SimRacing.org.uk

This is the first race of the new fortnightly Graduates trophy. With 31 entrants this promises to be an exciting season. Registration will be open all season for any new joiners. Please bear in mind there are a mixture of driver abilities and no second chances with PRO.

Race List = IGOR
Server = ukgpl.4 (see note below)
IP address = 84.64.42.154
Race date = 06-09-2009
Time = 21:00 UK time (20.00 GMT)
Track = Watkins Glen
Variant = 67F1
Damage Model = PRO
Qualifying time = 35 minutes. Don't start until 30 mins left on clock to allow everyone to join.
Race length = 50 minutes (45 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=225;theme=6)
Track updates can be found here http://srmz.net/index.php?showtopic=573 (http://srmz.net/index.php?showtopic=573)
Please be in IGOR UKGPL chatroom by 8:50 p.m (UK London Time = BST = GMT + 1h).


Reserve drivers should not join the server until there are only 30 minutes of qualifying left. Please restrict chat to pit messages. Moderating will be by reported incidents only, however the moderators reserve the right to review any incident with a particular emphasis on lap one. The aim is to review the race the following weekend so incident reports should be submitted within five days of the race (ie the following Friday).
We're hopeful most incidents can be resolved amicably and recommend a days deep breath with a replay review before posting. A sorry in the forum won't be taken as an automatic admission of guilt by the moderators.

With the new token system chassis strategy will be a factor. A driver must have sufficient tokens for the chassis he drives in the race.  Any driver who does not have sufficient tokens will be disqualified from the result and his tokens will be set to zero.
Chassis costs;
Lotus 20 / Eagle 17 / Ferrari 15 / Brabham 10 / Cooper 5 / Honda 3 / BRM 0

For this first race ALL drivers will start with 20 plus a further 10 added when crossing the start line.

The Championship will be split into two sub-divisions, namely Works and Privateers. The current driver split is;

WORKS drivers

Evil Clive	Tim FMG	Andrew Hodgson
Hristo Itchov	James Rye	Michael Turner
Sam B	Jethro W	Will Tway
John Roberts	Phil Thornton	Ken Murray (R)
Fulvio Policardi (R)	Doni Yourth (R)	Mike Beattie (R)
Lorenzo Galluzzi (R)	Kruger Enge (R)

PRIVATEERS drivers

Al Heller	Bookie W	Graham Poole
Bartosz Podreckony	Rick Nauman	Ruud Savelkoul
Steve Bird	Vosblod	Burtoner (R)
Billy Nobrakes (R)	Viss (R)	Peter Maestro (R)

Bernie D (R)

Sharkfin (R)

NOTE: In the event of more then 19 entrants a second grid will be run for the Privateers on ukgpl.6. (IP 80.5.200.198) Instructions will be provided in the chatroom – please ensure you join the correct server, due to the way we import if you start the race on the wrong server your result will not count. If you can try to make sure you are in the chatroom by 8.50pm this will enable a decision without any delays to the start time.

SERVER UPDATE Please note the Graduates cup will now be run from IGOR

Watkins Glen International ("The Glen") is an auto race track located near Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the home of the United States Grand Prix, which it hosted for 20 consecutive years (1961–1980). In the early years races passed through the heart of the town with spectators lining the sidewalks, but after a car left the road in a 1952 race, killing one spectator and injuring several others, the race was moved to a new location on a wooded hilltop southwest of town. Later a permanent race course was constructed on 550 acres, overlapping part of the previous course. Despite improvements, the circuit became unable to safely handle the increasingly faster and stiffer ground effect cars of the late 70s and a few horrendous, sometimes fatal accidents and increasingly rowdy segments of the crowd began to tarnish its image. Finally, in May, 1981, several months after Alan Jones had won the 1980 race for Williams, the International Auto Sports Federation removed the race from its schedule because the track had failed to pay its debts to the teams.

I'm on top of this one now!   ;D

Hope to make the show.

Doni

Crikey!!!!  just realised that the new season kicks off in less than a week!!! :o :o

 Not sure how I am going to find the time to polish me Waza, coz that always makes me feel better  ;D ;)

Argh, last time I checked I was in the "privateers". Now I am suddenly a "works" driver. :o

Can't make this race sadly, as I'm away this weekend. That's a shame, as I can't break my bad luck jinx at the Glen, as evidenced here...

https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4236#event1047

Oh yeah, it seems my name has magically changed to "zak" in this race result???

