SimRacing.org.uk

All members welcome.

Practice: 20:15 (10 mins)
Qualifying: 20:25 (25 mins)
Race: 20:50 (17 laps = ~80 mins)

Track: Le Mans Sarthe v2.0  (download here (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3358.msg54520#post_lemans))
Cars allowed: Any GTC76 plus GT40.
Time of Day Setting: 08:00
Start: STANDING
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: UKGTL Classics Cup
Password: see above (#post_event_password)

Notes:
(1) It's best if all drivers can make sure they are connected before the Qualifying session as drivers on track during qualifying will not see cars that join after they are on track until they go back to the garage.
(2) Please make sure you are fully aware of the SimRacing.org.ukRules (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3349.0).
(3) The season will be run using the UKGTL Skin Pack 1.6 which will need to be installed prior to racing; please get it from the downloads page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3358.msg54518#msg54518).
(4) The AI control should be turned off so that you have control of the car at all times, including pitting. Your player file should therefore read
Autopit="0"
Force Autopit Off="1" // Forces autopit always off
No AI Control="1" // AI never has control over car

If you still finding pitting problematic, experience tells us that its less to do with positioning and more to do with approach speed. A slow approach to pit pit crew chief has proved most reliable.

(5) Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R;group=178;theme=5)

Le Mans, in a 911 or GT40??  Best pass MJ the tissues!!  ;D ;D

Oh my god :o


A thousand thankyou's

 ;D

Don't care about the car, this is going to be cool.

Drive the Mini around if I have to.

Thnx.

A fitting venue for the end of our first Enduro season. Well done organisers  :)

Cant wait for this ,GT40 all the way me thinks. ;D

Love it, love it! Can't wait!  ;)

oh my good lord ! :notworthy: L e   M a n s :drool:

a thousand thankyou's oh mighty organisers  :tt1:  ;D

whats the betting some bastich real life thing spits on my chips for this one ::)

blimey this is worth taking half day off work for praccy for !

Now....Gt40 or 911 ? ...hmmmm    :thumbup1:

Not only Enduro, not only Le Mans, not only ANY 76 car but also, also, they thro in the GT40 for good measure.

These guys are arn't just any organisers

There are M & S organisers

I see half the drivers are melting into sugar pools, so I have a chance here.  :P

Never driven this track - has anyone any advice about a decent handling car or a (realistic) time to aim for?

TC

But if we told you stuff like this you'd be missing out on half the fun of trying all the cars out and in the process learning the circuit

Thanks for that Tony - very helpful.
For anybody else struggling my initial testing shows the Capri and the lightweight Porsche 911 seem to handle the track very well. Haven't a clue how competetive they'll be.

TC

Try the big-block Vette, it'll handle a treat round here....hehehe  ;D

Unfortunately power will always tell at Le Mans, so the big V8s are quick.  The 906 might be good, I think I shall go for that, a semi-sports prototype at LeMans......calm down there!

Times in the 30s will be quick, Pantera below 30 is darn quick, I guess below 4:40 should be a target for many of the cars.

Thankfully its not a night race, coulda been terrible trying to pick out braking with the patheitc lights in GTL.

Thanks Steve

TC

I am ashamed to admit that le mans is not my cup of tea :-[

I have never liked it as its just to long for me but i will be there all the same !

Now he tells us  ::)

LOL!  ;D

AI Is setting 4:38s - The BMW M1 is setting 3:32s! LOL!

I installed the BMW M1 Beta to check it out - I think it still needs work. Running down one of the main straights in my CSL almost near top speed just to see a M1 blast bast me like I'm in a TC65 car is insanity.

The 906, 914, and Pantera (The AI Cannot drive them) are setting the slowest times via AI in the 4:58s - Vettes, CSLs, Escorts, and Crapis up in the high 30s and low 40s. Seems there's about a good second or two that seperates the cars on this one.

I've seen mostly Escort and Panteras spinning, so that may mean that a setup is critical to those cars - that or again the AI cannot drive them.

Funny Story - IF Bara can win this race he will Tie Ruskus for the Endurance Championship.

From a good practice in the vette yesterday my best time was a high 4:31.
But i was getting 36,s mainly i just hooked up that one lap i guess  :)

Did notice the alarming cut warnings i was getting from hardly touching the grass in some corners hope this will not be my downfall as am due some bad luck !

Actually from what i remember when i practised a while ago that there was alot of cut warnings.

The GT40 is simply stunning around here ;D. At 38's its some 7 second off my Vette pace but double the fun and a good way to finish S5.

I think the cut warnings are just about right now as they were far too lax in older version.

