SimRacing.org.uk

UKGPL Season 20 Novices Trophy (1965 Mod) Race 10 March 8th

We end the nailbiting Novices season Down Under, though drivers are discouraged from observing local traditions and driving their cars upside down as this causes problems for the Moderators. Besides which, it is generally faster to keep your wheels on the tarmac.

The sunny Adelaide circuit is a temporary street circuit in the East Parklands and played host to 11 Formula One Grand Prix events from 1985 to 1995. It is the scene of Niki Lauda's last race and Ayrton Senna's last win, and it has also proven to be the deciding round in more than one World Championship including the famous incidents involving Nigel Mansell in 1986 and Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher in 1994.

It also held the shortest race in Formula 1 history when the race was stopped after 14 laps due to heavy rain.

The circuit can be found here:
http://jrpearson.homestead.com/AdelaideCircuits.html

*** NOTE ***
Drivers found with all 4 wheels on or inside the kerbs at the first chicane will risk being penalised.

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	BT7
Burtoner	3
Nigel Smith	Honda
Ronnie Peterson	Lotus
Blito	Ferrari
Mark65	1
Artiglietti	Cooper
BadBlood	Honda
RogUK	Cooper
Norbert	Ferrari
Maddog	Cooper

RESERVE

DRIVER	CHASSIS
Karliss	Honda
Adamg67	BT11
Maestro	Cooper

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 = 08-03-2011
Time = 21:00 UK time
Track = Adelaide (adelaide)
Variant = 65F1
Damage Model = Int
Qualifying time = 35 minutes
Race length = 25 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

Driver lists can be found on the championship standings page (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=LM2R;group=279;theme=6)

Ah, so you meant only the T1 chicane. I would be surprised if anyone actually manages to cut it completely and get away with it. The car jumps way too high and lands violently which sends it out of control. It may work with a higher, softer setup, but then you'll be slower in the reminder of the lap.

Yes I did - like I said - DON'T CUT IT :D

How do you think I know that hehe.

Yes, I think that is the only place it can be only be done on purpose to save time repeatedly. Everywhere else the places you can cross the kerbs are exits, and even those can flip your car as you did last season I think.

It would be possible but not advisable IMO, plus, this being a Novice race we may see people running wide there due to a loss of control rather than an effort to save time so it would be difficult to moderate anyway.

OH, you just had to remind me of that! LOL, I remember it now... Jethro was having a good laugh as I think he was closest to me when it happened.  ::)

Actually I think I was closest, you'd just lapped me.

I'll keep in mind not to lap you ever again.  ::)

Last time the Novices raced here the average for normal people (i.e. Vos down - sorry Tim) was around 1:42 - I've just done ten laps at an average of 1:44 - Best is 1:41 ish as the tyres came in so I have a lot to make up. I was looking for a finish on the same lap as the leaders this season but that is pretty forlorn I think. I'll do well to finish two laps down but I am getting some consistency in to my driving - now I just have to add racecraft, speed, concentration... :laugh:

Ok - bit of practice and I have lowered that to a best of 1:38.9 and and average of 1:41! Anyone who says that setup doesn't make a difference if you are a novice is talking drivel! Stiffened up the rear springs and immediately found it more driveable and took a second off. Three laps under 1:40 straight away. I know that that is still slow by Amateur standards but is is an order of magnitude improvement for me. I have taken 7 seconds off my best in a week - only six more to go to beat H :)

The fastest lap is not that important to me, it is the consistency and I have gone from 1:46 to 1:44 to 1:42 average over a week by playing with the springs and gears -nothing else. Oh and I've learnt the track! Hopefully I can replicate all this in the race.

Probably the biggest difference is you learning the track and having the confidence to drive it , rather than just the set up , though the two go hand in hand, you will find soon enough that you can adapt to driving even a poor set up and do good times , like you say its the consistency you need to begin with which then inspires confidence .

Nice to hear your improving , keep up the good work  :)

Yes, consistency is important here, so is not overdriving.

The first sector should feel slow and you will get a faster sector time by being slow in and fast out of all the first left/right combos.

I had to chuckle at " Anyone who says that setup doesn't make a difference if you are a novice is talking drivel!" .  I think Paul is beginning to "feel the force".  lololol

The "confidence" factor cannot be ignored though Paul.

The practice you have done has given you the confidence of knowing where the track goes and what worked ( or did not work!!) last time around, so that when you changed the setup you could immediately "feel" the extra grip and stability and could exploit it..WITH CONFIDENCE. Without that confidence you could not have used that setup.

The more laps you do, the easier it will seem to be, until the point when you feel you have just cruised around a lap, only to discover that you have set a PB by some 2 secs!!! simply because you were super smooth through all the corners, fed the power in just right without drama and did not over drive.

Then it all goes wrong because you try too hard to equal that PB and frustration sets in!! lol  At least it does with me  :-\

Well done mate  ;D

After reading what you said, Evil, it reminded me of a funny story from the 1993 Adelaide GP. Senna was just ending his 2 flying laps Qualifying run and his team was on the radio, telling him to pit in on the next lap because he only had fuel for one more lap. The problem was his radio was not working properly, so he kept going while asking on the radio when to come in. It turned out the lap he did was his fastest and enough for pole position, even though he was not actually trying hard anymore!  :D

Oh dear... I`ve not yet bettered 1:40 here so I could be looking at another last place on the grid  ::)

I'll fight you for it! The quote about 'drivel' came from the fact that I changed the rear bar by 10 and found I couldn't corner - it was a fight - turn it down by 15 and hurrah the car turns - 25 and I spin.

