SimRacing.org.uk

Practice 1:	20:00	(25 mins)
Qual 2:	20:25	(30 mins)
Race:	20:55	(80 mins)	note: no warmup!

Cars allowed: any GT1 or GTC from the UKGTR Skin Pack v2.7.0.0 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3356.msg54519#msg54519) (download from here (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3356.msg54519#msg54519)).
Weather: changeable, based on real-world conditions at the start of the event.
Track: Dubai GP
Race Start Time 14:00
Pit Stops: You must make a minimum of one pit stop during which you must take on at least 1 litre of fuel or change your tyres. 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) Championship standings can be found on the series page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R;group=67;theme=3).
(3) You will not be able to join the server without the skin and ballast pack (see link 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.

As if rising from the dead here I am again ;D... not me personally ..but my PC has passed a season of dead/resurrect cycle. Anyway, I'm counting to finally be able to join in again.

Ah, that explains the sudden return of all the Sonic drivers... ;)

Hello

This is my first post in the forum so i would like to take this opportunity to say to all staff members nice job and the site and the server. I really appreciate all of your efforts and the work that must go into keeping this excellent league organised. I would also like to say to all other racers nice driving and an excellent show of sportsmanship. Sorry for any noobie moves out there as i am fairly new to on-line sim racing and there have been a few moments when i was really not happy with myself. :-\

I am really having fun and i cant wait for the next race. Good luck all in advance.

LOL, that should be "nice job ON the site and the server"

It says Newbie under my name for a reason  :)

No worries HAL, by the time you reach mature age (that's SP2.001 age for all you HAL models) you'll be able to use "modify" button next to your previous post too.  ;D ;)

Another Sonic Driver here :),

I´m in for this one to.

LOL Jure, good call

As you can see I am new at using forums as well  :D

Is it just me or is the 911RS on Michelins much faster then Dunlop version? There's at least 3/4 of a second in it + Dunlops are understeery as hell.

Anyone tried Pirellis?

The MC12 is an insane ride around here. With its massive overesteer (is that just my setup?) you can keep your foot in through T2. Fast but scarey as hell    :o I forecast a fast quali but I'll be too wary to go fast in the race, again. 

Mc12 is awesome at Dubai, loved using it last season, you should have some fun Ginsters  8)...though you will notice lack of grunt on those two big straights  :(

Looking forward to this race, love the Dubai GP track  :-*
At the moment i'm about 2 seconds slower than my GT2 RSR time last season, in this seasons GTC RS..is that about right or do i have work to do ?  Whats a good GTC time around here?

I am doing high 2:01's low 2:02's in race trim in the Vertigo......still working at it though as I feel there is still a bit to come....Eclectic times in motec are showing mid 1:59's......I just need to learn how to string all the turns and straights together  :laugh:

Hopefully I've solved some of my problems sorted.

I think the reason behind me struggling with engine health driving the Lister is because I'm too rough changing down gears. I will have to be gentler.

I did a few pit stops and feel a little better about them.

I need to pick my strategy and stick with it and hope for the best.

The Dunlops are rubbish in the dry. That's why we put the 350Z and at least one of the other cars (can't remember which one, I think the Morgan is back on Dunlops isn't it?) onto Michelins.

Had some practice yesturday...I am really struggling on this track this time around. Can't seem to get anywhere near my times from the last time we were here.

...I have lost my setup from then though and had to start from scratch.

I keep being caught out by the bumps into the second hairpin (turn 9 I think). Anyone else have trouble with this one?

I have found in the vertigo at least that a pretty high fast bump and fast rebound setting both front and back tend to smooth those bumps out a little....also not changing down whilst going over them helps too.

The main place I'm having issues is into the last corner, I'm always locking the brakes over those bumps!  Not been round in the Lister yet though, I'm hoping I'll be able to get a better setup than I had on the 360 and TVR.

The Lister seems fine around here.

As for the times eveyone is getting, i think we are all down

If you mean turn 7 from this pic http://www.f1gp4.it/downgp4/Track/2007/Dubai_Autodrome_v1.jpg then it's all footwork - for me. I mostly get caught out at turn 6. No amount of damper/ride height changing gets me safely over this section.  ::)

TT

I use softest springs possible and 0,5mm height above minimum height (6,5 and 7,5mm in porker). 0.3 front, 0.5 rear packers (soft rear spring compresses more, hence...).

Differential on 10-90-1 (!). High 1st gear (so u have option of 1st or 2nd in tight corners), rest of them close together.

Lower car plows into the ground (Zacari's problem, had plenty of time to watch it before he went into the distance anyway). Same goes for curbs. Minimum height is too low, front end bites into the curb and spin-o-rama can start.

Wing 8. Race pace in RS 2.01.8-2.02.8 for 20 laps, then the tyres start to protest, time to change'em. Medium medium combo, of course.

