SimRacing.org.uk

Season 37 – 1955 Grand Prix – Round 10 – Monsanto Park

The 10th and final round of the 1955 Grand Prix series finds us in Portugal. The street circuit of Monsanto Park to be precise. Built on parkland, the circuit was considered difficult to drive because it crossed so many different types of surfaces, including tramlines at one point. The track hosted numerous races from 1954 to 1959, but only one race qualified as a Formula One event: the 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix, won by Stirling Moss. He won the race in the twilight hours, since the race was purposefully started late in the day to avoid the intense late summer sun.

The Combined Drivers championship is finely poised with three drivers in with a chance of the title, Clive Loynes, JonnyO and Evil Clive. With 8 scores already on the board, Dulima can only increase his points total by (50 - 21 = 29) 29 to a maximum of 266. Just slightly less than Clive's current tally of 269.

The Works and Privateers Drivers championships are still wide open.

Please note the start line is on a curve so only the first 9 drivers will be able to see the starting flag. If you are 10th on the grid or further back please watch for the cars ahead to move.
 
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	13-12-2020
Track	monsanto (http://srmz.net/index.php?showtopic=2717)
Mod	55GP with 60fpsV2newmod
Damage	PRO long
Race time	~ 21:30 UK time
Qualifying	20:45 UK time - 45 minutes
Race length	21 laps
Replay	here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TI3dXI3QGDZtJD-LZ5NpydlwR9EFdBGJ/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.

Albert: Please note you will only have 10 tokens so you can only drive the Ferrari Tipo 625, Vanwall VW55, Connaught Type B or Gordini Type 16 without being disqualified for an overspend.

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
Philippe Girard	10	Privateer
Rainier	10	Privateer
Ricardo Valim da Silva	7	Privateer
tagomago	20	Privateer

Race server (UKGPL_4) up on iGOR. Please test your connections.

I made some practice laps Online.  But after this, the Starter refused to show up to start the race. >:(
So I checked my spare parts bin, and found a file called, "Monsanto_flagger."  This may be needed, perhaps from SRMZ.  

Best to check your green flagger is not hiding.  To finish first, first you must start!

Great!  we could do a rolling start  ;D

There are a couple of people loooking to try 55mod at this event.

I would recommend the Maserati.  Seems quite a nice ride.  ;-)

Also, I don't think that I have yet finished finding new ways to crash on this circuit! 

I did 5 laps with full tank with Maserati : my best 2min 14sec 53 and same with Ferrari 625 : my best 2min 14sc 55
so I will choose the Maserati  :D

 :eek: I've only managed a 2:22 so far, I'd better get practicing  ::)

I firmly believe that aliens ( the flying saucer type, not the uber fast GPL type :blink:)  subtlety change :-

a) the grip levels within the tarmac at various points around the circuit...
b) the distances between the corners....
and
c) the angles of the corners, on each lap of Monsanto.

or,
the car that I tested was faulty
or,
my driving is crap!   ::) :-\

Fortunately, the camshaft broke on lap 17 and not before.

Well done Fran.

I find the Lancia quite fragile and was short shifting and lifting early from about lap four.

Thank you Clive, I also preferred to start last in order to avoid incidents that did not occur on first lap.

2.22 to 2.10 in less than 7 hours !
Very good practices  :D

I enjoyed this race, this mod55 and this track !
Not sure, I'll say the same if we race at Monaco (or Targa  ;D )

I was having a decent race until 6 laps from the end when the engine lost power and started smoking badly. I limped to the finish, keeping out of everyone's way but when I saw JonnyO was stuck in the hay bales after he lapped me I thought I might have distracted him. Thankfully he managed to get going again.

Grats to Clive Loynes on the championship (again!), it's getting harder. Maybe next Season someone will unseat you ;) I know it is subject to moderation but I think you are safe, from where I was watching you drove a faultless race.

