UKGPL Season 23 (2012) Formula 2 Trophy - Enna - Oct 19

[Billy Nobrakes]

Slip of the fingers in typing I guess Bill - easily done I know...
[/quote]
It was correct at time of posting. Following the moderation at Silvy Phil dropped a a few points which promoted Fran to 3rd in the championship table. As per the thread above this may have been a bit late notice for Fran so no action to be taken on that front.

Will try & get the mod reports done a bit quicker - but modding is nearly as much fun as  poking yourself in the eye with a stick!

[Phil Thornton]

Wow that was an entertaining race.  Managed to get pole but Fran beat me off the line and I had to settle into second.  It took me a while to try and find a way past.  Tried a couple of times on the inside at Curvone but it was just too risky.  Then tried on the inside at Zagaria, I managed to get good overlap on the inside on lap 4 (oh05m19s) but decided to play safe and back out.  On the next lap I got a better exit out of Curvone and actually got ahead of Fran and had the inside line into Zaguria.  Unfortunately I had to slow so much to make the corner it caught Fran out and he clipped my rear nearside wheel (0h06m35s) and he crashed out.  Unlucky Francesco.

After that I had an almighty battle with Bernie.  He got past me and on the run down to Zaguria on Lap 8 I tucked in behind.  Bernie took the inside line but had to brake quite hard to make the corner.  Just like Fran a couple of laps earlier this caught me out and I clipped Bernie's rear tyre and crashed out (0h10m25s).  I needed a shift-R and did a S&G at the end of the lap.

I came out of the pits in 6th place and had to fight my way past Johnny in his Protos and several other very fast cars.  I had to wait until the drivers ahead made mistakes, I couldn't get close enough for a clean pass.  With a bit of luck I managed to get up to 2nd place but Bernie was 14 seconds up the road.  I started to reel Bernie in very slowly but I doubt I would have caught him before the line if he hadn't made a mistake.  Don't know what happened but I found myself back in the lead with about 10 laps to go.  Those last 10 laps were manic.  I had to drive at 110% but Bernie and Johnny were closing me down, once they got in my gearbox I'd be easy meat.

The last lap was desperate, I had to take a defensive line into Zagaria which left Bernie with one chance to get me.  Unfortunately for him he gave it a bit too much gas out of the Curva del Cancello and spun which dropped him back to third behind Johnny.  Great racing Bernie!

Commiserations to Dave Rainier, the Ferrari was just too slow here.  You missed out on a great race at the front (where you should be).

I felt sorry for Francesco, the language barrier and late change in the standings after the moderation of the Silverstone round meant he didn't realise he needed to take the Cooper.  I'm sure it must have affected his concentration for the race.  Felt bad about that.  Hopefully the mods will not disqualify him but ask him to take the Cooper for the next round.

[Phil Thornton]

aaargh      I just had a look to the F2 standings  just before this race : Roguk was not here tonight, Francesco did not finish and Phil had 52 points less so even with his win, I shoud stay 1st !
so again the Ferrari or the BT14 for the next race  

Yes it looks like you'll be handicapped again David .  To be honest I don't think this system works very well with these cars.  The 3 slow cars are just too slow.  Well the Cooper isn't too bad, it was the winning car in both Lights and Heavys at Montjuic.  Probably worth thinking about a change for next season.  Maybe don't have to take BT14 until leader is 60 points clear of the rest??

[Hristo Itchov]

IMO just don't use Ferrari and BT14 at all. Cooper is almost OK, so it works as the handicap car for the championship leader, but the other two cars are pretty much useless for tracks like Spa, Hockenheim and even Enna. I won the last two races in the Ferrari, but not because of my pace.

[EvilClive]

I agree with Hristo as regards the slower cars winning the "fast circuit" races. 

I was fortunate enough to have a choice ( some choice !! lol) between Fezza, BT14 and Cooper. I tried the Fezza and although with some slipstream it could be persuaded into the 1:13's, it did rely solely on having a tow truck in front. Once out of any slipstream and it could lose a second or more per lap easily.