BTW, RS has poorer brakes then RSR, one needs duct 2 or they overheat whilst RSR can keep them on 1 (normal weather).

surprised you need packers at Dubai Jure  ???  The only track i use them at is Spa in the porker.
I'm on same race pace as you, 2:00.8 being my race PB in the GTC RS.
90 coast setting !!?  think im on about 35-40

a little vid to get you all in the mood...though the driver is a bit of a jessy  :(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYeF9oT0P4Q

looking at the footage we need a skyline tower crane graphics mod for Dubai !

Cracking vid.  Just listening to it makes me want to go racing!

Virtual racing seems much more exciting to me.  :D  If I think of a Tuesday Sprint...  :)

TT

try to do a few laps on race fuel load then watch replay, there are at least 3 bumps (back straight has 2) where no packers produce that perfect "sparky" effect. 4th gear and above, car "ducks" when going over them, u can hear it bottoming out by simply listening to the engine revs. Few mm of packers do the trick and you're only using them at very high speed, otherwise they have no effect since you're riding springs instead in 1st-4th gear territory which is what counts, right? Same goes for 1st sector in that nervous 4th-5th gear right hander over the curb, higf rear packer prevents rear end to go too low, therefore preventing understeer (which I did get prior to packers, rear end got lower then front end and that's a no-no). :)

90 coast, yeah, I find porker easier to drive since it's ze "brake early powah early" vehicle. :)




cool vid. I just haaaaaaad to open the link while still working... now what (and yes, am working from home, so... argh, tempting)? ::)  ;D

I use packing very regularly. Most tracks I put a little in rather than run high suspension.        As for the coast setting, I use high coast with many cars and tracks. I find it makes the car stable.

Wow, aren't I the opposite again ;D. I only use packers at Spa, and for the rest I just use very stiff suspension which makes it also possible to ride it low :P.

And I only use coast around 5-10%  :whistling: . Gives very sharp turn-in :).

That's the corner I meant TT. Turn 7.  ::)

I never new that about packers. I never touch them. Though I have always wondered about the drop in revs over bumps.

...I really should spend some time researching this stuff. I'm not a driver IRL so this kind of stuff does not come naturally.

Thanks for the tips.  :)

RM

You're an alien and as such in different physics league.  ;D

BTW, watching that video I've realised how high revving our cars are (there's no way they're changing much later then 8200rpm). First sector is particulary educational, early shifting, low revs.

doesnt using packers have a detrimental effect on a cars handling though? as does using a high coast diff ?
I'm no race engineer by a long chalk but think i had read somewhere about avoiding packers unless really necessary.

I was debating increasing my rear springs by one notch to cater for the bumps but then that has the knock on effect of more rear tyre wear.
I had seen sparks off the back of cars going over that fast right hander crest in sector 1 and you can feel the bumps in the braking zone upto turn 7? 
I'll give the packers a try first but heck, watch any Porsche cup race and you will see sparks a-plenty as they ground out at different parts of most race tracks. They always run them as low as possible.

You should only ever need packers if the car is bottoming out under high downforce. Eau Rouge at Spa is pretty much the only place I ever need them.

If you're hitting the packers anywhere else all your carefully chosen spring and damper rates go out the window and you will get a sudden loss of grip. :o

Some people like that. :D

thats pretty much the way i read it Dave.
Surely Jure and Kerr would be better off stiffening their rear bump and rebounds and/or increasing the rear spring poundage. Not that i can argue with their normal pace on track !  :o ...heck what am i thinking ..TS drivers.....no go ahead boys, put as many packers as you like in the rear of your cars, it'll be fine  ;)

 ;D

I try and set my cars to be as smooth and as easy to drive as possible.

I do put a little packing in but I can't recall my car hitting any bumps then suddenly spin out. I find harder springs at the rear tend to make the car oversteer, especially coming out of bends.

I will take the packing out of my Dubai set up and test it out before the race.

At the moment I've set the Lister with 0.6cm of packing but I will take it out and add it to the ride height and see what happens.

MJ, damn your arguing, now you spoilt it all - now nobody's gonna use the damn packers!  :P

TT

I'm not sure I'd say everyone is struggling. A race time of 2.00.8 is pretty quick (about 1.5 secs faster than GTC last time), and Pseudo's vertigo times are still faster than that. In qual trim I'm certainly quicker than last time (TT is 1.58.8 ), but a tank load of fuel and med/hards puts me somewhere around the 2.02 area (without ballast). I just hope MJ's time is on lowish fuel!

I agree about packers - I can't see why they are needed and almost never use them.


[edit] just noticed that putting a time of 1.58.8 in brackets made it look like 1.58.8) -  not intended!

Ha fear not Paul, 2:00 were my qually times in the RS not race. I can do 2:01s in race trim at moment. Dont worry i am a long long way off ever joining your alien ranks.  :P

It would change lots of other handling issues curbs/corners/traction and I did try it first but lost too much grip in slow sectors, traction suffered.  :-\

Thing is... packers come into effect only at high speeds when springs compress to the max and since there are no (handling demanding) high speed corners on this track you can run plenty of them, handling is fine and if anything u get a bit of an oversteer into that high speed over curb right hander in first sector (on throttle). Old trick from Geoff's GP series, used it all the time.  ::)

High rear packer also ensures rear ride height always stays higher then front, which is sometimes very hard to achieve at speeds over 230km/h at which geometry of the car changes (on a reasonably high rear wing, of course) and starts to "gulp" air with front splitter.

