UKGTR Season 6 Upper Endurance - Valencia (GP) - Sep 2

[Truetom]

Mixed race for me this time. Lambo is way faster for me than MC12 but I got used to rapid MC12s turn in. I never succeeded to set up Lambo to dive into turn 1 the way MC12 did. Quali was slow - I was 1 sec off of my PB.    The beginning was bad - turn 2 and my cold brakes didn't work yet. I let at least 2 cars by.  Was behind Backo, close and at the end of a big straight I suddenly saw a huge cloud of dust. Was watching it and braked too late, sent Backo into the gravel to join Shark and Reign Man.  Sorry Backo - completely my fault.    Waited for Backo to regain position and a looooot of cars went by. We caught Jure and for some minutes I backed off, watching the battle and hoping to gain some for me.    Eventually Backo passed Jure and then I closed in. Like MJ said we were racing closely. I saw I gain most in turn 4 so I tried to exploit this and combined with a slight mistake of Jure in that exact corner resulted in contact that sent Jure directly into the wall.    Damn! Sorry    Fortunately he could go on - if he couldn't I was prepared to quit.    Well, I waited (again  ) and a looooot of cars went by. More close racing with Jure and eventually I was able to squeeze inside a turn. Right MJ - you watched it closely I saw.    Then Backo pit and was full of fuel, on cold tires. He let me pass, rather than holding me until his tires warmed - thank you. 
Then I pit and was after Shark. Was closing and I think that was your moment of glory, Psuedo!    Really - Shark went by and I was 20 meters behind. How could you not see me?    Never mind, our contact was a miracle: it just slowed me down a bit, you spinned and as far as I could see you ended in a right direction and just kept driving. 
What was then? An EPIC battle with Sharkie-boy. 25 minutes we were never more than 5 seconds apart. Damn that torque.  Every time I got close through the corners he drove away on the straight with that Viper. I swear I was within 1 cm at the last corner and at the end of straight it was 20 meters again.    And again. And again.    Was trying different approaches, lines entries, exits. Bah! No use. He just stayed on the inside and then pressed the right foot down. End of story.    Very good defensive driving, Shark.   
All in all an undeserved 5th place. With less mistakes it could be better. 
Superb behavior of slower classed cars (drivers).     And Psuedo.     Don't worry buddy, you'll never catch the stupidest move I made in Season 1 when I punted out Fozzmeister. 

TT
 

[ossie]

I had slight fps issues in qually and decided to give it a miss incase i ruined anyones race.  I was only a reserve so didn't feel too bad about it.

Congrats to class podiums, hopefully I will have better luck next time.

[Zacari]

A good start to the season I thought, no problems to report with fps and the skin pack looked great!

Quali was pretty much on my PB from practice, though I still got pipped at the death of quali by CJ in the mid-27s   The race was good, though it was a massive shame not to see Kerr take the grid sounds like a very odd problem, I was looking forward to a good race there.  I tried to keep up with CJ, but after we got mired in the GTC's I lost touch, losing 3-4 tenths a lap.

I decided to pit early and try to get an advantage from fresh rubber.  It didn't work I got stuck fighting for position amongst the other GT1's, which was fun but lost me a bit of time.  CJ pitted and was still 9 seconds up the road, and after that it was a steady trot 'till the flag.  Grats to the other podium-goers, and Simon for dragging the American beast to 4th
Good stuff by all the GTC guys too, for such a twisty track it was pretty easy-going when lapping.  Great to see a 350Z on the podium too!

It'll be interesting to see how the ballast changes things for Monza, one of my favourite tracks.  Will be interesting in the Lister!


Oh, and I think maybe TT has taken ZiP Tyf's record for the number of smilies used in a post

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Is there any chance that this is the 28 car problem rearing its ugly head? 26 always seemed more stable.

At most it could be a 27 car problem. It's possible, although we also had some new guys tonight who might've ignored the ISDN setting request in the announcement, and it also seemed to be related to those having FPS problems - which is known to cause odd behaviour online.

