UKPnG Legzy and Wiltshire Tony's Christmas Special - Le Mans (Sarthe) - Dec 30

[Clive Loynes]

Grats Matt but who the hell is Colin?  Didn’t see him.

Many thanks to Chris and Tony for organising this.  However, my wife says that once a year is enough.  I think we were talking about the race.

I didn’t find it boring but then in a GT40Mk2 just keeping all the wheels on is enough to occupy me.

As Malcolm says, I only did one stop and to be honest, with the bit of rain in each half of the race I could have done 21 laps on the tank full.

Guess that his tyres were in better nick than mine but to be honest, the wet track meant that I didn’t know if I was on foot or horseback.  We seemed to get a sunrise after the rain as well.  That was nearly a disaster as it hit me full in the face as I approached the Porsche Curves.

Had some good fun with Jose early on but I lost touch when we were lapping other cars.

Keith sneaked past and it took me a lap to figure how he had managed to pass me without being seen.  I didn’t have the name tags on so when I passed a stricken car and it appeared to want to re-pass me I didn’t think much of it.  But Keith had sneaked up behind me as I lapped the first car and I didn’t realise it was him behind me after that.

Pity we couldn’t do it on the circuit that the GT40s were built for without those poxy chicanes and the Mickey Mouse bit before it.

Great Fun.

Well done to Dan.  Great result for the Soggies.

[phspok]

  Lol, Brain fade after 3 hours of intense concentration...
Colin Loynes of course, I thought you let your brother drive the last half 

[H@L9000]

it was a test of mind over bladder. Bladder won.

Wow! Great race.

It had every thing. Sun, darkness, dry and wet.

Nice one for organising that gents.

Well done Matt, API and Ade. I am very happy with 3rd.

I had a nice fight with MJ in the first 2 laps before I binned it.

Had thought about 1 stopping but I had not actually done 20 laps on a tank, so played safe with a two stop

Same here. I was not sure that I could do a one stopper. I think it may have been the way I drive. I was also hoping that the front runners would all need to stop again towards the end. They did not.

I enjoyed the track and I thought that it was perfect for the length of the race.

Time to start organising another one for June with modern cars maybe.

[Mark J]

Congratulations Matt, you earned the win, great driving  

I tried my best to keep a steady within-reach pace in case you had any incidents but it was me who had one instead  :'(

Its an odd race as like a few mentioned, your not involved in much on track fighting though i did enjoy a lengthy battle with a couple of the other GT40 runners. Buts its all about the endurance for this one and the varying light and weather conditions. Gutted i missed out on the full works.

Well done to other class winners too and big thanks to Legz and Tony for organising  

[Mike Miller]

Work bit me again. Sorry I had to miss it. It's going to happen with me in a radically different time zone. Maybe I can do it next time a special event is happening. Judging by the laptimes, I would have been competitive in Group 3. Next time....

[Gazza49er]

I did what you said Gazzer, and got the pot for Team Pseudo, and Hal got 3rd on the pody

Well done Matt and to Luke,  great stuff.

[Clive Loynes]

What software does picnic use to produce the lap charts etc.?

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

What software does picnic use to produce the lap charts etc.?

The lap charts are generated by the AutoSim Analyzer - there's a link to it in the bottom right of each report.

[H@L9000]

Here is a 30 second clip from the start of the race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIgF6XKSGqg

[Clive Loynes]

What software does picnic use to produce the lap charts etc.?

The lap charts are generated by the AutoSim Analyzer - there's a link to it in the bottom right of each report.

Thanks Dave,

I found the link and clicked on it but it says the web page cannot be found.  

EDIT
OK, Found it and installed it.  But I still screwed because my P&G installation wasn't set up to record verbose race report data.

[Manteos]

Happy new year to all the gentleman drivers of P&G!
See you in 2010  

[Mark J]

Buon anno to you too Manteos and Happy New year to my fellow vintage racing enthusiasts 

whats up next Legz and Tony ?...am already champing at the bit for the next race 

[Mcfids]

Really good fun that and not as tiring as I'd though it would be although I was a bit stoned/wired after the race.

Qually conditions surprised me as it was the 1st time I had raced in proper daylight and it weird to be able to see the corners Got a satisfying PB of 4.19 in the 427.

Didn't get the best of starts as Geoffers (I think) in front of me missed the lights but I have to say the 1st lap was very civilised and I didn't see any wild lunges. Ade, in the other 427, was ahead and I was aiming to stay with him as a decent benchmark. It was going well until lap 9 where I had an off on the last chicane but thought I could escape through what I thought was a flimsy fence. Nope, this fence was reinforced and it bust my steering. Luckily I could use this was in my 1st pitstop window and I could carry on.

From then it was pretty uneventful, which is good in endurance racing. By this point Ade was minutes in front but I only had one pitstop left and I was working my way back up through the field. After 15 laps on a set of tyres they suddenly seemed to let go and I barely made it in to the pits for my final stop in one piece. Did anybody else find that with their tyres?

Ade had to make a quick pitstop at the end and I was only 45secs behind but it wasn't enough. 9th overall and 2nd in class - very happy with that.

The rain was fun and made it interesting; the light switch effect of the sunshine after the last shower made me laugh Shame that Dave didn't make it; everytime I went past I was willing him on. 

Anyway congrats to the podiums and thanks to Legzy and Tony for their hard work behind the scenes     

[Tim Robey]

Happy New Year, fellow PnG'ers!

I didn't have a great qually, and started well down the field as I've had no practice, being away with my family.

I spent the first few laps racing Bully & teamie Alex, until I stuffed it into a barrier at the esses, damaged the suspension but carried on anyway, losing time to both of them. But rather than stopping I decided to carry-on....

I stopped just before halfway after the car felt like it had lost all grip at the front, so decided to spent the 2 mins repairing the car.

I was soon in a groove belting out fast and consistent laps and could see I was catching Alex & McFids, until just before the final rain shower finished I belted a barrier and bent the suspension again 

I also didn't put enough fuel in, so had to stop again for a final splash & dash.

Thanks for the race Tony & Legzy, that was fun, and was surprised I made it to the end in a GT40 although I was struggling with the tiredness over the last few laps, and with hindsight if I had repaired the damage earlier I may have got a better result...

[BillThomas]

Sorry I was absent on parade - I went down hill from mid afternoon, shivers and sick.  I just couldn't get warmed up ended up going to bed about 5 ish with extra blankets on top, then the sweats - felt terrible still not feeling to good - all that practice and no race.

Glad to see a good time was had by most of you - the dreaded gremlins striking for others.

As a point of interest, some time ago in early practice, I had to turn my shadows down from max as it was too realistic under the trees and I just couldn't see the corner markers.  I have a GTX 275 card.

With regrets

Bill