UKPnG Season 10 Limited Choice Challenge - Sepang - Apr 9

[Clive Loynes]

Matt must have been going well in practice.  This is going to be over a fifty minute race for me! 

[phspok]

Results and Replay Posted
Matt Was having a much easier time in testing 
I couldn't get the thing to stop or turn in, My Southport setup was
not perfect, but I could do better than I was doing.
Was dropping back from Postie and hted the car, so left.

[Clive Loynes]

Click HERE for Analyser Report  

My word but that was a long one!

I spent all of the practice time off-line trying to figure just how to get to the end of the race with any rubber left!  I came to the conclusion that I needed hard tyres on the front of the BMW to stand any chance.  Then the challenge was to have steering as well.  I still hadn't finished the process when it was time to enter the server, so after posting a reasonable time, on soft boots, early on, I went back to progressively stiffening the back and softening the front.  Qually ended and I still hadn't finished tweaking so I gave it a few more clicks of everything and headed for the grid.

As it turned out, it wasn't too bad.  But the track is awful!    

I didn't make a great start.  In fact, since Geoffers passed me, it must have been diabolical!  BMW power helped me to repass him and thus we stayed until I was within spitting distance of a surprise second place.  

I think that, at any time, if I can get to half distance with Geoffers behind me and still be able to see John's tyre smoke, then I'm having a good race.  

I thought that Geoffers best chance would be for me to forget which of the nondescript corners was coming next, but as it happens Geoffers had other ideas.  With about a lap and a half to go I was convinced that Geoffers was about to ram me.  He didn't!  He took avoiding action but I was so busy looking to see what he was going to do next that I went too deep into the slow hairpin and he passed me with ease.  Oh bother I said!!!!

He was quicker through the corners and I didn't have enough straights left, before the end of the race, to mount a challenge.

WD Geoffers, good drive.

And congratulations to John too.

[Stefan aka Postal]

Well, that turned out to be a bit of a lonely race for me. Had done faster laptimes in practice offline, but could not get the times during qually or race sadly. I tried both the IMSA CSL as the Schnitzer powerhouse and altough the IMSA was a nicer drive i reckoned i needed the extra horses too keep up...

Was sleeping at the line and lost some meters on the pack and slid a bit off track in the opening laps trying too hard on cold tires. Tried to claw back some time but wasn't gaining on EvilClive and just as i decided to back off a bit to have a bit of a battle with Matt, he quit the race. So on to the finish line. I was enjoying the car more and more so had a nice drive after all.
Bring on the next one! Cheers

[phspok]

Sorry Postal, I was getting frustrated with the car. In testing this seemed a brilliant combo
in practice it appears to have been unpopular. Only 6 runners 
Was it something I said?  Would be interesting to know if people (who didn't turn up)
weren't there because they had other engagements or just didn't like the look of it?
I try to put on events that people want, but it helps if I know what people do want.
I have a few comments of old, so I have some idea, but every little helps 

[Stefan aka Postal]

Yeah, i could understand why you quit Matt. Should have backed off earlier on my part, would have made for a more interresting race for us both.
Don't know why the turn out is lower this time. Last time we ran these cars there was a bigger grid and some nice battles during the race. So i don't think they didn't like the look of it, maybe it was because the sun is comming out again?...
I will gladly be racing anything you through at us! Especially these 70's cars!!

Having said that. Looks like newer sims are having the same thing with grid seizes? Like Game Stock Car Extreme looks nice but not the next thing in simracing, altough it has real racing classes with historic content it does not attracks big crowds? AC looks to be the next in simracing but has higher demands on hardware, is harder to get some even race classes together and lacks historic content for the time being. (DTM race looked great though! )

I bet it has more to do with finding the spare time for this hobby for most people. As for me i am glad i can find the time to run GTL and PnG every week and if i am lucky i can do some pre-race practice.
I quess you are still on the right track (Look at GTL; grid numbers are getting higher again around here), but maybe other people can give you some feedback too.
Cheers

[frex]

Would be interesting to know if people (who didn't turn up)
weren't there because they had other engagements or just didn't like the look of it?

For me it's simply the case that I am doing more racing in AC and pCARS now, and less in PnG. Still enjoy PnG though and not given up on it completely, but my already limited time for practise has therefore been cut even further - any PnG races I do now has to be with a car/track combo that I enjoy and know reasonably well, so that I can just turn up and race on the night. That wouldn't apply here, and I would only have been a liability in these cars with no practice beforehand. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the combo itself though Matt.

