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Division 1 - Round 6 - Nurburgring (Nordschleife)

Round 6 of the Season 15 Div 1 championship is at the Nürburgring.  There is no need to explain what PRO rules means at the ring.  This is a challenging track made even more difficult by PRO rules.  Shift-Rs are allowed in practice but please be careful when respawning to ensure you don't ruin anybody's flying lap.  A penalty may be applied if a driver compromises another competitor's qualifying lap.

Don't forget, incident reports (including incidents in practice if your qualifying lap was severely affected by another driver) should be entered on the SRou system following the link at the bottom of the results table when it appears.  Race details below.

Div 1 Season 15 Round 6 is this Sunday at 9:00 p.m. London UK time.
Please be in VROC UKGPL chatroom by 8:55 p.m.
VROC and Race passwords: see above

Server 1.ukgpl
IP address  194.105.176.22

Race date = 15-06-2008
Track = Nürburgring 1967  (Papyrus Original)
Variant = 67F1
Damage Model = PRO
Qually time = 30 minutes.
Race length = 50 minutes (6 laps)

Password: see above (#post_event_password)
Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=73&theme=6)

Pit Stop Times

	Single Stop Time		Double Stop Time
BRM	No Stop		N/A
Honda	Stop and Go		N/A
Cooper	6		N/A
Brabham	33		11
Ferrari	36		13
Eagle	39		15
Lotus	59		24

 First Pit Window is: 6 (to go on your pit board) to 4 (to go on your pit board)
 Second Pit Window is: 4 (to go on your pit board) to 2 (to go on your pit board)

If there's one thing I learnt from last night's race, it's to not spend the afternoon in the pub before embarking upon the Green Hell.

I'd had a decent qually, 3rd on the grid just behing Kruger (although light years behind Hristo).  A good start got me up to second and I even had a cheeky look down the inside of H into turn one but thought better of it. 

I chucked away 2nd place after a minute or so and had a good dice with Kruger and Lorenzo for the rest of the lap although making lots of mistakes.  By lap 2, Lorenzo had started to pull away and Kruger was close enough behind to keep me concerned.  That was until Spinundcrashencorner where I lost it coming over the brow of a hill and ended up facing the wrong way.  A quick spin turn wasn't enough to stop a couple of other cars making it through and as I tried to recover, I got a bit close to Glyn's Cooper.  The warp contact sent us both into a spin and I lost a wheel, race over.  Sorry if I spoiled your race, Glyn.   

Grats to all finishers, an achievement in it's self.

See you in the States.

This was one of those races where GPL comes very close to being thrown out of the window. My car had taken quite a beating in the first few laps but drove perfectly. Sods law would have it after my pit stop I out braked myself into turn 1 and gave the fence the smallest glances ever. Exiting the never ending right hander the back end stepped out oddly and I started crabbing down the straight. I braked lightly for the left hander but it just locked the wheel solid, confirming broken suspension. Bah humbug as they say.

Not much of a race here due to self imposed ? mechanical maladies .

My early retirement did allow me to watch some of the more spectacular on track action from you guys . Much more entertaining than Hamiltons & Co RL exploits.

Gonna book me a Grandsand seat for the next outing  ;D


 

I don't like Nurby very much, so I probably only put in about 10-15 laps worth of practice the week before the race, and therefore didn't learn a great deal more about the track. It's so hard to motivate myself to practice this one.

Qually was poor - the first lap I made one mistake, and let a flying H by, for my best time (probably ~9 secs off my qually pace). I goofed the second, but folk were struggling to even set times, so I didn't start at the back.

Not a bad start, but I had to put it into the fence at T1 to avoid rear-ending Ken. Let a flying Neil past at Flugplatz, then ended Mr. Burtmacher's race (after he'd clashed with Neil) later that lap by giving his Coop a nudge when it was playing at being a road-block (sorry Rob). Didn't see anyone again until the end of the lap, when I caught Evil doing his pit stop. I thought he was Neil....but he was so obviously faster than me, I just let him past me on the back straight behind the pits. I'd realised that just getting to the end was going to be a challenge, and racing was a waste of time.

