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Season 28 Professionals Trophy - Round 4 – Charade

The Charade Circuit (also known as Circuit Louis Rosier and Circuit Clermont-Ferrand) is a motorsport race track in the Auvergne mountains in France near Clermont-Ferrand, the home of Michelin and Patrick Depailler.

Built in 1958 around the sides of an extinct volcano, the originally 8.055 km (5.005-mi) long Charade was described as an even twistier and faster version of the Nürburgring. Some drivers like Jochen Rindt in the 1969 French Grand Prix complained of motion sickness, and wore open face helmets, just in case. But 1970 was no better- Rindt was hit in the face by a rock, something that the circuit was usually littered with, and often caused punctures on the track.

In his 1969 book Motor Cycle Racing, Peter Carrick wrote:

"The French Grand Prix circuit at Clermont Ferrand was seen to be in complete contrast to the lap at Monza, when it was first used in 1959: the longest straight was 650 yards and a variety of really tight corners quickly demonstrated—or exposed—a rider's skill!"

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.

This season, races are to be run at 60 frames per second – please use this patch 60fpsV2newmod (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/Replays/Archive/Season27/60fps/).

Drivers must complete 50% of each race to score.

Race List = IGOR
Server = UKGPL_8
IP address = look in iGOR
Race date = Tuesday 28-04-2015
Time = 21:00 UK time (21:00 GMT)
Track = Charade (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/tracks/clermont1965/) (add-on)
Race length = 14 laps
Variant = 1965
60fps patch used = 60fpsV2newmod
Damage Model = Pro
Qualifying time = minimum of 30 minutes

Password see above (#post_event_password)
Replay will be here (ftp://ukgpl3.dyndns.org/Replays/Archive/Season28/Pros/)

Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page.

The red zone will be fully moderated for lap 1 only. For this race, the red zone will be from the start to the Charade straight on lap 1. Other moderation will be on reported incidents only.

Training server is running.

Training server is running in PRO mode on IGOR

Pah, lost concentration after passing a spun Ferrari and lost it in the stupidly fast corner after the jump :(
Pretty sure I was faster than the Lotus up in front too - whether I could have passed him once I'd caught back up from my evasive moment of off roading half a lap earlier is another matter though.

Congrats to who-ever won/finished :)

At least I have a new confirmed WR time elsewhere to cheer me up after that  ;)

My eyeballs were junk even before the start of this trial.  Not in the least bit annoyed or disappointed to have crashed out early.

I too suffered from a concentration deficit...largely of my own making. That plus, some curious responses from the car during the race made my night a misery. I had a wobble halfway through lap 1 and spun, taking out Clive. The Bastian and I did the world's worst attempt at synchronised crashing in separate incidents at the same corner. I was already getting bored by this point, but when Clive reversed out of a spin and sent me into one I think I nodded off (no worries Clive, serves me right for taking us both out on L1)- I was so far behind it was difficult to be bovvered. I was trying to motivate myself to pootle round and see how many people retired, but I must have been too busy thinking about the dizzying heights of P8/9 when I lost it and flipped. I was actually glad to be out of there - never felt like that retiring from a race....

Still..bettered my time at this track by 6.5 seconds!! That's how bad I am here....

Apologies Colin, I was stuck nose in towards the barrier and right on the racing line. I glanced at prib and saw you 200mtrs behind  :scared: and my car right across the apex. So I hit reverse and nailed it expecting you to flash across in front of me....How you managed to go BEHIND me i just do not understand    :notworthy:.

After that I just concentrated on clean laps hoping for attrition up ahead.............there was some, and I eventually caught David in his Lotus and we had a good couple of laps dicing for 5th place.
After several laps I had worked out the only place that I could actually have a chance of getting past...certainly not on any of the fast parts!! Eventually it was around the inside of the hairpin and up the hill at the end of the lap with some demon braking avec les yeux ferme!!