[Legzy]

Would be interesting to know if people (who didn't turn up)
weren't there because they had other engagements or just didn't like the look of it?

I wasn't there as had family round & they left @8:50pm!
That said, I would like to see more use of the older cars that don't seem to get much of a look in since we got PnG3 . I really have little interest in the regular BMW vs Pork, but I suspect I am the minority there though.

[Hotkeys]

Sorry Postal, I was getting frustrated with the car. In testing this seemed a brilliant combo
in practice it appears to have been unpopular. Only 6 runners 
Was it something I said?  Would be interesting to know if people (who didn't turn up)
weren't there because they had other engagements or just didn't like the look of it?
I try to put on events that people want, but it helps if I know what people do want.
I have a few comments of old, so I have some idea, but every little helps 

I had no time to practice for this race. I turned up all the same, because I thought I knew Sepang ......... I didn't and old Hotkeys racing on an unknown track in a power-car is not a healthy idea :- ))

I for one hope this isn't the beginning of the end for P&G races, so I plan to turn up as often as possible.

BUT ..... just like Legzy, I miss racing the older cars like the Cortina and the Lotus Elite or the Jaguar saloon cars.


Stig

[EvilClive]

I don't feel like I have been around PnG long enough to offer any great insights or opinions.

But, I do tend to agree with some of the comments about the "older" cars, although that might well be due to my advanced years and the rosy glow of my childhood memories.

I did a few laps with Clive L on the server on Wed evening and struggled to make the front end respond, especially on hard tyres. I resisted the temptation to go for soft tyres as I doubted they would last the race and opted for mediums.
At the start I kept the leading trio within 3 secs for a good few laps then somehow I forgot how to drive the BMW  and dropped back until my memory reloaded towards the end of the race and I started to close again. I occasionally caught glimpses of Clive and Geoffers, but it became a progressively more lonely race.
In hindsight, and looking at the lack of any real wear on the mediums, I could probably have done the race on softs all round and that might have kept me in touch with Geoffers and Clive....but I doubt it!!!

Grats to the podium and to John's dominant win, CYA next time.

[Clive Loynes]

Simon was having a punch-up with the grid marshal, who wouldn't let him back onto the grid after Simon had rejected the last offering on engine health that his pit crew could come up with.  

@ Evil I had soft on the rear and hard on the front.  Don't think that I would have reached halfway in Matt's Marathon with soft on the front.

I try to support these races and turn up whatever awful track and car combinations you can come up with.

A season of Minis might give me a problem!  Did that with MARA and don't really want a repeat!  

[Geoffers]

I thought that Geoffers best chance would be for me to forget which of the nondescript corners was coming next, but as it happens Geoffers had other ideas.  With about a lap and a half to go I was convinced that Geoffers was about to ram me.  He didn't!  He took avoiding action but I was so busy looking to see what he was going to do next that I went too deep into the slow hairpin and he passed me with ease.  Oh bother I said!!!!

Don't know what gave you the idea I was going to ram you Clive! I must admit I did get rather close on one or two occasions when the lack of corner speed of the BMW nearly caught me out. Did give you one bump when I got alongside approaching the triple apex RHer, sorry about that. Anyway, I had pretty much given up hope of finding a way past when you messed up the hairpin. Was great fun though, really enjoyed the race. I even like the track, one of the better modern ones in my opinion.

You can count on me being there for all the races Matt, unless I'm away on holiday. Not sure what the answer is to the low attendances, seems that all the sims are suffering the same at the moment (except Tony's GTL series).

Personally I would like to see a few more different cars used, we always seem to be racing Porkas, Alfas, BMWs & Escorts. How about some Mk2 Jags or Elites or Lotus 7s or Minis or GT40s. We raced the 3.4 Jag at Goodwood over at GC a few weeks ago, a car that rarely gets used, & it produced some brilliantly close racing. I wouldn't worry too much about matching the laptimes of the cars, just pick a selection that seem about equal & go with it. Clive will soon sort out which is fastest, lol!

[Clive Loynes]

Don't know what gave you the idea I was going to ram you Clive!

You loomed!   

................. Clive will soon sort out which is fastest, lol!

That'll be the day!   

[simon loynes]

On-line car was nothing like the off-line version hence I had to start growing a set-up during Qually

Turns out is was all a pointless exercise because whilst I was trying to get the game to give me an engine at least in the 70% region the race started without me.

[phspok]

Fair enough, Thanks for the comments guys.
I have a BHC coming up with some period cars, but am struggling to find a good close match
at the moment.
Food for thought. Ta.