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Season 19 Spec Race Challenge - Round 2 - Zeltweg

Round 2 of the Spec Challenge Series visits the Osterreichring at Zeltweg. Please note we are using the recently 1971 version with improved graphics.

In the opening round there were double wins in the Light Brigade for Hristo and Steve Bird in the Heavies. Also a notable performance from Nigel Smith coming 2nd in race 2 of the Heavies. Has Nige been sandbagging?

We will run two races on the same circuit. Two chassis are available, you must use one in each race. Use the same car twice earns you a disqualification in the second race.
Your choice of chariot for this occasion is the 1965 Lotus versus the BT11. Probably tip the Lotus to come out on top but the Brabham will be good competition.
 
The Spec Series is a full championship with standard points scoring. In addition the moderator (lucky me) will also tally up every drivers fastest race lap & compare the chassis head to head. For your time to count in the “Spec Challenge” you must complete more than 50% distance in both races. Resets are allowed so don’t retire because of a bad start.
Also the Spec Series in the only GPL championship to be decided exclusively by driver skill, no handicapping applies.

Race List = IGOR
Server = UKGPL_T7_2 *
IP address = 62.149.202.168
Race date = 18-04-2010
Time = 21:00 UK time (21:00 GMT)
Track = Osterreichring
Variant = 65 F1
Chassis –BT11 & Lotus only
Damage Model = Intermediate
Qualifying time = 20 minutes. No wait time.
Race length = Intermediate Short
[* Second server kindly provided by Nicky Ickx]

Password: see above

Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page
The track can be downloaded from http://gpltd.bcsims.com/?dis=%C3%96&menu=Show_Letters

Unlimited Shift-R is allowed in the race. No-fault Shift-Rs will not attract a Stop & Go penalty.  All other Shift-Rs must be followed by a Stop & Go.

Please be in IGOR UKGPL chatroom by 8:50 pm UK Time = GMT).

Due to the number of races moderating will be light touch - 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. A sorry in the forum won't be taken as an automatic admission of guilt by the moderators.

The Championship is split into two sub-divisions, the Light Brigade & the Heavy Brigade. The driver allocation is set out below.

LIGHT BRIGADE drivers

Burtoner	Evil Clive	John Roberts
Tim FMG	Hristo	Jethro
Nicky Ickx	Bartosz (Pod)	King Hiro
Clutch	Al Hellar	Ruud Savelkoul
Sam B	Fulvio P	Natan

HEAVY BRIGADE drivers

Bernie	Billy	Bookie
Maestro	Norbert	D Rock
Fabio / Il Lupo	N Hance	Phil T
Nigel Smith	Gilles27	Steve Bird
Graham P	Maddog	Vosblod

NOTE: In the event of more then 19 entrants a second grid for the Light Brigade will be run by Nicky. 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.

Well, what can I say?
I got mugged again  ;)

2 excelent races again, Billy's insane idea is turning out great from a racing standpoint atleast (if not a winning standpoint for me ;) )
Amazed that my closest chance of winning came while I was in the slower car aswell  ;D

Great racing by all, moment of the race for me has to be the final lap of race 2 when Hristo and I were mid ferocious battle and caught 2 backmarkers who were also mid battle and didn't spot us until we were in the middle of things - I honestly have no idea how all 4 of us escaped unscaved!  :fencing:

A great battle with Tim in the first race when he was in the Lotus and me in the BT11, it was impossible to break the tow I was giving him. He was just pacing himself, waiting for the last lap to launch an attack, but the misbehaving of the pitboard worked in my favour as it showed 2 laps to go when it was really just 1 lap to go, so Tim didn't know he had to do his attack already.  ;D

In the second race I started from last place, but quickly passed nearly half the field on the s/f straight. Apologies to the driver I made contact with as we accelerated up the slope, I just couldn't quite make it between his car and the edge of the pit exit wall, so the front wheel touched that and I was sent to the left a bit.

It took some time to pass the cars in the top 5 as it seems I couldn't quite get the gearing on my Lotus right and so didn't enjoy a great acceleration or top speed. There was a moment with King Hiro's car when I went for the inside at T1 and he didn't realize I was there, turning in as normal and taking himself out as our cars collided. I just felt a bump but the car kept going.

Once I was into 2nd, Tim had opened up a 2 seconds gap already and it took some more laps to catch him up, but then I adopted his strategy from race 1 to wait for an attack on the last lap.