A great drive from JonnyO and a fantastic second place in the Lancia for Evil (and fastest lap :o)

I'm pleased David finished the race, pity Philippe dropped out (don't know what happened). Nice to see Martin back and topping the Privateer drivers  :thumbup1:

   I like Monsanto a lot, generally these old road tracks you find like a glove in my style.
   In the beginning, Evil, the attack and the way of overtaking  was impressive, it was a beautiful, impressive work! I thought we would have a duel until the end of the race, but unfortunately Evil lost his back in a corner and lost 10 seconds, I was in Mercedes and you can't give this space to Mercedes.
   Clive made a race to win the championship, it was necessary, he is the champion with all the merits, he scored a series of victories in a dominating way and he is the champion !!!!
   I was happy to see my friend Doni get so close to the podium, I suspect I didn't want to try anything and take the risk to Clive, these things weigh a lot !!!  ;D
  Phill Thornton, watch the replay because I didn't get any hay  ::) , it was another pilot!
   Gentlemen, next year I will be here for this formidable championship of mod55, I think that all races were with a great number of grid !!!

It was me  ;D
Too bad I got the same turn wrong so many times, the last but one left hander, and the last time was after have passed Phil smoking missing the battle with Alain in the latter part of the race.
I thought to know the track before the race, but I didn't!
Next season!

Congratulations to Clive Loynes ( again!!!). Your consistency trumped my dumb mistakes through the season, but next season....oh yes! next season will be different.......maybe  ::).

Another terrific season and some great competition in the 55's. Grats to Jonny for the win at Monsanto and to all who finished.

Going into the final race, there was still a mathematical chance for a few drivers to steal the trophy, if Clive failed to finish. The problem with that theory is Clive himself. He is just too damned reliable!! and we all knew, and more importantly he knew, that he just had to finish in a reasonable place to grab a few points to hold on to top spot.

My only hope was to finish 1st and see what happened elsewhere. I took the fastest car available with the tokens that I had left, the Lancia, which I agree is a little fragile, but the size of my challenge doubled when I saw Jonny's Merc  :-\.

Starting from 3rd I outdragged Clive off the grid and tucked in behind Jonny's silver arrow and was pleasantly surprised to find that I could stay on his tail  on the long uphill straight. I followed Jonny for a few laps as we edged away from Clive in 3rd place, then I saw that my team mate had passed Clive and demoted him to 4th !!! I was too busy wrestling with a far from perfect setup to do the maths in my head, but I was certain that it opened up an opportunity  ;).

On the next lap I got a good run out of the T2 hairpin, up that long hill behind the Merc and a great run through the fast right-left corners. I think that I had the perfect line/speed on that lap ( no other lap felt as good as that one through there!) as I carried maybe 10kph more than Jonny and it simply carried me past him and into the lead.
I pushed hard to try and break away, but ended up trying too hard and overdriving. In these cars pushing an extra 5mtrs in the braking zone is never a good idea and I had a few narrow escapes, until I scorched the rear tyres and they gave up the battle out of the final corner spinning me into the pit lane.
Like Jonny has already said," you cannot give a Merc a 10 second lead and hope to catch up". The rest of the race was a long hard slog hoping that he would make a mistake(s).  But his lead was enough to give him a safety cushion and I was not fast enough to make any impression on his lead.

Thanks to everyone who organised and raced. Looking forward to next season already  ;D

Most of us were round the bend to start this race, but the start went well enough.  My Merc. went to work with more thunder than thud, which is a good sign, but a race is not without it's hazards.

A few laps in, and my trusty steed decided it didn't like slow, right hand corners?  I noticed this, while sideways and stationary across the track, approaching the startline.  Somehow, I'd picked up a squirrely car!  Seeing no squirrel's onboard, the next thought was a loose nut, or loose wheel due to excess sawing at corners.  Found and tightened left screw clamp successfully, while at speed. ;D

Squirrelous behaviour continued.  This time, taking both hands off the wheel, I discovered the right clamp fully on the loose!  And so, from a meandering Merc. at nearing top speed, I tightened the right clamp, previously left. 

