SimRacing.org.uk

Season 36 – 1955 Grand Prix – Round 5 – Roy Hesketh

The fifth race in the 1955 Grand Prix series sees us taking another boat, this time back across the Atlantic Ocean to the Roy Hesketh circuit in South Africa. Located on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, the circuit was named after a South African racing driver, the late Roy Hesketh who died in in an aircraft collision 1944. Doug Aldridge, Colin Dove, Ossie Fisher, George Finch and George Shrives got together as a Consortium from Pietermaritzburg in the early nineteen fifties to first build and then maintain and improve the circuit.

During its period of operation (1953-1981) the circuit hosted rounds of the South African National Drivers Championship, and national Formula Atlantic races. The South African National Drivers Championship was a Formula One motor racing championship which generally fielded cars recently retired from the world championship although there was also a healthy selection of locally built or modified machines, and from the late 60s Formula 5000 was added to grids with Formula Two cars joining in 1973.

The circuit also hosted the Easter races - a festival of motorcycle racing over three days. Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini, Barry Sheene, Kork Ballington, Jim Redman, Paddy Driver, Mike Grant, Rod Gray and Syd Stacy were regular competitors at the circuit.
 
Please read the championship specific rules on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=872&theme=6).

Race list	iGOR
Server	UKGPL_4
IP address	77.102.28.179
Date	22-03-2020
Track	rhesketh (http://srmz.net/index.php?showtopic=6884%20%20http://gpltom.libertux.org/datas/Roy_Hesketh_v1.0.exe)
Mod	55GP with 60fpsV2newmod
Damage	PRO long
Race time	~ 21:30 UK time
Qualifying	20:45 UK time - 45 minutes
Race length	35 laps
Replay	here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/15V66reuU9iMwAq_CCR93OTZ3Kin2Yv7s/view?usp=sharing)

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

Password: see above (#post_event_password)
Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=872&theme=6)

Handicapping and chassis allocation.
The 1955 Grand Prix cars will be using a token system which allows drivers to purchase any chassis of their choice for a given number of tokens as published on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=872&theme=6). Drivers classed as Juniors will be allocated an additional 10 tokens.  The tokens available to each driver will be published in the race announcement. See table below.

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
bagrupp	12	Senior
Clive Loynes	21	Senior
Doni Yourth	12	Senior
Dulima	25	Senior
EvilClive	13	Senior
fpolicardi	18	Senior
GregT	28	Senior
JonnyO	40	Senior
Ziu Bacubacu	10	Senior
5117sebas	20	Junior
Durval Becho	20	Junior
enrique farina	38	Junior
francesco	16	Junior
Gareth	20	Junior
luiz covisi	25	Junior
PaulV	8	Junior
Phil Thornton	25	Junior
Ricardo Valim da Silva	20	Junior
tagomago	25	Junior

This one falls into the category of "Mickey Mouse" and is murder on the brakes.

The short lap length will make people being lapped an important issue for those who can make their brakes last long enough!

LOL!!  Sometimes I get a little scared, and almost paranoid, about the way Clive and I appear to analyse upcoming events/tracks in the same way!! I am beginning to wonder if there is a hidden camera somewhere around my rig??

This track was a new one for me too, and this afternoon I decided to explore the track for the first time as we have another 55 race coming up.

Initially, it looks like a simple track, quite easy to learn the 4.5 corners and which way the next bit turns. But with that brake fade in 55's this becomes a real problem to attack .
It is so easy to go deep into T1 and burn 100% of the brakes in a single hit, then they sort of recover to 50% before the downhill approach to T2 and T3. Again easy to blow all of the brakes on T2 and have nothing for T3 or anything worthwhile for that final double apex lol.
So for me, this race will be all about when and where I brake heavily, and where I try and preserve some of the retardation. The lap is so short that maintaining the brakes lap after lap will be a challenge, especially as Clive says, when lapping backmarkers, which will be happening before 50% distance I suspect.
This could be interesting lol.

Ah!  Not found it yet then?   :devil:

Ha!! a cunning plan has been devised that will counter your spying until I find the device!!  :shifty: :shifty:
I will be doing my practice with the lights, and maybe even my monitor, turned off. That way you won't be able to see what I am doing!!   :stupid:

LOL   Use the Force Evil, use the Force!

