SimRacing.org.uk

Another iconic Grand Prix circuit where the heroes of 1955 battled it out.
This is the banked speed bowl of Monza10k  and NOT the Papyrus circuit. Brakes should only be an issue if they are abused or expected to do too much, but with those long straights cooling the pads will be easy.
Historically a circuit where the high speeds took many lives and close racing in these cars was the work of heroes or madmen, you decide.

The standard of driving in this series has been very good with competitors recognising the perils of poor brakes and lack of grip. Please keep up the respect for your fellow drivers ( mainly because fewer incidents makes the moderators job easier!!)



Race List=  iGOR
Server= UKGPL_8
IP Address= see in iGOR
Race date= 19-12-2017
GPL mod= 1955 F1
60fps patch used= 60fpsV2newmod
Track= Monza 10K
Qualification= 20:45  UK time -> 45min
Race= race starts at ~21:30 UK time
Race length= ~50 min -> 17 laps
Damage Model= Intermediate
Replay= here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/ssikb6

Password: see above (#post_event_password)
(2) Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=620&theme=6)


Available Tokens:
Note: These are the tokens available to each driver before the 10 tokens are added for making the race start.

Driver	Tokens	Status
Robert Fleurke	5	Pro
EvilClive	14	Pro
Ronniepeterson	29	Pro
DLogan	20	Pro
FullMetalGasket	17	Pro
Doni Yourth	30	Pro
Clive Loynes	15	Pro
Samb	25	Pro
MagicArsouille	10	Pro
Turkey Machine	3	Pro
GregT	33	Pro
Carlos Cendejas	5	Pro
Cookie	11	Pro
Uli	5	Pro
Billy Nobrakes	16	Am
maddog	15	Am
bagrupp	12	Am
Geoff65	10	Am
Jeep	10	Am
Gareth	15	Am
Rainier	19	Am
Phil Thornton	7	Am
dave curtis	10	Am
francesco	10	Am
ReiverEcosse	20	Am
Syd Drake	10	Am
Will Tway	23	Am
miner2049er	15	Am

Drivers must pay the number of tokens for the chassis they use in accordance with the following table:

Chassis                              Cost in Tokens
Mercedes-Benz W196 SL     20
Mercedes-Benz W196          18
Lancia D50                         15
Maserati 250F                     12
Ferrari Tipo 555                  12
Ferrari Tipo 625                  10
Vanwall VW55                    10
Connaught Type B                5
Gordini Type 16                Zero

Hang on!

We went through this earlier in the season and it was stated that it would be the 10k version.  This was a change to the originally published list and everybody will now have adjusted their car selection accordingly.  Now you are going to change it back again???


https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=14597.0


The link for the championship standings is not working either.   :P

10k 10k 10k

Just shows the difference between the back of the grid & not...

No difference for me, any/either track configuration would have the same car/setup  (same as the other tracks too!) - saves a lot of time;  although I'll find it added to my total race time :)

We didn't have brake problems here in GPL Racer and test races, its only parabolica and lesmo 1 really to brake, which are part of every monza circuit ?!

whoa there cowboys !!!  :o    and Clive  ;)

I had missed that exchange earlier and simply used the backroom system for posting races ( which just said Monza).  :-\

As it appears that the consensus view was to use the Monza 10k because it had been customised to fit with the 1955 mod, the race post has been changed.

Apologies for any confusion or increased heart rates  ;D

LOL

Championship standings link still squiffy.   :P

championship page link now fixed.


All this technology and only one small brain........................... :blink:

I happened to be passing, and can suggest a better reason for 10K.  It's what they actually raced on! 

1955 track 'Conversions', as they are called, are graphical addons, mostly large, previously made by various artists, with only a few odds and ends changed for 55. 

Clive, can you please confirm Uli's registration for this series. I know we have lots of registrations but we have not had a completely full grid yet. Thanks.

Welcome back Uli, I confirm the registration, you will see the password of the 55 race ;)

There might be a few GPLRACER drivers who fancy another crack at this.

