Hmmmm................There were a lot of "incidents" in both races which shuffled things a little more than perhaps was ideal.

Monza is notorious for Lap 1 incidents at Curve Grande and Parabolica and it does not seem to matter how many times drivers are urged to "be careful" , ambition overrides skill and track space and the result is a crash fest  

I was lucky with the F2's and slipped through the wreckage almost untouched to find myself on the back of the leading group. I was happy to sit there for a few laps and allow the group to stretch a gap back to the recovering pack. I knew that there were some of those very quick Matras behind and I was keen to have some safety margin.
On a track like Monza with evenly matched cars it is almost impossible to overtake and pull away unless the car you are racing actually makes a big mistake and you get a couple of seconds gap. So, I was amazed at the moves being made ahead of me between the 4 cars!!!! From where I was watching it was very entertaining but GEEEEZ was it risky at times. The inevitable happened, and 2 cars tangled big time leaving 3 cars in the group.
Still plenty of laps to go and although the Lola BMW was capable of pulling some high revs in the draft and keeping up with the FVA's it failed miseerably when faced with a wall of fresh air   So I sat in the slipstream and only made some practice moves to use on the last lap.
It was all looking perfect until the two cars in front touched and just when I thought.."I'm through and away in 1st place " a spinning car clipped me and I was dropped way down the field!! rats!!!!
I salvaged a half decent result by using the moves I had practiced during the race and picked up 2 places between Ascari and the finish line on the last lap.
Apologies to Dave Curtis for moving across on him mid race..my fault I had simply lost track of where you were.,,

I was half expecting that the 69x's would cause problems between the Heavies in their much grippier cars against the wingless wonders of the Lights which might be quick in a straight line but definitely presented a challenge under braking and cornering.
Once again there was a pile of scrap metal at various places and I was caught up in the first one and lost a wheel so had to reset. The rest of my short race was a series of being clipped by other cars as they span or bounced off each other until eventually I was nudged at Parabolica and snared in the hedge.

Big grats to Paul on FL in the 69x's and to the podiums in both races.

I think that the use of the unwinged cars in 69x might "balance" the Lights and Heavies, but drivers will need to be aware of the difference in the way the cars behave and leave room accordingly.

Just a heads up..but T1 at Lime Rock ( the next track) is like Parabolica    so be warned

N.P Walter,
 I was trying a totally new setup for the Mirage with demon tweaks by the Blue Moose backroom boffins. The result was a car that was capable of over 210mph on the Mulsanne with even the slightest draft, but needed some more development to cope with corners etc!.

I was hoping to start at the back of the grid ( something I achieved by harnessing all my skill during qualifying ) and then test the slipstream on Lap 1 hopefully picking up several places. The incident at T2 put a stop to that and the rest of the race was fun catching those who ran off and occasionally picking up a tow.
Eventually the handling on the corners caught me out and a clip  of a grass verge resulted in a spectacular crashh, which ought to be on You tube.!!

Thanks for the fun guys and grats to those who finished both on the podium and further back. I think there should be a couple of PROPER GT races i.e Full Length endurance races for these cars somewhere in the season just for fun. It is what they were built for  

Geez Paul, sounds like you have had it rough my friend.   

Hope that you recover quickly mate (and not just because I don't want to be last!!)  and you are at Monza on Monday evening..... I'll be looking for you

It will be a while before I tame these GT's, they don't build them like they do in GPL!!!!

So, just so that I have this clear.............

This is the last race of the Formula 2 season and there is a Blue Moose masquerading as a red dog with goggles, a Dutch circuit with a partially Italian identity crisis, talk of German speaking reindeer getting involved and the race will start with everyone rushing towards someone called Tarzan in cars that are of Aussie origins?

Based upon this insight can we assume that ............. the race will start two days after it has finished and should be won by a polar bear in drag whilst driving at the rear of the field, racing around Monaco onto which they have grafted the Mulsanne straight?

It can only be Christmas on UKGPL in England..........