4:38  ???  jeezus H, :o  i am only doing 4:43 so far in 911 and  4:46 GT40..surely im not 8 seconds off the pace? Something odd there.  :-\  Though have only done a handful of laps in each but even the AI is doing laps in 4:46's at 110% AI setting. (CSL is doing 4:38 under AI control)

The GT40 does feel so nostalgic around here.  8)


Can someone please fix the 1.6 skinpack link in downloads please? It just takes you to a random Filefront page not the actual pack download option.

Please take the pack from the alternate link supplied by Dave. (on the downloads page)..The filefront one has been wiped and it is not worth me re-uploading it for the last race only.

Check NoGrip only one person has dipped under the 4:40s and he was in a 911.

The AI in my game is making mid 30s and the BMW M1s are doing 3:30s

Seems we are 10 seconds off pace :/

Were you all get the M1s from i need to know  :P

make sure you stock up on all the Sound Packs so you get the best auditory race possible. The BMW CSL sounds so good now

http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12585 (http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12585)

Thx tm8 u r a star i will dload when i get home after work

Oh, it's far worse than that...I took part in a No-Grip race a few weeks back and unfamiliarity with the track put me back at 4:32 in an unnamed V8 ( ;)) but lots of people were in the high 20s.   :o  Can't drag more than 37s out of the 906 at the mo though, at least looks like there'll be several cars around that pace.

We'll the're ruining this circuit for me and they seem to be so inconsistent particularly the 2nd chicane on the Mulsanne straight. Real shame  :'(

I have just done 10 laps in the crapi....not very fast (as usual). late 30's but didn't get a single cut warning anywhere.

I'm at 4:44 now in the 906. Thought I'd have a go at this one as my first race. Just going to see if I can keep up with some of the guys at the back of the pack and stay out of trouble.  Wish me luck :)

Also, I've been getting a few odd/random cut warnings at the same chicane W/Tony mentioned.

Good Luck Chris...Just don't worry about it and enjoy it.  :)

Which part of the 2nd chicane is giving the problem? Entry/apex/exit....as I say, I've not had a warning there yet.

I have the most problems with the right hand apex and then the left hand exit.

I was having the same problem. I found it best to keep away from the left hand white line. Go near it and you risk a warning. It means taking the corner a bit slower but better that than repeated warnings.

Good luck Chris. Don't worry about being slow, staying on the track is worth 10 seconds a lap against somebody - like me - who spins off at regular intervals.

Look forward to seeing you there. Ever considered joining a team?
https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4785.0

Ahh...I see where you mean now. Yep, if you take the centre apex early and drift wide you get a warning for basically aproaching the white line.

It's a bit tight but unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it...especially at this late stage.

I would just suggest to anyone getting warnings there to adjust your line a bit to take the centre apex a bit later...thats the line I tend to take naturally anyway and as I say above, not had any warnings myself.

Good luck on your 1st race chris nice track to have it aswell  ;)

Welcome aboard Chris :) Just go at your own pace, stay in control and you'll have a blast.

I still ain't having any problems with s/g's but clearly there are some oddments (or Tony and Pseudo take some right funny lines ;)) Be best if everyone could familiarise themselves with the track and avoid nasty suprises on the night. Running without flags isn't an option for this one :'( 


 

There's nowt funny about my lines......dead straight accross the gravel.... ;)

Join the club. You can always battle it out with the regular backmarkers (like me..)  ;)

Keep your hands off our man !! ;D
Chris and I work together so I have been grooming him for Team Oldie! That is if Tinman and the team agree!?
He is a little younger than us but not one of those young buck !  ;)
What do you think Team?

M.

O i would love to be in demand if i were you chris i would go to the higest bidder £

OOooohh, inter-team rivalry  :o

You can also stay a privateer you know  :-*

I've run 4:40 in the Pant-tearer, got a bit more to go with it to get into the high 38's though.

It's nice to be in demand, I wonder if I'll still be in demand after my run out at Le Mans  :-[
I'm 32 but feel about 40 (due to being married with baby #1 well on the way) if that helps me qualify for a team!?

Thanks for the good wishes all, I'll do my best to not get in the way (or cause a pile up at T1). I'll keep an eye out for you Alex, hopefully that'll be in my rear view obviously  ;)

With regards the cut track warnings on chicane two, Phil summed it up perfectly:
On a few occasions it's warned me when I've still had at least a yard to spare  ??? So like Phil I've slowed it right down there & it's getting to be less of a problem.

I never thought i'd see the day, and i thought this was a respectable forum :D

This ain't one of those chat rooms you read about in the Daily Mail is it?

