GTR 2 - Lotus Elise - Wet Fun Race - Valencia National - 9th March

[Truetom]

Qualified 4th, after Jon, Rusky and Paul968. Paul had a bad start and I set of to surprise Rusky. I saw he was afraid to have a full go at the start - he was careful and it brought me right on his tail, almost too close, had to veer off a bit not to hit him. But after 2 laps he and Jon were gaining 0,3 sec per lap and after a near off I let them go. Paul Richards was behind me all race I think, I was driving carefuly and let the gap to 4th slowly increase to have some time cushion.    Finished 3rd and I think it was all I could pull out of this event. Those two aliens Jon&Ruskus are too fast to catch.    Good job, little bunnies, err, Sharkies. 

Good going Adam, a worthy Legend in a tough race.  :thumb:
I think MJ could also get as high if he finished - though this was really about having practiced. I was lucky to have enough laps in and so did Adam. 

TT

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

That was tough. Didn't start terribly high up the grid and then had a lightning starting only to have take to the grass when Shark pulled across in front of me to avoid Zacari's slow starting plastic tub and I couldn't possibly brake in time. Slipped to last place and then started working my way back up. Could see guppy all in the spray and seemed to be alternately much faster and much slower than Luke in different places, which made it very hard to cooperate with him (the lack of lights didn't help seeing him in the mirror ). There was also the scarey incident when Shark had to brake in the middle of turn 3 and I had absolutely no chance to avoid contact.

Pushed hard to get past TinMan only to go off, but he let me back past when I caught up again which was unnecessarily kind. I hope you enjoyed my 360 in front of you Tom.

After that I was in a battle to avoid being last of the Sharks with Shark himself, though it was more a case of who went off least.

I do like racing in the rain but with that much spray it was dangerous in patches, and I have no feel at all for the Elise. There was one point where Shark and TinMan were going into turn 1 side by side and even with tags on I didn't realise they had swapped places until about 5 corners later!

[Jeffrey]

I'm also not too fond of the Elises, especially in the rain. Normally I love wet races (Shark ey ), but not this time. I also prefer it when races are changeable like at Monza, instaed of 100% rain all the time.

In the race I was simply outclassed by Jon who drove away from me the whole race. Well done Jon!

You are right TT, I was very cautious at the beginning, as I rearended someone at Laguna, and I didn't want to repeat that mistake. Sorry if that surprised you and I was too slow

Rest of the race was boring, as I was all alone most of the time. Well not quite alone, as I had a co-driver in the form of a fly

[DynoDaz]

I must confess I was dreading my first ever "monsoon" race, but to my amazement I actually enjoyed it.  I have to thank Mr Richards and Zacari for the great racing...

Sorry Paul for the tap, I take full responsibility.  I just ran out of grip at the vital time and drifted into you.  Luckily it was only a minor tap and it didn't cost us too much time..

I was practically Paul's shadow for the whole race; waiting for him to make a mistake.  But alas the mistake never happened. Damn you Paul for being consistent..  

Considering the names involved in this race I'm very happy with 5th.

Thanks for the racing guys.

See you on Sunday.....

P.S. It's a shame you couldn't make it Colin...

[Truetom]

You are right TT, I was very cautious at the beginning, as I rearended someone at Laguna, and I didn't want to repeat that mistake. Sorry if that surprised you and I was too slow

Lol, couldn't say you were slow - that was just one corner. 
Maybe that fly distracted you, nuzzling at your ear, was it? 

TT

[Jeffrey]

You are right TT, I was very cautious at the beginning, as I rearended someone at Laguna, and I didn't want to repeat that mistake. Sorry if that surprised you and I was too slow

Maybe that fly distracted you, nuzzling at your ear, was it? 

TT

I knocked him out during qually, but he came back halfway down the race. Which made me feel less lonely 

[Kerr]

i hated that race earlier. I had never used the elise, driven in the rain or used that track before and it showed.

I could not get to grips with it at all. The first few laps was just a constant battle with me and everyone around me picking up and giving away places running wide al the time.

