Well , my first race for a while that DIDN`T require a shift-R 

Quallified in P16  ( can`t accuse me of being too fast eh ? )
Fully expecting the normal Novices race pile up into T1 I took off easy...looked like everyone was gonna make it through the Esses unscathed....but no such luck ....halfway up the hill a Ferrari appeared out of right field  ( and I do mean right field)  from over  (or rather through) the fence to lob right behind Baldwin...the Fezza belonging to Stemmler,  Baldwin got a nudge that turned him around, Stemmler headed for the left armco..through it....through the fence...back again onto the track  ( via the same fence and armco)...NoBrakes took evasive action and spun...Poole also tried to evade but without any luck and also spun....I was next in line but got onto the middle pedal in time to almost stop  and without touching anyone....as the cars ahead parted I made my way through the mess to continue on my way, Stemmler and Poole had managed to get moving quickly and were just ahead me....NoBrakes not being so lucky was left behind still  mowing the grass !! 

From there on my `race` was a mainly good run...pacing along in P11 for the most part of the whole race......usually had someone reasonably close , either 1sec or so behind or in front of me  so not entirely a loney affair 

But...Murphies Law got into the act again and on lap7, heading for the Loop and being followed by Darwin  I took my normal brake point  and turn in point to the Loop...Darwin tried to squeeze through on my right as the `door` was closing...he mounted the kerb and grass only to bounce back onto the track and we collided side by side....he performed a very nice 360 deg. spin  as I was tossed across the track to end up in the ditch facing the wrong way !!!!    I was lucky however that I was able to drive out and resume without  the need for a shift-R...got going just as NoBrakes and M.James went by.....Poole had seen the accident and tried evasive action ( for the 2nd time) and again was again unseccessful and wound up turning turtle in the ditch.

Now down two places I got going hoping to pick up some scraps  ( crumbs) along the way...surely someone would be kind and fall over   

Well someone did and I got back up to P11 again.....but....

L30...exiting the Esses I came up fast upon M.James who had come to grief somehow...he had just done a shift-R which placed him on the left of the track..as I approached he drove to the right...probably to clear the race line ??  anyhoo...I had to zig left to avoid hitting him...this I managed and missed our wheels touching by two thickness of road dust   lol..but before i could zag right  I found myself in a wild side on slide on the grass at over 100mph...heading directly for a stationary Maestro !!!!   Holy Crappeth   
Somehow my little BT7 got some traction and steered itself past Maestro and back on track...PHEEEW !!!!  only me and the washing machine know how I felt  !!! ....in my delicate condition I can really do without a scare like that  hahahahahaha.....thank God for soft TP   

On the penultimat laps I had to slow to allow our illustrious leaders a clear passage....I think I managed that chore ok..however  on the final  lap I was being chased by Vos...who unbeknowns to me was just about leaving skid marks in his undies at the thought of having to pass this Geriatric GP Impersonator   ...so here I am yelling  ( rather loudly as my wife tells me later)  Vos  will ya fer Petes sake go past ...I gave as much room as I could but he was having kittens over it   lol...anyway he eventually took a chance and went by and I followed him over the line for the flag...

All in all not a bad race....began in P16 and made it up to P9   so that was good.....also a nice new PB  of 1:12.16   beating my previous PB done in the BT11  so again, a happy ending.
The BT7 is definately not the fastest car out there..nor am I the fastest driver...but together we managed to keep our lap times for the most part  in the 1:12s  and that I was also happy with 

Now onto to France for the next go....always like Rouen....a track that rewards good driving and bites bad drivers in the a$$     hahahahahaha

See you on the grid in Sunny France 


     

Dang ...what do I have to achieve  to get my monkier in this rag  eh ?   j/k ..it is a good fun read on our activities  ( or in my case the lack of activites )

Look forward to each and every copy...Well Done Sir Scribe 

Well well well...I actually managed to get a finish at Mexico !!!
I`ll apologise now for being such a slowbie   

This is a track that I`ve learned to dislike intensley...have (tried) driving it many many times since GPL came out....at best my efforts here could best be described as " a disaster that found somewhere to happen " !!!...in fact if my memory serves me correctly this is only the second time I`ve entered an online race at Mexico...I won`t even talk about that first one      lol
But, this time I managed to get around more or less in one piece   lol.....lately my concentration and energy levels are extremely low so my aim was to finish and stay out of everyones way if possible....I think I managed for the most part to do that    ( I need the points ye ken )

My apologies to Vos for that last lap effort at the hairpin...I didn`t realise that you had to do a shift_R mon ami.....it was, as you said, a racing incident....I certainly felt the hit  but was not impeded in any way...you were less fortunate however and I am sorry for ruining your good finsish by getting in the way 

I had some good racing along the way to make my run very enjoyable....Nicki came up on me late in the race and I tried to stay out of his way and let him through unimpeded...he chose however to drive with his head and just let me get through all them twisty bits before he made his pass on me...thanks Nicki,  nicely done and appreciated 

My BIGGIE  for the whole affair though was to finally  ( since 1998)  get a lap in UNDER 2:00.00  hahahaha  in fact I got three in a row at the end  all  in the 1:59s  with a PB of 1:59.54  so I left as a 'happy camper' 

Sorry for leaving as soon as the race ended too...my wife had dinner on the table and I thought it best to eat while it was hot    ( the food that is    )

Looking forward to Watkins Glen...see you all then..

