Congrats to Tristan, Evil, and Natan    

Some laps with Dean-O and Martin on Sat night and a quick run on the practice server had me feeling pretty good about the handling of the Mclaren. Considering my absence from the majority of the season I decided not to try a hot lap in qualifying. I was behind Fulvio and Axel on lap 2 and managed to get it wrong and half spin in the dirt. Ronnie came along and hit me just right to straighten the car out. A lap or two later Axel ticked the curb at 5a and I swung wide to avoid his car. Ronnie was closer than I thought and when I rejoined @Moss we clashed wheels a bit. Luckily no damage to either and I set off after RP and Axel. Their pace was good and my plan of leaving some space to the car ahead was made easier.       Things became very interesting when Dean-O and Hristo re-joined the track and the results left me with a nice gap behind. Now I had Dean-O pressuring Axel ahead of me and my telepathy paid off when they touched @turn 8. With some clean air ahead I upped my pace a bit in hopes of catching Natan. My concentration was quickly averted to a new and unwanted threat out of nowhere. Who is this in the green car behind? The next lap my pitboard gives me the news that it's indeed Hristo. My efforts to go faster were in vain and only led to erratic driving. It didn't take long for H to disappear and my only concern was to keep the position I was in. I tried to set a clean lap towards the end and on the last lap I can see a car going slower ahead. Turns out to be H sputtering home in the Cooper. One litre of fuel was all that hindered my quest of beating Hristo fair and square in a race before I croak.    

Thanks for the race gentlemen.

Peace
RJ

This is my second "part time" season at UKGPL. I enjoy the racing and I believe the Moderators do a fine job in a sometimes thankless position. The vagueness of some wording seems the cause of some discontentment in regards to handicapping. Personally I don't like handicapping. I'm aware that some hard fought season championships have occurred under the current format and if it works, it works. I would be curious to see a % of those either for or against chassis handicapping. I have an idea of a GPLDriver Analyser. Takes all the data from ? amount of races, practice, training, and gives you a driver rating. Just need someone smart to do all the work.    

Who is a Novice, Amatuer, Pro ?...  Some drivers it's very obvious....Some not so, to include me

Nothing wrong with smaller more evenly matched grids. Two races with 8-10 each for instace should yield twice as many happy drivers at the end. Getting them evenly matched is always going to be a challenge.

I like the idea of dropping one result from each half season or somehow figuring in drops when applying a handicap. Regardless of why a driver missed a race, the first half and more of a season can be misleading in the points table.

Cheers all

Peace

RJ

Thanks John

Peace 

RJ

At least you're a stud in GPL Evil  

Most of us can't even claim that fame.  

After downloading and scoping the server replay I'll say well done to everyone on a difficult track. Nice patience by all in the opening laps. Jarama is a tough little track but these cars and period realism make it worthwhile for sure. Al's mention of braking point variances was spot on and I was on both sides of that predicament. I must again applaud those who managed to keep things clean throughout. I'm sure that fun is what we are all seeking here.  

Peace

RJ

Congrats Ronnie   Nice win and consistency

Great speed Evil and good finish

Grats Tristan  Hope I didn't cause you to spin last lap

Jarama is a track that magnifies all of my weaknesses behind the wheel. I can't seem to get the car to rotate quickly enough and when I do...it ain't always pretty. The race was a lot more fun than I was anticipating and I'm glad I took part. I got mixed up in a trio of Matras and had a great time regardless of my mistakes. Phil, Arf, and DeanO made it an enjoyable race for me. Cheers

Nice field of drivers and thanks for sharing the road

Peace

RJ

For the record I want to say I think Billy does a terrific job and I hope none of my input in this topic implies any less.
I think I stuck my nose in where it shouldn't have been. I'm not vying for any rule changes , just possible adjustments to discourage strategically missing a race to put someone else in the slowmobile. And not to say it should happen now because several would then be affected. Something to consider I thought but not well received it seems.

See you on the track

Peace

RJ

Clive, a shame you are still having problems. Could be any number of the issues previously mentioned but I would seriously consider trying a different monitor. Failing capacitors are a big problem with monitors and televisions. The screen blackouts are exactly the issue I had for ...probably over a year. I got away with it most times but when the lights go out there is no telling where you'll end up on the racetrack.     

There are numerous self help videos on the net and many companies sell the repair kits. I was ready to toss my monitor(and pc) out the window, or through the window, until I found the solution.

Good Luck

Peace

RJ

And Dean Logan, you are too fast for Privateers although that's a totally different topic. I don't think that should factor in this series though. 

And Hristo, you are, like it or not, a 1%er so to speak. That is to say in the top 1% of all GPL'rs. You can probably expect less ....empathy ?  from most commoners. Not exactly fair but a price to pay being a pop star.  

Peace

RJ

The only drawback I see with dropping results in each half season would be to those who've suffered setbacks already..disco's, missed races, pc issues. I remember Alan Jones being bitter he had no chance of winning 1979 title because of this system. But to be fair, he wasn't handicapped, unless you consider he was driving the FW06 for first few races. Then again, Ferrari didn't have the T4 until 3rd race.

Let's all show up in the BT14 at Jarama. Might even give me a shot at a podium. 

Peace

RJ

I've yet to see a perfect handicap system. Someone always draws the short straw it seems. In this situation a driver with 4 finishes is compared with others with only 3 and the numbers don't add up. Perhaps drop one result in first half of season and one in second half ?

I can see one way to fair things up but that would rely on self imposed handicapping. Top 4 in points take the Coop and see who is the man. 

Peace

RJ

Valid points all around. Perhaps there is a solution ?  I don't know.

If the top 4 drivers discarded their worst two results so far ...Dean Logan would be in 4th  Peace

RJ

Congrats Hristo, Piero, and Attilio

I was last to arrive on the scene at Lesmo2 and there was no warning. By the time you realized what was up it was too late. Apologies to those I ran in to and Marco for touching wheels when we were all trying to get sorted.    
I clearly benefitted from this accident as far as track position. Hooked up with Hendy and Ronnie for several laps, and yes, Hendy was driving a flame thrower for a few corners.          I pipped by these two when they came to grief but soon had Tristan going very fast behind. When He went past I grabbed the draft for a couple of laps and stabilized the gap to Cookie. I don't remember seeing Florian in the sand @Parabolica but my pitboard soon warned me of a new threat and the last ten laps were all out trying to stay ahead. A photo finish with Florian but he was clearly better and but for a touch of the grass at Ascari things would have been different.  Great finish Florian.        

Fun race for me.  Too bad so many got involved on lap 1.  

Peace

RJ

Grats to Philippe for his first win   

Hi Guys.

EVIL!!!!!!

This post is for Evil. I know you have been having issues and I don't know all of the these but how old is your monitor? Mine gave me fits for over a year with sudden blackouts. I changed the capacitors on the power supply , cheaply, and no problems since.

Peace

RJ

Congrats Raoni, Al, and Hristo
 

Fun race for me. I don't use pribluda anymore and I think for the first time I had Hristo showing behind me on my pitboard.   
Lots of action in the first ten laps.         I went off at the 90 and after mowing the entire pit straight I joined behind a group and tried to latch on. For many laps I tried in vain to catch King Hiro and keep Phil at bay. Phil cut in to my advantage and I was determined to keep him out of the draft. Well, at least that sounds heroic.  hehe   Pretty pleased with the result considering the competition.   

Great consistency Natan   

Nice lap Hristo

and Dean in the Coop

Peace

RJ