Thanks for the positive comments guys. But please remember that it ws not all my work, Axel helped in the construction of the original concept for this series AND he was the one who made the servers work for 2 races each ( and every) Friday!!! If the servers had been left to me we might not have had a friday series!!!  So my personal thanks to Axel for all of his work on this series.

Keep the comments coming, even negative ones if you think there was something that you did not like? Personally I cannot believe that there could be anything wrong but maybe I overlooked some minor detail? 

I think resets are like Marmite  , you either like them or hate them.
 I guess it also depends upon your reasons for racing GPL? If you see it as a chance to have some fun throwing these old style cars around some famous circuits and that "floats your boat", then a reset or two is not going to matter.
If on the other hand, you are looking for the realism and thrill of racing in the 60's and want to be as true to how it was as you can get, then a reset  just shatters the realism.

They are invaluable when you are learning GPL or a new circuit, but personally I do feel that in a real (online) race it ought to be like it would in real life. If you blow your engine, remove a couple of wheels against the armco or make a serious attempt to re arrange the scenery then you should not expect to reach the chequered flag.
In some races we do allow resets for all, but I kind of feel slightly dishonest if I have to use it, and often my enthusiasm for the rest of the race is somewhat diminished. Whereas if I take a fragile, car such as the 67 Honda, and somehow compete at the sharp end AND preserve all the whizzy bits right up to the end of the race , it does give me a warm glow.

If you want to run in the PRO's next season Tony you might find that your approach serves you well. The level of competition is high, but because things are closer to the edge at the front, so is the attrition rate. So those who keep their cars in one piece often pick up places as the race progresses. I don't see that approach as "wrong" at all, because as in real life racing "to finish first ( or anywhere else) first you have to finish!"
There are no prizes for being blisteringly fast over 3 laps in a 25 lap race.But balancing your pace against survival is the key.

I hope you do try Pro's next season Tony as you might find the different ethos more to your liking and maybe can persuaded to fiddle with some setups lol!

Thanks Tony

Thanks for the feedback guys. 

I take on board comments about the limited car choice, but the original intention was to give the slower drivers a chance to hassle the faster boys, by effectively handicapping the aliens to the less favourable cars.  Although it did work to some extent by narrowing the gap and on one or two circuits we even saw some new names on the podium, it still did not bring the whole field together.
The problem with trying to level the field by using car choice, is that some classes do not have a big enough range of cars to make that work, hence Mark was stuck with the Fezza in the Can Ams( although he could have used the Porsche if he wanted a man's car!  lol).

If this series is popular enough to return next season I have a few ideas up my sleeve that might make the racing closer and give the slower drivers a bigger chance of getting onto the podium, at the same time making the aliens really work for their points. But it will depend on which of the mods are left over for the Friday series after all the official championships are chosen.

Keep the feedback coming, especially welcome from the Heavies who had the option of the faster cars, did the format work for you?

"to go faster, simply concentrate harder" someone famous once said I think his name was J.Clark. But I find it makes my brain hurt 

As my team mate did you absolutely have to point out that I had a dismal 65 season??? 

Unfortunately I missed the start of the GT race and all the fun.
 I was in chat, trying to offer some ideas to Sergio, who for some reason was unable to join the race server. I confess that I am probably not the best qualified to offer ANY advice related to computers and the interweb, but I felt that I should at least try.
Anyhow, the race started without us and we sat and waited for the Can Am race before trying to get Sergio connected again. Still we had no joy and I only joined qually with about 4 mins to go.
It worked out that I did 2 warm up laps in the Can Am Porker and just crossed the line to get in a 3rd flying lap on full tanks before qually finished.
It was a good 1.5 secs off my PB but enough to get me 3rd on the grid....so not too bad I thought.

Martin had his Lola on pole ( that was gonna be a challenge to pass around here!) Mark ( I think?) was 2nd on the inside line for Paddock Hill bend. So the plan was ...get a flying start in the Porker and nail Paddock bend around the outside. So that if all worked out I should be into 2nd spot and on Martin's tail into Druids. That should put me in a good place to sneak past somewhere if Martin left an opening

You have to admit, it was a good plan, Maybe I should have shared it with other drivers so that they all knew what to do??

