Moderator's Report
SUMMARY
A hard fought victory for Al Heller, very closely followed by the fast improving Peter Maestro. Van Tussman drove a superb race to pick up a podium and the fastest lap in his first UKGPL race, well done! RogUK pushed Al very hard and led the race for a couple of laps but a few too many incidents put paid to a podium position.
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Lap 1 - Crowthorne Corner - Mark Minard and Bernie Darwin.
Mark gets a good start and picks up a couple of places on the run down to Crowthorne. Bernie and N Hance are several car lengths ahead as they approach the braking zone. N Hance keeps a tight inside line; Bernie is along side and keeps to the outside line wisely giving N Hance plenty of room. Mark sees the gap between Bernie and N Hance and decides to drive between them. However he leaves his braking far too late and crashes into Bernie.
Bernie was driving impeccably, he was aware of N Hance on his inside and was cognisant of the cars ahead leaving just enough room to avoid the risk of warp contact. Mark did not achieve any overlap at turn in and given the fact he ran wide into Bernie, he didn't have the ability to out brake him. The gap ahead was left deliberately by Bernie to avoid the risk of warp contact, it did not present an overtaking opportunity. Mark had Fabio Locarno in his blind spot on his inside most of the way down the straight but he didn't necessarily know that for sure, apart from a fleeting glance of Fabio's rear wheel in his mirrors at one stage. This is another reason why Mark should have stayed left rather than diving into the gap. Mark wasn't close enough to attempt a pass on Bernie, he had no overlap whatsoever at turn-in. Moreover trying to go a three abreast into Crowthorne was asking for trouble, the gap was always going to close up as Bernie and N Hance approached the apex.
If he had not made contact with Bernie, Mark would probably have made the corner but he would definitely have run wide. So it was a very ambitious overtake and rather unwise to attempt to drive three abreast into Crawthorne.
Given that his is a lap 1 incident it attracts a further one place penalty.
Billy is entitled to a no-fault Shift-R.
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Lap 1 - Crowthorne Corner - Mark Minard and Rob Mott.
When trying to recover from his incident with Bernie, Mark makes an unforgivable mistake trying to rejoin. He is facing the wrong way but instead of waiting until the track is clear he immediately tries to do a U-turn and drives straight into Rob Mott. Carnage ensues with Paul Visser and Bookie Westbrook innocently involved in the melee.
Mark should have waited until the track was clear before trying to rejoin.
Given that his is a lap 1 incident it attracts a further one place penalty.
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Lap 1 - Barbeque Bend - N Hance and Vos Vosblod
N Hance tries to overtake Vos on the inside at Barbeque Bend. Unfortunately he runs wide and makes side-by-side contact with Vos. Unfortunately Fabio Locarno gets tangled in the debris.
N Hance had no overlap at turn-in so this isn't a case of side-by-side contact after a legitimate over taking attempt. Rather this is an ambitious overtaking event.
Given that his is a lap 1 incident it attracts a further one place penalty.
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Lap 8 - Crowthorne Corner - Fabio Locarno and Billy Nobrakes
Billy exits the pits after making a stop and go and gets to Crowthorne Corner before the main field is upon him. Billy stays wide to allow Fabio to pass but Fabio runs wide and contact is made.
Billy was not at fault here. He was driving at his own pace and left plenty of room. Fabio was in a battle with Bernie and so he had one eye on Billy and one eye on his mirrors. Nevertheless it is the lapping driver's responsibility not to make contact when the lapped driver has presented him with a clean passing opportunity. Having said that Fabio made a concerted effort to slow down and pass Billy on the inside, he simply failed to pull it off.
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Lap 16 - Esses - Billy Nobrakes
Billy blows his third engine and retires. This is down to driving technique, there is nothing wrong with the car. Speed shifting (i.e. not lifting the throttle when changing up through the gears) means the engine over-revs for a split second on every up shift. THIS WILL DESTROY ANY ENGINE.
The first time this happened Billy tried to do a S&G but crashed in the pit lane and he needed a shift-R. He did a good S&G on the next lap (6) but failed to do another S&G for the Armco bashing incident at the end of lap 5. Crashing in the pit lane and needing a shift-R whilst trying to do a S&G does mean another S&G is required (a time penalty has not been awarded as it would make no difference to the result).
Billy's next engine expired gradually. His engine started smoking and missing badly at Barbeque Bend on lap 15 so he limped round the rest of the lap trying to get back to the pit lane to do a shift-R. This is not a good idea. Billy was very slow limping back to the pits and was a hazard to other drivers (although he did a good job of keeping out of the way which is to be commended). Moreover his reset in the pit lane put him back on the fastest part of the track just where drivers may be trying to overtake. What he should have done is to do a shift-R straight away, just down from Barbeque Bend where it is reasonably safe to do so, and then performed a S&G in the pit lane at the end of the lap.
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Lap 20 - Crowthorne Corner - Al Heller and Nicky Ickx
Al looses control trying to avoid RogUK who has slowed up behind some back markers. Al spins and ends up stationary on the racing line. Nicky is a long way back and slows considerably but nevertheless is unable to avoid contact with Al's stricken BRM.
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Lap 20 - Clubhouse Bend - RogUK and Van Tussman
Rog goes wide on the exit of Sunset but he keeps the throttle hard down and consequently gets a little squirrelly as he straddles the kerb. Consequently he careers into Van Tussman. Having his offside wheels on the tarmac and his nearside wheels on the grass coupled with an excess of horsepower is asking for trouble.
Rog should have accepted he was going to loose a place as soon as he went onto the grass. Instead he tried to fight to keep his place when he didn't have full control.
Van Tussman is entitled to a no-fault Shift-R.
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Lap 21 - Jukskei Sweep - Vlad Vosblod and Graham Poole
RogUk and Fabio Locarno are locked in combat round Barbeque Bend when Rog looses it and Fabio has to take to the grass. Vlad is following close behind and pounces on the opportunity to get past Fabio who has regained the racing line but with much reduced momentum. The excitement ahead has taken all Vosblod's attention and he doesn't know Graham is also trying to take advantage of the situation and is now alongside Vosblod's Lotus. As Vosblod moves over contact is made.
Graham was quite a way back when this all started but he wasn't visible in Vosblod's mirrors for more than a fraction of a second so there was little opportunity for Vosblod to ascertain where Graham actually was. Although it is strictly Vosblod's responsibility not to move over the unusual lines and the opportunist move by Graham mean a penalty in this case would be harsh.
Graham is entitled to a no-fault Shift-R.
