SimRacing.org.uk

UKGPL Season 20 Novices Trophy (1965 Mod) Race 4 November 23rd

Round 4 of the season and we're back on the same track as the Amateurs, using the first of 3 airfield circuits this season, and this time out it is Castle Combe.

Located in Wiltshire, England, the airfield was opened in 1941 and decommissioned in 1948 before being opened to racing in 1950.

It sadly became a noisy neighbour in 2005 when it was issued with a noise nuisance order, meaning that not all formulas could race there any longer.

Let's try to annoy the residents as much as we can, but let's do it with our engines rather than the sound of breaking glass and twisting metal.

You can download the track here:
http://srmz.net/index.php?showtopic=1071

Please see the Novices registration thread for an explanation of the chassis allocations shown below:
https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=8416.0

FULL TIME

DRIVER	CHASSIS
Vosblod	Cooper
NHance	BT11
Miner2049er	Cooper
Il_Lupo	Ferrari
Billy NoBrakes	BT11
HappyAL	Ferrari
Gilles27	BT11
Burtoner	3
Nigel Smith	Honda
Ronnie Peterson	Lotus
Blito	Ferrari
Mark65	1
Artiglietti	Lotus
BadBlood	Honda
RogUK	Cooper
Norbert	Ferrari
Maddog	Cooper

RESERVE

DRIVER	CHASSIS
Karliss	Honda
Adamg67	BT11

Reserve drivers should not join the server until there are only 30 minutes of qualifying left so as to give the FULL TIME drivers chance to join, and drivers are not to 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 if necessary, and this includes the end of the race, until all running drivers have completed the necessary laps.

The Novice races are run under Int Long rules and all incidents will be moderated.

Race List = IGOR
Server = UKGPL5
IP address = ping myjamesonline.net
Race date = 23-11-2010
Time = 21:00 UK time
Track = Castle Combe (ccombe)
Variant = 65F1
Damage Model = Int
Qualifying time = 35 minutes
Race length = 35 laps
Password: see above (#post_event_password)

65 Patch: The 2.02 Release of the 65mod can and should be used.
http://bit.ly/d8dECl

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=279;theme=6)

Please note the amended race distance above.

The race will be 35 laps and not 30 laps as stated in the Registration thread.

I expected to qualify on the front row here but was surprised to get pole, although I suspect a tow (from AA ironically) helped me a bit.

Got off the line badly and AA led into T1 but I got back past on the exit and tried to build a lead. I knew AA was quicker so was pushing hard, too hard at one point as I spun at Quarry. As I began to recover I realised AA had done exactly the same! After that I tried to preserve my 4sec lead which soon increased as AA made a few more errors. In the end it was a cruise to the flag although I did spin at the very last corner...

I think this race showed the value of being in the lead - it puts pressure on the chasing pack who can then make mistakes. I wasn't the quickest car out there but avoided any more mistakes.

Thanks to those being lapped, everyone was exemplary. Well done to the podium finishers too. See you all at Spa.

WD Ross, Mike (see you've brushed off those cobwebs  ;)) and new guy Adam.

Taking my first look at the track at 7.30pm on race day contributed to my slug-like performance. That said I didn't finish last.
Great start and got by a few, then just kept my head down and tried not to spin. All those I battled, and there were a few, were extremely fair. I wasn't going to make it easy but I seemed to be extra snailish on the last corner so lost out on the straight. Anyway just when I was thinking at least I haven't had a spin I took a few spins.
All in all great fun as had quite a few battles. Think I'm missing Spa (no great shakes for the Coop) but will be back.

Well, that looked to be a cracking race - I bailed after I span at Quarry and went last again - didn't want to ruin anyones race and it was hard to see them coming whilst looking for braking points - not much respite round here.

Watched it on GPL.tv and there were several battles royale. Hats off to Ross though, very smooth. Looked like good clean fun for everyone.

Thanks to one mad doggie for giving me a setup that was LOADS easier to drive lol

I thought that the rear roll bar was meant to be STIFFER if it was heavy - not right! Took two seconds off my previous best with more to come but still way off the pace but the extra confidence should help in races to come. Got to miss Spa but already looking forward to Imola.