It may well be that my skill level means that I am kidding myself but I don't think so. Couldn't do it without help from all the guys. A big thanks to you all. You know who you are :notworthy:

PS Jason, just slow down - you'll speed up ;)

A similar quote from the late great Jim Clark "when I want to go faster , I dont drive any faster , I just concentrate harder and brake less "

Yeh but he never had to look at Prib to see if he had to move over or not!

If I brake less I just arrive at the hedge that bit quicker - Paradiaolical [sic] being a prime example ;)

That's because it must be added "brake less and turn-in earlier." ;)

Don't worry guys, as the newbie here, I'll have tail end charlie all wrapped up at the back of the grid tomorrow

Always good to have company at the tail end of the field.  Welcome to the world of the Ditchfinders, aka the FIA crash barrier testers....
Perhaps you`d like to share a little info about yourself and your abilities in GPL in particular.

want to ask to someone, who did test/practice race yesterday.
in replay time 3:43 there is an error with me and blue car, with red swiss helmet (i guess SHIFTER)
if someone have saved replay, can u explain, did i had free Shift+R or stop/go shift+r ????
so situation was:
after Brabham hairpin, SHIFTER car further in front of me started to spin and rotate left, i went on right track side to overtake it, and then SHIFTER car just spin right in front of me and we collide.
so when situation is free shift or no. co from my point, i hadnt time to think out, where to run and hit it in right driver side between wheels.

Sounds like it wasn't your fault, so you probably qualify for free shift-r. Look, there aren't clear guidelines which cover every possible situation and which you can follow blindly. It's all down to common sense.

>Perhaps you`d like to share a little info about yourself and your abilities in GPL in particular.

That will spoil the fun. Played GPL just after it came out for a while and then jumped into it again last week. Tweaking the setups seems to be the hardest part for me right now as I am still learning what does what as far as changes go out on the track. I can run pretty consistent laps in the mid to high 40s on this track. What sort of fuel load do we need to carry to get us thru this number of laps?

Welcome onboard Fragfritz - the fast guys think that it is tough at the front but it is MUCH tougher at the back!

Look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.

We are doing a 25 lap race (or some are) so just load it up for about 18 - that is all I ever manage :laugh:

In a Novice race, you have a free shift/R, if someone makes a problem.   In practice races, we do not have these rules, but try not to be very bad.  I noticed you shift/R sometimes after a spin.  Be careful you do not do this during a big league race, if you make the problem, or 1 time only.  ;)

take a look here. a lot of setups for a lot of tracks
http://gpltd.bcsims.com/?ir=Setups

i know that... my shift+R in practise is a habit since i laping a lone, in online race i know that shift+R is only extra.
but what u mean by this (cant understund)
"...if you make the problem, or 1 time only...."

If a Novice makes a problem and ShiftR's more times, we must stop in the pits more times, and this makes our mechanics angry.

If you shift/R in a race, Karliss, you have to go into the pits for a Stop and Go penalty, if the incident was your fault. If not you can take the Shift/R without any penalty. If you are not sure and you don't take the penalty the Moderator can penalise you after the race. Difficult to judge sometimes.

I watched the replay Karliss, and it wasn't your fault.

Norm had lost control and was in a slide on the left so you went to the right, and normally you would have got past him safely but he had what is called a tankslapper where the car/bike slides one way and then flicks back the other way, so he flicked back just as you were there.

Sometimes things like that just happen in racing and there's nothing you can do about it.

It would have been a no fault SHIFT R in a race.

How the hell anyone does 1:32 round here is beyond me! It rewards patience and that means being gentle with the throttle and getting a smooth line. Overtaking is going to be a nightmare - not that I usually do any - so a busy few nights for Mike maybe ;)

thanks, for replies.
will do my best to put all element together in nervous , stress , race atmosphere.

It's just that you're still separating the phases of braking and accelerating from that of steering. Once you learn to transition between each gradually, you'll be able to carry more speed into a corner and accelerate earlier.

I am aware of that - it is strange - sometimes I am happily taking a corner when I think 'ooh I need to steer here' so the input isnt as smooth and progressive as I would like to achieve. Presumably, it becomes automatic rather like when you first learn to drive you can't see how people do the gears and accelerate and check the mirrors and drink a cup of coffee! Now it is second nature and you don't even do it consciously.

The thing is, you need to keep trying it until it clicks, even if it means spinning in 9 out of 10 attempts. The single time when you manage to keep the car in control is what counts. It's the moment when you go "AHHHHH, so that's how it's done!". From then on you'll always know what to look for in terms of feeling for the car and feedback from the car itself, such as relative positioning on the screen towards the direction of travel and engine/tire sound. You can do this without any worry of bad result or getting injured (as would real world dirvers) in offline practice.  ;D

Personally, I dont worry too much about outright speed. Instead, I am more interested in getting good consistency with my pace. I don't do hotlaps and I dont use separate qualifying setups (which is why I`m often last on the grid). With race fuel I can lap in the 39`s/40`s with no problem but as always I wont be pushing too hard.
You know, a single shift/r  will cost you about 30 seconds on your race time. Better to go 1s/lap slower and not spin than push the car and make mistakes IMO :).
The one thing that does worry me about Adelaide is the nature of the kerbs. They are a little harsh if you run too wide. Also, as Badblood said, there aren't many obvious overtaking places... Oh well I guess we'll see for sure in 14 hours time :)

Well, I'm on the opinion consistency is much easier to learn and you can always work on it whenever you need. All it takes is just going slightly under your limit and trying to do that each lap, instead of pushing hard.