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

I pitted very late, changed the strategy.. messed up with the fuel and the result was spending the rest of the race saving fuel, i finished with 2L only lol

That explains why I was catching you hand over fist at the end - oh for 2 more laps! The frugal Z finished with 10l left!

One more thing, i checked the results and it shows that i have no team. Something's wrong cause i race for Sonic racing team along with F. Marques. 

That's because the team hasn't registered you as a driver. It doesn't happen by magic!

[Kerr]

What can I do to rectify my problems? Nothing like this happened before and obviously I dont want it to happen again.    From what I have read it seems like Zacari was appearing on my screen as Minton, as it looked from my screen cj pinched pole from him near the end of qualifying. I did not have zacari or backo on my screen.    Really disappointed about it as was looking forward to a good race and season.      Anyone shed any light?

[ginsters sponsored]

Real mixed bag that.

Quali was tough with terrible fps for me. I sympathise with you Brian but luckily it improved for me in race time.

Following advice from high, I took it nice and sensible from start (which wasn't too tidy from where I was). Then

My apologies to Ginsters for a bit of a love tap going into turn 1 - IIRC there was a G2 Porsche or a GT1 flying up between us and I braked at what I thought was a conservative point only to run into you anyway. Made sure you got it back under control ahead before I took the place properly.

Surprisingly, this tap damaged my rear aero and made it all very tricky. Pleased to get home in the end.

I don't think some of the GT1 behaved that well, considering they have all had experience of this. Far too many times I made room for one, fair enough, and the closely following GT believed they had the right to get by at the same time. Pretty inconsiderate 

[Simon Gymer]

Qualifed 8th, finished 4th.

I did about 10 minutes practice before the race to start setting up the Viper for my first time out in it since I think before season 4 started. I thought 1:29.2 in TT mode was pretty good going looking at the Valencia Season 4 times. Lo and behold the leaders were still 2 seconds faster than me, which wasn't exactly a surprise as I know I don't have the pace of the top half of the GT1 field. Still I was pretty pleased to get a 1:29.6 in qualifying only 0.4 slower than my TT mode time. Apart from anything else the temperatures were quite warm for qualifying make soft rears not viable on the Viper.

The Viper had immense grunt down the main straight and I was able to pull so much time there it was quite amazing. Basically the grunt was my saving bacon as drivers could find no way by and it allowed me to pass a couple of people for position without outright pace on the main straight. In fact the torque is so good that when Zacari came to lap me I stuffed it into 6th gear out the final corner so he could pass easily and I still had to back off to let him by on the straight it was pulling so well in 6th gear!

Last 16 minutes was the usual immense battle with TT . He had more pace in the Lambo and had caught me up, but he could find no way by and my power down the straights was plenty to keep him in check. It was so good down the main straight that I was cheeky enough to wiggle my arse a few times at him as I powered away down the main straight in the knowledge he wasn't going to get anywhere near me in the main overtaking corner. Sorry TT I couldn't help it. Then he flashed me a couple of time to say he was enjoying the scrap and that I should give him a chance. Good fight as usual thanks.

Very surprised to get 4th in the Viper as I certainly did not have top 4 pace. Keeps the team points afloat whilst I wait for super-alien Jeff to return and help me out in the Team Shark team. Monza next so the Viper should be good there, which will make up for me cause I hate Monza. I think 4th is no success ballast either way for me which I was not expecting. I was expecting to be in the bottom half of the GT1 field, certainly on pace so was hoping there would be even more negative ballast for the Viper.

Thanks to all the GTC drivers, you were all very kind. First time I've done GT1 in a multi-class race for a while. I think I got my lapping of the GTC cars done ok, with only a couple of occasions where I probably shouldn't have gone for it when I did, so apologies if I did anything un-toward. It's so twisty there that GTCs kept flashing me through in the corners which I don't really like doing. The Viper is a bit understeery even with my setup changes and there were some corners I preferred cars to just drive and I'd wait rather than be let me through in the corner as I was worried about going off into the gravel.

