UKGPL Season 20 (2010-2011) Amateurs Trophy (65) - Castle Combe - Nov 23

[Phil Thornton]

Well, I've well and truly lost my enthusiasm for gpl right now so I've now decided to take a break altogether.  No point in doing something I'm not really enjoying just now.

Nooooooooooooooo  you're my target man this season.  After loosing out to you last season in the Graduates, Amateurs and the big one - the heavies in the Spec series, you've inspired me to get better.  We had some great battles in the heavies but you always had the edge.  I've managed to up my game this season but with you gone I've only got Bernie to dice with so I'll have to focus on catching someone else but Pod, Natan, Fulvio and Al are quite a bit quicker.  Having said that both you and Bernie are ahead of me in the championship table, having qualified higher up I haven't managed to convert that to a bigger haul of points.

I hope you can rekindle your enthusiasm for GPL, perhaps you've overdosed a bit of late.  Doing all the UKGPL races and BREASTS is very time consuming.  I've cut down to one night a week this season (Tuesdays) and I'm finding that I'm really looking forward to the races after a 7 day layoff.  I have a bit more time to prepare and only the 65s and 66s to learn.

[FullMetalGasket]

can someone point me in the direction of the server replay for the ams race ? forgot to save mine  

Here you go Bernie - prizes for guessing the start of the pile up?.......

combe replay

[Al Heller]

can someone point me in the direction of the server replay for the ams race ? forgot to save mine  

Here you go Bernie - prizes for guessing the start of the pile up?.......

combe replay

Just watched the replay - no idea why I was apologising for scaring you at the start of the race Tim, as it turns out I was miles behind Another BRM was the culprit

[Tom van Ostade]

Hi all,

This was a bit of a last minute decision for me as I got home early enough from work and knew the track from previous leagues. The pickup practice race I did before the real one helped a lot as I was into the mid 1:02's at first. Unfortunately a combination of lack of practice, unability to qualify well altogether, and a close competitive grid meant I had to start from waaaaaaaaaaaaay back. The start was slightly chaotic but everyone kept his head and I got through T1 unscaved. After that I started challenging the guys up front, but I found out passing here is insanely difficult. I studied Al's driving style for a while before giving it a real go after the fast right-hand kink. It was a bit of a kamikaze move and educated guess from where I expected Al to brake, where I should start braking and where I would overtake him into the corner, as I couldn't really pull alongside. Thankfully Al was racing very fair and kept us both alive, as I wouldn't have been able to avoid him if he had chosen to go all in and attack the corner in a move to stay in front of him. Thanks Al, fair racing .

After that I tried to get past Natan but I soon found out why many people have chosen the BRM. I was eating myself up in the corners where I was much faster, but then He'd just pull away on the straights so there wasn't any chance I could outbrake him. Then he suddenly pulled over to the right in what looks like a black screen from the replay. Too bad for Natan, but finally I had some clear track ahead of me. Evil had pulled a gap of about 18 seconds, but in the rest of the race I managed to equal his pace although I couldn't close the gap to something smaller unfortunately. I was just hoping he'd mess up and give me the chance to catch up but that didn't happen obviously . So I finished in P4.

Commiserations to Steve for losing to GPL vibe. I've always found the Honda (well the '67 RA300, never driven the '65 RA272) a bit of a handfull to drive. You can tell the chassis wasn't designed with too many corners in mind, it just had to win the Indy 500 (which it did in 1966 with Hill, or was it Clark in the Lotus...). Monza was fast enough to cover up the faults, but it wasn't as good at the twistier tracks unfortunately. That's why I picked the Ferrari 312 in the Graduates Cup, it has V12 power coupled with decent handling. You could try that in the Grad's perhaps.

Tom.

[Clutch4]

"I have to agree with Al that the tracks so far do seem to largely remove whatever small advantage the extra power has, but I'm not declaring that as the reason for not wanting to take part any more and at the end of the day, the fast guy should win".



Totally sympathise SB. I love this game but ever since i've moved up to the Ams i've been bored stiff with the online stuff. With one or 2 exceptions, the racing has been incredibly boring for me, mainly because i tend to be driving round on my own for 40minutes of a 50minute race.

I got a 2nd place at the Schottenring last season. How did i do it? Was it a thrilling racelong battle? Was it a charge through the field? Was it holding my nerve with a 3rd place Driver behind? No, i drove along, on my own for 95% of the race without seeing a single other car and realised there was no point pushing to get any higher up the standings.

