SimRacing.org.uk

Practice 1:	20:00	(10 mins)	full time drivers only
Practice 2:	20:10	(10 mins)	reserves may join too
Qual 2:	20:20	(35 mins)
Race:	20:55	(80 mins)	Note: no warmup!

Cars allowed: any GT1, G2, GT2 or GTC from the UKGTR Skin Pack v2.6.0.0 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3356.msg54519#msg54519) (G2 and GT2 cars will not score points).
Weather: changeable, based on real-world conditions at the start of the event.
Track: UKGTR Spa 2004 (download from here (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3356.msg54519#msg54519) as part of the UKGTR Track Pack v1.2)
Race Start Time: 14:00
Pit Stops: All drivers must make a minimum of one pit stop. This must involve entering the pit lane at the speed limit, and coming to a complete standstill in the designated pit box. Tyres do not have to be changed and no fuel has to be added. You cannot take your mandatory stop at the end of the pace lap, or with less than 1 lap to go.

Server: UKGTR Upper Endurance
Password: see above (#post_event_password)

Notes:
(1) Please make sure you are fully aware of the UKGTR Rules (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3349.0) - especially the speed limiter starting procedure and the rules about in-game chat messages.
(2) Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=60). Reserves (anyone without a full time spot) should not join until the stated session, regardless of the time.
(3) You will not be able to join the server without the skin and ballast pack and track pack (see links above).
(4) Drivers may only change car once in the season without penalty.
(5) Drivers are reminded that they must select ISDN as their bandwidth, otherwise the stability of everyone's connection will be reduced.
(6) Please use the Driver Details (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=profile;sa=driver_info) page to ensure that the league management software has your correct GTR2 'Driving Name' (not necessarily the same as your lobby name).

I was looking forward to this one until I noticed the lap records. Tell me they are from the 03 and not the 04 revision of the track? Otherwise I'm a good bit behind.

Yes, they are from the 2003 version (and I think without the extra cutting checks of the UKGTR version too).

So does anybody know what times are we aiming for on the current track version?

In what car?

Sorry paul, just general really, GT1, GTC

GT1s somewhere around 2.11 - 2.12 I reckon (could be a bit faster, but not sure as I don't do much GT1), and GTCs from about 2.21 - 2.22 in qual trim.

Thanks Paul.....I'd better get some praccy in then ::)

What version are we using this time 04? I'm at work so can't get on the practice server to see.    If it's the 04 version I guess there will be a number of people with low 2.12 high 2.11 race pace.

We are using the UKGTR version of Spa 04.

Dunno about weighted cars, but as far as I know, normal GT1 cars can do 2:09's here and GT2 can do 2:17. But not taking weight into account. So add about 1-2s and lap and I say exactly the same thing as Paul and might as well have shut the h..l up  ;D

My estimate for GT1 cars was conservative so you are probably right that 2.10s or even 2.09s are possible, but the other one was for GTC, not GT2. 2.20s might be on, but I'd be surprised to see 2.19s.

Indeed about GTC's. In a normal 350Z I did a 2:20, so with better tires and less weight it'll be in the low 2:20's I guess.

It's doubtful I will manage any practice between now and sunday, so I better ask, what's the difference between the normal and UKGTR version? I did not think there was any corner cutting problems with 04 track.    Also about lap times, jeff, are you saying 2.09 for race or qualifying? I hope qualifying as I can only do low 2.10 in qualifying at spa. On saying that after 2 disconnections and starting last at previous race and climbing up to 6th, my car will be light.

If you bite off a lot of green tarmac at the Bus Stop or in Eau Rouge you will get a cut warning.

Here is the exact details of the track changes:

Spa 04
1) The exit of Eau Rouge has a much tighter inside which prevents drivers cutting across the inside on exit (where the pits exit).
2) Reduced night settings very slightly.
3) GDB changes to RaceLaps = 999 (which means the race will go the time not the distance).