Grats to Robert and the podium and all finishers.

Hmm, mixed race here.. but fun :). Somehow, GPL was working in 36fps with English again yesterday (after the French exe then got stuck in 60fps). Got into GPL today, and it was English check, 60fps check, but paddles. So, I just drove that.. maybe I could have gone slightly faster in Q, but was happy to start 2nd behind Rob.

Race.. harried Rob hard on lap 1, getting alongside but on the outside. On lap 3? I think maybe his tyres got hot and I got inside at a slow turn at the end of S3, I wondered if Rob was also playing it safe a little to guarantee a finish and giving me space. So, finally in the lead... I thought I just have to bring it home and not get too many speedshifts... at the next corner I promptly put a tyre off the track edge and spun out of it ::).

Managed to get going again just ahead of Dean and set about hauling in Rob. In the second half, Rob started to up the pace and I was starting to get a bit less than 60fps.. fronts were a click too hot on Cloyd's Q set and I didn't have time to lower the detail either pre-start (with lite65 carset), before Windows had enough and a 'low memory' prompt kiboshed GPL. I saw a few more frames before it all went black and it looked like I was going to hit the outside in the fast section of early S3, hopefully getting stuck in the dirt there or going over the side. Greg said he saw a yellow flag passing it, while I managed to get a screenshot of the fuzzy screen when it appeared briefly.. Chrome or the HD is probably the culprit. I'll chalk it up to 'Lotus mechanical failure..' :P

At least I got some points, but that was great fun lapping right on Rob's tail and with a good flow at this track. He put too much fuel in though which explains it ;D. (http://s8.postimg.org/phxrx3pe9/clermont_65_ukgpl.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/phxrx3pe9/)

Congrats Rob, Dean, Axel!

What a lousy Q! I should have tried to get on the server as quickly as possible so I could get into the flow of things. I got 3 laps of practice and blew an easy 22 with a spin in the final turn. Luckily I picked off two Hondas before the exit of T1 at the start. I wasn't expecting Axel to slow me much if any. The first few laps were very tense. No way for me to pass Axel and being sandwiched between Axel and Tim made it extremely difficult to keep from hitting Axel. Did I bump you Axel? Occasionally I was getting a little warp. It looked like I may have bumped you twice but I never felt anything. I'd have given you a little more room Axel if Tim weren't breathing down my neck. Later I got out of shape pretty bad to avoid hitting Axel and Tim went off avoiding me. It's a shame with no pressure from behind I spun a few turns later. After that I may have set more than ten consecutive fast sectors. I kept the sectors time lit green for a long time. I was reeling in Axel when my engine decided it had had enough abuse. It would have been fun to see if Axel could withstand the pressure again late in the race.

Just a yellow flag Iestyn, I never saw any trace of a car.

Thanks guys.

After coming up on you after your spin, I thought I might have a chance of challenging you, but the 3+ seconds per lap you then left me by put paid to those hopes. I don't recall seeing a yellow flag, but there were a couple of tires in the middle of the track that made me wonder what had happened. Thankfully I've learned to ignore them, even if a small piece of my brain is still going "eeek".  ;D

As for my race, I thought Axel was going to hound me the whole time, but I guess Greg kept him busy enough in the early going that I was able to build a small gap, though too slowly for real comfort. It was only the last two laps that I was able to relax at all. Even a 15 second gap can disappear quite quickly here. No hope of pestering Rob or ID on pace, so it was a "just keep it clean, dammit" race for me.

Scary place to lose an engine, Ronnie.  Heart skipped a few beats til I was clear. :o

Incredible tough race for several reasons...first the track is tough, without a proper straight to relax a bit. Suffered from FPS drops at certain points, and during a phase in the race it went worse...having it more recently, maybe some background proggy...always try to close not needed programs by task manager tho...

