Season 41 - Ferrari Challenge  ROUND 8  1969  Imola

The final round of the Ferrari Challenge will be held at Imola using the 1969 cars. The track was inaugurated in 1953, and it had no chicanes, so the run from Rivazza all the way to Tosa, through the pits and the eventually notorious Tamburello was totally flat out, as was the run from Acque Minerali all the way to Rivazza was just a long straight with a few small bends; and the circuit remained in this configuration until 1972. Long time home of the San Marino Grand Prix (and once of the Italian Grand Prix) the circuit is fast, bumpy and dangerous.

After the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna in 1994, the track was remodelled to reduce speeds but we use the original, high speed layout.

Ferrari ONLY

Race list	=	igor
Server	=	UKGPL_TBC
IP Address	=	see igor
Password	=	see above
Damage Model	=	INT
GPL Mod	=	69X
60fps Patch	=	60fpsaiV1
Track download	=	link
Track directory	=	imola
Qualifying Starts	=	20:45 UK Time  -  45min
Race Starts	=	21:30 UK time
Race Length	=	31 laps
Replay	=	here

https://www.mediafire.com/file/6enbm43p15gpr25/UKGPL_8__60fps.2022.12.13.23.23.rpy.7z/file

Please, excepting emergencies, no chat until Session Completed in qualification. No chat in the race until ALL drivers still racing have crossed the line.

Please check the Season 41 details regarding rules and the Ferrari Challenge Championship pages in particular.

All drivers are on a level playing field in terms of chassis. There is no distinction between Works and Privateer drivers in this series. Please respect each other and leave plenty of room when lapping or being lapped. Only reported incidents will be moderated.

UNLIMITED Shift-Rs allowed with NO need for a Stop and Go. Please use PRIBLUDA to make sure that the track is clear before re-joining.

Buona Fortuna

Scored this round a 5/5 over on GPLWeekly.  It was a thrilling race with much drama in the first and last laps.  Got a nice start and my ol' ADC buddy, Tom, let me have a place going into T1.  Thanks, TJ.  Scampered by Fulvio on the run down to Tosa so up two places in the first mile.  Never looked back.  Bastian fell off the road a few laps later to hand me P6.  That's what the stats might say.  What is not apparent is the fabulous train that developed behind me as no less than five challengers were hot on my tail.  As the graphics selected for the race would indicate, I ran sans aero.  Wings are for birds and airplanes; not race cars.  This gave me a top end advantage but not as much as I was hoping for as the straights here aren't as long as I'd like to take full advantage.  The trade-off is getting murdered in the fast corners like Tamburello and on braking.  More than once, pursuers had an enormous speed advantage in Tamburello but couldn't quite make the pass in time for Tosa.  The end of Lap06 and disaster for Bas, Fulvio and TJ.  A collision at the SFline sent them off and gave me some breathing room.  Eric and Dave were now my pursuers but I gradually managed to pull away.  The middle laps ran off smoothly but in the last 1/3 of the race, it was clear that Fulvio and Tom were fighting back.  I had to up the pace and hope to stay clear.  No such luck.  Soon, I saw cars in my mirrors and my pit board was advising me that Fulvio was the challenger.  The last two laps were a real nail-biter as I was pulling everything I could out of the red car with Fulvio my shadow.  On the penultimate lap, Fulvio got a great run out of Tamburello to pull alongside on the run down to Tosa but I held firm on the right and gave him space.  Ran wide through Tosa not knowing exactly where Fulvio was and gassed it hard up to the Piratella.  PHEW!  Only just held the place.  Provided I didn't throw it off the road for the balance of this last lap, I felt I just might prevail.  But...  Sad to see that Fulvio's race was compromised with leader, Bot, deciding to pull alongside Fulvio on the pit straight with just one lap to run and ruin any chance that Fulvio could close in for a last attack.  Geeezzz...  What a pointless, thoughtless maneuver.

A fine series and one that needs repeating.  Thanks to Pete for organizing and to the club for hosting.

Indeed Axel, when you and Tris came on my tail at Rivazza I thought that you had still a lap to go so I kept the right of s/f straigth and lift a bit to let by you both only to find out that Tris slowed down after the s/f line cause you had ended the race. In the end Tris cut the s/f line half meter after me so I had another lap to go, but Doni was already gone to have a chance to catch him 
My fault that in the hot of pursuing I didn't check better what lap was. Doni w/o wings was unreacheable on the straights, I had 8/10, but me and Bastian had to lawn mover a couple of occasion to avoid rearending him at Tamburello cause he was way slower there 
I saw my replay about my collision with Bastian, but I can't say who was at fault. Poor Tom was involved by my spinning car, sorry, it would be interesting to see if Doni had resisted for whole race to our attacks