What improving your outright speed helps with, is that you'll have a bigger range/buffer to play with for achieving consistency while running higher up the order. E.g. if you improve your speed by half a second, you can afford to run half a second slower for sake of consistency, and you'll still be quicker than previous consistency pace.

I only see the practice server...is something wrong?

You're 1 hour too early. :)

Doh!!!!

Great - having a good race - massively disappointed with qually but sub 1:40 which was OK ish but had hoped for low 1:38 - just couldn't find a rhythm. Good start took advantage of lots of spinners crashes etc and drove steadily. Running ninth after a spin of my own and not too happy with my smoothness but OK and defending well - great battle with Billy and....

...GPL crashes - first time ever for me :(

What a TERRIBLE end to the season. Ups and downs but mostly downs and I know I am getting better BUT feeling totally hacked off right now :(

I pulled into the pits after I flipped myself and Shift R'd to get going again and the video freaked out. Was in the pit lane but was flashing all sorts of VGA colors at me. Tried a shift R to get back on the track, which the replay showed put me back out there, but my video showed me still stuck. Had to Esc and enter which meant I was done after 9 laps :-(.

Fun stuff, had my PB during qualifying and beat it during the race but the front runners were about 10 sec faster than little ole me.

Actually Fritz, that wasnt a bad debut.. I was especially impressed with your awareness when I had to lap you. You knew exactly where to put yourself and made it clear you wanted me to pass on your right. Impressive stuff for a rookie. The pace will come, the glitches will be ironed out and next season you will have some great racing with the rest of us also-rans :)

Thanks Jason, I got passed enough to know better, still got pranged from behind twice though. Sometimes it is harder than it looks to anticipate where you should be on the twisty parts to allow a pass.

That is a tough track when you are slow - I bailed out at Castle Combe because although I could lap within 4 or 5 secs the lap was so short it was just too hectic. wd on your debut. Not sure how many laps I managed - you may have beaten me - I think you did  :thumbup1:

Well done to Ross and Attilio. Made it so close. Not novices any more methinks.

Big THANKS for that personal message from admins who let me race this challanging race in Adelaide!
so two weeks of practice , nearly some300 laps, and i went down from 1-43xx to 1-34.3 in Qual!! (actualy in qual i first time ever did laps under 35! )
so some thoughts for me:
1. first time ever, in my simracing carrier i started a race in front row, from P2!!! (i count all leagues where i raced)
2. i had figured out a right tactic to do a race with less errors as possible (be fast -let race errors stay behind)
3. was to cearful at start, and cant understand since what point in race overtaking is allowed..
    also hit wall and during 25 laps raced with uncomfortable car (but practised for that offline also)
4. easy arythmetic ... 3 errors = 3 place loss ( lost my podium at HOTEL 2 times and T1 one time...cos chasing leader cars was easy, but being fast in my own was impossible)
5. cant handle high position and pushing from behind... start nervous... when i must catch someone its more simple (must wait for more expieriance)
had great fights for P3 with M.H and with R.P. for P4
and most important
i tried hard to do a one race without collisions and errors, with sportmanship in overtaking and tried to not block, and tried to fight for position with calm head.

that was great ending of this hard and full of learning process season
thanks all!!
:)
karlis

BIG WELL DONE mate. Thought I might hold you off in the 'Who is last?' stakes but you spanked me good. Disco from ninth didn't help but you were fantastic tonight.

You can pass immediately, but remember that you don't win the race on lap one (or lap 2 for that matter), so only go for a pass which you're certain won't put yourself and others at risk. Otherwise, just go fast, but stick to your lines and be aware of where the cars around you are, and ease off the throttle slightly earlier before braking for corners if you have cars in front of you, to avoid rearending any early brakers. Once the field spreads out, you can drive as fast as you want.

Qually didnt go great but luckily started 4th, but an error on to the straight meant Martin and Ronnie were right behind me. Knowing Martin's penchant for unusual lines I let him have the inside but didn't get the power on smoothly and Ronnie went through as well.

Was following them and watching their unusual lines and went wide at Stag Hotel where I got hit by a sympathy spinner, think it was Norm and I had to wait over 30 seconds before I could reset, then I reset almost on top of Norm and got spun again, so I reset again and finally got going.

Was having fun climbing back through the field but following Norbert into T1 I misjudged how much quicker I was through there and had to tap the brakes which spun me. Got going again but I wasn't able to concentrate after that and was making silly mistakes so i couldn't make an impression on those in front, and with no pressure from behind I just drove it to the end.

Big well done to Karliss who found some amazing speed from somewhere.

Now I have to write a list of Cooper drivers for next season.

That's easy Mike. Everyone but me and Nigel!

