UKGTR Season 10 Upper Endurance - Imola - Nov 1

[Jimmie]

Pitty it didn't work out for you.

Though if you hate mixed class racing, P&G might be even more frustrating


On the other hand I saw you were a bit too much giving away room by slowing down. It ruins your own race that way, just pretend they're not there and stick to the racing line. Corner speed is pretty much equal so they'll just fly by the next opportunity.

Nonetheless Imola is pretty difficult to give some room because most straights you go from left to right or right to left following the race line so it's a matter of choice.

[Jayblue]

The night started off quite frustratingly as i knew i could easily do low 1:40's offline in the Aston but i for whatever reason couldn't hook up the lap. I still looked like starting second or third which was pretty good but then with four minutes left my PC froze - i have built a new rig, maybe that has something to do with it. Had to reset and by the time i rejoined there were only two minutes left. Tried to do a lap but we progressed to next session when i was just entering the final sector! Doh! So i started a very angry last...

At the start Clive didn't close up to the cars infront as they hit the limiter and then didn't release his limiter until the start finish line so i was already a long way behind but at least starting last meant i was able to get upto race temps on the warm up lap by dropping right off the back of everyone then blasting around a few corners. This gave me a big early advantage and i tore past the GTC's on lap one. A lot of you let me go easily - thanks for that. The gap to the leader Freq was 15 seconds after the first two laps but somehow i was setting fastest race laps whilst overtaking people! Had some nice battles along the way but generally applied the "nail them as soon as you arrive behind them" way of overtaking, taking no prisoners. Caught a break with Jon and Busi getting into a tangle and passed them both without a battle. Truetom was a bigger challenge as his pace was great and his car very quick on the straight, it took me a few laps to figure out a way past, eventually if i remember correctly i got him at the final chicane after Gazza made a mistake and held him up a little. Then passed Gazza at Tosa on the inside, one of my favourite overtaking places and headed off after Freq. Despite his good quali pace Freq seemed to be struggling with the Viper in the race and i closed in really quickly, again passing him at Tosa to take the lead. The Aston was absolutely wonderful to drive at Imola, very controllable on the limit and superbly balanced on the kerbs.


After taking the lead i made a few small mistakes but was still able to pull away quite a bit by the time my stop came around. Pitted and thought better of my original fuel only strategy and took tyres too. Left the pits with a 10 second lead which Busi (who know was able to match my pace) closed down a little before i found my feet and got a few quick laps in. After that i progressively pulled away to win by about 20 seconds. It was a great race for me, really good fun. I was very suprised at my early pace and i am still wondering how i was able to made such good time initially against quality opponents like this. Thanks to the organisers for the season and now i look forward to next season with you all. Congrats Busi on the GT1 title and Simon on the GTC crown!

[API]

Firstly sorry API. I was much quicker than you through that corner - nearly had you again on the next lap. Thought maybe I was nudged into you at the time although I suspect the replay will show otherwise.

No problems Prof. I was maybe a bit too cautious at T2 so I think that it was partly my fault.

Except the incident on the first lap, the race went pretty well. I managed to gain few positions before the pit stop. The pit stop went pretty well as I was able to keep Legzy and Prof behind me. However, I had already got 2 warnings about cutting the track. So only a few laps after the pit stop, I got a stop/go penalty for going wide in T10. Dropped to 6th position but apparently Prof got a one too so I was 5th in the final results.

And the screen didn't freeze during the race!
Congratulations winners of the championships. So close Lazlow. :'( I'm very happy about Team Oldie's effort in GTCs teams championship. Go Team Oldie!

And big thanks for the staff for running the league. 

[spanner]

Bit of a disapointment from me. I should have practised in those light conditions as it threw me completely, just as the race was getting fun. Good scrap early on with Matt, H@L, Jure to name a few there but at one stage i braked stupidly early and H@L and Jure came straight past at full tilt! I was struggling in the first half with the temps, though it was only the air temp that dropped 10 deg but i just couldnt get any temps in the tyres. On reflection i shouldnt have started with meds on the front but normally they just take a while to warm up but the whole first stint was a struggle. Plus i never actually updated the setup from the last time we ran here to lengthen 6th gear so so short shifting alot! I was down to 80% after 20mins! but i'm sure if the temps were a bit higher it would have worked out ok as towards the end it leveled out but it meant i couldnt push as hard as i wanted to.

Thanks to all the those who helped in the running of it this season. Seems most the faster guys were in GT1's so its been a bit of a quiet season in GT1 just trying to run my own race half the time. As much as i love the Aston i'm tempted to 'upgrade' to the 550 next season, never really driven it much.

[nsfast]

A good finish to the season for me. My best result in the GT1's. 

Qualifying went smoothly although I was a little bit short of my PB. For once I managed a straightforward start to the race as well. Holding position for the first few laps and building up a gap on the chasing pack. However, my race pace was compromised early on due to a spin. I knew I had done some aero damage but it was not until i pitted that I discovered that the suspension had been damaged as well. The time cost for repairing it was too great so I decided to leave it and carry on. My pace was still ok but not into the 1:43s I was expecting. Still I'll always take 7th with the class of this field. 

Congratulations to Busi and Simon on their championship wins. Many thanks to all who put in the time to organise this excellent league. 

Looking foward to season 11.

[Paul968]

I have downloaded all the monster files for P&G and will have a look at that.  You do that on a Tuesday, which may save a divorce, but the down side is that I get the impression that setups are like hens teeth.

Not sure where you get that idea Clive? With no aero to worry about and limited options with arbs, setups are normally quite easy to tune. The important thing is to have a car with a balance that suits your style. You can normally just use the spring rates and / or ARBs to change the balance - I don't do much more than this. People are also quite willing to help out if you need a setup, so it might be worth asking here first. Good luck if you do race though