The Bt14 just did not seem to have any outright pace, it handles well enough on tighter circuits but at Enna it seemed the wrong car on the wrong track.

At least the Cooper had the FVA engine, even if for some strange reason Cooper decided that their FVA would not produce the same power output as the other FVA's?? and just to make it more interesting they added a few kilos of lead as well! But it at least had some grunt and was just favourable to the Ferrari.

With Matras and Protos cars in this race I guess that both Hristo and myself knew ( although we never discussed it pre race) that to stand any chance we just had to tuck in behind the fast cars and wait until the final laps before attempting ANY moves. To score any points we needed to be in touch with the leading group all the way. The start was critical as we could not allow anyone to get away so I for one risked max revs to be sure I stayed with those faster cars down to T1.
I had decided that as the Cooper was slower on straights I had to have a setup that allowed me to really attack the corners and carry as much speed through them as possible. So exiting T1 I was comfortably with the pack and prepared to settle in for the next 30 laps and go along for the ride.  All of that changed as we started lap 2. A pair of cars tangled ahead and avoiding action was needed to skip between cartwheeling F2's...suddenly there were only 3 cars in the leading group!! Two of those were handicapped cars and 1 was a Matra!!  This was not in the race plan. If Nicky in his Matra made a break I don't think Hristo or myself would be able to close the gap. The next few laps saw Hristo and myself working hard to stay within Nicky's slipstream and begin to work together to help each other.
Eventually Hristo and myself found ourselves 1 & 2 with Nicky close behind in 3rd. Now, we could start to work the slipstream between us and carry each other around. After afew laps we sorted out where each was quicker and where we could swap places to maximise our pace and for the next 20 laps we maintained the pressure, with Nicky looking all too comfortable sitting in 3rd spot.

I'm sure Hristo was peddling as fast as he could ( I knew that I was just about on my safe limit!) but we could not shake off nicky in his faster Matra . I figured that if we could not beat Nicky in the final laps, at least if we kept the group of 3 cars clear of the field then at least we had a podium waiting.

With about 10 laps to go Prib told me that we had edged approx 100 mtrs lead from Nicky, almost out of slipstream range?, so now was the time to give just a little extra push and try to break free?

 I'm not sure if it was our slightly quicker pace, or a small mistake by Nicky , but suddenly the gap grew to 400mtrs and we were clear. But with 10+ laps still to go I felt that Hristo and myself were still open to attack from a faster car so I was happy for us to maintain our slipstreaming arrangement  But now I was beginning to focus on my move on the last lap.

I knew that with just a little tow from Hristo the Cooper had the grunt to pass him before the S/F line, but if he was behind he might just have enough tow to get past me. Therefore I had to be behind him out of the last big corner.

Prib showed 2 laps to go, so I dropped back an extra 20 mtrs and allowed Hristo to keep 1st place where normally I would have passed him..preparing myself for the last corner.

Prib showed 1 lap to go exiting that last corner and Hristo was really pushing hard. No probs, with the slipstream I knew I could easily close up the gap over the next lap and spring my attack for the win. As we entered the S/F straight I was easing up on Hristo...everything going to plan with 1 lap left...and then.....some joker is waving a black and white chequered flag!!!!!!!!!!   WHAT??!!  My prib clearly showed that we had another lap!!!  RATS!!!!!!!!
Overnight I have been searching for my pitcrew  (Arnold and Mabel Glutbucket), but it seems they were last seen boarding a train to Vladivostok. When, that is a "when" and  not an "if" !!, I get my hands on those two, I will be extracting an explanation and a grovelling apology for their screw up in programming my Prib. This polite "interview" is likely to last at least a week and I have ordered extra hot irons, manacles and nasty pointy things to be sure that I get to the truth.
 

[francesco]

Sorry Francesco.  A tip from me, don't take the BT14!!