Springs also compress heavily over curbs and bumps - the last thing you need when driving over a bump is the suspension smacking into the packers (or bump stops if there simply isn't enough travel).

Hello.

I just recently installed GTR2, after having owned it for maybe four months or so (hey I never said I was the quickest guy  :D) and did a "few" laps, 40 or so, around Dubai today.

A few questions, if I may?

Can I join you in tomorrows race or should I have been here from the beginning of the season?

If I can join in, can I choose any car, from the pack, of course? Though the cars in the pack looked to be all team cars, so I prolly should take a standard paintjob version? Do I have to set ballast myself, or is that from the server?

I did 2.03's at best but more realistic race time would be 2.04's in the 360 Modena, and 1.54's at best in the 550. So it seems I'm a good deal behind the other times posted here. Maybe a good nights sleep would earn me some time  :P Also not continuously going over the inner curb might do some good as well.



Oh yeah, what's the GTL-Alfa of GTR2  ;D  (I.e. sweet sweet handling, not the most power, but suitable oversteer when you want it)

360Mod seemed rock stable, 550 got lively after 15 laps or so. Felt like very nice cars, though the only ones I've tried so far.

<Starsky>Do it!</Hutch>


The pack includes ballasted versions of all the standard cars. Performance balancing ballast is part of the pack; driver ballast has to be done server side, but if you want some you have to set it using the link to your Driver Details above.

Great, I'll be racing on sunday then   :)

Probably in the 360Modena.

Hi Mike
   If you want a sweet handler with oversteer on demand then the 360 is probably not the best choice. It tends to let go rather suddenly and being mid-engined it doesn't like power oversteer that much. Cars like the TVR, Morgan and Vertigo are probably more up your street, although the Vertigo needs to be driven really hard to keep up because of its lower power. Personally I like the 911 best as it is quite forgiving while feeling very 'alive' (once you get the technique right to handle the engine at the back).

I doubt you'll need to worry about ballast until you get up to speed - only a few of us use it anyway.

Good Luck on Sunday

Paul

The nose would hit the tarmac/kerb before the suspension bottomed out on the bump stops.  Bottoming out the suspension on packers is definitely preferable to munching the ground with the undertray repeatidly!  There are other ways around it, but sometimes it's better to use packers than raise the car/stiffen the suspension a lot.  I'm willing to bet if I'd used packers on the 360 it'd have helped the issues I was having under braking.

erm... turns out all default skin 911 RSs are Dunlops.

so... may I use one of custom ones? Kerbcrawlers one, to be precise  ;D  ::)

The nr 59 JP racing has Michelins  ;D

Okay so I did some more practice, in the Morgan this time.

Anybody ever use soft/medium slicks? Or always a matching pair?

I have a couple setups, one with lots of wing, 8 rear wing I think, on soft/soft and it's very stable, a tad understeery even. I have another with 5 rear wing on med/med tires, and it's a lot more slippery but manageable as long as I can keep concentration. Also a little faster it seems. I tried soft front, medium rear, and while it helps with control in some turns, it becomes pretty easy to get overexcited about a little slide and loose it. Seems slides don't belong much in GTR2, have to leave them in GTL I guess. Or just get a lot better at this game  :D


Anyone have a Morgan setup they'd be willing to share?


Nonsense ramblings follow:

After what feels like a lot of laps, I just have to say that ghost car is......*unforgiving*. I guess I got pretty tired, but he somehow *always* gets a better exit, and even if he doesn't that **** gets me on the brakes instead. Every time.

It's pretty funny sitting there cursing at yourself, wondering how "previous me" managed that smooth line when all I can do now is skid around. I suppose my upbringing prevents me from mentally cursing fellow drivers in a real race, but no such restrictions apply to myself, so I really started to hate the ghost car after a while, well hate myself I guess  ;D 

It's a new experience this, anger towards fellow racers, as long as they're all me and nobody else is involved  ;D

Yeah, I've calmed down already, all is well now. See you at the race.  ;) :D

You could try turning off tyre wear in the realism options. That way your tyres will stay consistent (assuming you don't overheat them) instead of gradually getting worse.

I find that a matching pair generally makes the car a bit more consistent but I think others opt for different compounds. It's personal preference I think.

And you really shouldn't be sliding these cars, they're not really designed for that!

Some of us just can't help it  :angel:

Yeah, try driving the Porsche without sliding. The problem is just that the rear tires get extremely hot.

im gunna struggle here 2nite, not much practice and ive done something 2 my knee this morning at football, cant bend it from some swelling so go easy on me plzzz  lol

Wow! Looks like there are some great times being posted, I'm going to struggle tonight I think :(

i cant get in the flaming server its full , dont us regular FTs get a priority?

