UKGPL Season 20 (2010-2011) Amateurs Trophy (65) - Nürburgring (GP) - Nov 9

[Hristo Itchov]

Found myself again doing a last-gasp lap just to get a time on the board. With a few mistakes and an untidy "middle" section to the lap an 8 minute-something time was posted.

Come the start, I got a cracker. 1st gear really suited that run to T1. Taking it super-easy and avoiding nerfing anyone from behind (YAY WOO ME!!!!! ) I settled in for the long haul, noticing the lag was a bit prevalent but wasn't sure if it was me or the server this time.

Tim made a mistake and slotted in behind me, but I had nowhere easy to let him attempt a pass with the lag we were experiencing. Bob did the same thing the next lap, only he made it more complete by rear-ending me at the mini-Karusell.

Finally, I ended my race doing a nice half-roll and landing on my roof on the run down to Adernaur bridge.

It was your end I'm afraid, no lag at all here, was very solid and I could race other people very closely. Some others reported you were warping as well.

I had a very bad start because I forgot my 1st gear was set long for some corners and didn't rev up enough off the grid. Dropped down to 5th or 6th, but then made up some places, one of which after a very difficult pass with one side of the car on the grass under braking downhill, but somehow kept it in control.

People were driving defensively in general, so I had no option but to wait until the end of the lap. Fortunately for me Tim had an off and his battle with Evil before that slowed them down enough to keep them in sight. By the end of the lap I was challenging Evil for the lead and passed him on the long straight.

I wanted to help him with some slipstream and shake off any potential chasers, and it worked for a while until he had an off a few laps later. Surprisingly it was Tim who moved into 2nd place, I didn't expect him to have recovered so quickly.

I was wondering how far down Evil was and so I eased off somewhat until I could get a glimpse of his Cooper. This allowed Tim to pass me on the long straight with 3 to go, but I managed to retake the position at T3 on the next lap after getting pitboard info that Evil is a bit too far back (7 seconds) and maybe there's nothing much I could do, unless I started blatant blocking on Tim. 

Decided against that though and went for a proper lap on the last one. Perhaps it was a bit of an unnecessary risk, but the car worked really well, so I didn't hold back. With the suspension risen up a bit and more lock on the diff, it was a fairly good lap.

It's good to recover like this after Pebble Beach, but with Tim being so consistent I need to keep getting these results for a while. Grats to all finishers and commiserations to Al, I was watching his thrilling battle on the last lap after I got out of the car.

[Al Heller]

Grats to all finishers and commiserations to Al, I was watching his thrilling battle on the last lap after I got out of the car.

Thanks H - damn that slipstream!!! I was in a solid 4th pretty much all race & for the last few laps the gap to Goran & Fulvio behind had stayed around 4-5 seconds. So starting the final lap I thought I had enough in hand - I didn't exactly ease off but I was just being careful not to make any last-minute mistakes, but of course I completely forgot about the long straight & the OTT slipstream . Entering the long straight for the last time, Goran seemed way too far back but once he caught my slipstream he just ripped into the gap & by the time we reached the bridge he'd got ahead Noooooo! Having held 4th so long, I was desperate not to lose it in the last few corners so tried a last-ditch attempt to outbrake Goran into the chicane which ended in tears (mainly mine). I was steaming in on the left side with a view to braking later than Goran, but he moved ahead of to take up the racing line (as he was perfectly entitled to do) so I just ploughed into the back of him & out of the race with the line in sight. Sorry Goran, glad you could continue & saw the funny side. Ah well, that's racing...

Congratulations to Hristo on the win with great pace in the BT7 & also to Tim & Clive who I caught glimpses of but just couldn't stay with dammit Love racing at Nurby though.

[G Jonsson]

Well, I did finish! I did, but the car was not the same as when I started the race, because then it had 4 wheels. Anyway, I had 5Th position most of the race so I guess that is what I should have. But it was kind of tragic that when for once I managed to pass another driver on track he would not have it, so, well, no hard feelings Al I do understand your position and the outcome was much worse for you. The winner of it all was of cause Fulvio, I am not really sure how he managed to avoid us but WD.

The race up to that point was rather static. I was following Al in 5Th, not really able to put pressure on and then I made some minor mistakes and one little bigger, that was when Fulvio got up to my gearbox where he then stayed. Al was gone, or so I thought. But on the last lap I got into striking distance so down the strait for the last time I made my move and then, well enough about that.

In total it was a good race for me. But it seems that this season I do not have the speed to be up front, somehow I need to improve if I am to keep my position in the championship.

Grats to H for the win and Tim and Evil for podium and of cause to all finishers.

Göran

 

 

[Hristo Itchov]

Some fast tracks coming up, so I expect those with better engine cars to take advantage.

[Clutch4]

Didn't qualify as knew i'd be near the back and it would be a long race.

Was pleased with my pace on the opening lap. I could keep Steve Bird in sight and so i knew the race wouldn't be too boring and i'd have some company. Glanced a fence near the end of lap one and my steering went. Completed the lap and attempted another but it was impossible to drive accurately and after hitting a tree the engine blew. Bit of a shame but the track is so unforgiving and isn't one of my best.

