UKGPL Season 19 (2010) Amateurs Trophy (65) - Schottenring - Jun 1

[bernie]

This one is one of the all time great GPL Tracks.

Like others, i've only driven it a few times and know about the first 70%. towards the end of the lap i remember the corners fly at you at a great speed and you really have to know what yopur doing - and i can't remember the order as yet!! I'll turn in some solid practice laps tonight before qualifying to learn the last 30%.

To be fair, this one has been stated in the Calender in the registration thread for months, so there's no excuse not to have learnt it - and i count myself as one who hasn't done fully yet. (Shame, as my Mountside Racing Team mate NHance is a master round here, and he's stuck in the Novices where they're doing Westwood i think).

I think the best tactic will be to let past those who seem to know the way, and then dig out your A to Z and try to follow them... 

To be fair, this one has been stated in the Calender in the registration thread for months, so there's no excuse not to have learnt it

Yea right ! If you had nothing better to do, then trolling through the pages of registration you might have stumbled on this info and even remember the date 

Why bother having a race calander if you dont post the races up

If I was psychic I might have thought to look in the registration page , I thought that was provisional anyway .

No way for me to learn this track , but I maybe will drive just for the nuisance value , so look out for the Lotus road block

 

[EvilClive]

My "trundling" refers to the slow progress of a car with either 3 wheels or damaged suspension..or probably both!!!

[b_1_rd]

I knew it was coming, just have had no time to practise it!

Oh well, I'll give it a go anyway.  I have done a handful of laps a long time ago so I will hopefully remember which way to turn next.

[NickyIckx]

  today Schottenring dosent came as a surprise to me ...
but still damned real work is a time bandit , so havent done more then 5 laps here yet..

[Clutch4]

This one is one of the all time great GPL Tracks.

Like others, i've only driven it a few times and know about the first 70%. towards the end of the lap i remember the corners fly at you at a great speed and you really have to know what yopur doing - and i can't remember the order as yet!! I'll turn in some solid practice laps tonight before qualifying to learn the last 30%.

To be fair, this one has been stated in the Calender in the registration thread for months, so there's no excuse not to have learnt it - and i count myself as one who hasn't done fully yet. (Shame, as my Mountside Racing Team mate NHance is a master round here, and he's stuck in the Novices where they're doing Westwood i think).

I think the best tactic will be to let past those who seem to know the way, and then dig out your A to Z and try to follow them... 

To be fair, this one has been stated in the Calender in the registration thread for months, so there's no excuse not to have learnt it

Yea right ! If you had nothing better to do, then trolling through the pages of registration you might have stumbled on this info and even remember the date 

Why bother having a race calander if you dont post the races up

If I was psychic I might have thought to look in the registration page , I thought that was provisional anyway .

No way for me to learn this track , but I maybe will drive just for the nuisance value , so look out for the Lotus road block

 

You hardly have to troll round to see what races are coming up. Infact you put a post on the registation thread yourself, so you must have seen the race list for the season ahead, and noted Schottenring as being an unusual choice? The fact that there is a gap in the Championship table where a National Flag should be should also set alarm bells ringing, prompting further investigation?.. perhaps in the registation thread where the season race list was? 

Anyway, i'm joining the Evil Clive 'Trundle' around and hoping for the best as i'm still a bit sketchy on the final 30% of the track. I expect most people will be long gone before i get there. 

[b_1_rd]

In fact its not a track I have done before! I though it was but now I'm stuffed!  Guess I'll be at the back, at least until T1! Then probably an early bath.

[bernie]

1st track ive seen where you need pace notes 

Watch out for the roadkill chaps 

[Phil Thornton]

Arrrrgggghhh.  Put in about 9 good laps in qually without a mistake (well OK hit one tree on a straight bit because I lost concentration )  Managed a PB by some 20 seconds so looking good.  Made a clean start (but nearly went for it when someone made a jump start) then got behind Natan ( I think) when I started to think " that car is warping a lot" when I drove off the track and into some bales loosing a wheel.  Should have been looking where I was going not at someone else!!!!

[bernie]

Couldnt even manage 1 clean qually lap so a very cautious drive got me P4 after the early bathers left for home .

Lap 2 or 3? crashed landed intothe pub car park took me an age to get served and either bent the steering or had one to many , whatever the car was all over the road , drove home nice and easy . Lucky to not get pulled and breathalised .

Apart from that,  not much of a race,  need some driving lessons here for sure to get up to any kind of speed 

[bernie]

This one is one of the all time great GPL Tracks.

Like others, i've only driven it a few times and know about the first 70%. towards the end of the lap i remember the corners fly at you at a great speed and you really have to know what yopur doing - and i can't remember the order as yet!! I'll turn in some solid practice laps tonight before qualifying to learn the last 30%.

To be fair, this one has been stated in the Calender in the registration thread for months, so there's no excuse not to have learnt it - and i count myself as one who hasn't done fully yet. (Shame, as my Mountside Racing Team mate NHance is a master round here, and he's stuck in the Novices where they're doing Westwood i think).

I think the best tactic will be to let past those who seem to know the way, and then dig out your A to Z and try to follow them... 

To be fair, this one has been stated in the Calender in the registration thread for months, so there's no excuse not to have learnt it

Yea right ! If you had nothing better to do, then trolling through the pages of registration you might have stumbled on this info and even remember the date 

Why bother having a race calander if you dont post the races up

If I was psychic I might have thought to look in the registration page , I thought that was provisional anyway .

No way for me to learn this track , but I maybe will drive just for the nuisance value , so look out for the Lotus road block

 

You hardly have to troll round to see what races are coming up. Infact you put a post on the registation thread yourself, so you must have seen the race list for the season ahead, and noted Schottenring as being an unusual choice? The fact that there is a gap in the Championship table where a National Flag should be should also set alarm bells ringing, prompting further investigation?.. perhaps in the registation thread where the season race list was? 

