UKGPL Season 20 (2010-2011) Amateurs Trophy (65) - Kyalami - Jan 25

[bernie]

I tried Hristos set up on my Lotus , did about 20 laps or so but found it t be slower than my own Loti set up , ( read that as even more slower ) tbh H's set ups are usually way to nervous for my driving style which tends towards controlled panic  

Bot suprising really as we all are different in the way we "attack the track" , still find them helpful and can pick up some good pointers , Its a question of adapting the set up to suit your own limits , every little tip helps in the final analysis .

Thanks H    

[Phil Thornton]

I don't know if you've tried the BT7 (and some of my setups), ..........

Yes I have tried the BT7 but not with your setups.  It is a really nice car to drive, brilliant handling but as you say very low on power.  I'll give your setup a try later.

[Hristo Itchov]

Well, I'm not sure using a BT7 setup on the Lotus is bound to work, so that must be the main reason.

[bernie]

Was hoping to get a half decent race here but my race set up was just dog slow (must stop pre race tweeking ) the outcome was a lonely drive in my usual position somewhere at the back . Was hoping at least to finish on the same lap as the leaders , but a couple or three "offs" took care of that plan . Just can't seem to gell with the 65's , maybe I try too hard 


Looked like a stonking race up front from what bit I saw of it 

Grats to the pod and King H,  looks like he earned the win   

[Phil Thornton]

Bit of a disaster for me.  Qualified 9 hundredths ahead of Bernie so I was hoping for a good race but we were so far back I couldn't see the flag.  I saw a flash of green and thought the flag had been dropped but I was wrong and I did a jump start.  I had to take the 30 sec penalty in the pit lane the GPL dishes out to jump starters.  With the time taken to enter and exit the pit lane I was a minute down on the rest of the field after lap 2 and my race was effectively over. 

I wouldn't have done any better anyway.  The pace of the front runners was awesome and Bernie managed to gain the other 26 seconds or so he needed to lap me so I doubt I could have challenged him in the race.  Grats Bernie that was a great pace you set but I think like me and a few others you are in the no man's land between the Novices and Amateurs.  We need to up our pace to the main stream Amateurs level but the guide from Hristo just seems to have made everyone else even faster rather than helping me get closer to them.

[EvilClive]

I think that there is no doubt that the standard of competition in Ams has intensified. We now have around 6 drivers who can and will compete for the podium in a 65 race. To be fair to Hristo, who continues to defy logic and gets that BT7 to the front with insane lap times and FMG who is always in his wheel tracks ( and sometimes in front!!) they set the standard.
The group of drivers just behind them are gradually closing the gap in performance and the duels on track are becoming epic.

I cannot claim to be able to match the pace of Hristo or Tim, but until 12 months ago I could be reasonably confident of being in with a better than even chance of getting the bottom step of the podium.....not any more!!!!

Last nights race was a perfect example of how things have improved ( if improved is what I mean??).

I could only manage a grid slot around 6th or 7th, and because of the high 1st gear I used on the Cooper, I lost a further 3 places getting off the line and down to T1  .
Much has been said before about the probs of the BT7 and the Cooper against the more powerful cars and last nights race for me was just about the hardest I have worked in a 65 race for years. After lap 1, I found myself as tail ender of a group of 4 cars all competing for 6th place and seperated by only a second or so. With full tanks the Cooper was struggling but I found that I could regain through the corners what I lost on that long straight if I drove at my limit. I dare not let those cars escape and get far enough in front to lose the small slipstream that allowed me to stay in touch.
Then I got caught out at the hairpin when the car( or cars) in front fumbled their exit just as I nailed the throttle. the slight touch of the rear wheel in front of me sent me into a half spin right on the exit and slap in the middle of the road. I think it was Clutch who got the shock of his life when he rounded the corner to find a Cooper struggling to get under way in the middle of the tarmac.. Sorry mate .
Fortunately, I was able to slowly reel in the group ahead as their personal battle was compromising their outright speed and after about 7-8 laps I was back on their tails having driven at 10/10ths and risking some very high oil and tyre temps.