The track was very busy last night and although the GTC cars were definately a lot easier to pass than GT2s it was hard to get any rythum after the first part of the race as there only the occasional lap that went by where you didn't have to lap someone. I'm sure that was true from the GTC side too where they would have to make some kind of concession to let GT1s through. Will be a lot different at Monza which will bring it's own spin on lapping cars safely (the closing speeds will be even greater and judging whether or not you are able to get through before the next corner will be another challenge).

Grats to the podium places.

[Truetom]

I don't think some of the GT1 behaved that well, considering they have all had experience of this. Far too many times I made room for one, fair enough, and the closely following GT believed they had the right to get by at the same time. Pretty inconsiderate 

I must say I really saw the other end of the coin, Ginsters. Meaning that in GT1 I was prepared to bully my way through in some situations but almost every time I was let through even when deciding for that course (I'm not saying I would do it). When I wasn't, I waited. But that's my point of view, the lapped driver might have another.    I did follow Shark through when he was lapping as we were in a direct duel. I followed in two situations even when I knew it was risky, now that I think back.    No, Psuedo, that was not your situation.    I thought you'll stay on your side of the track.  
One situation was when Shark was lapping Rob Bywater in turn 4. There was a slight undecisive moment from both Rob and Shark and a gap opened. I went for it but it closed too soon for me to back off. I had a touch with Shark and he touched Rob. Don't know what happened with Rob, we went on driving.    I'm sorry Rob, but I must say I will probably go for that kind of  gap again in a moments decission. Even more so if I got as few opportunities as I got with following Shark.  
All that said, Ginsters, GTC drivers are to have most of the credit for lapping to go as smoothly as it did. Of course, smoothly means for GT1 while GTCs lost their rhytm.    But that's a neverending story. I'm just happy that mostly we are experienced already with this and it goes better than in some other leagues.  

TT

[ginsters sponsored]

I must say I really saw the other end of the coin, Ginsters. Meaning that in GT1 I was prepared to bully my way through in some situations but almost every time I was let through even when deciding for that course (I'm not saying I would do it).

I thought that too many times I was "obliged" to let the GT1 cars through. I could kinda guess what was about to happen, knew it was naughty from them, but just got outta the way. Did feel like I was being bullied (don't worry I am big and ugly enough to stand up for myself ). True enough the track didn't help none.

Of course, standards are far above most here and should be commended. However, I felt that last night could have been improved upon and sure it will

[Jure]

Kerr&co: my experience shows that ANYTIME one has problems with password entering an event one experiences low FPS and ghost/non-existent cars. You should have (at least) left multiplayer window, then rejoin. Restarting the game would be even better.

Incidently, how many of you guys went out during warmup? I did 2-3 laps without recording a time (which I'm sure I did, no cutting corners or such but still my in-car LCD did not show time... it started new timed lap every time, but the second I've crossed S/F line - nothing. No time posted. Weird).

Also: warm-up time table showed some 4, maaaaaybe 5 drivers posting a lap time, not more and I'm pretty sure there were more of us out there, right?

--------------
Anyway, had a typical Jure gets to an unfamiliar track without practice race.

Was funny though since gazza49er and backo drive same cars, blimey. Was pulling away from gazza, then suddenly same car was all over my rear fender although I was doing (relatively) fast laps at the time.  Of course it was backo, giggle.

Had some nice racing with TT (don't worry about that nudge, it's becoming traditional, remember? Can't wait for next race though, next time I'm the one who will pass you while you'll be engaged with a backmarker, ha! You ruined our fun, argh.   ).

Zacari, how dare you whine about inconciderate GT1 cars!  After you came out of the pits I let you by, it seemed stupid to race you and ruin your chances of victory (although can't talk about rest of the guys you caught up, I think TT was next in line at the time...)

Anyway, finishing 8th after a forced pitstop while qualifying 10th is not so bad. Having 3-4 forced and unforced ( )off track excursions (last one ruined a great battle brewing with mo in closing stages of the race, came close, then messed up again) didn't help either.

