UKGTL Season 16 Old Geezer's 1960's Trans-Am - Sebring - Jan 25

[Wiltshire Tony]

Replay and results now posted.

Welcome Louis 

[misnoimis]

I didn’t hear the starter so was a bit slow away but made up a few places in the first couple of laps. I think on lap three I got my breaking wrong and bumped Tony at the sharp righthander (sorry about that). I hadn’t managed to get a clean lap in for one reason or another but had some close racing. Just as I was hoping to get into some kind of rhythm I lost my bearings slightly after I was undertaken and got two Cut Track and a S&G on the same corner. After that I lost interest with my S&G history on this track so pulled into the pits, skipped the S&G and retired. I see the reason for my retirement says electronics. I guess that means the failure of the circuits in my brain.

Grats to winner and podiums. 

[Bob M.]

First of all I want to thank everyone for joining this series, great turnout and to Tony for putting all the information together for the series.  I confess that the reason that I thought up the idea of a 50th anniversary Trans Am series was sorta self centered as I have always liked the V8's a lot and was afraid we might not have one this year.  Anyway pitched the idea to Tony and we went with it.  The tracks are as close as I could get to 1966/67 seasons and the cars also.  Hope you enjoy the rest of them.
My race was terrible.  Around L6 or 7 I must have injured my suspension, because if I braked hard it would either pull left or right. Got three cuts almost at the next three corners.  Went to serve my time and then picked up a speeding ticket in the pits.  By that time everything had a RED tint to it.........Did finish but last on the track.  Maybe bad start means good finish!!!

Again thanks all
Bob M.

Edit:Welcome Louis to Monday racing.

[Jeep]

From 1 UKGTL Newbie to another... Welcome aboard Louis.

Well, I think the 1st lap mess was my fault, sorry guys, I thought I had been nudged myself but the replay shows it was all my own doing. A fair bit of jostling during the 1st few bends I tapped Clive who hit marcfvs. In case my fears were realised  I decided to wait until everyone was safely away so from 7th to last in a few corners..

I wasn't even expecting to make this one as I was expecting to be working away again this week so didn't even download the track and car packs until Friday evening. Tried all the cars and the Cougar felt the easiest for me so went with it for the race.

My Start was abysmal, I launched ok and then had to get off the gas PDQ as Matt was very slow off the line, the result was I was swallowed up by the pursuing masses by Turn 1, then the incident at T3 and I was trailing the field by some way. Caught Louis in the run down from the Esses where he outbraked himself and I was up to 15th. Caught SpecialKS at the entry to the back straight and out dragged him down to the next corner so up to 14th and making ground on the Mid pack by the end of the lap.

Onto Lap 3 and held a tighter line than ccstevecc through T1 and up to 13th.. Nudged roguk entering the Esses (Sorry) but no issues and we both continued unhurt. Down to the Hairpin and I found Mayhem had ensued. Passed roguk, marcfvs & Misnoimis on the exit and put the pedal to the metal in an attempt to get to the next corner before Tony, made it by the skin of my teeth but more through Tony's experience rather than any great prowess on my part I think. Tony was then over me like a rash for the next few corners and outbraked me at the end of the back straight but ran wide on the exit and I took the place back.

Over the next few laps the noise of Tony's Z28 was replaced by marcfvs's Cougar who was now beginning to get very interested in getting past, meanwhile I was making ground on Bob M but under the scrutiny of marc's attentions my driving was becoming somewhat ragged and sure enough just as I was thinking about making life very unpleasant for Bob I put 2 wheels on the grass and marc was through so back to 10th.

The next few laps were devoted to slowly reeling Bob in again It was obvious from my seat that he was having a few issues under braking and I finally outbraked him into the turn onto the back straight so back to 9th. Bob then pitted at the end of the lap S&G perhaps??

The final few laps were fairly lonely, I caught the odd glimpse of marc but he was steadily putting distance between us.

Finally on the last lap I found Clive recovering from a spin at the hairpin but he was just too far ahead for me to capitalise on his misfortune so I had to content myself with following him home.

Wasn't entirely sure of the etiquette regarding "Track Cut" messages. I got 2 during the race but assumed if I needed to do a S&G GTL would tell me so continued in both cases.


Congratulations to the Podium and everyone who joined.

TTFN
John.

[Wiltshire Tony]

Wasn't entirely sure of the etiquette regarding "Track Cut" messages. I got 2 during the race but assumed if I needed to do a S&G GTL would tell me so continued in both cases.

Yep, GTL will tell you if you have "won" a S&G

[Erling G-P]

If anyone needs proof that aliens are among us, they need only look at the qualification laptimes of the front runners; that should dispel any doubts.. 

6th on the grid myself.  Poor start, but apparently Matt's was even worse, as I slipped in front of him on the run to T1.  That was the start of a race long chase. I would gain a little on the straights, and Matt would claw it back in the corners, most notably T1-T2-T3, where he was much quicker. Wondered where he got all that grip from, but replay suggests it was at least partially because he had found a faster line.