That went to the bin when I went too wide in the last corner with 4 or so laps to go, rode the railguard and lost 2 seconds or something. I say 4 or so because I couldn't be sure if the pitboard was showing the correct number of laps or not.

When it gave me "2 laps to go" I was wondering if this was really the last lap and if it was, Tim was walking away with it as he was 1 second in front. Luckily it turned out it wasn't the final lap and as I passed the s/f straight the pitboard said "2 laps to go" again!  ;D , but I knew this time it was wrong information.

I managed to pass Tim as we negotiated the first corners, but then we caught up 2 backmarkers who were having their own battle. I don't know how we managed to do it, but we both went between the two cars as we entered the second left hander in the middle of the lap and I just managed to keep my advantage until the finish!

Great racing, Tim, grats!

These races are great fun. ;D

I have hardly ever used the Lotus before and am just getting to terms with the BT11 in the 65 Ams league, so these two races were quite welcome practice.

I took the lotus for the 1st race and I think my gearing was not quite right, as I was losing ground to both Hristo and Tim even with a tow. A couple of "wheels on grass" episodes and the gap was too great to get back in touch and I was left hoping for a gentlemen's two step and some barrier testing up front  ::)

Race 2 looked better in the BT11 as I was slightly more familiar with that and quali on race fuel put me in a good grid position again.
Well, it would have been a good grid spot if I could have to it!!!! When the countdown timer for the start appeared ( at which point I usually check fuel and press the green button) there was NO green button?? just a message against the timer saying "wait"??.

So, I started from the pitlane which was interesting to say the least! I had great fun chasing up through the field notably Clutch, Al, and finally Steve Bird who I mugged for 3rd spot towards the end of the final lap. So both races produced a bottom podium step which was not too bad all things considered.

edit!!........ I think I might have discovered where I am losing speed. It seems that my G25 go faster pedal is not functioning correctly as the rev counter seems to hesitate unless I literally stand on the pedal. Normal pressure against the bottom stop does not give me full power.
I had this prob once before and thought it was just a dirty pot, but maybe I need to investigate more deeply this time??

I dunno the construction of the pedals, but sounds like a worn out or dirty pot, or the pot not firmly attached and moving around as you press the pedal. You should check it soon or SHE won't be pleased!

Love this track missed the race due to having a very large dose of Man Flue  :'( :'( :'(

Cracking track ~ probably one of my top five.
Knew the Lotus should be faster but couldn't find a set up to do it justice, probably because I've got used to the BT11. Got caught in the aftermath of a crash after Turn 1 Race 1 &  a rear end shunt in Race 2 but otherwise great fun.
The Spec Challenge is supposed to be less "competitive" than the other championships but it is a series with points at stake. There were a few incidents so am expecting one or two reports this time round.   
Also turnout was a bit thin , maybe a mix of Easter holidays or problems with virtual volcanic dust drifting over the Austrian mountains.
Next round an old favourite at Silverstone.

PS. Can someone please beat Hristo - at this rate he is going to end up with 800 championship points!! [4 races don't count]

2 good fun races for me, despite the low turnout.

Race 1
Once we got going properly into the race I was following Tim (Vos) with Phil behind me, but on L3 Tim span in T1 and I narrowly avoided clipping his car but ran wide an lost momentum allowing Phil to get past.  I tucked in behind and tried to pressure as much as I could hoping to force an error.  Despite my efforts Phil refused to make any serious mistakes and I followed him home for P2 in class.  Some nice close driving.

Race 2
Somehow I managed a great start and picked up 3 places off the grid.  Tim(Vos) followed and actually got ahead by turn 1 so once again I was following him.  H was closing from the back of the grid after a qualifying faff, I saw no point in trying to challenge and took a wide line leaving the door open for him to progress on.  Tim ran wide on L2 and I got through and I found myself behind Phil again, although at a fairly big gap back.  Phil was chasing Al H and I couldn't seem to make much ground until L5 when Phil ran wide and I managed to get passed.  However, my team mates seemed to like scaring me for these races and Al H span a few corners later.  I had to avoid and again lost momentum allowing Phil back through.  'Here we go again' I thought, so set about trying to apply as much pressure as possible.  I thought it was going to be a repeat of race 1 until L8 when Phils car seemed to twitch badly under braking for the last turn and it threw him to the vicious inside rumble strip, and then out towards the outside barrier.  I was passed and in the clear......but Evil was closing! Where did he come from!?!  Clive had been given a pitlane start for some obscure reason so had worked his way through. We got to the last lap and Clive had closed right up.  I didn't want to risk any crashes trying to hold my race place and risk losing the class lead, so braked early half way around the final lap giving EC an EZ pass.

