UKGPL Season 27 (2014) Historic Trophy (66) - Carthage - Sep 9

[Doni Yourth]

A grisly race for me.  I had a chance to finish P4 or P5 at worst.  I was having good fun exchanging places with Andreas til I bungled an easy corner and fell off.  Caught by Ronnie and Dave, had to work hard to stay ahead without much success.  The slipstream is just outrageous in these GP66's, isn't it?  Can't understand why the mod editors couldn't work a fix as they did with the '69 mod.  Can't be that hard.

It was a moot point re my dices with Ronnie and Dave as the engine let go around 2/3 distance.  Netted some points, at least.

Grats to Robert!  Finally left his bad luck behind. 

[Billy Nobrakes]

Haven’t really got to grips with the 66 mod. Will try & make as many races as I can & develop a set up that works for me. The section through the esses before the hairpin definitely felt more like sailing a boat than steering a car.
This is also the only series that I driving on pro settings so I was relatively cautious & fairly happy to finish the last of the finishers & not get lapped.
No idea how people were getting 3.08 lap times but also surprised that the Ferrari’s had the higher top speed. I will however stick with the Brabham machinery & try & be a bit more competitive next time out.

[EvilClive]

No real preparation for this race, unless you count the last time that we raced here??

There is no doubt that this is a "power" circuit and having a car that has loads of grunt has to be an advantage. But there are enough tricky bits to show up any defects in handling or setup, usually with terminal consequences.
So drawing on past experience of this track, I fully expected plenty of incidents and retirements. Those who had selected the fast machinery set some impressive times in qually ( grats to Arfx3 on an almost unbeatable lap set very early) and Robert extracted the pole winning pace from his car.

I chose the Eagle simply because I had a setup that I knew was easy and predictable...if not ultimately super quick. It seems that Ronnie had similar thoughts and the battle for grid places in quali continued when the race started and we were involved in a slip stream battle where each of us had an advantage at certain points on the circuit. I felt very sorry for David who was trapped behind our battle in his Cooper. He was so much quicker on the straights that he should have been able to cruise past our 2 Eagles, but each time he caught us we were busy racing side by side and there was no where to get past!!!.

It looked like it would be a race long chess game with Ronnie, as neither of us had a clear advantage that would create a gap, until I nailed it through the left hander in the depression. I'm not sure if Ronnie was slower through there on the fatal lap ( it does not really matter as I was behind and I was flying!  ) but I must have been carrying an extra 20mph or more through the apex and suddenly realised that there was a gearbox exactly where I wanted be in about 1.0 secs time. It was either hit Ronnie hard or go and build sandcastles..........so I grabbed the bucket and spade and aborted, scattering camels and goats for what seemed like 2 hours.
When the car finally stopped it was ( of course) facing in entirely the wrong direction and by the time I had crawled my way out of the sand, Ronnie and David were not even a mirage on the horizon, they were gone!!

the rest of the race was quite lonely and I picked up a few places through others misfortune, although  prib seemed to be spreading false rumours at times as I ( appeared) to pass both Robert and Tristan, only to discover half a lap later that they were back at the front of the race??!!

Grats to the podium guys. I'm off to get the sand out of my undergarments.

[Ronniepeterson]

It looked like it would be a race long chess game with Ronnie, as neither of us had a clear advantage that would create a gap, until I nailed it through the left hander in the depression. I'm not sure if Ronnie was slower through there on the fatal lap ( it does not really matter as I was behind and I was flying!  ) but I must have been carrying an extra 20mph or more through the apex and suddenly realised that there was a gearbox exactly where I wanted be in about 1.0 secs time. It was either hit Ronnie hard or go and build sandcastles..........so I grabbed the bucket and spade and aborted, scattering camels and goats for what seemed like 2 hours.
When the car finally stopped it was ( of course) facing in entirely the wrong direction and by the time I had crawled my way out of the sand, Ronnie and David were not even a mirage on the horizon, they were gone!!

You were simply much faster than me at that point of the track and I appreciate that you chose to do a Hendrix and build castles in the sand. Thanks again to yourself, Dave and Doni for some really good racing.

As for using the Eagle, I had thought this was a 2L car race, my error. I simply did not have the ability to set up the 3L Ferrari to my liking. I had a quick look at the BT19 but while it handled reasonably well I could not get it up to speed. The Eagle has been great fun in the past for me and so it proved again.

Grats to the speed merchants up front; Robert, Tristan and Arf.

[DLogan]

I was so worried about T1, and relieved that we got through it clear, but then lost it under braking for T2 and it snapped sideways. Happy to avoid TBot, but then I'm just sitting there sideways, sorry to Cookie (mostly), Andreas (less), others (? dunno, my rpy doesn't show, but probably wasn't fun).

T then had a moment at "that left-hander" (always feel there's time left there) which allowed me to catch back up and get ahead for a lap. He was soon on me, and as the Ferrari was feeling kinda nervous, I figured I'd not fight and just follow for a while, but his braking for the chicane caught me out, had to bail to the inside to avoid and ended up well buried in the bales.

Minute and a half lost trying to extract myself from that, get going again, catch and pass Paul easily, then Bernie's next.

You bear no responsibility or fault for the near-unavoidable contact that put me over the fence, IMO. But on the straight(ish) section before that where I passed you, you were in the middle of the track as I was barrelling down on you, then moved to the inside for the slight bend. I figured you were leaving the outside clear so I went for it, but then you drifted back across and into my path. It was too late to check up or try to go inside, so I had to go off-track (not missing you by much at all). If there had been anything to hit out there, it would have put me right back into your path, and we both would have been out right then. In that situation (someone coming up on you quite quickly), please pick a side of the track and stick to it.