Good to see you again Uli  :)
You beat me to the registration page Axel, thanks.  ;)

Thanks for your warm welcome
I'm looking forward to it  ;D

This gives me an idea. With the Christmas break coming on how about a UKGPL v GPL Racer challenge in the 55 mod? Each league will have 2 teams & have to allocate the  drivers so all cars are used?  Does this sound interesting? Who should I contact at GPL racer to discuss?

 :jumpjoy:

Stefan Roess, Paul Skingley or Uli should prove to be a good contacts.  They all have UKGPL logins.

GPLRACER use 36fps and may not want to suffer the disadvantage of switching to 60fps.

Most in favour at GPLRACER

http://forum.gplracer.eu/topic.php?id=2815&page=1&#29684

I think the number of laps need reducing as it's monza10k or we'll be there all night.

I think you are right there Mike.  Using the Ferrari 625 WR time (2m 44.294s) as a guide, I suggest 17 laps is closer to a 50 min race.  Race post updated.  Clive may want to adjust this but I'm pretty sure 25 laps is too long.

Clive L - thanks. I will contact GPL Racer & get something organised. I will start a separate post to keep it separate.

Looking forward to this one after two miserable races scrabbing about at Zandvoort and Aintree.  I just can't seem to get the hand of these cars on the twisty stuff.  Looking forward to stretching the legs at Monza, Reims and Silverstone before the end of the season.

I've done a few exploratory laps at 10k last week.  You had to be utterly crazy didn't you?

So fuelled with zeal by this was I that I rented "Ferrari, Race To Immortality" at the weekend.  Anyone seen this?  Some fantastic 1950s footage in there I'd not seen before (and some very grim images of the accidents, I had never seen Le Mans '55 in such detail . . . or wanted to).

I have a problem at Monza, in that as soon as we start the race I seem to lose the knack of getting through Curva Grande at a decent speed.   ???

There is also the problem of what gear ratio to put on the Lancia so that it doesn't explode whilst being towed along by a Merc SL.

You can only find out when it actually happens and you can only find out if it's going to see the end of the race by finishing a race.  The oportunities for this are rare.  I did a Pro race with GPLRACER but lost the tow at half distance so that kept the engine in one piece.

Thanks Phil, 17 laps sounds fine for the Monza10k.
 I was seconded onto Christmas Shopping duties today and am now looking for a place where I can book in for rehab!! :-\ The mayhem of a race tomorrow will be a welcome distraction.

@ Clive Loynes.
 It is those known unknowns that make GPL so compulsive. If we did not know that they were unknown, then we would know only what we know and be totally ignorant of the unknowns, until they became known and were not unknown any more. Even then we cannot be sure that we actually know that those unknowns, are actually known about and that they will happen. So just mash the gas and hold onto your a** until the diff explodes between your legs...................then you will know all about it!!

Thank you for the Wazalogical approach.   ::)

What I really need is a practice server and somebody on it in a Merc!   ;D

With the Ferrari 625 a time of 2,44 for me is a dream.With a Mercedes could be possible.

Wow, Clive you should be a politician Evil W Clive.
2.44 is very quick, solo im 2.47's

Practice server is up but you'll have to supply your own Merc  ;D

Cheers Phil!  I think that Axel has done the same so now I just have to spot where the Mercs are!   ;D

@ Francesco  The the top training time for the 625 is a 46.8 so the rest ia all slipstreaming.  It just depends who you have available to tow you.

But also 2,46 for me is a dream ;D

That‘s an good idea.  :)
Anders Ostlund was the responsible GPL-Racer admin for the past 55 season.

It doesn't really matter Francesco, so long as you stay in the slipstream of someone who is going to do a 2:45 then so will you!   ;D

Thanks to the servers from Phil and Axel, and a useful tow from Axel's Merc, I managed a mid 2:45 in the Lancia.  I may have over-egged the 5th ratio a tad as it was like a ruptured duck without Axel's Merc in front of it.  ::)

All I need now is a grid full of Mercs, all of whom throw themselves in the sand on the last lap.  Surly that's not too much to ask!

This is the problem ;D....i'm not fast as you or,worst,as Alessandro Isacchini.

I can see that Uli has been added to the championship standings and can probably now see the password but since he isn't on the drivers list on the announcement he won't know how many Thornton Dollars he has to spend.  

As I understand the regs, you are only going to give him $5 and an additional $10 for starting.  If he uses a Lancia he will be skint for Reims and have to use a Vanwall?