Firstly my race; Shows the perils of only spending 20 minutes practicing. Got a 36.05 in prib but 39 odd in reality. If I'd spent more time I'm sure I could have eeked a bit more out but, at a track like this, Prib was probably unattainable. That said had some great racing with Billy and Norm.

Secondly congrats on the winners, to the victors the glory.

Thirdly my season - CRUDDY;
TBH this season has been a real downer for me;
- Works, I knew would be nothing to write home about but those races I've made have just been a disaster. Strongly regret moving but felt obliged.
- Nov's, not been much fun in the Coop. Would be great in a field of Coop's but watching people I could be racing pull away on the straights has not inspired me.
- Specs, I do it as feel obliged to Bill although actually some of those races have given me the best fun.

TBH I can't blame the band thing as it's not really interefered bar a couple of Nov's events I've had to miss. I think my problem is I became an in-betweener which meant no chance of much above and docked if I stay below. That said I really haven't put much praccy time in so could probably have made more of the Coop. It's a vicious circle, you see the faster chassis pulling away, lose heart and then don't have the interest to put in the pre-race time needed. From there my praccy time has fallen away as, if you have nothing to gain, it's easy to lose interest. I have drifted off to Total War and have spent much more time on that recently.

This isn't a swan song just my personal take on my season. I'll be thinking of ways during the break of how to spice my interest up as I still enjoy GPL and am happy doing the admin thing. I really don't know whether I'll move up down left right or centre. Yes all the Coop's could move to Am's and have battles at the back for last or almost last but I'm not sure that's inspirational.

Anyway I'll have a breather and take stock. Grads I will definately not carry on as is but 65's I'm in a quandry, last if you move, docked if you don't...

Knowing this was what would have happened if I had lost the slipstream for even a moment, is what motivated me in the AMs Monza race (although I have to thank those ahead for not helping each other  ;D ). If anyone wants to watch an awesome 5-6 cars battle at the front for the first half of the race, and an exciting finish at the end, get the AMs race replay.

Grats Karlisss.  Hope you can turn that into a podium next season :)

Many congratulations to Attilio on taking the win and the title. Winning four in a row, and six in total, proves you are a worthy champion. :clap: I hope we can continue our rivalry in Amateurs next season, perhaps not at the front of the pack though :)

I am gutted to have lost the points lead at the last race but overall I've had a great season. I would rather have lost a close title battle than ran away with it as the challenge from Attilio, and being forced into the BT7, has helped me improve no end.

The highlights for me were the win and pole at Castle Combe, and Kyalami where I drove right on the limit for the whole race without making any mistakes, pressuring Attilio right to the end.

Back to Adelaide, I had a terrible time getting a clear lap in qually, it was carnage out there! But even if I had I don't think I would have got ahead of Karliss who secured his first front row slot, very well done sir!

I followed Attilio closely for the first part of the race but a spin cost me 10s or so and ended my challenge. I'm disappointed not to have pressed him until the end but it was good fun while it lasted. Thank you to those being lapped though who were all very helpful and well done to Martin on picking up third place.

The field has been very competitive this season, I think most people have shown flashes of speed at some point or another but just lack in consistency. Fabio, Ronnie, Norm and now Karliss have all got potential to take the fight to the Cooper brigade next season.

Finally a big thank you to the mod team, particularly Mike, for organising a great season, much appreciated chaps.

OK - now that I have calmed down I feel a lot better. I practiced hard for this one and was running 1:38's for ten laps in a row in practice. Come the race and I just couldn't get it smooth. Still I was running ninth when I discoed and I had Rog, Mike, Billy and Vos behind me and that is DEFINITELY progress. Although I could only run at 1:40 in the race I was holding my own but pressure from behind is a strange thing and something I am unused to. What is really pleasing is that I have now had wheel to wheel racing at three in a row - Kya, Albi and Adelaide.

I want to say a BIG thank you to all the Novices for making me welcome and for all the support. I look forward to maybe getting some top tens next year! Not sure I'll bother with Grads as I was totally useless but I might try the Spec races instead. GTs are fun too.

Look out for a Brit Series race series - I'm expecting big support from the Novices (and hoping most of the Ams don't turn up :D ).

As always, use the link at the top to submit your race reports.

Considered starting from back of grid as I am not fast here & I thought there may be a lot of crashes. Did a slow couple of laps & waited 10 minutes to see others times. Knew I could get in 1.36's so gave it a go but others had speeded up so I was 8th. Had collision with Mike who was trying to resume. Might just have managed to avoid him but he came back off the dreaded kerbs. Not sure if this is an on or off track incident as we were both the "wrong" side of the kerb. What constitutes the track at this dump anyway. Before I had chance to resume suffered a major impact but did not know from who or how. I now know it was Fabio. The screen started flashing & freezing alternately with a lot of noise as well which lasted 20 seconds which is a lot when you are sat there in disbelief!. Thought I would have to press escape but it eventually responded to shift R. Drove a lap whilst I thought about it as I didn't know what had happened & decided to take a S&G as I was last now anyway. Carried on till engine spluttered so shift R & S&G again. Spent the whole of the race in the company of Billy who I think may have been spinning a lot as that is how I passed him.
Well done to the podium finishers. Double whammy. Clutch blew his engine at Monza.
Norm H

Adelaide will go down on the list of “Billy’s NON-favourite tracks “, along with Castle Coombe for Season 20.
Did just enough practice to work out the track & learn to stay off the kerbs which invariably would cause a  spin. Was expecting a Novices qualification time of 1.35 or so. When I saw the 1.33 I definitely knew it wasn’t my day having only managed a 1.38.5 myself.
Race fell into three stages.  Early battles with Vos & Badblood were good fun. (But wasn’t I racing the slowest man in UKGPL & why was that Honda so much quicker today?). About lap 10 I missed my brake point at the hairpin & came to a halt the wrong side of the haybales in a tent. I decided this was the beer tent & topped up with a nice cold can of Fosters which I had thoughtfully put to one side. Next few laps were spins & wobbles until I settled down for the final stages, last of the running cars but able to keep Norm in sight until the chequered flag.