Well done to all involved.

It could be that with a softer car you find it easier to exploit the limits because the car is not as nervous and it's more forgiving. Worth a try in future races until you get more comfortable with your driving.

Thanks H. It was certainly more stable under braking and I could get on the power more easily. The times I span was when I forgot to steer for the corner (literally). I was concentrating so hard on the road ahead, the braking point, mirrors etc I forgot to steer it enough!

I'm learning though.

Well, that's got me hooked on online racing again. I really enjoyed it, despite nerves and some stuttering of the graphics (which other people had as well apparently, so I'm not too worried). I was half a second off my PB in qual but happy with 6th, got a flying start, but couldn't see a way through so backed off, a bit too much as it happens and I lost a few places instead. At the end of lap 1 I was 9th.

For the rest of the race I just tried to keep it consistent, and it worked out well, with few mistakes and no offs. I had two great battles with Coopers, both very fair which mattered as it's not an easy track to overtake at, and finished 3rd. I'm happy with that, my plan was to have a clean race, try and keep the pace up and hopefully have some fair fights and it seemed to work.

I should be around for Spa, looking forward to it!

The softest end has the most relative grip, for a first stab race setup for the 65 brab I've done the springs proportional to the weight and then roll bars 80 rear 120 front, and that gave me a really driveable car. I'm not fond of "pointy" cars for GPL anyway, you can give the front more grip into corners by keeping the weight on the front with the brakes and then the right diff dials out any understeer on exit. You maybe lose a tiny bit in the middle of some corners, but it's worth it for the extra confidence.

IIRC Greger used to drive a car that was fairly soft at the back, not a pointy "hotlap special"

Thanks for that. I was advised to give it loads of revs and change gear as the flag dropped because I was always getting left using a button clutch. So... I tried it and... whooooaaa nearly span it and shot off the line which was a bit of a shock. Got past a few cars and was so shocked at going past a Fezza into Quarry I forgot to steer enough for the corner and went off. lol.

Had Ronnie behind me at the end of the first lap and I was looking out for him as I took him out at Mosport so I took a wide line coming into the pit straight to let him past and.... he wasn't there! I am hoping I didn't knock him off (I haven't seen the replay yet) but I held a few people up for a few laps so I felt like I had a moral victory or two.

When I resumed my natural and pre-ordained place after spinning at Quarry (again) I decided to bail out and watch rather than spoil other people's races. My decision was made easier by my ten year old twin daughters having a noisy dispute which HAD to be settled there and then :D. The other factor was that my wife had banished me to the bedroom and balancing the laptop on a table propped up on towels whilst sitting on the bed is not great. My back was killing me reaching down for the steering wheel lol.

It might be sharp up front but it is much more nerve wracking at the back! Having all the mental strength of a goldfish my main thought is 'Don't f*@k it up'. Closely followed by 'Ok - you f*@ked up. Don't do it again'. And repeat.

Gilles may not find it quite as easy when someone's breathing down his back  ;D

He's right about leading be easier if there's a gap though - unless Hristo's behind you somewhere and rapidly catching that is  :laugh:


For people with frame rate troubles check either the Am's race thread or BB's help thread and try the fix I linked to. It's only for Combe but may have been your issue - Sorry about forgetting to post it in here aswell  :-[

By all rights, this track should be easy to get right.  The right setup, and the right racing line, should prevent the disappointment of getting left, unless being caused by an attack of dizziness!

I had the strangest of setups, and realized the track wasn't as straightforward as one would think.  My rightful expectation, was to become mired in midfield, or else to, 'Come a cropper,' in the infield crops!  It's easy to get lost in there!   So I actually tamed my unconventional setup by 21/4 Iotas, in the hope of a constant, and reassuring view of the track. 8)

Starting from midfield, it was quickly obvious the race would be a hard fought one, as things remained close.  I was soon embroiled in a bit of a 'Ding Dong,' battle with Norm, until he suffered a touch of, "Hells Bells!" as he ran into a problem with a backmarker.  This left me some breathing space, and fourth in the scheme of things.  There was but one obvious problem - my mirrors were plagued by a growing blob, and my pitboard had writted on it, an unfamiliar name.  After a few laps, a blasted Brabham was hounding my tail, and before long, it blasted past!  I was goggle eyed at this newcomer, and did my best to nip at his heels, but despite this, he managed to slowly shuffle off.  And as the tyres turned, that's how my race ended.

