UKGTR Season 8 Pre-season 9 - GT2 @ Spa (2003) - Dec 7

[Mark J]

i see the real world weather is now showing clear but i think we need some rain thrown in just to test the various cars out in those conditions also. Not sure what others are finding in the different cars but i am a whopping 10-12 seconds slower a lap in the wet which could mean either the 997 really doesnt work physics wise in the wet or that kind of gap is about right between wet and dry conditions at Spa. Its a long lap after all.

[Jeffrey]

i see the real world weather is now showing clear but i think we need some rain thrown in just to test the various cars out in those conditions also. Not sure what others are finding in the different cars but i am a whopping 10-12 seconds slower a lap in the wet which could mean either the 997 really doesnt work physics wise in the wet or that kind of gap is about right between wet and dry conditions at Spa. Its a long lap after all.

10 Seconds is perfectly normal, even for shorter tracks. That is fully wet and not damp or wet-ish ;D.

[Simon Gymer]

LOL. Started practice in the Lambo, but the engine sounds are so attrocious I had to change car as it was driving me potty and I couldn't hear anything. Took the Panoz under advice from team mates and it felt fairly neutral although typically American. Managed to get a lap in whilst it was still mildly moist so started 10th or something.

First lap I went off under braking at the end of the first long straight - noooob. Then a couple of laps later I came across a stationary Porsche in the same place, unable to avoid and I rammed it hard. Went to pit the next lap to get a new front end and couldn't turn off the engine to refuel. Ignition is mapped to a joystick button and the joystick button is mapped to a key. Sorry for the chat, that was me trying every key before giving up. :-D

Have to say I hate all the new engine noises for the cars, they're dire and don't fit in with the other cars at all and sound like some Japanese death cry or something. Awful.

Hope you had more fun than me.

[JPS]

Quali went well 10th/11th I think.

Race was going well, car handling well..everything great    then Jon Marjanen.. tries an over take into the 2nd gear right hander at the end of the straight and I am shunted off...disaster..waited..but was conscious I was stranded over part of the track which was probably blind to on coming drivers..looked clear.. tried to move off track and I think there was some kind of contact with someone..sorry hope it didn't ruin your race...got going eventually..but rear end damage..end of my race

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Hmm, no idea why I was so pants tonight but the car just felt horrid from the pace lap (when I went off twice), through the race (when the fronts were either overheating or too cold), to the moment when MJ spun coming out of Eau Rogue and I wiped my lights off on him.

Then I tried to type "LOL" in chat and it decided to cut my engine and switch my view. So I gave up.

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

ps. Driving down the middle of the track is not a legitimate defending strategy.

[nsfast]

Good start but went too long on slicks when the rain came. I was then little too keen to get back out quickly...result...stop and go for pit lane speed. 

Started to get back into it to then diasaster struck again. Went into the pits to change back to slicks...selected wrong tyres by mistake..tried to cancel by hitting the ESC key..big mistake..DNF 

Interesting race. Hopefully learnt more about tyre choices.

[Legzy]

I've never liked this track from previous experience & this week/race has done nothing to improve my opinion of it.
In fact, it is the only track I've done in GTR2 that I dislike & it's only the 2nd time I abandoned a working car mid-race (the other time was at Spa too). 


p.s. I assume I'm in the minority here?

[Truetom]

uuuuuu,uuuuuuuuuuu,uuuuuuuuuuuuu,uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu,uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu,uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu,uuuuuuuuuuuuuu,uuuuuuuuuuuu,uuuuuuuuuu,uuuuuuu(iiiiiii),uuuu(iiiiiii),uuuuuu,uuuuuuuuuuuu,uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu,uuuuuuuuuuuuuu
uuuuuuuuuuuu,.....

Lol@sound of F430 (well said, Psuedo ); lol@weather.  

Started to watch the pit entrance longingly when the tracks started to dry, was close to call the pit-crew when it started raining again. Was closing on Freqie, then he spun at Eau Rouge.  Damn, was looking forward to actually race you for the first time.  Or were you just teasing me?  