A few laps to let things cool whilst in the tow and I began to hassle for a passing opportunity. I forget in what order things happened as the racing was so intense, but there was a couple of slipstream and demon braking movesat T1, each followed by a counter attack by those faster cars on the next lap. My only chance was to try and pass at T1 and drive like a lunatic to the start of the straight and hope that I had enough gap to survive their superior speed advantage. Gee!! but that was hard work for lap after lap!!!

Eventually I was following Al's BRM and the sheer speed of that thing on the straights was a real pain in the butt, I could just outpace him through the bends but not enough to break clear. My chance came towards the end of the race when I think al fluffed the tight right hand hairpin and was slow on the exit. I got an almost perfect exit and nailed it down the inside towards the Esses. I was praying that Al had seen my move and although I was alongside he might still turn in on me .
Thanks to Al for realising that I was there and allowing me the space, but I think it caused him some probs as he dropped back and out of my sight. Clutch was now on my tail and I was just able to protect my place by some demon braking at T1 again until the gap stretched and I was able to relax with 4 laps to go. Well that almost screwed my race because the moment I relaxed I had a half spin whilst under no pressure at T1 and the gap halved with only 2 laps to go.!!!!
I survived to take 5th after an epic race with Clutch , Al and Pod  for almost the whole race, very close racing and as far as I was concerned "on the limit" and everyone playing fair.

Grats tothe podium they were waaaaay in front but thanks for great race guys.

[bernie]

Bit of a disaster for me.  Qualified 9 hundredths ahead of Bernie so I was hoping for a good race but we were so far back I couldn't see the flag.  I saw a flash of green and thought the flag had been dropped but I was wrong and I did a jump start.  I had to take the 30 sec penalty in the pit lane the GPL dishes out to jump starters.  With the time taken to enter and exit the pit lane I was a minute down on the rest of the field after lap 2 and my race was effectively over. 

I wouldn't have done any better anyway.  The pace of the front runners was awesome and Bernie managed to gain the other 26 seconds or so he needed to lap me so I doubt I could have challenged him in the race.  Grats Bernie that was a great pace you set but I think like me and a few others you are in the no man's land between the Novices and Amateurs.  We need to up our pace to the main stream Amateurs level but the guide from Hristo just seems to have made everyone else even faster rather than helping me get closer to them.

I could just about see the flag and saw your abortive start , thought it was a demon plan to get to T1 before the pack 

If the flag isn't in sight I always wait till the cars in front move off before dropping the clutch , not much else we cando rally with the staggered grid we are already half a lap behind the leaders before our wheels begin to roll .

Methinks more practise needed ,  looking at others Lotus times around Kya were not far off a higher grid slot ,though I cant seem to find where the extra sec or so needed  is coming from 

[Al Heller]

Have to agree with Clive - I've certainly improved my pace from when I was last here but the guys up front had improved a hell of a lot more! I took a quick look at the previous Am's result to compare the winner's average laptime & it had dropped from 1:26.2 in S18 (and that was when FMG & Clive were in Hondas ) to Tom's 1:25.5 at this race.

I suspected I'd be in for a tough race when my 24.9 in qually only amounted to 10th on the grid but a decent start taking me past 4 people provided some compensation... of course the problem with suddenly running much higher than my grid slot meant I was being continually harried from behind. Bob got past after a few laps but when I saw him playing chicken with Jethro into T1 something about an irresistible force meeting an immovable object flashed into my mind & I was glad I lifted earlier than normal to avoid the barrel-rolling carnage! The rest of the race was spent in a very evenly-matched battle with Clive, Bartosz & latterly Clutch. I was running behind Bartosz & Evil as they battled hard, hoping to make my push for glory towards the end of the race but after Evil's tail appeared to tap Bart off into the boondocks into T1, I closed up & eventually used the BRM power to slip ahead. Unfortunately it was to end in tears for me at the first part of the Esses - the overhead view shows I was ahead at turn-in but Clive dived up the inside so was ahead at the apex & on my replay contact from his swinging tail punts me off the track. Server replay however shows that we left each other plenty of room & no contact... I must admit to finding warp & the way even the slightest contact causes such mayhem an increasingly frustrating part of GPL racing Anyway after I'd recovered I was too far back & had kind of lost my rhythm so trudged home 8th. Delighted to see my teammate Tom take his first Am's win & congrats also to FMG & Goran on what appeared to be a very close fight. Even more delighted to see something other than a BT7 win this season - though I reckon it might be a different story at the next 2 tracks.