Cheers dears 

Glyn

What happened here ?   no MAJOR pile up in turn 1 !!!!  you guys been taking driving lessons or sumfin`  
Actually it was a somewhat lonely event for me....got away well, passing Mr. Hezelman before the line    and tagging onto the the rear of the pack....saw the crash/ spin at T2 involving Poole and Vos  but figured I was on course to miss it....closley tailing Darwin  through the mess when there was a flash of red and black going across my bows !!!!  seems Vos had spun righ back across the track and somehow threaded the needle between Darwin and me  and unfortunately collecting my front -end...ooooh  I got giddy going in circles there  .....but, no reset needed..got going again as Vos took off  ( no problem there Vos..I would have just held you up anyways )...passed Ryemans car around the bend...into the slow tight right hander almost collected Hezelman who was sitting across the track after his `moment`...wheeew...that was close  ...and screaming down to the double right I find Mr. Poole has stopped for a beer and parked somwhat askew !!! ...unfortunately I was unable to avoid him and went for some more spins and a couple of 'flip-flops'  to boot...again, no reset needed...waited till he got ready to go and then took off for what was to be a very lonely run......you buggers wouldn`t even wait for me to catch up !!! ......funny thing though...I had recently installed GTL on my computer ( at persistent  requests from my other buds) and somehow had managed to alter my G25 settings quite a bit....the FFB was kicking like crazy and the wheel was as stiff as an Austin-Healy 3000 !!!!   needed lots of muscles ( which I DON`T have )  to steer the thing  so I`m really quite surprised that I did as well as I did all things being considered  
This is a great track with a good flow, but it will bite your ass if you get complacent on it  lol

Congrats to the podium guys and to all who made it to the finish....yep,  including me  


"The faster I goes the behinder I gets   "

Thanks guys for the moral support,  Mark, I`d LOVE to be racing at 100   ,  boy would that ever be something ?  lol
Unfortunately this thing is a ticking time bomb...controllable....But..unfortunately....incurable.....my only hope is that they come out with something that will halt it`s progress,  or at least slow it down enough that I can get a few more years on this planet....basically that`s all there is....not going to be an easy time for sure...but I wasn`t brought up to be a quitter.....us Brits are made of stern stuff ya know   ....yeah, born a bred in Hertfordshire to age 14...migrated to Australia where I spent the next 50 years trying to edjamikate them down there...then in 2004 I migrated to Canada to do the same here 
Lifes been good really...achieved most all of my young mans dreams....now I have a fight on my hands...and I`ll give it all I`ve got , and then some 

As the French say,  c`est la vie n`est ce pas.......or the as the Aussies say..." shit happens"    lol...yeah, I can still laugh so I`m not done for yet 

Again, thanks for the support and kind words.


ol` SLOWpoke, the Geriatric GPLer   

Hi guys,
As recently posted in the Novices section I had to undergo some blood, bone marrow and bone tests...I had the results back on Tuesday...sorry to say that the news wasn`t very good.....in fact I`m having trouble atm just getting my head around this......I have been diagnosed with Multilple Myeloma....in other words  Cancer of the Blood  :'(
I will still be racing with you, however, due to the many tests that I am going to be going through I may miss a race here or there....mainly due to some of the drugs will make me feel like crap.....c`est la vie....
I will be entering a Clinical Trials programme where I will be monitered basically 24/7  and the drug will be free ( which is a relief  )  I could go it alone but some of these drugs are darned expensive and that`s just not on for an old codger on a fixed income lol

Anyhoo..just thought I`d let you know as some may wonder about my driving skills at times   .....only to be expected when someone goes from 'perfect'  to  'WTF!!!'   hahahahahaa.

OK..I`m all set now for Imola and hoping for a decent run this time.....no more start line crashes  OK ?   

See you on a grid somewhere, sometime


Glyn
ol` SLOWpoke

 

Supposed to be excellent in the wet  so I have been told   

So is the car !!!!

Hmmmmmmm!!!  all  I get is a little square with a nice red `X` !!!!!   that`s not really 'honest' is it

ol` Slowpoke

Thanks Vos...mostly routine blood work and biopsies after my emergency op for a gall bladder trying to eminate Mt.Vesuvius   lol

All is looking good so far so that`s something   just a wee bit tender and tired right now   

Sorry not make this one guys but I was late getting back from the hospital where I was having blood work done, also bone marrow samples taken as well as samples of the bone itself.......was really hoping to be back in time as I had practiced well for Albi, a track I happen to like a lot.
Oh well...guess I`ll just have to practice for good ol` Kyalami now won`t I

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA   

Mark and Tony, you guys are too foony   

Actually there is a small folding table that fits over the pedals area and my monitor sits on that...it was in use at the computer desk that day  and I havent yet taken a pic with monitor and driver....but will do soon

Tibernius
Yes, that`s a DIY cockpit from a set of plans by Microsim  ( Australia )...cost me about $100 Cdn for the plans and hardware and about $60 or so  for the MDF...added a padded car seat cover and some 2" high density foam and "Bobs ya uncle".very comfy  and as I said in the first post..VERY immersive, especially with the G25 three pedal and shifter set up.

I have since purchased a Logitech G51   5:1 sound system to go with it for that immersive surround sound    and it works a treat too,  now I can hear the cars in front..behind..and to the sides......will have to take more pics soon I guess 

Maybe others will take to the idea...not hard to make     I did it all on the wee proch of our apartment  lol  ( one does need a sunny type of day though  lol )

Thanks guys, gonna try again with resizr proggy

DARN IT !!!!

It didn`t work ...put in the url from ripway between the [img] [img]  made sure I copied it exactly too..
must be doing something wrong...any body able to assist or advise please?

Hopefully this pic will work.
My cockpit replete with G25...monitor used is a 19" Acer LCD ( not shown)
Good reclining position and TOTAL immersion factor
Got a couple of ideas to improve it but they can wait for a while.