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Season 19 Novices Trophy - Round 3 - Laguna Seca

The track was built in 1957 at a cost of $1.5 million after the nearby Pebble Beach Road Races were abandoned for being too dangerous.

The circuit has never hosted an F1 race but has hosted lots of other series on both 2 and 4 wheels.

Drivers should be careful not to lose their lunch as they drive through the feature corner of this circuit, The Corkscrew which is considered to be one of motorsport most challenging turns due to the drop in elevation as well as its blind crest and apex on the uphill approach.

Reserve drivers should not join until there are only 30 mins of qualifying left and all drivers should not go out on track until there are 30 minutes of qualifying left as this helps all drivers join the server successfully.

Please restrict chat to pit messages only including at the end of the race until ALL drivers still racing have crossed the line.

Don't forget to use the updated 65 mod for this race.

Please be in the 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 = 5.UKGPL
IP Address = ping myjamesonline.net
Race Date = 04-05-2010
Time = 21:00
Track = Laguna Seca
Variant = 65F1
Damage Model = Intermediate
Qually Time = 30 minutes.
Race Length = Long
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=250&theme=6)

We have split the cars into groups based on average performance and split the drivers into groups based on average ability. The chassis numbers for Novices are as follows:

NOVICE CHASSIS GROUPS
1 - Lotus, Ferrari, BRM, Honda
2 - BT11
3 - Cooper
4 - BT7

Each driver has been given a seeding number and must pick a chassis with either an equal number or higher number but not a lower number. For example, if a driver is given a seeding of 2, he must pick one of the cars in group 2 (BT11) but if he would prefer to drive either the Cooper or BT7 he may do so. This means that a driver given a seeding of 1 can pick any chassis he prefers.

**NOTE**
Whichever chassis a driver begins his first race with is the chassis he must use for the remainder of the season unless a change has been agreed with the moderator.

The following drivers have made their chassis choice:

FULL TIME

Driver	Chassis
D-Rock	Lotus 33
NHance	Brabham BT11
roguk	Cooper T77
maddog	Cooper T77
maestro	Brabham BT11
il_lupo	Ferrari 512
happyal	BRM P261
Billy	Brabham BT11
gilles27	Lotus 33
G Poole	Brabham BT11
BookieW	BRM P261
Sharkfin	BRM P261
norbert	Ferrari 512

RESERVES

Driver	Chassis
Nigel Smith	Honda RA272
karlisss	Honda RA272

The following drivers are still to make their chassis choice:

FULL TIME

Driver	Seeding
Burtoner	2
Vosblod	1

RESERVES

Driver	Seeding
miner2049er	1

Please use the updated 65 mod for this race which is available here:
Jamesonline.net/UKGPL (http://www.jamesonline.net/ukgpl/1965mod_PATCH_v2.0.2_Setup.zip)

Don't  mean to be a pain, but just realised I haven't this track. But which version are we using- the 67 or 95monterey ?

We're using the 67 version.

Same as Ams see this thread (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=7813.msg138803#msg138803)

and this (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=7572.msg133922#msg133922) for the Novs track list

Was running really well early on but then made a few mistakes, dropped back slightly and managed to have a huge fishtail out of the final corner, sliding all over the place and giving some poor soul nowhere to go until they hit me. Sorry.

After that, my attempts to get out of the way got progressively worse, with me hitting unseen trackside fixtures (I had trackside objects set to many, not all) at least twice. After one, I rolled to a stop right in the middle of the road and was smashed into by, I think, Billy. Sorry again.

Pity really cos I love that track and felt like I could have had one of my best ever finishes. Instead I left early out of embarrassment. 

Hi James,

Sounds like you had a tough race. Everyone gets involved in a few incidents from time to time so don't worry...I wouldn't leave the race early, it's good practice for future events. That said Laguna is a difficult track, especially turn 3 and the Corkscrew. Silverstone is next and that should give everyone the chance of some good racing.

