SimRacing.org.uk

Season 24 Works Trophy (67) - Round 9 - Rouen-Les-Essarts

For round 9 we remain in France and travel about 300 miles north west up to Rouen-Les-Essarts.  In the 1950s and 60s this track was widely regarded as one of the finest in Europe.  The French Grand Prix was first held at Rouen-Les-Essarts in 1952 before the track was lengthened and  the Grand Prix held there again in 1957, 1962, 1964 and 1968.  It is the lengthened circuit that we will be racing on tonight.  The 1962 race was won by Dan Gurney, his first Formula 1 victory and the one and only win for Porsche.  The 1964 race was again won by Dan Gurney this time driving a Brabham-Climax.  The final grand prix in 1968 was won by Jacky Ickx but it will always be remembered for the fatal accident involving Jo Schlesser. 

Race List = IGOR
Server = UKGPL_GPG
IP address = 62.195.2.111
Race date = 19-05-2013
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 = Rouen-Les-Essarts
Variant = 67F1
Damage Model = PRO
Race length = 50 minutes (laps 25)
Password: see above (#post_event_password)
Replays Available here (http://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/inc_replaysS24_js.aspx)
Driver lists and token rules can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=387&theme=6)
The track can be downloaded from : N/A (Papyrus Original)
The full time drivers can start to practice as soon as the server is available.  Reserve drivers can also join as soon as the server becomes available but must leave the server with 35 minutes of qualifying left, for a total of 5 minutes; this will allow any remaining full timers to join.  If there is enough space on the grid, the reserve drivers will be able to rejoin when there are 30 mins of qualifying left. 

Please restrict chat to pit messages including at the end of the race until ALL drivers still racing have crossed the line.

The race will be run under PRO rules so no resets are allowed.

The chassis token system is explained on the Works standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=387&theme=6). 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.

Moderating 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 the hairpin at Nouveau Monde. Other moderation will be on reported incidents only.  However any incidents that occur in the red zone that are not reported by the drivers will be reported by the moderator.  This will allow all affected drivers the opportunity to present their case before the incident is moderated.  This should ensure there are no surprises when the moderator's report is published and hence appeals will be less likely.  If you haven't received a PM about an incident before the link below the results table is removed, you can be sure that you will not appear in the moderator's report.

GPG server is set for 25 laps Long race and listening on Igor.
Ciao

I've mentioned before that I was in Rouen a few weeks ago. Thought I'd show you what Rouen looks like today..

Never shared pics like this before, so apols if this doesn't work out well (there appears to be a sizing issue too - kinda spoils the pic of Nouveau Monde). They were taken on a camera phone, so pic quality ain't great. I took with me some pages I downloaded some time ago from a GPL site called lugnutsracing.com (don't look, its gone..). Chris Hall visited Rouen in the early 2000s and did a more comprehensive summary of the track than I was able to. 

Most of the track is still there, but the section between Gresil and Scierie was destroyed when a new motorway was built at the start of the 70s. I think Scierie might technically be under the roundabout that greets you as you exit the Autoroute. However, as you enter the circuit (then as now, actually public roads) from the Autoroute out of central Rouen, a familiar sight greets you..

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pBBukzSe8AA/UZe67moAsoI/AAAAAAAAABE/8bq38gCXwM8/s128/1.%20Antenna%20Paradis.jpg)

Then, sadly you come down to where the pits used to be. According to Chris's article, they were only demolished a few years ago... As you can see, the area is used for timber storage...

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ztAtPZd3y0Y/UZe65SRKYGI/AAAAAAAAAA8/kZwRvg-O8Y0/s128/2.%20Rouen%20Pits%202013.jpg)

Turning towards the track at the pit exit, this is pretty much where the S/F line was, and you can see the dip for the first right hander. All this downhill section towards Nouveau Monde has (I think) been widened, and has the centre bollards most of the way down, which make it a very leisurely descent - hard to imagine the speed the 60s racers could achieve, and how badly that ended for some at Six Freres.

