SimRacing.org.uk

Scenic upstate New York welcomes us for round seven of the Privateers Trophy at Watkins Glen. Martin Hunt took a fine win last time out at Brands Hatch, swelling the group of title contenders. This well-known venue is sure to produce a hard fought battle for points.

Race list	iGOR
Server	UKGPL_T72
IP address	62.149.202.168
Date	04-03-2012
Race time	Race starts at 21:30 UK time
Qualifying time	Between 30 and 60 minutes, starting no later than 21:00 UK time
Track	Watkins Glen
Mod	67
Damage model	INT
Race length	45 laps
Replay	Available here (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/replays/Archive/Season22/Grads_Privs/S22_Grads_Privs_R07_2012_03_05_WatkinsGlen.rar)

Reserve drivers please note; you must leave the server with 35 minutes of qualifying left, for a total of 5 minutes, to allow full timers to join.

The red zone will be fully moderated for lap 1 only. For this event the red zone will be from the start line to the exit of turn 4 (The Loop). Other moderation will be on reported incidents only.

The chassis token system is explained on the Privateers (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=336&theme=6) standings page. Please ensure you choose a chassis that is within your budget, which can be seen by hovering the mouse over your points total in the standings.

Lets hope I remember to put enough fuel in the car this time round.................

Paint FUEL on the inside of your goggles....you'll remember..... ::)

Nice dose of the manflue here so if I do race will be trailing along slowly at the back  ???

Same as usual then :D

Oh your so cruel  :'( :'( :'(

Terrible - really looking forward to this but got mixed up with GPGs... :(

Had to use UKGPL3 and then Mini and I couldn't join together. Mini gave up as he was feeling a bit rough. So I had 10 seconds to qualify :( Then my screen was set to 640x480 so I was driving in a letterbox :( and I had inherited some crappy setup that threw me left at the Big Bend - six laps, didn't stay on once. :(

P'ed off.  >:( :( >:(

Well, I had plenty of fuel but ran out of buttocks instead.
Honestly guys - do you not think these races are just too long? I mean, after 30 mins of qual ( which is my only chance to work on setups thanks to family commitments)I can only really manage 30 mins of racing... I deliberately threw my car off the track with 19 to go as I  was at the end of my endurance.....  My arse cheeks are numb!!!!

It was a nice race with very close racing all long the time !
I am a little bit disappointed with my final 4th position, I think I could have won or at least finished 2nd  but I had 2 major incidents with backmarkers.

The 1st one occured at the beginning of lap 19 when Nigel Smith spun in front of me and then came back on the track, at this time I was 4th chasing Skymole since 10 or more laps.
I lost 11 seconds and 2 drivers overtook me (Ross and Geoff)
Of course, that was not the fault of Nigel, just bad luck !

The 2nd incident occured at lap 30, I was 3rd chasing Ross,  when Billy Nobrake slowed down to let me pass, but he was first going to the left of the track so I try to overtake him at the right ...but suddenly he goes to the right and we collided. Billy's car was definitively out, I am sorry for that but it was big misunderstanding between us.
I lost 18 seconds and 3 drivers overtook me!

That's racing !
  
 

What a horrible place, to drive a race!  It should all be dug up, and turned from a racing complex, into a housing complex! >:(

No! No! No! I am the one who could have won   :o

Just needed to qualify 10 places higher and spread a few tacks in strategic places  ;)

No! No! No! I should have won :taz:  LOL

Qualified 4th, watched Fabio crash at the Loop on lap 1, got past Geoff for second place and inherited the lead when Sky lost it at Big Bend.  Held the lead for nearly 40 laps (despite spinning after avoiding a  recovering back marker - no harm done these things happen) when I ran out of fuel with less than 2 laps to go. Had to do a S&G but just managed to hang on to second place.

On the plus side I had a solid 36 FPS the whole race (and qually).  Down side is I normally use Prib to estimate my fuel consumption.  So without Prib I had to guess.  Used the fuel load I had for the last round at Brands and added a couple more gallons just to be safe.  Wasn't safe enough  :(

Well done Ross on yet another win.  Qually was very close and joking apart anybody in the top 6 or 7 could have won.  All that was needed was to keep out of trouble ;)

Work on setups?  Multiple?!  Obviously GPL is real,  but sounds like some people can take this *far* too seriously ;)   Granted,  maybe need a second/another setup for when it's snowing - but otherwise I wouldn't have thought the track/conditions change much round here from one race to another...?    [although I guess that adjustments could be required depending which racing-socks are used...]