Check your e-mail, Martin. We can't afford to pass up young blood or we'll be extinct(er)

TC

Im down to 4:39 in the RSR now, so i feel a little happier  :)

Im still dog slow in the GT40 though (4:48) which is a shame as i would have liked to have driven one of them at Le Mans. Guess im way off on the setup but no time to put one together.
Still, driving the 911 is mega nostalgic too..eat your heart out Steve McQueen  :P

Sounds like i will have V8's blasting past me left right and centre down the Mulsanne  ::)....i'll just have to kick their ass in the porsche and dunlop curves.  ;)

Yer i got 4:40 in the 911 and like you say is quick in the twistys

yeah baby !...pass me my martini  :-*

http://www.porsche.com/microsite/lemans2008/flash/default.aspx?language=en&market=INTERNATIONAL&pool=international&browser=other&instance=804&variant=&section=&showintro=true&bandwidth=dsl&width=1005&height=415
(click on the multi-media tab...an onboard vid should appear)

Le Mans '77 stylee  8)

Wow, how cool is that!!  ;D

My race was over by 3rd Gear.

I think MJ actually had a little to many Martini's as he was spinning off the line (or maybe he got hit, there was alot of smoke) I had to swerve hard to the right to miss him, which conciquently put me into one of the many ballet dancing Oldies who were spinning and flipping all over the track. I got hit by a few cars, Hit a few myself while trying to escape. From what it felt like I lost my front splitter, so it was looking like I was going on vacation to the pits this year. Spent about 2 and a half minutes in them (a bit shorter than TinMan) and got out in second last. Car was fine in the straights but was extremely squirrely in the Esses. Didn't have the concentration or desire to continue much past that and just retired.

Crappy way to end a season, but see you all next year!

BTW at the time of me quitting there was over a 20 second gap from 4th to 5th!!!

Get some points, Prodigy!

 :-[ Not another race that I have to apologise for!?  :-[
Really sorry to everyone 9th or further back at the start. Completely my fault as far as I can tell!  :-[
Good start from 8th but had to move right to avoid slow Capri in front while still in first gear causing an unforced spin into the righthand barrier!
After that who knows!... was hit by everybody?, car very damaged.
Limped round for 4 laps until the suspension gave up.
Hope I didn't ruin too many peoples races.
Was really looking forward to this and had put in loads of hours.
Very frustrating.

M.   >:(  :(  :-[  :'(  :cursing:

Sorry to all for the terrible start looked like i caused mayhem behind me.

Qualified 3rd, had a good start and at Dunlop chicane i was in 1st.
I remain there for one lap, but then Sooty overtook me in a top speed fight,
meanwhile Mark was in my rear bumper. On 2nd lap at the begining of Porsche corners,
i spun and hit the wall, loosing my front splitter  :P
From there, i was loosing 5 seconds for the front drivers, kept the 3rd place at the 6th lap
when i pitted to refuel, change all tires and replace and repair work.
Spend over 2 minutes repairing and return on track in 17th  :o
Then, i drived like a trully 70´s professional race car driver  ;D
and managed to finished in 3rd  ::)
Congrats to Sooty and Mark.
Well done to all, my hat off to the GT40 drivers  8)
Dear Admins, can we have a new league soon please?  ;)

Cheers

Total shambles from me.



Started really well - avoiding the carnage, and was sitting pretty in 6th, having a great fight with Geoffers, I blew by him on the straights, then he'd get me at the end of the lap.  We had a couple of laps of doing this, with me just about having the upper hand.  Unfortunately it was too good to last, and I cocked up T1/2, and got in the kitty litter.  Even though I was being carefull with the loud pedal, the big green machine chewed my foot off and it spun me round.  That left me with TT and Steve for company.

The power of the Vette was massive and I duly passed both on the straight.  I was catching someone else when I got a better exit on one corner than expected, hit the stop pedal at the normal point ... and duly overshot the next and hit the wall.  I lost the front bumper, but the real pain in the ass was a right front puncture.  Needless to say I got passed by a good few people on my way back to the pits.

The pit stop gave me time to read today's Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, the Times, and Viz (just to kill a bit more time) .... but in my haste to get out and back on track I forgot that GTL likes to disengage the pit limiter for you .... so I got a stop and go .... in I went and that was me firmly in last place.

The stop and go was uneventful, and I got back on track again, making up time and passing a couple of people as they pitted.  I was bettering my lap times, and got up a few places.  It went horribly wrong again when Mark McClean came round to lap me.  He got out of shape approaching the penultimate chicane - and I was trying to be careful and not run into him .... and duly completely missed my braking point, tried to run off and away from him .... and duly T-Boned him :(.  Really sorry Mark - but given the speed you dissapeared up the road I'm guessing it didn't slow you down any ;).

Anyway, in the aforementioned incident I got ANOTHER stop and go .... DOH!!!  I was also low on fuel (or so I thought) so I duly pitted ... at which point I discovered the S&G having missed any on screen notification of it.  Balls.  Thankfully I had enough fuel to get round and chuck a bit more fuel in, no complications this time, and got round again.

