Congrats Tim and Axel!
I disagree with Doni. Impatience and consideration are not synonymous.
As GPL will shut the quali after ~11min overtiming,
I noticed this in my track.ini.
[ statistics ]
reference_value = 2130.0
That is the number of seconds you are allowed to complete a lap after time expires in qualifying. 2130/60=35.5 minutes. I was watching Mark when time expired. I knew he wasn't likely to complete his lap within 11 minutes from where he was when time expired. I never thought he'd finish the lap. I didn't mind waiting though. I enjoyed checking out the scenery while Mark drove. It's the first time I ever noticed Ginetto standing on the curb in Campofelice.
I've always been too busy driving to notice. I apologize for chatting before Mark finished.
I also found you can drive up on the Ferrari car carrier that sits on the right when exiting the pits.
I'm pleased with my drive. I had one lap shortly before qualifying started. I have my first pit stall located on the first straight in Campofelice. So while I was waiting for qualifying to start, I got my 5th gear set correctly for the Buonfornello Straight. I got another lap in qualifying and then a 3rd lap in the race. Not bad at all for little practice. But I do at least 2 laps every month working on my GT times and setups here.
Finally I have the course memorized well. I rarely forget where I am on the track now, and I'm getting to point I can "see" the upcoming turns. This event showed me two places I'm still not anticipating correctly. I'm braking in two places where I should be holding the throttle even and letting the lateral Gs reduce my speed.
That was a good race lap. I quickly scanned my replay to see how many mistakes I made. I hit a wall 5 times, spinning once. 2 times were a light graze that a real car likely would have tolerated with little more than a loss of paint. I keep trying to get a GT around this track cleanly. There is only one World Record lap for the GTs on GPLRank. I hope someday I can post some more WRs even though they won't be the fastest laps. I've managed 20 minutes without contact or an off. Now I just need to learn to do the full 35 minutes.
The M1B actually seemed a little easier than the GTs. I can point the nose in much better with the throttle. The key is not using too much throttle. I was hoping I could run my fastest lap ever and break into the 34:00's. I got close. I was only 10 seconds off my Porsche 910 time. Since I was stoked from the event, I decided to give the 712M another try after the event. I may have run a cleaner lap with it than I did with the M1B during the race. I got my first 34:00. 34:17.28 with the 712M.
Now that Axel has got me obsessed with this track again, I'll have to give the M8F a try soon. With all the cars in GPL, this track alone could keep me occupied for years. 5 years of trying to master the GTs here has limited me to less than 10 laps in all the other mods combined. Maybe by the time I can drive this track like Nurburgring, there will be a 1970 or 1971 Alfa Type 33/3 to drive too. That's one of my biggest wishes for GPL, to drive a 3 liter Type 33 at Targa Florio.
Thanks guys.
