool , will try to attrac Norbert for that idea .. )



thx a lot  :D :D

happy NickyIckx

Looks like I owe Ginsters an Apology  :-[
It's only on watching the replay of the start just now I realised I wasn't in fact on the right hand side of the grid as I originally thought  :o
Sorry for cutting across you when the flag dropped - I simply had no idea you were alongside me - I must be getting old is my excuse, that or the BMW is rubbing off on me!  ;D


Edited coz I don't know left from right apparently!

No worries FMJ. Thought that was fair enough but it did rather halt my best ever start, thats not saying much, in GPL  ;D 

Felt an earth tremor tonight at 20:55 ESumT (09:55 GMT). Wasn't sure if it was an earthquake, or HER reacting to the damage bill from Spa......... ::)

I'll be looking to do the moderation for this race tomorrow evening so here is last orders for submitting incident reports.

I've been eagerly waiting for this report for the last 2 nights, what's the holdup? :)

Looking forward to Albi BTW, looks like a fun track. :D

Peer review by the moderators.  We always like to confer with each other to ensure fairness and consistency.  This does take a little time but it is worth it in the end.

I half-wondered. I imagine there were a LOT of incident reports here. :)

Coupled with the fact it's my first one, it is taking perhaps longer than usual.

The Skid forgot to mention that Mike had to get two jars of Asparin and two bottles of Scotch from his local Aldi  ;)  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SW54EFPW (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SW54EFPW)