UKGTL Season 19 1980 BMW M1 Procar - AVUS - Feb 20

[S.Cargo]

Apologies to S_Cargo for the hit; tried to avoid other cars going much slower than anticipated and wound up on the grass, unable to stop.

No problem, I had my share of crashes... on my own!
I must also apologize to Tony for throwing him into the rail coming out of the hairpin. 
Still not sure why my car turned left under power at that moment, I don't think I did anything different than on many other laps. 
A similar thing happened when braking for the hairpin a few laps earlier, that threw me on the grass (where I was waiting for you Erling  ), this time I guess it was because I had a wheel on the white line...

Later in the race my engine health was very low and I thought I would just take it easy (being last anyway I just wanted to finish) for the 4 or 5 remaining laps. Did not work! The next 3 laps I had problems on the banking, finally sending me to the pits a bit earlier than expected.

Frustrating evening in the end: I had a decent pace and foresaw the possibility of a good fight with my "preferred opponent" Dom, but I made too many mistakes. 

[Erling G-P]

They say you should finish on a high.  That was my intention, but regrettably it'll have to be on a low, the way my races are going these days.  This was my final race here.  It has been an honour and a privilige to race with you all, and - mostly - enjoyable.  Can't thank Tony and everyone else involved in running this enough for all their hard work.   Wish you all the best and lots of good racing in the future.

Regards,
Erling

[Dominick]

That was some eventful race. I had to watch the replay to make sense of everything that had happened.

Given that everyone could take it, I assumed the GTO was the best car for the job and it felt right for me from the start of practice. With a very stiff suspension it hopped and bumped but it was glued where it mattered. The correctness of the choice was confirmed with a 5th spot on the grid. As per usual I lost a place with a poor start to whom else but Dan the Flying Dutchman of course.
Already in that first straight things began to happen. There were suddenly too many cars abreast ahead and some of them were getting closer way too fast. With two cars ahead and Fulvio to the right my only option was to smash the brakes while taking position in the middle of the track hoping that would alert everyone behind. Another place lost and down to 7th. At the first banking I saw Fulvio high up in the wire mesh which I knew to not be the optimal racing line so I was back in 6th. On the 2nd approach of the hairpin mayhem was afoot again as I saw no cars, but just piles of smoke. On the apex of the hairpin I hit Coyote. I'm sorry, Coyote, but I had nowhere to go. From my perspective you drove straight into my path. That's also the reason I didn't wait. I don't feel as if I was in the wrong.
Due to that Escargot (for those who haven't figured it out yet  ) had gotten past but I could still catch his slipstream and with the faster GTO it was an easy overtake. At the start of lap 3 I must've had a much better banking trajectory because pretty soon I was in the slipstream of Dan. I opted to come out of it a bit too soon though and we were still neck and neck when dropping down to the braking zone for the hairpin. But in almost unprecedented fashion I won the chicken race and outbraked Dan while maintaining the inside line and kissing the apex for a good exit. Quite possibly my best overtake yet. As if to add insult to injury I saw poor Dan spinning on the exit of that same hairpin which gave me a comfortable 4th place.

All this in two and a half laps! The next few laps were luckily uneventful until a few laps later I once again saw smoke and then tyre marks all over the place. Apparently Clive had gone off on the straight for reasons I could not fathom. Anyway, 3rd! It looked at that point that the rest of the race would be an easy stroll as there was no point in trying to catch Ziu or Geoff and those behind were not closing in or at least not fast enough. But the racing gods were, of course, not pleased with this tranquil approach and during the banking section I hit....well, ...nothing. I've looked at it from every angle a dozen times but there's simply nothing there that could have pushed the front of my car to the right like a hurricane hit it selectively. And yet, it did. The ensuing crash was most spectacular and the vocabulary which accompanied my skiddin'-on-my-roof-for hundreds-of-yards is not suitable for print. When it finally came to a stop Fulvio had flown by and I didn't see any other cars coming so I went straight away for the turn into the racing part of the world. I had however looked down the highway and not towards the banking section and had completely missed S. Cargo and Tony coming thundering down from there. Only a bit of luck and the skill of both gentlemen prevented a massive crash. Apologies and kudos, gentlemen. Just a few moments later I would encounter these same gentlemen again. Coming out of the hairpin under full acceleration I saw Tony on the left and S. Cargo on the right, at a supiciously leisurely pace. To my credit, the gap between the two cars in which dove *was* there at first but not so much anymore when I actually took the dive. From the replay it looks like I actually nudged both cars. At the time it didn't feel that way but in hindsight it was a 100% daft maneuver. Once more, apologies.

But that was the end of the shenanigans, at least on my side. The only thing which remains to be told is that in the penultimate lap I passed poor Geoff in a burning car which gave me a not-so-deserved place on the podium.

[Dominick]

They say you should finish on a high.  That was my intention, but regrettably it'll have to be on a low, the way my races are going these days.  This was my final race here.  It has been an honour and a privilige to race with you all, and - mostly - enjoyable.  Can't thank Tony and everyone else involved in running this enough for all their hard work.   Wish you all the best and lots of good racing in the future.