I didn't see anyone again, and couldn't get a clean lap in (a spin here, a slight off there) so no chance of catching someone. However, there was a constant stream of retirements, and each time around my position improved. The pit-board said 5th on my last lap, then Lorenzo did the decent thing and retired on the last lap gifting me 4th, the last of the runners. Although this is my highest D1 finish, it didn't feel very good. I'm just glad it's over and that the Coopermen have some luvverly points.

Ok, I like Nurburgring, I'm a freak :) Its one of my three favourite tracks but I didn't expect it to go well.

A tough and tiring weekend before that, came home and did half a lap and it didn't look good but I couldn't get my self to practice it a bit more.

Later, in quali, it felt much better and I managed two timed lap, one was with two spins and the other one had some mistakes but it was good enough for 2nd on the grid.

Dropped revs too much at the start and it looked for a moment I was going to leapfrog Hristo right at the start but then Brendan shot by me and went for it. I decided not to dice with T1 so I was just observing what it happening behind and then followed Brendan through. He soon made a mistake and let me through and then Lorenzo came up behind him. Towards the end of lap, I made a small mistake losing my rear end but only just managed to prevent the car from spinning. Brendan ws through and Lorenzo was now behind me.

As I'm not as quick as him and I am yet to do my stop, I wasn't going to hold him up for too long and once we reached the straight, instead of chasing Brendan's slipstream, I moved to the left and allowed Lorenzo some tow and then he switched to get a tow from Brendan, passing him as well and allowing me to get closer to Brendan :)

I then followed Brendan through lap 2, until he made a mistake and spun out so from there, it was a battle with Ken's BRM and doing the stop correctly... that is, until I figured out my GPL Wait wasn't working and no clock or phone was close to time it. So, I stopped at the end of lap 2 and counted seconds while Ken whizzed by with his BRM. During the count, I thought I had started too early as I got carried away by seeing Ken pass :D so I thought that I will receive at least 6 seconds penalty for having my stop shorter for two seconds.

Soon caught up with Ken and instead of attacking, I was giving him an evil stare (learned that from his evilness) and at Karussel, Ken has had enough of it and left the banking too early and spun.

Rest of the race was bringing it home intact but maintaining that 6 seconds gap to evilClive who seemed to be doing much better during the last two laps - we both made mistakes but I think I made less :)

Grats to Hristo and Clive and so sorry to hear about Lorenzo as he was about to finish in a strong second position.

I had good fun on this one :)

Never quite managed a clean qualifying lap, but with everyone else making mistakes, it was enough for pole. The coopers behind me were like rockets on the start though and I had one of them going to the inside, so I took a wide line just in case, but managed to hold on to the lead. I have already decided to do the single 33 seconds pitstop even if it meant I'd probably lose the lead, but it would've provided some interesting battles. The thing that confused me while I was completing lap 1 was that I realized the pitboard is shown after the s/f, so does stopping at the end of lap 3 after you get the pitboard to show 4 to go is illegal or not? I didn't want to risk a penalty, so I made my stop at the end of lap 2 and logically lost the lead, although not by much since Lorenzo had to make his way up through the field after starting at the back. I got close to him in the middle of the 3rd lap, but there was never any real chance to make a pass, so I was just trying to put pressure on him, but not get too close and risk a contact. His car didn't look very balanced and eventually he lost it a bit going into the small karussel and went wide, so I was through. The rest of the race was just about enjoying the drive and I was just getting into a groove when it was all over. Just before that, going on the other side of the pits on the last lap, I saw Lorenzo breeze by and soon after that a message that he retired. Since I saw many retirement messages before that, at that moment I really my car's the only one remaining in the race, lol. Was happy to find a 3 coopers pack running still though, grats to them. :)

The trek though the forest and over the mountains, towing that cast iron Cooper from Zandvoort on Holland's North sea coast, was harder than expected for the pit crew. So much so, that they complained when we arrived that it was time we traded the hand cart and bought a motorised transporter!! Ungrateful wretches,     and they arrived late with a car still set up for sand dunes and sea breezes.

