SimRacing.org.uk

UKGPL Season 21 65 Novices Trophy
Race 8 Rouen

Bonjour mes amis, Round 8 of the season sees a welcome return to Rouen-Les-Essarts, a great circuit built on public roads with both fast sections, a slippery chicane and blind bends.

Rouen hosted five Formula One French Grand Prix races and is featured in the original game because of the blandness of the Bugatti track. Good choice.

With a wide opening section there shouldn't be too many T1 problems but please be careful when the field is compressed at the hairpin. French polos are every bit as tough as the Mexican variety.

Please see the Novices registration thread for an explanation of the chassis allocations shown below:
https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=9196.0

FULL TIME

DRIVER	CHASSIS
Billy NoBrakes	BT11
Nigel Smith	Honda
Maddog	Cooper
Il_Lupo	Ferrari
HappyAl	Ferrari
NHance	BT7
Norbert	Ferrarii
Blito	BRM
RogUK	Cooper
BadBlood	Honda
Francesco	Ferrari
Karliss	Cooper
Cookie	Cooper
DuFossa	BT11
Economia	BRM
JonnyO	BT11

RESERVE

DRIVER	CHASSIS
Dave Rainier	Lotus
Maestro	Cooper
Bookie	1
Fragfritz	1
GTA66	1
s2173	BT11
ivandjj	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 = 09/08/2011
Time = 21:00 UK time
Track = Rouen
Variant = 65F1
Damage Model = Int
Qualifying time = 35 minutes
Race length = 18 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 Novice Championship Page (http://www.)

Hi miner2049er,

I raced in East London with the Lotus33.

what car is possible for me in Rouen ? I don't see my name in the list among full time and reserve drivers.

Thanks
Dave     

My mistake.

I've added you. Keep the same car.

Thanks  ;)

(what means chassis = 1 ? see Bookie for example)

The chassis in Novices are allocated according to groups.

See here.

https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=9239.0

What about race reports?
I need to post two ones within tonight as tomorrow at dawn I will fly to Rodhes for holiday and I'll be back only on 25th.
Should I send them to the mods with a PM?
Thx mates for your quickest feedback!

Despite a massive warp the race was fun indeed with a lot of overtakings!
I was lucky to survive the hairpin crash at lap 1 but I had a lot of issue with 2nd (mainly) and 4th gears turning into neutral when downshifting.
It happened mostly when braking before the hairpin and Scerie (2nd) and turn 1 or Gresil (4th): could it be related to the warping connection or the shifter of my G25 is dying?!?
Because of this issue I lost a brand new 4th place at Scerie, when I spun after inserting again the 2nd gear that suddenly turned into neutral.
Then it was really hard to pass Sky, as it was warping like a mad, but it left room enough on the inside at Gresil.
The chase of the third place was really harder with Francesco: we had a first contact before Paradis but I restarted in fornt of him.
Then I had some issues with my gears so he overtook me again.
I was quicker than him, so I overtook him again until when, trying to overtake me at Scerie, he didn't brake right and throw me out of track.
As I will miss Oulton, see you all at Keimola!
Long Live GPL, Long Live UKGPL!!

It was indeed a fun race but I don't think I actually overtook anybody unless the had crashed! I had reasonable pace and was pleased with a PB in qualifying. Got taken out at T2 from behind which was unfortunate and then it was VERY hard to find a way through the hairpin. I stopped and then tried to inch my way through and there were cars exploding left right and centre. Not sure how Mike is going to sort that one out.

After that I had a great battle with Martin who was quicker but I could hold him off, just. He disappeared (hopefully not my fault but I will check) and then I was battling with Rog and holding him off but then I span at the end of the straight and he was through. Losts of chasing but I couldn't quite get to him. Then it was Al coming out of the pits and I just couldn't quite get past. I had a handy lead over Karliss but I got scruffy and that disappeared. The car handling got a bit stroppy and I found it very hard into the hairpin - very twitchy under braking so I was VERY cautious. Al crashed and then Rog parked it on the hairpin. Unfortunately I couldn't get past and ended up in the tyres. Quick reverse and Karliss was on my tail. He took me at the end of the long straight as I was being cautious there too and I set about staying with him so that I could get past with a tow. That was OK until I got scruffy again and he got away I then crashed at the hairpin with a lap and a half to go. That put Norm right on my tail (hope I didn't block but I will look) and I felt like I could hold him off. Not sure who was behind at the hairpin but got a little tap on the last lap and was relieved to get away in one piece.

Tenth was about right but irritating that I made three little mistakes that cost a lot of time and meant I couldn't challenge higher up. Happy to have improved to the point that I did not get lapped (just) and I was running within 1% or so of the leaders - so much better than last season.

