SimRacing.org.uk

UKGPL Season 17 - Inter-League race - Brands Hatch

This is the first race of our season 17, forty laps of Brands should prove a fantastic start!  Our guests for the first Interleague race are once again Trellet, who scored a win over us last time in a fairly even race at Rouen, won by Mikko Rissanen for Trellet.  Note the early start time at 19:00GMT- the international nature of these races means that the start will vary, and last season the Finnish race was the earliest race we ran.  Each league is to field nine cars, and there are no chassis handicaps, drivers will be racing to complete the distance and score points for their team.  We might be able to use team colours for this race, more details in the thread.  Let's have the usual warm UKGPL welcome for our guests from Trellet!

Please be in VROC UKGPL chatroom passworded 'Savage' by 18:55GMT, (You will need to set up a channel called #ukgpl if you haven't already done so)
Vroc and Race passwords: see above (#post_event_password)

Server 1.ukgpl
IP address  194.105.176.22

Race date = 01-03-2009
Track = Brands Hatch 1967  (Sabre Team)
Variant = 67F1
Damage Model = PRO
Qually time = 30 minutes.
Race length = 40 laps (complete 36 laps to score points as a finisher)

Chassis assignments: I've left this for the team captain
Lotus
Eagle
Ferrari
Brabham
Brabham
Honda
Cooper
Cooper
BRM

If you'd like to represent UKGPL in this race please post on the thread and advise what chassis you'd prefer.  Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=209&theme=6)

So I propose..subject to drivers confirming availability....... the following chassis allocations for the Brands hatch race this coming Sunday 1st March.
latest drivers list  below updated 24th Feb
Lotus ,...........Iestyn............"sort of" confirmed  lol hope you can make it Iestyn
Eagle..............Jethro.............confirmed
Ferrari.............Lorenzo ..........confirmed
Brabham...........John Roberts.......confirmed
Brabham..........Will Tway.............confirmed with Kev as cover ( gyro-flyer)
Honda.............EvilClive ..............confirmed
Cooper............Fulvio................confirmed
Cooper.............Hristo.............confirmed
BRM.................Napo.............confirmed

plus we need some reserves please.


If no-one comes forward I will raid GBGPL for some of those who have shown an interest in moonlighting for us.

Dave, on the bottom of your post it says "if you want to represent...". Weren't we going to form a regular team and avoid this type of recruitment? And also we going to have a fixed captain (you?) for all races?

Yes, the only problem being that registration has started later than we'd anticipated, so I've included the former invitation to volunteers.  After this first race we should be able to put a team up first, and then ask drivers to post if unavailable. 

I won't be involved in selection this season, and it seems better to have one of the regular drivers as a captain.  I'd suggest that each of the drivers has the same chassis all season, with a recognised backup, to make organisation easier, but that's up to the captain.

Dave, please tell me you are kidding about the lap distance. Brands is hard enough without adding stamina into the equation! :P

I suppose I can say I'll probably be there.

Also, this is season 17, yesno?

What do you mean by 'Brands Hatch (Papyrus original)'?  ???
I was unaware of a Papy version of brands  :-\

There was going to be an original Brands Hatch, there's Brands files on the GPL cd- but the race announcement never said that, ok, it has always said '(Sabre Team)'?

Forty laps is half distance.... Luke could eat fifty eggs!

I don't have a gpl cd, Where do I get these brands files?

I'll drive the BRM

There are no Brands files on my GPL CD. Anyway Jack has stated we are using Sabre Team version. Get it from the usual source. The Alternative Track database:

http://gpltd.bcsims.com/

and to save you even doing a search:

http://gpltd.bcsims.com/?limit=50&author=&country=&type=&kind=&%24state=All&sort=&show_results=0&show_gplrank=&intr=&sbtd=brands67&send=Search

:)

I'm available for this race, I can take a Cooper or a Brabham or whatever  :)
Ciao

I'm not taking responsibility (yet), but have the chassis been allocated yet? This is only a week away! I wanna start practicing this week and building the muscles in my chest and shoulders ready for the pain they'll take. :D

Hoping to sort out the captaincy in the next day or so.  If not, I'll allocate the chassis when I do the race announcement on Tuesday.  What chassis do you prefer Jethro?

I'm taking the Lotus in D1, and the Eagle in another league, so either of them, but I'll take the BRM too if nobody wants that.

Dave has been twisting my arm to take up the captain's role, but if TM would like to assume that mantle I have no probs.

I think that what dave has in mind is a permanent captain for the season and a regular squad of drivers to avoid the scramble to assemble a team every time.

