UKGTL Season 20 Goodyear BMW Classic Cup - Zolder - Nov 11

[Dominick]

Thanks for all the cheers, folks.

Bloody Internet was down last night. Something has to be jinxed if it can't be employment anymore, it seems.

Erling:
Back in 2008-10 I had up to one hundred rejections. I then gave up. I shouldn't have. So, tip of the day: Don't 
Also, as Matt already indicates and much as we may dislike it in our old and settled ways, broadening the horizons might be inevitable.
I've always loathed MS with a passion but in this job I'll be working with their products exclusively...Heck, if it pays the bills and I'm too old to be on a crusade anyway...

[Dimitar Dulichki]

I had great pace here as Hristo help me a lot with setup and some advises.

I was leading the qualy comfortably until the very end when Daz found some great pace and was faster after sector 2 but unfortunately the session ended and he was unable to finish that lap. My lap with which i took the pole position was great but unfortunately i was not recording as i was saving some battery for the race.

I knew it would be tough and at the start Daz was quicker and took the lead. At the acceleration after the hairpin at the end of the lap he span and that gave me the lead again. Now it was Ziu to challenge me, as he overtake Coyote and was closing the gap little by little and was just a little bit more consistent.

I knew that here the tires will decide the winner and that was the reason to save them especially at the beginning with heavy car.

Unfortunately Ziu made a slip as well and i had now big advantage. I knew that if i am able to stay away from trouble and monitor the gap i will win. And i did just that. Well, quite - i made a spin at the tripple chicane but kept my cool and pushed the clutch so no stall engine this time.

I was now just 5 seconds ahead of Ziu but i was faster as i think i clearly had the better tires at the later stages. Until the end of the race i was able to stay away from trouble and won the race.

Congrats to Ziu and Daz for the podium and compassion to Geoff and Dan for the problems at lap 1.

Race replay with commentary and camera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IQANVZMUco 

[phspok]

  But... yes Dom. I have been through CPM.Pick.BOSS.VMS.UNIX.VMware.AWS.... still going so far 

[Erling G-P]

Thanks Dom, I keep trying and am looking at updating myself about cloud technology with help from Matt.  Sorry to hear about your internet troubles.

The stage was set for a potentially exiting finale for me. With just 2 points between Geoffers and myself, the Championship was still within reach - 'all' I had to do was score at least 3 points more than him. Any normal driver here will know how monumental a task that is for a mere mortal.   As hinted at by Daz, this car/track combo initially seemed like another match made in hell, but with practice - a lot of it, I started to enjoy myself.  Love/hate relationship with Zolder; never liked T1-T2, but plenty of good things elsewhere - all the flat-out curves, and blasting through the back straight chicane never gets old.

Good start slipping into 3rd, then upgraded to 2nd when Daz spun on L1. Saw cars going off behind me, but didn't know who.  Ziu close behind, and as my fight wasn't with him, I braked a little early when he lined up a move, to get him past - didn't want to risk a chance for the Championship with unnecessary entanglements.

Some lonely laps followed.  Gap behind me seesawed up and down.  In the mid-part of the race, it was up to 16 secs, but then started dropping consistently 2 secs a lap. Pushed as hard as I could, but didn't matter.  As suspected it was Daz reeling me in.  Mistake by me as he got closer let him past.  Big gap to the next car down the line. Was convinced it had to be Geoffers, but puzzled as I kept stretching the gap, which didn't seem likely.

With about 6 laps left, I passed a recovering Daz at T1. Happy and cursing at the same time. At least one other car between me & Geoffers should secure the Championship, but it happened too soon. Would be next to impossible staying ahead of Daz for that many laps with so little a gap.  Tried so damn hard, but of course in vain. Ran a bit wide in T2 on the final lap, letting him through.  Tried to stick to his bumper for a possible ultimate chance, but then spun towards the end of the lap, ending any challenge.

Surprised to find Geoffers running last, but only realized what had happened on L1 when I saw the replay.  Very sorry about that Geoff; not quite the race or way to win the Championship I had hoped for  

Grats to Dimitar & the rest of the podium, and to Geoffers & Dimitar for the Championship positions  

[Dimitar Dulichki]

Oops! I forgot to congratulate Erling for the great victory in the championship and Geoffers for the silver medal. Well done guys!

[EvilClive]

Grats to Erling on the championship and to all those who can extract the hidden pace in these beasts.

I had convinced myself that I was getting a handle on these beasts ( always the way towards the last races of the season!!) . There was definitely a 1:45 lap in my car during practice/qually, but I repeatedly tried too hard to find it, spoiling the lap with the inevitable spin .

I know that I don't do the offline practice that I perhaps ought to, if I want my meagre talent to offer any problems for the front half of the grid lol. But as the qualifying session drew to a close, I was finding the way through turns 1-2-3 and the fast chicane and saving 0.4-0.7 secs a lap.

The part where I know I was losing a bucketful of time was that infernal slow chicane  . I think I tried every combination of speed/braking point/turn in/gear/apex points/acceleration point etc. to find a way through that worked, but anything other than dead slow resulted in the rear end beginning that slow rotation of death, from which there is no escape   .
I respect you guys who can drive 4-5 secs faster and still control that stupid oversteer lol. What I find so infuriating is that these cars spin so slowly and gracefully, but no amount off opp lock has ANY effect!! in fact I swear it causes more rotation 
I screwed any slim chance of a respectable finish in the race when I tried too hard on cold tyres and stuffed the nose into the wall on lap 1......a few other barrier tests followed until the suspension gave up the fight and the car would not steer.
The only good thing was that I removed myself from the track before the leaders came around to lap me 

[SpecialKS]

Result

 

[Wiltshire Tony]

Result

 

Thanks Kurt