UKGTR Season 11 - Dubai (GP) - Jan 24

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

I had this a bit in practice offline earlier in the week - never seen it before at any other track. I defragged my hard drives earlier today (even though all said 0%) and this seemed to stop it. Mine is a relatively new install of Windows 7 too.

Mine was only installed on Wednesday - not much danger of fragmentation on a box that new!

[Jayblue]

I actually thought i had won the championship last night on race wins but hey i guess i should read the rules!  :'(

Congrats Gazza on the title, i'm certainly wishing my ISP had not let me down at Brno and Oschersleben now, those two discos really cost me. Although the Aston suspension bug at Donny also cost me points  

The race last night was a tough one for me, Berger as i expected had an edge on me in both quali and race trim but as some of you have probably guessed a little bit of team work meant i knew if i was close to him i would get some "help." As it turned out i got a good slipstream on the opening lap and was able to move down the inside into the hairpin at the end of the back straight. After that Berger shadowed my every move for most of the first stint, only dropping back when i got some lucky breaks in the traffic. After our stops he was able to do the fastest race lap of 1:50.9 which i found incredible as i really wasn't hanging about either, but again the traffic seemed to keep the gap at 6 seconds. I had one scary moment when Dave lost it infront of me and i nearly collected him but other than that it was just a case of being absolutely on the edge every lap, it was certainly a challenge to my concentration!

Congrats to Berger and Simon on their podiums and SBG on another GTC win and championship. Maybe some aliens should join you in GTC next season to spice things up a little  

Thansk to everyone here for another great season. I know the mods work very hard to organise and supervise the league and i want to reiterate how impressed i have been with everyones driving here too, it really is a great place to race, thanks all and see you in S12  

[purdie]

Since getting back into simracing after 3 months off, its amazing how much time and effort required to get back up to speed of the top guys   and then to keep that standard for 80 mins.

I knew I wouldn't keep the pace with SbG and 2nd in quali still 2.7s off his pole!....was interesting (be 0.1s ahead of MJ)... funny how we all set our times early.

Kept it steady and had a solid start   but was fending MJ for the opening laps and a lurking Prof   I flunked completely under the pressure and MJ slipped past and I managed to keep 3rd. Started with 70L so I could run a few extra laps and take on less fuel at the stop if tyre wear was going well...... it did and I pitted lap 22 for a fresh set of tyres and 55L... somehow I managed to jump MJ doing this   (loved to be a cool Ross Brawn   over this, but it was a suprise haha)

Running 2nd again I had it all to throw away and did so, MJ regaining his rightful 'pace' position   and unfortunately his network problems handed the position back again before a final spin gave a deserving Prof the 2nd step!

Good fun but finding the Cup Car a little slow at the mo..... miss the RSR   .... is there a better 997 Cup model about? The shape is a mutated version of the 996 Cup Car and doesn't quite look 'right'  

Grats to SbG and Jayblue for their wins and Gazza49 for his win of GT1 Champ   and SbG for his GTC Champ  

Can't wait for Season12    

[Mark J]

cant believe you threw away 2nd to Prof after all that Purds ! 

I didnt even see you pit, prob because you were behind me, but yes was surprised to see my 10sec lead wiped out in the stop 

[Jayblue]

Will say sorry to Jay for a scary moment (good reaction, btw ) and to Berger - I didn't know it was you behind as another driver with the same car / colour was sometimes behind, sometimes in front and sometimes to the side. Grats to podys in race and Season.

No problem i had noticed that i was sometimes a little more "conservative" on the braking point for the hairpin than others. I was just glad you didn't decide to try and swerve to avoid me - i always watch my mirrors in those situations and normally get away safely unless i have to turn in otherwise i miss the corner completely! I think experience has taught me a lot about how to avoid accidents rather than become one 

[Gazza49er]

Well i have to admit that i thought the title would go to the one with most wins, but hey i'll take it  

I'll probably never have this chance again and coming 2nd twice behind Freq in previous seasons, does feel a little hallow to win it like that.

My race was so nearly all over before it began as Greg behind me forgot about the formation lap and took off when the green lights went on (well done for missing me)   After that i knew i had to get past Apex to get the 4th spot and try to chase Simon but it took quite a few laps to get by him. Once i did i got in a good rhythm and started closing on Simon who made a few mistakes and i got past just before the halfway point. We pitted together but i knew he would jump me as im terrible at pitstops and i came out 4 or 5 seconds back. The gap started rising and i didnt deal with traffic to well, had a hairy moment when a GTC missed his braking point and hit me but luckily didnt spin me   and then later on  i found a GTC in the middle of the track and it must of been millimeters as i went round.

With the traffic and Simon driving well i could catch him, was down to 4 secs at the end but he was always in control i suspect. Shame i couldnt of caught him and had a good battle there coz that would of been exciting.