Fun race on the whole.

Largely a race to forget for me, apart from my qualify time.

In the pre race practices I’d been mainly doing 2:10, with the odd 2:09 thrown in with a tow, so to get 2:06.5 in qualifying with no tow was a very surprising result from me. I know Paul thinks I was sand bagging in our pre race practice but I promise that I wasn’t, if anything the advice he gave me helped me a lot, so thanks Paul, my good time is due to you.

I’ve also been practicing my starts, because I’ve lost out on the last 3 or 4 starts now. I got a great start in this race, and lead for half the first lap. It went down hill from there. Just about everyone was faster than me and they all got past without too much trouble, I couldn’t do much about it and to be honest I wasn’t going to defend too much. After 3 laps or so I was 5th (I think) the car in front got onto the dirt and lost a lot of time going onto the main straight, I got along side quite easily, at this point we where entering the right hand curve and would of got past if he didn’t decide that he liked my side of the track more than his and bumped me off.

I needed a Shift & R here and took my stop and go. This left me down the field, with Paul Badblood on my tail. It was hard work keeping Paul behind, that Honda is a quick beast and if he got in front I don’t think I would have been able to get back past. We had a few laps of great fun, and I hope that it was all fair for you Paul :) Once I got temperature back into the tyres, and Paul made a small mistake which gave me room, I managed to pull away a tiny bit. I was closing in on Jason and Rog having a close fight. They touched and Rog when flying, He actually bounced over my car, so I gave him a wave :)

At this point I lost concentration a little at this point and got a little wild again. Sorry to anyone who was caught up in my many spins at this point. I did try to stop the car and let anyone past who was behind, and I think I controlled my rejoins but I don’t have my reply so I can’t check. Anyway after my little excesses I was right with Paul Badblood again, and I was looking forward to putting some pressure on him in the final laps of the race.

At this point my wife obviously got fed up with my swearing at the screen, mainly due to my own bad driving, and left the room. My PC is in our bedroom, with a cable going into the ADSL router. This cable has lost it’s clip so just pushes into the router, my wife must of disturbed this cable because I lost all connection and got kicked out of GPL. To be honest it was probably for the best, the red mist was starting to appear again and I don’t like driving like that.

Overall an enjoyable race from me, and unexpected qualifying position meant that I was out of place on the grid, and was really a sitting duck for the faster guys. It’s a shame that I had that bump with another driver which meant that I needed to do a shift & r, as I was quite settled at that point and think I might have been able to bring home the car 5th or 6th, but it wasn’t to be. At very least I’m happy that I’ve moved up from where I was only a few races ago.

It really was only just, I really thought you had me a few times.... You where good at this track, keep up the progress Paul, and I'm sure you'll be in a Cooper before you know it :)

The lap 1 hairpin incident did for me really which was a pity after a 4th place qually. Thought at the time I may be about to have a Watkins Glen moment after the race but I haven't ;)
Dropped me to 10th then 12th & a spin made it 14th. Lonely race & I did some pretty poor laps after that. Fossa appeared just after half way but he went off on the last corner of the race & I passed to finish 11th.
I've had better but there's always another one  ;D.  Well done the front 3 & thanks to team mate Clutch for a couple of invaluable tips :-X.
Norm H

This was a 1st for me, umm . . . I mean my setup, as once online, it was actually instantly improved !  So a decent practice time came easily - the only worry being the warp, which either I, or the Server was throwing up.  I've a Webpage on this subject ATM,  and I wondered weather I should race.  Decided to give it a go, find a space, and try to stay out of trouble.  Except that, once the cogs and wheels started turning, things didn't quite go according to plan. :-\

From a sensible 9th on the grid, I passed 2 Ferrari's and a Brabham, off the line, then another Brabham on the next straight. And at the hairpin, I watched two of my stablemates tangle, which meant I was up to 3rd after only half a lap !  At this point it became obvious, the lead would be the safest place.  And I could tell, by the squabbling from the two up ahead, I'd soon be on their tails.

I breezed past Al at the start of lap 2, heading into the first left hander,  but in the process, started to worry excessively about my potential warpiness.  I hung myself out on a dangerously wide line, put two wheels on the grass, and glided serenely off down to last place, with the aid of a tree, which had gently grabbed my wheel.  This was not in accordance with my plan !! >:(

It was a full 3 laps before I calmed down, and remembered to stop at the pits.  Thereafter, the rest of the race was spent, glued to Badblood's tail, wondering how to make a safe pass.  I was impressed by his non-cooperation, until sadly, I commenced to wink out in the braking zone.  Without further ado, upon my return, his car tossed me apon my helmet, and it was race over.