Only on passing the chequered flag at the end of the lap (with 65 litres) on board did I discover how totally wrong I got it all :(.



Ah well, you live and learn .....

I don't know what happened at the start but i could only see 4 or 5 cars in front of me, and a load of smoke.
Then after a few seconds alll the cars flickered onto the screen - pretty lucky i didn't hit anyone really ???
Anyway, got a good start, up to 5th i think.
Having a great battle with two capri's for 4th spot untill i lost it on a bend and knackered the suspension.
Pitted in on lap 11 in 6th, thinking new tyres and fuel, then i thought 'no don't bother repairing the suspension, who needs that - it'll cost loads of time'. Idiot.
1st lap out with fresh tyres on and spun it into a wall.
Had to pit again.
Lost more positions.
Spun out on 1st lap across the chicane on the strait and got a stop and go.
Went in for that, came back out in 18th  :'(
But nevertheless - what a race...
Well done all who finished, and grats to podiums  :-*

I guess everybody in the second half of the grid noticed the start was a huge mess  :'(
but running with 4,5 cars side by side on the Mulsanne straight was fabulous  ;D

Had some major offs and thought it was the Le Mans red mist but during the pitstop became clear that the suspension was kaputt  :-\
After unwillingly refitting all damaged parts on my car (could get me a glass of champagne during the pitstop) the car felt a lot better.

Big thanks to Ginsters and Pseudo for organising the Endurance series. Really love it and I want to applaud the constraint reactions after the start mayhem. I think in a lot of other places it would resulted in lots of swearing and disconnections.

Hope to see you all next season.

In front of me at the start, a Legends 906 got into the side of Phil Gilliland and then all hell was let loose. I had nowhere to go and no time to do anything and was catapulted high into the sky.
Car was well busted so I limped around and spent about 4 years in the pits. Filled the car to the brim with juice and just drove.
Was plumb last and knew that I was a lap short of fuel to finish the race. The leader Sooty overtook me and I was overjoyed.
Got worried when I got the lap back when he pitted but relieved when he put me a lap down again 'cos then I knew I could finish the race on the fuel I had left.
All in all I was very happy with 11th place onsidering the carnage at the start and the time I spent in the pits.

TC

Results and Replay above

Martin, you were invisible for me, I can't even see you on my replay.  :(  I hit you (too  ;) ) and got hit by several cars, lost some front parts, but the car felt ok. After half I came into the pit, where I stayed a looong time. Good that I had Adam there so we could exchange some papers and read all about Britney leaving Hollywood.  :P
6th into the pit, 12th out.  :(  Gained some places to the end, finished 9th, I think. Could be better.  :-\  I think a formation lap would be better - obviously not at Le Mans, but otherwise it would be safer.

Must apologize to Sandor - it looked like enough space was there, then the car swerved a bit and there was a contact. I'm still learning, don't know for sure how far the car will slide, it looked like yours would slide to the right a bit more. Sorry.  :(

TT

Aaaargh !!, stupid sodding hopeless BT bastich ADSL line let me down again  >:( Two Le Mans races in 5 days and two crappy Discos. :taz:  Only lasted about 5 laps this time and again, no warning just an instant dropped connection. Checked my isp speed after and it showed a measly 596kbps ! ::) complete garbage.

Race start was hazardous to say the least !..started a dull 16th on grid despite a healthy 4:39 time, gave it a little too welly off the line but still controllable, but saw TT and another come together as i was accelerating and veered whilst still spinning my wheels over to the left and got a clip off someone coming through, so apologies for changing direction so quickly. Then it was carnage ahead of me as cars careened into each other and across the track but i managed to swerve my way through un-scathed and soon found myself in 8th by the end of the first lap  :)...i'm guessing a lot of boys in their very powerful cars hadnt practised any starts  :laugh:
Then had a good little dice with SPanner in his 906 and Adam in his vette? for a lap and a half until spanner got out of shape in the first Mulsanne chicane and unfortunately clipped my rear as i cruised through into a decent 7th place. Alas the spin dropped me back to 12th and all my early good pace was un-done  :'(
It then looked like i might have been in for a lonely race as seemed marooned in the midfield with no one near me in front or behind even after 3 laps  ???
But it didnt matter as the internet gods decided to revoke my evenings pleasure  >:(

You most definately were not alone....the start was total mayhem ::)....one day, maybe, we will have a gtl race where we dont suffer any damage before turn 1. Don't think it's worth holding your breath for though.

As you can probably tell...i was caught up in the carnage off the line....saw a few cars littering the track and tried avoiding but there was just nowhere left to go so ended up hitting one whilst braking and then a couple of others whilst trying ti thread my way through slowly.
Picked up some form of damage, my steering was all over the place and I had to keep a fair bit of right lock on all the way down the staights.....was Tempted to pit and try get it fixed but decided in the end not to bother and stayed out for a few laps....wasn't getting anywhere and my enthusiasm was at a low ebb so i quit out.