Spa 03
1) The exit of Eau Rouge has a much tighter inside which prevents drivers cutting across the inside on exit (where the pits exit).
2) The bus stop is tighter. I can totally understand why Simbin/Blimey! have had a nightmare getting this correct. The corner is so tight, that the only way to prevent people straight line across the green stuff is to have a VERY tight rule through the corner. This means the checks I've implemented are on the very line of our own rules. Anything else and it's really back to the original values. This means that we have to specify that people must drive the corner as the checking is VERY strict and even a mm here and there is going to get punished.
3) Reduced night settings very slightly.
4) GDB changes to RaceLaps = 999 (which means the race will go the time not the distance).

Dear Joda, how are you? I hope you are doing well.

Questions from puny Earthling are as follows:

- What wing settings should (not-so)young Padawan use on X-Racer of Lamborghini Type?

- Tyres. Slice me with light sabre but I can't get them to stop overheating except if on med-hard combo.

- Ride height? If low it gets PMSed Princess Leia on you over curbs (Curbs ride I must If fast want I be, I know, I know)

- dif.settings?

Sincerely

JureWhatdoyoumean2.09areyounuts?

You Aliens hack GTR2 via use of practice-cheat way too much.  ;D

Were you out on the drink last night Jure?

Had a little practice today and something was a little odd. My lap times were down and my tyre wear was higher than normal.

I have a few tried and tested set ups to use and found the same with them all which is odd.

I only did a few laps and found the cutting difference at Eau Rouge. Must say one of the times I got a warning I thought I was riding the kerb and not actually inside the kerb. I will have to take care here as I can see a few penalties getting handed out.

As for the lap times I hope everyone is in the same boat as me and not as quick, or possibly the times will come up on Sunday night.

Also the fuel usage is high again on the Lambo. At around 5.1L per lap I don't have much tinkering to make in pit strategy

No drinking, just bored (OK, I also watched penultimate episode of Family Guy making fun out of Star Wars series  ;D )

My fuel consumption is even higher, up to 5.25L per lap, rpm limiter @ 7600 (5.15-5.20L with short shifting)

Can't get below 2.14 on full fuel load, med-hard, wing @ 8 (with a painfully low top speed). 6.0 front height, 7.5 rear height (nervous over curbs, higher settings make it unstable in L'Eau Rouge and that fast double left hander in 2nd sector).

I'm not any faster to be honest. I'm normally in the 2.12s but can't seem to get anywhere near that. I hope the grip comes up on Sunday night or hope everyone else is down on their normal pace.

I'm going Medium tyres all round but I'm worried about lasting 40mins as tyre wear is higher than I expected, again hopefully grip comes up and tyre wear goes down.

I set my car to manage Eau Rouge first and then worry about the rest. To fight the car for 80mins around that corner is asking for trouble. You always know on one lap it will catch you and at 150MPH your race is over when you hit the barrier.

Even i have done 2:12's in the Lambo and its the first time i've ever driven it here, so i'm pretty sure you alien types can pee all over that !  ;D

Think I'm going to be showing my true pace tonight as I can only get down to at 2:13.5 in TimeTrial mode in optimum conditions with qually fuel and tyres. Guess I'll have to make it all up in the pits again.  ::) Zzzzz.

I've squeeked into the 23s in the 350Z but that's about as much as I can get out of the car and myself in optimum conditions. With the long pitlane and the high speeds involved I'm not sure the Zed has as big an advantage in the stops as it would elsewhere (it's hit or miss as to whether I can do it without a splash of fuel when I stop). On the plus side I think I've found a better solution to my DFP setup on the Game Frame which will hopefully avoid my left leg falling asleep during the race. :laugh:

Anyone has any idea on race lenght (as in how many laps?)

80x60=4800 seconds minus 5 minute warmup lap = 4500 seconds minus 80 seconds pitstop=4420 seconds of racing

Given that our dear domesticated aliens will do an average of 2.12.5s per lap, i.e. 132.5 s per lap = warmup lap plus 33 laps of trying to survive racing.

Right?