BTW I will try and wrestle the Honda to the finish if no-one else wants it...or a Brabham if I can have an easier ride  ;)

I wouldn't mind giving it a go, but at the moment, there's no guarantee I'll be able to make all the races as I have coursework and exams around May-June time. I'll still fulfil the captaincy if I take it, but I'd have thought somebody more mature would be preferable! ;D

OK! OK! I give in!!! ::)


I'll take the Captain's role until or unless someone else steps forward. :angel:


So I propose..subject to drivers confirming availability....... the following chassis allocations for the Brands hatch race this coming Sunday 1st March.

Lotus ,...........Iestyn............"sort of" confirmed  lol hope you can make it Iestyn
Eagle..............Jethro.............confirmed
Ferrari.............Lorenzo ..........confirmed
Brabham...........John Roberts.......confirmed
Brabham..........Will Tway.............confirmed with Kev as cover ( gyro-flyer)
Honda.............EvilClive ..............confirmed
Cooper............Fulvio................confirmed
Cooper.............Hristo.............confirmed
BRM.................Napo.............confirmed

plus we need some reserves please.


If no-one comes forward I will raid GBGPL for some of those who have shown an interest in moonlighting for us.

OK just to clarify where we are on this, I've processed the entrants for the inter league championship and we have 5 very quick drivers who can make > 75% of the races so I've got them down as full time drivers (FT).  I expect they will form the core of the UKGPL Team.  Logically one of these drivers should be captain.  Team is here (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=209&theme=6), the schedule will be updated soon, I know most of the venues.  I want the core team to help decide on a venue for the rounds we haven't decided on yet.  On the premise that the losers select the venue for the return leg.

Ideally I would like is to have another 3 quick drivers who are able to commit to >75% of the races.  It would then be the responsibility of the full time driver in consultation with the Team Captain to identify a replacement from the list of reserves.  It should be possible to give the reserve a weeks notice so that they can practice for the race.

It will be the Captains responsibility to determine the tactics i.e. chassis allocation.  Fast drivers in fast chassis to "guarantee" a win or fast drivers in slow chassis to make sure we don't come last.

Gizmo has made some enhancements to SRou and so I should be able to have a proper championship table this season (using the inter league points system and the 90% distance to count as a finisher rule).  I don't want to have to calculate who won what manually as we did last season.

Sounds good Phil, I'd be glad to help with chassis allocation and track choice, just let me know where and how.
Clive, I'd take that Cooper if you find someone for Ferrari, I have faith I'd still be fast enough at Brands (check records above).
Having observed all races until now it doesn't really matter who wins it, but how many people we place in the top half at the finish. It was always our weakest point even when we won or even when we had 2 people on podium, the following places were totally occupied by enemy drivers and overall they got more points.

OK the Cooper for me.

i'll take the toad ... (brab)

john

Not sure I can race yet due to travel constraints but if I can, I will.

Never properly learned Brands ~ and Lotus for this race is very good motivation to do so  :laugh:!

Lets hope Aleksi doesn't pull off another WR in this one. Hristo instead  8)

 :P

Eagle's perfect for me. :) That'll be my preferred chariot for Interleague.

Moonlighter from GBGPL

If you're short I'll step up, Brab for me, I'll hang around the chat lobby, call if you need me.

Kev

Thanks Gyro, always good to have willing reserves. ;)

Excellent Kev,

If the wife goes psycho on me, the Brab is all yours.

As for Brands, I've always gotten horrible frame rates thus never raced it much but last night it seemed to work pretty good. Could only manage a few very high 35s so if someone has a PB lap saved, I'd love to watch it. Thanks.

Will

There is a possibility that I may not make this one.


We have had a bereavement in the family and I need to be somewhere on Sunday afternoon, but don't know how long it will take. :-\

Can someone cover for me in this one. If I make it back in time all well and good, but I have no way of knowing and with the early start time I have my doubts.

I am having MAJOR trouble with keeping the Eagle in a straight line. I know Brands is mostly curves and there's only one "straight" to speak of, but every time I put the power down I'm sideways - constantly having to keep feathering the throttle, if I mess up braking by a couple metres, I'm in the hedge / barrier / doing the lawnmower. So far, I hit 1:37. Where should I be aiming?

With 67 cars at Brands you have to go slow to go faster  ;)
I have a pb of 1.33.62 with Ferrari in race.

Ciao

Think I agree with Fulvio.
 It is the speed OUT of the corners that gains time at Brands, so demon braking and trying to corner in an unsettled car is counter productive. Better to ease into the corners and gently wind on the gas...maybe upping the ratios a notch or two will reduce the tendency to wheelspin. The Eagle has quite a bit of grunt as long as you do not drop the revs too much and anyway anything is better than uncontrollable wheelspin and a loose rear end.
Try softening the rear bumps a notch, or maybe if you are running on race fuel for 40 laps you might need to either raise the ride height or increase the spring rate by a notch or two.
The real dangerous place to watch out for on full fuel is the dip at Dingle Dell, where any change of direction/gearchange/braking will guarantee a trip into the undergrowth.