Don't think there was much anybody could do about the start tonight...it just looked like one of those things...but I am very quickly starting to dislike standing starts.

Just looked at the replay.
I caused some issues for the last 6 or so drivers, my fault sorry.
There was also another incident at the front of the pack.
Not my place to comment!
M.

Like Brands Hatch GP last week.

Firstly congratulations to the backroom boys for putting together a top rate first Enduro season. Thoroughly enjoyable and well worth repeating please. Have I mentioned 10x daylight setting at all?  ;)
Secondly congrats to the Prodigy new boys for a superb first race in your new colours. Heres hoping that form will continue.
Thirdly commiserations to Jeb (Mr BMW) who came out of the 1st lap carnage a little the worst for wear. You didn't deserve that luck mate  :'(.
And finally my apologies to Alex for the thump up the bum bits at that right hander. I hadn't anticipated your braking. No excuse and you looked like you had a big hit into that wall. I took a voluntary drive thru for that. Sorry pal.

Have you got the same replay as me Tony.....Martins lagging is plain to see and a fair few cars got caught up in it and took damage. ::).....(ok, ok, maybe just after T1 but but I reckon every one knows where I'm coming from.  :))

That race was insane !
Grabbed pole with a 26.1 which was surprisingly 4.5 seconds faster than 2nd,then got the normal start of the line and went back to 2nd alltho thx to MrOily as it looked like he kinda
backed of a touch not to make it difficult for me into t1. So now had pibeiro a second or so down the road in his ever fast moving bmw which i finally outdragged him to take the lead,just
before the porsche curves which i managed to keep it together to keep p1.Then looks like the totally rapid snasky in the vette grabbed 2nd from priebiro as he clipped the grass at the porsche curves totally smashing the wall which was a real shame as it could have paned out for the bmw as the tyre were was going to be a problem with the panty.
So now with a round a 4 second gap which was consitant for lap after lap with me being faster in the 1st and last sector and snasky being extremely quick in the middle,but that 4 seconds went as soon as i caught the 2nd car to be lapped which i wasn't sure if he new i was in the lead or not so ended up clipping him round the ultra fast right hander at mulsane which sent me of in the kitty litter while the vette grabbed the lead. And on the same lap i hit another backmarker which was having a moment with the vette breathing down his neck,so now around 2 seconds back i was a touch angry at myself because i guess it realy was my fault not giving the 2 said backmarkers time to think,so i set about hunting down the stnasky which i quickly did finally overtaking at the very place i fell of the lap earlyer.From then it was just a matter of the pit stops and we both went in at the same time a second a part.
I new exactly what juice i needed but i messed up on the tyres as i wasn't going to change them even tho they were a touch goosed but i forgot to change it to not change tyres so had to sit and prey that the vette was changing all his which looked like he did.
And my crew did a superb job getting me a very health 14 second lead which i just tryed to nurse the car round knowing that i kinda had it in the bag now and was not going to let anything slip.

So would like to say to organizers many thx for putting this on and well done to all that finished,just a shame it looked like a pub server at the start with all that carnage.

See you all nxt season and go Team Prodigy 3rd in the constructors that will do nicley ! 
   

Well, my car was also not doing what I told him to do so i'm glad I didn't ruin your race also  :-\

Strange race where I could never get the real pace and the 'feeling' with the track .
This caused a stop-and-go and some ruined suspensions..... 
After a long pitstop where I repaired the complete car I had a 70 secs gap to the front and 70 secs to the back .
2 laps later i had another stop-and-go. This got me a bit frustrated and ended in the barriers again where I ruined my suspension total.
This ended my race one lap too early.

Better luck next year.

A couple of points.

1. Thanks to all for an excellent series of Endurance. Organisers and racers!
2. Standards of driving are generally excellent, IMO.
3. Standing starts are part of racing. There will always be someone who makes an error at a start. It will 99% of the time be a genuine error, IMO. We all will / have done it!
Over the last 18months I have only failed to finish twice! A testiment to the excellent standard of driving and general fair play attitude of all on this forum.

Thanks all.

When does the next season start!? What am I gonna do until then!?

M.

P.S Please lets not confuse my technical problem that caused my lag at Brands with any Standing start discussion.