"...use the force"?  ……….."use the force??" he says!!

Just what the heck do you think I have been doing???  I have been forcing the ruddy car to accelerate, forcing the bl**dy reluctant barge to slow down, forcing the flamin' thing to turn in and then forcing it to get the heck out of the corners. Any more force and the whole pit crew will have a terminal case of piles.
All of this force and the laptimes are still not going below 1min ** secs  ::) ;D ;)

I would ride in the Ferrari. I registered.

 ;D

SBRC special Gordini for races where coronavirus has hit

(http://boxes.gaiztor.com/img/20080116_quico_varios/varios/gordinimascarilla.jpg)

Clive is still messed trying to adjust the gloves to the tires...

Welcome Josefine.


Nice one Tago. ;D

So I see!   ::)

@ Josefine....Welcome to Josefine. I hope you enjoy the fun and the racing with us.  ;D

@ Clive …..Dam!! forgot about infra red night vision!!

We want that SBRC aerodynamic appendage on the Gordini investigated by the stewards!! Our technicians suspect that it might be a cunningly disguised braking parachute, just very badly adjusted???  :-\

Just in case this is a major advance in technology, the boffins fitted a similar device on my car in private testing and I was finally getting sub 1:10secs, but our aero package was a little larger. Mabel's underwear only comes in "XXXLarge" and we did experience some issues with the elastic getting tangled around the driver's neck. But it's OK, as we have a new box of plastic seat covers and several spare test drivers provided by Mrs Fujikawa.

I like the idea of disposable test drivers but the thought of fighting Mable's underwear at speed makes the blood run cold!  Arnold is a brave man!

As for sub 1:10 laps, chortle, chortle, chortle, chortle, chortle, chortle, chortle, chortle, chortle ......

And please: In case of overtaking manoeuvres AT LEAST 2 meters distance to the other vehicle ;D

 :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: :punk: :punk: :punk: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I leave more than that.  That's why Evil keeps beating me!

In fact, by the end of the race I can't usually see him!

Practice server is up on IGOR now and will be for the rest of the weekend. Please test your connections.

This track has a lot of run-off so hopefully the chances of a car bouncing back onto the track and taking out an innocent driver are low. However getting past will inevitably involve trying to "out brake" :eek: someone into BP Bend, Sweep and Quarry Curve. So please try to get some practice circulating with other drivers before the race. Patience will be required ;), diving up the inside whilst standing on the brakes isn't an option with these cars.

" ..................….diving up the inside whilst standing on the brakes isn't an option with these cars".

Can't see why not, with Mable's elastic wrapped around the rear wheels stopping is easy  ::)

Surprised that you are putting so much faith in Mable's knicker elastic!

You obviously have not seen the size of this stuff, or learned to appreciate its unique physical properties.

If you saw a recent Top Gear programme where Freddie Flintoff was dropped off a dam in his car....what do you think they used to arrest his fall?? ::)

Nuff said!

I will not be supervised by the stewards ... in fact I have no risk, by the end of the race I can't usually see Evil Clive, nor Clive and that kind of alliens! :laugh:

By the way, welcome Josefine  ;)

Nice training laps Phil ... server is working properly    8)

I've had a couple of practice sessions with Louis and Tagomago. It is very hard to drive closely without touching (sorry Louis) but it is possible. We just need to be very careful. Overtaking will be difficult without getting close and risking contact. Waiting for a mistake will be the safer option.

Great, we managed to race closely with no discernible lag  ;D

I don't come to the training server. What's going on?

ah well,   that didnt last long.

seemed to have found a decent setup.   took the Vanwall hoping the disc brakes would help.

not sure where or when yet, but following other cars, didnt think I was too close at all but when braking and entering the corner
I appeared to have lots of room and to be tight enough to the inside of the corner as the car in front started to run wide.

I then must have slid and lost the the rear end and touched another/the other? car. I think they managed to get going again but I lost a wheel. so discconnected.

I hope I didnt cause too much trouble.   please report the incident if needed.

not a very good race for me at all. the 50's cars are hard to race with.  I was trying extremely hard to be safe and steady..  really trying to stay well below my limits and the cars limits but again to no avail.

I really enjoy the 50's cars but they are so difficult.  how some of you are turning in the lap times I saw tonight astounds me !!!

Paul V.

So sorry Enrique ... there was a nice hole but not enough to pass ... my fault!