The flag dropped, I got a good launch in the Porker and as we got rolling and the wheelspin was brought under control I had just about given it 100% gas to rocket past Mark's Fezza when he got his diff and tyres all crossed up. At first I thought "great he will lose traction and have to back off. I'll be in 2nd before Paddock Hill". That moment of euphoria lasted about 0.8secs!! as  a big Red Thing slewed across the track and formed an immediate road block 10 mtrs in front of me just as I hit the afterburners!!!
Having watched the replay I can see that it was ( probably  )not intentional, but either way I think Mark owes me half of his points for the race win because the impact from my Porker prevented his trip into the barriers, knocked him back to his own side of the track AND facing in the correct direction so that he could continue. Whereas your poor innocent victim ( pause for violins and "AAhhh's" ) was left on the grass and joining in last place!!!
The red mist did not help after that and although I picked up a couple of places negotiating a 3 car melee exiting Druids, I proceeded to over drive Surtees and spun out onto the grass dropping me waaay behind the fast guys.
The rest of the race was really a battle between Dean and his Fezza and me in my little Porker for the minor places. I caught Dean a couple of times only to make a small error and drop back again, until he went wide and I scurried through to pick up a few more points.
Grats to the podium places and to all finishers.

The final rounds of the Friday challenge will be absolutely Out of This World, and hopefully a great finale to the season. 

My car might be easily indentified at Brands Hatch.

Attempts at moving the mirror have resulted in what appears to be a 48" plasma screen mounted on the roof. So maybe everyone will be able to see what I cannot?   

Hi Robert, welcome (back?) to UKGPL.

Yes, you are right that the current season is drawing to a close, but that might work in your favour. There will be a break in championship races over the Christmas and New Year and we usually have a load of fun races in that period.
You will be more than welcome to join in any or all of these fun races, just keep an eye on this forum for news of these. You will of course need to have access to IGOR the race server listing, where you will often find a UKGPL practice server which might be a good place to "test" your self against the current drivers without any qualms about races etc.

If you have any questions or probs post on the forum and someone is sure to offer you help and advice.

If I am wearing my driver's crash helmet as opposed to my moderator's powdered wig and gown....

I have no problem with races that  have Lights and Heavies. For me it is an extra dollop of realism, just as there are fast cars and slow cars there are fast drivers and not quite so fast drivers. In real life races the front runners often have to pick their way through the backmarkers  during the latter stages of a race being careful not to risk too much as they pass each car.
At the same time, I can see that from the backmarker's point of view, it can get very tedious having to move over and compromise your race on each lap to let the leaders through.

The Friday Series has run with single grids, mixed abilities and car handicaps to narrow the performance difference without suffering any major pile ups.
In fact I was worried that giving the Heavies cars that were (on paper anyway!) fast enough to compete with the slower cars of the Lights and cancel out the "ability" factor might result in many contentious contacts. Fortunately that has not happened and there have been some terrific races where the Heavies have got amongst the Light brigade and threatened their dominance.

Handicaps in the main championships are always a difficult thing to get right. Either the leader of the championship feels he has been unfairly penalised for his success, or those a few positions down in the table feel that the championship is already a foregone conclusion at the half way point in the series and stop turning up for races. But taking Martin's point, I do think that we should spell out the handicap at the beginning of the season and stick with it to the end. If it transpires that the handicap did not function as was hoped, then it can be changed for the NEXT season. I would prefer that such rules should not be "amended or suspended" in the course of a season.

I thought that this would be a straightforward circuit to learn, after all there are just what is there to learn?? 2 straights and 2 corners!!!

But after 15 mins of practice I am beginning to realise that this is a track where tenths of a second around the corners gains a bucket load of time on the straight...and that ruddy banked bend is driving me nuts!!  lol
I just hope I get some time for serious practice before Tuesday, of this might be a very short race for me