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-JFQiLrO6DXY/UZe68yfDLDI/AAAAAAAAABM/t-mCz_UDkq8/s128/3.%20Rouen%20Exit%20Pits.jpg)

The left hander that will catch you out braking for Nouveau Monde  ;D

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-INqE75fRRhg/UZe7AfN3Y2I/AAAAAAAAABc/Mf4LcIr2TmU/s128/4.1%20Towards%20Nouveau%20Monde%20from%20Six%20Freres.jpg)

This next pic needs no introduction...

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-kbHmtu4Q5Lw/UZe6_QOD1XI/AAAAAAAAABU/iO6rjPQRfE8/s128/4.%20Noveau%20Monde.jpg)

The apex of the corner near the red sign is all broken tarmac, with large pieces of the layer below clearly visible. Did wonder if it dated from the 60s........Note how much narrower this side of the track is - properly scary at any speed!

Sansom, where Innes Ireland once crashed through the barriers and disppeared (no-one saw it happen), appears to be more cambered than in the track we know. As you exit Beaval (see pic below) in GPL, you'll be trying to straighten it up and get on with it, but that's where things start to change.

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mW77ykpaqEM/UZe7BKu5-jI/AAAAAAAAABk/A0Ht0Ga373I/s128/5.%20Rouen%2072%20-%20Halfway%20between%20Beaval%20and%20Gresil.jpg)

After the Autoroute was opened the circuit turned right into the forest, and that's what you see on the left hand side of the picture. The next pic shows the small grass banking that stops you taking this turn..

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-67PXbxVnjmI/UZe7B9d9D5I/AAAAAAAAABs/kUIWHTA4UCU/s128/6.%20Blocking%20off%20Rouen%2072.jpg)

and the next, more shocking pic, shows you how there's nothing to turn into anyway, as the forest has swallowed the track. In his article, Chris Hall suggested if you visit that you scrape some of the moss off the visible tarmac to save it for posterity a little longer. I duly obliged...

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-iIDlbFdX88Q/UZe7CooUBnI/AAAAAAAAAB0/kGZfEpG_aiY/s128/7.%20Rouen%2072%20towards%20Gresil.jpg)

There is a higher grass banking blocking off the path of the 67 track - it was tempting to go up there for a look at GPL speeds, but the weather and a large group of Sunday cyclists helped persuade me not to risk it, so that's where the picture show stops. You can follow the road away from the track and into the town of Grand-Couronne, but I turned round and had another look at the circuit in reverse before heading into Rouen for a coffee.

I cannot see your pictures, Arf  :(


Some interesting comments about Rouen track  from Trevor Taylor :
http://www.thegreenhell.com/rouen_trevor.php

I was afraid that might happen....I used Dropbox, guess that doesn't work....grrr. Will do some research..

..I've moved them to Picasa..and now they are too small. Any ideas???

Perhaps you can simply link to an album where we can browse the photos?

"The bales detached the left-hand wheels and suspension arms whilst the Frenchman's privately entered Lotus ripped off the others and I began my slowing down lap accelerating towards the 'chicken's lift' in a cigar-shaped bobsleigh. "

Sounds like what happens in GPL!  :o

Fascinating reading , thank you so much for posting that David  :)

Fair enough....
https://picasaweb.google.com/114498079021734562835/GPL

Thanks for that. I really enjoy races that last 250m...........

That was a very fast race.  I knocked a second off my PB (in any chassis) and it still wasn't enough to stay on touch.  I did have a couple of spins and the pile up at the start delayed me (I had to pick my way through the debris) but that was incidental.  I just wasn't fast enough.  Grats to Hristo on yet another win (but moderation pending, the title is now out of reach) and to David for getting the better of me in our own private battle.

In fact moderation pending, Attilio has won the championship.  He can't be caught now.  Well done Attilio.