On L2, I got a bad exit from the very tight right hander, and we were side by side on the run down to the 90-deg right-left combination. No way we would both fit through that tight corner, so I braked early, as Matt was on the inside. He overshot however, so I could dive under and reclaim the position. When exiting the left hander, a dustcloud among the trees ahead signaled that one of the front runners had gone off, and I inherited 4th.

Chased by Matt over the next many laps, until a car crept up behind Matt. Brief check revealed it to be Jose. Hoped he could keep Matt occupied, but alas, soon it was me being occupied by him    Only briefly though, as he quickly went past and disappeared.  On the following lap, I handed Matt a golden opportunity to pass, when I went wide at T3. However, he was kind enough to spin his car instead, so I maintained 5th.  Lost a little more time in subsequent mistakes, but concentrated driving over the final laps secured 5th at the finish.

Grats to the podium and thanks to Matt for a long and fair duel.  Thanks also to Tony & Bob for putting it together, and welcome to Louis - hope you'll race with us again 

Cheers,
Erling

[misnoimis]

I like the sixties muscle cars and think it is a great idea  of Bob’s to reconstruct the TA series of fifty years ago. I think I’ve only raced on one of the future tracks to be used in this series so it should be interesting.

I found that I am still allergic to this version of Sebring. Although I had a good idea where the Track Cuts were this time and kept clear of them until lap four when I managed to get two at the same corner on the same lap. I let a car I was side by side with go at Turn 1 as he was on the inside, mistook my turning point as I thought he had gone wide. realised my mistake and tried to correct it too late resulting in going wide. Got one Cut Track entering the turn and another on exiting it earning a S&G from only one corner.  Another Sebring record for me I think.

I am now going to download Green Valley. Will check it out for Cut Track warnings later. 

[phspok]

Like Erling said, was a classic chase all race  

COuple of points - I found the Z28 to be better in the corners than the Cougar TA and slower on the straights
also I was running auto clutch at first, which was not a good idea on long straights, you out gunned me after
the hairpin because of your manual clutch as much as anything, and the COugar was faster on the straights
in any case. Z28 might have been slightly better on the brakes as well, not sure. When you went wide at T3
I tried to keep tight to avoid contact and overdid it. After that I went with manual clutch and got a bit more
acceleration out of the corners onto the straights, but not enough to do much by then.
Green valley looks like another power track, though it looks quite short, so maybe not.
Interesting that the two drivers from mars, and the one from planet flamenco were all in Barracudas which I
had thought  to be slow... must try those again  

[Wiltshire Tony]

Didn't like this track, never have really so I didn't want to use a "good" car here. In testing I seemed to be slowest in the Camaro so took that. I was in awe of the performance Matt was able to produce in his tho  

I think I was losing too much time at the sharp corners but I was very much on the pace at turns 1 and 2 (the best parts of this track IMO).

Avoided the duckers and divers for most of the first lap. Received a love tap from misnoimis  but nothing to worry about. Early battles with Roger (as usual). Then a fairly dull affair as the boys in front increased their lead and I did likewise to the fella's behind me.

Final few laps were more interesting as I watched the gap between myself and Steve behind me decrease alarmingly, from a safe cushion to "flippin 'eck he's close". One more lap and I think I would have been dead in the water.

I hope Louis enjoyed his first outing with us. Introduce youself fella and we will get you up the front with the fast guys in no time 

[phspok]

Is it "Louis"am  or "Louisa"m

[Wiltshire Tony]

Is it "Louis"am  or "Louisa"m

 

[roguk]

Hi its Louis i expect he added am for amateur.

Should have taken note of the first post and used the Barracuda, prob would have made no diff to my result as so wary of what part of track was ok to use, spent most of race trying to keep Steve from over taking Thanks Steve for some nice close racing and being so patient.

Grats to Ati7 on win

Grats to Podium 

[Erling G-P]

Like Erling said, was a classic chase all race  

COuple of points - I found the Z28 to be better in the corners than the Cougar TA and slower on the straights
also I was running auto clutch at first, which was not a good idea on long straights, you out gunned me after
the hairpin because of your manual clutch as much as anything, and the COugar was faster on the straights
in any case. Z28 might have been slightly better on the brakes as well, not sure. When you went wide at T3
I tried to keep tight to avoid contact and overdid it. After that I went with manual clutch and got a bit more
acceleration out of the corners onto the straights, but not enough to do much by then.
Green valley looks like another power track, though it looks quite short, so maybe not.
Interesting that the two drivers from mars, and the one from planet flamenco were all in Barracudas which I
had thought  to be slow... must try those again  

Two points:

1: My car was a '68 Firebird - not a Cougar 

2: I was - as always - on autoclutch for the entire race, except for the start, where I use my pedal.  Shift noise of the Firebird makes it sound like autoclutch is off though, so understand your confusion.

I tried the Barracuda and found it to have better brakes than the rest, but couldn't translate it to faster laptimes; my best being 3:09.1.  How the aliens could be 8 secs quicker is a mystery to me, but maybe there's something drastic that needs changing in its setup.. 

Cheers,
Erling

[phspok]

Teehee.
I am in shame.... well that firey bird accelerated better than my ZX spectrum

[SpecialKS]

Results

 

Another night to forget. And I don't like this Sebring version too.