Sodding Nildram. Was fine earlier in the evening but struggled to get in and after getting dumped out for the third time, the game was full and there didn't seem any point in taking up a spot when somebody who wasn't going to get dumped out could use it so I quit to watch MotoGP, NASCAR and Weeds and drown my sorrows in beer.

Hope you all have/had a lovely, clean, close race.

Sorry about the bad connection. Wondered why I kept getting tailended, didn't stop to think it could have been a bad connection at my end  ::)

Enjoy the race !  !

Well that was c**p GTR2 encountered a problem and shut down in practice and when i got it back up the server was full, tried for ages to get back in but no luck.

Hope you have a good race

I was assuming i'd be able to join tonight, so thought i'd watch a film beforehand finishing at 8.15. When i tried to join it was saying 27/28 but it was saying the server is full.

Oh well, thought i'd have a 40min offline race using the SRou skins. Grrr..  Mo in that pesky Porker ;)

Hope everyone enjoyed the race :)

Just getting around to watching the MotoGP...

Hmm, is that Sebring i spy for the next round?

That was hard work all the way through, didn't enjoy it one bit.

Car felt crap all race, struggled through ... and threw a position away on the last lap.  Not a happy bunny.

Another dull race. After the first few laps I was once again in no mans land, miles off the pace of the guys at the front and just enough faster than the guys behind to have no one to race. Pit stops did nothing to help that with everyone seemingly equal in the pits. Good news is that I can race without much pain now so I like! :)

For whatever reason, I think the GT1/GTC split tonight was too heavy on the GTCs, which meant having someone to race of your own speed in GT1 was tricky, but also that you felt like you were lapping at least one GTC a lap. There you go, c'est la vie.

Well done to Brian and TSJ on the 1-2-3 in GT1. Maybe you could give the rest of us a chance with some ballast lads? ;)

Also well done to Paul for another victory in GTC with 40kg ballast, top stuff.

Damn shame that one :)

After cwap quali, changed setup for race at last mo and I couldn't get used to it for first half hour ::) The it all fell into place and the car felt very good. All too ruddy late :) Went from hating/dumping, to loving/can't wait to use the MC12 in the space of 40 mins.

Apologies to someone (JPV?) I clattered in quali but I expected you too keep off racing line on your outlap, as you should ;) Then you shot off track every time I approached to lap you in race. I'm not to be feared that much and quali was just a misunderstanding :) Great to see new faces tonight :)

Grats to Brian and our two Pauls :).  

Finally made a decent pit stop!!!!

Managed to get pole position without making a proper error free lap. I was up to 0.4sec quicker on a couple of laps but either made a mistake or caught a GTC car.

Watched my timer screen and noticed Freq was quicker part way round the lap and I thought not again. Luckily it was not.

I was very wary of the Lister after the last few races where I've lost too much engine health.

I did not rev too hard and I shifted down smoother without using too many revs.

On the first fast lap the engine dropped from 96 to 95% and I thought, oh no, not again. It turned out to be fine as at halfway it was still 95% after taking things far easier and smoother than normal.

Freq was always just a few seconds behind. I felt I was slightly quicker, but Freq always nibbled back time with backmarkers.

He pitted the lap before me. I went in well, stopped on the markers and hit enter. It went well other than putting a little too much fuel in. I still had 4 laps of fuel left but the race did end a lap too soon. I made the 41 laps slightly before the 80mins.

Once I came out of pits I nearly ran off on the first bend and suddenly I could here someone behind. It was Freq!  I for once just about matched his pit stop.

Freq was always there or there about for laps afterwards but I always felt at ease.

I managed to open up a reasonable lead and could see by the timer Freq and Zacari were running very close. I just took things easy and home for the win.

Enjoyed that one very much.

Thought all the lapped cars were great. Caught a few at awkward moments but that can't be helped.

Well done Paul on class win and Zacari and Freq for more TSJ points

I should apologise to Brian about what might have looked like a dive down the inside of T1 - I wasn't looking at the markers and missed my braking point and soo very nearly collected you and the backmarker....oops  :-\  So glad you saw it coming!  :blink:

I joined super late after watching the MotoGP ;D Was full when I first looked but a few seconds later someone left and I jumped in....then went back downstairs to watch the last few laps :)

Was real pleased to get 2nd after having done less prep than usual. The temps were quite cool, so the plan to use hard rears went and took a usual med-med.

Race pace wasn't so hot. Just about stayed with Brian for the first stint and then nearrrrly made it past on his out lap, but when he held it, I knew that was the chance gone. I didn't notice Zacari closing in until a few laps later, and tried to push again, but he was just plain faster :P

Had a great battle for 20 minutes and was real close, until near the end he managed to slip past and we power-slid our way round a couple of corners ;D

Grats to Brian and Paul (40kg?! How do you do that?  ???) on the wins. Glad that one's out of the way now.  :laugh:

Well, that certainly was an experience. My first GTR race, woot  ;D

Could've gone better of course, but I was expecting some mistakes.

Really bad rubberband effect prior to start, got a little punt from behind but fortunately didn't seem to affect car at all.


