UKGTR Season 9 Lower Endurance (GTC) - Monza (GP 2000-present) - May 10

[JonM_uk]

I had a CTD in qually but I only ended up 1 place back after coming back in. I had so-so race for me. A good result but with many spins and a contact with Ted. The Vipers were a pain to race as they were slow in the corners and beastly down the straights and I was trying to get on the throttle early coming out of the first chicane to try and get beside Ted for the run upto the second chicane but all I did was misjudge it and I hit his back end spinning him around on the exit at T1  Sorry Ted. After the pitstops I had no action at all and was surprised to see Busi and I think H@l pit again, this left me a clear run to the line for 2nd with no real threat from behind and no chance of catching JazzyJeffNL at the front. Grats on the win Jeff, it's good to see you back for a race

[ginsters sponsored]

Not my fave track by a long way either but, had a pleasant race

First half of race was mostly hotlapping until Jon and some overs came to grief and had an encouraging 10 second gap on them up to pit. Then my stop was even slower (54 seconds) than last week when I tried out the ruddy team Oldie pit crew (just how decrepit are team KC's? ). I think I'll try a Shark crew next week if I can. Jon jumped me through pits, I guess he didn't need to take on fuel and I'm rather kicking myself for not using the Cup version if thats the case.

Second half of race was hardwork. First off catching and overtaking Gazzas wheezy BMW (you were suffering from those "micro freezes" again I'm afraid to say) and then hunted down by one of the ballistic Vipers. He (Hol was it?) caught me in fast chicane but didn't force the issue knowing he would get by on main straight. I was truly gutted when he caught me so fast into parabolica that it caught him by surprise and he went into gravel rather than hit me. Really don't want to take a place that way :'(

Gotta say driving standards were exceptional   Best example was Rad who gave us plenty of room into second chicane, where he knew we couldn't see anything. That said, some noob called JR ruined my attempt to beat his pole on his outlap   Seriously, good to have JR back and congrats to Jon.

Hope to do that again but I'm off to sunny Spain (Ola!) for my hols soon.

[Napo]

So because the server wouldn't show up when I wanted to practice I came in with very little practice. This problem was compounded with me competing in an Aliens Galore race. And when Busi suddenly popped up in the race I was just waiting for Purdie and Freq and all the other UKGTR aliens to pop up!

On to race I decided med fronts hard rears. Turned out to be the bad choice as tire wear wasn't so bad here but had little practice to see that. Hards was tough on traction and running over the kerb I almost lost it at lesmo 2 exit then promptly lost it at the exit of ascari. Race was tough from there on as I wasn't even able to compete against the guys I qualified around. I came in for my stop and decided soft fronts and med rears which again turned out to be the wrong choice. I was faster however the balance wasn't good. Should have gone with similar tires on front and back. Had a good battle with Legzy I think when I came out. Lost it at the 2nd chicane with 2 laps to go and Legzy was driving rather slowly and I past him back. Not sure if he had a problem or what.

Altho I sucked it was a good race for me pushing all the way thru the race. Also nice to see all the aliens show up...wish you guys would all show up at the same race more.

Congrats to Ruskus on the dominating win and to John and Ginsters for completing the podium.

[picnic]

Replay and provisional results posted

LapChart

[Jeffrey]

That said, some noob called JR ruined my attempt to beat his pole on his outlap   Seriously, good to have JR back and congrats to Jon.

Lol, sorry about that. I was just braking for the corner when your nametag popped up, and at the apex you were right behind me already  . During the lapping of Simon I noticed just how much I lost with braking in the Viper, that shocked me and if only I knew earlier  

[H@L9000]

Nice race.

I kind of messed things up a bit by getting my self a stop and go penualty.

He (Hol was it?) caught me in fast chicane but didn't force the issue knowing he would get by on main straight. I was truly gutted when he caught me so fast into parabolica that it caught him by surprise and he went into gravel rather than hit me. Really don't want to take a place that way :'(

Yer, I was gutted as well. It was shaping up to be a good fight but I was caught out in the braking zone for the last corner. I had to put it in the gravel to prevent my mistake from ending both our races. It was for the best. I did not loose too much time from it, considering.

I have to agree that it was fun to get my own back on the Z4. No driving around the out side of me today.

Well done podiums.

[Ted]

So, after struggling all season with the Viper it finally came good of course at Monza.

Got a PB by a huge margin during quali and finally got to find out what things look like near the front of the grid. I knew I would probably bottle it at some point but was surprised how long I managed to hold it together, having an enjoyable mini-battle with teammate Hal in the process.

I was trying to get on the throttle early coming out of the first chicane to try and get beside Ted for the run upto the second chicane but all I did was misjudge it and I hit his back end spinning him around on the exit at T1   Sorry Ted

Just one of the things mate, thanks for waiting for me to get back on. Started to fall back through the field a bit after that as the tyres went off as well.

After the pitstops though I clawed my way back up to 6th eventually - my best performance so far and great fun.