Regards,
Erling

I hope your decision hasn't anything to do with the incident between us I described in my post. I f you see it differently I'm of course entirely prepared to accept any consquences Tony might consider proper and necessary.

[Erling G-P]

They say you should finish on a high.  That was my intention, but regrettably it'll have to be on a low, the way my races are going these days.  This was my final race here.  It has been an honour and a privilige to race with you all, and - mostly - enjoyable.  Can't thank Tony and everyone else involved in running this enough for all their hard work.   Wish you all the best and lots of good racing in the future.

Regards,
Erling

I hope your decision hasn't anything to do with the incident between us I described in my post. I f you see it differently I'm of course entirely prepared to accept any consquences Tony might consider proper and necessary.

Nothing to do with you at all Dom, so no worries - in fact I apologize for driving straight into your path; wound up on the grass trying to avoid the mayhem already there.

[SpecialKS]

They say you should finish on a high.  That was my intention, but regrettably it'll have to be on a low, the way my races are going these days.  This was my final race here.  It has been an honour and a privilige to race with you all, and - mostly - enjoyable.  Can't thank Tony and everyone else involved in running this enough for all their hard work.   Wish you all the best and lots of good racing in the future.

Regards,
Erling

Extremely sorry to hear that you are leaving us, Erling  You will be missed.

Too late at home yesterday for joining - sorry for that. Result to be posted tonight. CY next week.

[Geoffers]

Very sorry to hear you are leaving us Erling, do hope it has nothing to do with any recent on track actions. You will be missed. Best wishes for the future. 

[S.Cargo]

To my credit, the gap between the two cars in which dove *was* there at first but not so much anymore when I actually took the dive. From the replay it looks like I actually nudged both cars.

I was waiting (on the tarmac, shame on me) for Tony after smashing into his car when I saw you coming fast in my mirror, so I tried to move out of the way (a bit late when looking at the replay). Anyway I did not feel (nor see in the replay) any contact with your car, on the opposite I think you successfully managed to avoid a crash.
At some other point something weird happened to your car: in the straight between the hairpin and the banking I gained several seconds on you in the blink of an eye... Not sure what happened then (can be seen in the replay) but it made me think I could chase you again... not for long alas!

@Erling I hope your decision is not related to any racing problem I might have been involved in (and even less so to more serious matters outside of sim racing).
All the best to you!

[Dominick]

At some other point something weird happened to your car: in the straight between the hairpin and the banking I gained several seconds on you in the blink of an eye... Not sure what happened then (can be seen in the replay) but it made me think I could chase you again... not for long alas!

There was so much to write about I forgot this: I lost all three screens for a few seconds. Since it was on a neverending straight I just released the throttle and waited for them to come back. It's a known, but rare issue with NVidia drivers and some tracks in GTL. Cap7 used to know all the details of this, he had become a very reluctant and unintentional expert in this matter by experiencing it all the time.
Yeah, no classical duel between us yet. We used to be much better in P&G, didn't we?  

[Wiltshire Tony]

Erling G-P (Coyote)

Erling has been racing with UKGTL since January 2014 and competed in many championship's, most of which he has won. He is a skillfull driver with a great understanding of strategy and racecraft but most importantly he is a gentleman driver.

He will be greatly missed both as a competitor but also as a friend. I hope he knows that the pitlane will always be open to him, should he decide to return to our humble racing series, sometime in the future.

Best wishes Mate

Tony

[S.Cargo]

Yeah, no classical duel between us yet. We used to be much better in P&G, didn't we?  

You're just too fast and consistent for me now but beware I will try to improve 

[EvilClive]

Erling G-P (Coyote)

Erling has been racing with UKGTL since January 2014 and competed in many championship's, most of which he has won. He is a skillfull driver with a great understanding of strategy and racecraft but most importantly he is a gentleman driver.

He will be greatly missed both as a competitor but also as a friend. I hope he knows that the pitlane will always be open to him, should he decide to return to our humble racing series, sometime in the future.

Best wishes Mate

Tony

This has stunned me a little, as I always saw Erling as a fixture in UKGTL  .   Always a considerate and consistent competitor with whom I have enjoyed too few close races, usually because he was too damned quick!!!

I notice that no reasons have been given for your departure and I will respect your right to keep things that way. It reflects the gentleman that you are.

You will be missed by everyone I feel, and I for one would be pleased to race against you again sometime in the future if our paths ( or wheels) should cross.
 
Good luck with whatever you are going on to do, take care out there my friend and stay safe.

[Bob M.]

Very sorry to hear of your departure Erling.  I never had the talent to race with you door to door, but you always lapped me with respect and caution.  Also thanks again for your PC help with my video trouble, it seems to be working well again.
The race was what I expected, pretty boring.  I started at the back without Qual. because I was leary of my PC problems Ive had in the past couple of weeks and causing any problem with the field.  Would have been at the back anyway.  Just drove the track and had a decent finish but only because of others misfortion.  Grats to the podium!

Bob M.

[Erling G-P]

Patrick, nothing to do with you, so please don't worry about it.

Tony, Clive, Bob, Geoffers, Kurt, thanks all for your heartwarming words; I will miss you all - and there's absolutely nothing humble about UKGTL!

May make a comeback in the future, but right now I need a break.

[SpecialKS]

Result