UKGPL Season 26 (2014) Friday Trophy - Lime Rock - Jan 31

[Cookie]

Ooh BTW, I noticed that with the Formula 2 Brabham BT14, car class is classified as {unknown}. So, in the unlikely event you set a lap record with the car, it will not be registered in the system. In fact, everytime someone drives it he is setting lap records in the {unknown} class. Perhaps this could be fixed?

Same problem, but not as urgent, is the tire brand on some of the 1969 cars. For the cars that are missing tire brand indicators, here is what is missing:

Eagle AAR101 - Goodyear
Brabham BT20 - Dunlop

The tires have been no problem to fix,
but this unmapped BT14 has cost me allready some useless time last night...

The problem is the import of the _complete.txt file of GPLRA wich is not yet updated for the F2's. (It makes a "Lotus63" of it )
I have a patched GPLRA for F2 and one for CanAm, but the F2 patch was not yet used for import. The CanAm patch is allways used by me.

Download the replay and you will find a second _complete.txt with the right cars

[EvilClive]

I hope we can fix the problem with the BT14, because without giving too much away, it just might be a regular car option for the Lights  .

Last season the handicaps did not really give the Heavies a good shot at the podium in most races, but from what we saw at Slime Crock maybe things are a little closer this season, and the Lights will have to work for their podiums.

Needless to say, the M84 might not be available to the Lights in future races ( any other car that proves to be too fast might also suddenly develop terminal engine failure and not make the grid!)and non-winged cars will get to see some action. I think it is a shame that in any normal non handicapped 69x race, no-one in their right mind is going to select any of the non-winged chassis and because of that they are largely ignored and untried. I hope to see a few World Records recorded by the Lights this season at some of the tracks we are using for the 69x's.

I knew from past experience that Lime Rock always gives some good tight racing and although I was spitting nails after my screen freeze in the F2's, when 2nd just behind Dean's Ferrari, I have to confess that I had a horrible feeling about the 69x race.  If the F2's were that fast and furious, what on earth would the 69's be like when some had aero, and some did not?? 

But, it seems that we can all be careful when we need to be and the racing was just awesome and insane for me. It did not matter where I finished , because I was having a blast trying to keep my unwinged Lotus49 (with a setup delivered directly from hell) in contention with the midfield contenders in both winged and unwinged formats.  If the racing and the 69x cars deliver this much fun when we handicap the faster drivers, I have  no interest in winning any championship I just want to battle things out in the lower places driving right on the limit for the whole race and only taking a breathe when the chequered flag drops.

Big grats to those who made the podium in both races and to Tommie who dragged the Eagle around at great pace. I almost caught and passed him to steal his success, but I felt he deserved to have 9th spot so I went easy on him...honest I did  . No but seriously, he was wringing the neck of that car around the back of the circuit and my car just refused to help by pointing in the right direction until we hit the straight and the Cosworth engine's power just really took chunks out of his lead, but never quite enough to make a passing attempt  .

[BadBlood]

That is for Giz I think.

[DLogan]

Race 1: Pole, fast lap, led all but a couple, won going away.
Race 2: qual 12th, 10th fastest lap, got lapped, finished 11th.

Race 2 was more fun.

F2s were great fun before Elvis "left the building" . I'd given E T1 (third lap iirc) because I hoped he'd just go through and get on with it, but waiting for him to tiptoe around the inside just let the following gang catch up    (I guess he didn't hear the "GO, GO, just GO already!!!1!" [quote has been edited for public broadcast]). Mostly really good job by backmarkers letting me through, but please try not to leave it to just at the end of the braking zone.

69s: Sorry to Walter for the bump into T1 lap 3 . From there on, great fun chasing/dicing with E, TvO, Paul, etc. (I'll even forgive those who passed me for position while I was letting leaders through  ).

I think the Lights should go wingless in 69X from here on.

[Cookie]

I think the Lights should go wingless in 69X from here on.

NOOO!

This is a 69x race series, if you want wingless drive 67's 66's 65's, the fun of 69 are the wings!

Those cars are relics of former F1 seasons you can find in other mods...

[DLogan]

I think the Lights should go wingless in 69X from here on.

NOOO!

This is a 69x race series, if you want wingless drive 67's 66's 65's, the fun of 69 are the wings!

But if the point is to handicap the Lights to the point where the Heavies can challenge for wins/podiums, then they have to go. The MS84 (and I expect the M9 as well) just don't do the job badly enough. I'm even looking askance at the winglets on the 49. :glare:

[Cookie]

But if the point is to handicap the Lights to the point where the Heavies can challenge for wins/podiums, then they have to go. The MS84 (and I expect the M9 as well) just don't do the job badly enough. I'm even looking askance at the winglets on the 49. :glare:

This is the point! The Heavies have their own wins/podiums!
You can't reduce the fun for Lights over a limit that even the best Lights have no chance to follow Walter Conn or Paul!

My M84 was just good enough to keep with a Heavy maddog!!!

[Mark Jones]

Sorry for the faulty warp drive, it seems communications weren't all that terrific - it caused me to drop back to 6th when a phantom car appeared and knocked me into the grass.  Was lucky enough to get back to 3rd.  Had to skip the 69 race as I had to see a man about an engine.  Well done to all the podium guys.

