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UKGPL Season 17 - Amateurs Trophy - Race 7 - Rouen Les Essarts

Round Seven est en France mon amis. Opened in 1950, Rouen-Les-Essarts was recognized as one of Europe's finest circuits, with modern pits, a wide track, and spectator grandstands. The circuit runs on public roads and has both fast sections, a slippery chicane and blind bends.

Rouen hosted five Formula One French Grand Prix races and is featured in the original game because of the blandness of the Bugatti track. Good choice.

With a wide opening section there shouldn't be too many T1 problems but please be careful when the field is compressed at the hairpin. French polos are every bit as tough as the Mexican variety.

Reserve drivers should not join until there are only 30 mins of qualifying left.  However, all drivers should not go on track until there is 30 minutes of qualifying left.  This helps all drivers join the server successfully.  Please restrict chat to pit messages.

Chassis allocations are below- the same chassis will be used for all races this season, unless there is an adjustment agreed by the moderator.  Good luck!

Please use the updated 65 mod for this race.

The 65 mod V2 update is being used by UKGPL and the updated layout features are very welcome, with the ability to record best lap times at addon tracks and to have 65 specific tracks. The new collision boxes are also a great improvement.  Though the new slipstream code will need extensive testing, the preliminary race seemed to show that it would be a definite improvement in racing terms, without the controversy over its extent, as with the 66 mod.

Thanks to all involved with producing the update.  If the new slipsteam code works as well as it seems it might, perhaps it could help persuade the authors of the 66 mod to rework their code as well!

Please be in IGOR UKGPL chatroom by 8:55 p.m.
(You will need to set up a channel called #ukgpl if you haven't already done so)
IGOR and Race passwords: see above (#post_event_password)

Server ukgpl6
IP address TBC
Race date = 26-05-2009
Time = 21:00
Track = Rouen Les Essarts
Variant = 65F1
Damage Model = PRO
Qually time = 30 minutes.
Race length = 50% Grand Prix (30 laps)


Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=208&theme=6)

CHASSIS ALLOCATION

FERRARI Phil Thornton, Will Tway (reserve), Burtoner*, Asbjeurn*
LOTUS  StormCloud, Dave Randall, Bartosz, Bernie*, Steve Bird*, Geoff65*
BRM  NatanVix, Samb, Ginsters, Steve Bucket*, Ian*
BT11  CliveLoynes, John Roberts, Ken, Jethro, Fulvio
HONDA  EvilClive, Tim, Iestyn (reserve)
COOPER Mike Beattie, Lorenzo, if he joins, otherwise any visiting speed merchant
BT7 Hristo

*drivers also assigned a Novices chassis

65 Mod

These were the 65 drivers
BT7 Bonnier, Baghetti, Hulme (Bonnier drove for Walker)
BT11 Brabham Gurney Gardner Anderson Siffert (Siffert drove for Walker, Gardner and Anderson were privateers)
Lotus Clark Spence Rodriguez Mitter Russo Solana (and Maggs Hailwood Attwood Amon and Ireland for Parnell)
Ferrari Surtees Bandini Rodriguez Vaccarella Bondurant Scarfiotti
Honda Ginther Bucknum
Cooper McLaren Rindt
BRM Hill Stewart

The 1965 season was the last to use the controversial 1500cc formula which had begun after 1960, to the initial advantage of Ferrari.  The 1965 cars are smaller than the 1967 cars and have less torque and hence more grip.  It was claimed that they 'cornered on rails', however this allowed the Grand Prix series to retain the use of circuits which were otherwise to prove extremely dangerous.

The 1965 cars are ideal for those new to GPL as they allow the tracks to be learnt in light reliable cars, however these are also full Formula One cars, and quite fast....  Jim Clark won the 1965 Belgian Grand Prix in a Lotus.  Graham Hill took pole in his BRM P261 with a time of 3'45.4 .  The 1965 distance was 32 laps.

David Wright's 'Legends' site http://fp.gplegends.plus.com/ has the download of the 2.0.1 version (under 'details') as well as being an exceptional guide to both 1965 and 1967, for those interested in Formula One history.  The 2.02 update is available here: http://www.jamesonline.net/ukgpl/1965mod_PATCH_v2.0.2_Setup.zip

Just broke the habit of a lifetime and did some practice before race day. It's funny how you can blast around convinced no one on earth could possibly be that quick because you were really hanging it out only to jump out of the car, spark up your pipe and find out you're 3 seconds off the lap record and 2 seconds slower than you were last season!

