I'm unable to make this - am 'between houses' right now, so no access to broadband for gaming. Will probably miss the next few races, then return in August.

Have fun.
Stu

Sorry to have missed another race - busy at work. Also, I'm about to move house so will be without broadband at home for a few weeks - should be back on track mid July.

Have fun,
Stu

Sorry I missed this one, chaps. I got stuck at work.  See you next time.

Stu

For Elan setup, try...
'2' dampers all round (one step from full-soft). Medium springs front and rear. One click off full-soft roll bars front and rear. 30 power diff, 50 trail diff. 2.5 camber front and rear, max castor, -0.1 toe front, 0.1 to rear. Play with brake balance to your own tastes.

Hope it helps...

That was fun! Wasn't sure what car to go for - 911 was a bit faster, but more likely to spin. 906 was more predictable to drive. I thought I'd give the 911 a go, as I've never raced it before.

Quali went fine - pole position with a reasonable lap. Full fuel laptime were almost the same in practice, so I'd hoped to be able to pull away early on in the race and then back off as the tyres got a bit dicey, to avoid spinning.

No such luck! Into the tight left-hander I locked the fronts and ran a bit deep; Baracus took the gap and MGoran followed him through. Long way to go, so I followed MGoran for a few laps, and on Lap 3 he went a bit wide (forget where!) and I got past into second place. Closed up on Baracus and then had 8 laps shadowing him hoping for a gap to appear. The 911 could close quite a bit around the fast right-hander onto the start-finish straight, and this caught me out on Lap 15. I got too close to Baracus' 906 rear end mid-bend, backed off and lost the rear. A slow-motion spin scrubbed all my speed off, and I got going again behind MGoran, with Baracus another 10 seconds up the road.

MGoran was hard to pass - he was driving quickly in all the right places. On lap 17 I squeezed past on the last bend, but ran two wheels on to the grass and he shot past on the brakes into T1. A few laps later I tried the same move, and this time kept it on the tarmac for second place.

Nearly 14 seconds to Baracus now, with 20 laps to go. The pit boards were all over the shop, showing gaps from 20 to 6 seconds on random laps. Not knowing how far ahead he was, I tried to do a few laps at a good pace without risking too much (MGoran was close behind still). Each lap I could see Baracus at the tight right-hander, so I knew I was closing slowly. The gap was down to 8 seconds when Baracus spun at the right-hand hairpin - I just sneaked through as he rejoined, and grabbed the lead.

A few laps later, the speed difference in the last bend was reversed and I had a very small nudge from behind from Baracus - the tail-heavy 911 piroretted, and very sportingly Baracus waited for me to get going again - thanks matey! For three laps I pulled away, but then I was stung by the same right-hand chicane that had struck Baracus - back into second place, 5 laps to got and 3 seconds down... race on!!

Tyres felt OK, so I pushed hard and closed Baracus down. On the last bend of the penultimate lap, he ran wide (Baracus - tell your girlfriend the payment is in the post ) and I got beside him. Door-to-door, wheel-to-wheel, elbow-to-elbow into T1. Had to go very late on the brakes, but with the inside line I held the position. Great fun. Finished less than a second ahead.

This was the most fun I've had racing for a while - lots of overtaking, some tricky cars and a technical track. I disagree about the '76 cars not suiting the small tracks - I think it adds to the variety that makes GTL so good. Balancing the power-grip equation around the tight bends is a nice challenge, and the relief when you get to a long straight and can 'open her up' is great.

See you all next time.
Stu

Any thoughts on cars for this one? I've tried the BMW and the 906 Porky. The BMW I found a bit 'heavy' around the bends, and the gearing can't be set right for the tight track - wants to bog down in first round the tighter bends. The 906 is quite nice, because it's good around the tight'n'twisties. Anyone tried the others here? RSR and 914-6?

(BMW lap was about 1 second slower that the 906. 906 was just under the 1minute mark.)

Sorry gents, I won't be able to make this one. Have fun, and see you all next time.
Stu

Great lap info, Ruskus!

 

Bit of a mad dash to get back in time, but just made it for quali. In the nick of time I did a PB 1'15.2 to get pole.

In the race I was trying to be steady at first, keen to stay off the barriers. Baracus and Paul seemed trip over themselves, and Ruskus got stuck in to the 2nd-place battle too, letting me get about 4 seconds lead. Then, it was just clock watching, doing enough to keep the gap. For a few laps Paul was closing in a few tenths each lap, but then he dropped away again (accident?) letting Baracus through - gap was now 7 seconds so I backed right off to the end.