I warned them that I could have opted to bring the BRM or Honda, or both!!!...that cooled their complaining!!

Practice was a frustrating affair, with a car that felt like the steering wheel may have once had a relationship with the front wheels , but that was in the past and they no longer spoke to each other....at least not with a civil tongue.
4 out laps at cruising pace were fine, but each was followed by a qualifying attempt that was abysmal with scenery taking the brunt of many mistakes.
I dragged the sorry heap of metal back to the pits and slapped Arnold ( Glutbucket) around with a large piece of Bavarian sausage. He was fortuanate that I only got a few good strikes in before the Valkyrie, in the form of screaming Agnes ( Glutbucket) descended upon me. Her massive frame flattened me to the floor and I though I had drawn my last breath, but suddenly the pressure was released and all was calm again.
I looked around to see that she had only been intent on freeing the sausage, which she was now sliding down her enormous gullet like a gull swallowing a fish....whole!!!
Arnold, meanwhile had taken his chance and was hiding under the Cooper hitting various bits of metal with his hammer. Suddenly there was a cry of glee and a rather large "THWACK...CLANG!!" " that'll sort the jigger sir,  twas the setting on the bobbly whatsits wot was 'rong, but hers adjusted now"

I was in no position to discuss the matter as the start grid was forming up with me one of the last cars, save to say " If this does not work Glutbucket, you will be walking home!!" as I donned my helmet and fired up the Cooper I could have sworn I heard someone say
 "Nothing new there, then!". When I find out who that was.............

Fingers crossed that the new suspension settings would make even the slightest improvement I sat on the back of the grid waiting for the flag to drop.
Well blow me, when everyone got excited and pulled away some blighter in the left hand column bogs down and I get a clean run down the right taking me up to about 5th by T1.
Steady, steady! you did not get where you are today by being a good driver, you know that luck is fragile and should not be pushed.
UNLIKE THE BRM OF KEN, which was performing traffic calming measures that would make him the president of the Cyclists and Pedestrians Federation of Busybodies  President!! I was quicker but just could not find a way past that was safe.
So after being baulked for a whole lap and having another Cooper getting far too up close and personal with my rear, I decided to take my pitstop and allow these two to take each other off the circuit hehehehe!
Approach pits...press "pit in" button.........stop..... press "wait" button...no change of view......???? what!! how long...6 seconds count to six ......wait a little more .......just in case.....another car coming ....GO! ...GO!!  GO!!!!
and Steve Foster cruises by at top speed ...Rats!!! wait till I get my hands around the throat of Agnes who is supposed to sort out pit stop thingies...I'll give her bloody Bavarian sausage!!!!!!

I harrass poor Steve until he can take no more...well ok, I followed him closely through 1 corner and stared in his mirrors in a threatening manner, and he moves over and allows me to pass.
Still 5 laps of this rollercoaster of a cuircuit to go but the car actually feels quite good. :)

One lap later and I pass "Glyn" leaving the Pits he is all over my rather firm and athletic backside like a rash but he will have to find his own way past...or.... I can half spin and allow him to pass. Which is the tactical move I choose ::).

As we start lap 3 he generously runs up a bank and into a fence at T3, "dam fine fellow I thought, Who is next?"
The Murray Monolith is up ahead and I am closing steadily, but he sees the futility of the struggle and parks before I can get to him.
4th place and Kruger is on the radar.
I sniff the slightest hint of a podium at Nurby, if I can only get in touch with Kruger.
So I push a little harder, which results in a few dumb mistakes losing time but causing no damage. The gap is closing but the mistakes and what later turns out to have been a pit stop in excess of 10 seconds robs me of a chance to challenge the mighty Kruger.
But, as I come off the long straight at the end of the last lap with only a few hundred metres to go, that speedy Italian Lorenzo suddenly vanishes from the readout and we have 3rd spot. ;D ;D

I should like to thank the generosity of all those who gave up their places for me and the hard work of my gifted Pit Crew......................but, the first would be a little ungracious and the second a damned lie!!!because with a correct pitstop we might have been nearer to 2nd you miserable pair of overweight, gorilla impersonating Glutbuckets!!!!

