Moderator's Report
Al has reported an incident on lap 3. The detail is that Ronnie attempts to outbrake Al into the slow hairpin on Lap 3 and contact is made, causing Al to spin out whilst Ronnie continues.
Al also reports in his submission that there was a similar near miss on lap 1. As this incident has been reported I have looked at the replay.
The GT's present their own special problems on some circuits where the Porsche comes into its own and where it can take full advantage of its better roadholding and the ability to carry more speed through a corner than most of the other cars. The Porker may lose out on longer straights but its late braking and better cornering can often more than regain any lost ground.
Having studied both incidents from various angles and from within both cars I have the following observations to make.
As regards the lap 1 "near miss". Ronnie exits the previous corner carrying slightly more speed than Al is managing on cold tyres and immediately lines himself up for a possible pass on the inside of the next corner.
Al is moving to his right as if to defend his position, which he is fully entitled to do, but he appears to register that Ronnie is on the move and corrects his line slightly to the left effectively "opening the door" from Ronnies's perspective. Ronnie accepts the offer and presses his Porsche up the inside and is definitely in Al's blind spot by the time the turn in point comes.
Al does leave some room at the apex, but not really enough for another car and Ronnie is squeezed onto the grass to avoid contact.
It is difficult to know what a driver has, or has not, seen from watching a replay and a moderator can only judge on what he sees happening. In this instance, I think Al should have been aware that Ronnie was quite possibly well alongside as he entered the braking zone and turn in point and left more room.
This goes down as a caution to Al be careful when cars are in his blind spot and leave more room. As this was a racing incident on lap 1, but no contact was actually made, I am calling this a racing incident
I cannot comment on Team tactics or championship title possibilities here as those factors do not enter into my remit as an incident moderator. That is something for team members to agree between themselves before the race..Incidentally, UKGPL DOES allow team orders!)
The Lap 3 incident is dealt with below.
Server replay time: 0h00m43s
The start... oh dear...
Off the line Mark lights up his wheels and his car wobbles a little.
Unfortunately Cookie is slow away and Ronnie has to move out to overtake... into the space Mark is wobbling into. The collision box takes over and spins Ronnie and Mark although no contact is made. That knocks Ronnie into Cookie who collects Al whilst Ronnie's spinning top attaches itself to Dean.
This is a result of a tightish grid and narrow track and some special ciurcumstances. Mark should be aware that he is required to keep the car straight though. Bit harsh on Mark who comes off worst on Lap 23 despit doing no wrong....
The etiquette section has this: "When starting, each driver must make sure they keep their car straight and fully in control."
Server replay time: 0h05m18s
The incident on lap 3 however is slightly different. It is quite plain that Ronnie is anxious to get past Al and believes that he can go quicker. This may be true, but Al is under no compulsion to yield track position and is using the extra grunt of the Mirage on the straights to good advantage and taking a defensive line into most corners to deny Ronnie any gaps to exploit.
Ronnie attempts to outbrake Al into the hairpin and sticks his car down the inside.
Whilst it might be true that Ronnie could have made the corner because of the sure handling of the Porker, if Al had left him room, he did not achieve anywhere near 100% overlap before Al turned in on the same line that he had used on the previous lap.
This issue about "turn in point" is always contentious because it is plain the Al's line through this corner is going to be totally different from Ronnie's because he has the whole track to use and as a result he starts his turn towards the apex far earlier than Ronnie possibly can. Because Ronnie is hard against the inside of the circuit his turn in point will be at the point where the inner kerb begins to turn.
Which is why we have the ruling that makes it the responsibility of the overtaking car to make a clean pass and gain 100% overlap before he can claim the corner.
I think Ronnie was always heading for a gap that was about to disappear and was just a little too far back to get 100% overlap before Al started his turn in to the apex.
Rules have this: "The overtaking car had NOT achieved a 50% or greater overlap at the point of turn-in. There was no loss of control by either driver. Penalty for overtaking driver"
Server replay time: 0h36m19s
Evil goes for a pass on Mark and Mark leaves room. Although Evil is sliding wide there is contact and Mark spins off. This is an example of GPL's poor contact modelling. The cars do not, in fact, touch. But GPL models a severe collision. Mark has generously asked that no penalty be given and in this instance as both drivers behaved correctly, it is probably the right call.
