While I was thinking very strongly about retiring at the end of this season, it is still with some sadness that I see the league closing down, and I will for sure miss the weekly race.  Undecided about my sim racing future, but let's see how bad the withdrawal symptoms gets.

Once more a huge big thanks to Tony for all the hard work over the years, and of course to Matt & Kurt, and everyone else contributing in the background.

The race was a challenging one.  In qual, I couldn't match the one & only sub 3:15 lap I did in praccy, but surprisingly still landed pole,  Didn't know what Micha would be capable of with the Ford, and definitely expected Daz to destroy us all like usual.

Early laps were dicing with Daz. Couldn't prevent him from slipstreaming, and a few times he went alongside, but without completing the pass. On lap 2, approaching Indianapolis, he forced me to let him past by drawing alongside on the right.  I couldn't clip the apex of the corner like usual, so had to back off, for fear of going on the grass, which is often fatal there.  No sooner than Maison Blanche it was Daz in trouble however, as he had to back off, allowing me to claim the lead again.  This time with enough gap to break the tow.  Stretched the gap a little the following laps, but suddenly Daz was gone. When the gap jumped to 18 secs, it was clear that he had gone off.

Not long after I spotted his car up ahead, almost a lap down, so obvious that he had stopped for repairs.  I gradually got closer, eventually lapping him when he had a wobbly exit from Mulsanne Corner.  Not sure if it broke my concentration, but I messed up at Indianapolis, clouting the barrier. Not very hard, but the Ferrari is one of the most fragile cars I have ever driven in GTL, so of course it was damaged.  Handling still ok, but lost top speed, costing around 2 secs a lap.  Following lap, I got a 'sandy' exit from Arnage, which let Daz unlap himself.  Slipstreamed him up to Maison Blanche, where I almost binned it; just too dangerous running so close. Lost time, which created a gap, and with my damage, I wasn't able to catch him again.

Pit at the end of lap 18, for fuel & tyres.  As expected, Micha was the nearest chaser, taking the lead.  When he continued to lap 21 before stopping, it was clear that he only needed one stop. As I would have to stop again, the race now appeared unwinnable. Before my stop, I had a gap of around 30 secs to him. My first stop took 65 secs, + in/out time, with most of it spent waiting for the crew to release me.  If the 2nd stop would have the same long waiting, then it looked impossible, even without tyre change.

After Micha's stop, the gap was around a minute however, and if I pushed like crazy, I was able to add 1-2 secs to that each lap, so maybe still possible?   Gap was near 1½ minute when I did the 2nd stop, on lap 36.  It went fast however, so in the end it didn't become the close finish I had expected, and I could ease off a little over the remaining laps.

Both proud & humble to have won the final UKGTL race, a special one indeed.  Definitely not in the cards, with the strong contenders lined up. Hope for a speedy recovery for the absent DD.  Grats to Micha & Fulvio for joining me on the lonely podium, and big commiserations to all the victims of the unforgiving track, not least Clive with a way too soon exit, after heroically having just made it it in time!

Thanks to everyone for the great racing over the years, and my very best wishes for whatever the future brings!

Replay sent

Tony, you can of course have my replay if you like; it shoud be complete (checking it now)

After the first, abysmal race, I came close to dropping the entire series.  Glad I didn't, as the remaining races have been both challenging and fun - some of the best fun in this season actually.

Qualifying for this race was far from stellar.  Nowhere near my pb - lost 3 laps; one to a cut warning, and two to cars exiting the pits right in front of me, just as I was starting my flying laps. Can't afford that with only a 10 mins session.

After the start, Clive ahead of me seemed to get a good tow from Daz, and I couldn't quite keep up.  Behind me, a close Fulvio vanished at the end of L1.  Clive & Daz slowly slipped away.  After many laps, the gap to Clive had finally started to drop a little. Just then I see Daz exiting the pits after his drive-thru, ready to give Clive another tow - bummer!!    Gap more or less held for the next many laps - I couldn't really close the gap.  Kept up the chase for long, but of course all artificial, as I eventually had to do my own drive-thru, thwarting any hopes of a challenge.

Grats to Daz on the win & to Clive on 2nd - and a most un-Clive'sk stable run 

Can only echo Geoffers' sentiments - a huge big thank you to Tony is not nearly enough, and thanks also to Matt for being the saviour when we needed a new home.  Shame you can't do the Xmas special Geoffers, but wish you all the best in future endevors. It has indeed been an honour & a privilege racing with you & the rest of the gang.

A race that was most interesting in the early parts.