Problem continues, and with the dented bodywork to prove it!  The upright driving position I use, won't let me drive straight by using my thighs, which is possible, when this sort of thing happens in a real F1.  Risking  a hellish accident once more, I confirmed having expertly re-clamped the right clamp onto thin air, rather than some non-squirrely lump!  :-\

By pushing on the pedals with feet, and steering wheel with hands at each corner, 21 laps are survived.

A great track to race on, and great bravery from all who participated, with or without a screw loose.  Ye Racing apparatus needs a tuneup.

A great track to race on , challenging enough to not get bored plus a nice long straight to get your breath back after each gyration , not that I did much of that .

The start was a lottery with the tail end of the grid having no sight of the flag, so by the time we got moving the leaders must have already done half a lap ! after a few laps got settled down and passed a few stragglers , mostly blown engines and accidents , Rainier caught me up and a small mistake let him through , spent the rest of the race trying to keep up but my Maserati had a horrible misfire all through the race and the unpredictable behavior didn't give me much confidence to press on , so in the end I was just glad to finish in one piece .

Grats to my friend Clive , team leader and coach for a well deserved championship  :clap:

hoping you can repeat and for better results for myself next season !

Ahh,  was watching Pribluda carefully (so I knew when to get out of the way) as I trundled round in my smoking Maserati. Just after I passed you the gap back to JonnyO stopped reducing and got bigger which made me think it was JonnyO stuck in the hay bales. It was about half a lap before JonnyO started moving again on Pribluda. I have Pribluda on time difference which does seem to be a bit erratic, perhaps distance setting would be more stable?

Good morning all

Well done Clive, Jonny and Evil for your championship.

Jonny for this victory.

I took the Vanwall because I had a setup and no time to ride better.
My 1st gear was very long and I suspected that at the start it was going to be difficult but not to this point.

I lose several places before making a lot of mistakes.
Bad race for me.


Thank you for the perfect organization and see you soon

Many thanks to all for the kind words and congratulations.  I think that that is my hat-trick of championship wins so do I get to keep the virtual trophy?

A nice steady run to third place was what I had in mind but Doni was the fly in the ointment.

It was difficult to get a traffic free lap in qually and when Jonny took the benchmark into the 7 second band it would have needed my Sunday best, which never happens on Sundays!

In my prep for this race I was alarmed to find that I was destroying Lancia engines at quite a rate.  I think that it must be down to the jump and the bumps.  Anyway, as Jonny has already eluded, the secret of winning is to drive as slowly as possible to take the race/championship.  The last thing that I wanted was a DNF.

So after the start, when Evil made a good get away and I was left with my two main rivals right where I wanted them, I was feeling quite chuffed.  Sadly that is always a recipe for disaster in my case.  Feeling relaxed as we headed up from the Lake Hairpin, I lobbed in an extra gear change to be kind to the engine.  Then my brain jumped out of gear and I didn't correct the situation after the jump.  That left me understeering wide at the right-hander and into the straw bales.  Thankfully all my wheels stayed attached but as I extractated myself from the grip of the bales, Doni motored past me.

Now the numbers that I had in my head said that 3rd was ok but I wasn't sure about 4th!  So I had to deviate from the plan and get a bit racy to get back past Doni.  This I managed, I think it was on lap three by slipstreaming up the hill from the Clover Leaf Hairpin.  Doni then obliged by having his own encounter with the straw bales, which left me in my preferred "comfortable" position.  This allowed me to drop back into engine conservation mode.

And so the rest of the race continued until the last few laps when Doni got his second wind and was once again large in my mirrors.  He was very quick through the last left-hander and on a couple of occasions I thought that he might have a lunge into the Pits Hairpin.  But he didn't.  Perhaps as Jonny suggested he didn't want to be the bloke who settled the championship with a prang.  I must also thank Fran for spotting me as I came up to lap him and for not delaying my progress.  Congratulations to Fran for his Privateer's Trophy and for leading SBRC to the Privateer's Team Prize.

