UKGPL Season 27 (2014) Formula Two Trophy - Jarama - Aug 10

[Robert Fleurke]

Giving this one a miss as other half is hospitalised with dehydration from the worst norovirus I've seen!

Sorry to here this , please give her all our best wishes for a speedy recovery

+1

You told me Tuesday she was ill already, Jethro, hope her condition will improve soon!

[Doni Yourth]

Cripes!  Sorry to learn this of your wife, Jethro.  The news hit me like a freight train.  Just nicely reading along when WAMO!

Please do give her OUR best and hope to see a quick and complete recovery.

[bernie]

After all the pre race trauma I may have to depart the server early dependant on what time my 2 grandkids arrive this evening 

[roguk]

Hope your wife gets well soon Jethro.

Will be home in time for race tonight (if there is any space on server) as a heavy driver i hope you lights will bear that in mind and not get to frustrated when you come to lap me, is there a central mirror or virtual mirror for the f2 cars as i think i might need it?

[EvilClive]

 I'd like to add my best wishes for your wife Jethro and hope she gets over that nasty infection quickly.

As for the race...not one of my favourite tracks, although I could not give you any reason why I don't like it 

[Iestyn Davies]

Hope your wife gets better quickly Jethro, and I know you're not much older than me, so kudos on having one already! 

Some business suddenly popped up pre-race, so I only got on to the server with a minute to go, and had 1 lap to see if the setup I developed at Surfers Paradise (with Atlas) would suit Jarama.

Was having a nice battle through the field, following Greg, when Hurricane Bertha's remains literally hit (the most fierce storm this year, and it's lost steam while travelling across the Atlantic ) and knocked out my internet connection!

That's the only explanation I have, although Igor did crash earlier, when I received a call on the land-line....  Takes me back to the dial-up days...

[Billy Nobrakes]

Really dislike this track.
Horribly slow & found many new places to spin.
Apologies to David R if our contact near the end was my fault ~ I didn't save the replay but decided to exit before causing any more mischief.

Best wishes to the wife / girlfriend Jethro.

[Rainier]

It was not my day !
I was rear ended on the 1st lap during red zone, I don't know by whom , and restarted last.
I forget to stop and go and did it 2 laps after ...
Then the Cooper was nice to drive and I could overtake Dave and Billy ...until my steering wheel separated from my table. I lost one minute to affix it !
I made two or three mistakes but could rejoin Billy around the 30-31st lap.
Billy was slow and I thought I could overtake him before the next turn but Billy turned like he didn't see me (moderation will decide) and we collided.  
That was enough for me and I gave up !

Best wishes to Jethro and his wife.

[Cookie]

Stupid mod that lets you run out of gas with 1,5 laps to go on a mod track, with 4 laps more fuel loaded...
Grats Clive and Rob and Dean

[Robert Fleurke]

Difficult race at a difficult track. Despite running many laps here, still having probs with consistency here. Start was OK and could keep the lead, but went wide into Nuvolari on Lap 2 or 3 and Clive went by. Clive gave me the lead back after a mistake, but then I went off again, and Clive got back in the lead. Looked like he was pushing the Lola-BMW beyond the boundaries what is physically possible!  

We had to lap a lot of cars, and even though they gave much room, sometimes you hit them in the wrong spot, and you lose time. Anyway, trying to get back to Clive I spun in Nuvolari/Fangio, now properly, and lost about 10s.

Then pushed to try to reduce the gap, that happened, Clive seemed to have a problem as well, and then caught a few lapped cars at the wrong spot losing vital seconds. Managed to do a fastlap towards the end. Clive managed his lead well and brought it safely to the finish. A more than deserved win, deliver us from Evil!  

Also well done Dean, and the rest of the finishers, and commiserations to the retirements. Lapped cars did a very good job in general!

[GregT]

Congratulations Clive, Rob, and Dean!

That was tough one. My second try here and once again I was very inconsistent.

