UKGPL Season 17 (2009) Novices Trophy - Monza (GP 1955-71) - Jul 7

[bernie]

Mike for the umpteenth time the AMS races are too long for an old codger 

I could go on to explain why but basically I cant race for too long without becoming seriously fatigued so I dont enjoy the races , some times i feel more like racing and some tracks are better for me than others . when you start to draw yer pension you will perhaps understand.

And its nice of you to keep reminding me of Spa I thought you might have gotten over it by now , your not the only one I clouted but then again if i wasnt in a slug perhaps I wouldnt have had to drive so desperatley.

Its not a rash decision , I think I have previously registered my contempt for the lack of a proper handicap in 65's

No it doesnt need pit stops to even out the system . previously we had a system where the guys leading the championship points table were limited to there choice of chassis .
So you would have been running a coop or BT7 for the final races along with Clutch and Nicky   

[Billy Nobrakes]

Bernie,

Would be a genuine shame to lose an experienced driver through dissatisfaction.

Above all else races should be enjoyable. Even with Mike & Clutch moving up to the Ams there should be healthy competition at the front of the Novs grid. I can't see anyone having an objection if you trade up to a quicker chassis for Season 18.

[vosblod]

Grats to Clutch and Mike but a special award goes to Nicky whose drive to 3rd spot in the Coop was fantastic , think we would have seen a different name up top if he had a chassis choice .  no disrespect to Clutch or Mike,  I know how tough it is to stay up there but I do think your task was made easier with having the best cars
For myself this has to be the worst season I ever did in UKGPL  , not sure about the future,  perhaps the time has arrived to hang my UKGPL hat up  

I agree to some extent re your comments about Nicky and his potential performance in a different chassis, but that's why he should really be driving in the Amateurs not the Novices. I sympathise with his reasons (and yours) for not wanting to but the alternative is for you experienced guys to get the slower cars.
It goes against the grain of encouraging chassis based teams if we chop and change race by race. If someone demonstrates themselves to be a class apart (in whatever chassis), then they are a class apart and should maybe think about moving up to the senior league mid-season.

We don't want to lose anyone, let alone someone of your longstanding, but the point of the Amateurs is to create more of a challenge hence Pro and longer races, so it comes down to a straight choice between the two. I really hope we can get enough new drivers to justify running a third division which, I imagine, would provide a middle ground between the two. Maybe we should all put our recruitment hats on over the summer 

[miner2049er]

Mike for the umpteenth time the AMS races are too long for an old codger

As Tim says, hopefully we will have enough drivers to run 3 classes though it is unlikely.

And its nice of you to keep reminding me of Spa I thought you might have gotten over it by now

Haha! I have Bernie, long ago in fact, it didn't affect my result and I was saying it in jest. That doesn't always come over well in text form on a forum though. I'm actually more upset at you for being a Pie Eater but then most of us Lobby Gobblers are. LOL[/more stuff said in jest]

[maestro57]

totally frustrated with the cooper

the biggest problem I found was having to push the coop so hard that was forced to take too many stupid risks

For myself this has to be the worst season I ever did in UKGPL  , not sure about the future,  perhaps the time has arrived to hang my UKGPL hat up  

Bernie
Hang around and just enjoy your racing
For a guy that is experienced and fast enough to win Clubmans in Season 15 and 16, enjoy the challenge of racing with newbies with a dog of a chassis. If Nicky can get it to third this season, you could get it higher

[john roberts]

totally frustrated with the cooper

snip

the biggest problem I found was having to push the coop so hard that was forced to take too many stupid risks in a foolish attempt to get on the same lap as the leaders . as for the coopers slipstream effect ,forget it ! no good unless you can see down the car in fronts pipes .

if you are getting that little slipstream effect then i can only think that you haven't applied the 65 v2 patch correctly (like some others in this league ...) or you haven't geared up the cooper for slipstreaming .

Grats to Clutch and Mike but a special award goes to Nicky whose drive to 3rd spot in the Coop was fantastic , think we would have seen a different name up top if he had a chassis choice .  no disrespect to Clutch or Mike,  I know how tough it is to stay up there but I do think your task was made easier with having the best cars
For myself this has to be the worst season I ever did in UKGPL  , not sure about the future,  perhaps the time has arrived to hang my UKGPL hat up 

well it wasn't your worst season (look at your stats page) however with a full field of drivers you can't always win or even come in the top half ?