Andrew

Slow down a bit  ;)
We wanted to make the Works slightly larger, being the one for all of us to aim for. I think you'll probably fit in there nicely but we'll be flexible once things get going.

Not sure about Zak but your name did appear twice in the system when I loaded the Kyalami results - ? an old registration

I was registered when UKGPL was on the old site, and was on the old yahoo mailing list. I had long disappeared by the time everything got ported over to srou, so just re-registered on this site. Dunno if that's messed things up?

Andrew

Hoping to be there, and hoping my connection holds !! :)

All the race results from the old system were brought over into SRou so you should be able to recover your old racing history (assuming you have one).  Re-registering wouldn't affect that so it shouldn't have messed anything up.

So soon? Ah well, guess I'll just have to crash and burn like I used to. ;D

I've just majorly realised that I might be in doubt for this. I'm attending the DTM at Brands Hatch, and I live 4+ hours away from the circuit. So depending on when I get back to the train station, this one's a "maybe". Dammit!

Bugger!  I'll be MIA for this afterall!   >:(

I'm on for a trip to Mosport on Sunday for a club race.  Not a chance in Hades that I'll be back in time.  Sigh...

On another score, most of you will recall that I complained in S17 about nothing but trouble with respect to losing all kinds of steering lock in my GP67 cars in VROC.  Normally, I can rock the steering over from full-left lock to full-right lock in pitlane and just lose sight of the inside faces of the front rims.  In VROC, I get but a fraction of this.  As you might imagine, this causes all manner of difficulty in adapting and usually takes me 1/2 a full UKGPL event to finally get a handle on the change.  It's like I have a variable steering thingie going on and fiddling with the steering hack parameter seems to have little or no affect.  Any suggestions as to how to clear this glitch?  TY.

Good Luck on Sunday, gys!  :)

 :(
I'm away on hols for a week from saturday so will miss the first race of the new season

Good luck to all and see you at the next one

If I can find a decent signal on the train come race-time, I should be eligible for the tokens for starting. If my evil plan comes to fruition!

Hmm no comment, but if there's justice in this world you'll find yourself entering a big long tunnel as the flag goes down  :shifty:

Git.

Not the response I wanted to use, that's post-watershed. ;)

For info the Graduates will now be run via IGOR not VROC. ukgpl.6 has the odd VROC crash issue and it's not worth the risk. It shouldn't be a problem as all our other divisions are via IGOR but, if you have issues, you can join direct using the posted IP

All this weekend 4.ukgpl will be up on IGOR, open race in 67s at Watkins Glen.  Please test your connections.

Guys I WILL be there, I might just be literally a minute or two late, but count me in for the grid, please

We'll count you in when deciding on the grids Mike

OK, what I did tonight will provoke debate amongst those in angst at me bending the rules and finding loopholes. The one loophole in the rules I'd spotted allowed me to join the race, cross the line and still be awarded the starting credits for joining the race (10 credits if memory suffices). The dastardly plan was revealed to no fool, and I only announced it when I needed help in finding the train I needed to get home safely, which was the #1 goal. Just being able to join the UKGPL server with the mobile broadband stick and not get kicked at the right time is a massive bonus.

I'd set the controls up to give me steering, automatic shifting, throttle and brake. If I joined at the back of the grid, and waited for people to go, I could be sure not to hit anybody. I crossed the line, made it as far as the Loop, then crashed the BRM. Mission over, I quit. Next stop for 67s Bremgarten. :)

lol
You did not bend or break any rules, just made the best of the situation you were in. Any one else could pull the same stunt in similar circumstances.
 ::)

I hope no poor sod has to go through the same situation I did to get the starting credits - sat on a coach waiting for the flag to drop just as it pulls into the station, cross the line and rush to get the train.