Seems a bit stingy. 

I know that I should know, what I should know now regarding Uli.

But, until we know whether he is Pro or Am in the 55's, we might have to reserve judgement about his Thornton Dollar allocation for the next races.

Of course, once we know what we currently don't know, it will no longer be an unknown and we will then know how many dollars to allocate.........if you know what I mean  ;)

I therefore propose that we give Uli an initial sum of $10, plus his $10 for crossing the start line = $20 for the first race?

 If he chooses to blow all his funds on Monza10k he will be handicapped for Reims ( after all the token system is designed to limit how many tracks the uber cars can be used on ). I appreciate that others have been able to save up their $'s from previous events, but at the season start most of the Pro drivers had to make similar judgements about which cars they would use? It is just a little unfortunate that Uli has decided to join the series when we have two high speed tracks one after the other.

Pro   ;D

http://www.gplracer.de/_anmeldung/55-mod

I'll update the race post when I get home but given Uli is pro standard it will be 5 + 10 = 15 tokens.

thanks,
fine, I had plans anyway to drive the Ferrari 625
in a few minutes we'll meet on track I hope
looking forward
 :)

Race post updated to include Uli.

Welcome to the 55GP series Uli.  You will have enough tokens for the Ferrari 625 and that should leave you with 15 tokens for the next race at Reims.

I'm pretty sure you are a Pro driver, your race history (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=7171;sa=racing_history) shows you having lots of pole positions and race wins in the 65 Pro races  ;)

Sulk over. I got in and somehow put the Vanwall in 4th

Kiboshed by over-eager auto-pilot Esc-Enter, and that nasty collision box.

Lap 2 Para, melee was well under way when I joined. GPL CTD'd rather than sort teh mess, I suppose.  ??? :(

Lotta Merc tokens blown.  :-X

Pleasant race on the first laps, fighting with Phil and Fran, until a Mercedes SL rear ended me at Parabolica, then  screen froozed and CTD ...
 

another dissapointing race.
first shot by greg, then freeze screen in second place, just before lesmo 1.
When will i be able to end a race in Monza...in good position ?

anothers thougths of career end. it was a horific driving year.
was really killed often....maybe i start entering the investigations in my cases

Was having a good battle with Phil and Fran when my game crashed to desktop.  It often happens when I'm backing it in to Parabolical 

Sorry to anyone that I hit.  I don't have a replay so don't know who it was.

For some reason I was disco'd in qually, when I re-entered my time disappeared so I started from the back.
only getting 5fps at the start so I drive slowly to let the field get away, unfortunately I see all the crash at para on lap 2 and brake, but at 5fps its hard to control so I lost it and then CTD, the same as some others.

Well I beat you all by CTD before the end of qually....TWICE!!!  Had to turn off power to lose BSOD then wait for everything to reboot.  Logged on to Igor and "Race Full" ??  :-\

I suspect that this is a win 10 issue for me, but interesting that so many got CTD's at Parabolica??

Hmm...

Well you are posting here and iGOR still says that you are one of the three left racing with five laps to go!

Beautuful battle with Thorton and Lyones.Shame i have lost the 7th position at the end of the last lap but against a Merc .there is nothing to do.

Sorry Francesco, I felt for you there, I was just catching hand over fist, 95% Merc, 5% me.  Yours was a fine drive!

That was probably me. I got a CTD as I was entering Parabolica. Had just passed Clive at Ascari when he gave me room so let's blame him.

Don't know if I hit anybody but there was a Merc in front of me heading down there.

Got hit earlier at Curva Grande when I lifted slightly as somebody spun in front of me. Think it was Clive who I traded places with a couple of times.

Was really looking forward to this one and this is my first ever Disco in a race I think.

Yes very good racing Fran. Close and fair with no bumping. Pity you lost 7th but the Merc SL is just too fast here. Greg passed us into Curva Grande like we were stood still!  Brilliant race.

Grats to Bill on a fine drive.  Pity I clipped the grass and spun out with 3 laps to go.  I doubt I would have beaten you anyway.  You always had enough power to be a couple of yards ahead across the line every lap!