Paul had given me wise advise before the race about starting with full tank, but the handling changed too much on the Morgan, and I was struggling to stay on track especially in the two last turns with full tank. It may have been my imagination, but as tires got worn, the car got a bit more difficult to control then with less fuel. So I decided to go back to only 24laps of fuel. Can't imagine what Pauls Porsche must have felt like with full tank + ballast.

Worked a charm, as I kept up to Paul and Truetom (for a bit), and after a while even got by Paul, though I didn't get away from him. A little slide, some grass cutting, and I'm back chasing him, all the way to the pitstop. Good racing.

So I go in, thinking *this* time I'm not gonna mess it up, *this* time I'm not going to mess it up.......But of course I took my time setting the options, and for some absolutely unfathomable reason I'm looking at the 100L/45laps on the fuel section, and still press enter.  :hang:

I knew my pitstop would take a lot longer then Pauls, but by golly, it sure took a while to fill 'er up. And the car didn't handle so great after the stop either.

I guess I came back out in 19th place or something like that.


As I struggled to find new places to let the faster cars lap me, I found grass, sand, steel railings and a bit of humility as well.  :D  It's not as easy as it looks, giving way.

Still, had a good 4 way fight towards the end, and I bet Popabawa would have liked a turbo boost button on his car, as I passed him down the front straight at least twice, loosing back the position in some twisty section. I almost felt ashamed, blocking his way through T1 so i could get away at the next straight, but, that's racing I guess.

Finished with 60liters of fuel.  :-[


Sorry to Andy and Mark who I bumped on the brakes, I'll be reporting myself when I have a look at the replay tomorrow.


All in all a great racing experience, thank you to everyone.


ps. I asked in chat if I should have left to give room, but as I didn't get an answer I stayed. Should I have joined first when Qually started, being new to GTR, if not to Simracing.org.uk?

I really had no idea about the near miss at all.

No harm done anyway as no contact.

Only the GTC sprint race on Tuesday is registered drivers getting the first shout.

First come first served this series.

I think there was a number of people who missed out tonight.

Loads of discos during the practice session too.

Well that was....frustrating but fun.

Appologies first, to Jure for the tap. After your trip along the grass I though you were gonna leave me a bit of room but when I realised you were shutting the door I locked up and slid into you, sorry.

And to Adam Parle (twice) I just couldn't judge the speed (or lack of it) of the porka through some of the turns and overcooked it a couple of times, sorry, sorry.  ;D

After getting trounced on the straights by just about every other car on track I spent about 3/4 of the race between 0 and 3 seconds behind Adam, absolutely nothing between us for prolly 25 laps or so. We even pitted at the same time and had identical stops. I had given up any hope of passing but I think Adam decided to practice his dohnuts a little early....two turns from the end.  :o

Grats to winners and podiums....

 B'ah i was on for a 3rd or 4th place tonight, (prob 3rd after reading Mikes pit woes)  after 45 minutes i was comfortably running 4th where i had been all race and with a 5-7 sec lead over Darren, i pitted all smooth and calmly, selected all as i wanted it, went to leave my box and the poxy car wouldnt start up  >:( i then got into a mini rage and started hammering both 'set' keys like a hungry hippo game until after about 20 seconds the bugger fired up    :taz:
I Dropped from 4th to 8th? GTC down in something like 19th place  :'(

I had made a tactical gamble for the first stint and used hard rears but i knew after 1 lap it was a bad mistake. Offline i could match my laptimes in race spec with them but tonight online, they felt totally different and the back end was sliding all over the place costing me a second a lap.

Once i got out on meds all round i was like hell fire and chased and passed everyone i met until i caught Andy Eves in 4th GTC. I attacked him relentlessly but he did some good defensive driving and i had to take some evasive action a few times to avoid contact under braking and he took home over the line ahead of me. Well done mate.
I had enjoyed a fantastic last 10 mins or so with a 4 car scrap for 4th to 7th GTC, great stuff.

Bloody gutted to miss out on another podium at one of my best tracks. Always one thing to ferk my race result when i could have had another podium, same as the sprint race  :'(

Amazing pace up front in GTC, really bad luck to TT, but another legend Darren managed to sneak in whilst others had dramas. Congrats to pody guys  :thumbup1:

Wow, what a race. Started 23rd and dropped to the back of the lot after spinning on lap 2. Eventually caught up with Ade and we stayed within a few secs of each other for the rest of the race, alternatingly passing each other. My Porsche was faster on the straights and Ade's Vertigo on the twisty bits. Lapping GT's added another twist into the mix.

We were neck and neck as I pulled in for my pit stop on lap 20. He pitted on the following lap and I ended up a few seconds behind him, the chase was on again. Around lap 25 we were getting lapped by another pair of GT cars. Braking into T9 (the second hardest corner for me on the track :) ) Paul lapped me on the inside in the lead Porsche and I tapped his rear corner spinning him off. Really sorry for that, didn't see you coming at all. I was just expecting to have Ade a second or two behind me.

He eventually pulled away during the last few laps and I finished a few seconds behind him.


