UKGTR Season 12 Lower Endurance (GTC/GT3) - Nogaro - Mar 7

[picnic]

I did say that whatever I did with the weather people would complain...

LOL guilty as charged. Although I didn't enjoy the rain here the biggest problem was the track/weather/class combination meaning the 2 classes were not having their own races as the slower GTC guys were mixed in with the GT3 crowd. Even I was quicker than some in qualifying. That shouldn't be happening in my opinion.

[ginsters sponsored]

I did say that whatever I did with the weather people would complain...

Lol I'd see it as constructive It just didn't work for me as the ickle bimmer really didn't have a suitable tyre, I couldn't get heat into the inters and the hard wets didn't last long. It also made a Vertigo friendly track, very very friendly for them. 

[Jayblue]

Charged in last part of race to close on Mcfids and API who i though both had to stop yet but they never did and then i got whacked up the jacksy by lapping Jayblue to effectively end the chase for me. Misunderstanding there as i did flash my lights twice and pull as wide as i could to give you the inside line of the corner   Glad it didnt end your race at least.
I seemed well off pace of the front 8 tonight 

Just watched the replay back and i don't really know why i didn't realize until too late what was going on 

Totally my fault, sorry again. If it had ended my race then at least i can say i only had myself to blame. It was one of those moments that was very cringeworthy for me as i saw your car go off in my mirror.

As for my race, well i tried the Porka during the week but as many others have remarked 30% rain is an unusual condition for any track to stay at for an entire length and i couldn't really get any of the tyres to work for a full stint. Add that to the fact i dislike the Porka's handling in the rain and i decided to change car. I noticed Bob was doing well in the GT3 Vertigo and didn't have time to test all the cars so i decided to go for the GTC Vertigo. Initial laps showed fuel was marginal but 51 laps was ok, and that despite my soft wets running very hot they would last for 25 laps too.

Single lap pace was very good and quali went as expected. During the race Berger made a go of it early on but i was able to pull away progressively, pitting with a 15 second lead. This was slightly larger after my stop and i think at that point we both settled for our positions. Other than my unfortuante lack of vision with Mark the race was pretty dull, my only real entertainment came from viewing the Spanner vs TT battle for third when i lapped them! I know you are right in saying everyone will moan whatever you do with the weather Dave but imo the variable weather provided a much less predictable way to race, even if we did see a wet track one or two times too many. Being able to prepare for exact track conditions like this just takes the edge off it for me. Consider events like Donny last season when Simon won as an example!

Anyway congrats to Berger and Spanner, Lazlow, Bob and API on their podiums.

[Mcfids]

That was more enjoyable than the car/track/weather combo looked on paper. The Mosler wasn't too bad with hard wets even though they fell to pieces after 40mins

A poor 16th qually position was not helped by a mass exodus of rear order drivers (including me) at T1 of the race who were caught out by cold tyres. Now dead last, but had good fun working my way up to 12th and homing in on MJ and APV before the pitstop. Got the jump on MJ by 15secs after the pitstop, but he then began to slowly erode my lead. Shame about your incident Mark as it was looking to be a very, very close finish. Not a too shabby 10th in the end.  

My 2 cents: I found the fixed rain a bit dull; it made racing tricky and you knew it wasn't going to change. I would suggest the following:

For the GT1/2 UE series: Fixed dry weather for all tracks to let the faster GT1s race with more confidence.
For the GTC/GT3 LE series: Return to the seeded changeable weather with these slower cars

  
 

[spanner]

I still hate the rain after that

Was on soft/hard wets and wasnt expecting to last too long as the car becomes a real handful with not enough grip at the front and too much power at the rear after 10 laps or so. Became clear early on the TT ahead was struggling a bit to turn in at times, that or just defending alot! But that resulted is some brilliant racing even if we were slowing each other up and letting the guys behind catch us. I finally managed to get past after some side by side action but by then I was struggling with the tyres and only managed to gain by a few secs. However i was really struggling to keep it in a straight line, loosing the front under braking and struggling for traction out of alot of the corners so after a little while TT came back and managed to get past and so it stayed, with me err millimeters at times of his bumper as we seemed to be sliding round the hairpin lol tenths apart for the most of it.