Sigh. 185 liters of fuel to be burned while giving a new meaning to a term sweaty hands.  ;D

Additional question: was trying to simulate a race yesterday night, offline, using SROU track. AI S-T-O-P-S at exit of L'Eau Rouge. Anyone else getting that? I mean... huh?  :o

I will be cutting it fine to get back for this one. I'm up in st andrews so the only practice I will get now is the drive home!      I was worried about my pace being slower than normal but atleast everyone else is about the same. Can't see why i'm slower on ukgtr version but it's the same track for everyone.    I'm expecting a big field and a good race tonight. I know that nearly everybody likes spa and after the last round it will be nice to stretch the cars performance this time.

Yep, I got the same, the AI can't handle the corner and always start to slide and eventually come to a stop ::)  Good practice for the first lap though ;)

The UKGTR tracks do not support AI off-line racing.

Annoyingly, I can't make this.....too much work for tomorrow!!  :'(

Sorry lads - have a gd race :)

Don't think I'm racing now - my missus is working on my 2nd PC .... leaving precious little space for my steering wheel.

Work wins over "play" .... but I will move that bloody PC onto the other desk tomorrow night!

Hope you guys have a good night racing.

Having now missed 2 races already this season I think I'm going to withdraw from the series and concentrate on the lower sprint and enduro.  DG - can you do the honours.

Oh bummer. :(
Not the race I was looking for. I’m a bit rusty but that isn’t excuse for the tremendous mistake I did on start of lap 2, when lost it all together on Eau Rouge. I do hope I didn’t take any one else with me on that. :(
Amazingly the car resisted the crash but with some mechanical problems which led me to the pit. Fortunately, the crew was outstanding and even with a significant wait they repaired my suspension, something that was a complete surprise.
After that I went as it was possible but another rookie mistake while approaching the end of the race served as a dead sentence.
While reaching for the LCD button on the gear part of the G25, I accidentally pushed the gear stick forward and from 6th I was then in 3rd  :o That was an immediately blow engine and with that the end of the race. :P
What a terrible return that was. ::)

Right that's me finished with the MC12, its far too inconsistant in power and grip. Tired of all the manhandling it through the corners only for it to spin every 5 or 6 laps. Its not enjoyable to race and takes far too much aggression to go quick. I did 3 or 4 complete 360s in the race for no apparent reason and it took off like a bullet on the Kemmel straight on 1 or 2 laps dumping me down into the chicane almost 30kmh quicker. Engine was revving like crazy, thought it was going to blow or something. There's definitely a bug there :(

Grats to CJ on a great qual lap! Apologies to Darren and Ruskus, I think I made what could be called aggresive passes on you both :-\

The Viper is very much not suited to Spa. Although it's a great track, having to fight the fish tailing and lack of corner grip the whole race was somewhat tiresome.

Managed to hold it altogether through consistency until the last portion of the race where I seemed to lose it completely. I think it was just after I told me team mates over team speak that I'd moved up to 6th through consistent driving with no big mistakes.  ::) What an idiot tempting fate like that. :-[ Almost instantly the devil struck and my Viper had turned into some sort of freakish camel demon, spitting, bucking, humping and most of all producing a lot of s**t.  :laugh:

I had the most almighty fish tail moment whilst Paul Richards was 2 inches from my arse. I thought I'd saved it a number of times as I weaved hideously trying to keep it in a straight line, finally letting the armco straighten me out.  :P Paul had no chance and hit my rear. Sorry for that, the car was possesed. :angel: It just went down hill from there really and I just scraped over the line ahead of EdamSpeed for a totally undeserved 7th.

Apologies to Mark Jonzo who I probably scared the living daylights out of by driving over a banana skin Truetom had left :o from his ailing car and spinning not far in front of him.

Really struggling with the Viper and the Vette. It's too much like hard work.  :P :-\

Replay (https://replay.simracing.org.uk/ukgtr/UKGTR%20Spa-Francorchamps%20-%20Upper%20Endurance%20071014.zip) available, provisional results are above.