Got a less than stellar start, so any hopes of stealing the lead like last time were squashed - barely managed to hold off Clive at T1.  As Daz made a rapid getaway, it was clear that my main battle would be with an insistent Clive, right on my bumper. Couldn't shake him over the early laps, but gritted my teeth, focused and got the barest of gaps over a couple of laps. Then Clive ran a bit wide at T1, increasing it to 2 secs.  One or two laps later, he was suddenly gone. Ironically, I almost went off myself, scoping for him in the mirrors - devious plan, Mr. Evil, doing a spin to lure me into crashing, but better luck next time  

Gap now was around 8 secs, but when it started dropping, I wondered whether Clive had got a 2nd wind, or if it was maybe Daz who had done an early drive-thru, to spice up an otherwise boring race.  He was fast, but I found it strange that I couldn't see him at all up ahead.  I have disabled the driver list in XD, and on this track, XD's display obscures most of the pit board, so I can only see the gap to the car behind - not my own position.  As the gap continued to drop, a red car eventually appeared in the mirror.  Played along with the racing until Daz caught up & passed, although it was never truly a race, as I had yet to do my own drive-thru.

Grats to Daz on another certain win (and the Championship), and to Fulvio for completing the podium.  Commiserations to Clive; his premature and unfortunate exit removed much of the excitement in the race - not sure I could have kept 2nd, with the drive-thru, had he completed the race.

Oulton Park has never been a favorite of mine, given its very unforgiving nature; always ready to punish the slightest transgression with the killer curbs.  This time however, in addition to being very challenging and tricky, it was actually good fun powersliding the car through the corners.

Daz got a somewhat wobbly start, allowing me to snatch the lead.  10 exciting laps of very close racing followed, 8 of them in front of Daz. Kudos to him for keeping it very clean - very close, but never any contact.  I did try not to shut the doors too firmly, unless he was very decidedly behind me; never quite sure if he was going for move or not.  He did get alongside or even ahead a few times, but backed out sooner before the corner at T1 - this explains 2 of the lead swaps Kurt  

Daz was clearly quicker, but it's very difficult to overtake a similar car here, unless its driver makes a mistake. Eventually, the slightest of wobbles from me exiting T1 gave Daz the opportunity to get past.  Once I lost the tow after a couple of laps, it was not possible to keep up anymore.  Swapped places again when Daz went for his drive-thru, apparently as he was coming up on back markers.  A few laps later it was my turn, and we swapped places for the final time.

Grats to Daz & Matt.   Commiserations to Clive, although I would have paid good money to see your antics with the cat..

A mostly static race for me.

Small mistake at the end of L1 let Clive past, and there was no way to hang with the straight-line speed of the Merc.  Thus he pulled out a 10-secs lead over a number of laps and mostly kept it there.  My not yet decided pit strategy quickly became one of no tyre change.  Clive obviously on similar strategy although he did pit before me. My only hopes were that his driving style would fry his tyres, and/or that he would fumble the pit stop     Neither the case though. My own stop wasn't the fastest, but even an optimum one wouldn't have changed anything.

Grats to Daz & podium, to Daz for Championship, and to Clive for 3rd  

An interesting series with some nice cars.  Big thanks to Tony for the organizing & ideas

A race with a few surprises.  Quite enjoyed the track, with the fast curves.

Surprised in qual to be - if not outright challenging for pole - then at least fairly close to Daz.  Good start, keeping 2nd & staying very close to Daz over the opening laps - even got ahead for a short stretch.  We both made a small mistake in the final turn, me being a little 'better' at it, creating a small gap. Repeated it next lap, extending the gap further, so I was losing the tow.

Still not too far behind, when Daz went to serve his drive thru fairly early, lending me the lead.  The gap back to him afterwards was around 9 secs and holding, but when it suddenly jumped to 19 secs, everything was turned upside down!
If our apparent equality wasn't too artificial, I might actually have a chance at winning the race!   After my drive thru, the gap was just under 10 secs, with some 11 laps to go.  Remaining laps countdown went agonizingly slowly, Had to push maximally & just one mistake could throw everything away.  Gap held pretty good, but during the closing laps, it started to drop, but in the order of 0.5 secs a lap, so not enough to change the standings.

Not often anyone manages to wrestle a win from Daz, so quite the unexpected result!

Grats/commiserations to Daz, and congrats to Clive for completing the podium!

Can only echo what Matt & Clive have already said!

That you have kept it up week after week in all these years, is beyond commendable  

Huge big thanks for all the efforts, and my very best wishes for your future endeavors

A mostly lonely and rather boring race, apart from the challenge of avoiding those silly indestructo corner markers, and concrete hay bales.

Got a bump from Matt on L1, sending me off & barely avoiding those concrete bales.  Dropped a few places, but made it past Tony later on that lap. Was gaining on Matt over a few laps, when in the same place as before, I put a rear wheel outside the track. Promptly lost the rear, smacking nose first into the barrier.  Continued, making up places as others were retiring with terminal damage.  Apologies to the few I lapped for not flashing a 'thank you' - headlights were busted by the shunt.