After landing in the spectators, my car could still move (a bit), so tried to dig my way out with revs again, then heard the leaders go by (drat) and just as I was getting to the end of the line and possibly clear, engine went "ting" and then no more (drat drat drat).

[bernie]

You bear no responsibility or fault for the near-unavoidable contact that put me over the fence, IMO. But on the straight(ish) section before that where I passed you, you were in the middle of the track as I was barrelling down on you, then moved to the inside for the slight bend. I figured you were leaving the outside clear so I went for it, but then you drifted back across and into my path. It was too late to check up or try to go inside, so I had to go off-track (not missing you by much at all). If there had been anything to hit out there, it would have put me right back into your path, and we both would have been out right then. In that situation (someone coming up on you quite quickly), please pick a side of the track and stick to it.

Well thank you for the driving tips , but here is my take on the matter
Yes I am in the middle of the track ( my perogative )
No I do not drift into your path 
Yes I see you in my LH mirror
Yes I move to right
Yes YOU then choose to go from LHS to RHS of track
YOU disappear then reappear in MY RH mirror 
Yes I move left to give YOU room
Yes you run wide (  why when you have loads of room ?)

13 seconds later Yes 13 seconds , on your own with the whole width of the track to yourself , you reach the corner and have your own accident .

I try to avoid YOUR self induced accident and I spin trying to avoid YOU !

I am to blame

In short IMO I did nothing wrong , from my point of view , you did everything wrong ! 

Might I suggest that you really ought to take more care when approaching and overtaking a much slower car , you really had all the time in the world to do so , instead of barrelling past (your words )  as you did !

[DLogan]

...Yes I am in the middle of the track ( my perogative )...

But you weren't in the middle of the track. You were drifting from side-to-side (yes, partially because of the kink) but you knew I was coming quickly and could have picked somewhere to be instead of making me try to guess.

In this league, the onus is on the overtaking driver to do so safely, but the driver being overtaken is not allowed to weave (which what you did could be viewed as).

...I try to avoid YOUR self induced accident and I spin trying to avoid YOU !
I am to blame ...

What part of "You bear no responsibility or fault for the near-unavoidable contact that put me over the fence" implies that you were to blame in any way? I'm not submitting any defence for the incident report that's been filed.

[bernie]

I have responded to you because you have  implied above that I was driving badly and that somehow I caused you to have an accident , for whatever reason I do not understand your comments .

But you weren't in the middle of the track. You were drifting from side-to-side (yes, partially because of the kink) but you knew I was coming quickly and could have picked somewhere to be instead of making me try to guess.

I would be very interested to see where this happened , can you please show me where and at what time on the replay I was drifting from side -to- side because having looked at my replay I cannot find any such behaviour on my part    ?

You still insist I was weaving, Have you looked at your replay ,  can you explain to me where and when I was "weaving ",  perhaps you have got me mixed up with some other driver  ?

In this league, the onus is on the overtaking driver to do so safely, but the driver being overtaken is not allowed to weave (which what you did could be viewed as).

What part of " I did not weave " do you not understand ?

Fully agree with the rest of your statement though , the overtaking driver "should" be more careful , obviously you were not being careful enough , you were the one who changed your line and "you" confused me as you decided far too late to go around the outside . in your words  "barrelling past" not the way to go IMO .

My report is in , I await the moderators comments with interest .
 

[DLogan]

...My report is in , I await the moderators comments with interest ...

What are you expecting from them? I'll save you the suspense of waiting: "Dean screwed up the corner and suffered for it". Penalties? None, because none are deserved for either of us. I messed up a corner, you were unlucky to be involved, and that's it.

My comments about the activity on the straight before were meant as helpful suggestions to avoid disaster when you find yourself in the same situation in future (being overtaken at a rapid rate). If you can't take them as such, forget it.

Btw, no one on a track has any right (that's an easier word to spell than "prerogative") to the middle on a straight. That's blocking.

[Ronniepeterson]

Btw, no one on a track has any right to the middle on a straight. That's blocking.

 

[MagicArsouille]

HI   .......after been out in the sand in lap 1, it was not possible to catch Robert......I can't find the good speed whith the Ferrari ( maxi 310 in the splitstream ...?? )..... shame for the fight Rob !....next time......    

 St Jovite....2 liter.......I will be handicaped for this one ......:/.......it will be nice to know exactly whitch car I can drive, then I can start training whith it !

[Robert Fleurke]

HI  .......after been out in the sand in lap 1, it was not possible to catch Robert......I can't find the good speed whith the Ferrari ( maxi 310 in the splitstream ...?? )..... shame for the fight Rob !....next time......    

 St Jovite....2 liter.......I will be handicaped for this one ......:/.......it will be nice to know exactly whitch car I can drive, then I can start training whith it !

Tristan, you ran a too short 5th gear this time, and maybe also too low tirepressures. It's not always good to setup 5th gear for redline, especially at fast tracks. Most engines you need to make use of max torque and horsepower which lies often under the redline. I use the graphs in GPL Setup Manager to set the right gearings for a particular engine

[MagicArsouille]

You shurely right Rob, but till where too inflate ??....I shall try GPLManager   

[Robert Fleurke]

You shurely right Rob, but till where too inflate ??....I shall try GPLManager   

26psi/179KPa hot pressures are optimal front and rear for 66 mod, but sometimes overinflating helps at fast tracks (with mods, not 67). I think it was basically your short 5th gear...

[BadBlood]

Mod published