Bad day for Black Night Racing with my new team mate Fabio disappearing on lap 1 & pretty bad day for the BT11’s as Norm had similar strife. On the positive side FMG picked up the title in the Ams so the Black Night trophy cabinet won’t be empty.

Congratulations to Attilio & Ross who were really a class apart this season. Not sure that next season will be any easier now Karliss is doing 3,000 lap practice sessions.

lol

The season. Well done to Attilio a worthy champion & Ross for pushing him all the way. Also a fine debut by Ronnie taking 3rd at the last race.
For me its been a step back its 5th now with a lot less points than last time. I have pactised a lot this time except for Adelaide but I won't put that sort of effort in next season. It was too much. On chat pre Adelaide FMG  reckons 20 minutes to make a set up  - in my dreams. Or was he kidding.
Must admit I feel a bit like Vosblod slightly cheesed off but absolutely not packing up. Since Christmas I have been involved in 4 major accidents in 5 races. Some of it my own making but still its a lot. I'm also a bit bored with the BT11 but the alternatives are a big drop in power. This power difference was brought home to me when Badblood's Honda at Albi just left me for dead on the straights.
Season 21 - I'll be there alright ;)

Final thought - favourite driver to go on board with on the replay - Nigel.- Just watch that Honda rev counter & listen to the engine! ;D. and HIS engine always lasts!
Norm H

He wasn't kidding. You only a base setup which takes time to do but once that's done each track should be easy to alter it.

Grab my Lotus from here http://www.jamesonline.net/gpl/setups_65.htm and change the file extension to the right one for your car and that will be a stable base setup. If it oversteers or understeers a little too much adjust the roll bars to suit, and then save that setup as your base setup. Just spend some time on your favourite track getting that setup to handle the way you want it to without adjusting anything but the gears and rollbars initially.

Now when you need to do a setup for a track, start with the base setup that you know and love and can drive, and change the gears so you hit just under top revs at the end of the fastest section. All you have to do then is do some practise to learn the track as you already know the car, and as you get into 10-15 lap sessions you will see the spread of the tyre temps across each tyre so deflate each one to suit and adjust the cambers so the temp spread across each tyre is even. Job done.

The only exceptions really are places like Monza and Spa where you can over inflate tyres for speed and Castle Combe where I found a 5 speed gearbox worked better in the Cooper than a 6 speed did so I adjusted to suit.

There's an even better way than using the same base setup all the time - use your setup from each previous race, because it's most likely that you keep refining and improving your setups over time, and they get more to your liking race by race. This is better instead of starting from scratch with a single base setup all the time.

And once you have setups for many tracks, the next time you go to a new track just copy a setup from a track with similar layout in terms of corner speedss ans straight lengths. Simple! :)

I've used the same setup since Zandvoort, only changing the cambers and gear ratios, and have done allocated 1 hour practise per race. Sometimes, such as Adelaide, I've only used 20 minutes :)

I must say this season has been really good fun with some great racing all through the season. Great to see everyone improve so much of the season and to see the help we've all given each other to get there.

Looking forward to S21 !

Congratulations to Attilio on a stunning finale to the season and sealing that championship. Ross what can I say, I know the feeling, but you worked miracles in that BT7. Mike I just saw the table, please forgive me and be lenient the next time I'm up for moderation.

Gotta say like Castle Coombe I was surprised that I really liked Adelaide. I was no match for Attlio, Ross and the fleet footed Martin but what the hell was going on with the nitro injected Karliss. Great clean fast racing. Everytime I crawled past him he kept coming back for more. Never one to give in I tried in vain to catch him one last time but he was simply faster. Only an error right at the end handed me the fourth spot. Tough break and better luck next time.

Thanks Mike for the organising on the Novs, to all the other drivers (great bunch) and see you next time I hope.

You're welcome Ronnie.

I hope you enjoyed the Lotus while it lasted.  ;D ;D ;D

I'd been looking forward to getting back 'down under,' ever since missing out on my first planned UKGPL event, two Seasons ago.  This time, I had the password clutched securely in my palm, although "Pong", had much to be desired - definitely past it's prime. >:(

Pre-practice suggested the need to throw some more spanners about.  Several abnormal Novices had showed up early, to get their eye in, and their heads down, and I was disturbed to discover, even Karlisss was faster than me!  Tinkering recommenced, and culminated with a struggle to 5th on the grid.

The opening laps went well, and despite exploring the limits of adhesion to beyond their recommended max. on several occasions, I was up to third.  This, after trailing the amazingly quick, and newly revamped Karlisss, for a while.