Nice track, with several bends that can be taken far quicker than you'd expect - real rush when the barriers whiz past the wing mirrors!

See you all next time.
Stu

Sorry chaps, but I'm unlikely to make this race - 10% chance only

Who's gonna be first to beat my GTL rank time of 1'15.8? Reckon pole will be around 15.5... 

Stu

...No problem, 1p, I know it was just an accident. Fighting back from 10th was actually fun, so it made for an interesting race. And of course due to fuel problems, my race outcome was settled as soon as I joined the grid!

Stu

Hmmm. Not good.

Started well, following Baracus for a few laps. Then I get a nudge from behind pushing me backwards onto the grass - tenth place. Manage to fight back into the lead, then run out of fuel on lap 37. How much bl**dy fuel does the Alfa need at this poxy track? I put '40 laps' worth in it.

The racing gods sure weren't on my side tonight.

Stu

Fun car on a fun track. Shame the race was a bit lonely. Couldn't find the pace every lap to stay with the battle for the lead, but was a bit faster than Simon behind me. At least it's a track that's interesting to drive alone!

Pribeiro - sorry if your spin was caused by me - I thought I was alongside into the bend and tried to keep it tight. Didn't feel any 'knocks' from my wheel, so assumed I'd passed cleanly. Apologies again if it was my fault.

See you all next time - hoping for another large turnout.
Stu

Great racing everyone - not easy to have such a clean race on this crowded track!

Quali was OK - I still reckon there is a 47... lap in the mini around here, but that will wait for another day.

The race went well for the most part, with a great battle with 1p, Baracus and Madd_RIP. I started to pull a bit of a gap at first, then 1p did a couple of great laps and was right on my tail again. He had a good run into the bottom righthander, and this early in the race there was no point defending, so he took the lead. I followed him for a couple of laps, trying to decide where best to try a move, then he appeared to spin the the real tight left hander - I came around the bend to find him nosed into the barrier in front of me - I bashed into his rear quarter sending bits of mini flying, then he disappeared (and we learnt later that he had controller problems - very bad luck 1p, it would have been an even better battle with you in it to the end!).

Baracus was now behind me, and true to form slowly closed the gap. Into the tight right-hander I ran a bit wide and had to keep off the gas while the front wheels hauled the car round, and BA took the inside line and the lead. I followed BA for a few laps, and he would regularly run deep into the bottom right-hander. Next lap, kept it tight and retook the lead at that bend. A little bit of door bashing as BA hit his late apex, but hopefully nothing contentious

We were now closing on a group racing hard amongst themselves. I closed up on Ossie, and tried an overtake into the tight right-hander by keeping inside, but I missed my braking point and locked the fronts - off into the barrier Down to third.

BA and Madd_RIPP were now 5 seconds ahead, and that's pretty much how it stayed. Well done chaps!

Bring on more tight 'n twisty tracks - they always give good racing. (Cadwell, anyone?    )

Stu

That was a fun race at an excellent track.

First few laps were steady, with Baracus right behind me. Then started to squeeze the pace a bit but this gave some erratic laps - I'd gain a small lead on Baracus, then give it all up on the next lap. Then, around mid-race, a stupid error saw me spin - my little finger caught the shifter paddle knocking me into first gear, causing back tyres to lock and spin my on the spot. I kept going (in reverse!), but the flip-spin to get forwards again saw me on the grass. Credit to Baracus for avoiding anything metallic in the the smoke .  I rejoined, and across the Start line again I was 9 seconds behind. Very soon afterwards, I part-spun having cooked the rear tyres, and now the gap was nearer 18 seconds and I was behind Pribeiro.

Pribeiro's mistake saw me back into second, and for a couple of laps I could set about reducing Baracus's lead - it was coming down at about 0.5 to 1 second a lap, not enough to catch him, but at least I could keep some pressure on

Then, another mistake - this time into the 3rd-gear left hander after the blind flat-out bends. I braked to hard entering the bend, locked the fronts and ran wide on to the gravel and bashed the front against the barrier. I rejoined, and had Simon in front and Pribeiro ahead. I could catch and follow Simon, but couldn't get close enough for a pass until around lap 20, when I got good drag into T1 and squeezed through on the inside.

And so it finished, with Baracus a fair way ahead, and Simon breathing down my neck!  Great fun.

See you all next time!