SimRacing.org.uk

Season 25 Novices and Intermediates Trophy - Round 10 - Monza

Final Round. Monza. Classic, great racing. Nothing more to say!

NB. There is ONE grid for both the Novices and the Intermediates

The Novices and Intermediate Trophies will remain sharing a grid until further notice.

In view of the relatively small grids across two championships, handicapping makes little sense so all drivers have a FREE choice of car.

Note that your Chief Mod has been a little careless in his driving and will not be permitted to set a qualifying time due to amassed penalty points. Kindly, nobody has pointed out that this is the second Novices race at Monza that this has happened :(

Race List = IGOR
Server = UKGPL_T7
IP address = 62.149.202.168
Race date = 17-12-2013
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 = Monza (Papy)
Variant = 65F1 - the 2.02 Release of the 65mod should be used
Damage Model = INT
Race length = 40 minutes (laps 25)
Password: see above (#post_event_password)
Replays Available here (http://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/inc_replaysS25_js.aspx)

65 Patch: The 2.02 Release of the 65mod can and should be used. You need a working installation of the 65 mod to install the 2.02 Update. All the 65 Mod files can be found here (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/Mods/1965)

Driver lists can be found on the Novice (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R;group=406) and Intermediate (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R;group=407) championship standings pages.

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.

Intermediate drivers are limited to ONE reset. Novices have unlimited resets but EACH Shift-R MUST be followed within TWO laps by a Stop 'n' Go.

Moderating The red zone will be fully moderated for lap 1 only. For this event the red zone will be the first lap up to and including Parabolica.

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.

Password: see above (#post_event_password)

Congrats to Rog for beating Al by 0.00 secs, looking forward to watching that replay.....

..less so the start. I was a little surprised to get pole with a high 136.9, as I'd seen better in practice races, but I'll take it. I'd been chatting to Al after the last warm up race, and he mentioned he was in a 3-horse race for the Novices title. He told me he'd be cautious. I was therefore a little alarmed when I found myself going towards T1 side by side with him. Fortunately for Al the gods of GPL decided that my engine had been too reliable and cast a thunderbolt down upon me. This was a real issue. I could immediately see that I was being swamped by ...well everyone except Al, so when I saw a gap halfway through the corner I moved over to the far side and tried to hug the wall and keep out of the way..... but being L1 and everyone so close together, it was inevitable that someone got unlucky and took the wide exit... sorry to anyone affected.

After that it was a case of seeing what the draft could do for me. First up was Tony in a Lotus. The move took from before Serraglio to outbraking him at Parabolica. All very gentlemanly and safe and respectful, but if that was what it was going to take for one, I didn't have much hope for the race. Next was Billy (I think) who was flashing more than a pervert in a Mac on a dark night - no wonder he'd been connecting and disconnecting all through qually. One very nervous overtake later and I had some clear air to the next car...until I lost it at the Lesmos, and had to do both of them, again. After that it was red mist, and I was off lapping pretty consistently and doing what EvilClive did to me in the F2s on Sunday...aggressive braking into Parabolica to get past everyone I caught on the back straight. Really good fun. Eventually I could see the front 3, but I ran out of laps before I could get close and see that amazing finish between Rog and Al..

Will have to wait and see if I keep P3 after modding given I was the cause of the incident at T1, but it was a great race regardless. Well done to all, esp JP and Al, season 25 champs

Arf

Well. First things first and congratulations to Al and JP for their championship victories.

After that I don't know what to say. One of my better races with no mistakes and I finish last in my division <sigh>

Lap 1, Colin blows his engine  (and that is no fault on Colin's part so P3 should be safe!) and Boggy runs into the back of him and takes Bill and me out. I manage to get going and am clear in 6th and chasing Walter down. I was finding it hard to catch him when suddenly we come on DaveC who has had a problem. I use his draft to close up to Walt and pass him into Curva Grande. That was quite satisfying as I kept it neat and tidy but had the car under control. Caught Walt and started pressuring him. Put myself down the inside at Parabolica knowing that I could hold a tight line but I wasn't certain I could make it stick.

That became a moot point as Walter span right in to my path (serves me right for doing it to him on the Moon last Friday!). We both had to reset and as I left the pits I was looking at Boggy, Bill, Dave and Colin in a train. I wasn't too dismayed as I felt I could probably catch an pass those guys with the BRM top speed. Colin would be too tough but that would still be fifth.

Racing Boggy is really hard though. He blinks out and when I did pass him he warped into me. I caught him again and the same thing happened. This time he lost out.

That put Walter on my tail and we were nip and tuck for several laps. He just couldn't quite find a way past although it was only my better speed at Curva Grande and later braking at Parabolica that saved me. Felt better than Panchine for sure. He is always super fair and clean and I hop some of my more defensive lines were ok.

Enjoyed the season even if the results were not quite there.

JP and Colin might want to think about the Pros next year.

This division will run as the Amateurs with two classes - heavy and light. Have a think about where you would like to be and invite friends!