Although having said that,  I will qualify that with obviously I don't know know what I'm doing/talking about!   [But even at my level, a virtual poke in the eye to anyone that dares call it a game!].

Anyway, I will say that even I actually tried a minor adjustment for this round!  It could be all bunkum,   but I swear that tyre pressure adjustment could have just helped...  although,   it could have been the fact that after using the spare car after a mini-pileup down at the loop on lap1,  I was driving a little more cautiously everywhere.       For all the good it did me in the end...  I still ended up stuck in that magnetic haybale down at the loop.     Ho hum,  looks like I just forgot to steer/or just forgot fullstop!

And so there end the race at the 3rd circuit that I have actually spent some time round.   Another mystery track next, eek - you guys sure pick'em.  And that one has a lot of corners by the look of it!

But from a newbie point of view,  as ever,  still a pleasure to turn out for some good/clean (I think!) action.  So thanks all.


Cheers,
Dave.

A very poor performance.
Many moons ago I did a PB of 1.06.4 in the Lotus. In practice I couldn't get anywhere near that & tonight I couldn't even find a 1.07.
Also discovered that the Lotus is too fragile for my style of driving at Watkins. Had been fairly consistent until lap 25 I overcooked the tyres & the engine. Took my 1 reset & spent the next couple of laps finding some grip whilst letting people past. Then disaster on the exit to the esses, was aiming to keep right to allow Dave Rainier past but didn't realise I'd drifted a bit. Dave quite correctly took the inside line as I edged back. Very sorry about that.
What with me driving like a muppet, Fabio setting the pace but taking an early bath & the me indavertently blocking off Dave it was a rather bad day for the team.
Think I'll stick with the Brabham next time out.

I wasn't sure I would even make this one as it was my son's Christening and we got home quite late. Joined the server with about twenty minutes left and despite posting what I thought was a decent time, found myself down in seventh. As Phil said it was very tight (always is at The Glen) but well done to Sky on taking another pole, this time in the Wazamobile which isn't the easiest to drive.

Fabio and Dave had problems early on allowing me into fifth but I was back in seventh soon afterwards when I made an error of my own. In the first half of the race almost everyone made a mistake of some sort so I told myself to just run some consistent laps and see where that took me. As it turned out, it took me all the way into second as people fell off left, right and centre. I had a couple of near misses with backmarkers and on another day it could have been me hitting them instead of Dave Rainier.

As we entered the final third of the race I noticed the gap to Phil, which was twenty seconds earlier in the race, had come down to ten and I seemed to be picking up around half a second lap as I was in a pretty good rhythm at that point. As it turns out Phil must have been trying to save fuel. My plan was to keep the pressure on but not do anything daft as I needed points after a bad result at Brands. Sadly the anticipated battle never came as Phil ran dry and let me in for a somewhat hollow win. I can honestly say Phil I was genuinely gutted when you pulled over as an exciting finish was in prospect.

I think my son George must bring me luck, on the day he was born I had a similar lucky win at Lakeside. Perhaps he should be my mascot strapped to the front of the BT24 :)

I know what you mean. The Works drivers clearly have the resources and all have Recaro racing seats. I have to nick one of the kitchen chairs and shove the sofa up... My cheeks are numb before the race starts and the cushion that protects my back usually slips off and falls under the pedals... :(

and some, or all,  are ex Stigs 

My derrier is OK but i do get the occasional pain in the neck , usually when h.i.d. is around and wants me to turn the noise off  :P

I don't mind fifty minute races as I think it brings more variables into play such as concentration, consistency, looking after the car and so on. Being the quickest helps but it doesn't always mean you will win.

That said I am usually in back pain by the time the race ends as I tend to get quite tense when driving, and my seat isn't the best.