By the way - Phil and Steve - don't go down to Novices. If you do, i'll have to aswell!! I'll then be totally bored at the back of the pack if you guys aren't in the mix somewhere. I do sympathise though. I won the Novices 2 seasons ago pretty easily but i'm absolutely nowhere in the Amateurs. Its true i don't practice as much as i used to and i'm a manual gear / clutch shifter too, but i must admit, 90% of my Amateur races, particularly last season, involve me plodding around bored sh1tless as after 5 laps i've passed everyone i'm quicker than, whilst everyone else who is quicker than me has disappeared and i have no hope of catching them. I'm not bothered about winning, i'll leave that to the usual fast candidates, but someone reasonably near my car at some point in the race would be nice. 

Any chance of slotting in a couple of 'non Championship' races ay Spa & Monza this season so us slower boys can use our horsepower??? (Yes.. i'm joking - though a strong hint for next years calender!!) 

[FullMetalGasket]

You've got Brno, Kyalami and Monza still to come this season Clutch 
Also Combe to a slightly lesser extent 

[bernie]

I'm not bothered about winning, i'll leave that to the usual fast candidates, but someone reasonably near my car at some point in the race would be nice

You could always slow down a bit and wait for me 

[kinghiro]

Tom - firstly sorry for the tap at the start. I'd forgotten the fencing narrows the track and couldn't see it due to my placement ( ), as a result you took me by suprise when you suddenly moved across and braked. For what little it's worth, on my replay at least I missed you, unfortunatly the internet didn't agree
As for your setup though - How high are you running? I had the BT7 set to 3.4" front and rear which allowed me to take most bumps flat out. Foxhole was certainly no problem for me even on full tanks. Don't think I had particularily stiff springs/shocks  

Not to worry Tim.My 360 was just fun, and even if I had ended facing backwards It seemed ppl behind was holding back and catching up from behind is fun too. Not ideal but these things happen.
I ran at 3.20. I did like 15 laps for practice and had no problems. Springs were between 110 and 120.It was in the borderline all along I guess and I was just more careful last race. After the long twichy straight somewhat just before the first banked hairpin I was surprised how much slower I entered the first left kink than all around me. I was reliefed to see my exitspeed was higher (at least thats what I seem to remember)but my focus was away from the next quick lefthander and I turned in to late and to rough.Span all over the place and my race should have ended there if it wasn t for these cars being able to take a lot more than in real.So in the end of the day it was not too undeserved to have a DNF. I ve had solid results so far, and cant expect to float through the hole season with podiums. I m just not that good yet.

[FullMetalGasket]

You're certainly getting there though And your championship chances are far from shot at least..


On other news, some of you (Al) may have noticed that in my exhaustion from the race last night I re-uploaded the Pebble beach results/replay into the Nurby folder on Mikes server by mistake
This has now been rectified so you can actually get the correct data from last night instead 

[Baab]

Tim made a mistake and slotted in behind me, but I had nowhere easy to let him attempt a pass with the lag we were experiencing. Bob did the same thing the next lap, only he made it more complete by rear-ending me at the mini-Karusell.

Not that I wish to argue with you Turkey, but you had in fact lost it and were sideways across the track just as I was accelerating out of the corner.  I was fully on the brakes but couldn't avoid you (also you...or I were warping a cheeky bit too).  Apologies for the contact, I wasn't trying to pass you since the long straight was only a corner away and I was pretty sure I'd manage to breeze past with the BRM power.  I'd been following you for some time and ironically didn't want to launch a risky move.  At least we could both continue. 

I was having a reasonably enjoyable race being fairly cautious and waiting for the straights to pass, unless an open door was presented.  Then had a lapse and ripped a couple of wheels off following the fuchsroehre dip. Gutted, was rather annoyed with myself and couldn't sleep for a while!  BRM seemed to go well using the 'Dark' setting I d/l'd.  Hadn't done any praccy though, so was getting used to it and made a few mistakes.

[b_1_rd]

Phil, Clutch  thanks and yes you're right I'll stick with Am's.  Maybe I'll cut back next season to less mods though, maybe Am's only. I'm kind of enjoying a bit of race 07 too just now so perhaps mixing 3 gpl (+ a little 69 mod too) mods plus race 07 plus the upcoming GTs is perhaps diluting what little skill I have far too much to get anywhere near good pace with anything!

I'm not sure about the tracks, but I'll reserve comment and judgement until I've actually tried them.

Tim, thanks for the offer of setups but for now I'll stick with what I've got and adjust slowly, I think jumping in the deep end with something that probably wouldn't suit my driving style would just compound the issue.

Anyway, I'll stop moaning and just get on with driving.

[Turkey Machine]

I've also noticed I'm yet to finish a race in the two divisions I'm entered in - 6 races in total, all DNFs.

:-/

[Al Heller]

Have a look at my absolutely bonkers accident in qualifying... it was quite a shock - anyone know what the hell happened??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJhYcqM_O34

I'd had a great tow off Phil all lap so was scheduled to pulverise my PB. Not sure if this is the same grounding problem as Tom was getting in his BRM - but I was running a pretty high ride height & had never had any problems like this before. Considering the injuries I sustained in the crash, I think I did quite well to make the start! 

[Hristo Itchov]

LOL, it's been a LONG time since I've seen such a crash. You can see a bunch of similar incidents in this old but great GPL AMV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq_MX1UIXUI

[maddog]

I think you'll find that abrupt explosion at the Nurb, has to do with the nature of the collision boxes, which are built into each car model.  Their physics can sometimes become extreme.  You bottomed out in such a way as to incur the wrath of one of them.

It's possible, the original game was designed, to throw cars into an occasional 'loop,' as added entertainment for its younger audience.  But more recent modeling seems to have removed much of that tendency.  Unfortunately, it can still happen at the worst of moments - glad you survived!