Gizmo, sorry for the nudge... god knows when, but I know there was one (at the time you had a scrap with a legends vertigo). Luckily I stopped and let you and that vertigo you were racing by to see you two have some more fun. 

All in all a fun race, was surprised how easy it was to pass lower class cars since I was expecting a major traffic nightmare (cause if they'd stuck to their lines going at their max, one could be stuck behind them for half a lap or so). Hats off, respect.

[popabawa]

As Adam said, that's the end of the Vertigo, I was losing so much down the straights it was just no fun at all.

The race went OK-ish, I wasn't really on top form, a few silly mistakes crept in. It didn't help when I thumped a GT1 when he decided to re-join mid-corner after a spin

The GT1's were nothing short of excellent. I felt particularly sorry for Mo and BACKO who seemed to catch me in the worst part of the track each time they lapped me. Nice work boys and thanks for making it easy

I have to apoligise to Mo. Sorry about the contact, I accelerated out of the corner as normal thinking you'd zoom away but to my surprise I touched you :'(

[mo]

Tough race in the MC12, found it hard to be consistant in it.
Qualified better than my real pace tbh in 4th place and then Brian sadly had problems which left me chasing the two Listers of CJ and Zac, but they were too quick and I was losing a few tenths every lap. Zac pitted early which left me in a surprised second in the Maserati.
That was as good as it got though, when pitting I couldn't slow enough for the pit entry and got a stop/go which dropped me right down the field. Then another couple of offs and some mix ups with backmarkers I completely lost my rythm and just hauled it over the line for 7th.
Happy enough though because its the first enduro race I've finished in a long time, at least my pitcrew seem to be able to service a car this season.

I have to apoligise to Mo. Sorry about the contact, I accelerated out of the corner as normal thinking you'd zoom away but to my surprise I touched you :'(

Zooming away is something that the MC12 doesn't do very well, as emphasised by the fact that I couldn't out accelerate you with twice the bhp No worries m8.

Must apologise to Darren - I spun at T4(?) and ended up stranded in the middle of the track. I had just got into reverse with spinning wheels when you came round the bend, but I couldn't get out of the way quick enough. That Morgan really disintegrated when you hit me, sorry it ended your race.

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Gizmo, sorry for the nudge... god knows when, but I know there was one (at the time you had a scrap with a legends vertigo). Luckily I stopped and let you and that vertigo you were racing by to see you two have some more fun. 

I remember something about that - it was my most focused race for a very long time and I was blotting moments like that out very easily.

Tough race in the MC12, found it hard to be consistant in it.

The KC MC12 is a bleedin' scary thing to be racing up in the mirrors though!

[Paul968]

Had a rather lonely race, although Valencia is a fun place to slide the Morgan round   I waited till the closest drivers behind had pitted before doing the same, and then came out not far behind Dave who was still on his long first stint. Very nice of you to flash me past Dave, but I wasn't expecting such cooperation when passing for position - a bit of real racing would have been quite welcome at that stage   After that it was a cruise to the end with a big gap.

It was nice to see the Nissan competitive for a change. I don't think we should jump to too many conclusions about the pace of individual cars based on the results last night. Looking at the laptimes, the bulk of the field were all lapping at a fairly similar pace, which bodes well for the rest of the season. Other tracks will suit other cars more, so it would make more sense to judge things after a few more races.

As for the Vertigo, this is always going to struggle in a race unless it has enough pace to qualify ahead and stay there. I didn't do any laps it it, but looking at GTR2Rank it is just as quick as most of the other cars (at Valencia anyway). I can't see that anything has changed this season to make it that much less competitive? I can understand the frustration of racing it in the pack though.

Well done to CJ on another impressive victory and to the other Kerbies for a decent points haul. I had no real problems with lapping GT1s, although not being in any close fights meant that I could afford to flash them past fairly quickly in the main. Thanks also to those that I lapped - very polite