Nothing sorry,are the races. :)


Thank you Phil,really i think to have done my best race ,taking into account  the starting position.

That was the most fun I've had in GPL to date.  My hands are bloody crocked from gripping the controller so tight.

Was frustrated in practice as I had a CTD and then never managed to get a tow, but happy to line up in the midfield.  Then I made an arse of myself and lost it at Curva Grande on the second lap, narrowly avoided a spin there but got a biiiiiggg slide on.  .  Happily I didn't seem to be alone as I saw a Lancia and another Merc tangle behind me (I think).

Then it was on round to Parabolica and I've no idea what happened there.  It was like Banger Racing at Onchan Speedway, cars everywhere.  Someone punted me up the rear under breaking and I ended up in the gravel, trying to recover something red and very heavy flew off the track and clattered me and turned the Mercedes over.  So it was a shift-R and dead last behind Mr Taber (who promptly just shot off into the distance).

Then the next time round I screwed up Parabolica all by myself with no outside assistance.  Rolled the car over the bales.  Another Shift-R and last by a country mile.

Then it was a head down charge with a well sorted Merc under me and clean air.

I eventually caught Uli's tow and we had a great scrap for a few laps where we pulled one another round and this let us catch Bob and PhilT (I think).    I'd passed Uli into Grande and was behind PhilT who was hassling Bob hard into Ascari when he ran wide and looked to have a very nasty shunt.

I drafted Bob out of Parabolica and passed him and he fell back into fight with Uli.  I could see Francesco as a speck in the distance but Pribula told me I was eating up the gap and I got my head down.  He was a gentleman and I got him on the last lap to come home 7th.

5th at Indy is my best result so far, but I felt I drove far better here after a rough opening 3 laps.

Great fun!  And thank you all!  That's race of the season for me so far!.  I hear 3rd to 6th was insane, you guys were a long way ahead of us but I'd love to hear the war stories.

Great result Tim.  Sorry you had trouble joining, we'll have to make sure the reserves allow the title contenders to join first.  However, the adrenaline will kick in and it might affect their memory so I'd recommend you join ASAP for the last few rounds.  This 55 mod is a lot of fun, we may need 2 servers if we run it again next season.

The merit is of the whole mod team but having spent also my time to do the 2 Merc.,Maserati,Vanwall and Connaught,this makes me a little proud.Obviosly a great thanks to Richard that takes care of physics of all the mods.

Nothing more to say  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Doni's catch 10k :o
(http://www.bilder-upload.eu/thumb/d10ff1-1513724397.jpg) (http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php?file=d10ff1-1513724397.jpg)

Seems to be a problem with this track (more specifically Parabolica) & the 55 mod. I did a quick run on the practice server last night & twice ran wide at Parabolica & CTD. Happened again during qually. Must have crashed at the same place with other mods many times, without a problem.
After being disco'd I had a 'Race full' message. By my count we had 20 drivers, not sure if anyone actually missed out but it seems there was a lag in the server counting the number of cars. Monza was always going to be well attended!
I persevered & was able to rejoin shortly before the start. Once the race had settled down there appeared to be a very fast group & a slightly less fast group - each faction having their own battel. I had a great contest with Phil for several laps. I was hoping that drafting each other (once otrtwice every lap) would keep us clear of Reiver Ecose & Uli & perhaps hunt down Fran, but that didn't quite work out. The Merc SL just sailed past. I then fell into a fight with Uli's Fezza & suddenly we crossed the line & the flag was waiving. No idea where 17 laps went.

Great fun - but I have something even better lined up. Separate post to follow ...

A typical  arrival at Monza.I want to look the replay with the battles between you 4.

Do you, who discoed in Parabolica, use the 55 version of the track with the hay bales on the gravel?

Get the REPLAY here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/ssikb6

You can all have a pat on the back Francesco.  It's great!

It is as difficult to drive as the original '67 version plus the addition of the brake fade aspect gives you so much more to think about.  Including wondering if the bloke behind has any brakes!

For me, it would be better without the Mecedes SL, as it just ruins the racing when there is a decent length of straight.  And even though the other cars can out-brake them, the tracks are often too narrow to make that a sensible option.  For me anyway, as I can't guaranty to keep the darn things straight under braking!