I have to apologise to Luke for our collision. You braked very early and I found I had nowhere to go. I was trying to cut the corner to miss you but could not. The collision was not that great and I waited to make sure you stayed in front of me only to see you loss control and spin out.  Sorry

I hope their is no wet or dark races next season as I hated both

[Truetom]

I hope their is no wet or dark races next season as I hated both

Well, I find the unpredictable condiitons are the only way to beat the aliens, as they too make mistakes then.  Dry only races are becoming a bit boring, you can tell from the start who's gonna win - short of (rarer and rarer) alien mistakes and occasional disco. So I hope the "clever weather file" is going to play its role in every S5 endurance race, at least. 

As for night races: I saw in Imola that everybody is very careful and since you're a sitting duck if you brake the lights, it diminishes the racing in some way - though I would rather use another expression as I enjoyed it anyway, I just didn't race but rather drive around the circuit. I know I was staying well back when "close" racing with Shark, as I didn't want to put him outta race. That said, he was faster, but I would give him a tougher fight in daytime.    Really not decided about completely dark races. I'm all for a race with gradual darkness - evening into night into dawn and day. Add the rain... and you need a day off.   

TT

[cej]

Anyway, not the most enjoyable race as the cars just feel a bit weird, not like real cars at all. Not sure they've modelled the Elise right, but I have no idea what they ought to feel like, but they don't feel very grippy wet or dry which I would have thought they would being the sort of car they are. Gibber.

I can say it doesn't drive like a real Elise at all. And the motorsports Elise is supposed to be a lot better than a standard Elise like the one I have.
My car with worn down tyres in the rear is better than the in-game car.   

So a bit disappointing,since people start thinking the Elise is a car with lack of grip and bad handling, which I can say it certainly isn't.  best car I ever had and the Elise has often been said to be one of the best handling 2 seaters around   

[Truetom]

Hehe, Exige handles like that - at least in the dry. 

TT

[TinMan]

First ever race in the rain - a truly different experience. Looked up some advice in forum articles re setups - I basically just softened everything. Was about 1 sec off the pace so just tried not to get in anyone's way. The more I pushed the slower I became so I just relaxed and enjoyed the experience(bit like sex, really LOL) Was fun seeing Dave and Simon vying for the most artistic 'off' (Dave won). I was pleased with the frame rates from the 7800GTX - there's a bit more life in it yet before an upgrade to the 8800 series. Overall this fun race was fun.

TC

[Mark J]

Surprised to hear so many saying they didnt like the adverse weather and light conditions    Thats what racings all about, trying to race and win no matter what the weather. I think the weather changes just recently have added a whole new dimension to the racing.
Its so much more atmospheric with the rain, puddles, different lighting. Bombing down the straight behind a gaggle of cars with water plumes behind them and having to jink about to see the braking zones/cars ahead really gets the adrenaline flowing.

 I'm all for it and think even the sprints should have changeable weather, its what makes most real racing series like Brit GT, Porsche Cup etc more exciting when they have to deal with whatever the weather throws at them each time they race.

So stop complaining you dry weather jessies 

[LuKe#69]

I had no time to practise and thought I would just give it a go but FPS were 15-25 and I was having serious problems,decided to try the race but same problems  so I wasnt too keen on keeping on,not much fun with FPS problems    :'(

[Kerr]

I just could not get to grips with in at all. Not sure the weather will have the same effect on the aliens once the season has restarted and they are back in their preferred car, but I wait to see.

As a racing season here is supposed to be based on the official season of GT racing I can't see it being right to make more that a fair amount of the races wet.

I hope their is no wet or dark races next season as I hated both

Well, I find the unpredictable conditions are the only way to beat the aliens, as they too make mistakes then.  Dry only races are becoming a bit boring, you can tell from the start who's gonna win - short of (rarer and rarer) alien mistakes and occasional disco. So I hope the "clever weather file" is going to play its role in every S5 endurance race, at least. 



TT

I do agree with ways of making the racing closer at times. Does the official GT series not use weight penalties for previous race winners and could we not implement something similar here?

[linco24]

P.S. It's a shame you couldn't make it Colin...

It is, could have had another epic battle Darren. And looking at the times I may have been competitive. I felt pretty confident in all practice sessions but the internet connection became unbearable! Instead I had to endure Ugly Betty with the GF!

See you all on track over this weekend for the big one at Spa

Colin