Interesting evening. It started with Simon asking what my quallypace was in P2, while I was doing quallypace  ;D.

Was pleased with my quallylap in Q2, but the car was very unstable, so I changed ARB and it felt great, so I went out again in the last 10 minutes, but everytime I ran into traffic and lost my fast lap. But in hindsight, I might have gained 1, maaaaybe 2 places with a better time.
It was quite obvious CJ was gonna get pole. An alien with -20kg is easier than 1+1  ;).

Race started intense, with Zacari trying a pass at Les Combes. He didn't push it and I could stay infront. In lap 2 Silva spun at Eau Rouge, and all I could see was smoke, and it was sooo close when I past :o.
Had Zacai behind me right up onto his pitstop. And then Robert was behind me. At that stage I also had Mo around me, who had probably one of his worst races ever, as he was all over the place  ;). I see where that comes from, as I also find that MC12 a (...) to drive.
He spun at one point and he was spinning and spinning and spinning and I didn't know where to go, so I tried left, but his back came around and I got hit, causing aero damage. The outbraking you did was a bit hairy, but I knew with my heavy car I could get outbraked easily, so I was watching my mirrors closely everytime I braked.
Few laps later Robert outbraked me as well. I had no chance to defend.

Pitted in late and lost alot there, as I finished with 12L of fuel and had the damage to repair. Lost alot of places with the pits and came out in 4th IIRC, with Robert behind me again. He overtook me a few laps later and I was behind him for the rest of the 25 minutes. I was a bit quicker in the twistied and on the straight, but I lost alot on acceleration and braking. Could follow him around, but not overtake or try anything.

After a few races I'm not sure about the weightpenaltysystem. This race was already decided with CJ's weight, and my race was useless as I couldn't do anything. My weight caused me to brake very early and was afraid I was gonna rearend somebody or get rearended.
The weight is doing it's job in terms of closer racing, but for me the cars feel undrivable and no fun to drive.

Grats to CJ and MJ for the win.

Love this track...pity I'm not any faster here :D

Qualified eventually after being 'pestered' by GT1 on three consecutive attempts...still over a second off my pb though.

Race started ok...although I got done first time through eu'rouge taking it far too easy ::)...then second time round pRibrero had an ooopsie and I looked like I was going to sail passed him and possibly Dave who had slowed to avoid, only to get a total drop in FPS and ending up without a clue as to where anyone was so just stayed off line and hit the brakes hoping it would clear...which it did but I was then 15/20 seconds behind.

Just spent the rest of the time lapping on my own. :(

Appologies to Brian Kerr, I had just let him through near the last hairpin and then missed my braking point and shunted him off track..totally my fault..and probably cost him chance of a place :-[

Grats to winners and podiums.

Congrats MJ ;D.

A rather sore head left me a little undercooked tonight. Poor quali left me in trouble. Hadn't had much time for race setup so I just adjusted excellent quali setup accordingly (read badly). Forgot to change height setting and was bottoming out through Rouge which produced a brown pants moment every time. Also produced a couple of cut warnings so I rather cruised around after pitstop thinking Paul 968 was in front. Only realised it was Darren when we finished, no idea he had jumped me in pits :).

Race was rather dull with  only one funny moment coming from Daves secret coded team messages ;). Shame you have have had enough of the M12 Mo, cause its was so much fun even watching lap me tonight. You remind me of one of those rodeo cowboys as you strangle the life outta of it :)

Thx all GT1 boys who were excellent. Apologies to Kerr for appearing to block you in quali and Claus for a couple of scary moments, but by jebus you were fast :)  

Unofficial Lapchart (http://www.lapcharts.teamshark.org.uk/Lapcharts/Spa UE 14-10-07/index.html)

During practice and qualifying sessions it was clear there was only going to be one winner here. Happy to qualify 2nd by the skin of my teeth over Mo in 3rd.

