UKAC Season 3 Blancpain - Round 1 - Brands Hatch - May 10

[picnic]

Sorry now getting

panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference [signal 0xc0000005 code=0x0 addr=0x0 pc=0x4e19ed]

when I try and run it

[picnic]

Ok, hopefully sorted. Reduced practice to 30 mins

[Mark J]

Phew well done Pete 

Can we still cut practise short at 8.15? Guess we can use advance session/vote 

[Pag96]

I left the server since I had just yesterday to practice and I was making errors every lap, then rejoining and causing problems to others running in the track, plus had multiple crashes (and apart from one where I think we both could avoid it, IMHO not my fault, checking the replay)
Sorry and see ya at the next one when hopefully with more practice I won't race this bad :/

[ChrisR]

cheers for that, i had an enjoyable race..

what i have noticed with VR is how close you can drive to someone without making contact.

great fun, look forward to the next one.

[picnic]

Sorry for the cock up with the server first thing, problems mainly with the entry_list file.

Also not sure what happened at the end, we usually have a 300 second period after the race before the game advances to the next event. The instruction is still in the config file but had no effect tonight 

Lack of practice, curtailed further with the starting issues, made me even less competitive than usual. At least Spanner kept waiting for me in the later stages so it wasn't too lonely 

[Simon Gymer]

After getting stuck behind Mark for half that race because I slowed to avoid the mayhem at paddock hill bend on lap 1, it was fun to pass him around the outside of Hawthorns.  

He was clearly running a lot less wing than me as he had a good 5mph more on the straight so it was very hard to find an opportunity to get past. The low wing meant he was horribly slow through Hawthorns and even more so at Westfield where it's very difficult to reduce speed if you realise you're going to run into the back on someone!

Pictures here...
https://www.facebook.com/TeamSharkOnlineRacing/posts/1148135131965188

[FullMetalGasket]

That was rubbish for me - maybe a tainted view as a result of being collected by the T1 accident while threading through it.
But also tangled with Bob (who I let back past, but got rear ended twice in the process despite sticking to the edge of the track well off pace ) and just had difficulty focusing.
Dunno why but that overcast weather was giving me serious problems at the end of the main straight with getting my bearings, as a result I ran way off my offline times  

Hopefully next race will go better.
Well to to the podium and finishers

[Bob]

Would not have minded if you had just taken off, it was accidental and you are so much faster than myself, sorry it compromised your race.

[Gavino Pintus]

Hi guys,
after some doubts Matteo and me, decide to take the Lambo. I drive only italian cars

QUALIFYING
Not a good qualyifing but is enough to take the pole position. I was lucky because the fastest drivers haven't joined the race.

RACE
Good start, I maintain the first position.
Matteo is second and this is the key of the race. He stops ChrisR for some laps.
It's enough to gain seconds and keep them until the che chequered flag.

See you in Silverstone in which the Porsche is absolutely the fastest.

[Linus27]

Kind of enjoyed that and finished roughly where I expected to finish. Qualified 11th which was a little lower than I had hoped but my time was as good as I could do so overall fairly happy. Got caught up in the turn 1 incident, due to the bumper car effect. Didn't really cost me but did mean I then had a couple of amazing laps trying to pass Stephen while defending from Thomas, Alexey and Pag Pag and Thomas spun and once Alexey passed me, it was just a race long battle with FMG who was so much quicker than me but kept spinning Ended up finishing 9th so pretty happy really.

The McLaren was ok in the end. Struggling to get any speed out of it and Alexey and FMG passed me like I was standing still. Still, I have the best looking car on the grid for sure which at the end of the day is the important part  

[Maikel K.]

Quite happy with at 3rd place here.

Had a good quali and managed 2nd, though probably since Chris wasn't going for the softs  

Was abit slow at the start and lost a spot to Matteo with Chris right on my tail. For the next 14 laps we were having some pretty close fights, me and Chris switching for position to be the guy stuck in the middle.. Tricky trying to keep that Ferrari behind me as its so much faster in the corners but the Nissan just blows it away on the straights ( too bad there aren't enough of those on this track   )
Made a few mistakes when I was the guy in the middle but I never liked being in a threesome, I can only focus on one at a time.  

Chris got by in the end and was chasing Gavino ( who had a pretty brutal pace right from the start ) so I got to stick behind Matteo, shame he spun at one point as our times were pretty equal. So second half of the race it was just keeping that big brute between the lines  

On to Silverstone and more straights  

[Mark J]

Awesome race and great result for me 

Qualifying was intense and I got a new Pb finally breaking into the 24's so was chuffed with a good session and being in the top group.

Race, I got a decent enough start following nfsw into Paddock, but he then had slow oversteer spin (cold tyres?) and crossed the path of the whole pack  but I just managed to jink left and get through without contact..phew!
Found myself in 5th with the very fast 4 ahead and then my usual nemesis Shark turned up in my rear view mirror. He pursued me very hard for 15? laps and could tell the Merc had way better front end grip than my Porsche, it was really noticeable at the exit of clearways where he could always get on the power sooner whereas I was 'wait for it....wai-t...then go' down the straight  Contrary to his thoughts, I was running near max wing (18 out of 20!) but the Porsche has always been blessed with great traction so I was able to blast out of surtees up the straight, hence pulling a gap, but again with the cold front meds, braking in surtees or for Hawthorns was always taking longer than I wanted and he'd be back all over me again.
Hat off to Simon though on the overtake on the outside of Hawthorn!  that was ballsy but he knew he had to try something like that as its hard to overtake another quick car here. Well done 
I then chased his butt hard for a few laps but I also had nfsw's Manthey Porsche attacking me from the rear in the end I was just exhausted from 17 intense qualifying type laps, baking hot! and I just braked a little late at Druids to allow him to nip up the inside..damn.
Fortunately for me he then had another oversteer spin at Paddock a few laps later and I had a fairly clear run to a great 5th place finish on my home circuit 
I was totally knackered after 40mins here, there is just no respite on this track 

I hope everyone else had a good race, I didn't really see anyone other than a couple of lapped cars near the end.

Congrats to Gavino on the win and the podium finishers 

[Simon Gymer]

Don't understand the wing stuff. You pulled away near the end of the straights not at start, it wasn't traction. I was topping out at 149mph. Perhaps the merc is just slow in a straight line? I was on 7 or 8 wing I think.

[Manteos]

I went for the Lambo cause I would had the chance to exploit a good engine, even if I was undecided to take the Porsche until the end, that owns a good engine too.
Qualified fourth at the very last attempt, I had a great start overtaking Maikel and Chris, taking the 2nd position before the first corner.
I fought tooth and nail for the first 12/13 laps, struggling to keep Chris behind me, but his Ferrari was faster in cornering and after some laps I played a couple of Joker to stay on the tarmac and the tyre temp become difficult to manage. Constantly under the pressure put by Maikel & Chris, the last one passed me at the hairpin, widening a bit his line on the exit sending me on the grass.
I managed to do another couple of laps defending the third position by Maikel, before that spun that deprived me of another half race of pure fun.
The rest of the race was trying to cool down the tyres and keep "The Thing" on the tarmac, and it was not so easy, but in the end I never established a good 'relationship' with Brands Hatch and this race is only a further proof 

See you at Silverstone