UKGPL Season 36 (2020) 1955 GP - Buenos Aires - Jun 14

[Clive Loynes]

Oh dear!

Seven hours until the password is released and the harder I try thr slower I get!   

Keep practising hard Clive.  If the trend continues you might end up going backwards?, which is just about the only chance I have of stealing the silverware 

Didn't get time for any more practice!   

[Phil Thornton]

Server is working fine Phil 

Thanks for confirming  

[PaulV]

server was visible 5 mins ago..

now unable to see it on iGor ??

[Cookie]

server was visible 5 mins ago..

now unable to see it on iGor ??

Join via IP 77.102.28.179

[Phil Thornton]

Paul, if you still can't connect (I can't see you on the server) then go into GPL select multiplayer and join via IP as Axel has advised. Don't know why server isn't on IGOR, it is running.

[francesco]

This time was the ignition,now i wait the 66 to close this shi.... season.

[PaulV]

Thanks Axel, Phil

made it ok. turned out a fun race for me.  finally getting to grips with the 55s

has a safe and steady drive.

thanks to all you guys, Organisers and my fellow racers. another great season of racing at UKGPL.

I wish life hadnt kept me away for as long as it did. But im so glad to be back. Thanks all.

Paul.

[Phil Thornton]

After throwing away a comfortable 6th place by making a stupid unforced error, I lost 4 places and had to fight back. But what resulted was a fantastic battle with Tagomago and Raoni. Brilliant driving gents, that was a lot of fun.

Grats to Greg on the win and commiserations to Bastian who deserved better luck after a stunning pole lap.

Grats to Clive on holding onto his 55GP title (subject to moderation which I will try to complete ASAP) but he was pushed hard this season. Particularly by Evil Clive and Greg. Will Clive win again in Season 37?

[tagomago]

Great final round ... fantastic fight with Phil and Raoni ...

Final lap was really tight 



Thanks all for racing 

[Raoni Frizzo]

In terms of speed, not a brilliant race. But in terms of fun, one of the best I've had since my comeback to GPL

Got a decent 9th on the grid, which was ok taking into account the number of powerful Mercs and Lancias we had on the grid, so my goal was to have a clean race and try to climb the field a little bit, hoping for mistakes from the others'. But in T1 Jonny spun right in front of me and I had no way to escape, spinning and rejoining in last position.

A little bit of chaos in the slower part of the track and soon I found myself back to the pack and chasing some other drivers.
As I'm still discovering the cars and how to handle the 55s, I stayed all the race wondering if there was anything very wrong with my setup (a default one with gear, camber, tire pressure and ARB changes), with my driving or if the Vanwall was so underpowered compared to the top cars. Because it was clear how slower I was getting out of the last corner heading to the finish line But I guess it was probably due to the malfunction of the element between the seat and the steering wheel and how it messed up with the whole car

I was so lucky to have gained the 5th place when Phil and Tago went off the track with some 6 laps to go, because I would never be able to get closer to them in normal circumstances. I was able to defend my top-5 until the beginning of the last lap, but then Tago overtook me on T1 and Phil, much to my surprise, also passed me on the outside. What a bold and brilliant move! Grats for the skills, Phil. It was certainly one of the highlights of the race. And thanks Tago for the triple battle. I really didn't deserve the 5th place, neither the 6th

It seems that all the ones who finished had a bunch of fun. That's really cool!

Grats Greg for the win! Pity for Bastian's bad luck, becuse he was very fast and could have fought for the victory.
And congratulations also to Clive (Loynes) for the championship!

Thanks everyone for organising this series. It was my first contact with the 55 cars, but I enjoyed them and how different they are comparing to the more "modern" mods!

[EvilClive]

I was thinking that maybe I should not take part in this race as my shoulder is still weak, but I felt that I ought to offer some challenge to Clive so that he had to work up at least a little sweat before he took the Trophy  . To deny Clive the series win, I would have to win the race, second place was not good enough, plus I had to rely on him not scoring any points...…..with his experience that was unlikely  .

My first flying lap with the heavy Merc 196 in qually put me on provisional pole but Bastian was a little quicker and demoted me to second spot, but crucially still on the front row. With the power of the Mercedes getting off the grid was not an issue and I tucked in behind Bastian hoping to follow him for a few laps. That was the plan but......…...

Huge apologies to Bastian and everyone that suffered after my Lap 1 mistake   Maybe watching from the pits would have been a better idea for me?? I thought that I had braked earlier than usual and was being safe, but somehow Bastian managed to slow his Merc more quickly than I did.
The chaos that followed was very embarrassing for me with cars going in all directions.
I restarted in last place but I knew that my chances were probably zero. After a lap it was clear that my car was damaged and the struggle to control it in the fast corners was just too much...…so I parked it amongst the trees and walked home.

Congratulations to Clive on taking the season championship and also to Greg who was never far away from the top spot in the points table.

Season 37 is looking good  

[maddog]

Short story  :

The race was good until a hairpin bend got in my way!  It came after a rubber band made me see red.  That happened after half the cars let me pass, at the start of the race in Buenos Aires.  Very unkind, as I wanted to test my rig while driving rearward.

Started safe and last, but soon needed fast, smooth driving mid-pack, to stay out of the way of Championship racers.  And that meant pedaling with less vigor, and that has made it obvious, my rubber bands were defficient, and that made my test race a disaster!  

Longer story  :

A friend wanted to try driving these 1955 cars.  But hoping to go faster, he managed to break the throttle return spring on my Playstation pedals.   As a fix, I attached 2 rubber bands to the plastic 'gas' pedal.  The fix worked fine for fun races, where maximum on/off makes the driving more interesting.  But for maximum speed, I guess foot movement is more subtle.  So throttle does not fully close - sometimes.  So nice green light waits for nicer scenery, somewhere different.  So, I showed it straw bales and blue sky.  Test race ends in disaster, as 3 rubber bands were needed - not enough power from 2.