Also recently having problems with my tibial muscles, mostly my left leg. It is because I am sitting too close to the pedals sometimes, and also sometimes the pedal platform gets crossed up a bit having a heavy right foot. Then the brake pedal comes even closer. It's marginal, but always try to have the exact same position...second half of the race was so tough, hardly had any control left braking...it's this feeling when you haven't walked a lot for a period, and then walk a long distance...in the end your tibial muscles will be worn out and you don't have control lifting your foot up anymore...

Anyway, aimed to do 18s in quali, but couldn't get a real good clean lap, sectors said 18.5 tho...I think with more laps here low18 or high 17 should be possible...it's one of those tracks that needs a lot of laps...also my gearings weren't optimal, being stubborn always sacrificing 1st gear for start...have to look into Steve Cloyd's (hotlap) gearings again...as Iestyn had only 2 timed laps, I got Pole with a 19.0.

Start was great ofcourse with my 1st gear, but already made a mistake going wide at La Belvedere hairpin. Iestyn was alongside, but happily for me the next turn goes left, and could keep trackposition. Always using lower tirepressures at most tracks than most, struggling on Lap 1, and Iestyn pushing hard behind me didn't help me hitting my lines and apex'. Was able to stay in front until Lap 3, where I almost lost it under braking (too late) at the back of the circuit. Car pulled to the right, and it might have looked for Iestyn I pulled over, I certainly didn't, but had to concede, didn't want to steer back on the racing line not being sure where he was...

So Iestyn took the lead, but spun braking towards the next tight turn, touching the grass/sand...

Then had about a 6s lead, but Iestyn gradually closed the gap. Tried to push a bit more, but he still gained most laps. When he was about 2-3s behind he suffered from some hardware/software problem...bad luck, I'm sure you would have caught me...

However, suffering from the tibial muscle problem, and the engine running rather hot, also gearings were on the edge, I decided to take it easy and to shortshift.

Basically another lucky win, but it was way tougher than it might have looked on the outside...great job Dean and Axel for podium, and Norm, Clive and David for completing the top 6! :)

Commiserations to the retirements. Poor Ray, again blowing up on Lap 1...

PS: also miscalculated fuel, took 67 liters, and still had 20+ liters left after the race...however at this track it doesn't make too much of a difference...

Congrats Tim!  8)

You might even be able to sweep all 69X records for Monaco, as it's such a good track for you! ;)

Cheers Robert - I doubt that really. The Eagle lap was done because the last time i updated my results I found myself on top from testing ready for Sundays race, no replay of course because I didn't expect a collection of practice laps on race fuel to even be close! So I had to do it again to get verified and as a result knocked a further second and a half or so off my time  ;D

My BT26 time (Also race fuel and not that fast is quite a way down the list - but then I guess I haven't put the time in the way I have with the Eagle  ;)

(Going by my emails this morning now have 2 WR's for the T1F, the Kyalami one has just been verified  :angel:)

I wasnt really in driving yesterday, disco at GPLRacer before and the thrilling Football distracted me as well.
Also learning for Boat Licence and some other Emails had to be sent.

Didnt find a fitting setup and went off early. Next week i'll be more in driving again !

Grats to Finishers !

...so I couldn't understand why you took so many risks on the start  ???
During 2 or 3 seconds, I thought my race will end before the starting line !

Oh dear it doesn't sound as if this was a popular race for a good number of people. Well here's the antidote. I loved it. Got passed off the line but gradually those in front started to pull away. I had a small gap back to Doni but a scrappy early lap meant he caught me & passed when I made a mess of the last cornet. Had a few errors but I think I only went off the track 0nce & the Ferrari passed me. Tyres were getting a bit hot by then & in fact at times I did slow slightly to let them cool. Gradually built a gap to those behind & improved my position as others fell by the wayside. By the last 2 or 3 laps I could take it steady as I wasn't going to catch those ahead neither was I to be caught I thought. 4th place - can't be bad my best result for ages. Tough track though. Well done the podium & anyone who finished.

Norm H