Thanks for the apologies. Very gentleman-like action.  :thumbup1:

Looking foreward to the battles with the Green Machines next season  :D

Yeah agreed but I was talking about the start and up to Turn 1. :)

Before the standing start/rolling start debate kicks off which I'm sure it will, can we not discuss having some fairly heavy penalties for the drivers who do lose control of the cars from the startline i.e  1 race bans? It must be obvious to most people that anyone who doesn't practise standing starts will lose it from the go and the consequence of that will most likely be damage to others which is unfortunate and completely avoidable. Rolling starts will just sterilize one of the major race event components and I for one will not welcome them. Even though last night I took heavy damage from the startline carnage I wouldn't change a thing. It's racing and stuff happens. Lets not try to "bubble wrap" it.

i think the biggest problem last night at the start was so many people giving the big V8's too much welly and then spearing left and right into other competitors. I was guilty myself to some extent, of lighting up the tyres in the 911 and then having to go at an exagerated angle to avoid the two cars in front coming together so i cant point the finger too much.  :-[
But it was definitely the heavy right foot off the line that caused last nights carnage from certain cars ahead. I felt like a Nascar driver driving through spinning cars, tyre smoke and debris !

Shame GTL forces starts into such a hurry that we dont get a chance to put up a 'take it easy guys' notice etc just to calm the adrenalin flowing through every ones veins.
Im still for standing starts no matter how often some chaos may occur.

This things happen to everybody, Martin, no need to sweat about it.  :)  What I'd like to know is why was your car invisible for me ??? I was like I hit a wall of glass. Also you don't show on my replay.  :(

TT

Wierd!? the replay plays Ok!
Just figured out, I had been driving the 906 at 60% power setting and had changed it last minute to get better drive/laptime but of course, I forgot about the potential change to my start strategy! Ah well, lesson learned the hard way! :(

Since a 'Legends 906' seems to be popping up accused of running into Phil, let's make it clear I was an innocent bystander in all that mess (as far as I am aware, replay pending), made a great, clean start was outdragging several people and looking for a top 5 position and then 'waaaah' a Pantera side on directly in front of me appears in the smoke, nowhere to go.   >:(

So my race was compromised from the word go, had bodywork damage losing me a little top speed and slightly wonky suspension making braking tricky, unpredictable single wheel lockups.  But it was only losing me 2-3 seconds a lap so I didn't even bother repairing it in the pitstop, needed 1m50 and just didn't seem worth it.  Think it was probably the right decision too.

Did make a few minor mistakes but this often led to some good close racing with a host of people.  Apologies to PR near the end, fighting for 3rd, after I retook I stayed on the inside but being offline had to brake a little harder and my car simply wouldn't take braking on the limit and I spun.  I was very relieved when you carried on your way after bumping into me, looks like no major damage caused.

By the end car was pulling to the left, couldn't ride the kerbs with any throttle or brake hard at all, really felt like the end of an enduro, nursing a woulded car home.   :)

Great series of racing all round, well done to our leaders.  ;D

Well i've always hoped one day i'd be setting new records but I hadn't planned on it being for number of stop/ go's in one race.   :'( Five pit stops in total and a fair amount of general scrappyness meant eighth place was the story of my first Le Mans outing. That said, the Panterrifying kept me amused in what was a very quiet race overall...thought everyone had gone home!

Grats to the podium and new Prodigy recruit Sooty, finishing in a Pantera around here is an achievement so to keep up those times throughout was really very impressive, same to Stnasky, I imagine you had your work cut out sticking with him in the Vette. Also Pribeiro, that was one hell of a drive buddy, no idea what you do with that beemer to make it so quick but it seems to work. I was having a shocker so when I saw you in my mirrors, just dived out of the way thinking you were lapping me, only to realise we were racing for position, albeit 9th'ish!

Jonzo, big apologies mate, that was me who clipped you. Just arrived at the chicane, saw a flash of agreen 906 off the road to the right so thought something was going on but i'd already left my braking later than I should have and just couldn't quite scrub that last few mph off before just shaving your bumper enough to synchronise pirrouette. Really sorry about that, definitely my bad. Pretty crap ya DSL gave out, can recommend BE Internet if that helps!

Really sorry you didn't get a better outing Jeb, replay should be interesting if not painful! Grats to the other Prodigy boys for sticking in there and bringing it home in one piece, not forgetting our other new addition Spanner who also pipped the rest of us to the post and Will who seems to have a combination of nitrous and Renault F1's launch control off the start these days!

As always cheers to you organiser types, doing a sterling job of keeping things interesting and can't wait for the next one to roll around!

We could run a couple of unofficial Thursday night blasts on the Prodigy server to keep those idle wheels busy - might be a nice opportunity to test some add-on cars in the off season if anyone's up for it?

The standing start chat is important so can we continue in the UKGTL S6 discussion thread please. I'm really torn on this one. Shame to see such a messy one last night but the way all battled on regardless says a lot :). Ta for that.

