SimRacing.org.uk

THIS POST IS FOR THE LIGHT & HEAVY RACES
Round nine of the race of the Formula 2 championship will be at Monza, a Papyrus original & one of the true classic circuits. Monza was due to be race 10 but the Zandvoort was rescheduled & will be run 7 days after Monza – mark your diaries. (Just to confirm that GPL is a proper sport we won’t be having any stupid rules like double points for the last race).

The Championship Table can be found here F2 Trophy  (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=405&theme=6).  Both Heavy & Lights division will run as a mixed grid.
No handicaps apply everyone has a free choice of chassis.

A maximum of one reset is allowed per race & must be followed by a compulsory Stop & Go in the pit lane within two laps of the Reset. If you Reset on the last lap & cannot take a Stop & Go a 15 second time penalty will be awarded.

Incidents should be reported in the usual way.
In line with other divisions the races will be subject to full moderation in the red zone which will be up to the exit of the second Lesmo turn. The Moderator may chose to investigate any other incident, in addition to reported incidents & red zone incidents.

Race List = IGOR
Server = UKGPL7  
Race date = Sunday 15-12-2013
Time = 21:00 UK time (21:00 GMT)
Track = Monza
Race length = 25 laps
Variant = 1967 Formula 2
Damage Model = Intermediate
Qualifying time = minimum of 30 minutes

Hi guys,

just want to say hi to the F2 Trophy drivers. I'm Rob, from Groningen, the Netherlands; do have a vast experience racing online, but not in the last 6 1/2 years. So, being a bit rusty, I will take the Cooper to be sure not to interfere with the championship contenders (BT14 is just too slow), if there's a spot in the race being reserve.

Have tried to meet some drivers on the track, hosting a few Monza sessions, but not much activity. Missed Marco when he went on my local server. Thanks to Gareth for answering questions in #ukgpl, and thanks to Billy to allow me to join the last 2 races as a reserve.  :)

I'm familiar with the rules and GPL's (n)etiquette and all set to go. Also I'm prepared to stay in your draft if and when I can hold it  ;D Looking forward to meet you all off and on the track to have some fun  8)

Regards,
Rob

Welcome, Rob!  :)

CYA on track soon!

Doni

Welcome Robert. I hope you enjoy the racing and the fun.

You are right about the BT14 ( and the Ferrari!) they are significantly slower than the rest. The Cooper is the next step up the performance ladder and after that there are not any big differences, although I think that the Matras are generally considered as the quickest cars. But with draft around Monza it will be difficult for any car to get away.

Holy Smokes!  CLIVE!  I just checked the Team standings a moment ago.  Blue Moose is P2 in the standings and not THAT FAR off the lead?  You can count on me to be at my best in the remaining two rounds.  :)

Indeed! what we may lack in numbers compared to the other teams, we will make up in quality!!................perhaps??!!  ::). So a plan to produce a guaranteed  1 - 2  finish would be good Doni. lol :shifty:

T7 server is set for 25 laps Long race and listening on Igor in Consolle session with OpenGL_V2.
Ciao

Two disconnections in two races.........

Had a pretty exciting race.  Great dice with David and Roberto until David was discoed (I think).  Then had to hang on for the last few laps, the evil one was closing me down!

Didn't have a good drafting lap in quali, but was happy to be in P5. Had a great start and went to P2 before Curva Grande, but sadly outbraked myself first in the first Lesmo, and then on the outside  on cold tires in Parabolica when a few Matra's tried to pass, in lap 1  :-X

Then it was a matter to try to climb up, and it looked like Clive would lead the way, until he ran into problems I think. Caught up with Dean, but hit the curb in Curva Grande and went into the wall...could get back to Dean, and we changed positions for a while until he hit the curb in Parabolica trying to hold his inside line, and I think together with a bit of warp his left rear hit my right front and I went (didn't get stuck) into the hedges. Just a racing incident I guess...

As I refuse to use shift-r, (in hindsight I should have driven out of the hedges, there seemed to be no damage according to mechanical report, but in my mind the engine was gone as the sound was gone :-\) I decided to retire. Was fun until it lasted, a bit disappointed with myself for the (stupid) mistakes though....should have taken the Cooper after all as I didn't have enough laps with the BT23, and my 5th gear seemed to be too long (edit: it seemed to be too short even...only ran F2 for 2 weeks, and yet have to learn it's secrets, like max torque and optimal shifting revs and such)...ah well, lessons learnt ;)

Looking forward to Zandy, my hometrack, very technical but beautiful track, and hope to have a clean race  :) Thanks all for racing and congrats to Piero and podium, well done to the finishers! :)

I got a good start and jumped a few people as we headed down to T1. Coming into the corner I stayed tight on the inside and backed off just a tad to ensure I didn't rear end anyone. That unfortunately allowed Cookie to come up on me on the outside, and in my blind spot. We touched as we left T1, and the resulting shunt looks to have taken about 7 cars out.....Sorry for my part in that, but I had no idea Cookie was there. I have watched the replay, and for the entire duration of the corner right up until he appears beside my left tyre a nano second before the shunt I could not see him in my mirrors......