[BadBlood]

You can't reduce the fun for Lights over a limit that even the best Lights have no chance to follow Walter Conn or Paul!

Good to know you think so highly of us Cookie, lol 

[GregT]

You should give Francesco my finishing position for the F2 race. First time I hit him wasn't too bad. He slowed more than I thought he would and I was little late on the brakes but the second time I got a bit greedy. I doubt he would have done any better than 6th whether I hit him or not. I apologize Francesco.

I didn't drive well at all in the F2 race. Went off in the first turn of the race and then spun a short time later trying to make up the time I'd already lost. I was down to 11th at one point. My pace was a bit slow through it all. I never could get all the turns right. Every lap I'd make at least one small mistake losing a few tenths. I had my ideal lap time in pribluda down to 54.1 during qualifying without doing anything spectacular.

The 69X race was actual work for me. I bet my arms did at least two if not three times as much movement as I was doing the in F2 race, may be even more than that. I didn't suffer as bad this time going from the F2s to the 69Xs as I did at Monza. Had a good race with Nick. We were in sight of each other most of the race. He lost it in the final turn giving me the position only to get it back shortly when I started struggling. You seemed to get through lapped traffic a bit faster than me Nick, even though you mentioned troubles.

I hope I can keep driving the MS84. I'm far from comfortable with it yet and can only imagine how I'd struggle with the wingless cars. I practiced in the Lotus 49 for Monza and was so slow and inconsistent that all I could think was, "this car is much slower than the 67 Ferrari 312."

I've been getting worse lately. I go through spells of lousy driving. If I were only driving offline, I'd stay off GPL for two or three weeks. That always helped in the past. I guess I get burnt out after a while and need a break. It's been a while since I've driven close to the best of my ability. Last time I can remember not choking under the pressure was when I took the pole position back from Mark on the Moon.

Thanks for the fun guys and congratulations to everybody. Lots of very fast times in both races.

[DLogan]

But if the point is to handicap the Lights to the point where the Heavies can challenge for wins/podiums, then they have to go...

This is the point! The Heavies have their own wins/podiums!...

Then why restrict the car choice at all?

...You can't reduce the fun for Lights over a limit that even the best Lights have no chance to follow Walter Conn or Paul!...

Ask TvO or Evil how much the fun was "reduced". 

...My M84 was just good enough to keep with a Heavy maddog!!!

Maddog ain't as heavy as he used to be (at least in 69s). 

[francesco]

You should give Francesco my finishing position for the F2 race. First time I hit him wasn't too bad. He slowed more than I thought he would and I was little late on the brakes but the second time I got a bit greedy. I doubt he would have done any better than 6th whether I hit him or not. I apologize Francesco.

Thank you for your honesty Greg.In the first incident i was obliged to reduce a little the the speed because there was Curtis in front of me ,a little slower.The second was an your error in the breaking point.There is the problem that you are in the light and I are in the heavy,so a change in position change nothing in my rank. I would like to join the light because sometime i must fight with someone that i don't know if is my competitor in the rank or not.Since we was 4-5 cars in fight,was difficult to understand who have hitted me any time.During the race i was convinced that the perpetrator was Levin,but the replay says that Levin was absolutely clean .
Anyway the race after this,the 69X,was my first race without suffering incidents.

[Cookie]

...You can't reduce the fun for Lights over a limit that even the best Lights have no chance to follow Walter Conn or Paul!...

Ask TvO or Evil how much the fun was "reduced". 

I won't doubt their fun driving these cars, as you have fun driving any 67 or 66 car, but this is not the same fun driving a winged 69!
This series was invented to give the not in other championships represented GPL mods a home.

I have no problem to not get a drive in one of the real fast 69er, as I do it every Wednesday 
The challenge to get the best out of every car is my greatest fun...

PS
I am not native english speaking, so there can be some unintended misunderstanding

[Tom van Ostade]

The cool part about 1969-Extra is you can take a knife to a gunfight... And win sometimes  . I think the field will be as tightly bunched up as possible if the MS84 is removed, however I admire your motivations to win . A compromise I could think of would be to disallow the MS84 at some races, but not all. In any case, I think I will drive the Eagle at the twisty tracks (if I'm in the opportunityto join at all), which, looking at the calendar, should be at Le Mans Bugatti and perhaps Mosport as the real car ran there. For the other track I really need some horsepower not to be blown away on the straights, as the Eagle has almost half the horsepower of the Lotus 49b. So perhaps a Brabham BT20 or BT24 might be in order .

Perhaps next season there could be a 1969-Extra division with a Eagle Cup for the ones who like a challenge 

[Walter Conn]

69s: Sorry to Walter for the bump into T1 lap 3 .

No problem, My braking point is normally at the #4 sign, but I braked earlier than that. So it was more likely my fault. It was a funny moment for me because I almost saved it.

As for handicapping, I have sympathy for those that are asked to give up their "go to" car. As a reserve driver, I do not practice much. So it helps if I can drive something that I have already tamed. However, it was a lot of fun for me to race against a wingless Evil. I could stay with him, but I was not fast enough to overtake his car. I was only able to get past when he went wide in turn two (trying to let a leader through).