I was happy ... maybe more than the needed to be successfull here ... pb 1.20 with Phil in the training session before and then 1.18 high in the qualy ... starting 4th and with confidence loving the track and specialy the setup thanks to Clive's advice ... thx mate ... then my big mistake ... and rolling last when crossing the finish line my monitor freezes and sound keeps sounding the same for the eternity ... a pity

Anyway ... great time on track ... thx all for racing  ;)

Oh dear. damn slow in the gordini.

I lost my brakes and recovered just about 1/3 of the race and knew i'm going to be lapped soon.
I heard engine noise near and saw evils car, in that moment clives car appeared to the left and i hit him.
So sorry but fortunately fair play Clive gave back your positon.
Hopefully you figth that out now without disturbution.

I left the track to let you pass safely afterwards and hit something invisible as punishment.

Was a very good race. Only the red lamp made me mad.
Great duel with Phil :)

Yes good clean racing. You had the speed to finish on the podium. But as in every race, it is the mistakes, or rather lack of them, that is the difference between a podium and a mid-field finish. I'm pretty sure I'm one of the more error prone drivers at UKGPL, I always make mistakes so my advice is "do as I say" but don't "do as I do".  ;)

I love this mod, you have to know how to dose the brakes and have a softer touch

Another race with battles worthy of the Formula 1 gladiator era, another clean battle against very clean pilots

Me, Phill and Doni, in the dispute, sad was that Phill made a mistake and stayed behind

I tried all the ways to pass Doni but in the only hour I passed, after two turns I lost my position

Sorry Greg, by the touch, I just saw the replay and we were side by side and I was inside the curve, I thought you were going to fafzer the curve outside, the time I saw your car, I braked but I couldn't avoid the touch.

It was on lap 20, I would like the stewards to take a look, just so I can take it off my head

Beautiful weather and beautiful Farina race, too bad that his engine left him in the dark

It's always a pleasure to run in this mod and with clean pilots it’s even better

Big hug to all and may God protect all of us and our families in this period that we are going through

This morning the"submit incident" don't work.

Best wishes to everyone around the world as we all try and stay safe and healthy. Take care all of you. ;)

 It seems that the GPL gods are being very good to me in this series, or maybe it is just that I seem to get ALL my luck in the 55's and no luck in the other mods??  ???
Welcome to Josefine for her 1st 1955 race with us.
Grats to all finishers on a track that was not quite as simple as it looked. All of the corners were quite long and it was tricky to carry any pace through them and there was always the temptation to enter the corners too quickly. Too much drifting would over heat the rear tyres so that the next corner was difficult. So for me, it was a circuit where I had to concentrate and be very sure of my braking points or my NOT braking points.

Usually I don't get concerned about GPL races  and simply enjoy joining the server and having the fun of racing against you all. But for some reason this 55 Season has got under my skin, and especially the battle with Clive Loynes. The difference in pace between us is fractional and I have been lucky to come out on top thus far in the season...….but the differences are so small that things could easily change around. Normally I do zero offline practice for races, other than a quick 10 minutes checking that I have the correct track file and a test on the server. 
Being confined at home by the virus, has perhaps made me look for some fun, and I confess that did about an hour practicing for this race. I don't like simply doing laps and prefer to enjoy racing against other drivers, so an hour was as much as I could suffer.

At first I was going to use my favourite Connaught and was quite happy with a 1:18.3 after 10 mins, but then I began thinking about Clive Loynes ( that man is getting into my head!! lol) and convinced myself that he would be faster than that!!! lol. So I tried the Vanwall and got that down to 1:17.9 as a PB. Still worried about the Loynes factor I tried the 250F Maserati. As expected this quicker and 1:17.5's were easy(ish).