Had the run on CJ on first lap and was in his slipstream. I could have make a move to overtake but decided against it. No point trying to overtake and hold a driver so much faster behind for the next 80mins. It would have cost both of us time.

Mo chased me for countless laps afterwards. He matched me in every corner and every straight and I could not get away. I think he must have made a few mistakes and since my GTR-PD was not working I had no idea what was going on behind me.

Come pit stop window I was about 25secs ahead of third place. Then as soon as Simon's message of pit in appeared on my screen it started freezing at Eau Rouge. The whole straight it was freezing every couple of seconds I had to lift off and still ran off at next bend as no idea where I was. How frustrating.

My lack of practice showed badly at the end of the lap as I forgot where the entrance to the pits was and where the limiter was to be in place for. All in all a completely disastrous lap.

Came back out in 9th and watched me climb back up fully expecting to get my 2nd place back. Then wondered where Zacari had come from to get in second. As no GTR-PD I had no idea how he was running.

I put the foot down and my car was flying in second stint. Catching Zacari I closed the gap to under 5 seconds and catching more than quick enough. I was setting quicker laps consistently. Unfortunately I had a little incident which cost me loads of time and damaged the car to the tune of about 1.5secs per lap. Also by the time I straightened up and got out the tyres I was about 18 seconds behind and no chance of catching Zacari with damaged car.

As I said to driver I have no complaint as I know it was a mistake and he has always been great with me, making more than enough room if I'm ever passing him.

Just drove the car home afterwards but struggled especially on right hand bends. I was still quick enough to match 4th positions pace but gave myself a scare with an off on the last lap.

Was a fun race but a little disjointed. It will be better come sprint with no pit stops and everyone together.

That way Zacari can't pull another fast one! Good strategy there as you caught me well out!

Well done CJ and MJ on class wins

That was a fantastic race, loved it :thumbup1:

Absolutely over the moon with my first? class win at Srouk (if there was one before it must have been a while back :-[ ;) )
Was really up for this race, i was on a mission to drive the Porsche as well as i could and get a good result at my favourite real life race track and am ecstatic  :euro:

Had good qually battle with SBG, swapping times a couple of times to finally clinch GTC pole  8)
Knew my setup was good and just had to concentrate hard for 80 minutes  :eek:

Led the GTC race for an hour until i made my pitstop and despite building up a 16-20 second? gap over 2nd place, i was bricking it for my stop knowing how often it had cost me dearly in enduro. I was stopped for 45 seconds to take on fuel and new boots and re-emerged in 3rd :taz:...thought Dave had pulled out on of his magic pitstop strategies and leapfrogged me, along with the shifting Paul968  :(
It galvanised me into action and i set about chasing the pair of them with a vengeance setting a series of my fastest race laps. DG then thankfully pitted a few laps later and Paul had a 14 second lead on me, but i was utterly determined to get my lead back. :tank:
I started taking big chunks of time out and eventually closed on him with about 10 minutes or so to go, expecting a battle royale to get past, but knowing if i timed it right i could draft him out of eau rouge and get an easier pass. I lined myself up to do it one lap but dropped back too far to get a clear run through eau but only caught him at the end of the straight...D'oh...try again ::)
I decided to stay really close to Paul on the following lap and then repeat my manouvre at the end of the lap, but his Morgan started to get a bit squirrelly with his mirrors full of my porsche and when a couple of lapping GT cars joined the fray he unfortunately ran wide at the exit of stavelot, and i blitzed through down the inside, not needing to be asked twice, unlucky mate  :P
There was no way on this earth i was gonna make an error after that and i just kept it steady with 2 laps remaining...though Simon did his best to distract me with a dramatic smoke spewing spin at Stavelot  :o, hehe.

Absolutely over the moon to get the win at my fave track :jumpjoy:
Congrats to Claus for another dominant drive and thanks to all the GT boys who lapped cleanly :thumbup1:

Mostly quiet race for me. Kept a consistent (more or less) gap between Simon in front (who I couldn't catch when he was being consistent), and Pudie/Gazza behind me. Got a few sniffs, but never really any room to put my nose in, and thanks for giving me the room Simon, when I did, but I had already backed out of the pass - too early :) Last corner was fun -with us side by side, and your leaden right foot nearly deciding it for you ;) But you just kept it in front.

