UKPnG Season 8 Grand Touring Championship - Brands Hatch - Feb 21

[Geoffers]

Good race for me, apart from a few silly mistakes early on & a technical problem a bit later.

Grabbed 2nd on the first lap & kept Jos at bay for a lap until I ran off track. Jos then went off & I nearly followed him which allowed Frex past into 2nd. Tried to hang on to Frex but he was too quick & pulled away to go & hassle John. Another small mistake nearly dropped me into the clutches of Daniel but I just managed to hold the place. A few laps later I caught back up with Frex after he must have had an 'off' & then John was parked up at the side of the S/F straight with his blown engine.

With Kerbies now 1-2 I decided just to follow Frex & not try to go all out for glory, unfortunately that plan backfired when Frex's car froze past the pits . Often you drive straight through these happenings but on this occasion my car got pitched off the track into a spin . By the time I got going again several cars had passed & I was down around 8th or 9th. Drove hard for the remainder of the race & helped by a couple of people spinning & retiring I got up to 4th at the end.  

Congrats to Frex, Daniel & Neils.  

[frex]

Sorry about that Geoff, i had no idea that my car had frozen - from my point of view i was some distance ahead of you when you went off, and checking the replay all i see is your car suddenly spearing off to the left for no apparent reason. My connection has been rock solid recently and i saw no lag whatsoever here, but really sorry if that was a problem my end.

As for the race, the early laps were fun, but after Jos and Geoff had problems it boiled down to me chasing John. Actually catching him too (that's a first), but as soon as i started to get really close i put a wheel on the grass coming out of Sheene which pitched me into the barrier on the opposite side. Thought my race would be over right there, but managed to wrestle it back on track - and then saw John parked up a couple of corners later.

Despite now leading however, my car was not the same after my hit with the barrier (about 1.5 secs a lap slower), and it was now just a case of nursing it through to the finish - was sure someone would appear from behind and pass, but no-one did until a few laps from the end when Jos appeared on the radar for a lap or so, but then promptly disappeared again.

So i guess i lucked into this one - any one of John, Geoff or Jos would have taken the win but for their respective problems.

Good fun though, i do enjoy these cars. Next time i'll take something other than the Capri though..

[Alex vV]

Unofficial LapChart*

I barely gave a thought to other drivers as I didn't have the ability to think of anything but my car & that's not racing for me, its more like iRxxxxg

Kinda sums up my race at the back.. clinging on for dear life 

Maybe I'll be able to find & suggest a 4th car choice that I'd be strong enough to fight people near the back, confident that my car's not going to randomly flip out at any odd moment

Perhaps a nice idea not to scare people w/o 6 arms away. Fastest Elan?

I leave Brands to the professionals  .

It's a fascinating track but I hate it.

Shame you left. Mister Dan and I could use some company..
After 5 or so races on this track I still find Brands a challenge. Every little mistake is punished hard in these fast cars.
If you happen to simrace here again try to brake a fraction earlier. Many corners look easy but are not (re other remark about arms).
Hope it will help.

Congrats to Frex for your first (?) win!

[Geoffers]

Sorry about that Geoff, i had no idea that my car had frozen - from my point of view i was some distance ahead of you when you went off, and checking the replay all i see is your car suddenly spearing off to the left for no apparent reason. My connection has been rock solid recently and i saw no lag whatsoever here, but really sorry if that was a problem my end.

Not your fault Frex, could have been my end or the server, other people mentioned about freezes after the race. I normally try to avoid frozen cars as you just don't know what will happen, although as I said sometimes you can just drive straight through them. On this occasion I was probably far enough behind to miss it, but I just happened to be checking tyres & fuel on XD when it occurred. 

[phspok]

Happy to add a "safe option" car, has to be something that is at least vaguely in keeping with the series
so Elan wouldn't be appropriate. Might do some testing with 12volt Beemers and 2600 Capri
but my testing at Hungary suggested that the slower Beemers blow the 2600 Capri away
Escorts or Alfas perhaps, but they run mostly in their own series.

[Hotkeys]

The 1750  is surely the easiest Alfa to drive, and personally I would love to fight Alex and others in that car :-))

Stig

[phspok]

But then you will be in a 2 formula race, it would be F1 and F_BMW on the same track.
I prefer something almost as fast but easy to drive.

[Hotkeys]

But then you will be in a 2 formula race, it would be F1 and F_BMW on the same track.
I prefer something almost as fast but easy to drive.

I agree, and and 2-pace-race would only make sense, if we can keep up the current turnout for the races.

Stig

I hope Captain Clive  doesn't see this, he might exclude me from SBRC for suggesting ankle biters racing grown up cars :-))

[SpecialKS]

I leave Brands to the professionals  .

It's a fascinating track but I hate it.

Shame you left. Mister Dan and I could use some company..
After 5 or so races on this track I still find Brands a challenge. Every little mistake is punished hard in these fast cars.
If you happen to simrace here again try to brake a fraction earlier. Many corners look easy but are not (re other remark about arms).
Hope it will help.

Yeah - it's a shame but I wouldn't have been competitive at all.

But there will be another try on monday at GTL-LM55