Hope that Mable managed to get out of the way when Evil did his impromptu pit stop.  I saw the marks on the road and never dreamed that it would have been him!

It has been a really enjoyable season but I think that I may have to up my game for the next one, especially at the start of the season.

Such was the level of performance of the SBRC Privateers, we also managed to take the Combined Team Award, so a damn good season all-in-all.   ;D







 

Thank you Clive,excluding the last 3 races,was a good season for me.At Roy Hesketh  i'm not able to be fast, but in the others I had problems with the engine or the steering wheel. Thank you for the organisation of this championship.

The new/revisiting drivers at this event seemed to take to 55mod quite well because it isn't such a trial on the brake management side.

Perhaps a fun spec race in Gordinis might be an idea.   ;D

there aint no such thing as a "fun" race

This is GPL  :punk:

I get your drift and totally agree!  The moment you say that it's a "race" then all concepts of having fun, ie driving withing your comfort zone just for enjoyment are straight out of the window! The fun comes from winning!!!

I disagree!

Racing is fun - no need to win to have fun.
It was not less fun when after a long 69x race in Monza10k Doni got me on the line for some hundreds of a second.


When I moved to senior housing, I left all the trophies behind and only took this one with me.

Ok, the picture shows my car after the first win, but the cup is from a special race ~1980 with a friend who won by 0,2sec.

(https://i.ibb.co/GndVNNr/IMG-20201217-191135.jpg) (https://ibb.co/MZgRQQJ)

such a car in action (min 4:00) on my favourite track ;)

https://youtu.be/DVt7ysn7XfE

Axel

Now that's what you call a track day  ;D


Found this interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9snYLnr-Pw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9snYLnr-Pw)

Very interesting!

We shall just have to agree to differ on that one Axel.   :fencing:

Getting caught up on some our recent races...

Hey!  Hey!  Way to be, Jonny!  A fine win, amigo.  Grats to Evil on a good P2 and well done to CliveL for P3.

This race was bit atypical for me in that part-way through, I somewhat abandoned my philosophy of avoiding even the most minor of shunts cuz back in the day, it could prove fatal.  I got a good start bouncing Alain's Vanwall straight away to move up a slot.  The early laps were running off well but then I started to hear the bellow of a Maser 6-cylinder in my ears closing in behind.  This was Phil whom it seems in S37 has proved to be in many a race over a wide selection of mods, my chief nemesis.  He and I have had many a good, fair, hard-fought punch-up this season and it looked like this would prove little different.  However, a slight gaffe on my part...clipped a bale...sent me into a 360° spin letting Phil through.  This spin positively infuriated me and from that point to the finish, I poured it on.  I closed on Phil and a slight slip from him let me regain the place.  Later, PT's engine went sour robbing him of a good placing.  Bad luck there, Phil, and entirely undeserved.

Well up the road but just barely in sight, I had Clive Loynes in his Lancia.  As the laps reeled off, I closed significantly on most laps.  In the final couple of tours, I was in a position to actually challenge.  With just over a lap to go, I almost collided with Clive in the final complex having to slew my Lancia sideways to avoid contact.  This cost me a little time which I could not quite recover finishing just a tick behind in P4.  Error notwithstanding, it was a good run.

Congratulations to Clive Loynes on winning our GP55 championship!  Great performance.

Jonny finishes up a close P2 and as ever, is a threat to win.  Great job, amigo.

Evil a close P3 in the final standings.  Well done.

Two thumbs up to Eddie(Dulima)for coming home P4 in the title stakes.  Good show.

P5 pour moi in the standings just ahead of...yes, you guessed it..., Phil.  Nah-nah!   :P

My thanks to the admins.  Lost without you.

Looking forward to more GP55 action in S38.

Grats Doni you've driven very well all season. In previous season's you've always been too fast for me but this year I've improved a little and on a good day I've been able to push you a bit. I'm hoping to be a serious challenger to you next season, fair but very annoying  :fencing: