Moderator's Report
Summary
A fine win for Steve Bird with Burt picking up second place on the podium after an incident packed race. Asbjeurn's disqualification also promotes Geoff Heard onto the podium for the first time in the Clubman's division. Well done!
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Lap 1 - Start Line - Craig Thomas, Michael Tuner and Robert Burton
Michael gets a better start than Craig but as he shifts into second gear a little too much throttle induces some wheel spin. Michael veers across the track taking out Craig. Robert cannot avoid the carnage. Craig and Robert are entitled to no-fault shift Rs.
Clearly this incident was caused by Michael's over exuberance on the throttle with cold tyres. In general, lack of skill is not penalised in UKGPL, only lack of judgement. However start line incidents can have such a catastrophic affect on everyone's race, some degree of admonishment is appropriate in this case.
Advice: The power side ramp angle settings in the differential have a significant affect on the stability of the car under heavy acceleration. Before a race, experiment with the power side settings to ensure you have a stable car under heavy acceleration on cold tyres. If you do decide to compromise your settings to optimise your overall lap times, please ensure you know how much throttle to use at the start to ensure you do NOT snake off the line and risk collecting other cars.
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Lap3 - Jukskei Sweep - James Andrew and Robert Burton
Robert is putting James under tremendous pressure but his Cooper doesn't have the legs to get past James' Brabham on the straight. In his efforts to keep Burt at bay, James runs wide in Barbeque Bend. He looses momentum and Burt manages to get along side on the approach to the Jukskei Sweep. James is in no mood to yield easily and fights for the corner. The cars enter the corner side by side and warp contact is made punting Burt off.
The car on the outside is always going to be at risk of warp in this situation. Both cars were entitle to fight for the position.
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Lap 6 - Main Straight - Asbjeurn Tverberg and Bernie Darwin
Asbjeurn gets a run on Bernie and pulls out of his slipstream to pass. Unfortunately he gets a little too close and warp contact is made causing Bernie to spin out and Asbjeurn to veer off and through the pit wall unscathed.
Although the actual contact was warp assisted, Asbjeurn was far too close when he pulled out to overtake. Drivers must take account of possible warp contact in situations like this. However, of more significance is the absence of the pit wall on Asbjeurn's client. The rules are quite clear on this and although the presence of the pit wall cannot be checked for directly, cars driving unscathed through the pit wall can only mean one thing. Asbjeurn had genuinely forgotten to re-install the pit wall but he was aware of the consequences if he drove through it. No unfair advantage was intended, nevertheless honourable intentions are not a good enough reason the relax the rules and a disqualification must be enforced.
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Lap 6 - Main Straight - Bernie Darwin and Ian Stanley
After his shunt with Asbjeurn, Bernie ends up on the grass verge facing the wrong way. He attempts a rejoin but ends up practically stationary on the racing line on the fastest part of the track. Unfortunately Ian is approaching on full chat and catastrophic contact is made.
Bernie should have made absolutely sure there were no cars approaching before he attempted a rejoin by driving onto the racing line. If this was not possible (i.e. no Pribluda to rely on) then he should have used the F10 chase view to help manoeuvre the car through a 3 point turn on the grass. There is a very large verge here.
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Lap 7 - Crowthorne Corner - James Andrew and Michael Turner
James appears to outbrake himself rear-ending Michael. However on closer inspection Michael is travelling much slower than could reasonably be expected. His corner entry speed is 71mph compared with the 107mph achieved by the leading drivers (and James on one or two of his better laps). On this lap, James' entry speed was well within his ability to control.
No appreciable blame can be apportioned to either driver in this case.