Thank you for the suggestion,anyway i have trown away another race with an error with you Phil.My error was to judge wrong the speed  after your overtake.I was also convinced that you would give up to the overtake in this point.

[NickyIckx]

 

I'm not sure if it was our slightly quicker pace, or a small mistake by Nicky , but suddenly the gap grew to 400mtrs and we were clear

Lol, it was an bloody mistake by me at Curva de Cancello made me spun .

…with Nicky looking all too comfortable sitting in 3rd spot.

Indeed very comfortable , I always had to lift throttle at  the fast parts to stay behind .
These Matras 7 , no question, is way faster then Cooper & Ferrari…
My master plan was to wait until 4laps to go before attack , to see if maybe you both (Hristo & Clive ) will eventually kick each other out before .

So big hand to Hristo and Clive , very well done !!!!

[JonnyO]

 This fun race!!!!!!!

 Congrats this Winners to day....Hristo and Thor!!!

[Hristo Itchov]

Another unexpected victory for me! Not that I mind, but it keeps me stuck in this super slow Ferrari, and I'm not even considering the BT14 ever again as it's even worse.

I had a small advantage at this track because I've only driven Enna once before, but it was in a F2 race in Mybroga, so I had some knowledge on how to get a bit of extra speed from the car, which helped reduce the disadvantage from the top cars. I couldn't get any tow during Qualifying, but knowing how strong the tow is in these machines, I set up my 5th and 4th close to one another, with 5th having some extra revs to spare. This was really crucial, as well as running very high tire pressures, which compromised my cornering a little, but was OK because I was usually a bit better in the corners than the rest.

The start was OK and I was surprised how easy it is to keep up with the leading group, although even the smallest hesitation in throttle application resulted in quite a noticeable gap opening up, so I had to make sure I don't make any mistakes and drive optimally. This all became almost irrelevant when the cars in the lead made contact and went off, and suddenly I found myself battling it out with Evil and Nicky for victory!

It soon became obvious that Nicky didn't want to be part of the action so early on and instead decided to settle behind us, and it also took at least 10 laps until Evil and I finally sorted out the optimal way to tow each other forward without losing much speed. Despite that though, it seemed Nicky was able to hang on without much effort. I was expecting him to make an attack in the last couple of laps, but that never came to be after he had his spin and dropped back at around 9 seconds.

From there on, although still maintaining some towing regime, it became obvious that I now had to fight Evil for real, so I started experimenting some different positioning during the lap and trying to guess how I could manage to reach the s/f line first without having to go off the normal line to block him.

As it turned out, Evil let me go a bit too much into the lead and I took full advantage by going right on the edge into every corner, in order to open up a gap before each following straight where he would catch up. I nearly had a big crash into the fast kink with the hay bales on the inside, by clipping one of them, but despite a small slide, the car kept going straight - thank you 30 power side diff! 

Evil attacked out of the final corner, but he ran out of time as we crossed the line just 1 tenth apart. Still a 1-2 for Hiki-Waza, so grats to him for racing clean and respectful, as usual!

Grats to Nicky for 3rd as well, it would have been interesting to see if we could prevent him from winning once he decided to make a serious attack in the final laps.

[NickyIckx]

 

Grats to Nicky for 3rd as well, it would have been interesting to see if we could prevent him from winning once he decided to make a serious attack in the final laps.

Thx.
Yeah indeed it would have been very interesting if I may have had been able to past you both and make it to s/f first .
But ,to be honest ,I doubt I could have manage it ;
As my way through Curva de Cancello , setup- or driving wise (dunno ) , wasn’t fast enough to catch up front runner before s/f . not to tell even two..
Was no prob to take the lead at all other section of the track , but even if , I guess in the end my probs with Cancello would have made me lost P1 to the s/f easily …

Forgot to say : pitty Cookie & Arf  had some kinda bad luck ; and Göran was real fast too

[francesco]

I felt sorry for Francesco, the language barrier and late change in the standings after the moderation of the Silverstone round meant he didn't realise he needed to take the Cooper.  I'm sure it must have affected his concentration for the race.  Felt bad about that.  Hopefully the mods will not disqualify him but ask him to take the Cooper for the next round.