I drove the cooper last season and it's a lovely little car with the added help of having six gears , maybe you just had a poor setup ? who knows what car you get next season but i guess that depends on who your driving against .

there is more to racing than winning , try and do well and enjoy your driving .

PS I can already here the flack coming in 

hope you don't think this is flack .

john

[EvilClive]

Really sorry to hear you feel so disillusioned Bernie.
Your sense of humour and banter is always a joy and I can only echo John's comments about the Cooper setup. I was "blessed" with the Cooper in our first 65 season and eventually found what makes it tick ( and it wasn't death watch beetle!!).

If you decide to race next season,  I hope that you do after the statutory 14 day cooling off period, and you get lumbered with the Cooper you are welcome to my setups for what they are worth. Or, maybe I can tempt you with an offer from the white side and invite you to meet her?  . That way you get Ninja training and free Saki

[john roberts]

as for the coopers slipstream effect ,forget it ! no good unless you can see down the car in fronts pipes .

well i have now taken a look at the monza server replay and i would say from looking at it and your first few laps in the race that you have not installed the patch correctly , so it's no surprise they all get away from you .

if you need help doing that just ask (or read the readme when installing it) . 

john

[Hristo Itchov]

Not to stir up things too much, but there are really drivers on Amateurs level participating in the Novices atm... You all know who they are and to make things worse, they don't even have the slowest cars to give a chance to slower drivers. I'd be glad to see them in Amateurs next season and I'm sure many Novices regulars would be glad to have them transferred as well. In that sense, Bernie's frustration is completely justified. You don't see him often react like that, so it must be for a very good reason.

[miner2049er]

Not to stir up things too much, but there are really drivers on Amateurs level participating in the Novices atm...

At least 2 are moving up and those that don't (for whatever reason) will have the slower chassis next season.

I don't think anybody was clearly head and shoulders above the rest though as we all seemed to have bad circuits too. I won Silverstone at a canter but was a lap down at Watkins and couldn't catch Bernie when I retired and a lap down at Mosport at the finish.

Ryeman had discos when starting from great poles but was in the pack at other circuits.

As always though, there will be people changing chassis or division, sometimes they just need a little nudge.

[JamesRye]

consider me nudged. Hopefully I'll be staying for the hoe downs and not the discos next time.

Ryeman

[miner2049er]

consider me nudged. Hopefully I'll be staying for the hoe downs and not the discos next time.

Haha! Another one bites the dust. The back of the Amateurs grid is slowly filling up LOL.

Chassis preference the BRM?

[Mark65]

Haha! Another one bites the dust. The back of the Amateurs grid is slowly filling up LOL.

The back of the Novices grid is filling in nicely as well

[il_lupo_mannaro]

The only thing i really remember from the race was my best GPL battle ever with Locano. For about 10 laps we battled, changing position once or twice a lap and constantly slip streaming each other. We were very close to each other but drove with respect. It was fantastic and i thank him for that.
At one point we were running 2nd and 3rd and catching Al Heller in the lead due to our lap times being quicker thanks to constant slip streaming. However, it all came to an end at Lesmo 2. Locano's car started warping badly and i couldn't work out where he was. I'm not sure if i hit him from behind or what as i haven't seen the replay, but we collided for which i am sorry (thought unsure who's fault it was).

Wow, what a race!
It's was really an exciting battle with Clutch but, unfortunately, it ended in a bad way...
I really don't know who made a mistake, but it really doesn't matter.

It's was a great season too: I hope to be more consistent on the next one.

Grats to the Novice Champion, to everybody race and to all UKGPL staff.

Long Live GPL!!

[Asbjeurn Tverberg]

Likewise Aspjeurn (did I speel it rite )

Yes, Burnie. You got it relatively ryet. Otherwise, you described just the feeling I had with the Coop.

As for slipstream and the Coop, I felt at Monza at least that I got a nice tow, and my laptimes improved noticeably when I had another car to follow. I guess it was all a matter of bad timing that I wasn't able to pass other cars. I had no problem getting alongside faster cars, but usually the next turn was too far away, so that the other car had time to power past me again before I could take advantage of the better track position. Anyway, on the next straight noone would have a problem getting past me again, so what would be the point of getting past anyway? On a more technical track (Kyalami, Glen) it would be easier to take advantage of a pass, since I then could get away on the technical parts of the track.