After avoiding mayhem in front, I was down in 12th and looking to thread my way past a few. Really had MJ in my sights, as most others had to much POWER, but denied a good battle when he and a few others fell off in front. Then spent most of the first half passing/re passing the bright green tomato's of Will and Oily who were having a "little" trouble harnessing that power. Great fun with them, good driving to avoid me gents, and some stand out moments down Mulsanne with them, Steves 906 and TT Cwapri. Luvverly nostalgic stuff. Second half of race and through pits had a nice fight with Spanner. Again, great stuff to avoid my early braking and twas funny as I pulled away down Mulsanne only to seeing you flying up as the GT40 ran outta gears. All in all a cracking finish to S5 for me.

Think the fact that we effectively only had two laps for quali really added something and it makes me think that shorter quali sessions, say enough for 2/3 laps, would really add something whilst letting those short of time compete in the enduros. Didn't get close to a pb but it sure sharpened the mind knowing I only had two chances :)

Congrats to Sooty for the win last night, Ruskus for winning championship (and combined titles) and Ghostspeed for Enduro team title :) Special mention to Team Prodigy for their first podium finish. Roll on S6.


 

Don't forget Fun race at Cadwell next week :) Pseudo and I will need a wee break after that, but should be back to do some skin/track testing ourselves within a few weeks I guess. Will let you all know asap and if you want to organise something in small gap, cheers :) 

Oiy!, i never fell off, i was giving a helping hand by some rascal from behind !! ::)...ooer.
Blimey Oilly you must have appeared from nowhere as never even saw your car  :o i did wonder how the heck spanner had managed to tap my rear with his spinning car as it appeared too far away from me when i scooted through at the chicane. I presumed he had bounced back off the barrier into my rear quarter.

Flipping lead-foot V8 drivers  ;D

In hindsight the 911 was massively outgunned here but i was hoping there would be a good mix of cars to fight against but alas everyone went the trophy hunter route of Pantera or 906. :whistling:

Yeah i'm really sorry dude, couldn't believe it after hearing how much you loved the place! That seemed to happen throughout race...I was gaining shedloads under braking, more than with the top end advantage but ran out of talent quite quickly and started snatching wheels all over the show...hence my beautiful array of stop/ go's for being in places I shouldn't have been!

Hey!  Call the 906 a trohpy hunter car, you should have driven the thing, maybe it was my damaged aero, but I had no speed on the straight at all, without a draft - although more than Ginsters GT40!

Terrible luck with your connection though, time to rip out all the wiring and start afresh MJ, get that broadband sorted.   ;)

no worries mate, my poxy ISP let me down again for 2nd race in a row anyway  :'(
Whats the BE internet you mentioned?  Im with Fast at the moment, supposed to be a premium ISP yet ive got dog slow speeds, though i think its my home phone wiring thats causing the problem. I've not had faster than 2016kbps since ive been at this new house, but this week its been a shocking 5-700kpbs so must surely be an outside influence?  >:(

Yeah that is seriously annoying, unfortunately there is a possibility it could be outside of the ISP's control and actually a flaky line. Eventually has to go across BT's network but there's also the possibility it could be traffic shaping or some other margin preserving exercise from the ISP.

I think everyone's got their opinions on good ISP's but having worked at Zen (just won best broadband provider in Which report), I know all the gamer techies who I've worked with and who've moved on elsewhere (no longer get the complimentary staff connection), have always recommended BE (owned by O2) as being as good but with much higher download caps if you want to downloads lots of p0rnography wildlife documentaries.  :euro:

They're not the cheapest but I switched from Zen to them when I left the company and have been really impressed, both with the speed/ reliability for gaming but also the customer service side - i've always had plenty of warning (via text and email) when they've got maintenance. Might not be relevant to you if you mainly use it for gaming but there's also none of this fair usage malarkey so they don't bugger about with your connection no matter how much you download or when you download it.

Anyway might be an option if the grief continues!  https://www.bethere.co.uk/

Oily, how do I test my ISP's speed?
I'm with Fast but after reading the previous post's I'd like to run a check to see what I'm actually getting for my buck.
Is there a gizmo available that I could have on my desktop showing me the current connection status?

I go there m8 ;)

http://gadgetshow.five.tv/jsp/speed_test.htm

Tony I use this :-

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/

Hope you find it useful.

Bill

or you can use this Tony:-

http://speedtester.bt.com/

or you can access your router page and check speed, noise levels and connection status.

I found out with all my VM problems that your speedtest results can be accessed by your ISP to check out your rates.

With me they gave me another BT adsl connection which allows a check of your actual connection from the exchange to your computer.  In my case my line was OK for 6.7 Mbps which confirmed that it was VM who had the problem.  I'm now with BT and have a stable ping rate of about 32 in the lobby for this league.

Best of luck and hope this helps.