That, and an off on cold brakes the next lap must have left me dead last, but I could see a pack of cars ahead, and I slowly pulled them in. On Lap 9 I saw Clive exit the pits, presumably after a Shift+R, and wasn't surprised to see him right behind me soon after. I thought he'd pass me and disappear, but it turns out we weren't to be split by more than 100ft for the rest of the race. It was really good fun constantly drafting each other and watching for cheeky outbrakings at some corners. We started off fighting for P15 but a combination of others' misfortune and us helping each other along allowed us to catch lots of car and pass. I think Clive could see I was cautious entering Parabolica and regularly overtook me there, although I could get past on the main straight. If only I'd blocked him there on the last lap I might have bagged P6 instead of P7!!

Anyway, good fun Clive, thanks

Arf

Well, the inevitable T1 shunt came as expected and I nearly avoided it all but found myself launched but after a few seconds spinning found myself round the corner and point at Lesmo 1.

12th. Nice. Tried to keep it nice and steady and it was all OK for a while. Had a short battle with David until a small mistake at Lesmo 1 lost me the draft and then battled with Natan who was easy to pass due to his lower top speed. That was fun and it was going well until Arf and Evil caught me. Colin made a tight pass into Curva Grande which made it difficult for me to judge the braking point - wanted to keep wide for Clive and ended up riding the rails... survived only to have a horrible spin at Lesmo trying to keep out of the way. That put me dead last but close to Bill. Was looking forward to a race with him which lasted until Parabolica when I just carried too much speed under draft and went wide. A trip to the beach late I was a long way back. Natan was 700 yards ahead but catchable as he was down on top line speed. Chased him again and caught him again. Candy from the baby on the start/finish straight and then neat and tidy until the finish.

Good fun overall and no major errors although I should have managed to finish a half a minute quicker than I did....

The overwhelming and lasting impression that I'll take away from this event is one of utter dismay at the driving tactics of some members.  One, in particular, cost me a chance at a run for a podium slot.  Another clubbed me over the wall at Lesmo1 on Lap5 and doesn't even deign to mention it in a post above.  It's especially galling as this individual is driving for the lead team in the F2 championship hunt and my team is trying to catch them.  Grrr...

Doni – please use the incident reports system. It won’t restore your chance of podium but the penalty system can rebalance the points.

As a general issue an apology to Maddog, who posted a very respectable time (3rd in Qually at the time) but withdrew due to an overflowing grid. The driver entries are very skewed towards the Lights – most events we have only had about 4 Heavy drivers & one server has been enough.
The final race is at Zandvoort next Sunday – to make room we will run this as two grids so I hope the Heavy drivers will turn up in force.

Monza can be fun & I had a really good dice with Rog – actually two separate contests due to me looking at Prib rather than my braking point into Parabolica about half way through. That put me about 10 secs behind Rog & took until the last lap work myself into a position to get a decent tow – into the Parabolica side by side – Rog had a better line & held on to 10th place. As has been said before a few laps close is great fun whether you are at the front, middle order or the back.

Have to Thank Maddog for my race, in igor looking at a full server then the join button came on with 3 mins left. Last place on grid but had a good start, nudged into rails at curve grand, then kicked again at crash at della roggia, lucky car came out ok, had some good racing with Billy laps 8 to 12 then he lost it at parabolica, he caught up with me again on last lap but i just managed to cross the finish line ahead.

I maybe should have used a Matra here, their top speed does make a big difference around Monza, but what the heck! I like a challenge!!

I also figured that provided that I had the right gearing I would be able to draft along behind any faster cars anyway.

6th on the grid did not particularly bother me, although once you are in the pack there is always the chance of becoming involved in other drivers misfortunes. I got a good start and closed rapidly on Robert Teso, who appeared to bog down slightly. I looked for a space but as I went for the outside he eased back across and I had to put a couple of wheels on the grass to avoid him. No complaints from me, that is racing.
But my lift allowed just about everyone to stream pass before Curve Grande...Rats!!