I'd recommend you guys try an inexpensive office chair.  They're designed for long periods in front of a computer screen.  And provided they don't roll away with you, you can then crash and burn in comfort. :'(

I didn't practice at all before yesterday evening, as I know the track really well.
I wasn't sure about the car, then I realised that my PB with Eagle was really high so I decided to try with it.
I shaved, even better I cut, more than one second and half from my PB and I started from 2nd place: I could do even better but I concentrated myself on the race pace for most of the qualify time.
I didn't want to have a race start as in Brands Hatch, so I was very carefully on the green flag while Sky was flying with the white whale!!
Probably I arrived too long at the loop with cold tyres, and I went wide...
Then a Shift + r followed by stop'n'go but after few kilometers the Weslake decided to say goodbye and I had to quit...
What's to say more?
Grats to Sky for setting the pole time when I was dreaming about a hat trick  ;D
Grats to Ross for his win
Grats to everybody raced: it's really nice to see a nearly full grid!
Last, but not leats, thx to the admins for the race organization
CU all in Brazil

Hmm - refer to Bernie's reference to h.i.d (Himmler in drag presumably  :D). I COULD get an Office Chair but it would have to co-ordinate with Calico White (tm)...

As for race length, mine is usually over by lap 3 so I am not too worried.

I guess 30' qualify and 45' races is really a good compromise

At GPFun we start the server for qualify at 45' and races are 90' long... (tonight at Silverstone!)

Jason, I guess you need a more comfortable chair :wheelchair:

LOL - GPFun really ought to be renamed GP Torture and you guys are seriously quick. Might see if the wife will let me join in...

Well, i have no problem with long races... I have a normal office chair too.

About the race itself... Honda wasn't easy, I got nice setup with perfect tyre heating, and that pole was still freaking hard to get... Honda actually is the car enjoy driving most, feels so damn cosy... until the moment it decides to swap sides. So i got 3 spins on the loop, 1 spin on the last turn and 1 shift'r... not really a chance for a decent place, but atleast I had some nice fights on the way, this is what matters.

A hairy moment with Hendy on the loop... I was closing in, and braked way earlier than usial, not knowing when hendy would brake... But he slid off to the outside, and I had nowhere to go but the inside... and then i saw him flying off. Seems a wrap contact, I didnt feel a thing and you seemed quite far from me...sorry nonetheless.

I wrote "I could have won" not "I should have won".
Even if english is not my natural language, I think there is a nuance ;)

Phil, you should have won ...if you had enough fuel !
Sky, you should have won ...if your car was more easy to drive
and I COULD have won if Nigel did not spin and  if Billy had brakes ;)

But finally, there is only one great winner, Grats to Ross !  

Are you sure its not natural calico, also known as 0805-y26r   --- guess who sells paint for a living  ::)

As for my seat - it is an office chair with adjustable back support etc etc, chosen specifically with GPL in mind.....
 

Personally I think the race distances are about right. Part of the fun of GPL is to that we build in the challenge of concentration, looking after car & tyres & (for some) dealing with backmarkers. Full GP distance at Watkins is 108 laps - so we're doing less than half of what they did in real life.

Enjoyed this race, even though I've never been a huge Glen fan. I'd made some small changes to the cars setup after a discussion with JR and had posted an 06.15 on the practice server chasing Atillio. Thanks John, golden advice once more. The downside, this was the third distraction from my family in 2 races....the other half ruined my OAO race Saturday night and almost ended another drivers race by wandering into my darkend room, unseen, at nearly 3am, lifting my headset at prattling on about nothing much important....just as I was attempting to outbrake a rival into Stowe. The resulting break in concentration caused an accident.
Same in this race, not one...but two interruptions, both causing spins and this time thankfully not involving other drivers. The car was great, and after the first spin I managed to work my way back up toward the front. By the second interruption I was quite upset and lost more time....but drove pretty ordinarily after that...I'd been awake all night at work and fatigue....combined with sore butt and cramping brake leg, crept in with 10 to go and the laptimes dropped off. If I'd known that Phil was struggling for fuel I'd have pushed a bit harder....but I'm running races with Prib off to preserve frame rate. Had some quite hairy moments stumbling across the aftermath of other drivers spins, accidents etc. However unlike poor Dave Rainier, this time I managed to not become involved.
Without a doubt the best race of the season with any one of the top 6 in qually capable of taking the silverware. All in all I was happy with the car and most of the drive, and pleased to get a podium after all the outside interference.
Ross was the most consistent driver on the day, thoroughly deserving his win. And Phil perhaps won't commit a 'Blito" and underfuel his car anymore this season....bad luck mate, you drove well enough to have won by a street. Must admit I was a bit disappointed for Fabio watching him disappear off at the loop on L1, after the sterling effort he'd put in qualifying. Keep it up mate you'll get there.
On to Brazil and Interlagos....

LOL dont they allow leg irons anymore in Oz then  ;D

Incident reports need to be in by tomorrow night please.

Mod published.

Thx for your job Ross