Well, it seems like a P2 and P1 in class so a good outing for me again.  I doubt things will be that kind at Silverstone where a higher turnout and more familiar track will no doubt give the others better pace.

Thanks to Bill for sorting the races and Phil organising the server.

cheers!

There may be reports against me for the 2nd race accident on the start, so my points tally may decrease.

"PS. Can someone please beat Hristo - at this rate he is going to end up with 800 championship points!! [4 races don't count] "


You think we aren't trying?????? :-\ , if you have any bright ideas please share. ::)

For the second race I was forced into starting from the pitlane, for some unknown reason, which means that I am shown as 1 lap less than I actually completed because my pit stall was just in front of the S/F line ( a common prob when starting from the pits)
I'm not bothered about the points etc, but it might mess up my standing with the Stats Meister and that would be unthinkable!!!

Know the Lotus really well & have hardly driven the BT11 so it was quite a surprise to find the Brabham was quicker for me round here. Can see why you Brab fans like the thing so much. Was reasonably pleased with my pace in race 1 (Brab). Couldn't quite stay with the H-FMG-Evil train but at the same time managed to maintain a gap to the people behind so held onto 4th place & the coveted first non-Waza (past & present) ;).

Hoped for a repeat in race 2 (lotus) - I quallied 4th which became 2nd when Evil & Hristo didn't appear on the grid. Even managed to take the lead briefly before altitude sickness allowed Tim to sweep past. I wasn't enjoying the Lotus as much as the Brab & started slipping back. Lost 2 places then spun which lost me 2 more (well done to Phil & Steve for somehow avoiding me when I was stuck in the middle of the corner facing the wrong way :o) Still - all good fun!

Anyone
What 2 cars are we using at Silverstone spec race ???

Peter - 65 Mod Cooper v Honda.

Evil - don't know if anything can be done about your pitlane start. Either Phil can Fix It or its one of those things.
Also no luck with the software modification which will put a pile of bricks in the back of Hristo's car.

ok Billy, no worries.  ;D  Its all for fun anyway...isn't it??  ::)

SHE is bothered about team points.  ;) Hope your result gets fixed.

As far as the stats go Evil Clive started from the pitlane & finished 3rd though unfortunately GPLRA does not record that & thinks he started from 3rd & finished 15th. Same goes for Hristo's run from the back of the grid so I want to correct that.

Will the server replay be available for this race? I'm going to need it to sort this one out!

By the way, I can't seem to find many of this season's races in the replay area - are they being uploaded somewhere else now?

I'll correct that by editing the web site as we normally do for this sort of thing (after confirming the claim by watching the server replay).  Correcting the replay and HTML export are a different matter entirely.

Replays will be uploaded to the normal area when I get the chance to do it

Here are the results of the Spec Challenge for Zeltweg.
You might guess I have sought professional help [Big thanks to the Statmeister] to bring you the new improved format!
Results are for all drivers who completed more than half distance in both chassis.
Lotus comes out on top at an average of 0.22 secs. 7 Drivers were quicker in the Lotus to 6 in the BT11 - not really much in it!

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AwMtMND4F-o/S82ihs9-37I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/VuJuj6uQIQA/s1600/Bill+01.png)

There's a mistake in your calculation for 1st and 2nd.  ;)

I think the Lotus is the much faster car still, it has less understeer and it has better acceleration. Perhaps the cars have similar top speeds, but the Lotus seems to reach it first.

Yeah, I was referring to the order of laptimes, it appears you list them from fastest to slowest. I think the laptimes are correct otherwise.

This one took a bit of sorting as GPLRA didn't register the fact that Hristo & Evil Clive started from the back in race 2 which obviously altered everyone's climber results. Hristo's +14 push to the front is the best climb across all divisions so far & looks a tough target to beat.

A perfect consistency score (0.00 laptime variation over 12 laps) would be 60

Heavy Brigade:

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AwMtMND4F-o/S9ayM0Ynw9I/AAAAAAAAAE4/cPX1R8OBt7A/s1600/SpecH02.png)


Light Brigade:

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AwMtMND4F-o/S9ayVu1hP_I/AAAAAAAAAFA/ujjmU00Afck/s1600/SpecL02.png)