Endurance Championship Division 1 - Season 1, Round 5, Donington - Sep 11

[Minton]

Got Shit on from a great hight!!  Pace was mega fast, didnt see any of the GT cars until they lapped me but enjoyed it nun the less.

[Mark Harrison]

Great race.  Any one of six guys could have won it, and it was pit strategy in the end that got me the win.

Did no practice at all, in fact I hadn't driven GTR since the GT Oschersleben race, so was very rusty coming into the qualifying session.  To my relief I stuck it on P4, although a lot slower than Jon and Leuven.

Stuck with Shark for the first 3 laps, until he made an error and let me through.  I was on a full tank of fuel, hoping not to have to take any fuel at the pitstop, thereby saving me the trouble of turning off the engine.  As expected, though, the two in front waltzed away, and I tried to keep Shark behind me.

This was going very nicely until about 20 minutes into the race, I think, when Jon went off just before Goddards....I was offline, but mistook the 50m marker for the 100m marker and by the time I realized it was too late.

Managed to recover down the slip road and do a quick spin-turn, not losing me too much time....but I was very annoyed, and started pushing to make up the time.

Just as I was getting on terms with the battle in front, it was time to pit, and I had more than half a tank - so I didn't take any fuel, hoping it would hold towards the end.  I got out, then everyone else pitted - to my utter astonishment I was 4th, then 3rd - then Leuven came out right in front of me, I knew I had to attack....he was passing Jon Minton at the time as well, so I went underneath the pair of them in Redgate!  Very lucky to get away with it, but I had the position, and Leuven spun a few corners later as well, leaving me 2nd by 7 seconds.

Only Mike Wrightson ahead - and when he pitted, again to my amazement, I had a big lead.

Pushed hard to try and hold the gap to the F550 of Leuven, and just about managed it - 6 laps or so to go, he spun, leaving Shark 2nd and me with a 13 second lead.  Very relieved, I cruised to the flag.

Still can't believe I won

Cheers guys

[rufbtr]

damn missed it, 

ah well my season is crappy anyways.

[mo]

I was the guy in the Porsche 996 G3 - which is interesting to drive to say the least, bit like a GT3rs with something broken lol.
Anyway I hope I didn't get in the way of lapping cars, I was amazed at how quickly the GTs came around to lap me

Matjas, I know we got fairly close when you lapped me.
No contact but sorry if I raised your pulse a bit as I wobbled  over the kerbs, I think the rear of my car jinked out in your direction as I let you pass.

Cant wait to get back in a real Porsche for the NGT at Monza.......

[silver53]

Hi I was on the limit at the start with the BMW but it was so slow I sort of just drove to finish ,then made some mistakes through lack of concentration and had to pit anyway so may as well had less fuel .kindest regards gerald

[Mike Wrightson]

I love and hate Donington all at the same time.  I love it because of it's layout, but hate it coz I struggle to go fast there   That and the fact that I don't seem to be as "hooked up" with the GT's as with the NGT's.  Wierd but thats how it feels.

Now I have to find a better strategy for the Saleen, cos that long first stint doesn't seem to work that well.  Damn, the car is hard on tyre wear 

[LEUVEN]

Was a great race..Quallifying went ok allthough half a second off my pb it was still good for 2nd.
For the first 5/10 mins I was hanging onto the back of Jon but was pushing hard and eased off very slightly which saw the gap slowly opening to a few seconds, but with a comfortable gap behind.
A bit later on Jon was on the green stuff after the Melbourne hairpin(yuk) which gave me the lead, which I kept up untill the pit stops.
I came out of my pit space only a cars length behind a blue Lister and as we exited the pits the lister who I think was being lapped kindly eased over to the side but by this time I already seen Mark in His Lister closing in Fast, so I didnt want to cause an accident and wasnt sure if he even had to pit yet(turns out he didnt...nice strategy:)) so I moved a bit out of his way( dam wish I didnt now )
Started to push hard to keep in touch with Mark and the time hovered around 8 seconds IIRC.well, untill about 50 mins into the race untill i didnt drop down enough gears going into Redgate and ended up running into the mud. All the while during the race Shark and the guys behind were keeping me very honest with there consistent pace.
I think after i spun coming out of a hairpin the tyres were a bit worse for wear and couldnt keep a decent pace up and had almost no grip whatsoever after another spin and a few lost places, It was difficult turning corners near the end so i just cruised home slowly.
Overall picked up 7th (and a couple of points hopefully) not bad considering I last raced there a few months ago in a Mosler :O.......:D

Cheers......See you all in Spa.

[Matjaz Plotajs]

I was the guy in the Porsche 996 G3 - which is interesting to drive to say the least, bit like a GT3rs with something broken lol.

Haha... spot-on description there.

[Don]

Was I the only Ngt driver who made a stop? I ran with enough fuel for the 60mins(and wanted to run without a stop) but it felt to me like the meds were starting to go off after about 35mins. I thought I was driving rather consevatively and was trying to look after the tyres but apparently not.
Don.

[fozzmeister]

No, I got a stop/go. If you hadn't you would have beaten me, with or without stop/go, I was a mess.

1Hr on meds should be do-able, if not, hards would probably be the way to go. I could not do it at BRNO, but have done everywhere else so far, and will continue to do so except Spa (1:30 race) and maybe Estoril.

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

1Hr on meds should be do-able, if not, hards would probably be the way to go. I could not do it at BRNO, but have done everywhere else so far, and will continue to do so except Spa (1:30 race) and maybe Estoril.

I did a no-stopper at Brno on mediums without any problem at all. I think the 360 may be kinder to its tyres than the 911, which is very hard on its rears. Not locking wheels under braking is crucial through as you'll burn through your tyres much faster.

You may also find that if the tyres feel like they're going off, it's not because they're worn, but because they're overheating. A couple of slower laps can make a big difference to how they feel.

[Simon Gymer]

You may also find that if the tyres feel like they're going off, it's not because they're worn, but because they're overheating. A couple of slower laps can make a big difference to how they feel.

I second that!

[Blaz]

Good race

7th in quali.
Was full of fuel on start, short pits, minor mistakes only and finnshed 5th. OK


Hoping for Full Time status.

[fozzmeister]

I did a no-stopper at Brno on mediums without any problem at all. I think the 360 may be kinder to its tyres than the 911, which is very hard on its rears. Not locking wheels under braking is crucial through as you'll burn through your tyres much faster.

You may also find that if the tyres feel like they're going off, it's not because they're worn, but because they're overheating. A couple of slower laps can make a big difference to how they feel.

Your totally correct Dave, I think there's something about BRNO that my driving style or setup does not like. A lot of the corners seem to dip after the apex and I often slide there, also those hills at the end I tend to get some good (or rather bad) slide there too. Annoying thing is they don't heat up much.

When I drove the Porsche I used to regulate my speed by my tire temperature, as I realised how vitally important it was and used to often cook my tires. Now I'm a Ferrari man I don't have problem.

[Matjaz Plotajs]

Not locking wheels under braking is crucial through as you'll burn through your tyres much faster.

... and sliding in the corners as well.

I don't think hard tyres were the solution for Donington. Soft front and medium rear was the right choice. Hard would never reach the optimum temperature and you would slide a lot. Porsche is usually more demanding for the rear tyres because it is rear heavy and the back tends to become nervous when braking/entering the corner.