Managed to get ahead somehow through the pit stop as well even if i forgot to restart the engine when i didnt even need to stop it  

But something didnt feel right in the second part and was really struggling and soon TT was back past. A slight tweak on the brake bias forward seemed to help and a large z4 ahead to concentrate on and i was again stuck to the back of him, till about 5mins to go TT sideways through the the 3rd corner as normal but he seems to be a bit slower or more sideways, and i was too close as i seem to be able to go through there a bit quicker but any atempt at trying to slow a tiny bit spat me into the gravel. Managed to get back on with Lazlow only a second or so behind but there was only about two laps left anyway. You got off lightly TT with no last lap lunge!

That was the most stressfull race ever and the best

[phspok]

Count the number of negative rain comments/complaints after every wet race and compare it to the number of complaints
after a dry race.... Usually an occasional talented member or two will relish a wet race for the extra challenge it brings
Most people just put up with it.

[purdie]

Good little track but with little practice and stupidly all in the dry (yes my fault for not reading post properly  ) so had a great dry setup!!!

In practice was hustling tyres trying to find best combo......didn't work! So in quali I was concentrating on my tyres and didn't get a flying lap in.

The classes aren't that far apart and adding the rain meant a very mixed up grid. I think I was 5th in the lower class but still quicker than 3 or 4 GTC. I then promptly ruined Purdie's race at T1. This was on the exit not by hitting him during the braking/turn in. Normally the GTC cars gain their advantage over us slower GT3 in the braking and through the corners. So I got caught out, now the weather won't have helped, and not being soaking wet I suspect there were different tyre compounds in use. Something I didn't really think about until much later on. But sadly my limited skill means I couldn't react quickly enough and I'm really disappointed to have caused that accident.

No problem whatsoever mate, I pm'd you   Please do race next week! I'm more sorry for mucking up a race of someone who was competitive in their class, unlike me in this instance   I just had a slow apex speed into T1, just being steady.... only a racing incident. Plus I quit a few laps later (no damage to car) after my virus scanner kicked in    

The classes are only about 2 secs apart i think in the dry, throw in a twisty track with no long straights and then some rain and I wasn't suprised to be mixing it with GT3's considering the amount of practice I had. The only fear is ruining the top GT3 runners race, but its all part of mult-class racing.

A technical and challenging track.... bring on more rain! When told how much it will rain it makes life easier.... if you read the post properly lol  

[Berger R - 74]

hello,

i did test porsche and the soft slicks and intermed. do not get enough temperature, hard wets are ok, but not realy great, the soft wets was quicker, but only 1 or 2 laps possible, then the temps. was totaly in the red., so i did try spyker and i was happy a lot, the soft wet was perfect, around 95-115°, i like this temps. for wet tyres totaly, little to hot is much better then little to low temps.
for quali and race i can not write much.
i was ill (to much alcohol and to long out on saturday to sunday long in the morning ) no practise before the race and my hands did shake and my brain did hurt very much and i did sweat so much.
i was not happy with my quali laptime and my race laptimes, but i did no mistakes on track and i had no accidents with lapping cars, everyone was good to me.
i had a lonely race, jayblue was to fast and the truetom and spanner could not follow me, i was happy if race was over.
there is much more potential in this spyker, on saturday i was on low to mid 1.35 laptimes with 100l and 1.34.0xx for quali, but yesterday i was not able to repeat this, it had can be a good battle with jayblue if i was not ill.
the spyker did drive very good in 30% wet, very stabile and easy to drive, good car!

congrats to class winners and podiums

[Mark J]

one thing i was disapointed to see (and some will recognise this same complaint in P&G !) is why we allow car swapping throughout the season with no penalty? I really cant see the point in allowing that as it just means people pick the right car for the right track If someone wants to take a nippy little vertigo then fine, and they will do great on a track like this, but then make them take it at a fast track like Spa or Monza as well !  I think car choices should be fixed for the season to make it a 'season', otherwise its just xx independant free-for-all rounds..which sucks.   Maybe allow just one change without a penalty in case someone finds they really arnt getting on with their car. We all want a season long fight and peeps shouldnt gain an advantage by picking the right tool for the job that weekend.
Not pointing at anyone in particular but am always surprised when the really quick guys choose the fastest cars for a track...arent you fast enough/want a challenge ! ? 