I think I was on my fast lap there too, got out in the first few seconds of the qualifying. Had hard time finding a space to make a quick lap at all. What's the etiquette on this anyway, being one of the slower drivers out there, am I expected to yield to the faster ones or how should I try to get my fast lap in?

Replay and provisional results now available

If you're on a fast lap, you have every right to hold your line.  Only if you've done a lap faster than the one your on would it be polite to move out of the way for another car, but you're under no obligation to.

It's always difficult to find room for quali in endurance, it's not helped by people doing 'race fuel' practice in quali, or people who do 3 corners, screw up someone elses lap, and then just pull over and hit esc... but that's life!


Very hard race that, ended up qualifying 3rd after FreQ's last-gasp lap jumped him to 2nd.

The race started well enough, but as soon as we started hitting traffic I lost out massively to Brian and Joss infront.  By the time the pitstops came about I was about 10 seconds behind 2nd.  My usual fast stop had me come out only 4 seconds behind Joss, and after throwing the car around like a loon I managed to catch Joss with about 20 mins left.  The Saleen was so damn fast in a straight line I was struggling to get close enough for a pass, and I needed help from traffic to sneak passed with 3 laps left :-* :D  I was having serious issues keeping the back end in check by that point, and we had some fun sliding around until the finish line :)

Grats to Brian for a good win, Paul for winning with a load of ballast :) and to Joss for a fun battle at the end :)

Will anyone be posting the lap charts for races again? Now that Jeff's buggered off to douse himself in whipped cream and hagelslag, we don't have anyone to post it! ;D

what program is used to produce the lap charts

My first Endurance race ... E V E R. And I finished??? What did I do wrong? :angel: Well I just have to give all the racers the  :thumbup1:
Didn't think I do soo well after only "simed" for about 8-9 months. Have to thank Pseudo and all of the Admin's for doing a great job :jumpjoy:
I entered and finished.. LAST but what the heck, I'm a rookie.
I hope I did Okay and was out of the way for faster drivers. My only goal for this ”My first race" was to finish in one piece.
NOT to score any Points. I got 6... not 1... not 2... 6. Holy crap. Just can’t wait to race again.

PS. I have to get me self a chat with thus lads up the ladder that drove the Lister as well, just to get me some inside tips on how to be faster at Dubai. DS  :notworthy:


So thank ones again for a great race. I am hooked. OOh... and thanks’ H@L and Gazza for inviting me.  :stupid:

You mean like this:

Unofficial Race Report (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.harrington/Dubai%20S7%20UE/)

You lazy bugger, you can create them yourself as well ;D. Does your mommy still have to wipe ur a....hang on.....moooom, I'm finished.... :sweatdrop:

Hooray! Paul has volunteered! ;D

No idea how to make them, so I can claim ignorance. And it's always about bums (_,_) with you isn't it Jeff :P
                                                                                                             / | \

Enjoyed that race.

It was hectic for the first 3rd of the race. I had no pace and found myself going backward through the order. I had some good battles on the way down though, :D
toward the end of the first third I was able to settle down and get some half decent laps in.

This is when I came upon a battling Adam and Psuedo, I was able to nip by them both after a couple of laps. It was a lot of fun  ;D

At this time I found myself about 3 seconds behind Pops and the gap stayed at that until just after the halfway stage when I was able to gradually catch up and close the gap to around a second. There were other GTCS between us at some points but they seemed to keep falling off the track.

I pitted with about 28 mins to go. It went well, plus I was able to put in some of my fastest laps of the race out of the pits. its a good job I did. About 2 laps after I went in Pops pitted. I was very pleased to see him getting up to speed coming out of the pits as I passed him. It was avery close call. He was less that a second behind me. But he spun out I think. Damn Shame Pops! :(

Drove to the end of the race. Suprised to get a podium. Thanks to the problems of the 3 in front I (and Pops before his off) jumped 3 spots in the pits. Thanks ;D


Looking forward to the next one!

RM

After a good qualifying session where I finished 5th in class, I then proceeded to throw away 3 places before the first corner.  There was some confusion at the start and I had to take some evasive action to avoid contact with teammate MJ.  I then spent the next 5 seconds trying to get the pit limiter to disengage.  Luckily a few heavy blows did the trick and I was soon under way.

I quickly gained back 2 places but soon had a fight on my hands with great battles with first Jure and then Andy.  Great driving guys.  :thumbup2:

After my pitstop the race was a dull affair.  I had no one to race against and because of this I had a few lapses in concentration.  One of these caused me to spin while under no pressure.  :-[

Then with MJ and TT encountering problems (unlucky guys), I soon found myself 2nd in class with a 9 seconds gap over 3rd placed Reign Man.  Luckily for me Reign had his hands full so he wasn't able to put me under any pressure.  This allowed me to ease back and conserve my fuel.  Good job I did because I was running on fumes towards the end.  ;D

Congrats Paul...  Outstanding pace, especially with 40KG ballast.  :notworthy:

Well done Brian... and thanks to all the GT1 boys.  You were all superb while lapping.  :thumbup1:

All wrong, it's:

 (_*_)
 /  |  \

Joss':

 (_O_)
 /  |  \

.....your bum-cheeks aren't connected!  :o

Look clooooser.