Sorry to Ian and Dave G, who seemed to be in front of me when I was having wobbly moments. Apologies if  I came across as a bit of a bully - I was trying to be patient and not press the issue, but sometimes it seemed to make things worse! Not your fault guys :)

Few scary moments when Mo and Luis left the server - there was a brief lag, right where I was turning into Blanchiment - very nearly lost it at that point, and sorry also I think to Darren, who I tried to pass after Eau Rouge, but timed it a bit wrong, ended up going wide at the top, and very very nearly wiped myself out on the tyres. :o ::) Hope I didn't frighten you too much!

Oh, and well done MJ - who put a rocket up your a**e tonight? :D

Nightmare of a race for me. Having totally missed my braking point for La Source and lost about 20 seconds reversing out of the gravel trap, I was still on for a good 4th place at least. Mediums held up well and I was able to delay stopping for softs until there were less than 30 minutes to go, which meant I could push hard all the way through the final stint.

My pit crew however had other ideas, and I found myself unable to select things properly off the board. Grabbed my keyboard and managed to pick the right things (softs and a small aero repair where Jure gave me an accidental tap on the bum very early on), but the button I'd mapped to "SELECT" failed to have any effect, nor did the Enter key. ???

Wasted a minute until eventually I pressed every button and every key on my keyboard (hence the two weird chat messages) and finally the crew went to work. That put me half a lap down on Ginsters and with no chance for 4th place. Had a reasonable scrap with PRibeiro who looked to have a car problem of some sort until he spun off.

Lappers were very well behaved with one exception - I had to make a few people wait longer than I'd like - there are a few corners where I just could not run safely off line.

I'll miss the next round so that could well see me off the championship podium at the end of the season. :-\

That's ok Mo, no harm done.  :)


That's ok Edam, again no harm done.

I must admit after not completing the first two races of the season through collisions with GT1 guys, I was praying as I saw you rapidly approach my back bumper. ;D  Fantastic reactions mate to avoid both me and the wall. :notworthy:

Well done MJ. Congrats on your first win.

After my disastrous start to the season I'm happy to take 3rd in class.  ;D

Well, that's a bug I've not heard of in the Logitech Profiler before - I had a bunch of shifted commands set up on the POV controls for the DFP, but I'd removed them and the Shift button for the G25. Unfortunately, the Profiler for some reason decided to retain the shifted controls instead of the ones I set up - I don't understand why because when I first changed the mappings I reset all the control mappings in GTR2 to check that they were correct. Grr, grr and thrice grr.

Great race for me, a real life issue turned out to be bloomin' great strategy :laugh:

I had never run the Lister at Spa in GTR2 so I had no setup before quali, and 8th reflected that somewhat.  The start of the race was good, had a nice battle with Robert for a few laps- damn you could brake late in that Lambo!  After that, and TT spinning, I was behind Jeff who was in 4th.

Around 1/3 distance I had my 'issue', which was my wireless headphone batteries running out :-[ after thinking of the options I decided I had to pit for new batteries :D and thankfully with 55 mins left I could make it if I took on a full tank of fuel.  The stop went well (I was weaving all over the place on pit entry trying to find the batteries in my draw ;D) and I was back out a lap down, just behind CJ.

The next few laps were just hotlapping, with lots of free track and very few cars to lap.  I suddenly realised I was going over 2 sec a lap faster than Jeff who was on old tyres, so I thought I might be in with a shout of jumping him when he pitted.  I did, and also managed to jump everyone other than CJ who was miiiiles faster than anyone :o I was, however, suffering from a very hot car (oil @ 105 degrees, anyone?) so I was a little fearful of making the finish in one piece.