Very sorry to hear that Clive.

I'll start the server so I'll be available to race if necessary.  I'm in the Clubmans at 9:00 but he race should be over in plenty of time for that.  Mine certainly will, I'm crap at Brands.  There's no way I will last 40 laps on PRO.  If I finish I doubt I'd complete enough laps to score points.  But I'm willing to try rather than leave a space on the grid.

Probably best if one of the official reserves (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=209&theme=6) (Doni or Mike) steps in for this one.

I suggest you start with a PJ setup, his Brands ones are quite good. His Eagle setup has a time of 1:32.34, so that's your aim.  ;D
Also watch a good fast lap of the track, it'd show you the best lines and braking points.

I just kidnap an alien and make him race under my nick...still works like a charm :shifty:

I will give this a go this afternoon. Can you link me to a good fast lap then? The ones I have are of 1980s F1, so not exactly representative!

I don't have links, but perhaps a lap from previous UKGPL Brands replays or from gplrank?

Race (actually qualifying) starts in about 10 minutes BTW, it's an EARLY START!

Apologies guys, I had an argument with a hedge and lost - I ended up with 3 wheels for the latter part of my last lap of competition and was looking good for a finish had the car not snapped sideways on the exit of the previous corner to Dingle Dell. I was really enjoying that race, had a good rhythm, was concentrating on not outbraking myself into Paddock Hill and Druids, and just trying to focus myself. Had a nice session behind Fulvio for about 5 or 6 laps before I made a slight cockup into Paddock and dropped back, and just tried to keep it on the black stuff, failing miserably with snap-oversteer at the worst possible place.

It was looking to be a hard fight with Hristo in the early laps, but unfortunately his Honda expired. :o

Rest of the race I just tried to stay awake with lack of sleep. Might have made a mistake with the gear changes and with 6 to go my engine started smoking very badly. Luckily I managed to nurse it to the finish :angel:

Thanks for the race guys. See you in the next interleague race  ;D

Well my ISP decided to disconnect me. >:(

Would have finished! Sorry guys

Ouch. Apologies to John, I really misjudged that corner on lap 4. I felt really bad when I saw that your race was over.  :-[

Anyway, thanks to all of you guys for the race. I had some great time with William for almost 15 laps but you were a little faster. And of course then I had to throw it all away after 20 laps. It was quite tragicomical, really. (Check the replay if you don´t believe me...)

Well, after a last minute change to Honda and missing almost half qualifying session due to the EVILNESS of GEM erasing my season ini entry for Brands67, lol, it was good that I already had some decent setups and with a bit of tweaking it was possible to do a low 32 or high 31 and was certainly on my way to do such a lap but the engine expired at the exit of last turn, so I had to settle for 5th on the grid.

The start was ok and I think most of us kept our positions and just tried to keep it clean and safe during the 1st lap. Then I tried to put pressure on the people ahead, but at the same time I was taking good care of preserving the Honda engine by shifting earlier and lifting up decently as well as be careful on downshifts. Of course that compromised me some speed, but I could keep up with the cars ahead and hopefully not slow Iestyn behind too much. He had a wobble eventually and dropped 3 seconds back, then after a few more laps just when I was closing in on Ilkka a car appeared to have gone off and rejoined behind me. Soon I realized it was Aleksi who started on pole and was leading before that, so I had to defend from his fast Ferrari and that lost me some ground, but at least I could keep 4th. I was just beginning to close up the gap again and at the same time Aleksi was getting big in my mirrors again when the engine simply expired at the apex of T3 when I went off the throttle.  ::)
Shame as it could've been a good result. Grats to Trellet for winning this one and to our finishers for holding on until the end.

oh yea, and there was some crazy shit that went down in the back, I managed to avoid it all but some of it was a little much for organized league racing.

Yeah I turned into John as an Eagle was recovering at T1. I just watched the start and I had no sight of him at all. It was an unfortunate incident which did cause a few offs but I was happy to see everyone recovered. I certainly should have kept the outside line. Sorry to all involved.

After the dust settled, I just pounded away expecting the engine to let go at any moment. Had one freak spin somewhere between Pilgrim's  Drop and Hawthorn. Still not sure what the hell I hit. Had a great run with Kanzo as we were evenly matched. No time to wonder here, just spent the race trying to keep it together. Happy to finish but that was one tough group. Hat's off to Lorenzo for a brilliant drive and Aleksi for some of the best driving I've ever witnessed. Grats also to Jessi and the entire Trellet crew. WD.

Will