Oh, and I added yours  ;)

Still can't see it....
Although, from the looks of it, I either have a rabbit tail, or a tennis ball stuck to my ass.  8)

It wasn't you then, unless you start your fastlap from the pits ;) Chap I hit went straight from pits exit onto racing line which is a definate no, no. Fast or slow you have the right to hold your line on a fast lap. Even if a GT1 comes around. Thats how I see it anyways  :)

Well... I could say that the Vertigo and Dubai aren't best friends but actually I just wasn't good enough last night :-[

The start of the race was very scrappy but I was lucky to be able to take advantage and go clear of Pseudo, Reign Man, Jure and Adam.

Although Reign Man was hunting me down reasonably quickly I was fairly confident that I'd be able to make the faster stop, move onto softs and pick up the pace for the last 20 mins or so. I made a bit of a hash of the pit-stop, having to de-select repairing the aero damage threw me and I wasted enough time to let Reign Man just get ahead. Then, trying a bit too hard on cold tyres I oversteered round the tight right-hander nearly into the wall. A rookie mistake ::). I think we'd have had a good battle to the end if I hadn't messed up RM :)

That mistake also let the Andy Eves, Jonzo & Mike Hammer train catch me and eventually overhaul me after a couple more mistakes. Doh...

The last few minutes was fun, catching Mike as his tyres were engulfed in plumes of smoke at every corner ;D

No problems Psuedo.  Having thrashed the Vertigo round here in the past I know how quick you can catch people in the twisty bits.  My car was handling like an absolute dog though, which didn't help my cornering speed either :-\

Very disappointed with my race all in all.  I was slow in qually, and although the start of the race was alright, it soon became painfully apparent that hard rears was a big error in judgement .... I can only blame myself through being underprepared though.

Despite getting past a few people early in the stint the car soon turned into an oversteery mess as the rear grip never materialized.  Pops and Reign Man got by after one big moment for me ... and I never got a chance to close them down after that.

After changing to meds all round the car felt a lot better, but after struggling with the car for 40 mins, and losing a bit of time due to some semi-spins and mine and Psuedo's contacts, there was never a realistic chance of catching anyone.  I saw MJ briefly after his stop (I'm sure he'll get the knack of pitting sooner or later ...) and TT after his puncture, but both boogered off into the distance sharpish.

The second half of the race was dull, and to cap a rubbish evening I span on the last lap (dipstick) to hand Psuedo the  place. DOH!

No problems with the GT1's - good job on the overtaking, hope I didn't scare any of you too much!  I know Ginsters was flying up behind me when I had a big moment after touching the grass!

Nope, not in Endurance. I'm hoping that the all new Sebring will be available for the 'bonus' Sprint race next week.

Had a bad quali (experimenting with setup while in quali session is always a dumb thing to do, should have known better) so I only managed to do a quali at race pace level time... argh.

Started fine, gained 3-4 positions, had awesome fights, then fecked up at second to last corner, went slightly onto grass, came back (with Psuedo right on my tail), went as far to my left (last corner entry) as possible to give Psuedo room to pass but unfortunately he backed off and went back to "normal" line. Whammo, spin-o-rama. No harm done, was fun catching him again. :D

Anyway, slid back down the order, fought back like crazy, then overpoliteness got the hold of me and a GT1 smashed right into my behind, destroying suspension and stuff. Crawled back to pits (slowly, spun twice, endangering the rest, had me thinking to quit right there and then but it was close to pits so I continued, using auxiliary roads and stuff :D ), waited for repairs but... imbecile... forgot to take fuel to last me the whole race (that's "honey, how much fuel do I need?" "80 liters" "OK" ENTER. argh-h-h-h. )

Came out, realised what I've done then completely lost my concentration and committed a suicide at the end of the back straight.  ;D ::)

------------------------------------------

Would like to whine a bit about a certain someone in quali session. Mate, if you spin of the track, then come back and rear end someone that passed you while getting ready for his fast lap (yours truly) you need to do something about that red mist over your eyes. What did you expect to do, gain back 15 seconds you lost after a spin? Why? And in last corner, dammit. Don't you think it's smarter to let someone by and give yourself some room for next clean lap?

You're a vertigo driver and know who you are.  Tc-tc-tc. 'nuff said.

On similar note - I've noticed a strange quali behaviour. Gents, if you're in a same class car as the one in front and behind you (out lap), SPREAD OUT before your first flying lap, do not crowd together. It's all common sense, isn't it?

Highly contraproductive.

That was hard work but fun and a good result.

It was me SBG  :) I tried to stay off line but the offline bit seamed to run out in the apex of the corner  ;) sorry. I would have jumped out the way but I couldnt tell which side you where going to pass at, hard bit of track for lapping.

The race was hard work as my front tyres never got any heat into them, I had to brake early everywhere, catching a few out behind but I had loads of rear grip so I could get a good exit.

