Season 43 - 1955GP - Round 4 – Monsanto Park

The fourth race in the 1955 Grand Prix series takes us to Portugal. The street circuit of Monsanto Park to be precise. Built on parkland, the circuit was considered difficult to drive because it crossed so many different types of surfaces, including tramlines at one point. The track hosted numerous races from 1954 to 1959, but only one race qualified as a Formula One event: the 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix, won by Stirling Moss. He won the race in the twilight hours, since the race was purposefully started late in the day to avoid the intense late summer sun.

Race list	=	iGOR
Server	=	UKGPL04_60fps
IP address	=	146.199.1.65:32766
Password	=	see above
GPL Mod	=	55GP
Damage model	=	PRO
60fps Patch	=	60fpsV2newmod
Track download	=	Monsanto Park 1959
Track directory	=	monsanto
Qualifying starts	=	20:45 UK time - 45 minutes
Race starts	=	~ 21:30 UK time
Race length	=	21 laps
Replay	=	HERE

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I might join you Pete. I am making far too many errors of judgement and messing up other peoples races. I need to take a step back and develop some patience with common sense and stop making putting myself in stupid positions that spoil the fun.

Apologies to Clive Loynes for this evening's gaff. I should have known that the gap was going to close and stayed behind. Hope that you could continue.

Going OK for me for a fair while, until I got smashed up the arse by faster driver, tyrying to overtake. 

did about 3 or 4 spins and somersaults before I landed again. luckily on my wheels.. of which amazingly there were still 4 of.  But that was it for me.   

Car wouldnt steer too well and for no apparent reason a couple of laps later the engine exploded. Another completly spoiled race.

Im not the fastest kid on the block but I think im safe and good to race with, and I dont rear end people.

another wasted evening to be honest.

Accepted.
LOL  Bit of a late lunge there Evil.  You were about a car length back as I turned in.   

I was gratified to see that you only had three wheels after that!   

TBH I was almost glad that I had lost a wheel...it seemed rather just. Doubly disappointed as Prib was hinting at a 2:06 on race fuel if I could hook all the sectors together, so I felt that I could match the bigger cars on pace.
As for my positioning it was clear that your line/speed through the corners at T1 and T2  was very different from mine. You were steady and controlled through the left hand T1 and set up T2 for a smooth exit. With the underpowered Connaught I found the quickest way through that section was to attack T1, accelerate into T2 before dropping to 1st gear and hugging the inside of T2 so that I could take a wide line on the exit onto the straight. This allowed me to get on the gas early and wind up the elastic band to max velocity.
The problems with that approach became obvious when I thought that you were taking a wide line through T2, but instead you moved across to hit the apex just as I arrived with zero brakes left  .
For me there have been too many similar incidents over the past months and I need to clean up my act.

Speak for yourself sonny boy   

Way, way too much drama for my liking in this round.  My poor old heart can hardly stand it, chaps.

Set a new personal best in the Ferrari in qualifying to start P6.  Not too shabby.  I had Leo starting in P5 and knowing how lethargic the little Gordini is on launch, I figured to pass without much trouble.  Job done so up to P5 straight away with Phil close on my tail.  Lap02 and high drama in the Clover Leaf as Evil Clive collects Clive Loynes and they're both off comprehensively.  Poor Evil loses a wheel to DNF.  BOOOO!  This was just out of sight for me but I did catch something out of the corner of my eye as I rounded the corner to start the run down the main straight.  Only moments later, Jonny surges by Ricky for the lead and almost immediately bins it by spinning in the chicane at the end of the straight.  Had to stifle a little giggle as I slipped by for P2.  Serves you right, JJ, for taking the Merc.  Keep it up, boys, and I'll be leading by the end of the lap!  LOL!

Lap03 and Jonny has recovered from his off to displace Phil and is now hot on my tail.  Lap04 and he roars by on the main straight to put me back to P3.  Ricky has pulled out a nice lead at this time.  Lap06 and Phil suffers an engine failure coming off the Clover Leaf.  Bad luck there, PT.  In the same lap coming off the Lake Hairpin, I caught sight of a Gordini in my mirrors and figured this to be Leo recovering from the start.  I expected to now be in for a hard time.  To this point, I had been making many small but recoverable errors.  Now I really bungled it at Windmill Bend by sliding off and kissing the haybales on the exit.  This bled off all manner of speed and a green car surged by on my left.  I had figured this to be Phil not realizing that he'd already parked it for the day.  Next lap and my board showed me that it was Clive Loynes roaring back from his Lap02 dramas.  But where was Leo?  He was right on my tail as I entered Windmill but was now MIA.  Turns out that he spun in Windmill almost at the same instant that I biffed the bales and he lost a ton of time getting it straight.  No longer a factor on the leaderboard.  My pit board was showing Fulvio next man down to me some 14 seconds behind so it was looking comfy for me to cruise home to P4 and if Jonny obliges me with another spin, well, then...