Grats to Jayblue and Berger, you two really were from another planet, those times were amazing. Jayblue has been awesome in every race this season and my money is on you to win s12  

Grats to SBG for GTC title.

[Legzy]

Crossed the line in 6th eventually, not quite my highest finish of the season (nicked a 4th at Donni) but definitely the most enjoyable race of S11 for me.

First third of race I was glued to H@L's rear bumper (wit not one single rub between us ) & finally I was able to use my Aston's cornering to squeak past his Viper , only to find TT had suddenly come back in range with a minor moment on his part. So I was stuck between a Marcos & a Viper with about an inch either side till the halfway pitstops . Some how H@L managed to jump me in the pits by a cars length & then TT came out... of the pits a fraction ahead of both of us

From then we had a bunch of laps where those two were swapping places & I would get along side, but couldn't hold it... truly amazingly enjoyable stuff from my POV (& again not one single rub between us either  ). Great driving guys!

Eventually managed to duck in front of H@L & keep it for a second time, but while I then started to edge away from H@L, TT was doing the same to me. But I guess his Marcos is even worse on tyres then my Aston, because with about 8 mins left I started pulling him back in. Then I think some confusion happened between TT & which one of three white Aston's (Jay, Jose or me) was behind him & he went wide as we all scuttled through with 4mins to go. Felt confident I'd be able to hold off any fightback, but was looking forward to the fight... so was a shame to see my rival exit out shortly after. Great to see you back in the Marcos TT, it's where you belong mate


Really chuffed that our little Oldie's team has managed to achieve 2nd spot in the GT1 Team event. More then we could have hoped for really & a great team effort with all of us chipping in points at one time or other.

Congrats to the Hedgehogs SuperSonic team, you've just got too much talent for us. Good solid season long fight with H@L & Gazza too from the Pink team. Congrats to the Kerbies in GTC too, unlucky Sharks in a good close finish.

Well done to all the runners & riders, Gazza & Ginsters on their titles .

Thanks to all involved in this season, be it driving or organising or something.

[phspok]

It's not pink! philistine!

It's "maroon" like an ancient Oldham bus - Maroon and Cream, good victorian civic colours...

[Truetom]

Great to see you back in the Marcos TT, it's where you belong mate

I'm a bit ashamed I didn't really drive the C6R yet, so that will be my ride for S12.
Might go back to Marcos if the season goes really badly for me just for fun.

[H@L9000]

I actually thought i had won the championship last night on race wins but hey i guess i should read the rules!  :'(

Me and Gazza were discussing that for a while on TeamSpeak. I was saying 'its probably on race wins'. In the end we had to get the rule book out. It clearly says in rule 1387X of Appendix 402A, sub section D8IZ; In the event of a draw, team shark have priority as they are pretty much 'Ferr - shark - ari' and team Psuedo get second dibs because they are so super cool and awesome.

truly amazingly enjoyable stuff from my POV (& again not one single rub between us either  ). Great driving guys!

Yes it was most fun. I had a little giggle when I jumped you in the pit, same when we both caught TT. Some great driving indeed.

The track was boring to practise on despite being quite technical but, it has always delivered a good race for me. Last night was no exception. Here are a few clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST4TY_hQC88

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p78qw09ef_k

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPRaaWYSN88

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_0nrR441wA

Loved the moody night lighting.

I'm a bit ashamed I didn't really drive the C6R yet, so that will be my ride for S12.
Might go back to Marcos if the season goes really badly for me just for fun.

The C6R is a great car. It is the car that I have been most competitive in, I would say. I want to give mid engine another go so I will be in the Lambo or the MC12 next season. Most likely the Lambo because its easier.

Well done Gazza, well done SBG (stormed it), well done team Supersonic and the creepy crawlers. Team Psuedo get 3rd in both championships, well done Team! Darn oldies beat us by a very close margin in GT1.

Thanks to Dave and all organisers for a very high standard of organising and thanks to drivers for a very high standard of driving. See you all in S12 which will be soon helpfully.

[Truetom]

Soon? 31st is closer and closer! 

[Simon Gymer]

How dare you compare us to Ferrari-scum, they're nothing like as bad as we are!

Forgot to say I really liked the dusk to night thing in that race, it felt right at Dubai for some reason, very cool and atmospheric. I don't think it works everywhere, but definately does in the Middle East circuits (all one of them that we have ).

[spanner]

Was considering the C6R earlier in the season but felt it was a bit slow compared to the others.

[ginsters sponsored]

Surprised we don't see more C6's out there. Its straight forward and rewarding to drive, and competitive, especially over race distance.

I really, really can't believe I'm gonna go down the same path, again, but seeing the MC12 around here (funnily enough it didn't last long )  rekindled my interest I've got unfinished business with that thing but, at my age, I really should know better.

Presuming there will be GT1 in S12?

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Presuming there will be GT1 in S12?

I'm expecting to use all four classes again.