Your best laps often feel slower than usual. It has mostly to do with braking too late and overdoing it which gives you the feeling that you describe, but it's hardly effective.

Hmm.....
I like Rouen - does this mean I may finally get a decent position?  :angel:

I like Rouen too, but I still find I'm slower than the competition.

Was looking like an interesting race, shadowing the first two and waiting for the laps to countdown until whoever it was that didn't care we were on lap 8 of 30 knocked me off the road.

Got dull after that and it was blessed relief to have my brains smashed in by a tree on the downhill section.

Didn't particularly like this. GPLRank said I'd done a low 2:05, but I couldn't remember how or when. The pre-race practice showed me doing 2:07s with fuel, with best sectors for 2:06's. Actual race practice showed me doing a 2:05.98 on low fuel. I didn't like the setup but it was driveable, and I was exploring the lines through corners all the time, even through the race.

Start was electric, anticipated the flag dropping very well, engaged 1st from neutral, and breezed past Geoff hoping he didn't take me out in T1. Took it easy down to T2 and was doing well for the first few laps, only ended up about 10 seconds behind the leaders so not too bad. Then Geoff decided enough was enough and went for a gap I didn't know was there! After several cockups, and no lap under 2:06, I ended up 7th after a couple people dropped out and finished nearly 90 seconds behind the leader.

Not a good race all in all, but content I finished, despite my best efforts to destroy my car on the polos at the last hairpin and the first one at different points in the race. ;D

Mosport's a track I despise in 67s, so I have no idea how I'll fair there in these gentle machines.

What a brilliant race that was! That was by far the most enjoyable race I've had so far in the Amateurs. Hopefully I can finally kick-start my dire season with some more decent finishes. It took me a while to get back in the groove of the 65s and after a few laps doing 2:07s I managed a last gasp effort of a 2:04, enough to bag me 3rd on the grid.

The flag dropped and the first three at least, held position on the run down to the first corner. I then had a grandstand seat watching John & H battling for the lead. I remained close behind them but not close enough to join the action. The race was long so I held position. Eventually John & H had a tangle at Six Freres and John came off second-best, sliding across the banking at speed. I thought his race was run and began to close on Hristo. We then a great battle for the lead. H was faster round the corners and extremely good on the brakes, but my superior grunt from the British warhorse allowed me to close up again on the straights. The result was side by side action aplenty which was very entertaining  ;D.

We remained battling for the lead for about 10 laps until H braked a tad too late and lost the back end at Scierie. This allowed me to take the lead with a considerable cushion but me being me, had a couple of scruffy laps which allowed John, recovering brilliantly from his earlier incident, to close right up on my gearbox. Then me and John had a hard fought battle for the lead and this time, I cracked and braked too late in Scierie allowing John, Dave and H through.

With 10 or so laps to go, I began to close up on the leading trio and when Dave made an error at the 2nd corner followed by H running wide, I passed Dave and closed up on H again. Then the fun and games began again. Me and H were having a titanic battle for the lead with side by side almost every lap. I look forward to watching the server replay as it was hard faught but very fair in my opinion. On the last lap, we were both side by side again on the exit of Scierie and thanks to my superior grunt, I led into the last corner. H was in my slipstrem and we crossed over the line by half a car length apart.

So overall then, this race has easily been my best performance so far this season and easily the most enjoyable. I doubt Mosport will be able to provide such fun but I'm glad to have bagged 2nd here after the misery of Watkins Glen. See you all at the next one  ;D.

Very entertaining indeed!!  Some of the best GPL action I've ever witnessed in that race.

Was happy with performance and revelling in being involved in and watching lots of close action until I slid wide into T1 on lap 22 with Hristo following for some rallycross action, before locking up and going sideways into T2 which I didn't realise at the time resulted in Hristo taking to the grass again.  He showed amazing car control to get back from that steep grassy bank and not lose a place but this probably stopped him from being a late threat to John.  Sorry H, I should have tucked in behind you so we could have closed on the lead.

A few laps later I had an argument with an oversized polo that wouldn't let go, to let Tim through and finished 5th.  A wasted possible podium but great fun nonetheless.

Grats to John, Sam and Hristo.

