iRacing Season 4 Mazda - Mosport - Aug 31

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[Ken Murray]

Bo$$ocks, bo$$ocks, bo$$ocks. Not careful enough and nudged the back of Brendan Gary was it, on lap 2?? Never mind, I'll try again in 2 weeks time!! Was quite pleased with my qually though. First competitive event with new build and I was worried I'd be carp with this blip thingy!!

[Ken Murray]

Just realised it's Laguna next, pah, not keen on that one!!

[Legzy]

Managed to out qualify all the other monkey's on TS (just) & outlasted two of them too... by entering the T2 tyre wall on lap 3

[Mike Wrightson]

Crashed out on lap 3  

Don't know what it was, but Gary was SO slow at the start I nearly crashed into him.  Ran side-by side with Ken for 3 turns before he got ahead, then Ken got wide in T2 after having to slow behind Gary, I had to tuck in tight and try to make it through around the inside, but we got a lag hit and Ken went off.  Sorry Ken, but it was really the only place I could go, hitting the brakes wasn't a very good option

I made it round the outside of Gary into the final turns the next time round, then immediately clipped the curb and spun off.  I know not to clip that curb, it was not a problem in practice, but it spins me off in the race.

What the hell is wrong with me?  :'(

[Simon Gymer]

Qualified 3rd with a series of new PBs finally getting into the 1:14s at last. Gary looked like he was sleeping at the start and I jumped ahead as we crossed the line and I built up a gap whilst he bunched up the others and Darren edged away in the lead.

I tried to keep Darren honest, but was never able/brave enough to match his pace and ended up 7 or 8 seconds, or so, down at the end to complete an oddly routine 2nd place.

Was certainly good to backup my win at Daytona with a second place here, but no doubt if Brian and some of the other aliens had attended I wouldn't have been anywhere near a podium.

Shame so many crashed out, but can't say it was unexpected.

I've posted my final race and qually setups on the Team Shark website here.

Well done to Darren on the win, very deserved.

[Gazza49er]

Miffed with myself there, had the pace to at least trouble Darren but i must learn how to do rolling starts  

Then the first few laps i just had the yips or something and was way to causious thinking i cant crash!! This left me a sitting duck on the back straight with a few people but lucky for me they made an error. Felt sorry for Ken as he nudged the back of me in T2 as i lifted slightly and he spun.

After that i got it together a bit more and pulled away from Brendan and was catching Simon every lap, got the gap down to 1 second i think but then on the second to last turn on lap 17 i accelerated out of the corner but i had no drive like my pedals had stopped working and it almost spun me but i just managed to stop in time  , that let Brendan through and i started catching him back up and on the last lap i was right behind coming down the hill to the hairpin where the same thing happened   Maybe my pedals need a clean as they are very dusty.

Even more annoying was the 1.14.6 i did in practice was with race fuel but i couldnt beat it with Qually fuel  

Anyway grats Darren, Simon and Brendan.

[Brendan]

Was feeling good in practice with consistent sub 1:15s and was hopeful of shaving a few more tenths off by finding my qualifying mojo.

Had a mare in Q, though, and a last lap 15.2 was enough for 7th.  After a clean start, although with plenty of pressure from Bernie, I managed to sneak past Dave into T3 and then into 5th after Mike and Ken's unfortunate encounter.  After Mike's demise at the penultimate turn (I know what you mean about THAT kerb) I was upto 4th and keeping pace with Gary.  

Gary was definitely slower than I expected over the first few laps and I got alongside up the hill but didn't get enough overlap for the pass.

He then did his 'Days of Thunder'-style stomp of the throttle and within a few laps I was 3.5 secs back.  With about 12 to go, I came across Gary stricken just before the final turn and assumed that he had blown his engine.  However, it soon became clear that he was still in the game and although I had a 6 sec gap, I knew he was quicker and would reel me in.  As it happened the laps just ran out and I was able to keep it aiming in the right direction to claim an unexpected, but satifying 3rd place.

Grats to Darren and Shark on great drives and all finishers.

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Another lacklustre race in which I got a good finish by just not crashing.

Qualified okay and good a fairly good start and got up to 5th from 6th, but got bottled up a bit out of T2. It was at this point I discovered that I was running a fair bit more downforce than most people and promptly got swallowed up by what felt like half the field as I dropped back to 8th.

Settled into a reasonable rhythm and gradually moved back up to 5th as people fell off. I was actually getting quite concerned by the rate at which TT was catching me as my pace subsided mid-race, but I managed to summon up some more concentration and pull away a little and was quite disappointed when his race ended and I was left with little motivation to push.

Gary's second spin gave me something to chase for a while but after a few laps he disappeared into the distance again and it wasn't until the last couple of laps that I decided to really push the boat out and see whether I could perhaps nail a fastest lap with a banzai couple of circuits. Was only a tenth or two off - I wish I'd pitted for fresh rubber 3 or 4 from the end now.

Well done to Darren for an unmatched performance.

[Truetom]

A little less concentration and I lost it in T2. Was close to Dave and his pace kept me pushing, I bet I'd be 1 sec per lap slower otherwise. Was concerned about my low downforce as all others had 20+ wing. I had 15.5 / 15 at first, then it felt better to up it to 17/18. With more wing I was just slower. Surprisingly I gained most of my time on Dave through the Doom Hairpin and lost mostly 0,5 sec in T1 / T2. Good race overall, can't get used to total iR concentration, you can't rest a moment here.

Edit: can't have post without smilies, it's just not right.

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Results up...

[Darren Seal]

Thanks guys...

Qually went well, and I managed to take pole with a new PB.  With Gary, Simon, Mike and Dave behind me on the grid I thought I was in for a tough race.  But, as the pace car dived into the pits and we took the final corner, I noticed Gary suddenly drop back.  This was too good an opportunity to turn down, so I floored it...  It worked perfectly and I instantly pulled a 1 second gap on Simon who slotted into 2nd by T1.

With my high downforce setup of 25/28, I was worried of being a sitting duck on the back straight.  So I pushed hard on the first few laps to open up a big enough gap to take slip-streaming out of the equation.

Mosport has never been a favourite of mine because it's difficult to pass on and one mistake nearly always means race over.  With my recent history of throwing away good positions (Daytona 1st and Sebring 2nd) still haunting me, I decided not to push too hard and to just do enough to maintain my gap of 4 seconds to Simon.   Unfortunately, Simon decided not to make this easy for me and kept pushing.  Thanks mate! 

In practise I knew I was capable of sub 1:15 laps with 7.7g on-board, however I'm glad I wasn't forced to match those times in the race.  At that pace there is little room for error and I'm sure I would have messed up sooner or later. 

Anyway, I'm very happy with the win, it doesn't happen that often. 

Congrats to both Simon and Brendan for your podium places and well done to those that finished...

[spanner]

The less said the better. Really sorry Lazlow. Tried so hard to not get anywhere near the back of Legzy but meanti took a wider line through turn 2. Didnt think i was going that fast.

[Burtoner]

pity I didnt race was working late, done a 1:15.9 in practice with others..

So would be top 5 easily

[Blunder]

A bit of a boring race for me... not that I don't like the combination, just that with so many people crashing, I was on my own the whole way Having nobody to chase meant less concentration and a few minor incidents
Only turned my first lap at 10 to 8 unfortunately but my VIR set up was reasonable so was there abouts my usual pace quite quickly which was good.
Shame... could have been a good one!

Thanks all

M.