[Truetom]

one thing i was disapointed to see (and some will recognise this same complaint in P&G !) is why we allow car swapping throughout the season with no penalty? I really cant see the point in allowing that as it just means people pick the right car for the right track If someone wants to take a nippy little vertigo then fine, and they will do great on a track like this, but then make them take it at a fast track like Spa or Monza as well !  I think car choices should be fixed for the season to make it a 'season', otherwise its just xx independant free-for-all rounds..which sucks.   Maybe allow just one change without a penalty in case someone finds they really arnt getting on with their car. We all want a season long fight and peeps shouldnt gain an advantage by picking the right tool for the job that weekend.
Not pointing at anyone in particular but am always surprised when the really quick guys choose the fastest cars for a track...arent you fast enough/want a challenge ! ? 

I agree.

[picnic]

You're only allowed one free car change then there is a 20% point penalty for the race for every other change you make. Unless I pick a car at the start of a season I can't drive then I stick to that decision. S11 I took the Exige  Silly Picnic 

[gsi bob]

I spent the race seemingly with an alien GT3 attached to my tail waiting for them to drive into me in the corners and making myself a gap on the long straight. It must have been frustrating for the alien GT3 people too (Lazlow and GsiBob you were very tolerant).

I can confirm that the new Borg implants are working well,especially well with the new
PG Tips enhanced super chimp elixir.

[nsfast]

I can confirm that the new Borg implants are working well,especially well with the new
PG Tips enhanced super chimp elixir.

Keep up the good work. 

[Jayblue]

one thing i was disapointed to see (and some will recognise this same complaint in P&G !) is why we allow car swapping throughout the season with no penalty? I really cant see the point in allowing that as it just means people pick the right car for the right track If someone wants to take a nippy little vertigo then fine, and they will do great on a track like this, but then make them take it at a fast track like Spa or Monza as well !  I think car choices should be fixed for the season to make it a 'season', otherwise its just xx independant free-for-all rounds..which sucks.   Maybe allow just one change without a penalty in case someone finds they really arnt getting on with their car. We all want a season long fight and peeps shouldnt gain an advantage by picking the right tool for the job that weekend.
Not pointing at anyone in particular but am always surprised when the really quick guys choose the fastest cars for a track...arent you fast enough/want a challenge ! ? 

It wasnt a case of picking the fastest car for me, rather choosing a car that actually worked in the conditions. My laptimes in the Porka were very comparable to the Vertigo but it had serious issues with the tyres either being too hot or too cold. It is my natural inclination to pick what i consider to be the most suitable car on the day, picking something you know will seriously compromise your race seem odd but i guess i can give it a go, although that will now carry a 20% points penalty on top too 

There are other people here who are equallly as quick as me, some like Jeffrey quicker. JonM always gave me a good race, Busi and Freq also. And of course Berger who is always right up there. I don't particularly enjoy driving around by myself like i did on Sunday, i much prefer to be racing! But if all of the above turn up and i pick a slow car i can guarantee i won't be competitive. It is swings and roundabouts!

[Truetom]

Who says you have to win every race.
Season, like MJ said, is one car. Especially in random / various weather to use one car the whole season is to anull the advantage that one car might have over the others in dry and might be cack in the wet. Using different cars for different weather or different tracks even, is ... not my way. Maybe 20% penalty is there to discourage this activity.
Of course, we're all unique, so any oppinion is valid.