The leaders were long gone, so I settled into a fast pace, arriving at an early lapper, exiting the hairpin. I was weighing him up, when suddenly, he slowed on the racing line.  This allowed me only 1 option - an attempt to drive over the top of him!  You'll note:  this is similar in style to, "Over the top" driving, only accidental.  We both somehow survived, and I can only suggest, those Nascar2003 tracks are a lot wider! :o

With no-one around to race, I sat back to admire the infield scenery.  The only threats being, each tyres willingness to expire, and the chance I might excessively curb my tendencies.  So a lonely race, but with such a challenging place, it was never boring, and a genuine surprise, to finish up, so high up as 3rd.

A masterful display by the top two, and an example of what we underlings must work towards.  I think Karlisss and Badblood are good examples of how much can be gained, through help, and determination. And it's good to see new drivers joining us, so that 1965 will live on, into the future.  It's a hard life, but
some of us have to live it.  ;D

Thanks everyone. Yes I do have a base set up but it gets gradually modified. At some tracks like watkins Glen where very few left hand bends then I go a bit more extreme based on a downloaded one. Before Adelaide I asked Al Heller for his suspension settings as he won there last time in a BT7. I did note they were not particularly radical which sort of supprised me. I didn't use them 'cos they were no better than my own but one thing was of interest which I try now & then.
Seems driving style & set up is unique to how an individual likes it. Accepted wisdom is the Coop is faster than a BT7 but to me there is nothing in it & more often than not the 7 is better & certainly easier to handle. May try less time trying different set up mods & more just driving the base one next season.
Norm H

That'll be HER engine thank you very much ;)

Adelaide isn't my fav track.
On qualify I set my PB and, starting from 10th place, after few turns my GPL freezed...  :-[
OK, Season 20 is over: grats to Attilio, Ross and Ronnie and everybody raced.
See you all on Season 21

Now I'm going back to the second half against these hotspurs... :fencing:

Well, although I didnt drive my best race here, I am obviously delighted with the result ;D ;D ;D. I really felt the pressure for this one and when I heard that oh so familiar buzzing behind me after T1 I knew I wasnt going to have it the easy way. It took me 4 or 5 laps to stop fidgeting and start driving half decently, and a few more to shut up the annoying mosquito, which I could never quite wipe off my mirrors though... Come mid race, and just when I was caught up in a cluster of hard fighting backmarkers, a quick worried peek at prib showed me Ross had fallen behind; from then on it was downhill for the remaining 10 laps, trying somehow to ignore the screams of pain my engine kept piercing my oversensitive ears with...I had a few pops in my hours of practice, with a couple of screen freezes thrown in for good measure, so was really glad to see the chequered flag.

My congratulations to Ross first of all. He drove more intelligently in the first part of the season, and made it as difficult as it gets for me  in the second part, right to the end of the last race. It had to tip one way or the other in the end, but winning this wouldnt have been as good as it was had he not been around making it so ridiculously hard for me all the way.

Grats to Ronnie for completing the podium by pipping Mike to third. Great progression there, along with some others who have been mentioned above and did a real leap forward this season. A shout out to Norm, who was often a real pain in qually, and fell short of a win in Spa or Imola out of sheer bad luck I think (but you should really try and find a solution for those bizarrely repetitive engine blow ups).

As for my season, it had its ups and downs, but definitely lived up to my best expectations. Highlight must be winning at Spa, first time out in a Cooper. As sweet as they come, for various reasons. Worst race, Castle Combe, where I was caught completely off guard by Ross' speed, and hurt pride made me drive a really poor race. Best drive and most satisfactory win, certainly Kyalami with Ross (again...) relentlessly clinging to my tailpipes all way through.

All in all a lot of fun, but a really steep learning curve that in the end , I have to admit, wore me out a little. So next season I will be taking it a bit more easily, hopefully with some less practice, and some more racing...All that, of course, if the competitive bug doesnt bite again.. ;)

See you all soon on the track I hope. :-*

SHE has noted, and is pleased with, the sacrifice and commitment of the 2 young apprentices from Hiki Waza who almost triumphed for HER this season.

2nd place in the Novices Team Championship was no mean feat given the quality of the new crop of aspiring aliens at the front of the grid!!

Of course SHE will expect better next season because all of your victories are belong to her  ;D

Kiki Nakawaka
Public Relations and Velvet Enforcer for Hiki Waza

Yes, thanks for taking up the huge challenge of pleasing HER, Nige and Paul, you did great!  ;) Look forward to some news for next season after I discuss something with the Waza management.  ;)

I hope it does, otherwise I would be most disappointed.  ::)

>We both somehow survived, and I can only suggest, those Nascar2003 tracks are a lot wider! Shocked

Sorry about that, mate. You kept jogging right and left, wasn't sure which way you wanted to pass, and the racing line does cross from left to right where you hit me ;-).

Hey FF - you beat me - told you that you had :)

Come and join me at the back in my British Series - it might be fun.

No harm done Frag . . .  it was good to see a new set of wheels out there. ;)

>Come and join me at the back in my British Series - it might be fun.

PM me more info, I'll join if the times work.