Any ideas for tracks, send me a PM.

Thanks for taking part.

Whoops.....forgot to say thanks to BB for running the show!

And yes, BB, I will *think* about the Pros :-)

Seriously though, it's been fun running in a series where I actually had a chance of running at the front, but I accept it might not be fair on others, so I will try the Pros next season (if I can, looks like work will take me away a fair bit). I suspect it might be a classic case of too fast for the one league, to slow for the other.........but hey...

Have to say I am relaxed about it Colin but I don't think the leap up is as stiff as you might think. Much more about being consistent. Ask Norm.

And thank you for the 'Thank you'. I still enjoy doing it.

Would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who makes GPL possible for all us mere mortals.
Even bigger thanks to Paul for running our series
A big sorry for being a phantom flasher in last nights race, a big apology to anyone whose race was spoiled
Big congrats to our champions and roll on Season 26!

Happy Christmas and New Year

Boggy

Very happy with the result last night, it has been a great season, and a very close one in the Novice championship. Well done to both Billy, and Walter it has been great racing with both of you, and I hope for more close racing in the years to come.

As for my race, I was excited about Monza, I love this track and practiced so much I was dreaming about this track :) I got a pretty good tow from Dave Rainer in qualifying, I’ve been much faster off line but I was happy with 2nd on the grid, and decided to concentrate on my race pace.

I did have an eye on the championship for this race, and talking with Arf before the race, I did say that I wasn’t going to race any intermediate drivers. However I have noticed in previous races that if you are slow at the start it’s asking for problems. I got a fantastic start, and was pretty much alongside Arf straight away, I thought I could get in front before braking for the corner, I left the inside clear for him just in case, but noticed that he dropped away. It’s such as shame that your engine blew, but it does look like you had a good race coming back.

Arf blowing up had messed up my plan, which was to let him past along the back straight and hoped that he drafted us both clear of the pack, where I wouldn’t have to risk anything being around other drivers. Well that plan was in the dust, I was first but the pack was very close behind me. The only driver in the pack that I was worried about was DaveC, as he was the only other novice driver. I decided to try to stay out in front and see if I could gap them. I couldn’t quite get away without taking too many risks, and in the end Rog got a great run on me, so I let him past. While I was wide Dave Rainer and DaveC both also got past. I followed these guys, repassing, and being past for the next few laps. Don’t know what happened to DaveC but all of a sudden he disappeared from the group.

With just Rog, and Dave Rainer, both intermediate drivers, for company I relaxed a little. I noticed on Prib that Arf and Walter was gaining on us, as we weren’t really going that fast at that stage. I was getting ready for a challenged from both of them. Again they pretty much disappeared from the radar, so I’m sure something happen. With only a handful of laps to go, and no pressure from behind I was pretty happy at this stage to run my own race and not risk anything. I let Rog and Dave Rainer past, and was happy to follow them. I noticed that Rog was pretty quick, and he started to break the tow he was giving to Rainer. I started to think about passing Dave again to keep myself in touch with Rog. With only a lap or two to go, I decided to go for it :) perhaps not the best idea I’ve ever had, but I wanted to race, rather than just drive home safely. So I gave it a good go, but Rog just had the edge in the end, by 0.003 seconds. It was a great finish to a great season for me.

Congrats to Rog for the race win, congrats to Johnny on the inter title and to everyone else who raced. I’ve very happy to finial win the Novice title, it’s only taken me 5 years, over 100 races and 9 seasons to do it :)

I took a screen shot from my reply of the finish, just to show how close it was  ;D

(http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa302/happyal27/Monza_zpsf43cb63f.jpg)

It looks like I missed a great race- really disappointed not to be there but some winter bug has gripped me. I put in plenty of practice and thought I could maybe do well.....never mind. I can't wait to see the replay- that is such a close finish.. I seem to remember a similar finish here between Dave R and someone else I can't remember. Congratulations to Rog on the win and also to Al who has driven well this season to take the championship..well done mate.

Thank you BB for running this for us and I wish everyone a happy Christmas.

I will think about moving up.

You are definitely good enough JP but it is nice to have a decent field as well.

Thanks to Paul for organising another great series.

I think I'll bow out of GPL now as I'm consistently slower than anyone else and I simply don't have the time to tweak setups and re-test ad-nauseum to shave off those missing seconds. I've enjoyed the cars (well the two that I chose anyway) and most of the circuits.

I really can't hack resets. Last night four guys crashed in front off me and three of them finished the race in front of me. This provides a lack of realism and does not inspire the individual to drive "better" (ok for me to try a risky pass in my fragile car cos if the worse comes to the worse I can have a magic reset and everything will be fine again).

Just my opinion of course, but get rid off reset's and I'd come back even if I did run last all race.

EDIT: Thinking about it, I could well join the Professional league, they also run on Tuesdays and they don't have resets.