When all the stops were done I was about 10 seconds infront of Brian, but not having any major issues other than doing 3/4 revvs down the main straight to keep the engine in one piece.  The gap seemed ok, then in consecutive laps I lost alot to traffic which I was cursing about, over 3 seconds in one lap, though I guess that traffic cost Brian alot more in the end anyway, so we never got to see how any battle would've turned out.  I could've stressed the engine and been going faster, but it could've gone boom too :laugh:

Once the gap went to about 15 seconds I totally backed off down the straight to keep the engine below 100, so I was running low 2:16's not high 2:13's, with no danger it was the sensible thing to do, and it lasted until the finish for a very unexpected 2nd ;D

Grats to CJ and MJ for class wins, and thanks to the GTC guys who were great :) another good TSJ result too :clap:

Grats to CJ and MJ for winning. When I grow up I'll have a "J" in my name, too.  ;D
Qualified 5th, with 0,5 sec off pb, couldn't get that back, probably I was too chickensh.. in the Eau.  :P  Race started good, Ruskus was all over Paul Richards and that gave me some gap behind. Was close to Luis Branco when he spun but not as close to get entangled. Mo was faster so I settled my pace and tried to be steady, not too fast. That payed off when mo went out and I was running 3rd. When I lapped DG on s/f straight I must have got a slightly different line through the Eau Rouge and I spinned.  :(  Lost 4,5 places in a blink.  >:(  After pitting I was running 7th I think, behind mo again. Great sight that MC12, mo, but I guess driving that car on the very limit is a time-limited project - I had the same troubles in S5, the car just isn't competitive in GT1 class.  :(  Anyway, after mo made a small mistake I came by and was after Robert and Ruskus. Was faster and was waiting for mistake either of them would make.


Had the same feeling, Simon, don't know what happened, but the car just slide wide and went off into the wall. I don't think I took a different line, speed was usual.  ???  Probably just a downward step in rubber grip. Anyway, on top of the Eau Rouge the car went straight into the wall, broke off the splitter, suspension damage, right front tyre out. Wanted to get back to the pits but after I almost took out Shark and another car I decided I was a dangerous obstacle on the road and quit. So promising...  :(

TT

Well been a bit out of praccy with GTR2 and haven't been in Lambo for a while! so thats my excuse  :-[

quali'd last in GT1 but admittedly was working more on race setup! thought I would more likely be racing MJ for 80 mins  ;)

3 laps in sitting behind Edam and Simon my wheel came off the desk half way through eau rouge and that was that!!! shame cos i love spa!

grats winners!  ;D

Apologies for not making the race last night, a hideously busy week topped off by a 5 hour car journey on Sunday just left me entirely wiped out. I tried a few laps before the race but I was entirely unable to muster any concentration so I decided not to race in case I ruined anyone's race.

Grats to MJ and Darren on their podiums  :thumbup2:

I'll also miss the next race (NFL @ Wembley)

Another pitstop battle get the max-ballasted Morgan to keep up. I couldn't get near the 911s in qual, and Dan's Mosler also managed to pip me. He then kindly gave it back on the pace lap by spinning on the curbs at Fagnes - unlucky but welcome nonetheless. The 911s of Mark and SBG were a bit too quick at the start, and Dan was soon pressuring me, but with a full tank of fuel (hoping to not have to refuel) I was playing the long game again. Dan got past but then went off not long after, and then I was chasing SBG, but with PRibiero sitting between us a lap down. I'm not sure he realised how close I was at times, because it took many laps before he tried to let me past, but I went too deep and he went past again. By mid distance my soft tyres were shot and Darren was coming up behind, but when I pitted he did too. I assume he needed fuel, because I gained 10 seconds or so in the stop. By the time things had shaken out I came past the pits with Mark J just passing the exit lights, which gave me about an 8 second lead. Initially I extended it a bit, but after a few laps he got into his stride and the gap started to shrink. He was right with m with about 5 minutes left, but my tyres were turning to jelly by then. To compound things I made a small mistake letting a lapper past and Mark was through. The last couple of laps I was near Simon, who seemed to have even more problems than I did, fishtailing around in my mirrors. I backed right off though and settled for 2nd, which I'm quite happy with considering the 80kgs of extra weight I had to lug around.