Well done, modders. The car's great and I'll get used to the sound.     I don't think 997 is slower, even in the rain, the laps I was close to them were fairly equal, even faster on exit. So I guess I was the most patient.  

Too bad for the spin, MJ, you were close. Bad luck, JPS.

TT  

P.S. I love the track, Legzy. 

[Joss]

Whoops....crashed out of the lead with 15 mins to go. Bugger!

Had a few problems round fast corners with understeer, but also had exit oversteer. The Gallardo is pretty difficult to drive, and I could only get it sort of quick with a rock solid suspension set and lowered.....which was rubbish in the wet! Was pleased to still be leading towards the end, but lost it out of Eau Rouge and wreaked the front end. Job done.

Congrats podium  

[Jon Marjanen]

Quali went well 10th/11th I think.

Race was going well, car handling well..everything great    then Jon Marjanen.. tries an over take into the 2nd gear right hander at the end of the straight and I am shunted off...disaster..waited..but was conscious I was stranded over part of the track which was probably blind to on coming drivers..looked clear.. tried to move off track and I think there was some kind of contact with someone..sorry hope it didn't ruin your race...got going eventually..but rear end damage..end of my race

Really sorry about that. I wasn't trying to overtake, I braked pretty early into the corner and I was on the inside incase you braked earlier than I did. I was going to let you into the corner but I was closer to you than it seemed and as you turned in my front end clipped you. Again, sorry.

My own race was terrible, when the rain started it was fine really going with slicks, but when I went in to change tires I made the wrong choice and suffered from that a lot. I was really slow. The front tires were always too cold. I had a few spins. After I had a big crash on top of eau rouge I limped back to the pits, got some fuel on and took the right tires. After that the car went well and after truetom lapped me I was able to keep up with him without much pushing. Oh well at least I finished. I'm going to do some more testing in the wet with the different tyres.

[JPS]

Really sorry about that. I wasn't trying to overtake, I braked pretty early into the corner and I was on the inside incase you braked earlier than I did. I was going to let you into the corner but I was closer to you than it seemed and as you turned in my front end clipped you. Again, sorry.

No worries .. Jon....One of those things...didn't suffer too much pain :'( with it being a test race

[psuedo]

Lol TT.....I have my Teamspeak button mapped to the letter 'U'.....and I had been chatting b4 I tried to congrat you.  

I like Spa...never usually do too well there though.

Nicked a podium tonight through pitting at what must have been the correct time for some hard wets and no fuel...33 seconds stop  . That got me up where I didn't belong  

Good race...cars all seemed to perform pretty much as expected and the driving I saw was all spot on.

Did get up to 2nd with Jan like a rash all over my rear, but I binned it putting the power down too soon and made a mess of the suspension. That left me 3rd with 3 laps left....35 secs up on [email protected] managed to limp it round enough to cross the line about 4 secs in front  ....another lap?  

Grats to TT and Jan
Unlucky FreQ.......(Rope for sale!)

[H@L9000]

Yes Legzy, you are in the minority

Incredible race, Spa is so difficult in the wet

2 off track excursions and 2 pit stops, so I am happy with my 5th place result

Lol psuedo, I would have loved another lap

[Busi]

As I had a rubbish qualifying I tried something different to the rest in the race, which was starting on slicks and not pitting until I was going to run out of fuel, no matter how hard rain was.

I was really surprised with how fast the car was on slicks under the rain (and I think the other cars too, did you all start on slicks, FreQ, TT, etc.?). It started to rain hard on lap 7-8 when the leaders pitted, but I kept going with a wet track and spray behind the cars, and I was going only around 10 seconds a lap slower, on slicks!! Was pretty strange, I think something should be done with it, no idea how from my part of course

So with the not-too-poor-considering-I-was-on-slicks pace I kept the lead until FreQ caught me back after his pitstop (of course such a long pitlane helped me with that) I spun off right after that and quit, as I had nothing to do from that moment, wrong tyres and the rest having caught me. And it was becoming more and more undrivable on slicks so it was safer to retire