Great race! Really enjoyed that. Being part of Reed, I was forced to use the BRM, but was no biggy and it's great fun hauling it around the circuit, if a little off the pace. During quali, a few spins and collisions ensued, but I ended up 4th, with a PB of 1.05. Really don't know how I managed that time! The race began and the flag man dropped the green rather quickly, but a good start followed and I was up to 3rd by the first corner. For the first 10 laps or so, I was enjoying watching the leading duo of Lorenzo & H battle it out, with Will and Kruger nipping at my heels from time to time. Eventually Lorenzo & H pulled away out of sight but I had to deal with a chasing Kruger for a good 30 laps.

I must have been a bit of a roadblock because it looked as though I was backing up the Brabham duo of Kruger and John battling it out just in my mirrors. I got distracted by the action occasionally, but I managed to keep the BRM pointing in the right direction....just. The last 10 laps were less eventful with the Brabhams falling by the way side and Lorenzo too far in front for me to catch. So I just drove my own race, enjoying the last remaining few laps. Finished the race in 2nd, after H blew his engine early on, and was really pleased with my result. It's going to be challenge to keep on getting results like this, but the world loves an underdog  :). My internet was steady enough this time round, thankfully, and hopefully that'll continue. Congrats to Lorenzo & Phil. See you all at the next one.

Well you're barred for the rest of the Season.

It's not bending the rules it's staying within them, some might say thinking outside the box, and you even picked up some points. Just don't make a habit of it  ;)

Since this was my first properly long 67 race after a year, I'm surprised I managed to get as far as lap 40 without crashing. Managed a quali lap within four tenths of my PB so that wasn't bad. I was slightly concerned with warp and getting off the line quickly enough but both fears proved ungrounded. 

Didn't lose any positions at the start and soon I was chasing Will's Brabham - Will looked quite fast in quali so I didn't have any ambitions of catching him and I probably wouldn't had he stayed on the road - he got looped but he didn't do a very good job so he managed to continue (Will, please have a look at how to perform a perfect loop, you see, a least one wheel has to come off  ::))

Then I chased Sam's BRM and our speed was quite matched and it was a nerve game from then on - I noticed BRM was clumsy through the loop and after big bend so that's where I tried to find some room - Sam wasn't having any of that. As we were taking a measure of one another, this allowed John to come closer and I was then sandwiched - if I wasn't attacking Sam, I was being attacked by John.

John made an overtaking manouvre at the big bend and did a better job at braking and I returned the position a few laps later in the loop.

On lap 34 I believe, we fought it at the big bend and we had a side-by-side impact. I was on the inside braking quite heavily trying to hug the appex. It looked to me as a regular racing incident but nevertheless, my apologies to John.

It took me a few moments to understand I was knackered and couldn't concentrate any longer - pretty soon I lost it at the loop - a wheel too.

I very much enjoyed being back to 67 racing and enjoyed the battle with Sam and John. Grats to Lorenzo and podium.

Great to see Kruger and Lorenzo back amongst the 67's, even if it does mean at least another two cars between me and a podium possibility. :-\

Also very heartening was the huge ( by comparison to last season!) turnout for the 67's, so big that Burt seems to have got his wish and the Privateers ( Clubmans) raced alone..lol

It took me a while to get the "feel" of a 67 Honda again after all the fun races in 65's etc and I'm not sure I've got it right yet!! Practice was spent on full race fuel as a high grid slot would only put me amongst faster cars and the first few laps on cold tyres in a heavy Honda is not ideal for close quarter racing!!
Surprisingly others also seemed to be struggling during the initial laps and after someone went off at the loop I found myself closing on Mike Beattie ( I think?) in his Brab and was able to pass him on the second lap.
John Roberts was ahead but his pace was just a little too much for my tyres and sanity, so I settled in for a race of survival expecting The Loop to claim another victim each lap!??

It seemed that cars ahead dropped out at regular intervals and slowly I climbed the leaderboard. the only problem was, that Phil had got his Lotus wound up and was beginning to close from behind. I managed to fend him off for quite a few laps by driving defensively, and on the limit, but eventually I ran wide and got a tank slapper at Big Bend and he was through...rats!!! But then to my amazement I saw him grass cutting on the start / finish straight a couple of laps later and I was back in front again ;D.
It did not last long, as he was soon on my tail again and my tyres were shot and I had to ease up for a few laps to get the temps down.
Then Will Tway joined the party!! in his Brabham and hassled me for some more laps until I put a wheel on the grass at the exit of the loop and he was through.. well at least until the sweep where he almost collected my nose up his backside when he suddenly stopped!!! Not sure what happened there Will? maybe a blown engine?? so I was back into 4th with a long gap back to teammate Tim .
During the last few laps i started to close again on Phil,  I knew he was just cruising to the finish but there was always a chance of an error if he lost concentration and so i pushed as fast as I could ..just in case ::).

