UKPnG Season 3 Handicapped - Crystal Palace - Jul 15

[Mark J]

1:01s ? ..oh crap im well off pace. More praccy needed, only done about just under an hour shared between 3 different cars. 

[Legzy]

Well it's 1:02's all the way for me MJ. I might have a sniff at a 1:01.9 in qually if I sneak a lucky lap

Not a massive fan of this place, but it's a good combo this.

[Legzy]

Apologies Mike, but I'm going to use this thread for a spot of free advertising

Everyone doing PnG has a GTR2 disk, so why not come & try some Sunday night racing too. We're doing the excellent Albert Park this Sunday in the GTC class. It's a cracking track that most of you will already be familiar with & there's a good range of GTC cars & some of them don't bite!

If any one's concerned that the GTR2 are too fast, there are still a couple of Aliens, but in recent seasons I've gone from being a back marker to someone challenging the podiums regularly. So standards must have slipped

The season will start in a couple of weeks & be made up of a sprint series & an enduro one. Hope to see a few of you giving it a try.


(Other PnG drivers that you're likely to already know there = Myself / Spanner / Lazlow / Goldtop / Mike / API / TT / MJ... you'll all beat MJ )

[Truetom]

Nice advert, Legz.
I have BF2 obligations tonight, have fun and see you all Sunday.

[McLowry]

Looks like a great bunch to race with

 Hope i can make this one. If not see you at the next one

Mike

[spanner]

Hi Mike welcome aboard

[Clive Loynes]

Welcome Mike,

Hope to see you tonight.

[goldtop]

Hi Mike and welcome. As a new driver with us, you can choose any car from the yellow group. Might be an idea to have a quick test on the practice server to ensure you can connect ok. Shout up here if you have any trouble, someone will always be around to help.

Hope you're not as quick as our other Mike

[Legzy]

Might be an idea to have a quick test on the practice server to ensure you can connect ok.

He was caining us all last night with the Stang... I was so sad to have to tell him he needed to trade it in for a Mini! lol (or Elite/Abarth/TR4)

[Mike Miller]

LOL Legzy. I love handicap racing.

Welcome Mike. Great to have you with us. Like Legzy and Goldtop said earlier, start with any car from the Yellow group. This is a handicapped series so the hot shoes are driving the slightly slower cars. If you were caning others in the Mustang, it sounds like you may be one of those hot shoes. If not, your average pace will put you into the car group that matches you against the others here. I'm looking forward to racing with you on track.

[goldtop]

Right, I've set the server for a 60 minute race tonight as per the announcement. Do we need to use a lap count instead?

[Clive Loynes]

Right, I've set the server for a 60 minute race tonight as per the announcement. Do we need to use a lap count instead?

Well I'm not pitting 'til you do. 

[Mike Miller]

I think we'll be ok with this one GT.

[Mark J]

heh, i got the distinct feeling it was going to be one of those races that was never to be tonight!

3 attempts at joining all concluding with me stuck out in the outer pit exit with 3 other poor souls wedged in or upside down  Decided to take the abarth as it was shorter and so wouldnt flip on the pitwall when i joined the session unlike the TR4 that i wanted to use 

Race was just watching the alfa fest etc disapear off into the distance. Thank gawd for Lazlows mini who gave me a great fun fight between the British and Italian minis  as i was very off the pace in the Abarth never having raced it before, only managing late 1:03s or early 1:04 laptimes.    It was great fun to drive, shame there werent more around me to race.

Then about half hour into the race there was a lovely car crash right in front of me involving an Elite and a 'tina or alfa, leaving me nowhere to go but into the metal sandwich full speed into a broadsided car. Smashed suspension and 40% engine health left. The little tyke didnt stand a chance

Good track and superb international turn out,  shame i couldnt be in a more competitive car (or one that suits me better anyway) to enjoy it more. Looked a blast up front and midfield.

[Mike Miller]

I expected there might be a high attrition rate here tonight with so many cars on such a small track. That is the bad. The good is you are almost never alone on track. I struggled tonight in the race because the Elite simply doesn't have the power to execute a pass down the straight. Instead, I was swamped by alfa's and TR4's. I made many nice passes on the outside so I was pleased with that. Early in the race, I got tangled up in a 2 car alfa wreck into turn 2 (tight double apex left) taking on some damage, but the car was still drivable.

Since I couldn't get anything going tied up around so many cars, I decided to pit early. This put me just a lap down just behind the leader as I came out of the pits. I had a nice spot with only a few cars around me. It didn't take long for me to get into a groove. 2nd and 3rd were closing fast so I found a way to let them both by going into turn 2. A few laps later, 3rd place driver (don't remember the name) in a Cortina lost it, went off track for quite some time and then reentered and jumped onto the racing line straight away causing a wreck. My car was really wounded at this point with the wheel at 20 degree off center. I could still drive it and was chasing down Fulvio so I continued.

3rd and 4th eventually caught up and 3rd got by on the start/finish straight so I flashed my lights so 4th could continue the close fight. I gave the preferred line (drivers left) into turn 2, but the 4th place driver must not have seen the flash and drove right into the back of me ending my race with severe suspension damage.

I'm learning which cars work on certain tracks. The Elite is a mileage miser and needs open air to work well like the Mini and Abarth.

Fantastic turnout tonight with a lot of outstanding close battles on track near me. Maybe I can get some revenge in an Alfa Jr. next round.