Check out the POST SEASON FUN British Series announcement - it is all there :)

Thanks Norm, I appreciate that comment. Revving the t*** off the engine probably isn't the fastest way around a track but it's fun.
Of course it's the pre race Saki ceremony thats the answer. HER brand contains a very special lubricant and after touching our lips to the cup it's into the tank with the rest. :)
Although I think Karliss put some rocket fuel in with his! Great performance K, hope you stay with the team next season.

I drank mine :(

No wonder I was so slow...

Hi Grats to all who finished this race and Grats to the podium guys, yuk end of season race for me got caught up in the turn 1 scrap, after a shift r was well down but was having some good racing, then lap 7 pc decided to freeze up. Hope to be back next season and good luck to you guys going up to Amateurs.

Final race mod of the season published.

Standings are now final pending appeals.

Where can I download the replay? I want to see exactly how much was Karlisss cutting the corner, because he used my replay to prepare for the race and you never said a thing about my lap cutting illegaly.

http://www.jamesonline.net/ukgpl/2011.03.08_Novs_Adelaide/UKGPL.65__5.2011.03.08.22.25.zip


I wasn't modding your replay. ;)

But we brought up the topic at the time I posted it and I asked if you think I cut illegaly, and you didn't say anything about it.

OK, I watched a couple of Karlisss'es chicane cuts. If you compare his line on lap 13, which is very similar to mine and not considered cutting, riding the curbs much less, as well as his line on the laps he goes even less over the curbs, to the laps where he cuts massively with 4 wheels over, you'll realize he's actually going much slower in the latter cases. Especially one of the cuts when he goes with 4 wheels over both left and right curbs while running behind Ronnie, he's some 25 km/h slower than usual. So did he really gain anything from cutting? Not at all, he lost time because of it.

I told you back then, it's impossible to gain time by cutting too much. If you try to keep the speed as high as normal, you'll fly up too high and land badly, most likely ending up in the wall. Since he never gained time from cutting, what's the point in penalizing him? Cutting is only considered as bad when you do it to gain time. I don't mind anyone cutting if they're going to lose time, lol.

i''m sorry.
i already payed for that with massive flight and long walk around guardrile.
anyway was fun :)

And straight away I posted the race thread and in red letters said:


I think that is clear enough. Why would I need to comment on your video, I am interested in the Novices race only.


What is the point in having a rule and not enforcing it? Whether or not he made time, he chose to do it time and time again, especially in his battle with Ronnie, so it is my opinion that the intent was there, whether or not he actually made time, I believe he intended to.

He was much quicker at Adelaide than anywhere else though........................

Also, what is the point in questioning the ruling? I have penalised him 30seconds yet he finished 36 seconds ahead of the driver behind him, and he has not been given penalty points, only the time penalty.

If I were Karliss, or a team mate of Karliss, I would take the ruling and accept it. Obviously Karliss has the option of appeal if he feels he wants to go that route.

Why do you think I made that video if not to help Novices drivers? We didn't have to race at Adelaide in AMs. Karlisss in particular asked me for tips in relation to my video and his car setup, and with a lot of practice he improved. That's why he surprised many people with his pace. It wasn't because he was cutting. He never ever gained time by cutting.

Sure, I know you said "no cutting allowed", but if you're applying it every time regardless of reason, why would you not apply it when people cut because of a mistake as well? It has to be more specific than that. The reason for forbidding corner cutting is precisely to prevent people from gaining time by doing so. If cutting loses you time instead, what harm is done to anyone except the driver who decided to cut?

I challenge anyone to try cut the chicane and gain time - it may happen by some lucky landing which doesn't send you in the wall, but that would be rare or would require an extreme setup which won't work during the rest of the lap.

Anyway, I'm not appealing or anything to this ruling, just hoping that the rule would be applied in a more specific manner for the future, only for cases where the driver gains time and/or positions. As you said, it was already stated the way it was before this race, so Karlisss should've been aware about it.

36sec ahead is ok.
so iam not fighting about penality, just want to explain point of view from my cocpit.

i racing that way, cos trying repeat some fast laps i saw on web and in replay analiser, and also did myself.
point is:
from pit exit you must hit brake (breaking point is 3mm  depends from speed and trajectory), lift brake and slightly turn in T1, car will smoothly spins and with left side goes in kerbs,
then lift up, slightly turn right, aceleration, and if needs control brake, to swingcar from T-left to T-right,
and hit with right side wheels kerbs.
then full trothle to exit T1
so ideal racing line is like goldmine
but .. i am not so skilled, as i am trying to be, but i am trying.
so i mostly miss that 3mm breaking point at pit exit, but still i am somewhere near.. so i go wider into one side or other side, sometimes i go hard in left kerb and must keep altogether to
go out from turn without loosing car.
So i didnt go on purpose with 4wheels out, cos i know wery good what means with 4 wheels out in T1 Adelaide. (crash)



ps
And straight away I posted the race thread and in red letters said:

Quote
*** NOTE ***
Drivers found with all 4 wheels on or inside the kerbs at the first chicane will risk being penalised.
there was a huge discussion about that, so somehow i miss a point, also was told WILL RISK BEING PENALISED..

Sorry to butt in, not trying to steal Mike's thunder but he clearly said don't do it in the race post and, whether to gain time or not, doing it so many times shows an intent. I don't think it would be fair to expect the moderators to get out their calculators and work out exactly whether any time was gained over a drivers average laptimes. If it was one or two mistakes I would let it ride but it wasn't.
Technically Mike could have applied time penalties for each incident but this was felt to be too draconian purely because Karliss didn't gain a great deal from it.

