UKGPL Season 26 (2014) Works Trophy (67) - Albi - Mar 23

[Tom van Ostade]

Glad to finish . I got the BRM set up pretty good with a Silverstone setup, pretty much only adjusted gearing. Managed to survive the lap 1 accident and didn't hit Arf when his engine went just in front of me a lap later. Was able to drive a pretty good pace after that. A recovering Dean passed me about 1/4 through the race, unfortunately he ran into some kind of trouble not much later. In the meantime I ran into some connection troubles, got distracted and spun, handing a spot to Killer Miele. I tried to reel him in but just as I was about to catch him, he pulled over, probably with some kind of mechanical trouble as well. After that I just tried to keep the gap with Greg as close as I could, untill I got lapped a couple of laps before the end. Managed a P6, pretty happy, maximum result I think.

I have to say that up untill the accident, which at first glance appears to be a true accident rather than an oversight, everybody went very well through the first corners despite a very close field. I was on the first row in the BRM and enjoyed the sight very much .

[Phil Thornton]

Gents, imported the results but found a name I don't recognize.  Who was driving as Killer Miele?

[Robert Fleurke]

Gents, imported the results but found a name I don't recognize.  Who was driving as Killer Miele?

Iestyn asked in chat before the race if he (Killer Miele) could join. I said you (Phil) should decide, as Paul wasn't present. When he joined server I thought you had given permission and pw to him, but obviously not...

So not sure what happened there...

PS: I did accidentally join with BRM checking server, and again after that...sorry for that, I know it's not allowed, but it wasn't intentional...

[Tom van Ostade]

The name rings a bell here... Either way, he was a very skilled and fair driver in today's race .

[GregT]

That was a fairly pleasing race for me. I managed to hold on the the championship lead for one more week. I got a PB in qualifying with a real possibility of picking .2 or .3 more seconds had I run the best lap I could. I thought Attilio might be 1 second faster than me in the same car. I was happy to get within .5 seconds. It was nice to be within a second of Robert too. I also finished as well as I had hoped.

It looked like we got a clean start from my perspective. Nice job guys! Clive made an unfortunate mistake exiting the hairpin? I was lucky I had room to avoid him but he must have collected others behind me. I struggled a little early so I never got a chance to see if I could stick with Iestyn using his slipstream. I gradually fell back about 4 seconds until I lost my concentration around lap 10 and spun. I couldn't get going decent for another lap or two. After that I started shifting earlier and by the half way point I quit using 1st gear. Even if I had ran a great early race I doubt I could have kept close to Iestyn without risking an engine failure. Since nobody behind me had the a car to pressure me I was able to take it pretty easy most of the race. I did screw up again on the last lap and spun for a second time in turn 1. Guess I relaxed too much thinking the race was over.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

[GregT]

The name rings a bell here... Either way, he was a very skilled and fair driver in today's race .

I race with him some. He's a pretty good driver. It was probably a bit tough on him today because he didn't know about car choices until just prior to qualifying starting. He spent all his time on the practice server in the Lotus.

[Robert Fleurke]

Quali went well, had initially a lot of traffic, sometimes with cars on outlaps, and that was actually just what I did need. A bit of pepper in the bottom so to speak.   First run ran a 1m09.8s, but Jethro bettered it. Second run ran a 1m09.5s, and was very pleased with that, pole and PB!

Race, had a good start of the line, but went in too hard on cold tires into T1, and went on the grass and lost 2 positions to Jethro and Tristan, with Attillio and Iestyn close behind. Jethro had a great pace early on, and had a 5s lead to Tristan when he discoed just over halfway. Basically followed Tristan, but everytime I got closer, I made a mistake myself. Towards the end I pushed a bit more, but went off at the hairpin losing a few seconds, and another mistake between T1-2 meant I denied myself a shot at the win.

Very tough luck Jethro, you had the pace to win, very impressive. Tristan ran almost faultless, and deserved the win after Jethro discoed. I think I had slightly more pace, but made a few mistakes. Very happy to have a good result after all the outer-race trouble I ran in this Works season!

Congrats Tristan, good job Attilio, and well done finishers. Lapped cars were very professional giving room, kudos to you as well Great race for me!

[Iestyn Davies]

Lovely track Albi, always conducive to close racing. That said, sounds like I should explore the stiffer left side that Jethro mentions (and Rob for Monza)..

I have fond memories of a D2 win here (and Clive wrapped up the title), in the Brabham, so took that combo and Rob could breathe a sigh of relief  but to be honest, I doubt I could have bettered his Pole and PB. Good job! 

