SimRacing.org.uk

Season 37 – 1955 Grand Prix – Round 9 – East London

In an effort to save the planet and cut down on our environmental footprint we are staying in South Africa for the ninth race in the 1955 Grand Prix series. The second South African race will be on the Prince George Circuit (https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.0498868,27.8697708,3a,75y,38.5h,87.52t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXQhHUwgMsuGvdA93QKhRGA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en) at East London. Opened in the 1930s, it hosted the South African Grand Prix in 1934, and again from 1936 to 1939 when racing was halted due to World War II. The original 23.4 km circuit was shortened to 17.7 km in 1936. It was further modified to meet the Formula One regulations in 1959 when the track was shortened again and built into a seaside amphitheatre. East London hosted three rounds of the F1 South African Grand Prix in the 1960s until the increasing power and speed of the cars meant that it became too small for Formula One. The race was moved to Kyalami. Tonight we will be using the 3.9 km long 1959 layout.
 
Please read the championship specific rules on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=1112&theme=6).

Race list	iGOR
Server	UKGPL_4
IP address	86.6.125.152
Date	29-11-2020
Track	eastlndn (http://srmz.net/index.php?showtopic=1079)
Mod	55GP with 60fpsV2newmod
Damage	PRO long
Race time	~ 21:30 UK time
Qualifying	20:45 UK time - 45 minutes
Race length	26 laps
Replay	here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kDWGqsKVvkBXo6zfgJN_EGb_EasP2K5z/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=1112&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=1112&theme=6). Drivers classed as Privateers 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
Alain Maurice	11	Works
bagrupp	11	Works
Clive Loynes	12	Works
Cookie	0	Works
Doni Yourth	22	Works
Dulima	15	Works
Enrique Farina	20	Works
EvilClive	8	Works
fpolicardi	7	Works
Gareth	0	Works
GrandPrixYannick	10	Works
JonnyO	15	Works
Phil Thornton	6	Works
Raoni Frizzo	20	Works
Albert Hallu	0	Privateer
bernie	3	Privateer
covisi2016	2	Privateer
Daniel_San	10	Privateer
francesco	5	Privateer
maddog	10	Privateer
maestro57	8	Privateer
PaulV	10	Privateer
Ricardo Valim da Silva	15	Privateer
tagomago	25	Privateer

It took me a little while to get to the circuit, so here are the coordinates   :wheelchair:  (https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.0495176,27.8743287,2000m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=es-ES)

At the moment my best lap time is about 4 minutes using the street view provided by Phil :laugh:

There looked to be more elevation change coming up to the last corner than I was aware of in GPL.

The harder I try at this place, the slower I get.
Perhaps I should stop trying!

oh bugger!!! he's been practising again  :-\ . Does that compel me to do some homework before tonight's race. Or maybe I should encourage Clive L  to practice non-stop before the race if he is getting slower???

So many variables and so little brain power.  :wacko:

Have decided on an afternoon nap instead of practice.   ::)

Race server is up on iGOR for practice, so please test your connections.

I like the history of F1 so whenever I can, I try to write a few notes in the race announcement to describe the historical context. It is quite interesting to look at google maps and see what the circuits look like now. The East London track is pretty much intact but it looks a lot narrower in real-life than it does in GPL. It just emphasises how brave (or crazy) the drivers were in the 50s.

Yes Phil, I thought it looked narrow too. I put it down to being viewed from the top of the Google van.

Only 4 laps and the camshaft betrayed me.

Save Faster

What a race!

Another start I had difficulties in controlling the car

I lost many positions, but after it stabilized it was really fun

Excellent disputes, between me, Policardi, Tagomago, Grupp, Alain and I don't remember if there were more people at this party

Sorry Alain, for that touch on the curve,I dove for overtaking, trusting the green light on my brake and it ended very fast.

My only alternative was to put the first gear and attack the curve.

I don't know if you noticed but later on, I slow down to return you to my position, it was the least I could do, But we continue with our disputes

A few more laps, I was on Tagomago's tail, but I had to brake and get the car off the track so I wouldn't hit him in T1

I lost a few more positions over there.