It seems as though, every time I opt for a quiet race these days, nobody listens to me !  Anyway, some impressive racing to be seen.  Especially from Dave and Cookie at the front, and by a pair of Ferrari's dicing to the death on the last lap, for 3rd.  Our extreme driving, has produced some capable extremities !  :)

  Congratulations to Rainier!!

  It was a terrible day for me, IGOR indicated that I did not have the track installed on my game. So I could not get in!

  I tried reinstalling the track but refused to IGOR aceitar.Faltava 3 minutes. That's when I tried to get by and got IP, 2 minutes and 20 missing segundos.Consegui do just one lap timer and do the 7 th time.

  The race had all that trouble in rairpin and lost a long time, after all these problems reaching number 7 in the end still not all lost.
  In the last five laps I had a lot of pressure of  R.UK65 Pilot (???),hope I have not committed any irregularity in this dispute.
 

That is a real pity Martin. I was enjoying the battle. Hope I was clean - appreciated the room you left. Your engine was noisier than mine most of the time but ominously it did disappear a few times... I wondered what had happened. You were faster but I think I was legit (or out of control...). Was fun whilst it lasted. I had the same problem getting by Al later on and he was super clean and just fast enough...

This happened with 7 laps to go.The server went a bit loopy and Rog disappeared whilst close in front of me. I could hear his engine note through those fast sweepers and so I eased off the throttle and cruised down to the hairpin. The engine note went quiet and I never saw Rog again...

For me, this was a mostly quiet event, having qualified near the back. I took a gentle start and proffited massively from the predicted lap one chaos. It happens every time at Rouen and I did post a reminder of this in game just before the flag so there is no excuses for the guilty! I basically cruised around for the rest of the race, getting passed a couple of times, but basically keeping it clean. Only the the above mentioned warp incident with Rog spoiled an otherwise perfect run... Giggle of the day was watching Happy Al throw his car into a celebratory spin immediately following his inch-perfect pass on me! Good work fella!!

Yeah, I was pretty surprised when my stablemate missed his braking point...

After a last lap qualification to 3rd, my start was good and I closely followed the leaders down to this black point of the race.
In my practicing I had especially trained this braking to not stick in this ugly tires...
But I was lucky and could leave the hairpin short after Martin, unhurt with the red Baron Fran in my neck.
Now a close battle began, that lasted 4 laps, with great respet and fairness!
After 2 laps Fran caught me at the end of the long straight, but messed the braking into the hairpin 2 laps later.
From that moment I was in 2nd place and just controlled my distance to Fran until the finish line.
Gratz to David for this great win, hope to see you soon as my stablemate ;D

:chef:

another "oldstyle" race for me.....
so do personal reasons and a lot of work i reinstall my pc in a race day morning. Also practised Rouen track some 3 1/2 hours before race only.
anyway i did my PB in qual and i started in P5.... after start i went up to P4 and some huge warp starts....
so i had messed first sector with jumping cars (also Cookie, tried to avoid, but sorry)
and most terrible actions i made in hairpin... in entering i lost control, tried to handle car and brake hard... blocked wheels and technicaly in my replay i didnt hit noone (only terrible dangerous driving) but i believe in server replay i hit Cookie.... anyway with that "Jedi Force Push" we both flow high up in the sky with like rockets...realy sorry.
After race chat i thought it was N.Hance.. and even didnt apoligize for you... so Sorry onece more.
did frustrated Shifts+R so one for real, and second in the same place. so for first i pited in the same lap, for second i pited at the final lap, before finish line (to be in rules)
anyway started long journey in lap1 from last position (2nd race in row) and climbed up by other driver mistakes... only real batles i had with DuFossa... and Badblood....
must say, i didn't expect that Cooper will be same fast as Badbloods Honda lol....
so no chances with two Shifts and two spining mistakes out of grass during race...
happy i wasnt laped (cos lap was above 2mins )
congratz Winner
and yes... seems championchip dream is over, cos next race i will mis.
(anyway i didnt plan to be so far in champ points before this season, didn't plan to win and didn't plan to fight for title in midle of it... so it was great)

Karliss, I went into Rouen with ZERO hours practice! In fact, this season I have only been doing practice sessions if either the car or circuit is new to me! And so last night, as usual, I spent the qualifying session refining the cars setup (mostly gearing) and getting used to braking points... Set my PB with full race fuel (again as I usually do!) and had a nice careful race to a 6th place finish. I think you need to try find a different excuse m8 :D

 Turns out i might have been partially the reazon for wrapping, i wondered why I get only 19-24 fps in race... turns out thet for unknown reasons i have put my AGP videocard speed to 0. I had some wierd occurancies at the Scierie corner too, with car randomly pulling to the left exacly before the braking zone, which was pity, because in practices that was the place I was faster compared to others. In race i never registered a lap below 2.10, which was slow and im suprized i finished so high... generaly did a clean race with 2 spins at the last laps, when it didnt really matter.

