UKGPL Season 24 (2013) Novices Trophy (65) - Aintree - Mar 5

[Johnny.P]

Aintree is famous for many types of racing but tonight it will see its first moose racing:-)

[BadBlood]

As usual the 'Herd' will dominate...

...places 16-19!

Honda is OK round here but I think the Lotus is more nimble and that would make up for the long straight. I am a Honda boy though.

[happyal]

I find the Lotus quite difficult to drive, I am much better with a BT11. I know that the Lotus is faster over one lap, but for me the BT11 is faster over a race.

But I love the Ferrari too much to drive anything else while I still have a choice.

[BadBlood]

The Lotus is a bit skittish and I find that I can hotlap for about 5 and then I will spin. As Al says the BT11 is a solid choice. John Roberts would faint if he heard Al's comment about the Fezza but that is solid too.

Advantage of the Honda is the six gears but if you get the gearing wrong that can be a disadvantage too.

Don't know about anyone else but I am hitting 153-154mph at the last marker board before the kink through the hedges. Splita are roughly 26+, 34+, 25+, 26-. 1:51 should be attainable without tow and tow could shave a couple of seconds off. Mind you, that is Novice pace. Gio will probably go and do a 1:37...

[Wiltshire Tony]

Well that didn't last long 

[BadBlood]

Wondered where you went Tony. Disco?

My race was pretty good. Got a decent start but just couldn't nail the laps. Inherited 2nd after JP span and built a big lead over Ross. Span at the last turn but had enough in hand and promptly span again next lap. This put me just behind Ross but I was confident I could lap quicker and catch him. Sadly span AGAIN. Closed up to Ross by 200 yds or so but just not enough.

Happy but sad if you see what I mean. Al was different class, bad luck to JP and well done to Ross.

[Wiltshire Tony]

Wondered where you went Tony. Disco?

No, car up the bottom 

[dave curtis]

Very surprised to be starting with a view of the front row.  That was not going to last long...

Too many offs/pile-ups took their toll.  But the worst thing was watching in my mirrors to work out if there was a collision going on a way back,  rather than looking/taking the next corner.. D'oh!  lost time/places as well as a new heavy car/cold tyres & resulting stop/go - maybe I'll bear that in mind in the future!
 
It would appear that a lot of ground can be made up via that kinky bit near the end!
Although,   it seems there is also a bit of time that can be lost around that area too

The Black Night parade was a joy to behold for a few laps;  we even managed not to take each other out

Cheers all.
Dave.

[BadBlood]

Wondered where you went Tony. Disco?

No, car up the bottom  

OOH painful... didn't fancy a reset? You can report it though using the link under the results (as if you need telling)

It was carnage lap 1 - looking forward to modding that one... NOT!

[Pierre D]

I missed this one. I couldn't get back home in time.

Congratulations to Al. I see that Paul was 3rd both on the grid and at the end of the race. Impressive.

[BadBlood]

Cheers buddy. Only my third ever podium and my best qualifying... I've never managed second on the road and tbh I threw silver away so bronze feels a bit disappointing but better than last!

[Johnny.P]

My car was much better on race fuel than for qualifying so I was not too concerned about starting 2nd. I chased Al for a few laps getting close but several spins of my own doing hampered my chances of success. The last 8 or so laps were really good although I was alone the car was great and I could give it some instead of squirming about. Congratulations to all on the podium, Paul is really pushing his Honda this season and Ross did a great job too. Al was the class of the field and a worthy winner. Well done Al- great driving.

[happyal]

Good race for me, I wasn’t expecting to be so quick, but I’m happy that I was. After my disaster at Mexico I was determined to do better. I have been practicing for a solid 2 weeks for this race so I’m happy that all that practice has paid off.

Qualifying went so much better that I could of expected. Paul was good enough to start the server early. I joined to a almost empty server and started straight away. I did a series of good laps for me, and was pretty happy with my times. I recorded a high 49 which I didn’t think I could beat, but carried on anyway as I had the fuel, and there was so much time left. I dialled in some braking points, and kept my laps tidy and on my last lap I pretty much got a perfect lap, everything was just spot on, it was a PB in ever sector and that was my finial qualifying time. The cars really felt alive without any fuel in it and I really did get the best time I think I could of got.

The race started and I got quite a good start, I saw Johnny right behind me and we had a good battle for a few laps. I was concertinaing on my braking points, and trying to get everything warmed up, Johnny was coming at me and at this stage was slightly faster than me. I had to keep myself calm and be as tidy as I could, of course that’s never going to happen and a few mistakes let Johnny get a run at me. Then nothing, he just wasn’t there anymore which I was sorry for, as it was great fun dicing so closely with him and I think it would have been a race long battle.

After Johnny disappeared, I checked Prib to see where everyone else was. I saw that I  had a healthy gap so I tried my best to keep tidy and drive for the flag. To my surprise I managed to keep my concentration and didn’t make any silly mistakes. Once most of the fuel had burnt off the car came alive again, so in the last handful of laps I kept myself busy with trying to set fastest lap Something which could of very easily back fired.

Glad that I have won a race this season, as I really didn’t think I had much chance of winning after inters and novices were combined and seeing the times of my competitors. Great result for Clark Hill too, with Ross in second, and of course a well deserved podium for Paul. Looking forward to Zandy.

[Ross Hawkey]

Ended up in P8 in qual, which, given recent qually performances was maybe a bit higher than I expected.

Again, there was a bit of shenanighans early on, T2 saw the yellows out, and I tip-toed through tight to the inside and luckily stayed safe.

Came out of it in P4, and very much on my own on the track, and after JohnnyP has a spin, I was in P3

Often in this situation, I get caught and passed by the early spinners, and end up losing time and losing time to anyone ahead.  This time, I seemed far enough ahead to maintain a gap, as they were duelling for positions behind me, and costing themselves time.

Though there was 10-12secs between us, Paul and I were posting similar times, and only due to a couple of small errors ahead by Paul, was I able to move from P3 to P2. Luckily for me, there were only a few laps left, so was able to hold onto the position.

Yep, a good night for Clark-Hill. - Well done Al & Paul & all finishers.

[il_lupo_mannaro]

I don't really like such track at all, so I quit the race very soon.
Grats to everybody and a special mention to "Flying" Al and "Podium" Paul