Of course one wonders, after a close fought race like that, if a slightly more aggressive setup, would have gained an extra place or two, or if it would've meant checking a field of corn, for ripeness!  It shall remain, one of the mysteries of life, but in the end I did alright. :angel:   

Yes, his 67 Lotus setups were quite soft at the rear and I liked that as well, but it's different for each car really. Especially for 65s which are quite underpowered, you don't need all that grip at the rear unless you're still uncomfortable with driving them in general.

who might that be? :laugh:

Its a wonder Mountside made this race as in the pre qually Monday 2 races Clutch blew 1 engine(a rare event) & I blew 3(as usual). When Ross did his 1.01.48 qually I went out again determined to beat it - who am I kidding as he & AA went completely off the radar :o. Thought I was safe for 3rd on the grid so sat in the pits, but then right at the end that went as well. Oh dear!
My download of the replay stops after a few laps with an error message so I'm doing this from memory. Had a good race with Maddog followed by one with Vos I think, then a long chase & race with Rog. The race was clean & I passed him on the last bend, eventually, but think I may have "carved him up" accidentally by not giving room as we entered Quarry as he was suddenly very large in the mirrors & I think he had to make avoiding action as he was 3 secs down on the next straight. Not an illegal move but not in the spirit of the race. If this is so,(no replay to be certain) very sorry Rog, definitely unintentional :-[.
Well done Ross & the podium finishers. Thanks to Clutch for the gearing as I changed after the Monday debacle although it meant a bit of re learning. Still learning it in qually actually. Comiserations to Clutch also as he was not happy about only managing 3 laps in Ams.

Norm H 

Paul. I disappeared from view at the end of lap one because I had to go into the pits for a stop and go after blowing the engine getting off the line. I know the lotus can be fragile but it was ridiculous giving up on me at the start considering the subsequent thrashing I gave it for 34 more laps fighting my way back up to 5th by the end and keeping a smoking Artiglietti behind me. Forget the incident at Mosport, I have and I bet it was my own fault anyway as much as anyone else. Congrats to to the top four and next time I hope not to give you a headstart. Sorry I robbed you of that 5th spot AA, great racing which I can't wait to see on the replay.

I wrecked a BRM once off the line & accidentally exited the race & my retirement was shown as the clutch had failed so its not always the engine & if you shift R you'll never know the reason. On the subject of blowing engines whilst I now know its the downshift that causes most of them I can't help but notice when on board on the replay that some drivers use loads more revs before upshifting than I would consider safe. What makes it worse is they never seem to blow an engine. ::)

Norm H 

 :wacko: :wacko: :wacko:ohiohiohi, mammamia how painful it is the fall, after the highs of those 3 dominant (er...if we exclude the end results of the actual races) displays. Was beaten on sheer pace today, by a green mosquito whos clearly upped his game.

Really thought I had it in the bag when I saw the double 0 in between the other numbers on my prib, little I knew that the green mosquito buzzing in my ears and stalking me around during that very lap had treacherously bettered me by 2 entire tenths. When I saw Ross' time I had a shock from which I didnt really recover, his lap effectively equals my PB, so I knew I was up against it. Gave my all, no way to catch that time, had to settle for second  :'(.

The flag man caught the green mosquito sleeping  :D, so I could motor away, but soon was prey of a serious attack of moderational paranoia, horrified at the idea of being the cause of major carnage at Quarry (or earlier), since I couldnt see where (TF!) Ross was, I decided to keep it as close to the grass as possible, so close that I actually cut through it, which obviously sent me straight to the other side of the road, miraculously just ahead of Ross. At which point, I decided not to provoke Lady Luck anymore, and took it super easy down into Quarry, letting Ross off the hook.