Wouldn't have been if I had driven better :D

indeed... i didn't mention - i never didn't race on Rouen with 65 and also du no if i ever raced any other mod on this track using wheel.
so no difference for me - same unknown track.
and dont panics about my practise time spent on this game. I duno if there is anything in this life where you can be succesful without spending time on it.
Hristo dont practice only for now, but i dont believe hi didn't practice while ago before reached his alien status.
i will spent a lot of time of practising in future, so dont worry
reson - i feel a lot comfortable when i can race faster than all other cars on track without pushing hard at all (with gap for limit)
:)

I approach my racing from a totally different persepctive. I practise as little as I can get away with! There is so much more to life than playing computer games, and thus I practice only enough to keep myself off the back of the grid! What matters to me is that I enjoy my racing and I enjoy racing most when I'm wheel to wheel with another guy, matters not if I'm racing for the win or for 15th...

What's the point of doing something if you're not giving it all you have? Fun? Real fun comes from doing something you like and doing it properly by giving it your full attention and effort, so if someone likes to spend hours practicing for GPL, that's their choice. It has nothing to do with whether this is a computer game or not...

Thanks Jonny !

It is not arrogance to say this was a very easy win for me.
For 2 reasons : I had the only Lotus and this is a really superior car in mod65 and I know by heart this track !
With a Cooper, I don't think I would have been able to compete with Axel !
So except the first lap, it was a lonely race for me and a little bit boring one !

Well Done Rainier,

You where by far the quickest driver on the day and you deserve the victory. A really great drive from you, I wish to be closest to you at future races :) if only to make your racing more interesting.

Yes, well done Rainier, you truly were far quicker than the rest of the field ... Now bugger off and play with the Prozzies instead :D

Yes, his lap time would be good enough for the front rows if Pro would race there right now. Looking forward to racing you, Rainer.  ;D

Thanks all for your nice comments  ;)
As I wrote, Rouen is one of my prefered tracks. and Lotus33 is far quicker than the other 1965's F1 ...especially the Cooper.
With the german league GPLracer, this year I ran with BRM and finished only 9th !

But no problem for me, if now I have to take another car or to run with the "Pros"  :)

I think it would be a knee-jerk reaction if your car is changed because of a single race result. As for moving to Pro, such switches usually happen before the start of the next season.

No changes will be forced on you this season.

Even if you win every race you won't affect the top of the championship and would only finish mid table.

Next season you would have the option of a slower car in Novices but would probably be better suited to a higher division.

But you are free to take another car to get less boring races  ;D

@ Hristo
This is his second race with a superior pace...

:chef:

Well, if he was put in Novices and not in Pro, there must be a good reason for that? It goes to show though, that the idea of testing a driver prior to joining a division (which many were against), would help a lot in such cases.

I will not race in Oulton Park due to my holidays.
But in Keimola, I'll drive another car than Lotus.

Next season, I'll be happy to race in the higher division !

Well you are welcome to take a slower car for the final race if you like.

I think we should see Dave race a few more times before condemning him to promotion.. His lap times in the recent Porsche event at Rouen were about on a par with mine (and as usual I had done next to no practice for that event) so perhaps his 65 Rouen pace is not by itself a reliable enough indicator of his overall performance.

To condemn, suggests punishment.  I'd hope that most of us race online, for close, and realistic competition, which means finding a group with a similar skill level.  It's more fun, more motivational, and gives a greater sense of achievement.  If winning is vital, you could try racing your neighbours, or perhaps their grand children, or slow the Ai down? :(

You're right about the competition part, Martin, but the purpose of competition is to have a winner, so it's about both the challenge and the winning.  ;)

Agreed Hristo, and if it was only about winning, you'd find your tracks a lot quieter. ;)

Before any condemn and punishments  :laugh: I would say for my defense I have now a certain experience of mod67 and mod65, a recent (in)experience of mod GT (as this is a recent mod) and almost no experience at all of mod 66 ...and i cannot play with mod69 : quite every time my PC crash when I try to play mod69 !   

let's finish that season (and due to my holidays I will miss the next races) and for the next season, I'll do what the UKGPL's Ecclestone decide for me  ;)

Apologies but the mod for this race will not be done before Round 9 on Tuesday as I am on holiday again this week until Wednesday.

I will publish both round 8 and round 9 mods before the final race so drivers going into the final race know what the standings are (pending any appeals of course).

Race Mod Published.