SimRacing.org.uk

UKGPL Season 19 - Historic Division - Race 1 - 66 mod -Watkins Glen

Here we are at the beginning of another season with 66 cars. This time there will be restrictions for the first race, and those are based on the championship standings from the previous season. Good luck all.

Race date = 23-03-2010
Server = UKGPL_T7_2
IP Address = 62.149.202.168
Time = 21:00
Track = Watkins Glen
Variant = 66F1,  2L engines
Damage Model = PRO
Qually time = 30 minutes.
Race length = long

Group I
T1F Eagle Climax   
Lotus 33 Climax           

Group II
Brabham BT11 2.5lt         
Lotus 33 BRM   

Group III
Ferrari 246       
Brabham BT11 BRM         
BRM P261         
Brabham BT11 2.7lt     

Drivers Restricted to cars from Group I
Gerard Kayou
Hristo Itchov

Drivers Restricted to cars from Groups I or II
Clive Gardner
Tim Muttram   

All other drivers have free chassis choice.

Password: see above (#post_event_password)
(2) Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R&group=249&theme=6)

Damn!  :(
Had just squeezed past Clive only to turn in slightly early into T2 the following lap and headbutted the haybales  :censored:

Have never been in such fierce traffic at watkins before! Couldn't actually see far enough to place my car  :o

Ah well, a good battle while it lasted.  ;D

Hands up on that one. Starting from near the back I got a reasonable start, in the draft overtook somebody on the inside, then braked early-early for the Loop, only to find chaos emerging in crashing cars at the apex. About then the car snapped in the crux of braking to the inside verge which I then over-corrected to find myself hurtling towards the outside taking somebody with me. Not happy really, should have done better to avoid the collision.

Results are up.

Had a good fight for the first 12 laps. I was trying to stay as close as possible to the inside curb through the turns, as I know how ready Hristo is for the banzai moves given even a slightest chance. Managed to mostly keep him and others behind until lap 13, at the loop. After a contact with Dave I slammed into the barriers and lost a lot off my top speed. Couldn't even get to the 6th gear on the straights. I was going 2.5-3 seconds a lap slower afterwards,. Even though the engine lasted for the remaining 20 laps I slid down the order and eventually finished in 8th place.

Well good old brakedown to the loop L1 sent me off track to the inside. A bunch of car upfront and a bunch behind and I was anxious to brake to early or even worse to late . I guess I braked early enough,  but some smoke and wiggling up front scared me to put the foot to the brake harder than I planned. I lost a bit control and being far to the right on track the grass on the inside was a bit to near. Policardi was right behind  me and I think my loss of control made him go off as well although we never touched. I lost 10 secs and went out last in a surprisingly good mood. At least now I could drive in peace :). Mistakes were done up front, and my somewhat slow but steady driving(xpt on grass 1 time last turn) eventually brought me to a 5 th place. Enjoyed the Race..Gz to H for winning.

Syd's defensive performance up front for the first 12 laps was inspired, although perhaps he could not see all of the crazy manouevres of Hristo and Dave who were jostling for positions 2 and 3.

I was trapped in 4th spot between them and Tim, who was pressing hard, but I was unwilling to get involved in the carefully ( or not!!) coreographed ballet where cars were doing half a lap side by side, but even managing to swap sides as well!!!
From where I was sat it looked destined to end in one rolling ball of metal and bodies in the very near future, but somehow it continued for a good 1/3rd of the race  :o
Al also showed his nose in my mirrors and I thought to myself "this could get very congested!!, and is likely to end  unhappily for someone".

I did not protest when Tim made his pass, figuring that it would still be easy to keep the lead group under surveillance and cruise around in their combined slipstream. Unfortunately Tim discovered the other drawback of following a gaggle of cars, was unsighted at the Esses and tried to take a non-existant short cut through the straw bales. Al had made a mistake and dropped away.

Syd and Hristo were next to leave the group, both at the Loop on seperate laps and Dave took the lead followed by myself with a healthy gap back to 3rd place .

I was comfortable behind Dave, but Prib told me that Hristo was on a charge  :o, and I wanted to keep him out of our slipstream and at a safe distance if at all possible. I tried to give Dave the message by passing him, but it seems although he had the grunt on the straights he could not get his car through the corners as quickly as I would have liked and we were slowly reeled in by Hristo.
Dave left the party at the Big Bend and Hristo took the lead with about 15 laps to go. Call me lazy, but after trailing H for a couple of laps I could see that I was perhaps a fraction quicker in places, but if I took the lead H would have the benefit of my tow and would make my life very difficult  ;), so I tried one pass and sure enough H was all over me like a rash!!

I then decided to wait until the last lap and look for an opening, probably into Big Bend , so that H would have no time to mount a counter.............but I was just misjudged the distance to maximise the Tow as we exited the Loop and was just too far back to make the pass despite having rehearsed it on several laps before  :-\.

Grats to Hristo and to all the contenders in that front group, that was some very very close racing and no dangerous moves, although I think there might have been some totally accidental contact involved in Syd's "off".

