UKGTR Season 7 Super Endurance - Spa (2003) - Mar 22

[Carl Hart]

Hey Mike thanks for the appology but dont worry you didnt take me off the track thats the main thing. Quite enjoyed the little race we had too Thanks for a super race guys really enjoyed it and Turetom wow those 10 or so laps we had were great. Good driving mate. Shame i got a drive thru penalty overwise it could have been longer .

[Jimmie]

O jeez, how could I miss out not noticing this date :'(

That's nothing. I was practicing on Friday and all was well. Saturday, prior to race, nothing was well, couldn't keep the car on track and decided to bail out of the race in order not to endanger others cause there was no way I could find out WHY car's so unstable.

Few hours later... well, let's just say someone was flying forgotten battles on Friday evening and forgot to change pedals back to racing mode/separate axis.

No comment.

 

Haha that made my day

[Paul Richards]

Sorry for the late report! When the race was originally 2:20 I worked out that I could just make it on 3x100ltrs. When it turn out to only be 2:10 I decided that I would not try to work out a strategy and just see what fuel mileage I got during the race. So I left the pit stops set to 2x100 starting on a full tank.

Qualified ok it was pretty close at front end with just a few tenths dividing us. I decided to go very long on the first stint and measure how far I could go. Without a full Motec in the 575 I had to use my watch as a race timer. By going long I would then have a very long pit stop first then have a short middle pit stop coming in when I was able to go the rest of the distance decided by the first stint.

First stint - I always start on a full tank for long races but never had to go a full tank in a GT1. With that in mind I was pretty cautious on the tyres at the start and I slowly drifted back from the front 3. TT was closing in so I ended up driving a little harder than I wanted to. My car went through a horrible stage of bad handling for a few laps and TT really closed up. About half way through my race was nearly ended early. While pushing harder than I wanted I caught the left hand kerb at the top of Eau Rouge and the back end stepped out big time to the right. I caught it but slid onto the slippery surface by the pit exit. I just managed to slow enough to avoid the tyres at the end of the pit lane by the skin of my teeth! Sorry TT if it was a bit of a fright for you! TT sailed by of course. I then continued to fall back form TT but my early cautious driving paid off and I closed back in with a few seconds before TT pitted. I continued on until the tank was nearly empty.

Second Stint - The pit stop was going to take an age re filling but I was able to work out how far I could go on a tank and at what time I could pit again. By running so long I had plenty of fuel in hand for the rest of the race and although I had lost 10 seconds at least to TT I was still in the same position although closer to those behind. I started again a little cautiously which was not needed but I was still thinking of my moment at Eau Rouge I think. Simon then started closing in quickly and I pushed on and made a couple of mistakes and lost more time. Simon was now right behind me but by forcing me to drive quicker my lap times improved and it felt more like the closing stages of a sprint race! Simon continued to apply the pressure but we caught up the car in front by 4 secs or so. I then came in to my pit window with plenty of fuel left but as my lap times were good and the car felt great I stayed out a lap or so longer which also gave me a but of a safety net fuel wise too. Just as I felt the tyres were a little past their best (due to me forcing them with Simons pressure) I hit the pit lane with Simon right behind and he followed me in.

Third stint - I still had 36 ltrs in the tank so the stop was going to be short. It went perfectly and I gained time on Simon and the cars in front. Not sure what happened with new teamie Mike or Carl but I eventually found myself third about 7 secs back to TT. I was closing a bit on TT and car was great but the gap behind me was getting smaller too. Eventually the pale Blue Lambo appeared again in the distance of my Rear mirror. I was going the quicker than I had gone all race and although I was closing in towards TT, Simon was getting closer and closer again (I now know on soft fronts!). Towards the end the gap was still coming down but a lot slower so I pushed on to attack TT. He had too much pace though and although I got the gap down to 3-4 secs I wasn't able to apply any pressure.

Very pleased with third and hopefully I will be able to make some other races in this series. Many thanks to Simon and TT for the battles and to Rusky on the win.