I wonder if it was helped at all by trying Remco's setup before hand? Very impressive.. maybe it helps unlock speed as well .. The improved FFB and pedals must help improve the sense of realism a huge amount. Also managed to catch the last two laps of the MotoGP on a replay on BTSport app pre-race. Well worth watching if you get the chance!

Gradually got the pace down in qual, to line up near the sharp end. In the race, I managed to get a good flow going, after following Rob at T1 (Greg did well to let me get back in before we would have gone two wide in that section) and relearned how to drive the Brabham (and the finesse of braking in general), so my pace might be gradually coming back to me. The hairpin was hectic, with Clive getting a bump with Attilio while side by side, and spinning.. I just accelerated out of the way of the spinning Lotus. Greg behind did well to avoid right, but Ronnie P behind him took a full hit (and Clive lost his left side wheels).

After that, I was close to Attilio, and even in his slipstream once. But, I slipped up under braking when passing Ronnie P on the outside into the hairpin (for lapping), and re-passed him again on the next straight, causing him to fall back a bit from Doni, who he was chasing. Attilio came back to me at 3/4 distance, which then saw me brake too hard into the penultimate corner and go off.. after that I just tried to get a sub-10/PB/fastest lap, as I had a gap to Greg behind. A few mini-spins later (and a new PB), I stuffed up a chance for a sub-10 near the end, after a perfect first half of the lap. Jethro was definitely unlucky to disco when it looked like he had the win wrapped up. Well done podium!

PS. What does F1 1967 W/T mean? Hovering over the race finishing position, I see this for some cars..

--

Killer Miele is Frank Miele.. he races with Greg, Doni, Tristan and I in oAo. I told him about UKGPL, after a practice session on the oAo server, and he showed an interest in joining and racing. So, I gave him the web link, but he found it too confusing to join/register/post (his native language is German). I have sympathy with him here, as I wouldn't have been able to race with LFGPL unless I was guided through the processes. Pre-race, I explained the coins to him, and said if he took Cooper here he could have a free car choice for Mexico. He found a setup and was good to go - so I tried to get him to click the registration thread poll again, but it got lost in translation and he said he couldn't find the button. Having missed some races from clicking the poll too late and not getting the p/w myself, I then said that perhaps Andreas Gebhardt could help him out later/explain in German, and gave him the p/w when it became clear (with 30 mins to go) that the server would not be full. I know he's a clean driver (-45, -205) and told him the red zone lasted until after the hairpin on lap 1. He already had the practice password, so I thought that confirmed at least signing up for an account. I wouldn't have given him the password if I didn't know that he was a clean racer and had merely mucked up the registration process, despite my best efforts to guide him through it. Post-race, Mick Chapman also expressed interest in joining in #oAo, but said he couldn't get the join/register process right either.

[Artiglietti]

Well, first of all apologies to the guys who were involved in the DD crash. I was defending on the inside, Clive gave plenty of room on entry, but then closed a bit on exit, and I was there...Maybe he thought he had cleared me with the late braking? There was still a tiny bit of room to be given on both sides, and we end up touching near the middle of the track, still it was always going to be marginal given how tight and bumpy that corner is..Anyway, it is red zone I think, so will send in my bit of replay for Mods to have their say.

As for the race, I have to be content with the result here, as there were many drivers who were just faster. I managed to keep up with Tristan and Robert for the first part of the race, then little by little I started losing ground, and my gap was suddenly more than 5 secs. A couple of small offs which lost me 4/5 more secs, and there you go...Very impressed with both the leaders and poor Jethro who was driving a faultless race, it will come together soon as he is so quick. Also Iestyn was buzzing around pretty quickly in his Brabham, he kept me company in the second part of the race. Not sure if it was that enjoyable though    .

So, grats to Tristan and Rob for win and podium, and to all finishers, and thanks for the racing, will see you all in Mexico. 

[EvilClive]

Apologies to Art and anyone else who got involved in my chaos. 

I thought i was leaving enough room, but the bumps at the hairpin are treacherous and I think I strayed too far to my right and touched Art. Glad to see that Art carried on, but sorry to those who were affected.
I was pounding the escape key but, each time the car almost came to a halt someone nudged me again and GPL would not allow the "quit" until the car had stopped.

If I join races in the near future I might aim to start from the back of the grid as my head is not in this at the moment and I am likely to ruin too many other's races.

[Robert Fleurke]

New drivers should post in this thread first, after registering on the forum, any questions they have they can ask there as well, or PM a moderator for help:

https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6787.90

As I said in chat, Paul (BadBlood) wasn't present yesterday, and Phil missed it prolly being busy starting up the servers. I didn't want to make that decision, because I'm still pretty new myself. Anyway it's great some more/new drivers express interest in joining.