I can't make the last race in 2 weeks so thanks for a great season's racing and to all the organisers for all the hard work behind the scenes. Still can't believe how well managed this league is 

[Prof]

The Z4 just wasn't fast here even with a Ruskus-esque 1-1 wing setup. I suffered my first ever CTD during qually (first race with Win 7 RC).
I had great fun chasing Syd in his mobile smoke machine for many laps. Every time I got close, his smoking brakes/tyres  blinded me. Together with the low sun at the second chicane it was next to impossible to spot an apex. We had several near collisions one of which led to me taking avoiding action at the parabolica sending Picnic off as he had to avoid me.
Things continued in much the same way looking like a badly scripted James Bond chase scene until I finally made contact with Syd - sorry. I waited to rejoin battle and although I felt I could lap faster if I could overtake, I could find no fair way past as the Z4 lacked grunt,
I got my come uppance when a black and yellow car tapped me off in the same place and once I made a late pit stop I found myself in a gap big enough to take the stop/go I undeservedly got without losing a place.

Well done to Jeff who was flying tonight (groan) and the other podium finishers.

[Busi]

Tried to have a go at Jeff but didn't work. Neither in quali (he beat me by 1 tenth) nor race (couldn't close the gap on him after my bad first racing lap). End of my race LOL as I was lapping all the time in 2nd around 6-7 seconds behind him. After the pitstops, still 5-6 seconds behind, I had to go so parked the car in the pits.

I took the Viper for this race cause if the Vertigo was already 1.5-2 seconds slower in other circuits... could've been 3 or more here

Grats Jeff and podies

[Joss]

That said, some noob called JR ruined my attempt to beat his pole on his outlap

I've heard of this guy, he's such an arse. We should ban him before our league is corrupted. 

[Truetom]

I was always proud to be just behind Z4s in most races here. Aliens aside, F430 GTC was totaly and utterly outclassed here. I must say I didn't enjoy my race and the two contacts in Parabolica were the final nails in the coffin. Quit just before end, I simply had enough.

I was never comfortable with cars changing mid season. If you're a tough guy - stick with it. For good. And for bad. This is not directed to particular drivers, just a comment in general that reflects my oppinion. 

TT

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

However more importantly managed to give my recent nemesis Gizmo, a good thrashing..it was nice to return the compliment Dave

Heh heh, the Aston was always going to be well off the pace at Monza - absolutely everything was flying past me on the straights (and then holding me up in the corners!).

However, I knew I would also pick up quite a few places from people who are unable to drive within limits and go off or garner lots of cut tracks, and so it proved. Hopefully Snetterton will be the same, as I'm likely to be similarly off the pace there.

[Syd Drake]

I'm starting to thinker with setups and I need your help.
Before the only difference between my practice and race setups was soft/soft tires for practice, med/med or hard/hard race tires. This was resulting in me being 2-3 seconds slower than in qualifying from the start, and than it would get worse as the race went on. Through trial and error I figured out that the best tire combination for me (on a dry track of course) seems to be hard front, soft rear. With that I was able to set a fastest lap time here within 1.2 seconds of my practice time, and more importantly I was able to lap in that range the whole race.
So what are the most common thing you set differently in you qually and race setups?
And also what is the ukgtr monza? What is different from the original track that comes with gtr2? Grip levels? If so, are the setups in online folders any good for it? I'm far from making my own setups, so I rather would try to just edit already existing ones, for now.
And this is the second time someone said I was smoking my tires rather badly under braking. So obviously I'm not doing my braking correctly.. Do you guys stay on the throttle while braking? In GPL I sometimes keep the throttle almost half way pressed while braking. This tactic doesn't seem to work too great in GTR, I seem to end up braking way too early, as I can't slow down the car on time from the usual braking point. The usual being when I release the throttle all the way, or leave just a tiny bit to help stabilize the car.
Now I know proper braking is a long subject, and I've read some articles on it. I'm not looking for an in depth explanation here, just a simple pointer or two.

[Jeffrey]

So what are the most common thing you set differently in you qually and race setups?

I just open radiator, maybe change brake duct vent, different tyres and sometimes less rpm, but that's it really

And also what is the ukgtr monza? What is different from the original track that comes with gtr2? Grip levels? If so, are the setups in online folders any good for it? I'm far from making my own setups, so I rather would try to just edit already existing ones, for now.

UKGTR version has stricter anti-cutting rules, nothing else is changed.

And this is the second time someone said I was smoking my tires rather badly under braking. So obviously I'm not doing my braking correctly.. Do you guys stay on the throttle while braking?

Your fronts were locking up badly, so move brake bias further to the rear. Move it so far back till the rear steps out under braking, or when brake temps becone equal allround. I use a bit of throttle to keep the car under control under downshifts.

[Jimmie]

I saw you smoking all over the place as well. As soon as you hear them lockup (the sound is different to skidding) release pressure from the brake.
You only think you brake faster, because you apply more pressure, but as soon as they lock up it's the other way around

If you can't hear the skidding properly > options > audio > skid volume to 200%