Nothing beats the online stuff though as its better taking on 'real' people, but what i'd give for shorter races to lessen the agony. Even the fast guys must admit, its all done and dusted after 30minutes in the majority of cases.

Anyway, moan over, wish i could stay away, but i love GPL and UKPGL too. See you all at Dijon (before you all disappear!! haha).    I'll try and practice but the horespower isn't going to help here either. Ah Well.

If i was you SB (and we're not too different on pace), i'd pop in for Monza and see if the horsepower helps. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

[Hristo Itchov]

TBH I don't really buy into the mind set thing, I think its more down to ability, experience and practice.  I think everyone tries as hard as they can to be as fast as they can but its as with all things, some find it easier than others.

Steve, if your approach is not correct, trying hard would be pointless. You may try hard for years and not gain anything, or you may try something different and gain an advantage in a day. It's definitelly not about trying hard, it's about doing the right things and recognizing your mistakes. Smart work instead of hard work.

It's not a bad thing to take a break and recharge your batteries, but I hope you'll find the motivation to continue racing and find what's necessary to improve. Ability is a very relative thing and I don't believe it's the most important factor. Experience comes with time, but it's important that it is the right kind of experience as well.

As for practice, too much of it can be as negative as too little of it.

[b_1_rd]

I agree the mind is an element of driving and racing, but for me it is no more important than the practical side and more so when you're not at the fast end of the grid.

For the record; its not the Honda, I took the car knowing I was probably going to struggle more with it than other cars available to me, but I like to try different things.  I took the BRM for 20 minutes at Castle Combe last night just for one final blast, and was 2 seconds slower!

Anyway, the wheel's packed away for now, replaced by a joystick to get back to a little flying which is my real passion online, but also a lot more time away from the PC doing some other stuff.  I expect it'll be temporary but I doubt I'll be back any time soon and probably to something a touch more modern.

Thanks for the comments and messages.  Cheers for now.

[G Jonsson]

Sorry to hear about you leaving Steve,I hope you will be back soon. You have always been here so it will be a big hole now.

As for the performance stuff, thanks for the input. I have defined one area where I get stuck. The setup -  driving, I mean should I try to get a better setup or should I refine the driving with what I got. I often get stuck here and then I end up out of time and come to the race without a clear setup, not good.

I totally agree about the mind stuff but I have a kind of mind bug that lead to that I tend to quit if I do not get the result I want. I am working on that one.

Göran

[FullMetalGasket]

See you all at Dijon (before you all disappear!! haha).    I'll try and practice but the horespower isn't going to help here either. Ah Well.

Actually I choose Dijon as a circuit where power should be an advantage  
That's a very long straight and as the first half is uphill (Quite steep to begin aswell) it'll deffinatly give the bigger cars an advantage. The rest of the circuit is quite fast so the advantage given in corners to the 16v posse should be negated more easily than on a slower circuit  

It certainly wasn't my intention to pick circuits that favoured slower cars - we've just started out on some fiddly ones is all   Combe is the first proper power circuit we've had and I must admit to being supprised how easy H and I had it after Tom had to disconnect  

[Hristo Itchov]

Steve, I've also had periods where I had taken a break from online racing and went on to do other favorite things of mine, so it's quite normal. Everyone gets fed up eventually and needs that. As long as you have passion for racing, it's going to creep back to you with time and you can return to it with fully recharged batteries and high motivation. Experience is also something that settles in better after some time away from a given a activity, so once you break off the rust when you return, you're most likely going to find you've become a better driver overall. Enjoy your "vacation"!

As for the performance stuff, thanks for the input. I have defined one area where I get stuck. The setup -  driving, I mean should I try to get a better setup or should I refine the driving with what I got. I often get stuck here and then I end up out of time and come to the race without a clear setup, not good.

I think you should stick to a setup for a while once you feel comfortable with it, rather than look for tweaks that improve performance. If you have a setup that fits your current driving style but you're not maximizing its potential in terms of lap times yet, then use it without making changes to it until you reach a point where you're not improving anymore despite not making any mistakes.

It's a personal thing of course, setup and driving style, as they always go together, but unless you've driven for long and have settled with a certain driving style, there's still room to adapt and learn new habits. The key is always in observing things in details, both while driving and while watching your replay/RA data later. Only that way you can recognize what is caused by issues of the setup or mistakes in your driving techniques. It's about becoming as much aware as possible of what you're doing at any given moment on the track.