I thought I might have been a marked man after my qauli miss take and went to leave SBG loads of room, as a way of saying sorry, but managed to drive right off the track letting Darren past too. Still was fun catching back up, running side by side and making a pass some where.

After the pit stop I had a hard time holding every one off behind, Mark got close a few times. When  I out braked you into T1, it was a little scary as I locked up. Very good racing, thank you.

Thanks everyone, and well done the winners.

No worries Andy but its always best to stay off racing line on your outlap if you can :). I mentioned it because it looked that it frightened the bejubus outta you and you jumped off track whenever I got near you, like I was some sort of wrecker. Didn't want you, and other new faces, to get wrong impression :) You are all very welcome of course.

Maybe cause I looked like a madman out there ;), should add that GTC chaps acted impeccably when I passed last night.

Well, what can a man write after a race like this. Not gonna be very modest, after I saw Paul couldn't quite hold my pace I was sure and definite I will win this race (GTC class, of course  ;) ). Even after pitting when he had a 5 sec lead I was slowly closing the gap and about 20 minutes to go I caught him.  ;D  Don't know and it doesn't matter why he spun - I slammed directly into him. Do you believe me I would avoid your car if I could?  :P  Damn puncture, had to pit and fell to 20th place. Even after tyre changing and repairing the car I could not drive the same way, I had understeeer and I heard fronts scrape at every corner. Front tyres got worn at twice rate before the accident and the only thing on my mind was "I will NOT quit in Dubai!"  ::)   If it was Enna...  ;)

Hats off, Paul. How you managed to keep that pace with 40 kg extra...  :notworthy:  So even if I did win, you'd still be the winner.  :)
I'll not lie, there is a bitter taste in not winning with the pace I was able to maintain but I don't think it was anybody's fault. Just racing I guess.  :-\

TT

Not the way I want to win any race   :(

Managed to sneak pole just ahead of TT, which was a bonus. It was clear from very early on though that both he and Mike H had not gone with full tanks, because TT was all over me like a rash! I didn't bother fighting him too hard, knowing that it was a pointless exercise and that I would get back a lot of time come the pitstops. After TT got past I had Mike buzzing around my exhaust, but the RS had the legs on the Morgan at the end of the straights, making it harder for him to get by. After several laps of enjoyable jousting he finally got past, so I just tried to hang on to his tail. When he slid of later on I got back to 2nd and held it to the pitstops. After I had stopped (and then TT a couple later) I was about 5 secs ahead, but now with a lot less fuel. Initially the gap went up a bit, but then it started to drop again. I had a phase where lappers all seemed to catch me in the corners and TT closed to within 3 secs. Then it all went t*ts up, as I lapped JPV while Zacari lapped us both. JPV hadn't noticed me behind down the long straight, and I got level round the outside of the right hander at the end. I stayed left on the run to the next left but Zacari dived between us, squeezing me nearer the apex curb. My back end kicked a touch off the curb and JPV nudged it into a full spin. I sat still not knowing where I was on the track, so I looked left to see if it was clear, only to see TT round the corner and broadside me. We both got going but it was quickly apparent that he had a puncture and needed to pit, leaving me with a nice big lead and a simple drive to the finish. In retrospect this was just one of those racing incidents - JPV had his hands full avoiding Zacari, so no hard feelings m8. A word of advice perhaps though - keep an eye in your mirrors on the straights, as I think it would have been easier to let me by then. With equal cars (and more weight) I can't outdrag you, so I need a bit of a lift if possible to avoid having to force a pass.

I feel really sorry for TT. He was probably going to win that one, although the last few laps were promising to be a great battle. The last quarter of the race was a huge anticlimax for me too. Congrats to Brian on the GT1 win and thx to all the lappers - very polite.

 

Ah, good to know, thanks.

Nice driving last night Guys  :)

I found Dubai a hard race. I was hoping for a little more of the very short but very sweet side by side battle that i had with Simon at Interlagos, but it was wishful thinking of me as it turned out. Everyone that qualified in front of me sailed into the distance from the start. I tried my hardest to keep up and Carl Hart made a mistake early on. This allowed me to pass but he was soon back on me. I did not give too much of a fight as he passed me because he was obviously allot quicker and it was still early on in the race. The 2 places that i gained in the race where due to other drivers mistakes, not any amazing overtakes by me.  :)

Still, i had fun and racing with fair drivers is so much better than racing on the public servers. The fact that there is a championship makes all my hard work getting it home at Dubai seem all the more worth while.

Good to see my friend Jorgen get his trusty Lister to the end of the race as well.  :stupid: He has really been to hell and back on the public servers in that car. Imagine Monza, 27 Ferrari's and Jorgen and the Lister. All other driveres assume they have right of way.  >:(

Shame about Taj, i think his connection was stable in previous races.

Thanks all, also special thanks to GTC runners.  :)

Thx, and good driving from your side as well in that red  :tank: I hope that I in the future will be more competitive and give you and others a bit more of a challenge. " It's a long way, to Tipperary... It's a long way to go"  :wheelchair:

Jorgen W