UKGPL Season 18 (2009) Inter-League Series - Nivelles - Feb 9

[fpolicardi]

OK in 312 I think.

[Al Heller]

I'm there if you need me Jethro.

[Phil Thornton]

OK for the Eagle T1G.  My PB is 1:26.95.  Probably well off the pace but hopefully quick enough not to get lapped too many times so I can finish in the points

[fpolicardi]

Phil I have installed Nivelles on T7 server. I have set the GP lenght to 40 laps and modified the grid to loose and so that the poleman could see the flagman that is at his right over the pitrail. So beware to check were is the flagman at your right at the start.
Ciao

[Phil Thornton]

Phil I have installed Nivelles on T7 server. I have set the GP lenght to 40 laps and modified the grid to loose and so that the poleman could see the flagman that is at his right over the pitrail. So beware to check were is the flagman at your right at the start.
Ciao

Thanks Fulvio

[FullMetalGasket]

Had some Massive lag issues at the start -  all the cars kept appearing and dissapeering around me 
Also was having FPS issues for some strange reason?

Anyway, crashed out at the half way point after putting a rear wheel in the dirt approaching a braking point. Ended up 3 wheeled and upside down 

[Turkey Machine]

Lag problems all the way through and the connection bit just around the time my mother shouted up the stairs wanting to know where the phantom TV remote was. Needless to say, I ended up a lap or 2 down and was just getting into the swing of finishing when the car fell off track and the connection fell off the radar.

I'm getting so frustrated with this thing I may actually get my own line installed regardless of what my parents say. It's ridiculous.

[EvilClive]

At last, we got more cars to the finish than our opposition, which was satisfying. Grats to all those who finished.
I was reasonably confident of being "on the pace" for this one having done a few laps of practice and having sorted out the setup to my liking.
I was hoping towards the end of practice that Hristo might stick his Mclaren on the front row and give me some moral support, but I found myself on the grid behind Fred and Alain, who were both very quick. My only consolation, was that I had set my qually time on race fuel, so I knew that I should be able to stay with the leaders with any luck.
Alain bogged down a little off the line and I was able to get my Brab up the inside and onto the tail of Fred's big Fezza at T1. I'm not sure what happened to Alain after that but he appears to have retired on Lap 1?? I tucked in behind Fred and followed him around Lap 1 as we opened a small gap back to Hristo in 3rd.
At the start of Lap 2 Fred went in a bit too hot at T1 and spun his Ferrari right in front of me forcing me wide onto the grass and towards the posts and catch fencing.... after a short section of rallycross I regained the circuit, intact and in the lead. I tried to push as hard as I dared to break away, hoping that Hristo would give Fred something else to think about whilst I made my escape. But within 2 laps Fred was back on my tail. The speed of his big beast on the straight dragging him back onto my tail pipes. I defended for about a lap and a half but it was only a matter of time before he blew past on the straight.
So I tucked into the slipstream and found that although Fred could ease a gap up the straight I could comfortably close up again around the twisty bits. Thats how it stayed for several laps, I was hoping that Hristo would catch us and make a 3 way battle, but we seemed to be easing away just slightly.
Things were fine until Fred ran wide and I was so far up his exhaust pipes that I followed him onto the grass and in order to avoid rear ending him I had to swerve and just missed my braking point for the hairpin. A half spin put my rear end on the grass on the outside of the bend as Fred escaped. I had to wait before rejoining as Hristo was coming and so lost about 15 secs on Fred by the end of the lap!!!
Hristo seemd to be closing slowly on Freds Ferrari and I was holding the gap even without a tow up the straight. Just as it seemed Hristo would be giving Fred some trouble and maybe slow him down his engine gave up and I was soon to catch and pass him after which he retired.
I pushed as hard as I dared, aware that 2nd place was mine to throw away ( something that is not unknown!!) but keen to keep the pressure on Fred who was not that far in front...one mistake and I would be back in the fight.
Fred kept his cool and finished the race a comfortable winner and the last remaining runner for his team.
Big grats to our team and those who volunteered at short notice and completed the race.

[Hristo Itchov]

Well, it turned out I knew the track, but have only raced it once in 67s, so it took a while to come up with a setup for the McLaren that would work relatively well. It wasn't perfect, but there was no time left as I already had joined late.

I could've probably moved up to 2nd in Qualifying but on my two best possible laps I had an arsehole... I mean Arsoulle, totally ignore me and turn into my car while I was side by side with him. The second time he did he was not even on a flying lap, but his warm up lap! So I told him to use his mirrors more which I thought was the problem, but we were soon to discover it wasn't that...

I didn't have the best of reactions on the start and Arsoulle passed me, just to start losing it in almost every corner after that and eventually going out in the dirt. He returned quite aggressively and missed the apex of the next corner so I went on the inside, narrowly avoiding contact. He attacked me again on the s/f straight of lap 2 and squeezed me to the left as we went into the braking zone - what a nutter.

He kept making mistakes which were dropping us back from the top 3 and at the end of the lap I had a better speed coming into the last corner, so I went for the inside and lined up alongside. What do you know, he turned into me as if I wasn't there (again), but this time he took himself off the track and I just lost a bit of time but continued almost immediately. Then, as seen after the race, he demanded an apology in chat! Such people should be kept out of online racing... Apparently Arsehole continued but I suspect he took Fulvio out because the latter was behind me and a lap later he wasn't anymore, and at the same time Arsehole finally retired (what a relief for everyone).

So now I was some 2-3 seconds behind the top 3 and they were very fast. I was still adjusting to my car's handling and trying to figure out how to maximize the line and speed in each corner. After Alain retired I thought I could close up on Evil and Fred, but they were like a very fast train, locked together and slightly edging away.

When Evil dropped back I was left chasing Fred who was now 4 seconds ahead. It was the time when I had to really dig deep down and find even more speed, no matter what, because I had no idea how many of the opposition were still running behind us.

Lap after lap the gap began to get smaller and smaller, 3 seconds, 2 seconds, then a slight mistake by me increased to 3 again, but then I managed to drop it to 2 again and even 1 second. Then it stabilized for a while because my tires were in a bad shape from all the pushing. There were some backmarkers along the way, but apart from losing half a second behind one of them, I didn't have real problems.

Because I was driving on the ragged edge it didn't feel comfortable at all and I was a bit of negative, thinking it might go wrong any moment. Just when I was close enough to benefit properly from Fred's car, I touched the dirt on the exit of that very long fast right hander, T3, and it suddenly sent the car to the right, and I couldn't avoid spinning off and into the barrier.

There was suspension damage or something because after that the car just wouldn't turn left unless I slowed down a lot, and it would oversteer into right handers. I kept going for a while to try and make it to the end, and it looked OK because the gaps back were big, after Evil passed me. But after all the pushing earlier and because of the oversteering from the damage the engine kept overreving, it finally blew up with just 10 laps to go.

Good to see UKGPL win though, grats!

-=Hristo=-