Season 44 - 1955GP (Works) – Round 1 – Assen

The first race in the 1955 Grand Prix series finds us at Assen in the Netherlands. Assen has a long history of motor racing. The first event, a motorcycle race, was held in 1925 on country roads through the villages of Rolde, Borger, Schoonloo and Grolloo.  Between 1926 and 1954, the Dutch TT (Tourist Trophy) motorcycle race, was held on the Van Drenthe circuit. This was a 10.27 miles street circuit through De Haar, Barteldsbocht, Oude Tol, Hooghalen, Laaghalen and Laaghalerveen. In 1955 a new purpose built track was inaugurated which was shorter than the original but at 6.049 miles it was still a long track by modern standards. Over the years the track has been through numerous modifications which have changed its length each time. The 1967 version we are using tonight is 4.8 miles long.  Although more famous for motorcycle racing, the track has been used for car racing (BOSS GP, Champ Car, DTM and several junior classes) but never for Formula 1.
 

Race list	=	iGOR
Server	=	UKGPL05_60fps
IP address	=	146.199.1.65:32666
Password	=	see above
GPL Mod	=	55GP
Damage model	=	PRO
60fps Patch	=	60fpsV2newmod
Track	=	Asssen 1967
Track directory	=	assen67
Qualifying starts	=	20:45 UK time - 45 minutes
Race starts	=	~ 21:30 UK time
Race length	=	14 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.

Good luck Dimitar, and I see that you have draggedH out of retirement too!  well done.   

Many people witter about the unrealistic brake fade in 55mod but I think that it has been done for a purpose.

I don't believe that the abuse that is dished out to the brakes in all the other mods is realistic either!  I think that had the brave gentlemen of 1955 used their brakes the way that the faster GPL drivers use them then they may have suffered a good deal of brake fade and perhaps not many of them would have made old bones.  The brake fade in 55mod may well be over the top but it dictates a certain approach to the driving, which is different to all other mods that I have tried.

Well done to the mod team who built it and I hope that 37mod isn't being watered down!

Yeah, H was quite intrigued to take a look. I watched so many of GPLaps's videos so I am aware about the brakes. And I to like how they are done, it require specific technique to manage them which is much appreciated by me.

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I'm so sorry, Leo, for taking you out like that. I had no brakes in that moment and was just trying to stay as much to the inside as possible. It wasn't a bad contact but GPL reacted violently on your side...

Really disappointed as we were having a nice battle and Leo was quicker, deserving to win. That lap time in qualifying was impressive!

Had an interesting battle with Phil afterwards, as he was sometimes suddenly much quicker in some corners and it was difficult to be consistent so I can stay in front of him. Eventually managed to overtake and pull away at the end.

Congrats to Phil for an excellent 2nd and Clive for 3rd!

I think that it is great to see Hristo on track again...not so excited to see that his absence has not slowed him down  Also good to see Dimitar trying the 55's too. But two very different results?
Hristo took the win, but I think he discovered that sinking feeling when what seems like a smart overtaking move, rapidly becomes a nightmare as the brakes vanish....and there is nothing that you can do to prevent it except wait for the impact??? Close racing in these cars is absolutely on a knife edge and the smallest miscalculation will end in tragedy....I know, I have been there too many times, but this season I am determined to have a clean sheet.

Looks like Dimi struggled for a few laps before he dropped out. Driving these cars in race mode is NOT easy, I don't care what anyone says, To extract the maximum pace AND stay on the grey stuff takes a lot of concentration and a good degree of luck. 5mtrs too late on the brakes from 150mph even when the braking distances are so long is fatal, with so little grip from the tyres it is almost impossible to overcome that extra 10KPH at turn in and the car goes straight to the haybales ( or worse).

Commiserations to Leo who is always quick and great result for Phil and Clive L. My race, and season, was without a clear plan so I opted for the token free Gordini and hoped to steal a couple of points from somewhere. Finishing was the priority.
So, quite surprised to be mid grid and even more surprised to find myself running in 4th after Mr Loynes had his moment. I caught the occasional glimpse of Phil's 250F up ahead, but was more focused on Fulvio's Connaught behind. For many laps I held the gap at just big enough that he could not make a challenge, but ironically it was Leo's demise that caused my downfall.
I saw some yellow flags and the last remains of a car vanish as the ESC key was used, so glanced at Prib to see if it was a backmarker or a leader. As I looked Prib updated and it took me 2 secs to process that Leo was missing and I was up to 3rd place!! Those 2 secs cost me a really good finish, because I totally forgot where I was on the circuit and sailed past the all important braking point for one of the tight left handers. Zero chance of making the corner, so I sailed on across the grass and luckily survived contact with a fence. But I had to watch Fulvio, Jonny, Clive L and Enrique sweep past 

The rest of the race was a great battle with Enrique and I thought that I had lost that when I went wide 2 laps from the finish, but Enrique also had grief on the last lap and I was able to steal the place for an extra couple of points.

I hope that Dimi is not too disheartened at not finishing his first 55 race as I know he prides himself on being consistent right to the flag. I think that this mod replicates the old cars and races very well. If you watch old movies of those races, cars were retiring or bouncing off haybales on every lap as mistakes were made.
Looking forward to the rest of the season.

No worries mate, these cars some times surprise us and that is a tricky corner. It were some exciting laps with GPL history himself. Hope for some more next races.

Guess my race story is already told. Fun anyway. Getting used to my new wheel rim and H shifter lap by lap.

Congratulations to all the finishers. See you next one.

I'm withdrawing from this GP55 series in protest over the rampant corner cutting as witnessed in yesterday's race at Assen.  The stats speak for themselves...

ON TRACK LAPS

Driver                           Laps/Total    Percent
 Doni55                             (12/13)      92.31
Clive Loynes55                       (7/14)      50.00
Fulvio Policardi-55                  (5/14)      35.71
Phil Thornton55                      (5/14)      35.71
Alain Maurice                        (4/14)      28.57
Leo Menegucci                         (4/5)      80.00
Syd Drake55                           (3/7)      42.86
J. Jonny'O                           (2/14)      14.29
enrique farina                       (1/14)       7.14
E vil55                              (1/14)       7.14
Dimitar Dulichki55                    (0/5)       0.00
Hristo Itchov55                      (0/14)       0.00

I endeavour to drive as cleanly and safely as possible in this mod as even a minor shunt in these cars back in the day could have the most dire consequences.  I scored one '64'...off-track lap...when I briefly lost concentration coming off De Vennen.  It neither cost nor gained me time.  What I witnessed from most everyone...and especially several individuals...leaves me cold and filled with disgust.  I reviewed the first five laps of this race noting each and every competitor.  The efforts of some to shave off lap time by putting four wheels in the grass through the serpentine starting at Madijk is simply appalling.  And this isn't the only venue where this kind of thing occurs.  Aintree and Panorama come to mind.

This conduct is an indication of the sense of fair play.  It would appear that few have any notion of it.