What I had left was to row, it was a really fun race

Congratulations to the podium and I am very happy for the victory of my great Brother Farina!

Bravissímo Kike!

I've loaded the chassis the drivers used into the token calculator spreadsheet.  For the next race the available tokens will be as declared in the table below (the table will also appear in the next race announcement).  The calculated values are automated but selecting the cars is a manual process so please check your tokens to make sure I haven't made a silly error.

Albert took the Mercedes W196 again but as in the last race he didn't have enough tokens so he overspent and consequently is disqualified again. It doesn't make much difference to the championship because Albert is not a championship contender but he does loose the points for this race.

Albert please have another look at the rules on the championship page. If you want me to translate them for you (into Portuguese?) I can do that with an internet translator but I won't be able to verify the translation, I'll have to trust the translator.

Driver	Tokens	Status
Alain Maurice	6	Works
bagrupp	11	Works
Clive Loynes	7	Works
Cookie	0	Works
Doni Yourth	17	Works
Dulima	10	Works
Enrique Farina	15	Works
EvilClive	6	Works
fpolicardi	12	Works
Gareth	0	Works
GrandPrixYannick	10	Works
JonnyO	10	Works
Phil Thornton	4	Works
Raoni Frizzo	20	Works
Albert Hallu	0	Privateer
bernie	3	Privateer
covisi2016	2	Privateer
Daniel_San	10	Privateer
francesco	5	Privateer
maddog	10	Privateer
maestro57	8	Privateer
PaulV	10	Privateer
Ricardo Valim da Silva	7	Privateer
tagomago	20	Privateer

  I'll let Albert know, he must have lost his website password.

  the Race was a great loneliness for me, I was in a field without gravity, no driver could be seen ahead and none behind, I had to take anti-depressants during the race.

  looking at the race map, in front of me the battle was fierce, as were the drivers behind, so this dull race was a sensation of my own!
  Congratulations Farina, you were very strong during the race!

really, i just have to say a few words and the great happiness i feel now.
   Since the mod 55 came out, this has been the best race I have had with those cars, my joy comes across my face since this season in mod 55 has been a disaster for me, but today I achieved what I longed for so much , (to be competitive) and although clive in the first laps got away from me, I could see that he could go faster, in some sectors and that made him reach it.
   But Clive is not a rookie and it would not be easy for me to surpass him, but I exerted strong pressure to try and in the last corner 4 laps before the end of the race, he made the mistake and went a bit long, that gave me the pass and the victory that he had so much desire.
    Clive, excellent race an excellent opponent, believe me that I enjoy this race as if it were the last of my life, I am very happy.
    congratulations also to jonnie for that podium in 3 place.
    today I celebrate with some beers
  P.D 1 - thanks brasilians brothers for praisng me, DU, :), and long live GPL <3
  P.D 2  please, some drivers in special one lap less, watch the prebluda, almost I loose the race for one of them.
   so happy   :clap:

Congratulations to Enrique and the podium.

I could see during qualifying that all of the fast drivers were in fast cars and it was clear that they had a speed advantage on the long straight.

When the grid formed up, I found myself sitting in a Maserati amongst a sea of Lancias  :scared: I did not enough tokens to spend on any faster car, so I knew that I would have to run at 110% to even keep up. My start was good and I squeezed through into 2nd place and onto Clive Loynes tailpipes, I was hoping to either sneak an early pass, or attach a tow rope and stay with him if I could.

Lap 1 was OK and I was able to stay a few meters behind until we reached the S/F straight. Here I was worried that Clive's extra power would allow him to pull away, or that Enrique or Jonny would be able to pass me.
Here, I was the architect of my own poor result, because I tried to go just a few metres too far into T1, and on cold tyres I simply lost the rear end.

