SimRacing.org.uk

WELCOME TO THE UKGPL SEASON 22 HISTORIC (66) TROPHY 

For the fifth round we go to USA. Somehow the Watkins Glen seems to be tough on cars so be aware.

There will be full moderation of lap one Red Zone and reported incidents for the rest of the race. Please submit incident reports within a week after the race so that the moderators report may be out before the next race.

The Red Zone is from start and until after the loop

Reserve drivers should not use the server between 35 and 30 minutes of qualifying to allow full timers to join.

Please restrict chat to a minimum, (or maybe none).

Best of luck.
 
Race List =         iGOR
Server =            UKGPL_T7_2
IP Address =       62.149.202.168
Race date =       07-02-2012
Time =              Race start 21.30 UK time
Track =             Watkins Glen Int.  1967   United States Grand Prix
Variant =           66F1 2L engines
Damage Model =  PRO
Qualifying time =  >30 minutes. You are free to start as soon as the server is up but reserve drivers should not use the server between 35 and 30 minutes of qualifying to allow full timers to join.
Race length =     Pro Long (44 laps)

The track can be downloaded from: Papy track


The cars:

Group I
T1F Eagle Climax
Lotus 33 Climax

Group II
Brabham BT11 2.5lt
Lotus 33 BRM


GroupIII
Ferrari 246
Brabham BT11 BRM
BRM P261
Brabham BT11 2.7lt


Drivers Restricted to cars from Group I

Al Heller



Drivers Restricted to cars form Group II or Group I

EvilClive



All other drivers have free chassis choice.



Password: See above
(2) Driver lists can be found here: https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=339&theme=6 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=339&theme=6)

Hopefully I get to break my 66 Histericals Trophy Duck on this one  ???

Quack...

Looking forward to this. New wheel, old track, probably usual disappointment but this is one race where I might not get lapped (not counting on it though  ;D)

Papy Waltglen? For a historic race, I was expecting Waltglen 48... this one is really scary...

Oh well, I might actually finish that one then.

Bit of a wobble lap 3 - punted off or should that be p'ed off. Last time I practice for a PRO race.  >:(

My best 66mod showing yet , qually went well , race was even better  :)


Thought it was to good to last, sure enough , just getting settled amongst the fast boys at the front ( P3)  when the darned (is that allowed ) engine started to splutter  ???

No Gas  :'( :'( :'(

Yup , did the oldest dumest trick in the book , loaded the wrong set up Dohhh! Wondered why I was doing sooooo well  ::)

Mechanics and pit crew all now on the dole  :'( :'( :'(

I hadnt done any training for this and it showed. Although the car had some reasonable pace in it it was tending to understeer in the fast rights and I just couldnt seem to dial it out but was pleased enough with my eventual qual time.
The race started well enough, getting a good run through the esses but approaching the loop - the soon to be Mrs Blito starts talking about flowers for the wedding........... enough to make me miss the braking point!... Amazingly the car wasnt hurt depsite bouncing off the barrier quite hard and I set off..... in last place... Several more spins late and Im being lapped but happily just cruising round to take some points. I let Sky lap me over the starting grid and follow him though the esses, getting a tow down the straight. We get to the braking zone and !!! NO BRAKES !!! The box I use to wedge my pedals in place had slipped and the pedals just slid away from me as I went for the brakes! I was a passenger as my car slammed into the rear of Skys Brabby... 

So , to sum it all up -  my car was crap, my setup was crap, my driving was crap, flowers are crap and to top it all off Sky now hates me..... not a good evenings work!

I dont hate you, Blito... you atleast were not proud of it like some others. And figuring where the things are going for me with my online racing, I guess it wasnt even your fault... I really have no words for what is going on.

Hope your wedding goes well...

Btw, to the mods: lately I find myself heavely offended by any mention of the word "luck". Is there any chance that it can be added to the list of forbidden offencive words? Btw, notice what happens if you replace "l" with "f"...

You get fist   ;D

Had a decent frame rate for this race so my car control was limited by my talent (or rather lack of it) not by my computer.  It does seem that it was the DirectX V2 rasteriser that was causing the problems although I had a couple of glitches with 2 mins of qually remaining so I left the server to disable the Avast Antivirus (by stopping the service) and managed to rejoin with a minute or so to spare.  After that the frame rate with the OpenGL V2 rateriser was rock solid and didn't drop below 35.xx.

As far as the race goes it was pretty good.  I qualified near the back of the field but I got a reasonable start and stayed out of trouble so after the first lap I settled down into the freight train.  Thanks to the slip stream I managed to pick off a few drivers and before long I was running in about 5th spot some distance behind Evil.  He must have had a problem at the last corner (I think) because he lost a lot of time and I managed to close the gap.  Then for what must have been close to 30 laps we fought for position swapping places every couple of laps.  I was close but fair racing but it was only the extra power of the Ferrari that gave me the chance to challenge for the position.  On the penultimate lap I let the tension get the better of me and I spun on the last corner letting Evil through but amazingly I didn't loose much time and I was on Evil's gearbox by the end of the front straight.  We both went into the loop a bit hot and we both ran wide.  Evil was on my outside so I had to try to keep a tighter line but I didn't have the grip and I spun out.  Thankfully the car was undamaged (very unusual for that corner) and I was able to finish the race.

