UKGPL Season 42 (Spring 2023) 1955 GP - Zeltweg - May 30

[Phil Thornton]

Season 42 - 1955GP – Round 9 – Zeltweg

The ninth race in the 1955 Grand Prix series takes us to  Zeltweg in Austria, the original Österreichring. Built in 1969 to replace the bland and bumpy Zeltweg Airfield circuit, the track was known for being very fast, as every corner was a fast sweeper and taken in no lower than 3rd gear in a 5-speed gearbox and 4th in a 6-speed gearbox.  There are also noticeable changes in elevation during the course of a lap which means the downhill sections are even faster. Like most fast circuits it was a hard circuit on engines and even harder on tyres simply because the speeds were so consistently high. The first World Championship round to be held at the Österreichring was in 1970 and the race was won by Jacky Ickx, driving a Ferrari. His teammate, Clay Regazzoni, made it a Ferrari 1-2 by finishing second a mere 0.61s behind. Rolf Stommelen achieved his only podium finish, coming third in a Brabham-Ford. Local driver and championship leader Jochen Rindt started from pole position in his Lotus-Ford, but retired with an engine failure. It would turn out to be Rindt's final Formula One race start.
 

Race list	=	iGOR
Server	=	UKGPL04_60fps
IP address	=	146.200.244.218:32766
Password	=	see above
GPL Mod	=	55GP
Damage model	=	PRO
60fps Patch	=	60fpsV2newmod
Track	=	Zeltweg 1971
Track directory	=	zeltw71
Qualifying starts	=	20:45 UK time - 45 minutes
Race starts	=	~ 21:30 UK time
Race length	=	21 laps
Replay	=	HERE

Please do NOT post chat messages during qualifying or racing until ALL drivers still qualifying or racing have crossed the line.

Driver lists and division specific rules can be found on the championship standings page.

[Pete Bennett]

Terrible start - 3rd to 11th before the first corner

A shunt by Fran and then booted into space by Dave.




Never mind the crash, I could have avoided this if I'd made a better start from the grid but I'm terrible at it in the 55 cars. I use Clutch and H-shifter. Anyone else out there with the same setup and willing to share their tips for making a better start?

[bernie]

Pete , I think I was the one who launched you after you spun rearwards across my path , sorry mate !

The irony is Fran who caused the shunt got away unscathed 

That's GPL luck for you 

[Pete Bennett]

Hey, Bernie. No worries. GPL is a cruel beast. 

See you next time. 

[Rainier]

Terrible start - 3rd to 11th before the first corner

A shunt by Fran and then booted into space by Dave.




Never mind the crash, I could have avoided this if I'd made a better start from the grid but I'm terrible at it in the 55 cars. I use Clutch and H-shifter. Anyone else out there with the same setup and willing to share their tips for making a better start?

Nice picture !
Which Dave booted you into space ?

[francesco]

Sorry Bennet but on the green i was not able to mantain in right line the car.The touch was very limited but enough to get you out of control.Sorry again.Perhaps, without the incident with Darwin ,you was again in race.

[Pete Bennett]

Nice picture !
Which Dave booted you into space ?

The one called Bernie        All Daves forgiven.

[francesco]

I use Clutch and H-shifter. Anyone else out there with the same setup and willing to share their tips for making a better start?

I
I use the clutch and the H-shiter.My start are normal but from today my clutch have stopped to work so my start was with the brake pushed to avoid any movement.
Sometime happen to release the clutch too abruptly and the start is not good.

[Phil Thornton]

That was a great race for me. I got a good start and I managed to pick up 3 places with Leo, Pete and Tom a bit slower off the line than me. I wasn't sure what had happened to Leo, I was focusing on Cookie and Clive ahead. On lap 2, Cookie's Lancia exploded. Very unlucky; there hadn't been enough time for any missed gears or over-revving to be the cause, so it was just the GPL Gods at work. I then had a great battle with Clive until he went wide at Schikane and I found myself leading with a small gap back to Leo in P2. It didn't take Leo long to reel me in and get past. I sat on his tail for several laps, the slipstream helping me stay in touch. It looked like Leo was driving well within himself, no mistakes clean lines and consistent laps. So I was surprised in the post race chat when he said he was giving it everything. He was so clean and consistent, I was sure he had something in reserve. In the end the difference was my mistakes. A couple of flirts with the grass and the loss of momentum was enough to drop me back out of slipstream range. After that there was no way to get back on Leo's gearbox but I was very happy with a P2 only 3 seconds off the winner. Great driving Leo.

From my perspective, the standard of driving was very high tonight. The difference between winning and loosing is a tiny mistake. The battle for P4 looked intense!

[Phil Thornton]

I use Clutch and H-shifter. Anyone else out there with the same setup and willing to share their tips for making a better start?

I
I use the clutch and the H-shiter.My start are normal but from today my clutch have stopped to work so my start was with the brake pushed to avoid any movement.
Sometime happen to release the clutch too abruptly and the start is not good.

I use a H-Shifter and until recently I have been using the clutch. But about 6 weeks ago I decided to abandon the clutch for gear changes because I was missing too many gears. The standard of the competition these days is so good, one missed gear is enough to loose a race. Given that not everyone uses a clutch I felt I was putting myself at an unnecessary disadvantage. So I now use FairShift and I don't miss gears. Having the clutch disabled doesn't stop it working, it still disengages the drive. The difference is GPL Shift (or FairShift with clutch enabled) doesn't create a missed gear if you do a clutchless change. So the clutch still works at the start.

So that brings me onto Pete's question. I just think you are not slipping the clutch enough Pete. Sometimes if I don't give the car enough gas at the  start and the revs drop out of the power band I have to dip the clutch again to get the revs up.

[francesco]

Phil,one curiosity.With Fairshift if i tick clutch enabled I have always a missed gear when i engage one.You no?
The clutch has worked only at start with the first gear only with the clutch enablr not ticked.
Is only a curiosity since mt clutch pedal does not send a signal now.

[Phil Thornton]

With clutch enabled FairShift works perfectly for me. I use Thrustmaster pedals.

[francesco]

Strange, i have the Fanatec pedals, only the H gear is Thrusmaster.

[maddog]

What surprises me about starts, is how many use a modern F1 technique of constant high revs, before the flag drops.  Modern F1's have traction control, so that may work best for them, but it wasn't usual for our era.  The Ai use it, because they are computer aided, while we are not.  I don't have the best equipment to work with, but usually make good starts, by doing as was done when thees cars were new.

[Leo Menegucci]

I had a good start of the line, hit second gear, all good, then instead of 3rd I got it into the 5th cog, lost a few places and tried not to cause any trouble before Hella. I think I was left 6th after that with the whole race in front of me.

Overtook one or two cars, and gained some other places after others slipped of the track. Then it was me and Phil, with plenty of laps to go. He had a great pace but I could use the huge slipstream to get in front. the same the other way, he could keep up with me for many laps. I was driving hard, just not overcooking the brakes to avoid any surprise, and he still was close enough to have some looks at the front, the Masserati with great tracktion and stability.

Just from some minor mistakes from Phil I could open a little gap to deny him a shot to the 1st place. Great race Phil! Now I guess you can't catch me in the championship