SimRacing.org.uk

Division 1 - Round 9 - Silverstone

Round 9 of the Season 15 Div 1 championship is at Silverstone.  I'll be away on holiday so Steven Foster has kindly agreed to start the server.  Incident reports should be entered on the SRou system as normal following the link at the bottom of the results table when it appears.  Race details below.

Div 1 Season 15 Round 9 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 = 27-07-2008
Track = Silverstone
Variant = 67F1
Damage Model = PRO
Qually time = 30 minutes.
Race length = 50 minutes (34 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
Cooper	Stop and Go		N/A
Honda	7		N/A
Brabham	19		N/A
Ferrari	38		14
Eagle	46		18
Lotus	60		25

 First Pit Window is: 27 (to go on your pit board) to 18 (to go on your pit board)
 Second Pit Window is: 25 (to go on your pit board) to 9 (to go on your pit board)

I wonder if Hristo will bother to show up; with maximum score, anything he scores in last two rounds will be dropped.

Well done Hristo and congratulations on winning Division 1 (again)

Kruger

Thanks, Kruger. :) Congratulations to Steve for winning his last (for now) race as gpler, a fine drive and no mistakes on his side. I will miss seeing him around and on the track, but the memories remain. Perhaps when he realizes what a hype and nonsense iRacing has turned into, he'll be back!  :laugh:

Grats to Steve on his win and to Hristo for second ( although there was a whiff of race fixing in the air ;) given Hristos realaxed pace lol)

Commiserations to Will who drove an almost faultless race in the BRM to get himself up to 3rd, only to lose out when his fuel tank ran dry on the last lap.

I was chuffed, just to get to the end in a Waza mobile as just dont seem to be able to crack Silverstone in race mode and I can't work out where I am losing 2-3 secs?? :-\

iRacing seems to be depleting our numbers even further with the loss of Brendan, who is also joining their ranks.

I have neither seen or experienced iRacing as yet, but it would need to be something quite exceptional for me to want to pay repeatedly just to race on a regular basis.

I must confess that I share Hristo's suspicions that once they have sucked in a large enough membership one might see the tarriff ease upwards to maximise the revenue being taken from the participants.

All the same, I wish Steve and Brendan all the best and hope that iRacing is as much fun as GPL was and still is.

Well after 4 weeks without touching my wheel I thought what the hell and braved it in D1.  :)

It all felt rather strange and my qually time was poor. As for the race well I started last and for all of the race apart from the last lap (Thanks to Will's misfortune) I was still last. Seeing Will run out of fuel wasn't great but but it did move me 2nd to last. lol

Gratz to Steve on his win and to podium.

As for iRacing.....well it all looks good on paper (or internet) but paying for something on a monthly basis doesn't float my boat due to my work commitments. I have also noticed as I understand that after paying for initial subscription you also have to pay if you want additional content? Not sure if I like that but I guess some people will so I will be sticking to GPL until the time comes that I have plenty of free time on my hands or most of the friends I've made in GPL decide to move.  :)

I agree with Hristo and Clive and hope that this is just a 'NEW GAME' phase and it doesn't ruin GPL for good.

Grats to Steven. I sure hope this was not your last race.  :'(

There is no doubt the dwindling numbers are caused by this new game which I admit is a blast to play. But like GPL, it has it's equal share of pros and cons. I'm with Art and Clive, I think most will come back to their first love....especially if the programmers can all agree to change/fix the 'crash-boxes' in the original game. That would greatly improve GPL on-line racing....I think anyway.

Silvy was good fun. Hated to run out of gas as Evil was just catching up and I was set to fight it out to the bitter end.  8)

Tks to all who participated.

Good luck to all in whatever sim you choose.

Will

Thanks Gents, and to Hristo who seemed to be *cough* conserving his engine/chassis ;), although I had thought that he'd had an incident with Brendan, and that his car was bent.....right up until the 5 second gap mysteriously disappeared in the last 2 laps :).

My Skip Barber training seems to have helped - I managed a 1:28 in practice yesterday afternoon (a PB in the Coop), and could probably have pumped in a few more 1:29s in the race had not H been keeping his distance once I took the lead.

The last 3 and-a-half years of UKGPL have been great fun, and although the membership has continued to decline even since I joined in 2004, I consider myself lucky to have had an opportunity to race with you all. I've also learned a lot, although I've still more to do!