Initially, I thought I could catch the slide, but the car twitched and I took a long detour across the grass. My mistake dropped me from a close second, to 5th, as we approached the hairpin. The car ahead ran a little too deep on the brakes and I saw a gap on the inside to retake 4th place, so I took a tight line and was just about to nail the gas when I got a hit that pushed me off the track again.( If I had not made the mistake at T1, I would not have been in that place to be hit  :-\)
I was quickly able to get back onto the tarmac and start the chase after Jonny, Enrique and Clive. But, at the Esses I discovered that my chances of a podium were gone. The car had been damaged and I now had a Maserati that did not want to turn to the right  :(.  Turning left was OK, but there are only 2 left turns at East London and 5 to the right.
The effect was that I was losing up to 2secs a lap on the leaders and I had to take right hand corners 1 or 2 gears lower, to force the tail out. Jonny said that he was alone for the whole race, and after Alain dropped back I only saw a couple of tail enders through the whole race...very lonely  :-\.

Grats  again to Enrique on a great drive and for taking his chance for the win. Clive Loynes almost has his sticky hands on the silverware with one race to go, but mathematically, it ain't over until Mabel starts singing Christmas carols  ;)
 

Congratulations to Enrique on the fine drive.

It was almost worth coming second just to witness Enrique's joy at the win!  Almost.

I need to watch the replay to figure out how Enrique caught me but I have a feeling that it may have been a combination of my having slackened my pace (it's an age thing), together with encountering some back markers.  The combination was enough to let Enrique get a tow and the next thing I knew was that he was all over me.  I ran out of brakes at the last corner and the resultant half-spin let him past.  This was compounded by encountering Tago, my teamie, a lap or so later.  He allowed me to pass as we came past the pits and he then proceeded to clatter into me at the hairpin.  It made me laugh, as I was probably the last person on the track that he wanted to run in to!

See you at the final round.

Made a tardy start from a low grid position , then got held up in the cue for T1 (everyone being xtra careful ?) Just getting into my stride when on Lap 4 I was once more taken out by an overambitious Mercedes driven by Mr Halu ( you did the same thing in qually )  After losing 15 - 20 secs for recovering I noticed the gap to had suddenly decreased , Phil must have had an off or something ? So I pressed on hoping to pressure him into a repeat performance but the harder I tried the bigger the gap increased . Then by Lap 15 ? the Fezzer engine cried "enough of this punishment " (at least that's what I thought it said, I don't read Italian) and went up with a bang leaving shrapnel all over the track , possibly causing Soggie Team Leader Clive to have his moment .
 

We are together Kike!

GPL forever!

I imagine your happiness, you had been looking for it for some time!

It was a disaster, sorry Clive ... I saw that I was coming too fast to you and no escape from the left, so I tried to cross the car to slow it down as much as possible ... still I hit you ...  The only thing that relieves me is that you could continue ...  my apologies

Sorry Clive that was me.  I saw you joining so I moved over to the right to give you room but it put me a little off line and the extra car to think about meant I missed a gear. Without engine braking these cars won't stop, consequently I overshot my braking point slightly but I still managed to make the corner. I ran a little wide but I was still in the middle of the track, albeit not on my ideal line. Consequently when I started to accelerate the car didn't have the grip I had got used to in practice and it started to oversteer. Once it had let go, there was nothing I could do and the car gently pirouetted to the right and closed off the gap I'd left you. Sorry about the contact but the throttle control at that point was critical and I just over cooked it slightly.

I was involved in a similar incident a few laps later when Bastian out-braked himself and pirouetted under acceleration. This time it was me in the inside. Fortunately I got away with it but sadly Bastian lost a wheel and was out.

After a good qually, when I hardly ever made any mistakes, I found myself missing a lot of gears (down shifting) in the early stages of this race. With such reliance on engine braking, missing down shifts is a disaster and consequently I ran wide on several corners and dropped from 4th at the start of the second lap to nearly last by the end of it. I composed myself and tried to change gear carefully. It paid off and I gradually made my way back through the field but I couldn't quite catch my "regular" sparring partner, Doni. He just had a bit too much in hand. Maybe next time  ;)

Yes, unlucky but not your fault. My Car began to slide more than in the beginning of the race, it was uncontrolable for me and unpredicatable for you. A shame because of the nice fights.
Earlier i overshot once to the gras not to hit Alain but then hit him on rejoining. Sorry Alain, i waited for your rejoin.