UKGTR Season 11 - Oschersleben (GP) - Dec 20

[Legzy]

Possibly the least I've enjoyed a UKGTR2 event since... I can remember

Not making the experience any better were the numerous spins I had, that meant overtaking some poor GTC cars a couple of times .

Even worse was when I had Jon(?) & Simon up behind me, totally haddocked the double left kink & ended up going through the gravel. Managed to stop just about an inch short of Jon, but that meant Simon came into me from behind. I so sorry Simon, I hope it didn't hurt your car . My head is hung in shame.

Don't understand it, I normally quite enjoy wet events

[jpv]

The track was one of my favourites so was looking forward to this one, but the conditions were just awful, probly spent more time on sand than asphalt. Pitted in a few times to try both slicks and wets, but just couldn't manage it.

In the end figured I'd keep running in case something happened to my teammates, which it eventually did for Ian, looked like an awesome result until then.

Spent race avoiding spinners, clattering my teamy (so sorry JPV)

No harm done for me, was just expecting you to pass on the straight. After that incident I just parked the car whenever I saw others approaching in the mirrors.

[nsfast]

I was expecting a difficult race and thats what I got. 

Started ok..staying on the track and putting in some consistent laps on the soft wets. But as the tyres started to go red and the lap times came down I decided it was best to pit early and go to slicks. I think the strategy was right but my excecution was poor. I had real trouble adapting to the new tyres and started to make too many mistakes. Sorry if I scared anybody with my off track exploits. Sorry to Gsi Bob 

Eventually got back to some sort of consistency and started to put in some good lap times. Also had a good race with Apex for the last few laps. Hope you enjoyed your first race here. 

Congrats to the two podiums and all who finished. Thanks everyone for some good racing this year. Looking forward to 2010.

[Simon Gymer]

I so sorry Simon, I hope it didn't hurt your car . My head is hung in shame.

It caused me minor damage to the front splitter which made the triple left hander a bit harder, but not too bad. No probs, just one of those things.

Qualifed pretty poorly in the wet myself, was finding it hard to find the edge. Annoying really cause I go really well here in the dry in the Lister normally. Anyway, race was very steady starting, soft wets on which I reckon was the correct choice imho I was able to keep it on the track easily. When it stopped raining the temps started to rise but I controlled the temperatures by going off-line and driving smoothly. Lap times weren't great, but the car was safe to drive and I wasn't interested in trying to pass Gazza, just hoped he would fall off.

Pitted a bit after half distance and after Jons reports on slicks being that they were quick when up to temperature but a bit hairy offline and he'd already spun a couple of times I decided to put on intermediates instead. They were ok, pretty safe and steady, but I could never get them beyond 70-80 degrees and they were 2-3 seconds slower than the fastest slick runners. When Gazza caught me I was fairly comfy as I knew he had to drive offline to overtake me so there was no need to drive defensively. I'm sure he would have got through eventually, but I gifted it to him by losing the sight of the entry to the triple left hander and running onto the grass.

After that I was on my own and was tempted to pit for soft slicks to see if I could fastest lap, but I thought better of it as I had a safe podium position.

Better than the farce I had at Barcelona that's for sure, but I can't help thinking I could have been fighting at the front with a luckier tyre choice at the pit stop.

Well done Jose on the win and Pete in GTC.

[JonM_uk]

Well, I did everything that you could do wrong in one race Was happy with 1st stint then came in for tyres and thought meds would be ok.....Then after I'd pressed return for the boys to get on with the stop. I forgot to change the tyres so I got another load of soft wets. Stopped again the next lap and my race was gone. Tried a bit too hard after that and span many times. At the end of the race was in 4th thinking it was a job well recovered then on the last lap I ran out of fuel Finished 4th but I think the results importer thingy will knock me down a few places. Great driving form the rest of you though

Even worse was when I had Jon(?) & Simon up behind me, totally haddocked the double left kink & ended up going through the gravel. Managed to stop just about an inch short of Jon, but that meant Simon came into me from behind. I so sorry Simon, I hope it didn't hurt your car . My head is hung in shame.

Don't worry Legz it happens to us all
I didn't feel so bad after this one but the last oschers wet race. I just quit. I felt like a total fool. Off all over the place, no control etc.

Was looking forward to a dry one to be honest. Seen the partly cloudy forcast and thought

Grats to Jose and Pete

[API]

A wet race, again. I decided to take hard wets as it seemed to rain a lot. Race started well (my tyre choice was right, for once ) and I took med slicks on the pit stop. Tyres started to work better and better as the race advanced. However, when there was about 15 minutes to go, I crashed. I got suspension damage (about 90 secs), some aero damage (about 25 secs) and lost my headlights (not a good thing in a night race ). Car did understeer badly and I just tried to keep it on tarmac. Finished 5th which is a good result for me.

Sorry GTCs and GT1s if I was in your way, especially in the end of the race.