More than lenguage barrier I think was inattention or I have not read good the rules.I don't remeber to reading something about my handycap i reading that the thirst 3 have the handicap.
For exemple i have not understood why there is written an handicap car for you Phil while you have used the Matra at Enna .

[francesco]

Perhaps i have understood.Phil have recived a penalty so I was third at the start of the race but immediately at the start.I have not seen this than after race.

[bernie]

The amazing roar of castrol R + the overwhelming smell of the crowd + a track with but 3 corners = a recipe for having fun  

In the 60's and 70's Formula 2 was Big time in Europe with the stars of the day mixing it with the stars of tomorrow . Enna Pergusa was a track that I used to read of,  fantastic slipstreaming battles , with the kind of racing you never get to see these days and never got to see in those days because A , it was in a foriegn land and B , it was never shown on't telly .

So I was quite looking forward to slogging it out around here and with this in mind set out early for the track with 4 new tyres a full tank of gas and a prayer book to get in some extra practise  
this consisted of trundling around waiting for that magic moment when you would pick up that tow from a speedily driven competitor , after what seemed like 1/2 a grand prix distance and one screenfreeze later I began to realise that this slipstream game wasn't perhaps all it was cracked out to be. Plan B then came into effect , when in doubt consult the orical in the paddock bar and check out the on tap draught beer instead of the on track draughting .

For the race It was decided to put Plan X into motion , what I needed was a nice extra long top gear to aid progress towards the car/ cars who would be in front,  but like so many things in life dreams have a habit of bursting when they see the light of dawn , as it worked out the only way to catch up was to let the car behind through , latch onto his tail and hopefully get sucked along up to the front of the pack  ( as in wolves not sheep ) . This plan seemed to work fine escpecially when the 2 cars ahead Phil and Fran who were slowly edging away decided to have it off with each other and some how  I was now in Place 1 , numero uno , concord positon . Passing the grandstand I could here the crowd cheering ( how was I to know they were cheering because the bar had just been announcing happy hour ) but soon I realised I was out on my own , without a roadmap and no one to follow , and worse still about 378 laps remaining , the stress was killing me , I needed some R&R fast so decided a quick 40 winks was in order and I could rest one eye at a time and still watch out for the curbs , only to be rudely awakened by the whole world spinning by and by the time I had stopped gyrating the rest of the fast boys were gone .
Very lucky to pick up a tow again otherwise Phil had the race in the bag so to speak , we had a prolonged battle and he came out tops due to me fumbling the last corner ( or was it the next to last corner ) not that it matters much .
Anyway enoughof the drunken ramblings ,

Congrats to Phil on a great drive (even though you are pasti )  you earned it mate
Grats to JonnyO commiserations to Fran and well done all the rest of you diehard racers , see you all at whatsitcalledtrack some time very  soon    TTFN

[Phil Thornton]

Perhaps i have understood.Phil have recived a penalty so I was third at the start of the race but immediately at the start.I have not seen this than after race.

  Yes you have understood correctly.  Big respect Francesco, your English is much much better than my Italian .

Hope you have better luck in the next round!  More points for Antipasti!!!

[Phil Thornton]

.... we had a prolonged battle ....

Too right we did.  It was anybody's race at the end.  We were in the same car but you seemed to have more top end.  Having looked at the replay I think I was slightly overgeared, even with a slipstream my max revs in top were 1200 rpm down on yours.  I was mighty relieved to see the chequered flag, I thought there was another lap to go.  The pit board showed 1 lap on the last lap.  At most tracks it shows zero laps on the last lap.  I think that's what confused Evil as well as me.

Great driving from you and Johnny O.  Looking forward to the next round