UKGPL Season 19 (2010) Graduates Cup (67) - Watkins Glen (GP) - Aug 8

[fpolicardi]

After have run a lot of dirty laps with the result to sit in the back of the grid I concentrated in the last six minutes of qualy to put in some clean laps trying to paint the esses, open early the throttle out of the loop and not overdrive at Big Bend. It worked and I drop down half a second and set a new PB lining in 4th behind Hristo
The start at the front was quite good and only Tim had a bit slow exit from the esses that he compensated soon with the Lotus power, but again at the Loop brake he was a bit out of shape with H on his left and that scared me that looked the tires and got the inside curb. Luckily all went well and nobody behind me was affected by my workaround.
First ten laps I tried to get the tow from H to gain a little gap from Rick and Bart Lotus, but later the tires became hot and the Waza Mobile dropped some weight so I lost the tow and had Rick again on my tail.
When Tim retired I almost went wide scared from the yellow and the tires marks at the loop, so Rick became very close and me very wet  
The last ten laps were a battle against my concentration trying to drive more clean as possible trying to exit fast from turns and not overheat the tires and engine. It worked and Rick couldn't close up to try a move to pass.
Grats to H for the win and the title, and thx HQ for organizing.
I hope to be able to join more races next season.
Ciao

[EvilClive]

Thanks to all for organising and taking part in the MAIN EVENT and original GPL mod, which is still the hardest to master, but ultimately the most satisfying to get right....or so I am told!!! 


Sorry about the fuel load Hristo, but I always play VERY safe on fuel in the thirsty Waza. You would have been more upset if you had run out 1 lap from the finish!!!

Grats on taking the title again Hristo and to Tim for pushing all the way....that waza training last season has stood you in good stead  
Al has also shown a potential threat for next season and Joe is looking dangerously fast and may need to take the alien DNA test!!

I was afflicted with the same problem as Hristo as regards setup...overheating tyres and at least 1 second off what I thought I should be doing??
The start was good and I picked up a place of the grid, but that was just about as good as things got???!!  My best hope was for retirements as I just could not get the Waza to compete. About 10 laps in I made a similar mistake to Hristo and missed my braking point into the loop, and failed to hold the slide, but I hit the fence a little harder than he did and lost a wheel.
Once again , mostly thanks to Hristo, the 2 man Hiki Waza team have defeated the green things, who depite massing "hundreds"   of drivers to try and swamp the victorious white machines, have failed and fallen by the wayside.
Even the sneaky introduction of the token system in an attempt to sway the seasons results has failed to prevent HER team from being victorious again.

All our victories are belong to HER.   D        

Anyone wishing to join HER illustrious all conquering team need only take the secret glass of Saki and wear the sacred fundoshi to become one of her followers.

[Al Heller]

Firstly I'd like to congratulate Hristo on the title - you just can't argue with 6 wins out of the last 7 races! WD also to my teammate Vos on taking the Privateers.

My race in the Brabham ended up being rather lonely. Once again I was frustrated to find I couldn't match my practice pace in the race, though I think trying to survive 45 laps of the dreaded Loop had a lot to do with that, plus a badly overheating left front tyre. With all the retirements by half distance I ultimately found myself in 4th behind Rick, but despite my best efforts I couldn't close the gap to him so that was where I stayed to the end. WD to Rick & the bionic man Fulvio for the podium.

This showdown was a bit of a repeat of last season in Privateers as again I found myself going into the final race leading the championship... & yet again emerged in second place However I have to say that this result was a lot less disappointing than last season (beaten by 1 point! it still hurts, Rick! ) Although any slip-ups by H here would have handed me the championship, it would have been a bit of a "Keke Rosberg" title (i.e., achieved with just 1 victory) so I think it's about right that the title went to the guy with by far the most wins. Anyway I'm pretty chuffed with my debut season in Works & did a lot better than I expected - just need to find a lot more speed for season 20!

Thanks to everyone for the great racing - from where I was sitting, it looked like we had a lot of clean & controversy-free races. Thanks also to Tim & John for organising it all & choosing some really interesting & challenging circuits - hope we see some more new tracks next season. 

[Ronniepeterson]

It goes without saying the big thank you for the pleasure of racing with you guys this season. Great series and great organisation. I look forward to more action in the future! Congratulations again to Vosblod and Hristo.

[FullMetalGasket]

Gah! My curse here at Watkins lives on! 

Knew the lotus would be an absolute swine while on cold tires so took it easy until I had some grip (The only decent long term setup resulted in something that actually handled worse than the RA300 until warm!  )
After that it would just be a case of remaining smooth as too much exuberence would cook the tires, Average temps for the rears were hovering at 300 degrees in normal race trim so I couldn't take much more

All was going to plan, I managed to hold Hristo off for the first few laps as the car sorted itself out. Then I started to reel Joe back in as his car got warm and twitchy.
Once he span off at the loop I saw it as plain sailling and resolved not to take any risks here with my history at the Glen.
Even taking it easy the Lotus was good enough to knock maybe half a second a lap off Hristo which kept the pressure off nicely.

