UKGPL Season 25 (2013) Friday Trophy - Blue Mountain - Nov 29

[BadBlood]

I had exactly the same freeze Dave - looks like a track issue in the final kink there...

[Cookie]

Mybroga ran this track a couple weeks ago, and in 2 out of 3 divisions there were too many lockups/screen freezes to continue the race. Most ran with the update, but even without it, people were having freezes. Too bad, because the update is fantastic...

Just found this at SRMZ...

Maybe another track next week!?

[Ronniepeterson]

I hope that I did not get in the way out there.

You Sir are a true gent on track.  

Thanks again to everyone who raced tonight, great fun both races for me. With Gareth and Clive going walkabout in race one I grabbed a win. In race two a couple of blown engines saw me struggle to the line with a smoking engine. Commiserations to those who had freeze problems. It would be a shame not to see how we can get the GT's and CanAm's round here but whatever is decided is fine by me.

[EvilClive]

In view of the multiple discos and screen freezes drivers experienced at Blue Mountain I propose that we will run the GT's and Can Ams on a different track next Friday.

I think that Blue Mountain was an absolute "FUN" track to race on, but it is not good if too many members are having freezes and discos.

I will try and find a track that offers the same challenge tomorrow and post here and on the official race announcement.

[garethhall]

f2 was a non starter, screen freeze with 54 sec on the clock, missed the start, shame i had managed pole , grats to ronnie for that
one
69x fortunaly went ok, got pole, made a mistake and gave evil the lead for him to give it back on the next lap, then i lost it again, this time down to 3rd, almost immiedaitly ronnie pulled over with eingine and clives went pop infornt of me. Then had to hold it to gether till the end, fortunatly the car held as did my concentraion, thanks to ronnie and dean (that was my fault) for letting me by easy.

Shame this track has to go as i like.

Thanks guys nice race

[Mark Jones]

I had lots of screen freezes in offline 69x practice as well.  Interesting track but my setups just weren't working.  Reminds me of Jops.

[EvilClive]

I thought we had an official list of "dodgy" tracks somewhere??? Can anyone point me at the source?

I have a couple of tracks in the running for next Friday....I am trying to find tracks that are similar to Blue Mountain, so at least any setup work that you have done might still be usable.

Buenos Aries 1954      ( I need to check this one)
Brands 67                 ( we know is safe )
Fiorano 72                    ( made by Ginetto, so I hope it is solid)
Laguna Seca  Historic   ( the one with the extra bends after T1 hairpin)
Mid Ohio 71                 ( need to check this one too)
Lime Rock                   ( we have used in the past..NOT the mountain circuit as that has known probs)

There are a couple of others lurking at the back of my mind but I am sure one of these would be a good substitute.

If we cannot verify the quality of some of the above tracks, I will probably go with Brands 67 as a "safe" option. Everyone knows it and it has the elevation changes like Blue Mountain.

[Cookie]

Yes,
go with Brands 67 as a "safe" option. Everyone knows it and it has the elevation changes like Blue Mountain.

[clouds]

In view of the multiple discos and screen freezes drivers experienced at Blue Mountain I propose that we will run the GT's and Can Ams on a different track next Friday.

I think that Blue Mountain was an absolute "FUN" track to race on, but it is not good if too many members are having freezes and discos.

I will try and find a track that offers the same challenge tomorrow and post here and on the official race announcement.

Oh NoOOoOoooO, I think we should test the track with GT's and Canam's with a discrete number of participants because it could be not the track that creates problems. I didn't had a single problem with BM but...I was hosting and nobody of drivers participating to my session said there was a problem, or at least if someone had problems I don't know anything. BM is a nice and difficult track and I prefer tracks that are not flat.

If you must choose another track I could suggest you St Jovite Mont Tremblant, Solitudering, Sepang, Snetterton Heat, Oulton Park, Road America and best of the best Nurburgring.

[clouds]

I thought we had an official list of "dodgy" tracks somewhere??? Can anyone point me at the source?