But it's great.   ;D

Do you have a screen shot?

I apologize Bastian. I thought I had missed you at Parabolica. I went left to avoid contact but it was too late. :( I never felt or saw the contact.

I wasn't using the 55 version with bales.

Being a reserve driver, I did wait 15+ minutes after the server was started before joining. Sorry if I inconvenienced anyone.

What fun tonight. With no tow in qually, I started mid pack. I somehow missed the mayham and found myself dicing with Tim for 3rd much of the race. Pure GPL side by side bliss. Then towards the end it was "game on" for the last spot on the podium. Cookie caught up and was on fire, Tim recovered from a minor off and Doni was just lurking a few seconds back before pouncing on all three of us at the last turn and snaked the podium. Well done mates. Seriously one of the most enjoyable races of my expirering career. 

Grats to the podium and MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL UKGPLers. 

See y'all next year.

Thanks for the fun

Will

I was updating Monza 10k with the hayballs in Parabolica and Vialone, but froze anyway.

I lucked into that one. Thanks to the SL's top speed and a generous tow from Mike I was 3rd on the grid. A middling start demoted me to 4th but I could enjoy Greg's, Bastian & Axel's battle up front. That lasted two laps, until Greg, Bastian & Axel came together at the Parabolica  :(.

Out on my own I drove a steady race to the flag. I found the SL a tricky beast to drive, despite the generous straights to help cool the brakes. I noted Greg was catching me at two seconds a lap towards the end after a great recovery drive and would have caught me if the race was longer. I think I'll race another car for Reims, despite the top speed I didn't like how the SL's extra weight affected the handling of the car.

Congrats to Greg for 2nd place and to Doni for snatching 3rd at the end. That's a great picture Axel, thanks for sharing it!  :)

I am a reserve driver and joined with 20 minutes of qually left. I don't think that's unreasonable but it suggests we need 2 servers for this mod in future, especially if we don't resume 65s next season.


Yes it is a little clumsy but over the lap here it was my quickest chassis, I doubt that would be true anywhere else.

I definitely did NOT start the race Clive and I also noticed that the server apparently had 21 drivers loaded when I was trying to rejoin......very impressive :-\

I need to check that I have the 55 version of Monza10k  Axel.
I cannot recall seeing haybales there, but maybe I was concentrating on the tarmac bits.  ::) Could that be a reason for CTD's??? especially as so many others appeared to get CTD's at that point on the track.

I am still convinced that there is a mismatch somewhere between GPL and Win 10. I also run GTL and I have managed to get that working without problems, so any issues in GPL must be specific to whatever is happening when GPL ( or IGOR ) runs.
I suspect that the repeated BSOD's and CTD's are as a result of Windows programmes starting in the background and tripping up GPL. I have tried to disable everything that I can within Windows 10, but clearly there is still something that kicks in after about 5 mins that crashes the system.
I do recall many years ago that there were issues with GPL and Windows because of the way that GPL works. The problem was that Windows did not recognise GPL as a "running" programme and would divert resources that GPL needed to background Apps, resulting in CTD's.

My current problem feels very much like that, as GPL fires up quickly and runs perfectly until things stop suddenly. Although I currently expect a disco in every race, it is very frustrating because just occasionally I get to see the chequered flag ??!!  :-\

Evil,
Sorry you missed the race. We will need to give priority to full time drivers for the remaining races, although quite a few reserves did not join until after 9 pm.
I sympathise with your computer issues? Presume you did a new install of GPL when you set up the new one? Might actually  be worth a reinstall?
There was a big windows update last week. Apart from having to reinstall my wheel software the GPL & IGOR programmes are running well (for a change).

I did apply the update for Win 10 after my disappointment last night, I was wary of doing anything prior to the race.....just in case it screwed things even more.

I don't think that there is an easy way to allow Full Time drivers to access the server if they are disco'd during qually. It would be unfair to ask a Part Time competitor to leave the server at 9:25, and it would be a nightmare to make it happen. The current rule that requests Part timers to wait until 9:00 is adequate I think, just my bad luck that this series is proving so popular and the grids are full ??!!  :-\

I will volunteer to join a second server for the remaining races if any other part timers want to do the same.

