UKGTL Season 10 Readers Drives - Donington Park (National) - Oct 25

[Wiltshire Tony]

Replay and results now posted

[Navin R Johnson]

Always enjoy this track and although I had a pretty pour performance of my own I still had fun with you fellas Too many mistakes and not near quick enough But did have some fun battling a bit with Phil . Congrats to Pelle for a great 1st place. Solid stuff Paulo for 2nd and who seems to be tough in any Bimmer Also, a pretty awesome performance of Sqter to get back to 3rd after handicapping himself in turn one Cheers and thank you Tony for all your work

[De Martini]

Grats to Pelle, Paulo and Sqter!

Did a few changes on the setup before the start, which allowed me to last 20 laps on the track 
Was a great pleasure to join the spin party, at first I enjoyed a lot, had a nice set of laps fighting with Tony and Bill, but i soon felt tired of trying to constantly control the back at the slow corners. Anyway, the reason why I retired was because pressed ESC by mistake when I was about to hit the barrier. Was a knee-jerk reaction , I always like to finish every race despite being the last of the bunch.

[BillThomas]

Shame about the small field tonight, could have done with a few more spinners lol. I gave up about half way when my tap against a barrier caused my fragile front bumper to drop of. Then tried to pit but pit crew ignored me. Decided then it really wasn't worth the effort so quit. Hope you keep going Bill and thanks for the fine racing Demartini whilst it lasted.

I also had pit crew trouble earlier in an offline race - after much shuffling found they wanted me stopped neatly in the yellow box.  Had no problems in the race, only screwed up the exit of Craner Curves on the opening lap.  Turned in too late and missed the apex causing me to run wide onto the grass on the right.  Having done this many times I found the quickest way back was to go through the gravel trap on the exit of the Old Hairpin - wrong, picked the wrong spot and flew into it and again out of it.  Found I'd damaged something in the process when I couldn't stop at the chicane hitting the tyre wall.  Thought if I did a couple of laps before I pitted I'd avoid a possible splash and dash at the end - wrong again, spent too much time running off.  Pitted, just topped up fuel and did repair - lost 2 or 3 laps in the process.

As  Demartini reported I had an interesting few laps working hard trying to avoid being lapped by him and Tony.  Tony passed me then went onto the grass allowing me by again.  I pulled away from him over a few laps, then he seemed to get it all together and quickly caught and passed me.  When I pitted I only filled up with fuel and finished 5 laps down.

I amused my self by racing as hard as possible as soon as I saw a car in my mirror until he caught me then I moved over.  During the race I set my fastest lap at about lap 40 (for me) - PR your reactions at the chicane amazed me, particularly after you moaned about the 320 in practice - I could have sworn you would have hit the tyre wall at the chicane but the car flicked one way then the other and was through it cleanly and away.

[pribeiro]

  PR your reactions at the chicane amazed me, particularly after you moaned about the 320 in practice - I could have sworn you would have hit the tyre wall at the chicane but the car flicked one way then the other and was through it cleanly and away.

I took a risk setup for the race. A very stiff front and very soft rear with a high front brake pressure and a high front roll bar, it was nice over the corners, even the slow ones.
Btw, Bill was, again, very gentleman every time he was lapped, keeping his line but making the pass easy. Top driving!

[Wiltshire Tony]

Just a follow on from what Bill said; when your an old slow coach it is simply awe inspiring to watch the faster guys go by and take chicanes, corners etc at speeds that look quite insane.

[Pelle_B]

Shame that one of the drivers felt the need to flash away at me, from the moment he got within 100meters... Please check the rules here again about lapping & being lapped & then think about the fact that you finished on the same lap as me. I was kind enough to make it an easy pass for you tonight. Flash me like that again & I very much doubt I shall be so accommodating next time.

Maybe you should have read this rule 'Lapping And Being Lapped' but nice you almost can 'Use Of Lights' rule which occupies over half of your report  
All should see the replay from 2550 to 2590 where it could easily have ended in a crash  
Here is the rule if anyone is in doubt:

•When racing at night, or during the dawn and dusk periods, or in the rain, drivers shall turn on their headlights.
•Drivers may flash their headlights (either on-off during the day or off-on during the night) to warn a driver who they are about to lap or unlap of their presence. However, a driver being flashed shall not be obligated to let them pass.
•A driver who is being lapped can flash their lights to indicate to the lapping driver that they are aware of their presence and are allowing them past.
•Drivers may also flash their lights to say "thank you" or "sorry" to another driver.

Edit I discover lap times, best lap Legzy: 1:16.267...& my: 1:14.561 (Times are taken from the server replay)
Please, tell a good reason not to give room & let me pass  
...but regardless, I owe you a big Thank You, your position in front of Phil cause I do not lead with 5, but 7 points over Phil  

[Legzy]

Here is the rule if anyone is in doubt:

•Drivers may flash their headlights (either on-off during the day or off-on during the night) to warn a driver who they are about to lap or unlap of their presence. However, a driver being flashed shall not be obligated to let them pass.

That's correct, a flash of your headlights to warn of your presence, on-off.
That does no permit you to on-off, on-off, on-off, on-off, on-off, on-off, on-off, on-off.
I was also well aware of you gradually catching me & certainly well before your 1st flash.