Fastest lap was a bonus but it was all down to the slipstream behind the evil Eagle.

I chose the baby Eagle from the cars available to me in the hope that Al would choose the same car and we might get some close racing. My guess was right and we both rolled out of the pits in similar cars.
It must be my aftershave, but I just could not get anyone to give me a tow in Qually and could only manage a 6th place on the grid. That was further back than I had hoped for and a second off my PB from practice on Monday evening.

I managed to pick up a place off the grid and hooked onto the tail of Goran, Al and Raoni who were intent on setting a fast pace. That was Ok with me  :), and I stayed about a second back in case they got too ambitious through the Loop. It soon became clear that they were all being gentlemen ( rats!!) and intended to complete the race rather than punt each other out  :-\ so I would have to work hard to catch and pass them.

We had dropped Bernie some way behind in the first 2 laps and thought that our leading group were away and clear...when suddenly Bernie loomed large in my mirrors  :o :o :o going like a train!!! he breezed past on the straight ( a sign of things to come later in the race :-\) and rapidly closed up on the leading trio.  :scared: At this point I stepped out of my car because I thought I had stopped!!!

A few laps later and Bernie appeared to launch himself into the countryside at the Loop, but reading his post it seems that it might have been frustration at discovering lack of fuel??

I eased back just in case Bernie bounced back across the track and in doing so droped just beyond the tow from the group in front. I pushed really hard for a couple of laps in an attempt to close the gap and was slowly reeling them in when I had a mechanical malfunction as i braked for the last corner. I have yet to look at the replay, but it felt like the front left wheel locked up and the car just turned to the left and spun onto the grass!! 
That lost touch with the leading group completely and brought Phil "the fezza" Thornton into play. :-\ The next 30 laps were a battle between Phil's superior speed on the straights and the handling of the Eagle. From behind I could use the tow from the red thing to attempt outbraking into corners and make the pass, but Phil would use his speed ( and my slipstream to simply blow me away on the next straight bit..there were some choice words uttered each time he did that. Whenever he made a small error I nipped through and tried to build a big enough gap to stay ahead until the next corner. But with 2 long straights Phil simply had to wait and close up within the lap and choose his moment to retake 4th place on the next available straight.!!

I really thought that it would need a miracle for me to somehow snatch 4th place on the last lap. The only place I would be able to make it stick would be through Big bend and on to the finish line, but a few trial runs as the last laps unfolded showed that Phil was just about quick enough to fend me off.
I could not believe my luck when exiting the final bend with only 1 lap to go Phil got oversideways and half spun. I had to brake hard and swing inside of his Fezza  losing momentum, but I was through with only the last lap to go. ;D

I thought I had it sewn up, but when I looked in my mirrors exiting the Esses Phil was only 100 mtrs behind!! :o :o This was going to be tight!!  I braked as late as i could for The Loop and almost ran wide before nailing the gas for the exit. If Phil was going to pass he had to do it before The Ninety..... but he had vanished ???. and I was able to cruise to the flag. Phew!!!

Hard Luck Phil, that was a tough way to end that race after so many laps fighting. Grats to Raoni Goran and Al who had their own fun up ahead somewhere. Looking forward to next time already  ;D

Yep , I got a really good run on you there Clive , thought my 66 mod day had arrived at last , but when I realised the Team Boss had given me a  start money special  (to please the sponsers)  , I decided to go for max publicity and fake a spectacular exit  , what a crowd pleaser,  I hear it made Radio 3 news  (bulgaria )  ;)

I really enjoyed this race. Like Clive, I suffered a bit from the Eagle's lack of grunt here but I suppose that just shows how well the historics handicap system works... (cough, cough, 65's)

Was pleased to start from 2nd & that became 1st when Goran stuttered off the line, though I knew it wouldn't be long before the big Brabs came a-knockin'. Sure enough Raoni was soon on my tail & simply breezed by on the straight as if I was in reverse. With Goran looming a little way behind me, I tried to hitch a lift from Raoni's slipstream to get away but couldn't quite hang on & soon me & Goran were enjoying a splendid tactical battle (just like the old days, eh ;)) While I was able to defensively fend off Goran for a few laps, it soon became clear that I'd been pushing the Eagle rather harder than it cared to go... the engine temperatures were at dangerously high levels & even worse, the front left tyre was completely cooked which was making the Loop even more buttock-clenching than usual. Having to ease off a little through the Loop allowed Goran a good run at me into Big Bend & with my car's ever-worsening handling (wonder if Clive's tyre had gone the same way to cause his spin?) there was not much I could do to hold him off under braking. Although I'd dropped from 1st to 3rd, the furious pace of the opening laps (I set my FL on lap 8 ) meant I had quite a decent lead over Phil & Clive in 4th, so I spent the middle part of the race just trying to coax the tyre & engine temperatures back to normal. This worked well & the car felt great during the closing laps though of course Goran was long gone by then.

Congrats to Raoni on a well-deserved win, Goran for 2nd & all other finishers. Looking forward to Schottenring in the 3 litre cars :)

Mid season review coming up Al... time for the Pros to get a handicap eh?

(http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/7381/raoniwinglen.jpg)

Ah you spotted my subtle hint Paul :D I'll prepare my legal team for the mid season review...