That was a bit hard on Gasper, getting disco'd like that, but if what Hristo said about leaving it too late to pit then......... I will have to study replay when its available.
After the inverted early finish at Brands, I was determined to get this shiny green Brabham to the end and score some points.
In all the years I have been racing GPL ( both on my own and since joining the on-line crowd) I have hardly ever used the Brabham, so I thought it was about time I gritted my teeth and gave it a go.
Some of my practice sessions on-line with other guys and the Breasts Thursday night events gave me some confidence that actually this car will go around corners and maintain a reasonably competitive lap time.
Several sessions ended in quite dramatic spins, complete with neon glow in the left rear tyre until I cut 4 toes off my right foot to lighten its impact.
Qually went well ( eventually!!, but more of that later) and for the first 15 mins I was circulating with full fuel and sorting out problems.
Then I discovered that I was half way down the grid with Hristo and Lorenzo ahead as expected but Turkey machine and Gasper had were also up there and Phil was no slouch in the Lotus either.
So, we drained all but an egg cup full of fuel from the Brabham and went for a banzai lap...and every time we came across someone having a "moment" of their own, but such is the way with racing I guess.
Finally got one clear lap and popped myself just ahead of Phil and tucked behind Lorenzo's BRM..5th spot I think?.
Well that would have to do.
I knew I had pitstop time in hand over the Eagle and Lotus ahead of me, so the plan was to just keep them in sight. Hristo's Cooper would need to be watched and hopefully would be held up by Gasper and prevent him having the opportunity to Lap me ( again!!). The unknown was Lorenzo's BRM, he is always quick and was already in front of me, but would the early fuel load slow him enough to allow me a pass.
The start was memorable for the delayed ignition of the rocket boosters on a certain Eagle. Once they did fire, up several places were gained instantly on the run down to T1 where they were all lost again whilst the driver lept out and doused the flames with sand.
So I found myself 4th behind Lorenzo whilst Gasper did a wonderful job in thwarting Hristo's charge into the sunset. For the first few laps I bided my time as the tyres warmed up and the fuel level came down. Behind me there was Phil and Ken Murray for a while, but suddenly the gap grew and I was clear of any threat from the rear. I pushed a little and closed on the BRM. It seemed that Lorenzo was about on the limit with the full tanks of the BRM and was putting a wheel in the soft stuff in a few places, which allowed me to close even more.
Then he ran wide at Tarzan, giving me just enough room and time to squeeze through and take the line into T2. The next lap was defensive until I settled myself then i tried a couple of quick laps to try and break the tow at which point Lorenzo vanished. I will have to see what happened on the replay.
I decided to take my stop early and rely on the time advantage to take me ahead of the Lotii and Eagles later, which worked quite well
. two half spins dropped me back within a couple of seconds of Phil so a sustained period of concentration was required to rebuild that buffer!! It was then that Hristo appeared on Prib some 36secs behind with about 16 laps to go. At that point a meeting was held in the cockpit of the Brabham and by a unanimous verdict it was decided that Hristo would NOT lap this Brabham!!
And he didn't
. 2nd was better than I had hoped in my second ever race in the Brab, which maybe I have underestimated in the past...just got the BRM toconsider now, then if I'm feeling brave one day the Lotus!!
Referring to my mention earlier about problems....
I have a weird affliction ( but that has nothing to do with my problem!!) When I race from IGOR my wheel and pedals behave exactly as they do off-line, smooth and progressive. But when I join any server on VROC ( with the same wheel settings) severything becomes an ON/OFF switch, steering throttle and brakes??and the ff becomes huge and very very notchy. Not only that, but at close to full lock the damping effect vanishes and suddenly the wheel is free until it returns towards the centre point again??!!
last night I had to change my steering ratio from my normal 5:1 to 20:1 just to be able to steer the car in a straight line.
Does anyone have any idea why???