10 laps of passion followed, trading tenths with the evil green mosquito, but never really able to get close enough to put proper pressure. It was a game at who was going to blink first. And blink we did, but both at the same time! Focused like a hawk on the tiny green dot, mirroring his every move ready to strike mercilessly, I obviously mirrored also his  wrong line  down into Quarry, too close to the center of the road. Net result a quick roll of waltz into the barriers for the both of us. Ahead, ahead, dont stop,back on the road as soon as I can! But, oh no, the darned mosquito is quicker to recover. AGAIN :cursing:!!

From then on, it is the tale of a melancholic decline. Spin after spun, I managed to race backwards to 6th.
Did have a couple of good battles though, with Mike first, whom I followed for a few laps before trying a move at tower bend (I think thats its name?). As we were approaching the bend side by side, I had a sudden serious attack of 'braccino', but did my very best to keep my Lotus onto my half of the tarmac; still managed to shove him gently on the grass with my sliding rear wheels, hope he is not too resentful, after all I gave it all back after a few laps anyway!

The last 10 laps or so, I found myself behind Ronnie, who obviously hadnt robbed anything taking advantage of my self inflicted misfortunes, and actually had to earn his newly acquired fifth place the hard way. Try as I might, my twin Lotus didnt put a single wheel wrong in any corner whatsoever. I think its, like, 10 Quarrys without ever going wide once!!How annoyed can a smokey Italian get in the space of  half an hour! And of course, being Ronnie lotussed as myself, and not coopered as Mike was, there wasnt even a way to try a risky pass at tower. So, opted for a last lap attempt on the outside of Quarry, which resulted in my umpteenth spin, and in Ronnie romping away totally unfazed.Well done to you Ronnie, and sorry for that last lap, it seemed like a decent idea until I started running out of road with screeching tires.

All in all, drove pretty brill first 10 laps, pretty crap following 25. Which teaches, to expound Ross' comments, that is much easier to put it on pole, have a good start and drive away in the distance with a nice performance advantage than, er, anything else. :D 
See you all at SPA.
End of rant.

Yesterday was not the right one for me: my head was away and I wasn't able to keep the concentration for a long time...  :no:

Grats to everybody raced, to the podium and to the race organization!

See you all at Spa.

Long live GPL! Long Live UKGPL!

That is really funny. I was so busy looking for you I crashed :laugh: Like the fact you were catching me quickly with a blown engine :D

What incident at Mosport - I thought it was legit until I watched the overhead shot (ahem).

I was very happy with my Cooper setup for this track, and it seemed to suit me very well as I had my best qually so far this season and once I got a clear piece of track I could set a PB which was nice.

Made a couple of places by the time I hit Quarry and when I got there I almost hit Attilio who was very cautious into the first few braking zones and I had to fight to keep control without hitting him, but we got into the swing of things and waved Ross off into the distance and eventually Attilio opened an unassailable gap so it became a race for 3rd for me.

RogUK followed me closely for a few laps but didn't try anything silly, then a couple of good corners from me getting on the gas early meant I could drop him as he lost the tow.

Then it was a case of Attilio handing me 2nd as he spun a few times though we did have a good tussle for a while until he gave me a nudge on his way past before he spun a few more times and fell away.

Now it was a case of pegging the gap to Adam until the end but I had a little tete a tete when Billy lifted a little more than I expected and though I didn't feel anything I either hit him or warped into him and he felt it. Sorry Billy.

I then had the last lap jitters as a lapped Nigel thought he was fighting me for position and tried to overtake me.

Going into the last corner for the last time he looked to be sizing up a banzai move so I kept wide and gave him enough room to "pass" me.

Not looking forward to Spa unless I secure a rope to the back of Ross, but having said that, his new BT7 will be pretty sluggish ;)

Maybe one of the "midfield" Hondas or Ferraris will be in with a chance of some silverware at the speedfest of Belgium.

Can anyone tell me where the server replay is stored. Forgot to get one.

Cheers,

The replays can always be found by going to the UKGPL hompage (https://www.ukgpl.com/) and clicking on the replays link under the Navigation section (that's on the left)

Thanks Phil

Race Mod published.

Mod says ....Apart from one, NHance who hits him.

Sorry Norm. It was payback for Zandvoort ;)