Anyway, i'm joining the Evil Clive 'Trundle' around and hoping for the best as i'm still a bit sketchy on the final 30% of the track. I expect most people will be long gone before i get there. 

Stop making excuses , face it , the organisation is crap , only an idjit would look for the race list in registration 

[Clutch4]

Well, second place here, and that'll do me.

Qualified 7th i think. Started another hot lap and could have gone loads faster and finished up about 4th i think, but crashed out and didn't bother with another lap. I thought this would be a race where grid slot wasn't the be all and end all. I certainly couldn't match the times of the top 3.

Set off in the race and anyone who wanted to pass me could. I knew most of the track and knew that literally every corner had no run off area and barriers or trees that could snap a wheel off etc so there would be many retirements, so i wasn't in any major rush.

Soon enough, people were retiring left right and centre, and i just kept on plugging away. When i passed Al on his roof, that put me up to 2nd and i knew there was no way of catching Tim. (I could barely catch Al, but my pace had improved so that i could just about hold him on a clean lap).

During the last 3 laps i finally learnt this track all the way round and could push harder and actually started to enjoy it. I've always wanted to learn this one but never got round to it, so now i was being forced to do so.

Well done to all 4 finishers for getting to the end of one of the most 'dangerous' GPL tracks to attempt on Pro Level.

This track is now in my GPL all time Top 10. Take the time to learn it and its a real cracker! 

[FullMetalGasket]

Dead chuffed 
Despite being deffinatly among the group who knew the race was coming I still didn't put in as much practice as I'd have liked, but luckily I did just enough.
In qualifying I put in a safe lap then started pushing, the result was that I couldn't beat my time from the 2nd lap as I would throw away my gains with silly mistakes, spins, and trips into the hedgerows...
For the race I decided that I would only push for long enough to drop my persuit and would then drive smoothly and not try to push. This worked wonders as I did my first 3 laps within .4 of a second of each other 
Then when Al vanished, leaving the new P2 car approx 2 miles behind my mind started wondering - very scary here! - so I had no choice other than to push abit in order to keep my concentration.
First this resulted in a 5.26 and then in a highly suprising 5:24 on the penultimate lap!
In my final lap I pushed a little too hard and had 2 (thankfully fairly gentle) brushes with the fences, which slowed me by some 4 seconds.
Very big well done to the finishers, you deserved it going on the number who reached the end!
Commiserations to those who fell by the wayside..

[EvilClive]

Despite my lack of practice and knowledge of this circuit, I have to agree that it is a gem and should become a regular on the race calendar..not sure about 67's which could be a real challenge around here.

I managed about 6 or 7 half laps in private practice before the race. Each attempted lap got me a little further around the circuit as I began to remember markers etc. I was still doubtful of starting the race as quali began as I had not completed a single lap under 6 mins.

My first out lap in quali turned into a PB..lol, mainly because I was cautious and did not have an off. Pushed a little harder on the next lap and paid the price with a wheel off. But, I was gaining confidence, remembering which way the next bend went and what lay beyond it. With about 10 mins left I had just about got the last 20% of the lap into my small ram module that passes as a brain.
My last quali lap gifted me a 5:33!! on race fuel, which was absurd given that it was the first lap that I had even remotely attacked with any confidence.
So despite all my whinging I decided to at least start the race and trundle round and continue to learn the circuit.

The front 3 looked like they were going to steam away, but I was hoping to at least follow one of them and get to the finish. Nicky stormed past at the start and nicked 4th spot from me and Tim became a small dot running away into the distance. Al, Goran and Nick were providing me with an excellent group to follow   and for the first half a lap everything was cool, as I felt I knew what bend was next and was braking comfortably etc.
Then Goran had a moment entering the fast section and bounced out of the haybales in front of Nicky....Nicky avoided the road block , but because I had taken a "safe" and cautious tighter line Goran's car landed on my bonnet and spun me out to the side of the road.
I could still see 4 wheels and the engine was running with the world the right way up so ..why can't I move??. A switch to F10 showed a tree securely locked between my wheels and the bodywork and despite endless to and froing I could not break free.
Actually it was a disappointment to go out like that but not anyone's fault, just a racing incident.
The 4 finishers confirmed my worst fears about this circuit, but maybe I should have followed the Clutch system and looked for a large space of open tarmac to drive on, rather than follow the leading bunch??
Grats to Tim who had this race nailed and to all the finishers .

[G Jonsson]

Grats Tim, at least one Black Night car to the finish.

Sorry Clive, I got my penalty for the post before the race but I did not intend to take you with me.

Being one that knew about the race and did some practice, not enough though, I am very disappointed about the outcome. I had a problem in quali getting a free lap but finally I did and that led to a 3rd on the grid and a PB. So off we went and it all seemed fine and then came the turn were it all ended.

I don`t really know why I went wide, no replay so far, I knew where I was and prepared for the turn as usually but obviously too fast. I have not quite gotten over it yet. I liked the track and felt pretty confident. Anybody has any self-confidence to offer? After this and the Nurburg race mine is a bit low at the moment. Now there is only Sachenring left of the longer tracks this season.

Anyway I will keep 3rd in the campionship, got to hold on to something, and that`s really pretty amazing after all so I try to remember that and look forward.

Göran
   

[FullMetalGasket]

Don't worry about the 2 non-finishes too much Goran. Remember that you drop your 2 worst finishes at the end of the season 

If anything you should be feeling pretty damn good about yourself! It's your first season in Am's and despite crashing out twice you're still holding 3rd overall in the championship - that's something to be damn proud of in my book 

Just remember that in racing s*** happens - all you can do is hope it happens to the competition more often than it does to you