Cheers,

Ross

Even though I won in 67's at Donny the other week this feels like my first proper win as it didn't depend on anyone else getting a disco.
Second in qually I think is my best too but there was no chance of touching RN's pole time. Lucky for me, and unlucky for him, he took a trip to the grass very early on. After that I thought oh I'm in front with 33 laps left, pessimism started to kick in then I thought well it's possible as I was 2nd in qually.
So I just thought do it, meanwhile the old heartrate was up a few notches - not been in a lead position before. Over the laps I managed to pull a comfy gap and lap a few. Then I almost threw it away with a spin - found myself over a bank by a fence seeing two I had lapped go past above. Dilemma - if I sh/r it will cost a stop n go and the lead so I do I waste all that time trying to drive out. Driving out paid off but the gap was down to 100-200 yards.
Think it was about 12 laps or so left. After that the pressure was on - came down to D-Rock closing me in the last few laps. At this point I though aaarrgghhh - is 30+ laps in the lead all for nothing.
Anyway last corner and D-R is there growling - thought I was going to lose it but just pipped him. Thanks for the near heart attack D-R, seriously it was good fun mate - as I won  ;)

Can't say how pleased I am to finally win a 65 novices race - when I started in September '08 I was the division milkfloat. Goes to show with enough determination you can do it - oh and a lot of practice helps...

And thanks to the backmarkers who were total gentlemen in passing - even those that had me pass them twice.

Very fun race, probably one of the best I've been in since joining UKGPL.
Congrats to VV too, for your first "proper" win.  :)

Qualifying was decent, but I couldn't get as fast as I was in training and started 6th. The first lap was impressively clean as far as I could tell, and I decided to just cruise for a few laps and hope to pick off some spots due to spins. On lap 4 I got a little wide at the entrance to the left-right-left kink and spun, but fortunately didn't lose any positions. After that I was playing catch up and eventually got to 3rd after me and rog spun separately while avoiding a rejoining backmarker. I got 2nd due to another spin with 7 or 8 to go, and proceeded to go after Vlad.

I was a little conservative for the first half of the final lap, but by the exit of the corkscrew I was right on Vos's tailpipes. Going into the final right hander I nearly ran him over and had to go wide. In the final turn I went way to the right on entry to try and straight line the corner as much as possible. VV bobbled a bit and I got to the inside but he was able to get a better run on the high side and was able to win by a few tenths.

Some interesting facts:
-All 3 Novs races this year have featured a first time winner for the series, two of which were the first win outright
-We've had 3 different winners in 3 races this season. In S18 there were only 3 winners for the entire season.

Another frustrating event for me, same as Keimola in that I had the pace to win, got pole, but made a mess of the start. This time it was totally my fault, I clipped the polos on the exit of T1 and spun down to last place.

After that I tried to fight back through the field but it was mayhem in the first couple of laps and I lost a load more time trying to avoid people bumping into each other. Finally got into a good rhythm and set some quick laps, getting up to 6th as others had problems.

It's good fun charging through the field but having had the pace to win the last two events but only getting 5th and 6th, I'm pretty gutted. However I would like to thank those that moved over when being lapped as it was much appreciated.

Silverstone is next, the first track I'm not starting from scratch on, I'll be interested to see if I can beat my PB as I think I've got better since joining UKGPL last year.

Well done to Vos for his first win and also to Mr Consistent, D-Rock, who looks like the man to beat in the title race.

Cheers,

Ross

First of all, a massive well done to Vlad, first win in 65 :) Well done mate.

I Disco'd :( wasn't going too bad for me, I made a mistake on the first lap and had to Shift & R, which I took a stop and go for. After that I thought I'd have a lonely race at the back, but to my surprise I was very quickly battling people. I enjoyed the battles and managed to clear some people, with Giles (I think) getting past me very quickly.

After that I had settled down and was getting a good rhythm, after a few more laps I got Disco'd. I've got a new computer, so it could be that, but much more likely it was my ISP. O well, no point crying over anthing, just looking forward to Silverstone.

Again well done to Vlad, D-Rock and Rog. Good racing guys.

Sharkfin - It was me who hit you in the centre of the track after you hit some trackside furniture. Don't worry about it & don't leave the race because things like that happen. My car was damaged so Shift R but as no fault I did not S&G. That let D-Rock & Roguk through & put me 6th but in the end I finished 4th which was a fair result all in all.
My race was really a story of following Maddog, Pete, D Rock & Roguk in any order. They were all swapping places but I just couldn't get on terms with them with a gap between 1 & 3 seconds. Last half of the race I followed Rog all the way thinking he must slip up sometime but he didn't. Nice driving.
The forcefull Maddog passed me on lap 1 turn 1. I am slow off the line & cautios at the start as penalties for a lap 1 incident are severe ( I should know! ). After that I only made 1 mistake at the Corkscrew on lap 2 when Pete passed me. A megga effort of concentration for me so overall I'm pleased with my result.
Well done Vos on your 1st win & to the podium finishers. 3 races 3 different winners. Its getting interesting.
Norm H

Absolutely delighted to see Vos grab his first "proper" win - well done mate - I knew you would do it :jumpjoy: Looks like Novs is shaping up for a really interesting championship this season too - great stuff.   

