Moderator's Report
Server replay time: 50s
At the start of the pace lap, Don1 (wobble) is slightly slow away, and Tom Cooper pulls away ahead, and worse still, Don has to put himself alongside Tom three times before Tom will let him retake his rightful place.
Even if you can't see the car alongside when stationary on the grid, you can always tell whether it's ahead or behind you by looking at the row in front (or behind if you're lucky enough to be on pole). If the other car is ahead, the only reason you should pull away first is if they haven't moved at all for several seconds.
Server replay time: 180s
At the end of the pace lap, Popabawa is a little bit too eager to get close to the car in front, accelerates a bit too much on the final straight, and then locks a wheel whilst avoiding running into the back of Picnic.
This causes a chain reaction, with Don1 having to slow dramatically too, getting a light tap from behind by Tom Cooper, who is in turn hit by Wilier. Jamera manages to slow up in time, but Woodee doesn't see the pack slowing ahead until it's too late, comes flying past Jamera and Wilier, and has to take to the grass to avoid running into Tom.
The rule is that "each following driver should only accelerate when the driver ahead does". That means that if you accelerate significantly to catch up with the pack after the last corner, you're inviting the car behind to start accelerating hard. So don't.
Server replay time: 197s
As the field streams into turn 1, Tom Cooper is close behind Don1, who has taken up a position in the middle of the track as he's close behind Popabawa. Tom Cooper slows up as normal, but is just a fraction too close to Don1, and tags the back of him, causing Don to spin on the racing line.
Looking at the replay, Tom never actually makes contact with the back of Don's car, so there's a significant element of warp, but he's too close considering that he doesn't appear to be making a passing attempt.
Unfortunately, Don is now parked on the racing line, and unable to move because cars are streaming by in front, and there's nothing but gravel directly behind. Several cars make contact as they pass, and eventually a small pileup ensues. I'm not going to name everyone involved, but as a general piece of common sense advice, if you see smoke in turn 1 on the first lap, it's a good bet that you need to slow down a lot more than normal!
Server replay time: 832s
Don1 (wobble), having been spun to the back on lap 1, has been stuck behind a pack of three cars for several laps. Wilier, seeing Woodee having a look down the inside of Jamera at the Shell Esses, brakes perhaps a fraction early, but Don brakes at his usual point, and runs in to the back of Wilier at considerable speed, sending him sliding across the grass, where he collects Jamera, who had already conceded 11th place to Woodee.
This is a classic rear ender, mitigated partly by Wilier braking slightly early, and also by Wilier starting to drift to the right just before the braking zone, Don showing signs of target fixation as he also drifts to the right under braking - there was actually just about enough room to squeeze down the outside to the left of Wilier.
Don then retired.
- Don (Don1) — penalty — rear ending Wilier — 1 place lost
For advice only - unreported by victim, so penalty disregarded