I was pretty sure of that, so grats to Attilio for the title!  ;)

Pleased with that race - not my best result of the season but certainly my best drive. Initially I struggled to put a lap together in qualifying but that was largely down to a group of cows that had all decided to gather outside my window & stare in at me blankly! (That's got to be up there with best excuses in GPL history...) A quick dash across the room to close the curtains did the trick - I managed a PB in qualifying which meant I would line up 3rd just ahead of Clive (which turned out to be rather fortunate as the start turned out).

I tried to hang on to Art's tail during the opening laps but despite being in slower cars both him & Hristo were going at a rapid pace & gradually pulling away. Having blown a couple of engines in practice I was also wary of overcooking the revs in the fragile Lotus, but any fantasies of settling back for a nice comfy cruise to third were dispelled by Bartosz, who after getting delayed at the start was now only a couple of seconds behind & pursuing me hard. It proved to be a relentless battle - me & Bart were matching each other lap after lap (GPLRA shows that less than 0.1 of a second separated us in race laptime consistency!) so even the smallest mistake would have settled it, but neither of us put a wheel wrong. Great driving Bartosz.

Congrats to H on the win & very well done Art on the title.

LOL Clive. Indeed a very short race also for me. I was involved in the pile up. When I put the gear to restart my car didn't want to move. A quick view to F10 showed that I had no more rear tires and my engine was sitting on the tarmac.  :o 
Luckily I was near the ambulance  ;D
Ciao

it takes great skill to setup a car that oversteers in a straight line Clive . I’m guessing that your going to the headmasters office to have the book thrown at you , bet he's already looked up Racing Etiquette and "When starting, each driver must make sure they keep their car straight and fully in control." .

Well it was fully under control..........just not under MY control!!

 I quickly watched the replay to see who had pushed me into the bales and I realise that I had over egged the wheelspin off the grid and should have backed off the gas before things got squirmy.

Big round of applause to Art for the championship and some seriously fast races. :clap: :notworthy: :clap: :notworthy: :clap: :notworthy:

Well, I am not quite sure how this came to happen, but still I will take and bag it, thankyouverymuch  :-*. I think I maximized all my chances, exception made for binning it all by myself in the first race, which is rather unusual for me (the maximizing, not the binning..). Hope to see JB back next season, so that H can actually be forced to earn those wins  ;), alongside with some of those rather quick works' drivers who are currently disguising in Privs  8).

As for my race, I drove like Ronnie's granny, as this track is a minefield, and also, although the Ferrari is my favourite amongst the 67s cars, she is a bitch of a car and has cruelly betrayed me one too many times, so I decided I wasn't going to irritate her being even only reasonably demanding on the engine...Had a couple of close encounters with a recovering Hristo, and even found myself into the lead for one lap or so, but I kept my eyes on sealing the championship (with a helping hand from Clive. Perfectly executed, my envelope should be with you in no time... ;)) and just drove it home, really. Sometimes I think H is crashing out of sheer boredom  ::).

Grats to Hristo for the win, and podium and finishers.

I might be wrong, but I'm not so sure about Arts championship. Afther dripping the second worst result(first was dropped automatically) difference between Attilio and Andy is 45 pts. Witch means that if Andy wins at Brands and Attilio finish lover than 16, Andy will be our new champion. Piece of cake  ;)

On the other hand, I'm quite sure that for the fourth time(and third time in a row) The Teams Championship was won by the mighty Clark-Hill Racing :D On that glorious occasion I'd like to thank my teammates for their hard work and congratulate to all our opposition for great season.