Who said handicapping didn't work?

Big hand to Vos - back to back victories in the 67 & 65's.
Also to Ross's for consecutive pole positions.

Thought I could squeeze another 0.5 second in qually instead of doing a couple of laps on race fuel. Noticed quite soon that was a bad idea & had several silly spins.

Also had an almighty collision with a car (Maybe Sharkfin) when I came across two cars sideways & polo's either side. Needed a reset & I'll let the mods decide if I should have taken a SnG. Whilst firmly at the back of the grid I decided to carry on for the practice if nothing else. Sharkfin - this is a Novice league & most of us make mistakes - don't feel any pressure to retire.

 

Err if you mean chassis allocation then probably me ;).  I'm wondering when you'll give D-Rock the BT7 ::)

What a terrific race!  I seemed to be in one battle or another from start to finish - it was nonstop!  Ok, technically, I do recall stopping to allow a select few cars past, whilst cooling my rubber at trackside ...  :thumbdown:

Once again, an amazing qualy from Ross, which had me scratching my head for more speed, and 4th on the grid.  Saw nothing in the rules about not applying a dash of petrol to the tyres, (65 compounds weren't very sticky) and it must've helped, as I was 2nd by the 2nd corner.  There was only a blindingly fast Tim in front, who insisted on doing his Jim Clark impersonation at the worst of times - he was ahead!  My Bruce Mclaren was almost as good, but a brief horticultural adventure left me fighting only for second, for most of the race.

What a persistent bunch we Novices are - for a while there it was the Maestro I was fighting with, enhanced by a shadowing Norm, and then the performance was repeated with the Rock, doing his Mario Andretti (where did he come from) and making life hard, whilst Roger loomed.

At three quarters distance, we were suddenly closing in on Jim, or umm ... Tim, after his one grass-cutting escapade.  But t'was at about this point, I decided to turn my car around several times, to get a better look at our persuers.  It would've been nice to at least get a wave, as you lot were passing!  So maybe the petrol wasn't such a good idea - my tyres were completely shot!

I don't carry Pribluda on my car, but conjured up the Race history graph, in GPL Race Analyser. It's a great storyteller for those who've not yet tried it.

Anyway, some great racing witnessed from this seat, and another well-deserved p1er.  I think I'll join the queue.  :thumbup1:             

A double win for RogUK who claimed both the laptime consistency & the high climber prizes in the Statmeister competition. RogUK's average laptime deviation was 0.993 (with an average laptime of 1:14.606) while race winner Vosblod was only a whisker behind with 0.999. A perfect laptime consistency score here (e.g., 0.00 variation for 33 laps) would be 165.

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AwMtMND4F-o/S-QDwMFdw4I/AAAAAAAAAGg/GNNuz_FPEPU/s1600/Novs03.png)

* (P) in the Climber-Meister table denotes adjustment due to Moderator Penalty
** 0.00 in Consistency table denotes average laptime deviation > 5 secs cutoff
*** 2 worst scores to be dropped
 

And for this week's Stat-attack, we're taking a close look at how Novice pole times measure up with the Amateur's division.

The table below shows all the Novices pole position drivers & where their times would have put them on that season's Am's grid.

For example, Gilles27's pole at Laguna would have put him 9th (out of 12 total runners) on the Am's grid. Comparing the time difference between Am's & Nov's pole in seconds isn't very useful because of the huge variation in track lengths so I've included the difference in laptime expressed as a percentage of the Am's pole time (like the old 107% rule in F1) which allows a direct comparison.

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AwMtMND4F-o/S-QC2ENpCOI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/G95GPjyJsT8/s1600/Extras+NovsPole.png)

Apologies for not having modded this yet. I usually try to have a race modded before the next round but I haven't had chance yet.

The only thing worse than the hours here is the pay :)