It is possible. serious racing needs serious equipment.  I stayed to watch some fantastic racing.  Nice to see Jao, and many I have bumped wheels with.  You guys are some of the best in the World.

[Clive Loynes]

The importance of being second!

I think that most would agree that our final round of the season was one of the best!  Everyone seemed to be involved in a close tussle.

I had a good launch and was able to follow the two Mercs and Greg's Lancia into T1. 

After Evil had taken care of Bastian and himself it was a matter of following Greg.  I did try keeping with him for the first few laps in the hope that something might happen but then decided that I didn't want to risk my engine or run my brakes that close to disaster. I think that I had calculated beforehand that Greg and Evil both needed to win the race to cause me any harm in the championship and that I could finish as low as tenth and still win.  So I was content to sit there until I noticed that Enrique was getting closer, probably pushed along by Doni.

At that point I tried to up the pace but I then noticed that it was Doni behind me in his Merc.  He was around six seconds away with five laps to go.  That got my attention!

Doni closed me down at about a second a lap and he was right behind me as we entered the last lap.  Obviously, I wasn't going to risk anything but I wanted to keep my 2nd or bust string of results going to the end.  I had noticed that there were still twelve cars running and so I could not afford a DNF!

It came down to the last lap and the approach to the right-hand hairpin two corners from home.  I took the inside line as the safest route but Doni was really good on the brakes.  My approach to the corner had to be a tad slower as I fully expected to have a Merc on the outside of me.  I was able to accelerate cleanly towards the last corner but didn't have a clue where Doni was.  Alongside was the answer and this time he had to compromise his corner entry into the final corner.  I was able to keep it flat out and just kept in front.  Great driving Doni!

Apart from Greg, who didn't put a foot wrong, I was also impressed with Tago's race.  He started one behind me on the grid but was knocked back to tenth by Bastian's iffy rejoin on lap one.  Great fight back to finish 5th.

Tago has enabled SBRC to take the Junior Team Trophy this season along with help from Fran and Bernie.  Perhaps Season 37 will see him take the Junior title from Phil?

Many thanks to UKGPL for a great season and congrats to Phil on his junior honours.

It really helped my cause that Evil went under the surgeon's knife.  Perhaps to could arrange a repeat for next season?

See you next season.

[bagrupp]

First of all, Gratulation to Clive Loynes for a deserved Championship!

After i painfully missed Hockenheim, i had at least a mercedes for the final race.
I hoped to be fast but never thought about a pole.

So after the pole i was feeling the chance for a win...a conciliatory end of this terrible season ?

Not after the first hairpin....me and other cars everywhere, i tried to rejoin on the outside line, bad idea. sorry for more contacts here.....

Catching was soon no option after the next meters, my car was steering to the left much more than i wanted....needed the whole track on the straights....
Well at least i gained speed again, overtook more cars then expected, just to explode the engine before 50% distance....

its ok clive, i know you are safe driver, but maybe next time with another driver or in another race than this !

[Doni Yourth]

So...  S36 for the GP55's is done and a fine season it was.  My thanks to the club and to Phil in particular for running the show and keeping it all straight.

A tip of the hat to Clive Loynes for emerging as our Champion.  Well-earned.  Greg Taber, as ever, a factor in every race with three victories on the season and a worthy P2 in the championship chase.  Well done, GT.  And what of Evil Clive?  A performance reminding me of Scott Stoddard in the movie, 'Grand Prix', in that he was far from 100% with medical issues yet still scored four victories and finished an admirable P3 in the championship.  One tough hombre for sure.

I'm quite pleased to finish P4 in the title chase with a podium in the final round and just a tick behind Clive Loynes in the race.  Off the start, I bounced both Jonny and Tago to move up to P6 by the first corner.  Hmmm...  Looking good so far.  (It should be noted here that Jonny is operating off a lap top which gives him fps in the single digits even with the graphics turned way, way down.  He's got a new unit on order and soon, he'll be fighting fit again so look out)  The collision between Bas and Evil cleared the way for so many of us but did catch out a few most notably, Tago.  Dear me...  Well down to P9, nice to see that he fought back for a good P5 at the flag.  Well done, amigo.

After that Lap01 shunt between the leaders, I found myself a surprising P4 right behind Ricky(Enrique).  For the next 20 laps, we were engaged in a terrific duel with little more than a few car lengths in it.  On Lap18, Ricky got a bit out of shape exiting the serpentine section and seemed to get on the grass.  This compromised his acceleration and I had a chance to pounce and indeed, there may have even been a light bump of his tail perhaps due to lag.  This seemed a bit unsporting of me so I eased off to let him continue in the place.  My big break came on Lap20 when Ricky went a bit wide in T1 and touched the grass verge.  His speed was checked and that left the door open for me to slip by on the inside.  The battle not over by a long shot, for the balance of the race, Ricky was hard after me.  Now up into a podium position, I was surprised to find that in the dying laps, I was closing rapidly on Clive Loynes.  The last lap was a thriller with my going deep on the outside line into the final, tight right-hander with Clive taking the low line.  Side-by-side on the exit, Clive got slightly better drive as we gassed it for the run to the flag.  I was mindful not to slide to the right in the final curve before the SFline and knock Clive off the road.  I had to give him best.  Ricky was right behind watching the show and ready to pick up the pieces if it all went into the toilet.  P2 to P4 split be less than one second.  Can't be bad. 

Grats to Greg on a fine win.  More to come, I'm sure.

Again, my thanks to the club for a fine season.  Here's to S37!