Then the curse struck and I somehow managed a wobble over the brow of the Loop under braking - this caused me to miss my turn in point.
No biggy I thought as I was purposely entering slower than I could, But a rear tire must have glanced at the grass so off I went in a nice pirouete 
Lost the front left in the spin and had to retire 

Congrats to H and Al for a well fought out battle in the Grads, and also to Tim for taking the Privates with some force!

I'll be back......

[maestro57]

Not a great race, on my own for most of it and managed to fall off at L19 and rip a wheel off. :-(

Must get better in the 67s

will try and do more in the next season

Congrats to Vos on winning the championship

Fingers crossed I can give Vos more of a race in the Novs on Tuesday

[Rick Nauman]

Great reads everyone.  I'm very happy to have gotten onto the podium even if it was due to retirements.  We have some very fast guys here and my current talent level is just a wee bit short of top notch.  My qualy was only 2/10s off my PB but matching my PB would not have advanced me.  I got the jump on Bartosz and immediately fell into a chase of Fulvio.  I trailed at about 1 or 2 seconds and just couldn't gain any on him.  On lap 16 I had an amazing 360 spin in the middle of the esses where I managed to pull out of it facing forward and doing about 50mph with no damage.    This ended my chase of Fulvio but luckily Al had already made a big boo boo of his own and so lost a chance to close the gap on me.  I then entered a long period of uneventful laps until eventually I saw the gap to Fulvio slowly but steadily diminish down to 1 sec.  Of course I got all pumped up and focused on getting close enough to make a go of it.  From my cockpit it was very intense.  My closest chance came with about 3 to go when I got pretty darn close going into the Loop.  A little extra push there might have gotten me into his draft down the long back straight, but then again it might have slipped me into that damned fence line and stack of hay that have ripped off so many tires of the too daring.  So I eased it off (translate: chickened out) and never got another chance.  

But it was great fun.  The whole season was fun.  Thanks to the organizers.  Good track selection, I loved the change of pace offered by Carthage even though I didn't last more than a few laps there.  I do wish though that we didn't have 2 weeks in between.  I just want to GO every week!

Big congrats to Hristo and Vosblod.  You are The Champions my friends!!    Well deserved!

EDIT: make that 360 degrees

[Turkey Machine]

WD Hristo and Tim.

Remember: ALL YOUR WINS ARE BELONG TO HER!!!!

[Baab]

Well done Hristo and Tim.  Thanks to the organisers for sorting the season out, the bit that I was able to make was great.

Unfortunately I couldn't make this one due a broken wheel, even after employing my soldering skills (gained from RC racing some 20 years ago), the thing didn't want to play.  Can anyone recommend a decent wheel?  Are G25s a default good choice?

Will there be plenty of fun races in the off season?

Is there any interest in a 69s championship?

Cheers, Bob.

[FullMetalGasket]

G25's are great, plenty of other good options out there - but for the money a G25 will keep you going years and is almost unbeatable value.
Only major issue is finding a new one, think you almost have to buy 2nd hand now as they've stopped making them. 

69's always used to be a joint venture with GBGPL, I don't know if that's still going though. Clive should know as he used to be keen on it 

[vosblod]

Will there be plenty of fun races in the off season?

Yes looking into it now, any ideas welcome...

Is there any interest in a 69s championship?

Unlikely although there might be something in the Spec races.
Apart from not having a free 'slot' there weren't many UKGPL attendees when we ran the joint venture with GBGPL

[FullMetalGasket]

Yes looking into it now, any ideas welcome...

Targa, IOM, Targa, and erm.... Targa 

(I need to beat Mike this time  )

[Hristo Itchov]

Yes looking into it now, any ideas welcome...

Targa, IOM, Targa, and erm.... Targa  

(I need to beat Mike this time   )

He said "fun"!  

@Bob - I use Microsoft Sidewinder wheel (10 years old now) and it's extremely robust. I don't think any wheel comes close when it's about durability. It also has an optic pot, so it lasts forever. You can find brand new ones on Ebay and much cheaper than Logitech.

[Beefpie]

Sidewinder is certainly a very sturdy wheel but mine always seemed to overheat.

As for fun races, some British tracks perhaps, Snetterton, Goodwood, Brands, Oulton Park maybe even Cadwell or Crystal Palace perhaps? :p

[EvilClive]

I had a Microsoft  Sidewinder until its tendency to overheat developed into a smoking habit  It was very good bu i wore out the lightweight bearings in the pedals and had to make some repairs to kep things working.

Then I invested in a G25 and it certainly is a good piece of kit. Very robust and good feedback with a nice smooth action.
I believe the G25 has been replaced with a new model, the G27, but I know nothing about that at all.

if you want to race 69's,  GBGPL run a 69 series which could always do with a few more competitors. There are all abilities running so you don't have to be an alien to enjoy a race. GBGPL run a more "gentleman's club" tye of outfit but the racing is no less enjoyable.