But I hope you all know that resistance is useless :lol:


In qual I had a lot of weird technical problems with my wheel and PC. Somehow I've managed to sort it out and start driving. My time wasn't very good, but I was too stressed to make any good laps.
Start was quite interresting, with all those cars spinning around me, but some how I was able to get out of there without any damage. I've found myself few seconds behind Al and with Bobs Ferrari just behind me. Afther some time Ferrari was gone. I knew that Al and I have similar race pace, so instead of settling in 4th, I've decided to push and made Al earn that 3rd spot ;)


Lol, once I've ended my race, because of mosquito :lol:
(http://simracing.pl/panel/images/gallery/images/seasons/00000003/00000061/00001027/600_00005350.jpg)

Yeah, but in that case I would be dropping the Brands' points (or no points..), and keep all the points I have now. By winning, Andy could match my points, but I would have more wins. In any case theres still moderation of two races to be published, so it might well be that I need to cross the start line at Brands before celebrating. Might do some donuts there and then if I cant restrain myself (any reference to actual facts happened in the past is purely coincidental  ;D ;D).

Lol, I haven't thought about that :lol: In that case, grats Art ;)

Oh Clive! How evil of you.

I managed to qualify with a new pb (the old one lasting from 2005) just in front of bunch of very closely matched cars, which is not my usual position.
It all went great for a few yards until Clive dashed across to remove my front right wheel.

I had a lot of similar bad luck last season, but I have been very lucky this time giving me an unfeasible position in the championship. I expect Clive will lose a place or two in moderation and I will gain one, meaning that I can technically win the championship at Brands. That's really not going to happen and it was not going to happen whatever happened at Rouen as I had to drop points. Even if I managed 5th or 6th here, Art would still only have to turn up at Brands to win.

Grats to Art the champ.

Gran was away for this race which left me to deal with the slowing pack at the start. No doubt she would have found a way through but not having her reactions I got involved and managed to end my race before it had even started. I was relieved to see Bob escape after I had hit him.
Grats to the podium of Hristo, Art and Al.

Grats to Attilio on the championship (subject to maths and moderation).

By the way Art, Gran says you did good this season as well  :wheelchair:

I had to let my Gran drive for this race. Wiser pair of hands. Have to say, mine is quicker than yours though  ;D

Yeah, 'interesting' start that, total chaos (having caused similar incidents I was at least pleased not to have triggered this one!).  As Ronnie says he hit me, but unfortunately that pushed me into my teamie Arf and somehow flipped him, warp induced by the look of it, though I was plugged in.

It felt surreal to drive through the aftermath and start racing...but that I did.  I was reasonably close to Bartoz and was feeling okay but then started to struggle down into the new world hairpin, something I hadn't had problems with during praccy.  After more issues Clive passed me but soon after went out and I was a ways back from Bart but running a similar pace.  Pretty boring race from thereon-in...more spins and moments ensuring I finished a minute down...but retained my 5th position.

I narrowly set a new pb during praccy at 1:56.5 but couldn't get close in qual through small mistakes, even so I thought my 1:57.3 would be worthy of a higher slot than 9th!  I was surprised by the very fast pace, but I rarely drive Rouen, so perhaps I need more praccy.

Grats to Art for c'ship and H for the win...stunning pace.

Bob.

That's exactly why I crashed, but it's your fault - you drove at half pace! After a thrilling qualifying I was expecting something else in the race...  >:( ;)

Yeah, I saw you all racey when you had to retake the lead and create some buffer after that. It reminded me of those old martial art B movies when the guys jump and yell around for ten minutes before actually starting a fight. I was like 'ok kid, now move on and get lost, I have some work to do here.. 8)'. Lets see if tonight we can do any better. Pick a slow car... ;D

I wasn't really racey, it's just that my rear tires were slightly overheated, so the car was moving around more than usual, plus that's how I drive it anyway. I also had to catch your slipstream in the right spot and make my attack at the right moment. As soon as you started losing ground in the early laps, I was well aware you were just driving for the finish. For tonight, I'm stuck in a slow car anyway.  ::)

Well that was good for the first hundred metre dash I've taken part in! It took me a while to register that something was fluffed in front and I aimed for a gap that wasn't there out of instinct. Said instinct (taken straight from the Trevor Taylor book of driving) took a couple wheels off and left me stranded. Just once can I have a decent 67 race?

Grats H and Art.