Then I seem to recall a punt up the rear which dropped me further back, before the T1 "incident" which regained me a few places. Gradually I hauled myself back up through the field and by lap 8 was beginning to think I might get close to the front if I could just keep getting the tow from other cars. My Brab was definitely quicker through the Lesmos and into Parabolica than most other drivers which helped me get into the "zone" for a tow.
I had just passed Natan on the approach to Para when I saw yellow flags and a couple of cars definitely NOT where you would expect them to be. i took the inside line into Para and had just poured on the gas for the wide line around the exit before I realised that the car in front was going much slower than me AND right across the path that my Brabham was expecting to take. I backed off but it totally upset the balance of the car and I got into a tank slapper that I just could not hold  :-\. Normally i would have opted to go wide and risk the grass and gravel, but I could not control the direction of the car.
I missed that slow moving car, but it seems that Natan was caught out by my wildly fishtailing car and we both ended upside down.

Apologies to Natan for inadvertantly involving him in my accident, but once I lifted off the gas the car had a mind and direction of its own.
I used the S/R and then a SnG , which dropped me waaaay back down the field. The rest of the race was fun as I caught Colin and his ruddy "too fast" Matra. For the rest of the race it was a cat and mouse game of slipstreaming and late braking as we hauled in and passed several other cars until it became obvious that we were disputing 6th and 7th.
I had already tested the demon last lap move into Parabolica several laps earlier and knew that if could lead into the bend I could just hold off that Matra to the line....but only just!!! So I had to be sure that Colin had the lead exiting Lesmos and that I was set for a draft pass into Parabolica. Well it all worked like a charm  ;D and I stole 6th place from a very quick Colin.

Grats to the podium and all the finishers.
This was a full grid and a race where cars are very equal in performance, so the first lap was sure to be tight.
But guys, on a circuit like Monza and with the draft available in F2's NO-ONE, but NO-ONE, is going to get away unless the pack falls over itself behind!! Any of the cars can pull back a 100mtr lead easily so why risk so much in the first few corners. An incident and a spin will lose you 300mtrs and that means you WILL lose the draft. Backing out of a risky move and playing safe would cost you 50 mtrs which you will easily pull back on the next straight. I know the red mist of competition can blur the best of intentions, but it can also spoil your chances in a race at a circuit like Monza. The only lap that will count is the LAST lap.

...and today is another day...

I've simmered down from my post of last evening and will not be filing any reports.  I realize that none of the goings on were intentional.  The incident that sent me on top of the guardrail in Lesmo1 was a pure accident resulting from another's error(rode over the kerb in Lesmo1 and bounced wide into my Lola)but that doesn't alter the fact that it may have cost my team a clear shot at the F2 title.  Still, I'm disappointed by the skills exhibited by at least one driver whom should no better from all his experience.  Why, in heavens name, would a driver, in the middle of a tight, three-car sandwich, push so hard to the point of losing control in Lesmo2 when slipstreaming was the obvious order of the day?  I posted above re 'tactics' when I really should use the word 'skills'.  This faux pas allowed DeanL, the ultimate 3rd place finisher, to breakaway and the time I lost in avoiding the spinner(I was momentarily lodged in the hedge on the exit of Lesmo2)set me back to get involved in the Lesmo1 incident a couple of laps later.  Sigh...  Just boggles my mind.

But like I said in the lead of this post.  Today is another day...

:)

Did notice in the replay I did pass Natan under yellow flags. Missed the yellow flag in Ascari, and passed him towards Parabolica, where I did notice the yellow flag...

Might have been the red mist as Natan put a (very, edit: not very, I think Natan was focussing on trying to pass the Evil, but it forced me to lift in order to avoid mayhem) dangerous late block on me just before Curva Grande in the same lap. However, it wasn't intentional to pass under yellow, sorry for that and I accept any penalty on that.

Also I did accidently join initially with the Cooper, when I wanted to join with the BT23. I ran a lap in practise and was wondering why I was so slow, lol. So I did rejoin with the BT23. Also sorry for that...

Nice race and pleasant battle with Phil and Roberto ...until I was disconnected.  :(

 

I will register with the heavies so that I can race at Zand. However, I do not mind waiting for next season if you think that it is best. Thanks, Walt

Get in there Mr C.

Experimented a bit making a video. Bear with me, I'm on an old P4 XP machine right now, so it's a lo-res 4:3 shaky 25FPS video. However, I think it gives a good impression about the great action going on around me. Enjoy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD8o_uQm1WY

Very Good Robert, quite enjoyed that...except for the tank slapper!!  :-\

Thanks, I understand, didn't enjoy my off in Parabolica in lap 1 as well  :-\ However, watching the whole replay brought a big smile on my face. I'm glad I decided to race again online, it's so much fun.  8)

Final mod of Season 25 published.

Grats Paul!  A monumental effort completed just in time for the new season.

It just remains for me to close of the second Season of F2 racing by congratulating our winners
LIGHTS
1st Evil Clive, 2nd Samb & 3rd Dean Logan / Team - Blue Moose

HEAVY
1st David Rainier, 2nd Dave Curtis & 3rd Rog UK / Team Black Night.

.... season 26 is on the way.