Bill

Thanks guys

The attitude of some drivers never fails to amaze me particularly in an endurance race - there's an old addage that to win a race you have to finish it.  With a long track like Le Mans it's a long slow drive from the start finish straight to the pits (more haste less speed comes to mind).

I made a reasonable start, saw smoke and cars everywhere, lifted off and managed to thread my way through the mayhem.  I got a couple of early cut track warnings and decided it was better to brake a little earlier than take a stop and go. I worked up to 13th when I pitted but came out about 19th.  After a few laps the cars ahead were obviously faster than me and the car behind was over a minute behind so I steadied up for the finish in 15th as more cars pitted for various reasons.

Thanks Pseudo and ginsters sponsored for the race programme, unfortunately I missed quite a bit with my ISP problems earlier this year.  Look forward to the next season.

What a race!

For those that didnt jump to the grid straight away did you notice on the timings section it seemed to list a few people that it classed as DNS or DNF before the start? someone was there with clutch as the reason agaisnt their DNS/DNF and someone else was done with engine i think? With the 30 sec timer i didnt have time to really look. Can that timer be changed?

I seemed to come out of the start as one of the last of the first bunch with MJ behind me but catching me. Sorry Oily, didnt realise you fell off because of me and actualy thought you were up ahead and fell off yourself. I thought i had hit Mark so decided down the straight to let him by and let Oily through thinking you were ahead of us so must have been faster! Luckily Mark fell off at Indianapolis which let me through again.

Ended up catching SBG and ended up running together as i just couldnt get past for a few laps then we both pitted but I kinda misjudged the pit entry when pitting which meant i went straight across the grass then I missed the pit box, but had already cut the engine so i wasted about 30sec starting the engine, reversing then aiming again. I'm sure i could have come out alot closer to SBG after the stop. The second half was more a issue of concentration as i wasnt running close to anyone and seemed ever-so-slightly to be catching up the next person. Managed to gain two positions as people pitted after me then as someone limped back to the pits.
I hope Tibs, you giving me room to pass didnt cause you to crash on that last lap? Sorry if it did. I was happy to have waited till after that sequence of bends, and it was the last lap so wasnt in a hurry.

Congrats to Sooty on his first win, knew you were going to be quick but crikey! And hopefull 3rd in the teams standing is a good basis for next season!

From what i've run in GTL i wished i picked it up sooner, good grids, good racing and it does feel a bit more relaxed than UKGTR but that might be just me :) GTL just seems to suit me a bit better and have been surprised to be running with some people at times.

Thanks to Pseudo and SBG and everyone else who has helped in running this season. Cant wait for the next...




 

Unofficial Lapchart (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/steveh/LeMansGTLEnduro/)

I've had a bit of a scout around but have been unable to locate the thread mentioned. Any chance of a link?

Here you go Chris,

https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4750.0

Grats on the win Sooty, and well done in the Vette Mark, wish I could have backed you up in that thing :).

Quite happy to win the championship after missing 2 races.

Thanks Spanner, don't know why I couldn't see that?! As the new boy coming in I'll put my 10pence worth on race starts there, drawing on my vast (one race) experience.

Well that was my 1st race & I loved it.
I got caught up in the startline smashfest. I think I went from 20th to 18th to 26th & back to about 22nd again before T1 was even in sight! But my car was pretty much fine & on I went.I realised pretty quickly as I completed lap one that despite being badly held up in the mess, I was going to benefit as the pits somewhat resembled the M25 as I passed by (lots of cars & not a lot of movement).

So I kept on trickling round as best I could, nervously doing my best to avoid other cars / gravel traps etc. Slowly and somewhat surprisingly my race position improved till about lap 5 where I think I held 15th for a good few laps. I think at this point I obviously got comfortable because I seem to remember spinning myself off under no pressure about 3 times in quarter of a lap!! I gave myself a stern talking to for that & upsetting my suspension but calmed down as everyone in front started ducking in for their pit stops. The suspension issue was minimal & just made breaking a little less predictable so I had no worries there really.

As people pitted I found myself in the dizzy heights of the 'Top 10'. But even as 9th spot slowly came into view I knew it wouldn't last as I knew the big guns would surely hunt me down. Sure enough 2 or 3 laps later & my borrowed position had been returned (like an overdue library book), partly due to a repeat of overexcitement (spinning as I entered the pit lane no less!) & obviously my opponents being quicker  :o  ;)

But I scored a debut point. I'd have more then settled for that before it all started.

If this race was anything to go by I'll definitely be back for the next season. Thanks to Blunder for introducing me to all this, thanks to the organisers for..... er organising. Congrats to the podium people too  8)

Congratulations JR!!
Also I'm quite happy that Ghostspeed won the team title after me missing 3 rounds coz of my stupid internet problems!  :P  :) ;)