I'm not disappearing completely, just not driving GPL after this race, and not moderating after the end of this season. I'll still be lurking here, exchanging opinions with the folk involved with iRacing (and I'll be available for emergency moderation duty, server starts, that sort of thing - Phil, please note).

Cheers,

Steven

I was very disappointed to have destroyed the engine so soon but I got carried away.

Started third, very close to Brendan and we managed to pass the slow starting BRM of Hristo. I had a nice time with Brendan, passed him, and he passed back, and passed him again and then I lost him when he spun at Stowe I think...

I then noticed H was working his way up the field and I wanted to up the pace at this critical stage. Sadly, forgot how fragile Masserati can be so it started billowing smoke. Contemplated trolling around but didn't feel like it so I retired. Pity, it was my last race with Brendan and Steven (I'm on hols next round), whom I expect to be back, only slower :P

I didn't try the iRacing and I don't intend to. I found everything I love in GPL. If GPL numbers dwindle to the point I have no one to race against, I will quit instead of switching to another sim. I just have a feeling that it has compelling graphics and that its much easier to control and its a new thing and we boys like new toys but get bored with them and want to move on to something else.

GPL survived GTR, GTR2, rFactor, Race07 and what not so I'm expecting [hoping] it will survive this too. iRacing involves money and doesn't give opportunity to get any money so I can't see that as a good thing.

I wish all of you iRacing recruits the best of luck and I had an immense pleasure and honor to have raced with you and got to know you through GPL (that's why I like GPL and hate iRacing)

Big grats to Steven for a D1 win :)

I don't think the graphics are that much of an advance....it's the *feel* of it Kruger....it's sublime. It really is a step forward in realism: the FFB is, frankly, astonishing. It's also not easy to drive the cars on the edge: once you are allowed to drive a Skip Barber RT2000, the thing comes alive, and I'm as far behind the aliens in iRacing as as am in GPL. It's possible that the Radical is as hard to drive as the Lotus, but I've not tried it yet. The matching system is also starting to put me into races with folk of similar ability, so the racing is superb, but lacks the atmosphere of a league. The iRacing devs plan to introduce leagues sooner rather than later, so we might see an ex-UKGPL league ;D.

The money thing is a pain, but worth it for me.

It was also a pleasure to race with you Kruger.....and thanks for the Grats: I never thought I'd finish on a win  :o

Fantastic result Steve, I'm thoroughly chuffed on your victory, both as an individual and as a Cooperman, well done. :)

As for me, I'd had zero practice leading up to the race and was surprised to put in a 1:28 dead to snatch 2nd on the grid.  I had a good start and snuck past H into T1 to lead my first ever Division 1 race. :o

Kruger (as usual) wasn't going to make it easy for me though. We traded the lead over the next few laps until I spun at Stowe and dropped down to 5th or 6th.  Unfortunately, Kruger's engine let go and after a few pitstops I was back up to 2nd, suspiciously close to H who soon had a slight spin and I caught his front left and spun too.  I deduced that H either a) had a problem or b) was sandbagging, as I was able to keep pace with his BRM.  I had another off when I was following him closely toward the final turn and he braked slightly sooner than I expected.  I took evasive action down the inside and eventually got back on track only to throw it all away at Becketts where I put my battered and bruised Coop on it's rool bar, race over.

Big congrats to Steve and all finishers. :)

As for the future, well, I must admit I've been seduced by the lure of iRacing and to me, it seems like a huge leap forward in terms of what can be done in a race sim (now I know how the GPL pioneers felt in 1998).  The payment structure isn't an issue (yet!) and the overall quality of the product easily justifies the outlay, for me anyway.

I've had a huge amount of fun with GPL and more importantly UKGPL since joining in 2006.  I've had some great races, with some great characters and I'd like think I'll still be welcome on the forums and in future fun events.  Many of the people I have met through UKGPL are also friends on iRacing (Steve, Ken, Bully, Burt, Will....sorry if I've missed anyone) and iRacing seems to have a fairly tight knit community with a friendly and respectful attitude toward one another.  I do hope that any of you who do decide to give it a go will glean a similar amount of pleasure from it as I do, and maybe one day I'll see you on track.

After Oulton that is...................... :)
 

That doesn`t need to be said, it comes by default :)

Thanks for your vivid description. Hristo was quite critical of it last night but he didn`t comment on the feel of driving, just the lack of freedom re hitting a wall or having a crash.