Wazas  1st and 2nd, not bad for the start of the season  ;D

I was surprised to get pole in the last minute of the session as I was struggling to close up the 3-4 tenths gap on my previous runs, but I guess the setup changes I made before my last run helped.

The start seemed OK and nobody did anything excessive, although I think we had contact with Syd on the top of the hill but miraculously the cars kept going straight. Soon after that he passed me on one of the straights and I could only keep trailing him by tucking behind into his slipstream, but it wasn't enough to launch an attack, there was just not enough power.

Dave soon joined us and we started having some side by side racing that sometimes lasted for nearly a whole lap, and we did that a couple of times. In the meantime I could see Evil waiting behind, just keeping close for the slipstream. Syd was opening a gap at around that time and so it was important that we don't let him escape and break off the slipstream. It was funny, because as he moved left and right on the straights while myself and Dave were running side by side, he was giving either of us a tow and thus affecting the battle.

Eventually we closed up on Syd and it was very difficult to follow him close as he was losing it in the corners frequently and applying brakes or lifting up, to which I had to react suddenly and it got hairy a couple of times, with Dave and Evil very close and reacting as well. I was getting irritated of all this and launched a bit of a risky attack going into the last corner which Syd thankfully noticed on time, but then I lost it under acceleration on the exit and spun around, dropping down to 5th by the time I recovered.

It took a bit of time to get used to how the car was handling when it was on its own, but soon enough I started closing up the gap to Fulvio ahead, though I wasn't aware if the leaders were towing each other to open up an even bigger gap. Fulvio went off at the loop and promoted me to 4th, then I passed the stricken car of Syd and was up to 3rd.

Evil was some 4-5 seconds up ahead and it took a couple of laps to close up the gap, which was probably helped by Evil and Dave slowing each other down while involved into their battle. Evil passed Dave just as I had caught up with them, and I took the chance to go after Evil and into the inside of the corner. I think Dave didn't expect to see me there as he was just getting ready to turn in back behind Evil, so he reacted too abruptly when he realized I was in there and went off.

Evil looked very fast and clean, almost without making any mistakes and he was definitely the faster one once I got in front, he just had so much corner exit speed and I could hear him lift up just so he doesn't attempt a pass. I was wondering if he's just letting me win (which I was hoping was not the case) or that he was planning his attack for the final laps of the race, testing me to see where he has the advantage. He tried a pass and a few fake attempts, so that confirmed my thoughts that he was just sandbagging at this point of the race.

It was all decided in the last 2 laps as Evil had a great run out of the esses but decided not to pass me and I think he missed his best chance right there, because after that we caught up a backmarker. I passed the latter just as we started the final lap and got a bit of a break away in the esses, so Evil couldn't have a run on me towards the loop. He had a run out of the loop and towards the next corner though, and nearly managed to pass me but I held the outside line and kept 1st until the finish line!

Great racing, very close, especially with Dave, I wish all races and all drivers do it like this, it was all fair and sportive, yet competitive. Grats to Evil for a fine 2nd, though I think he was the faster of the two of us and could've won it. Good to start the seasons with a 1-2 for Waza!

SHE will be pleased!  ;D

I forgot about that! I was so convinced all hell was about to break loose that I stood on the anchors and lost 3rd/4th letting Dave and Evil mob me on the following straight  :cursing:
I still don't know how you 2 survived that!


Oh, and a random to the mods: I'm still listed as a Waza in the results but I removed myself from the team yesterday in the management screen - Do you guys need to change something aswell or is the system just taking it's time?  :)

In the end a great race by all and a unhoped 4th for me.
When KH got the inside curb a loop lap1 I was caught a bit so my car had a strange reaction that caught some cars behind I think, sry for that. Anyway I decided to follow KH on the grass inside to not risk any other contact caused by my slow down and returned on track ahead of KH. Soon after I passed two cars crashing at Big Bend and put myself on the pursuit of leading pack. I was alone and slowly gained on the leading cars battling each others passing Al, H, Syd and Tim that had had some problems. Soon I had H on my tail and that get me nervous till I slowly slided outside at loop luckily returning on track without hitting nothing but H was already gone. Later was the turn of Dave to have problems ahead so I passed him but soon I had him on my tail. He tried to put pressure on me with a couple of try at Loop, Big Bend and T1 when I cut badly cause a bad synchronized right view-up gear-steer right, but he didn't force the pass and we continued the battle till I exited a bit wide from the loop, clipped grass and crossed the track trying to keep the car in the right direction but also in that occasion Dave was already gone and I miss the chance for an eventually tow.
Ciao

Syd I noticed that the grid wasn't loose, maybe you didn't deactivated the 66track.ini that Gem put in place. I usually rename it on 66track.ori and leave only track.ini with the loose grid before to launch the server.
Ciao

I'm not sure I am able to add much to the well documented reports of last night's race as I think you all have it pretty much covered, but can't let a great battle like that go without some comment!