I have a couple of tracks in the running for next Friday....I am trying to find tracks that are similar to Blue Mountain, so at least any setup work that you have done might still be usable.

Buenos Aries 1954      ( I need to check this one)
Brands 67                 ( we know is safe )
Fiorano 72                    ( made by Ginetto, so I hope it is solid)
Laguna Seca  Historic   ( the one with the extra bends after T1 hairpin)
Mid Ohio 71                 ( need to check this one too)
Lime Rock                   ( we have used in the past..NOT the mountain circuit as that has known probs)

There are a couple of others lurking at the back of my mind but I am sure one of these would be a good substitute.

If we cannot verify the quality of some of the above tracks, I will probably go with Brands 67 as a "safe" option. Everyone knows it and it has the elevation changes like Blue Mountain.

Baires is nice but...during the GPFUn Championships often we have had problems with it.
Lime Rock is also a nice track but...very short.
If you like up and down maybe St Joovite is the best one but also Solitude and Interlagos are great tracks.

[maddog]

Not all realize it, but Edmonton and ST.Jovite were both used in 1971, for the Can-Am championship.

[Walter Conn]

I am most familiar with the real life versions of Laguna Seca, Mid Ohio and Lime Rock. Each of which has limited overtaking zones (Not that I will be overtaking anyone  ). Anywho, I am looking forward to the next race in any case. Thanks, WC

EDIT: Ah, I just saw the race announcement for next week, and we are racing at Brands67. 

[EvilClive]

First of all sorry for the problems with the Blue Mountain circuit last night, I should have done more research about the reliability of this track.

I sympathise with anyone who has spent a lot of time practising on Blue Mountain for the GT's and Can Ams, I thought it would be an excellent circuit for those cars. When I tried it offline it was perfect and I was anticipating some great racing for all of the car sets that we use.
But, it would seem that this track does have a problem as it has been blacklisted in various leagues. It is a track that really needs an expert to sort out because I am sure it would be immensely popular if it was reliable.

The problem with "unsafe" circuits is that it is quite possible to sometimes have great races that are totally unaffected ( Goodwood is a perfect example!), but we cannot use a track where there is a 50/50 chance that half of the grid is frozen out of the race. That is just not fair on those who miss out. If only 1 or 2 drivers gets a disco you can say that it was NOT the track, but when 5 or 6 all experience the same problem it is pretty clear where the problem lies.

I think that I have to make a decision on which track we will use today ( Saturday), and that track must be one that all drivers will know, so that everyone who wants to race has a time to prepare for next Friday. So I have chosen Brands 67 because it is proven and safe, plus everyone knows the circuit.

.
I hope that we can run a similar series in 2014 and IF we do I will try and find some more "different" tracks that do not cause us problems.

[maddog]

I was not blessed with the best of races, as BM had it's up's and downs.  The Brabham was working well, but reached it's high point early in lap 1.  I brushed the Armco at the first left, bounced right into Raoni, rebounded left over some helmets, and decided the weather was nice enough to continue - leaving some work for our much beloved Moderator.  Thereafter, it was freeze time, before much racing could be done.  Meanwhile Raoni, who had been unceremoniously bumped back to last place, stormed back to 2nd.  That's at least as impressive as Ronnie's win!

69's were challenged by this tracks pinch points, and I noticed various debris during practice.  Racetime, I pondered over a clean pass on David R. for a lap or 2, before including myself in the debris, at a pinch.  Thereafter, I simply clung on for the ride!  Great fun but lethal work, and it seems 2 resets were needed, from this anonymous driver, to survive to the finish - not something I've considered needing 'til now.  My mistake, and I expect to be vigorously DQ'ed. :'(

Every lap is a challenge at this track.  A shame it comes with a problem, and is destined for that list.

[clouds]

Yep a very challenging track, and the danger to involve the others in incidents is always present but...sorry guys would you consider this past race valid for the championship even if others have had problems not attributable to themselves ? I think maybe it could be the case to repeat the race at brands.