One never knows, if there are league base systems, I might be tempted to give it a go...

Anyway, it`d be nice of you blokes to show up on some fun events, just so we can monitor your progress - backwards :P

1st of all, Congrats to Steve on winning his final ukgpl race. ;D

Farewell to Steve and Brendan and anyone I missed who's leaving. It was great battling with you Brendan in Season 14. :)

Well when I decide to fix my pedals or buy a new wheel I'll be back racing with you guys for sure. It'll be no later than the winter of this year if not earlier. I won't be buying iRacing, it's just too expensive for me. On top of that, I have to race ovals 1st? what's with that?!??!? I have to wait till I get a higher "safety rating" or something like that. That's a load of crap tbh. I love hard racing and making impossible outbraking maneuvers. To me this is a game, however I've noticed a lot of the gpl community tries to make this feel real. I think iRacing appeals to those people so I think iRacing will deplete gpl's field a bit as well as other sims too. I'd probaly have the lowest safety rating within a week if I raced iRacing. :laugh:

If it ain't free It would be hard for me to consider it. but 100 bucks a year or something I won't even consider it. Having to race ovals 1st and silly safety rating's is a turn off. I'm sure a lot of people will welcome it. But I think that will cause a loss of fun factor for me. I'm sure other people will enjoy it. Games will always be games, it'll never be like the real thing as much as some people want it to be. If I want the real thing there's only one option and that isn't iRacing...that's real life racing aka motorsports.  ;)

Thanks Napo.

You don't have to race ovals - there are 2 licences in iRacing, one for ovals, and one for tracks. Not too surprisingly, I haven't touched the ovals :), as I can turn right as well as left  ;D

someone told me you had to get a higher safety rating to get the other licence, or is that for cars?

It's for cars - you start in the wobbly Solstice (a bit like a Mazda MX5, but a lot worse as it's a Yank tank). Once you can prove you can keep it on the track and not bump into folk (that is, do 4-5 races without going off the course or hitting anyone/anything, which builds up your safety rating), you can drive the Skip Barber car - which is fantastic fun to drive, and a proper open-wheel racer. If you can keep your safety rating above 3 your licence will go up and you can drive faster and faster cars (the Formula Mazda and the Radical are the "top" cars) as your licence will go up at the end of every 12 week season.

I got into the Skippy within a week, so it doesn't take long.

Steven, what do you think is the penultimate challenge iRacing will go up to?

Are we talking F1 at some point? (doubt it, on account of licence issues)

Unknown at this stage Kruger, but it will be constantly developed (more tracks and cars, and hopefully more European tracks). They could also scan and use ANY existing older chassis (like the Lotus 49) on modern tracks :).

There's also some talk of "definitely doing GPL2 at some point". That would be superb!

Most importantly, the future of simracing seems rather bright :)

LOL

Do you buy this thing from Mothercare?

LOL  ;D

You may mock Clive, but the racing is superb  :P

I think it was skippy, not iRacing, that was ridiculed Steven :)

The joys of the written word - how was I supposed to know that  :laugh:?

Anyway, Skippy was a bush kangaroo.....what's the relationship to Mothercare......?

Don't know honestly, Clive will have to elaborate on that :)

When he mentioned mother care, I connected Skippy with something related to the new borns, diapers or something like that :)

Interesting - I took it to mean iRacing was "babying" us via use of the SR system AND starting in slow cars.....so, Clive, what did you mean (not that it matters ;) )?

I thought he meant the Skip Barber was akin to a pram or pushchair, which when driven by me, is not a million miles from the truth :D

I'm sure the product itself is very good and if you want to spend your money on it instead of staying with GPL then that's fine.

For me, they seem to be talking down to us and it just comes across at a bit pre-schoolish.  That's probably just me.  ;D

Have fun. 

GPL will be just as difficult when you come back.

(http://www.planet-venom.co.uk/gpl/mcare.jpg)

LOL

Right. Thanks Clive......told you it didn't matter  :P

That can't be right then- Skippy never used to make light or irrelevant conversation, all his contributions were laden with import and free of adjectives....  If it didn't matter, what would happen to the show?

Is it particularly deadly to ex-Cooper drivers though, or just the 'X-Men of Cooper'?  As long as you're all prepared to return for the F1 challenge races, practise in the trainer cars by all means, especially if it makes you win....