I got a terrible start. Dean beat me off the line and then that powerhouse Cooper outran me down the straight. I wasn't sure what to do going into turn 1. It looks like Dean and I couldn't decide who was going to take 3rd. I took a wide line thinking he'd come across in front of me exiting turn 1 and I'd fall in behind him. I could have been a little more aggressive into turn 1 holding a slightly tighter line but there was no way for me to know that. My wide entrance and exit at turn 2 didn't work well at all. I'd have been in decent shape had I lifted for turn 3 but I didn't expect Dean to slow much if at all there. Luckily there was enough room for everybody to get by me after the wreck.

It was very difficult trying to pass in the Ferrari. I was much faster through most of the track but didn't have the muscle to get by on the straight after I was put back deep in the field. I had to jump the curb into turn 1 to finally make the pass stick on rog. That actually damaged the car but I didn't realize it until I read the mechanical report. I did wonder why my late lap times were slow.

That was fun, frustrating, and a little disappointing all at the same time. I had the pace to get 4th maybe even 3rd with some good luck but I just couldn't drive well today.

Had I known so many would drive Coopers and Clive was driving the Lola, I might have drove the BT23 to vie for the win. There wasn't much to gain token wise driving the 166 today.

Take care guys, thanks for the racing.

[EvilClive]

That was a great race with Robert and myself as we were very similar for pace in qually and the race.

Robert set a stunning time to take pole and I was more than content to have made the front row. It was a fantastic, race long  battle between us and I think it was obvious that both of us were running on the ragged edge where the smallest mistake was punished with a half spin which allowed the lead to swap.

It seemed that the Cooper (in Robert's hands) had the better handling, but the Lola BMW had a little more power, but a heavier tail end that wanted to step out everywhere!! For most of the race I was throwing the car into the corners and trying to balance the slide with gas and brakes just to match Robert's pace!!!
It was not until I squeezed between 2 backmarkers on the S/F straight and pulled a few seconds breathing space that I could begin to concentrate on smoother lines.

I did not actually have a problem later in the race, but I did have a scare with 10 laps to go when I looked at my fuel!!!   So I backed off and short shifted for a few laps until I was sure that I could make it to the flag. It cost me a good few seconds of my precious lead but I knew I did not have enough time to take a Shift/R and a SnG and still come out in front. So I let Robert get within 3-4 secs and then managed the gap all the way to the flag 

This is still not a favourite track of mine but quite pleased to get a win in a hard fought race.

grats to Dean for completing the podium and to all those who made it to the finish.

Apologies to any of the people that I lapped if I appeared to pressure you, but I had Robert breathing down my neck looking for any chance to pass!!! 

[roguk]

said before race ( as a heavy driver i hope you lights will bear that in mind and not get to frustrated when you come to lap me)


From Robert
We had to lap a lot of cars, and even though they gave much room, sometimes you hit them in the wrong spot

then caught a few lapped cars at the wrong spot losing vital seconds

From GregT
 I had to jump the curb into turn 1 to finally make the pass stick on rog. That actually damaged the car but I didn't realize it until I read the mechanical report. I did wonder why my late lap times were slow. 
                       That was fun, frustrating, and a little disappointing all at the same time

That is why the Lights and Heavies should be run on separate servers, even if only a low number turn up.
Watching replay Sorry GregT for tap on lap 8 did not notice it in race and thanks for waiting lap 20 after our coming together, enjoyed racing with you but when you eventually passed me and took off can understand your frustration.

[BadBlood]

Running two grids is a bit of a headache and, for myself, I quite like getting a turn with the big boys so that I can hold them up for a few corners get out of the way as soon as I see a blue flag....

@Jethro - hope the wife feels better soon. Horrible thing to have. Cleaning it up isn't that great either. We once had a time when all four kids were ill and Denise and I had it too.

[Robert Fleurke]

Personally I like fuller grids, Rog. The lapped cars did a superb job in general. I can understand it's not fun to be lapped every race, but it's also this difficult track that made huge differences in performance I think, and it's hard to pass here apart from the straight, even when you are way faster...

Clive drove very sensible in the second part of the race and deservedly won!

PS: seems like I drove another T84 WR in the race, it's 100% on track, and I think no tow. Sector 1 and 4 were average but sector 2 and 3 very good....still half a second in it...but hard to get a clean good lap here...