Race 07 - Zandvoort (National) - Dec 12

[JPS]

Lol. I see what you mean Jeff

[Don]

Just a little warning for you guys when we are running with changeable weather on the server (like tonight) Make sure you check the on-track conditions before you line up on the grid
for both races otherwise it could be long trip round to change to wets!

[EdamSpeed]

Shouldn't have warned them Don - would have been fun watching them work it out for themselves

Sadly I can't make it tonight - got an event to go to - y'all have fun without me

[Don]

If you guys don't mind?, I'd like to turn this into a wet weather test race. The Mini's are fairly easy to handle in the wet (if I can drive them ) then this would seem the ideal situation.

[JPS]

What atrocious conditions which made for grear fun and unpredictability!

My quali was poor so i knew i didn't have the fastest car by any means. this required race strategy.

Race 1 had a great start and battled with Jeff Ruskus but he had a very wide car and it wasn't happening until he broke away when what looked like his tyres came good after about three laps. Great battle with Don to bring it in on the podium Third!

Race 2 again just kept it clean and neat was kept honest by Don behind came Fourth

Third overall in the event not bad i think in my first Race with Sim Racing in the wet.

Great idea Don more in future please, the wet gives it a refreshing angle on occasions!

[Jeffrey]

Quality over quantity FTW!!! .

Shame it was a small grid again tonight, but luckily the car/track combo made that allllll up .

Decided not to qualify, as I usually like Race 2 more.
When the lights went off and I floored it, the lock of my chair came lose (the one that prevents it from tilting) and my feet were in the air  . Still I could quickly come back to earth and take a few places.
Had a tussle with JPS at the beginning and I was behind PR after a few laps. He was quicker than me at that point, and I thought it was gonna be a boring last 10 laps, but it wasn't. At some time PR's tyres went and I was gaining. So with maybe 5 laps to go, I was on his tail. Especially in T1 (Tarzanbocht), I was very close to him, with not even an inch between. But it was almost impossible to overtake. Following closely meant I had to brake earlier, and he usually had a better run out of the corners due to that.
PR held it together perfectly and we finished with 0.1 in between. Awesome drive PR!

Race 2 started of good as well, apart from me being in the air with my chair ( ). Gained a few places again and was in 3rd behind  Don and Dave.
Don lost a bit op speed in the slow chicane and I had to lift off to prevent a rearend, and PR was there immediatly to take my spot . It was looking like another cracking battle with PR. I couldn't overtake again for a few laps, untill he touched the gravel slighty in the next to last corner. So I had a better run on the straight and I could just outbrake him in T1. No grip at all in that banked corner in the rain  .
Then I was fighting Dave for lap after lap. He drove very smooth and I needed to get the exit out of the last corner perfect to have a slight shot of outbraking. When I overtook him I had a nice battle of him and PR in my mirror, and I was enjoying watching that.

Thanks all for showing up. Race07 have given me some of the best races ever and I enjoy every one of them, if there are 4, 6 or 18 people, it's always fun!

Thanks Don for putting all these races together, I hope the small grids don't put you down

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Well that was odd fun but I still hate FWD!

Got off the line very badly in race 1 - then compounded the error by losing it into the hairpin and stuffing the stupid thing into the barriers, breaking one of the front wheels, race over.

Race 2 started from pole as a result, got a better start but could only hold off JR for  a few laps. PR was soon through as well but his tyres were going off a lot quicker than mine and after a few laps of following he struggled to get the car out of the final corner and I was through again and able to build up a modest gap by a couple of tenths each lap.

Enjoyed the close racing but the Minis feel lifeless and crude compared to the Caterhams, Radicals and single seaters.

[Don]

Replays are in, but you'll have to wait for Dave to work him magic for the results.
Thanks for the kind words, and turning up.

[pribeiro]

Thanks for organizing these VERY fun races Don 
Not many showed up, but still i had lots of fun both races.
Amazing pace Jeff aswell as Dave in second race.
First half of race i could push and drive hard, but after 8 laps i was strugling
to turn and brake as i did before, i guess i was overspinning front tires in the begining,
wich allowed me to have a confortable gap, but for the last laps i lost the gap
due to poor grip 
Wainting for next one 

Cheers

[Joss]

Missed these once again - I always miss the wet races! (swear I'm cursed)
Would have joined only I was shattered after staying up all last night for an assignment....wouldn't have been fair for me to join really. I was an accident waiting to happen! 

Getting the replays now, so I'll check it out later once I finish yet more work....grats to the podiums 

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Results now up too.

[Simon Gymer]

I just can't do this much racing I'm afraid. I wouldn't have minded Minis in the wet either (but then I'm easily pleased when it comes to racing).

If we do a RACE 07 championship then I will drop GTR2 Tuesdays so I can compete as I would like to do RACE07 but I'm not going to do 5+ nights racing a week. With the Sprints finishing soon I will be doing RACE 07 every week until a new season.

[popabawa]

That was great fun in the wet, I think that was an inspired choice Don

Some pretty bad frame rate problems spoiled it for me. I got it in the section between the downhill right-hander through to the little chicane thingy in the next corner. I had a couple of off's due to that... the rest were my own fault

That was the first time I'd tried Race 07 in the rain so at least I know I need to turn the settings down a bit.

From what little I saw of it before disappearing into the distance, Jeff's car was getting into some very strange angles around those tight corners

Oh, and I hate standing starts, I might as well not bother with qualifying, I just can't do them. I qualified in 2nd for the first race but I was down into 5th within a couple of seconds of the race starting

[Adam Parle]

Yeah, good fun last night.

Turned up with 30 seconds left of qualifying - I hadn't been expecting to attend so it was very last minute.

The start of the race wasn't great .... floored the throttle and nothing happened....DOH!  Turns out the pedals had got disconnected when clamping the wheel in place.  Not really ideal as it meant I was some 15 seconds behind before I moved!

After that and for the rest of race 1 I was getting used to the car, the track, and the conditions.  I wouldn't normally even think about joining a race with no practice behind me, let alone on a new track and with a new car.  Given the low turnouts I didn't think it'd be a problem.

Didn't exactly set the world on fire with my laptimes in race 1, even once I settled into the car/track/rain combo.  2 seconds off the pace .... doh!

Race 2 was better, although I was still getting up to speed.  Little mistakes let people by and I was soon fighting for the wooden spoon once again, however on almost every lap I was setting PB's, taking some 2 seconds off my race 1 best.  By the end I was almost competitive!  Thanks to errors/fps issues I got by my teamies, for a thoroughly undeserved 5th?

[Jeffrey]

From what little I saw of it before disappearing into the distance, Jeff's car was getting into some very strange angles around those tight corners

Lol, yeah, especially that downhill corner which makes it Zandvoort Club. My brake bias was too far to the rear and my setup too oversteery, so everytime I entered that corner I was facing the armco while sliding through there . That's so much fun in a FWD, no way of spinning out