Any who are doing well in the Championship will be reluctant obviously but it's an option to keep the title race going.

Considering I'd planned my cars in advance, before this round was changed to the 10K version I'm pretty pleased with the result here  ;D
Due to it's high top speed I had banked on saving some tokens while still keeping something that should have kept up with the big boys, so I picked the Vanwall - On 'Normal' Monza the 4 speed gearbox is less of an issue as you hit lower top speeds, but at 10K the added straights and banking really raise the bar!
In the race I ended up with a 1st gear set for Parabolica which would give me about 65-70Mph before changing to 2nd. This resulted in my 10th place start (didn't get a good draft in qually) rapidly became about 14th by the time I entered T1 as I was utterly swamped off the line. Sorry to the yellow car that got stuck behind me, I purposely drove totally straight so you would have been safe to pass either side - but of course you couldn't have known that.

Once up and running the Vanwall proved to have pace, and while I still haven't got rid of the understeer that annoys me so much, I did at least reduce it to the point where the odd intentional miss-shift or flick could start me rotating where needed. Getting a decent 4 wheel drift setup through CG was still very hard work though, I think I only managed it properly 3 or 4 times in the entire race.

I had a fairly major scare on lap 2 or 3 when there was a pileup in Curva Grande up ahead - it was pure luck I got through without contact as I was already sideways entering the turn when I saw the carnage up ahead. I had to get the car back to vaguely straight before I could start slowing properly and even then managed to loose the back end.
As luck would have it that fired me up onto the grass about half a car width which also happened to be enough to just miss a still spinning Mercedes ahead of me :angel:

From that point on I spent most of the race locked with Will - I had a definite advantage in the corners while he of course had power on his side on the straights due to having Silver (technically no) paint.
I was trying to make a point of passing him before CG each lap and then not trying to resist after Para so he could get back in front for the fast bits and we'd tow each other up to the front again (Or at least nearer), this didn't quite work as it seemed to be only in the final quarter of the race that Will finally got the big Mercedes to settle on entry to the banked corners. He was frequently sliding on entry and shedding so much speed I would often drive straight around the outside of him - A few laps before Greg caught us he finally nailed it and our lap times started to drop faster.

Greg caught us maybe a lap before we would have reeled Doni in, due to the tiny mirrors on the Vanwall and my being too busy to watch Prib I had no idea greg was even close until he suddenly darted between myself and Will like we weren't even trying!
Thankfully this allowed me to beat Will to CG and get right up onto Greg's bumper - the idea was to use him to escape and hopefully blow by Doni when Greg did.
This didn't work - the Slipstreamer had such a speed advantage that above about 150 it would just drive away. Despite the fact it would tow me upto 170+ I'd always be a minimum of 5 or 6 car lengths back after the really big straights.
To make it worse we then caught Doni just after Parabolica and there was a big enough gap between myself and Greg for him to move in and take the draft, my speed advantage at that point wasn't enough to get clear and Doni ended up pulling ahead again before I could complete my move.

Half a lap later and I got confused where Doni was trying to place his car while entering Lesmos 1, In my avoiding action I locked the rears and span off into the fence - somehow missing both Doni and Will (Who was just behind at that point).
I rejoined just as Axel passed me and used his tow to get back up with the group about a lap later. By the time I caught Doni and Will, Greg had scarpered off up the track and was out of reach.
We spent the next 5 or 6 laps swapping places between the 4 of us, Axel surprised me by passing me into the 1st banked turn on the final lap - I thought he'd have caught on to the fact I'd been intentionally lifting on the approach whenever I was leading and would therefore have waited till the end of the next straight ;)
With Axel getting in front of me as we exited the 1st banked turn and Will/Doni too far back to slot in behind him it looked my end game was going to play out - I timed my draft move so I wouldn't pull along side till near the end of the 2nd banking.
This worked perfectly although with less momentum than I'd hoped for, I always made a point of leaving plenty of room for the driver on the inside as I was worried about lag smashing me into the armco on the exit - this set the stage for Doni's well lubed insertion onto the podium in the last 50 meters or so. I was just starting to drift back in towards Axel (who I'd been checking on using the look right button) to close any gap when a red nose suddenly appeared alongside :o

Doni had timed it just right and even got lucky thanks to my over-caution off the bank and nabbed 3rd by under 0.03 seconds, I crossed just over 0.01 seconds ahead of Axel to steal what had suddenly become 4th :cursing:

To put Axels photo into context we were all doing over 150mph at the line 3 wide and nearly touching - had the line been 200 meters down the road then Will might even have stolen 3rd from the lot of us at the rate he was gaining!