So...  Eight laps down out of 21 and a solid P4 in the bag, it was time to go on to cruise control.  My overall philosophy in the GP55's is very conservative.  Avoid shunts at all costs.  Spare the equipment.  Moses had displace Fulvio but was still light-years behind.  Sometimes it can be a dangerous thing to believe that you're in  solid for an easy ride.  For the next five laps, I next to fell asleep allowing my lap times to balloon into the 2m13s bracket.  When the gap back to Moses got into the single digits, I decided to wake up and get a move on.  Lap14 and Leo passes Moses to take over P5 not all that far behind me.  My pit board didn't show me this til I came up to start Lap16. LEO???  Where the H did he come from?  Knowing that he was significantly faster in qualifying, I figured that I was now going to be subject to a real fight to maintain my P4.  So much for Leo no longer a factor on the leaderboard...

Lap18 and I'm working really hard now to keep Leo at bay.  Unseen by me way, way up the road is a major development.  With a solid lead, Jonny has disastrous run into the Clover Leaf.  He's clipped a haybale and spun.  More than that, he has enormous difficulty getting the Merc straightened round to resume and drops to P3 behind Ricky and Clive.  Goodness me!

It's the last lap now and I cross the SFline to start it just a whisker ahead of Leo.  Heading down to the Clover Leaf, I feel that I have a good enough lead to take a normal pass into and through.  Suddenly, on my left, Leo goes roaring by under braking and I figure he's done like a Swanson.  No way he's going to make the corner and avoid smashing into the bales on the infield.  WTF???  From out of somewhere I know not where, he found some grip and held on to take the place.  I followed through the Clover Leaf close behind and got a slipstream pass on the main straight.  PHEW!  Can I hold him for the last half a lap?  I just knew that he'd try a bid at the Lake Hairpin so I tucked my Ferrari in a little tigther on approach to discourage that attempt but dammit, he went for it anyway!  Heavy contact has us both spinning off and it looks like I'm going to recover first to proceed.  All the while, Moses was only a couple of seconds back.  Then, another collision this time with Moses who has ricocheted off Leo and gone straight into me sending my Ferrari into a full 360° spin.  I have to consider myself the lucky boy in this as both Leo and Moses had much more grief in getting up to speed again.  Albert had a great view of all this in his Gordini coming on the scene only moments later to find three cars trying very hard to DNF.  Got the Ferrari straight first and made it to the line in P4 a most lucky and exhausted boy.

Ricky was trumps all day and a fully deserved victor.  Clive Loynes recovered splendidly from the early collision to claim P2 and Jonny makes it home in P3 which all considered, must be a grim disappointment.

Jonny leads the title standings with Fulvio in P2 and Clive Loynes in P3.  I'm sitting P4 not all that far behind JJ with something up my sleeve for Reims. 

very interesting career for me, (good narration from you doni :-) very pleasant to read.
   I was practicing all week and with my teammates we were accommodating set ups and racing styles, in the masserati especially with Clive. I felt pretty strong and if I didn't make mistakes, I was sure I could reach the podium.
   Jonnie was relentless with his powerful mercy, and it is very unfortunate that he lost this victory, for a big mistake in glover leaf. It was a well-deserved victory for my Brazilian friend, but that's racing. Even though I recovered 1st position, I also had a very strong Clive in the same car that was on my heels, but we came with a similar pace and the distance between him and me always remained the same, it was just a mistake, no matter how small. be it and I lost this victory, against him, fortunately I didn't make a single mistake and I was able to win, something that made me very happy. Jonnie was able to recover and continue, and achieved the last step of the podium, very well dear Jonnie, points are points.
  congratulation for my teamy clive for that recovery after incident, wonderfull job buddy, 1 and 2 place for the team 
   As Clive says, Evil, your driving has become something fantastic and now you are a very strong person on the track, the bad moments always pass, when you acquire more skill in driving, the pressure in braking, overtaking and accelerating, you They become millimetric, and that is why we are more at the limit of making more mistakes, patience dear evil, (we are not old.... .) very good satisfaction will come.
   Reims is coming and strategies are the order of the day :-)