[Hristo Itchov]

I lost my internet with about 12 minutes to go (from memory) in Qualifying and it didn't come back until the morning.  Some day I'll just flip out completely and blow up my ISP's office...

At least it seems I kept the pole position, lol. 

Grats to the first non-BT7 for the win, Tom, but now you know who to send your thanks to.  (unless it was your plan from the beginning!)

[EvilClive]

Seems like I owe and apology to Al and Bart 
 
I have not looked at the replay yet but I certainly felt nothing through the FF when I made my overtaking moves. I have fallen foul of the dreaded "warp gremlin" many times and it seems there is no such thing as a glancing contact. You either get launched into oblivion or nothing happens.

[Clutch4]

Enjoyed this one. The track has a good flow to it so you can get into a groove.

In qually i was impressed by how tight the grid was so knew it could be a close race. Al Heller made a move down the outside into T1 on Lap 1 but i held the inside and he maintained the outside line. After that i was in 5th i think and i realised i could keep pace with those in front of me (except for King Hiro and Co who were off into the distance). After a couple of laps, i tried my look at the long long right hander by braking slightly later. Though i was in control, the gradual drift wide allowed the left rear to kiss the grass and i gently spun - let the pack pass - i was in last place.

My fear of it being the usual Ams lonely drive was proved wrong when i noticed in Prib that there were people up ahead who were dicing together and so may be catchable, but based on Qually pace this would take some time. I saw Evil was the next guy ahead and knew he was usually in the mix towards the end of a race, so decided to see if i could catch him. As it turned out, i couldn't, i could only match him, but the good thing was he was pulling in Al Heller and co up ahead. I reckon it took me about 15 to 20 laps of hard work to catch the lot of them and to see what would happen.

As it turned out, i had a ring side seat and before long it was just me behind Evil left. Thoughts returned to Brno and i wondered if i would be able to snatch a position on the last lap. I had the power down the straights, but he had the advantage and skill on the twisty stuff at the end of the lap which resulted in us both arriving at T1 together. I had a few test runs on the inside at T1 but always braked well short to see how he'd react, but knew i was following a quality driver who wouldn't be pressured.

4 Laps from the end 2nd gear didn't connect (damn that G25 shifter!!) and my BT11, with a lack of traction and in neutral, lazily drifted off the track on a corner towards the end of the lap. After that, it was just a case of bringing it home.

Enjoyed the race and have been waiting for Brno and Kyalami all season as i felt these tracks would even out the competition  between those not so good drivers with power and those better drivers without. As it is, thats it now till Monza i reckon. Will obviously have a go at the next two races, but think it may be a lonely struggle for me.

Enjoyed it though, thanks to Bernie, Al and Evil who i had the pleasure of racing alongside on this occasion. Wasn't so lonely on track this time. 
 

[Al Heller]

Seems like I owe and apology to Al and Bart 
 

No apology required as far as I'm concerned Clive - it was good racing up until then & really we both gave each other enough room but it looks like warp decided otherwise. You were hardly going to outdrag me down the main straight in the Coop so I was kind of expecting some Banzai moves in the twisty bits anyway.

[FullMetalGasket]

I took a quick look at the previous Am's result to compare the winner's average laptime & it had dropped from 1:26.2 in S18 (and that was when FMG & Clive were in Hondas ) to Tom's 1:25.5 at this race.

Just had a look back myself - it seems I'm lapping faster now in the BT7 than Clive was in the Waza back then!  (Only .4 slower than my own Waza time too!)