Even though it was extremely close dicing with Hristo, I didn't feel it was as reckless as it probably appeared from behind and soon became confident we'd give each other enough room.  Also, if it mean't Evil was wary and kept a slight distance that could only be a good thing!!  ;) However, when I saw the effect that running side by side with Hristo was having with Syd pulling away with his lead, I decided to tow Hristo's line until we caught back up.  After Hristo's mistake in trying to pass Syd which put me up to second I wasn't sure where I'd be able to make a pass on him either.   The chance came at The Loop, when Syd became quite ragged and left a big gap on the inside as he corrected his BRM's posture.  I grabbed this opportunity to get alongside and kept as tight as I could manage but unfortunately we touched, which I was disappointed to see ended Syd's front-running contention.

Had a subsequent good battle with Clive, but Hristo caught up quicker than I anticipated and when Clive made a move at The Big Bend I didn't realise that H was co-joined to his rear and also coming through, and this surprise at their intimacy plus I think a slight touch, put me on the grass for which I only had myself to blame, and also put me behind Fulvio.  Managed to catch and pass Fulvio only because of a grassy error on his part to claim the last podium position and conclude a very enjoyable race.

Congrats to Hristo and Clive who both drove superbly and were great fun to race so closely against and thanks to everyone else for adding to the entertainment!

Don't know about Dave but I just shut my eyes and floored it!! ::)

Well, I just adopted someone elses philisophy to driving-

"When I see something really horrible, I put my foot down. Hard! Because I know that everyone else is lifting his."

Sound familiar?

On the face of it a poor result but in a way I'm pleased I actually managed to finish at all. Felt pretty comfortable in the opening laps running at the tail of the leading pack - there was quite a traffic jam there so it was way too risky for me to try any overtaking moves. After FMG dropped out, I had a few speculative runs at Clive who was being slowed by all the congestion ahead but then I made a stupid mistake going in too deep at the Loop & crashed heavily. Was amazed to find that I still had 4 wheels & resumed way down the field. I soon discovered that my car no longer wanted to turn right (which is not really ideal at the Glen!) but it was great fun trying to control it as it felt like I was driving on ice. Spent the rest of the race scaring myself silly every lap through the Loop & just trying to keep well out of everyone's way. Congrats to the Waza 1-2 & Dave. 

Having Q'd 10th, I got a reasonable (for me) start and grabbed 9th for the climb up The Esses.  The run along the Front Straight gave me a draft and allowed me to close right up on the group ahead.  I planned to follow them around and keep the tow along the Back Straight.  Entering the loop and Hiro drifted to the inside grass, Fulvio made some avoiding action just as I got it all a bit squirrelly under braking.  Expecting him to drift wide I tried to manoeuvre onto a high line but over corrected and drifted onto the outside grass and brushed a hay bale.  I carried on along the grass and gingerly re-took to the track in P10 behind a recovering Fulvio.

Passing the Phil / Nigel lap 2 crash at Big Bend and I was back to P8.

I wasn't confident in the early laps so let my recovering Teamie, Hiro pass along the Front Straight and hoped I could tuck in behind for a few laps to see how things went.  Onto L4, in P9 we carried on until P8 showed in L10.  We approached the Loop and a yellow flag was out for Al H who had gone off.  He managed to get back to track ahead of Hiro and I, but car damage resulted in another off at Big Bend.  P7.

Things stayed pretty much the same until L16 when I ran wide at the exit of the Loop and span to the inside grass.  I recovered in position but Göran was close.  Then I decided to copy the lead set by my other Teamie Al H and also go off at Big Bend!  This gave Göran an easy pass and we went on to L17 and I was in P8.

Some steady laps allowed me to close again on Göran and with some draft assistance I was back with him for L23 and set about seeing where a pass might be possible.  He wasn't going to make it easy as we closed in to lap Phil.  I eventually got a run on Front Straight and sneaked passed on L27 at the Loop.  Göran tucked in behind as we closed on a struggling Syd who had lost some top end and we passed along the Back Straight.

L30 and Göran was waiting patiently which was rewarded when I again ran wide at Big Bend to hand him P6.  I managed to claw back the gap but ran out of time to do anything about it and finished a close P7.  Nice racing GJ :)

WD to the podium.  Commiserations to Al and Syd who struggled on to finish in damaged wagons.

Here's the results of the Statmeister challenge for Historics race 1:

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AwMtMND4F-o/S6qyP0PVpMI/AAAAAAAAABg/20IUCkVg-YQ/s1600/Hist01.png)

What's this about? See here: https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=7653.msg135854#msg135854 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=7653.msg135854#msg135854)

LOL, I hate haybales officially now. That cancels out my rather good showing in Grads  ::)

I was waiting for the replay to see what really happend in the loop on L1, but I don't see any replay so I will take it from memory. But the only thing I am really sure about was seeing a car very close to me on the strait and thinking this will not go well and then I was on the grass. But I got running again and the car was OK so off I went.

Then running at the back of the field I noticed that there were some trouble ahead and one by one I came up to cars. Al was limping and no problem but Steve was another matter. Syd also was kind enough to run into trouble and there might have bin someone else too but I don't remember really, (and no replay to help me remember).

Anyway the racing with Steve the last couple of laps was the fun stuff of this race. Also the fact that I finished and to be at the top of one list anyway, the "consistency Meister", makes the first Historic race of the season rather OK.

Göran