Thanks for all the races this season. I always looked forward to racing against you. But I understand that it is impossible to find the time to do it all. One of these days I'll find the time to do a GTL race. Maybe on a week when the 65' cars are not racing.  :)

I used most of my practice time to make changes to the suspension when I should have done more experimenting with the gear ratios. I was a second slower than I wanted to be, but I knew that I could hold on with the help of the draft. My race strategy was to be cautious on the 1st lap, and to find a car to use as a drafting buddy. Paul had reeled in my car, and I knew that I needed to follow him to catch the front three cars. Unfortunately I made a huge mistake going into the Curva Parabolica on lap 14 I think. I looked in my mirror as I was braking which caused me to get a wheel in the grass, and spin in front of unlucky Paul. I am sorry for my mistake. After a shift-R and S&G, I set out to catch the group in front of me. I was able to follow Paul for the remainder of the race, and could not help but think of what could have been if I had not made that mistake. With two laps to go, I decided to see if I could work past Paul on any part of the track. I could get along side, but I could not brake late enough to make it stick. We had a nice last lap battle, and I had a smile on my face as the race came to an end. 

Congrats to Roguk and to Al for the fantastic race results. Thank you to Paul for organizing. and congrats to the season champions.   

I found that setup changes don't make a huge difference to lap time. I tend to use 1 setup for every race, the only real difference is gear ratios, and it only takes a couple of laps for me to set those. My advice is find a setup you can be constant with, and use it for every track, you're much better off being constant than being able to do one or two fast laps. It took me many season for that message to sink in with me.

Really, a nice and funny race with Dave C, RogUK and Happyal(astair) !
I was always able to follow them but never to overtake them, even with the famous Monza's slipstream !

My setup was probably too bad for that. 

Fantastic finish between RogUK and Alastair : 0,003 sec !! It was even better than the 1971 finish with Peter Gethin winner.

Well done Al on the Novices championship - you were consistently the quicker driver over the season & deserved it. I knew I would have to finish ahead of you to win the championship - so my best hope was really you putting a wheel in the gravel trap at Parabolica.
Not a great start, Boggy got trapped behind Arf's dying BRM & went sideways & I really couldn't react fast enough. The race was more or less over by then but kept interesting by some good racing in the middle order. Last few laps were tight with team mate Dave Curtis - side by side into Parablica on the last lap & he went over the finish line 0.011 ahead - not quite matching Al & Rog.
Great season - although the grids were a bit sparse for teh first few rounds.

Had to work hard last weeks and missed the last races. Grats to the winners and thank you everyone for the great races!

Season 26 will be here before you know it Ivan!

I think resets are like Marmite  ;D, you either like them or hate them.
 I guess it also depends upon your reasons for racing GPL? If you see it as a chance to have some fun throwing these old style cars around some famous circuits and that "floats your boat", then a reset or two is not going to matter.
If on the other hand, you are looking for the realism and thrill of racing in the 60's and want to be as true to how it was as you can get, then a reset  just shatters the realism.

They are invaluable when you are learning GPL or a new circuit, but personally I do feel that in a real (online) race it ought to be like it would in real life. If you blow your engine, remove a couple of wheels against the armco or make a serious attempt to re arrange the scenery then you should not expect to reach the chequered flag.
In some races we do allow resets for all, but I kind of feel slightly dishonest if I have to use it, and often my enthusiasm for the rest of the race is somewhat diminished. Whereas if I take a fragile, car such as the 67 Honda, and somehow compete at the sharp end AND preserve all the whizzy bits right up to the end of the race , it does give me a warm glow.

If you want to run in the PRO's next season Tony you might find that your approach serves you well. The level of competition is high, but because things are closer to the edge at the front, so is the attrition rate. So those who keep their cars in one piece often pick up places as the race progresses. I don't see that approach as "wrong" at all, because as in real life racing "to finish first ( or anywhere else) first you have to finish!"
There are no prizes for being blisteringly fast over 3 laps in a 25 lap race.But balancing your pace against survival is the key.

I hope you do try Pro's next season Tony as you might find the different ethos more to your liking and maybe can persuaded to fiddle with some setups lol!

I agree with all the points made in the above. For me it is about reaslism, within the confines of what GPL is capable of doing. I started with Novices because it seemed like the best place to begin my GPL career. After two seasons I think I know now how things work and although I'm slow I enjoy the racing a lot. I find the principal and operation of reset's ill placed in a racing sim although I get why their used, there just not for me. The Professional series also appeals now as they use one chassis for the whole season which is what I did previously in the Novices (again it's a realism thing).
Looking forward to the registration announcements  8)

A good and enjoyable race for me, using the draft with Al  Rainier and Dave C. we had lots of place changes. What a finish Al out braked me into Parabolica and was on outside, i came out of corner ahead but Al was carrying slightly more speed and acceleration and we crossed the finish line together.

Thanks 65 ints and 65 novs drivers for some great racing.

Thanks to Badblood for running series.

Grats to JP on ints championship win.

Grats to Al on novs championship win.

Mod published