All should see the replay from 2550 to 2590 where it could easily have ended in a crash 

I just downloaded & watched the time period you highlighted (from 2550 to 2590).

Over the 40 second period, I counted you flashed 8 times, despite not getting within 3-4 car lengths behind me at any point, as I took my normal lines through the corners (as the rules instruct me to do).
What were you wanting me to do?

Two corners after that time period you highlighted, you got a much better corner entry then me, were finally in striking distance & I flashed you by & stayed off full throttle to allow you past safely.

Edit I discover lap times, best lap Legzy: 1:16.267...& my: 1:14.561
Please, tell a good reason not to give room & let me pass 

What on earth has that got to do with anything?
When your car was at it's peak moment compared to when mine was at it's peak, during a 56 lap race, your single fastest lap was 1.4% quicker than mine.... if only I'd known, have rolled out the red carpet for you.


Pelle, please try to understand, nobody has the right to expect others to just get out of their way & repeated flashing is frowned upon here. It's not only all written in the rules, it's just not in the spirit of things. If you have an issue with that, take it up with the GTL director Tony. Having read his thoughts on the matter in previous PnG races, I'm left in no doubt about his feelings on the subject.

[Legzy]

...but regardless, I owe you a big Thank You, your position in front of Phil cause I do not lead with 5, but 7 points over Phil  

No problem. As soon as everyone had done their 1st stops, I knew I was the only person doing a one stop strategy & knew I could pick up a few places come the end of the race. Navin managed to leave the pits just ahead of me, but luckily for me Phil was not so fortunate

[Phil Gilliland]

...but regardless, I owe you a big Thank You, your position in front of Phil cause I do not lead with 5, but 7 points over Phil  

Don't thank him, thank that bloody pit crew of mine! 

Well done Legzy, you got me fair and square on strategy. 

[Pelle_B]

If you have an issue with that, take it up with the GTL director Tony. Having read his thoughts on the matter in previous PnG races, I'm left in no doubt about his feelings on the subject.

Could never happen, I have long since become too old to gossip about others  
If you could take focus away from yourself & try to see things from more than one site you might understand my reaction. This was not a battle for position, but lapping. I ran this race to win & before I came up to you, I was in crash with another driver who was out with a lap. I wanted to be sure you knew I came, but I had no feeling of you had seen me. When the pulse is at its peak & you run every lap on the border of what is possible, you probably would 'have done exactly the same  

@Phil: I wish better luck next race...& let's get a good battle for the fourth place  

[phspok]

Missed this one as I'm banished to London for the week. Shame, Donny National is one of my fave tracks.
Should be there next week. After all the front end damage I'm not surprised that people wanted to show off
that their Front lights were fully functional 

[Legzy]

If you could take focus away from yourself & try to see things from more than one site you might understand my reaction.

Can I ask that you follow your own advise, you then might understand.

This was not a battle for position, but lapping.

Wrong. This was 50% into an endurance race & I recently completed my only pit-stop & was ready to go to the end. You had another stop to do & while there was no question you were ahead at that point, no final positions are decided with 50% race distance to go anything could happen & you still to pit.
Regardless of those facts I state, I did not hold you up as if I was racing you in any way. I stuck to my normal racing line, exactly as I am instructed to do in the SROUK rules. I also made it an easy pass for you once you were close enough to actually pass me, again following SROUK guidelines on driver etiquette. No blocking, no holding tight defencive lines took place.

When the pulse is at its peak & you run every lap on the border of what is possible, you probably would 'have done exactly the same  

I'm sure you'd like to think so, but no I would not approach a driver flashing away as if to insist they let me past immediately. However, when I have made errors in judgement while on track (everybody does), the key is to be big/polite enough to acknowledge your mistake afterwards.

[Pelle_B]

This was not a battle for position, but lapping.

Wrong. This was 50% into an endurance race & I recently completed my only pit-stop & was ready to go to the end. You had another stop to do & while there was no question you were ahead at that point, no final positions are decided with 50% race distance to go anything could happen & you still to pit.
Regardless of those facts I state, I did not hold you up as if I was racing you in any way. I stuck to my normal racing line, exactly as I am instructed to do in the SROUK rules. I also made it an easy pass for you once you were close enough to actually pass me, again following SROUK guidelines on driver etiquette. No blocking, no holding tight defencive lines took place.

This is unbelievable, but that no one should doubt...look at the pictures:
http://www.gt-legends.eu/UKGTL/Report/RDseries/DoningtonN/Pics/DoningLegzy_P6.jpg
http://www.gt-legends.eu/UKGTL/Report/RDseries/DoningtonN/Pics/DoningPB_P2.jpg
Later in the turn to the right when you are losing it & it could have ended in a crash, you start to run drag race down towards the next turn.

... & here is some for you all: Donington Result http://www.gt-legends.eu/UKGTL/Report/RDseries/DoningtonN/index.html

[Legzy]

Despite the old saying "a picture paints a thousand words", I've no idea what information you're trying to portray with those two pictures. Frankly, I give up. You're just not listening & until you can do that, you won't understand.

I'm not going to waste any more time on this.