I'm not detracting from your great performance in the race Karliss and appreciate you say it wasn't intentional but you still go all fours off on a number of occasions.

race tread was said:
Drivers found with all 4 wheels on or inside the kerbs at the first chicane will risk being penalised.

so its not clear.
actualy for me its not clear, cos iam not english and for me clear is WILL BE PENALISED, not WILL RISK BEING...(atleast now i see what means "risk be penalised" for future)
i will try to do bether in next season.
is there any ideas what tracks there will be?

I feel a bit hard done by here as I never hit a damn thing in T1.... I was aware of trouble ahead ( mostly due to the airborne cooper directly in front) but was totally unaware that I had hit any one..  Given the terrible lag problems everyone seemed to suffer on the opening laps I feel the punishments for this race are unduly harsh.

The race thread said:


I could not say "WILL BE PENALISED" because that would include those who did it in error. I had to say "WILL RISK" so that I could ignore incidents where people did it by mistake.

If it had been done even 3 or 4 times then I would have ignored it, but the fact is that it was done many times and in my opinion not by mistake every time. As Vos said I could have added a penalty for every time it occurred or added penalty points as well. I chose to add 30 seconds as a whole for all incidents and it does not affect the race result or Karliss's driving record which is why I'm amazed it is even begin questioned.

I'm not averse to people questioning the moderation but Jesus H Christ, this is a no brainer.

However, I'm glad Karliss seems to have accepted it and wants to move on.


Yes, I have picked all 10 but we are testing some in the off season so I can't confirm them yet. There are some that we have never used before so you will have some learning to do.

The server replay shows you clearly hitting RogUK and launching him.

If he launches in front of you like that it is most likely to have warp involved, though the server shows clear contact. In a case like that you should have reported the incident and attached your client replay which may not show contact, and may have meant you got no penalty.

Looks like a clear case for appeal so I won't comment further but I wouldn't be offended if you did appeal...............

Well, I'm not going to appeal as I don't really want to cause you any more work for no real gain -  its not as if there's a championship at stake here!  In any case, I don't think I saved my client replay (I only save my replay when I know I have something to report).

An appeal causes me no extra work as I don't do it. It goes to Vosblod the Chief Moderator.

Out of courtesy I am informed and consulted but Vosblod does all the work. Appeal! Appeal!  ;D ;D

It just goes to show what an inexact science warp is too, I remember an unusual incident from Kiemola where Billy was on the straight with somebody else and they were a considerable distance apart yet one of them was warped off because the server lost track of where they were.

Really? Wow! I don't recall warp being as much a factor of online racing in the past as it has been in this season.  I think maybe our old Wireplay server was on a better network or some other such techie nonsense.
The thing that has annoyed me most about this incident report is that I went to such extraordinary lengths to avoid possible contact on lap one because of the lag. In fact I think I lost 2 or 3 places because of my caution but considered it worthwhile. Oh well, 'tis the way the cookie crumbles I guess....

The joys of racing on home connections I'm afraid, even though it should work OK on a modem, for some reason we still have bandwidth or server performance issues sometimes.

Great moderation and patience Mike I don't know how you do it.

Tough break Martin after an excellent drive to lose that third spot  ;D. But hey whats a podium among friends.....we are friends still?

Highly suspicious Ray!  My proud podium,unceremoniously pulled out from under my worthy self, by a Lotus incident, which I hadn't a chance in Hell of either predicting, or avoiding.  And all the glory thrust upon your unworthy Lotusizing shoulders . . .  highly suspicious! >:(

...and in the end I wore the Penalty Points crown!! :oops:

I totally forgot about that incident...

I really hope to do better on season 21: it shouldn't be difficult.

As you will hopefully be aware as the rules stand you cannot Appeal against an incident where you have not submitted a report; https://www.ukgpl.com/index.php/rules/league (https://www.ukgpl.com/index.php/rules/league)

However this is a bit of an anomally in moderator reviewed races such as the Novices as you won't necessarily know an incident is being reviewed. So, we are going to change the rules to allow Appeals where an incident follows a moderators review and not an incident report submitted by another driver (for which you will receive an srou PM notification).
I would say this is not a carte blanche to ignore reporting anything. If you are involved in an incident you should report it and will probably be asked, as part of any appeal process, for the reasons you did not do so.

Grats on the PP Crown  :thumbup2:

I think I can claim the Crown for a single race though  :)

In this Monaco race I was surely the King of the penalty point  ::)

https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4269#event1357 (https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4269#event1357)

The problem with this though is that I was unaware that I had been involved in an incident as no report was submitted by anyone! I`d assumed the flying cooper ahead was the result of a clash between drivers in front of me! Lesson learned here - save the client replay and submit everything  ::)

If in doubt, rat them out.

I've learnt that lesson the hard way too, now I report everything because they see everything anyway. Even if it's my fault, better to hold my hands up and accept it.

The warp thing can be annoying, I think we've all been on both sides of warp contact. I'm not an expert but I seem to remember that warp contact is more like on one side of the car than the other, is that correct?

Yes.  For a detailed explanation read this (https://www.ukgpl.com/index.php/rules/warp)