After they have posted in the new drivers thread, they have to register here for a division, by voting (less than 75% attendance):

https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?board=48.0

Works registration:

https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=12127.0

It will work out, and will contact other mods in order to have them registered as First Reserves for the rest of the Season, and as we don't have full fields right now, I'm sure they can run in the rest of the races

PS: remember, after voting/registering it needs to be processed by the divisional moderator first in LM2, in order for new drivers to see PW for races. I see Killer Miele in Registration Helper in LM2, but I'm not the Divisional Moderator, have to wait for Paul (BadBlood) to return, and he has to complete the registration process, or either Phil. Again it will work out. Will PM Paul and Phil.

[Tom van Ostade]

...

PS. What does F1 1967 W/T mean? Hovering over the race finishing position, I see this for some cars..

...

I'm guessing it is points scored. 'W' is works, 'D' is driver points, 'T' is team points. If someone is not in any team, he is omitted from the 'T' scoring list. So, even though you've scored 43 points for second place overall ('D') , you'll get 50 points for first placed team member ('T').

[Robert Fleurke]

...

PS. What does F1 1967 W/T mean? Hovering over the race finishing position, I see this for some cars..

...

I'm guessing it is points scored. 'W' is works, 'D' is driver points, 'T' is team points. If someone is not in any team, he is omitted from the 'T' scoring list. So, even though you've scored 43 points for second place overall ('D') , you'll get 50 points for first placed team member ('T').

Correct. You're very keen, Tommie

I have fond memories of a D2 win here (and Clive wrapped up the title), in the Brabham, so took that combo and Rob could breathe a sigh of relief   but to be honest, I doubt I could have bettered his Pole and PB. Good job!  

Thanks Iestyn, true that, was relieved you took the Brab, but felt you still would be running for the win as you always drive the wheels off the car  

I wonder if it was helped at all by trying Remco's setup before hand? Very impressive.. maybe it helps unlock speed as well .. The improved FFB and pedals must help improve the sense of realism a huge amount. Also managed to catch the last two laps of the MotoGP on a replay on BTSport app pre-race. Well worth watching if you get the chance!

Well, I was afraid it wouldn't. Despite the fun, if anything, it gave me an inferiority complex sucking so badly, using clutch and RFB, and shifting in an HH pattern, with an awequate gearsystem that made it hard to select the right gear. From 1 to 4, from 6 to reverse and such, lol! Note that I don't have a driving license, only for a forklift! Remco abused his rig so much, was fun to watch his skills, heel/toe and very precise shifting and using clutch!

The amount of immersion was immense, driving on the old bumpy Interlagos lay-out, with Game Stock Car, in a 1975 F1 Brabham-DFV Cosworth, was like being there...however I was only 5y old back then, so had to travel in time! 

Had a headache getting home, but took a painkiller, and was actually surprised it went so well. But wanting to have a solid result meant I was able to, with some luck as I almost wrecked after the start...

Gradually got the pace down in qual, to line up near the sharp end. In the race, I managed to get a good flow going, after following Rob at T1

We're you that Brab not letting me by on the straight in his outlap?   After I messed up hairpin, I let that Brab know I wasn't happy with that  

If I join races in the near future I might aim to start from the back of the grid as my head is not in this at the moment and I am likely to ruin too many other's races.

Whatever is going on Clive, best wishes. Hope the situation will improve, or that you get a handle on it, dealing with it.

We all know you're a very consistent fast clean driver, and I'm sure your normal form will return! Take care mate!  

That was a fairly pleasing race for me. I managed to hold on the the championship lead for one more week. I got a PB in qualifying with a real possibility of picking .2 or .3 more seconds had I run the best lap I could. I thought Attilio might be 1 second faster than me in the same car. I was happy to get within .5 seconds. It was nice to be within a second of Robert too. I also finished as well as I had hoped.

Well done Greg, I admire your ability to be such a consistent finisher, and you seem to improve your speed week after week!  

[Turkey Machine]

May I just add that the back-markers I had lapped were completely professional, and Doni + Andreas did a sterling job considering they were having their own battle!

I will finish, and I will win eventually, but I just need a little bit of luck.

[Robert Fleurke]

May I just add that the back-markers I had lapped were completely professional, and Doni + Andreas did a sterling job considering they were having their own battle!

I will finish, and I will win eventually, but I just need a little bit of luck.

Affirmative. May the Force be with you.