Joined the server and started running laps on race fuel that took were quick enough to get pole, until Clive joined the battle in another Maserati and immediately posted a very quick time!! I was right to be worried!!
I worked my times down to be close to Clive but, with full fuel on board, I could not regain pole position and I had to dump 50% of the fuel and go for a banzai lap. Each time I tried I caught another car trying to get their own fast lap and had to back off. At one stage I thought that Clive was going to have pole position, but I finally found a clear lap and took pole by0.07 secs.....sorry Clive, that must have been so frustrating  ::)

With a staggered grid I was able to hold the lead down to T1 and for the first laps until I was looking for Clive in my mirrors and ran fractionally too far into T1. An excursion onto the grass allowed Clive past ( I swear that I could hear him laughing as he went past!!)  Farina also passed me and I was back to 3rd!!
I had to wait for a lap to get my brake temps under control before I could start to challenge Farina. Once I had passed Farina's Connaught I had to hunt down Clive and it was clear from his pace that he was not going to roll over and give me back the lead. It took a while to slowly close the gap by pushing hard for one lap and then follow that with a steady lap to let the brakes cool. After what seemed like an age I got close to Clive and was starting to work out where I could pass him.......so I did and promptly ran wide!!! He was laughing again I swear it!!
I had to chase him again and look for a possible opening.
Then there was the unfortunate incident with Bastian. I could see the incident developing and was hoping that they would keep apart, but there was a tangle and Clive was spun around. I did not want to take the place under those circumstances as I was enjoying the battle, so I waited for Clive to get going again and fell in behind him.
The only places that I was faster than Clive were around those final 2 turns, but without an error from him there was not an alternative line that would allow me to try and pass, or T1 which was possible if I could max out the brakes. To do it I had to NOT brake for anything after the "S" bends so that I had 100% available when we got to T1.  One practice run where I watched where Clive applied his brakes and the next lap I went for it and I think I took it to the absolute limit, just holding the car into the apex.
Once I had the lead I concentrated on getting into each corner and slowly building a gap. I suspect that Clive had a couple of "moments" because the gap became very comfortable and I was able to relax.
I did push just a little on the last lap and was chuffed to get into the 1:16's. That was something that PRIB had been promising was possible for a long time!!
Just to cheer Clive up a little. I usually like to have a couple of gallons of fuel spare at the end of a race and I thought I had calculated the same for this race. I did not look at the fuel until I crossed the finish line and was a little shocked to see 0.4 galls.....not enough for even 1 more lap!!!??

It would have been so much easier for me if you didn't have to dose the brakes. ;D

I arrived late to the qualy, but there was enough time to make a decent qualy, in the end I was happy with the 5th time.
  This championship has been a great difficulty for me, I can only use the texture of the asphalt with the mod55, less fun.
  Today I'm going to try a new machine, it's a laptop but I'm having difficulties with the direct 3d V2, everything is crazy.

  In the race at the beginning the very fierce disputes made us very late in relation to the best. Then Greg Taber had a mistake behind him and in the middle of the race Farina must have lost his engine, I think.
   I developed a comfortable pace for Vanwall, as I don't have the brake warning light, I have to follow a safe pace, I could only use the brakes on turn 1 and 2. Finishing in 3rd was a good surprise !!! This championship is very good, the disputes are lively and we have enough gentleman pilots !!

  But what really matters is that Evil needs to be stopped !!!!

I agree!   :thumbup2:

Gallons?  You old dinosaur!  Time you went metric. ::)

the number of gallons is fewer than the amount in litres....so it must weigh less? simples!!!    :stupid: and yes, I am an old dinosaur......but quite a quick dinosaur lol

Incident report raised but I would encourage you to raise incident reports yourself in future by following the instructions in paragraphs 1 and 2 here (https://www.ukgpl.com/index.php/moderating/court).

I'm happy to raise incident reports for drivers whilst they get used to the Court System but without each driver expressing their point of view using the private message in the court, it is easy for the moderator to miss a significant mitigating factor. The obvious problem being the moderator may then reach the wrong conclusion.

Quick and slow they all met the same fate!

LMAO!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 :D :D

Fun stuff in South Africa but my, never a moment's peace.  Constantly hounded by Dulima, Phil and Joe.  Lucky to have prevailed for a P5.  The 'Flying Clives' were in a league of their own.  Well done, chaps.

Phil...  Would please check the results for my ride.  I was in a Ferrari 625, not the 555 Super Squalo.  By my count, I'll be owed two more tokens for Wegberg.

Sorted now. 

Sometimes the GPL Replay Analyser gets the cars wrong with some of these later mods. I had to look at the reply to work out who was driving what in order to correct the GPL Replay Analyser report. I obviously got this one wrong, thanks for checking, everything should be consistent now  ;)

Thanks, amigo.  All good now with 12 tokens for Wegberg.

Moderation published.