They had better get their act together for the next race, or I am taking one of the wheels off of the hand cart.

I chose the BRM for the same reason I took it to Zandvort, and that was to attempt a neg lap. I'd managed to get within a second or so of negativity during the few laps of practice I'd managed, and that was without a totally clean lap, so my hopes were high. My two flying qually laps weren't exactly clean either and so mission not accomplished at that point. I wasn't badly placed on the grid however and I hoped if I tagged on to the back of one of the faster drivers they might drag me below that magic 8:21 time. The BRM with 6 laps worth of fuel onboard is not the most nimble of vehicles however and with Clive G waiting to pounce at any given opportunity my driving was somewhat inhibited. After Clive pitted and Neil clashed with Brendan I had clear track briefly before Kruger re-joined from his pit to fill my mirrors. I got carried away at Karousel and tested the root system on the hedging there, must be pretty healthy to stop a BRM!! Then I just wanted to maintain my position and hopefully get that elusive lap in before the end of the race but just after jumping the Flugplatz the motor went pop. That's two in two Pro races so I've checked GPLRA and my gearchange technique has become sloppy. Virtually all my changes were shown as speedshifts and I was hitting 11,000rpm on each up change. Time to be a bit more disciplined with my feet.

Some screenies from the Historic race I had promised earlier, just to give an idea of the nice Kellaaa update I got hold of recently. He only put it up on RSC for a few days before removing it but I heard he was still refining it and he would release it again in due course. It adds loads more vegetation.
(http://www.auga68.dsl.pipex.com/nurb kellaaa 1.jpg)
(http://www.auga68.dsl.pipex.com/nurb kellaaa 2.jpg)

Oh dear, who ever said we need more vegetation in Nurburgring  :laugh:

Nice screenies Ken, thx.

With just few cars going at nurby, i thought it was good to get some nice points here.

Start went well but spun it at turn 1, managed to keep going and was chasing Ken for the 1st half of the lap until, i got side by side with Neil.

We had contact with wheels but that put me in hedge backwards, but luckily for me i could actually get out, but i had to spin car around, when Steven turned up and hit me, which ended my race.

I would put this down to an racing incident, it was a blind position, Steve couldnt do anything about it, nor could I.

That was the end of my race

Edited ;)  :laugh:

Erm, was this not a 67 race?   ???

And I thought I was confused  :D

Poor Burt working tooooooo hard  ::)

Maybe it was my 66 screenshots that confused matters.

Here's some more from the D1 race.

(http://www.auga68.dsl.pipex.com/nurb kellaaa 3.jpg)

(http://www.auga68.dsl.pipex.com/nurb kellaaa 4.jpg)

Image incorrectly linked.

(http://www.auga68.dsl.pipex.com/nurb kellaaa 6.jpg)
(http://www.auga68.dsl.pipex.com/nurb kellaaa 7.jpg)

(http://www.auga68.dsl.pipex.com/nurb kellaaa 8.jpg)
(http://www.auga68.dsl.pipex.com/nurb kellaaa 9.jpg)

(http://www.auga68.dsl.pipex.com/nurb kellaaa 10.jpg)
(http://www.auga68.dsl.pipex.com/nurb kellaaa 11.jpg)

nice screenshots, defaintly those screenshots that confused me lol  :laugh:

Did we race on the same circuit Ken??!!!
My Nurburgring looks NOTHING like that. So different in fact that I am having difficulty recognising some of the places.
I have jagged lines and fences and fuzzy green stuff no hint of the crisp images that you have posted.
 I know I have been muttering for some time about frame rates and stuttering graphics, but can my 256 Radeon graphic card be THAT bad?? Am I missing out on all this detail??

Well, one of the reasons they look different is because I have that exclusive Kellaaa update installed. He is supposed to be releasing it again when it's "finished", but it looks fairly well finished already to me.

As for the jaggies and fuzzies I'm not sure. Can you post a screenshot?