[NHance]

Far be it for me, a mere Nov to butt in on the Ams postings but with SB taking a hopefullly only temporary break Clutch & Phil(I think) even considering Novs makes me wonder if all is not well. So here's a suggestion. Stop running under pro rules & run under the same rules as the Novs AND(say it loud & proud) ALLOW SHIFT R & S&G. Who the hell wants to practice to whatever level they feel they can, turn up at the race & last 3 minutes.
 
I suppose the Novs champ feels he has to move up or he could be accused of trophy hunting in the unlikely event of a 2nd championship. Let someone else have a win. That's good

Finally if some of you Ams are concerned about lonely races why not do what drivers do in the impromtu fun races on the server every night. Slow down & wait tilll someone catches you let them pass & have a dice from there. Bollocks to the championship points - thats for the reallly fast men - just have fun . Yeah I know it defeats the object but.............. Shift R eh - don't yer just love it  

Think on it

Norm H

[Hristo Itchov]

Far be it for me, a mere Nov to butt in on the Ams postings but with SB taking a hopefullly only temporary break Clutch & Phil(I think) even considering Novs makes me wonder if all is not well. So here's a suggestion. Stop running under pro rules & run under the same rules as the Novs AND(say it loud & proud) ALLOW SHIFT R & S&G. Who the hell wants to practice to whatever level they feel they can, turn up at the race & last 3 minutes.
 
I suppose the Novs champ feels he has to move up or he could be accused of trophy hunting in the unlikely event of a 2nd championship. Let someone else have a win. That's good

Finally if some of you Ams are concerned about lonely races why not do what drivers do in the impromtu fun races on the server every night. Slow down & wait tilll someone catches you let them pass & have a dice from there. Bollocks to the championship points - thats for the reallly fast men - just have fun . Yeah I know it defeats the object but.............. Shift R eh - don't yer just love it  

Think on it

Norm H

How would intermediate damage and shift-r make a difference and how would it close the gaps? Pro damage has a lot of advantages, such as more respect between drivers on the track, more responsibility in what you do (knowing that taking big risks can end your race) and in general improving your self- and car-control.

I'll always support Pro damage and it has nothing to do with my results.

[Podkrecony_Ziutek]

Stop running under pro rules & run under the same rules as the Novs AND(say it loud & proud) ALLOW SHIFT R & S&G. Who the hell wants to practice to whatever level they feel they can, turn up at the race & last 3 minutes.

Racing under PRO rules is awesome, and SHIFT R is for pussies

[BadBlood]

Miaaow.

Actually I don't mind the one Shift-R in the Grads and driving lonely races is not necessarily a problem (although it does make it a bit of a shock when you actually come across somebody). The stance is quite agressive in UKGPL and I bailed at both Zandvoort and Combe because I didn't want to ruin anyone's races. I have already picked up four penalty points for mistakes that were down to inexperience. That does NOT lend itself to attracting new members who are slow and learning.

I enjoy the BREASTS races and learn far more than in the championships because I am not worried about Penalty Points or being flamed by another driver - people are generally very welcoming. It is a pity that the championships could not have a division like that. For someone of my ability handicapping by chassis is irrelevant. To get close racing I would need everybody to be in the GP2 cars - now THAT would be a challenge.

[FullMetalGasket]

Clubmans was closer to that (Unlimited Shift-r's with SnG) but had moderating - it's felt that moderation can help to drive home where mistakes have been made and most importantly why. We don't hand out points for fun or to wind people up, it's intended to encourage improvement and to remove people who are dangerous and spoil others races where the incident could have been avoided.
You won't find yourself barred from races for honest mistakes. Over the top aggression leading to repeated incidents is the sort of thing that'll lead to suspensions - and it's only happened once in UKGPL's history.
However we didn't have the numbers to run seperate Grads and Clubmans servers this time around.
Also ideally we need the numbers to have 3 65 championships, that way would give a better balence of driver skills per championship. At the mo laptimes are suprisingly close between Nov's and Am's but there seems to be quite a curve still with regards to laptime consistency, which might put people off/dishearten them in races as they move up. It's all relative though as you will improve, it just takes time is all.

As for Shift-R's in Am's then no I don't agree that would help.
As H says how would that make racing closer or encourage safer/more considerate driving?

I've been taken out on the first lap numerous times in the past, I've also had engines blow on me when comfortable leading even when I havn't made mistakes, sure it's annoying (to put it lightly) but that's racing. Am's is intended as the top level series running the 65's and surviving the race is as much a part of racing as winning 

Also the majority seem to prefer 50 minute races - Historics has been extended to 50mins recently due to post race chat/comments