Phil had it sorted though and got a well deserved 3rd spot.....quite amazed to have survived to collect a 4th place and grats to Tim for bringing home a second Waza..I know how hard that was  lol

Grats to everyone   lets keep the numbers up for future rounds.

Firstly could you submit any incident reports by close of play Friday 11 Sept.

A token tally will be included on each race post so you can keep track.
Also, for importing purposes, a separate race report will be set up for the Privateers after each race. Watkins Glen is here; https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6774#event1922 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6774#event1922)   You may wish to submit Privateers post race reports there, and any Privateers incident reports need to be submitted via that post also.

Rats, after seeing Turkey Machine's ingenuity, I should have done the same as I got back from my hols around 8:55pm. Had done no practice so was in no state to race, but the tokens sure would have been handy.

Back to Laguna Seca practising. Damn I hate those polos looking to claim me at nearly every turn :(

Bugger, bugger. After a busy family weekend I totally forgot about the start of the new season!! And as much as I love Laguna I may have to miss that one as I will be taking my daughter down to start her first year at Chester University on the 20th. There's a slim chance I could be back for 9.00pm but I'm not hopeful. I could take the laptop and try to find a Wi-Fi spot to get my starting tokens!! Or take my whole gaming rig and call in at Clive's on the way home!!

Yeah I got looped alright. :)  One quick glance in the mirror to check Kru's position was all it took. I was feeling good too.

Then from 10th I decided I had nothing to lose so I went for broke and just as I passed Evil...well I broke. A puff of black smoke and a few engine bits strewn in the air and I was off to the bog to party with the fans.......

Grats to Lorenzo, Sam, and PHIL. A podium for antipasti. Well done mate.

I love the Glen and very much enjoyed the few laps I managed.

Come on Kruger, surely you can manage marriage, a kid on the way, studies, work and a looooong honeydo list with GPL.... ::)

Looking forward to LS.

Cheers,

Will

That's like managing a braking into the loop mate, you never know if your wheels will block :)

when you get back up to speed you won't have to worry about racing me :)

it was great fun while it lasted and i guess our little tangle was a racing incident , maybe i thought you would back off a tad because i got passed there a few laps before . shame that it ended there because it was turning into a great battle .

hopefully i will get another chance to race you before you speed away and start troubling the big boys again .

john

Believe me, I had every intention to leave room but the car had different ideas  ::)

Just got carried away in the heat of the battle, it was so much fun indeed...

First off apologies to Phil for our Loop tumble on Lap 1. I saw you coming up the inside and was quite happy to let you through, braked early, but I assume due to cold tyres with unequal pressures, my car pulled right and we ended up touching.

Tim got me back a couple of laps later in the right hander after the Back Straight, when I was the one  sampling the grass, which is why I then droped to the rear half of the field.

Settled into a comfortable pace for the next 10 or so laps, until Will did his whoopsie and ended up 6 secs behind. At that point I quickened my speed to keep clear of him and start to realise that I could maybe catch Tim again, which ofcourse proved fatal several laps later when I got Loop-ed and ended up upside down on 3 wheels - Game Over.

Grats to the finishers............why so many Discos?

No problem, I was trying to keep close to the inside to give you as much room as possible but it is quite hard to drive that accurately (for me anyway, this level of competition is a step up from what I'm used to).  Thankfully my car wasn't damaged and I rejoined, albeit in last place, but then to drive at a good enough pace not to get lapped and claim a podium was a dream ;D.  I was relieved that the contact was realistic and not exacerbated by warp which implies our connections were quite good, bodes well for the server.

Not real discos.  The importer cannot determine what is a real disco and what is a crash or engine failure (most of the time).  We could go through the replay and manually update the results with the real reasons for people retiring but nobody has thought that necessary to date.