It looks like sodding night work made me miss an epic race. :-\

Looking forward to watching that replay ;D

Sorry, I had an annoying discussion with wife and missed the race  :(

It was a very frustrating race for me. The BT7 had massive disadvantage on the straights so I had to compensate by taking huge risks in corners.

Qualifying went well but it was impossible to match JR's time without a slipstream and I never got one.

The start was ok and with slipstream I could keep up with his BT11, but passing was something else. Even when I passed he'd easily pass back on the following straight. We had some battle going, with Sam watching close behind. Eventually I had a run on the outside of JR at T2 and then kept the inside line entering T3, but he didn't leave any room and turned into me, which spun him off.

There was no time to relax as Sam was soon putting constant pressure and attacking on most of the straights. We switched positions a few times and then on one of my attacks to take back the lead I braked too late for the slow right at the end of the long straight and spun off as the rear touched the grass.

That dropped me to 4th, with Sam now 7-8 seconds ahead and Dave fighting JR about 4 seconds ahead. With my taller 6th I was losing massive time without a slipstream, but I could still manage to chip off some tenths over a whole lap. Then I had a silly mistake just as I had closed up the gap which lost me about 3 seconds.

As JR had closed up on Sam and Dave was following them closely, they must've been losing a bit of time in their battle, so I could catch up, although they were towing each other on the straights to gain a full second back each lap.

Eventually Sam went off or something and was out of contention for the moment, but JR now had clear road ahead and I knew I had to pass Dave as soon as possible. Easier said than done and as we fought each other fiercely, it came down to T2 to decide things. Dave had a bad exit off T1 and went onto the grass, so I just kept on the ideal line, to the right. He returned to the track and didn't leave much room so in order to avoid hitting him I had to take to the sloppy grass field on the outside of T2. That cost me some 4 seconds to JR and just about decided the race.

What was worse was that Sam had by now closed up the gap and was taking advantage of my slipstream, and with our fight taking place we were slowing each other down enough to let JR increase his lead ahead. The battle with Sam was quite brutal but fair, with some hair raising moments along the way. Somehow I got ahead and built a little gap to prevent him from getting a tow anymore. Then, something I didn't notice, we entered the final lap and I had a odd mistake coming out of the hairpin. The car would usually slide on the exit so I always had to apply opposite lock to keep it pointing straight, but on this lap the front gripped earlier and that sent me to the grass on the left. It was enough to allow Sam to take advantage and pass me on the long straight, then we ran side by side towards the final corner. I eased up a bit earlier to let him go wide, and then accelerated first to get better speed on the exit, but it wasn't enough. Finished 8 hundreds behind.

Looking at the remaining races it's going to be very tough. All the tracks favor the stronger engine cars and especially at Monza, it's a 100 % lost cause, so I'd have to somehow come on top at Mosport and Silverstone. It should be interesting.  :)

Grats to JR and Sam!

It is with geat regret that I announce the death of Mike Beattie in last night's Amateur race at Rouen.

 In the latter half of the race, while valiantly trying to hold onto the slipstream of Tim Muttram's Honda, Mike made a line error entering the flat first corner. Clipping the inside kerb then sent his Cooper T77 into a slide across the track and up the steep banking, where the car overturned and then ground his head off down to shoulder level on the approach to T2. A Lack of Adhesion flag was displayed for the remaining laps of the race.

Fortunately the Cooper team, bouyed by the recent advances in face transplants, have decided they can rebuild him using components from Fiat 500s. It is hoped he will be more pleasing to the eye than before.


Yes totally agree with Hristo, us Climax 8 valve guys were just stuffed rotten on this track. Couldn't get a tow in qually, (I know its good for atleast 1 - 1.5 secs here). So ended up back in 10th, on what was a fairly closely timed grid. With others falling by the wayside I managed to get up to 6th, having had a trip up with Tim at the hairpin, apologies there. But the little Climax cars, can only get a draft, but with no chance of gaining a pass, so that was that. I clung onto the back of Tim after he eventually worked his way back past me (sorry I instinctively still do the ADC thing a wait after a crash, and eventually remember that UKGPL do it differently an then charge on) as Tim seemed to have a few slip ups as he strove to get back to me, before I finally nailed my coffin as described above :)

Try using the 16 valve Climax , it works much better  ;D

Another race with no reported incidents?

Surely not.

Last orders for reports.

It was all racing incidents I suppose.  ;)