In some ways H's absence was a blessing as it resulted in a cracking battle at the front  (Even more of a blessing if your name was Tom )

My qualifying in 5th was a suprise (A pleasent one at that as I didn't get a tow) But I was expecting to be swamped from the start, instead I found myself up the inside of Fulvio (who started in 4th) approaching T1.
I clenched my teeth and gritted my buttocks and braked as late as I dared for L1, Fulvio had a clear track ahead so braked later and held onto the outside - I finally got ahead slightly on the exit of T2 and found myself a fair distance behind Tom and Goran who were rapidly pulling away through virtue of not fighting.

Thankfully Fulvio was distracted from hastling me too much by the lurkings of Jethro in his T77.
I knuckled down and did all I could to drive cleanly and efficiently, After a couple of laps I'd pulled ahead far enough to be safe from Fulvio on the straight and was even starting to make small gains on Tom and Goran as they started fighting.
Somewhere approaching lap 10 I caught them and a couple of laps later passed Goran. This gave Tom a small breather and allowed him to bugger off a bit while Goran and I were compromised.
Thanks to small errors (I think he was trying to brake too late) Goran dropped back by 100 yds or so over the next few laps leaving me enough room to concentrate on catching Tom.

I was managing this incredibly slowly however and it took me until about lap 20 to catch Tom. It then took another 3 or 4 laps of pressuring him before he made a small mistake and I jumped. Goran nearly followed and the resulting confusion gave me a small run.
Not enough though as while I survived my first run down the S/F straight unmolested, Tom's mighty BRM more than halved the gap on that first pass and put him close enough to challenge the next lap.
Somehow I held him off until lap 31 despite constant see-sawing of positions at the end of the main straight.
Eventually it was my turn to make a mistake and I ran wide into T2 and bounced off across the kurbs allowing both Tom and Goran to leapfrog me. I re-joined just close enough to grab their draft and was prodding gorans exhaust 2 laps later.
With 2 to go he made a bad exit out of the final hairpin which allowed me to get up inside him and outbrake him into T1. I made good ground through the twisty section which prevented Goran being able to challenge me on the entry to the final lap. Then he pulled the rabbit from the hat and put an awesome final lap in, near enough equalling me in the infield before drafting me to a very close finish and the fastest lap of the race! 

Tom's first Ams win was hard fought and very very well deserved so a massive hand for your victory 
Also well done to my team mate Goran on a strong (Nearly too strong!) challenge for 2nd. Everyone I battled was incredibly carefull and raced impecably.
I'm glad to hear there was plenty of action throughout the field - Although worry that I may have some modding to do from some comments in chat as it seems there were a few incidents

[kinghiro]

I lost my internet with about 12 minutes to go (from memory) in Qualifying and it didn't come back until the morning.  Some day I'll just flip out completely and blow up my ISP's office...

At least it seems I kept the pole position, lol. 

Grats to the first non-BT7 for the win, Tom, but now you know who to send your thanks to.  (unless it was your plan from the beginning!)

Well it began with me asking the guys at your isp office if they wanted a little something to buy their wifes a nice present. I just needed a small favour....

[Podkrecony_Ziutek]

I don't really need to write about my race, because Evil and Al already did it

Seems like I owe and apology to Al and Bart 
 
I have not looked at the replay yet but I certainly felt nothing through the FF when I made my overtaking moves. I have fallen foul of the dreaded "warp gremlin" many times and it seems there is no such thing as a glancing contact. You either get launched into oblivion or nothing happens.

It was warp contact Clive. We were very close to eachother(maybe to close), but we should be able to drive around that corner without any contact. Looks like the gods of GPL had different idea

When I rejoined I've tried to push and hopefully catch battling trio in front of me. Soon I've catch recovering Al and afther lap or two I've passed him. I wanted to start chasing Clutch and Evil, but they I couldn't catch them. With 4 or 3 laps to go, I was sure that I won't catch them so I've settled on my place. Then I've found Clutch recovering from spin and I felt blood again

I was pushing so hard, that I actually beat my qual time. At the last lap I was very close, but going into Leeukop Bend I was littlebit to fast and to avoid hitting Clutch I had to go little wide and because of that I've lost my 6th place.

Great racing guys. Don't think I'll be racing at next two rounds, so cya at Monza