Well done Jose, GTC winner and pods. Go Team Oldie!

[goldtop]

Started with a full tank and on soft wets which started melting when the rain stopped, so gambled on soft slicks which was like ice skating. Pitted again for inters and repairs, which were the right tyre to be on for most of the race. Had to pit again for fuel because the kerbie pitcrew had unfuelled me in my previous stops Another stop followed to repair more damage and switch to soft slicks which were good for the remaining 20 laps or so.

Personally I don't believe the weather added anything positive to this race. It was down to guesswork as to which were the correct tyres to be on as the track conditions changed. The game just doesn't have the capacity to allow us informed judgements of changing conditions and makes the whole thing a lottery.

Congrats to both podies and finishers and hard luck to all those who suffered in vain.

[picnic]

Replay and provisional results posted

LapChart

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Started on soft wet fronts and hard wet rears, these worked well until the rain stopped, but with some careful driving off line they held up well enough once the rain stopped for me to stay out for a full hour. With 20 minutes to go they front left was reaching wear 10 so I pitted for soft front and medium rear slicks. They worked okay but with hindsight I'd have been better off on intermediates, the slicks never quite getting properly warm.

Was amazed to finish 3rd in class after Ginsters' departure.

Glad I made some additional setup tweaks for the wet just before the race, disconnecting the rear ARB and stiffening the diff slightly. Even so I had a few silly offs, not helped when the glance behind buttons started to jam on randomly, leaving me looking out of the left or right side and desperately bouncing my thumbs off the buttons trying to unstick them!

[phspok]

Started on soft wets, which hit red and silly numbers right away. went in changed to Med Slicks, god knows why,
just wasnt thinking, couldnt stay on the track, went in for full fuel and inters, which just lasted the rest of the....
I almost said race, well it wasn't a race more a competition to see who was the best masochist.
A bit of wet now and then to spice it up I can see but Heavy rain and a night race.
Over the top for me, and others from the sound of it.

[Josè Arrogantio]

Started on soft wets and managed to pull out a small lead in the first 10 minutes but then they started to overheat and Jon was able to slip past. Pitted with about an hour to go and put on med slicks.  I was able to go about 2 seconds a lap faster than the leaders but was losing lots of time getting past traffic. Every time I went offline to pass I almost went off. Once everyone else had pitted I had a 20 second lead and then it was just a case of cruising to the finish.
Night race in the wet on slicks.....brilliant! 

Is it just me or was Legzy in a tem prodigy car? 

[picnic]

Well that doesn't happen very often, me getting a class win 

Almost didn't bother with the race as it was raining and I hate the lottery of the changing weather. However it seemed so wet I thought it'd stay that way, wrong again

I had done some dry practice in the afternoon and was doing similar times to those Prof said he could do in the Z4 so was expecting a close battle. The rain put pay to that as it seems the conditions affected the Spyker less and although almost 3 secs slower than SbG I had a clear gap to the next GTC in qualifying. As is my way I qualified with my intended race setup and the soft wets struggled in to the green temp wise.

So I started the race with the soft wets, which promptly started to overheat within 2 laps  I couldn't keep up with SbG, no surprise there, but was comfortably quicker than the chasing GTC pack. Apart from avoiding a few wayward GT1s the race went smoothly until I spun in the triple left. My timing was really bad as while recovering team manager Sharky came past. Hope the result will offset that indiscretion when it comes to contract renewal time I stopped after half way for some new rubber as the softs were clearly well passed their best but the inters I put on were actually just as bad. With a comfortable gap to 3rd in class I thought inters were a safe gamble. I had one off with them just after SbG's unfortunately demise, at the same corner and took out one of the headlights which slowed me even more.

Kept it clean from then till the end. Looking at others fastest laps though, I was surprised to have won by the margin I did. I wasn't that quick in comparison. Either I'm a driving god in the wet (don't think so as I'm shed loads slower than one alien I could mention) or the wet does favour the Spyker more than others. Just need a dry race sometime.

[ginsters sponsored]

Either I'm a driving god in the wet or the wet does favour the Spyker more than others. Just need a dry race sometime.

Don't think the Spyker is any "easier" (imagine no one had an easy ride last night) than the rest in the wet so congrats on the fine win last night Pete    Amen to a dry race.

[Legzy]

Is it just me or was Legzy in a tem prodigy car? 

I got permission from Spanner to borrow the Prodigy Aston (he's not using it this season) to reduce the number of white cars on the grid. I look forward to jumping in an Oldie version soon

Well done last night Jose & API, flying the Team Oldie flag high. Half way point in the season & we've got a 12/13 point cushion over the amateurs closest rival teams


On a separate note - I have to say, I know how the weather generation works... but it would be nice if the weather did vaguely follow the forecast. It would be less frustrating all round. Last week it was rain from nowhere & some people got lucky, this week it should have been storms, but no .

[Josè Arrogantio]

Is it just me or are the mirrors in the DBR9 the wrong way round?