That was an excellent end to a hard race - I don't know why but the 55 mod just seems to generate fantastic racing.

Well done to Greg, Sam and Doni. Thanks for the race long battle Will and for joining the melee towards the end Axel.
Big commiserations to those who Disco'd out. It might just be the graphical strain of the 55 mods here - I had 30 FPS at the start on a PC that runs almost every modern game at fully maxed settings. GPL just takes some grunt these days with the prettier mods/tracks..

Congrats Sam and Doni! Nice job guys.

That was a wild one! I'm disappointed I punted Bastian though. Not knowing I had actually did it at the time probably helped me. I can't say I'd recommend two of the passes I made. They were very risky but I figured if you guys could keep your cool, I thought I could too. You guys are great. :) As Tim mentioned, both times I thought I might sneak by before anybody realized what was happening. I got a heck of an adrenaline rush during the second one.

I'm not sure what happened to Axel at Parabolica. I was worried I might have forced him off when I dove left. For Bastain's sake I wish I would have bailed out a little sooner.

Thanks for being so considerate Axel. I wasn't expecting it. We were both backing off at Ascari and finally I realized you were trying to allow me to pass. Axel did a nice job following me. I tried to do my best to be consistent in front of you. I was a little worried my lousy braking performance at Lesmos and Parabolica might catch you off guard. The only way I was able to break away from Axel was when I started getting a tow from cars in front of us. The first break away was fun. There was no way he was going by the 3 cars I passed before Curva Grande. I was driving away from that pack of cars until I spun at Parabolica. At first I was angry with myself, thinking I'd never catch Doni after that. But then I thought it should be a lot of fun seeing if I could drag Axel up to another group of cars. The second time I was able to break away before I passed. There was no way the Ferrari could keep up once I hit 175 mph.

I didn't expect I'd get away from Tim or Doni so easy. I guess with 3 to 4 cars battling for position behind me was what made it easy. I still didn't slow any once I secured P2. I tried to get as close to Sam as I could in case he made any mistake or ran low on fuel.

I'm very pleased that the 2:43.23 I did early in practice without a tow would have held pole position. I never felt 2:42.5 was secure from Sam, Bastian, Doni, or Axel, but there wasn't any point in trying to improve it. I got about all I could out of the car. I'll need to get lucky and happen upon a setup improvement to make any significant gains. With the right tow, I do think the car is capable of 2:40's.

I'm surprised I was able to outpace Sam too. I still think Tim, Sam, Clive, and possibly Axel are better at this mod than I am. Sam may not have practiced much but I didn't either. I spent about 1.5 hours in the open wheeled Mercedes and then copied that setup to the SL. With some minor changes, I was almost 2.5 seconds faster within a half an hour of testing. I was struggling to break 2:46 with the open wheeler.

I'm not sure what to do about my status as a reserve driver. I thought I might not enter a single race but it's been convenient for me to race this series so I've entered far more races than I expected. After my lucky win at Spa67, I started thinking I should try to do my best in this series and try to keep Tim, Sam, and Clive busy. It's a shame Clive's luck has been so horrible. I also don't think I'm as interested in this mod as many others, but considering my position in the standings I think I should finish the season even if I haven't registered as full time.

And last, I'm sorry Tim. I tried to take points away from Sam but considering my inability to use the brakes well, I'm always going to be likely to go off the track at some point.

Thanks guys. I hope to see you next time.

Fine to race in the UK-GPL league again :)
superb, enviable full grid!!! GRATS!
Unfortunately a weak performance of mine – I need five tries to find the wright breaking point for the parabolica with my fully fueled ferrari (at the end I had 21 liters left!) after that five time in the green I was lucky (robust car that ferrari!) to go on even at the last place but the last four laps I had some fun – THX to you Reiver and Billy and to you Axel for the great picture.
Cu in Reims