Earlier, I half jokingly proposed that 1st place must do 3 drive throughs, 2nd 2 drive throughs, and 3rd place 1 drive through.  Ironically, even with this rather extreme measure, Daz would still have won, with a 28-secs gap...     I think it's safe to say that handicaps aren't going to change things, apart from 2nd & down maybe.     Oh, and now that I apparently have made it to 2nd myself, I of course find my own suggestion an exceedingly bad idea.. 

Another quite interesting race.  Picked the Sierra, as it was by far the fastest of my remaining cars, for me anyway. Had to live with all the 1st gear corners then - anything to keep that propeller spinning..

Dreadful start as always with this car - bog totally down, or drown in wheelspin. Got jumped by the Beemers of Daz & Fulvio.  Made a move on the outside of the latter after the back straight. Bad idea; we rubbed shoulders and I was sent flying off, dropping to the bottom of the field.  Tony most graciously waved me past when I caught up to him.  Next up was the group of Matt, Clive & Fulvio. Matt had a small off, which I exploited to nip past.  Damn near took Clive out when he had a moment in the final turn before the sprint up the hill. Gave me the opportunity to outdrag him up the hill however.

Few more laps and I was closing in on Fulvio. Made a move at the end of the back straight, but then went a little wide in the corner, so Fulvio did a switcheroo on the inside. Once more we swapped paint, and once more I went on the grass, but at least kept driving this time.  Repeated the move next lap, this time keeping a tight line through the corner.  Took some laps, but eventually started to open a gap to Fulvio.  He joined me in the pits on lap 17. He didn't change tyres, as I did, but with the gap + time lost in the pits, we exited at the same time.  Sierra is impossible to get going with the limiter on, but didn't dare turn it off to rev the engine, for fear of landing a S/G.  Thus Fulvio got out ahead of me.  On his worn tyres against my brand new ones, he was a sitting duck however, and a small moment allowed me to slip past.

Quickly stretched the gap on my new rubber.  Up ahead, the leaders were pulling away as well, so in my own little bubble.  Towards the end though, things started to get very interesting. The 46 secs gap to the car ahead suddenly dropped to 31 secs. One lap later it was 21 secs, so clearly the driver was in trouble. One more lap and we were down to 10 secs, with one lap remaining.  Smelling blood for real now, I gave it all I could on my now worn tyres, but not enough - still 3 secs left when the race finished...

Grats to Ziu, and to Daz for pulling off the fuel saving after all, at least for taking 2nd!

An interesting race with some potential, but as usual it proved impossible to beat the odds in the end.   Hated the track profoundly when I did the initial practice in the Sierra; all those 1st gear corners...  Helped considerably once I swapped to the Beemer & Merc instead, but will never be a favorite (unsurprisingly, as Tilke apparently was allowed to spoil this track as well..)

By mistake I did most of qual on race fuel.  Realized with 4 mins to go, so only just time enough for draining the tank and put in one timed lap. Surprisingly it was enough to snatch pole from the claws of Daz; not often that happens      Good start, only just hanging on to the lead before T1.  Kept it for a few laps, but my advantage in the tighter corners & exits wasn't enough to offset the massive on-power advantage of Daz' Holden, and soon he flew past down the straight.  Tried to maintain the pressure for a few laps, but as he eased away, my tactics changed.  Now trying to be as smooth as possible, to conserve the tyres.  Doing a no-change stop was my only chance of reclaiming the lead, providing of course that Daz would change tyres.

That he did, and I inherited the lead. Did my stop for fuel at the end of L22.  After one more lap, with 7 to go, the gap was 10 secs.  That was never going to be enough on my worn tyres, and Daz appeared in the mirrors after a few more laps. With 2-3 remaining, he once more sailed past on the straight.  So very close, but again it was disappointingly impossible to change the given-in-advance result.  At least it sounded like Daz had to work a little for it this time; guess that's the most we can hope to achieve... 

Grats to Daz on another one, and to Fulvio on completing the podium!   Commiserations to Clive & Paul for their early exits.

You'll be missed for sure Geoff; hope to see you back soon!!

I may be in again; cut the cable & removed the bad part, soldering it together again.  Some bloody thin buggars inside, so lord knows how long it will last, but right now it appears to work.

Will unfortunately have to miss this one too and maybe the rest of the season, as my steering wheel cable is caput.  Will have to contact Thrustmaster and inquire whether it's possible to replace it.

Videocard alright - putting an older one in, gave me an image on screen.  However, reinstalled the regular, supposedly defective one, and it worked again!  Maybe it's just jealous of the new rig, but the threat of being replaced by an even older card, made it come to its senses..