Congrats to Mark for a very controlled drive and a first win  :clap:  Also to CJ, although given the ballast I think it was almost a foregone conclusion. Good to hear that you are changing cars Mo - it always sounded too much like hard work in the MC12 (can't stand the thing personally - feels all wrong). Thanks to all the lappers who were very polite.

Well actually I didn't top up with fuel and was surprised and disappointed to see that you had gained so much time from just a tyre change.  Looks like the Legend's pit crew needs sacking.  ;D

Maybe they are favouring your rising young buck MJ? ;) Have a word.

I think you must be getting MJ confused with someone else... ;)

Perhaps you should be looking for a special scrutineer to ensure fair play?  ::) ;D

Extremely poor night for me - completely caught out by the new cutting rules after doing all my praccy offline. Wont be doing that again!!

Couldnt get any sort of consistency thru Eau Rouge resulting in a Qualli time 5 seconds off my pb, so that was rubbish.

Race - double rubbish - nuff said!

Congrats to all winners and podiums.

Cheers

Rob

Complete nightmare.  :(

Was practicing quite a lot, being on my favourite track, but to no avail. I knew my setup was seriously slow but at least semi-driveable.

Or so I thought.  ;D

Did a very very stupid thing prior to race start and changed few settings hoping for higher stability. Big mistake, result was 2 secs slower pace (compared to practice times).

Spun out at L'Eau Rouge (lap ONE, dammit, took the corner slowly in order not to mess up resulting in higher relative front end grip which spun me out. Sigh.), had to wait for everyone to get by for me to safely rejoin, then started to drive past GTC&co, extra careful stuff, did not want to force the issue, my race was ruined anyway, hence initial lap times were in 2.17-2.18+ territory (not to mention it was great fun watching battles in front of me, was waiting for the straights to pass them, interference would be risky and would ruin the fun  ;D ).

Caught up with Gizmo at the bus stop chicane and slammed into him after being torpedoed from the rear hence ruining his race too. Sorry mate, in Pedro's defence - he was aiming for the gap between us.  ;D

Anyway, it was boring as hell having no pace at all, not to mention lack of motivation and confidence in the car itself, fighting myself not to call it a day (and it showed, had 4-5 unforced errors in later stages of the race).

Bring on the sprint (and more practice prior to that. Must start building a setup from scratch, cause this one's Cul de sac).

Congrats to winners, way to go MJ! :)  8)

And hey, CJ, you're insane.  ;D


edit: knew I forgot something. At the start of the quali session I've stopped at the end of the pitlane, pit lane lights were RED, didn't know we're suppose to ignore them (fearing a penalty of some sort). I am sorry for the pile up gents.

Well, not like I had planned coming to Spa with anorectic Lister, but after last race's unfortunate result it was suddenly -20 instead of +35, which made the race alot easier ofcoz. If theres anything good about that was that I didn't fancy practicing since I figured the car should be very competitive, and indeed it turned out to be.

Race started very cool almost went for a smaller engine duct but then decided to stick with safe setting (3) and seemed good idea as the ambient went up in the later part. Second stint car was ofcoz better with the track having more grip, giving a better car underneath, but overall was pretty undramatic and traffic was good as always to signal their intentions.

But all in all I also agree with Jeff, the weight penalties isn't very fun when it means you get out of sync compared to the guys you would normally race against. I'm sure had I come here with +35 after Adria it would've been a close scrap with Zac and Brian for the win.

It wasn't helpful but compared to what I did to myself later it didn't really make any difference. :laugh:

Just watching the replay. Nice moment at 1880s in when Edam almost loses it in Eau Rouge and Shark passes between the pair of us down the Kemmel straight. At the time I wasn't sure it was going to have a happy ending! :laugh:

Neither was I!  ;D :o

Must remember to watch the replay now..