UKPnG Season 5 Sprints - Long Beach (1975-81) - Apr 21

[Syd Drake]

Just did, and I'm in. Thanks.

[Legzy]

Qualified in 5th/6th having finally twigged how to drive this place/car

Got a decent start for me... but by T3 I felt like I was in a wrestling match not a race
So by T4 I already had broken splitter, knackered suspension & aero damage & was down to 14th

Managed to slowly get to grips with my 'new' beaten up setup' & start climbing through the field & overall enjoyed that combination.

Wish it had been 10 mins shorter though, seemed very long for a sprint! Was very ready for the race to end, despite enjoying the car/track.

[FullMetalGasket]

Conversely after the first 20mins or so I was in Enduro mode and didn't want it to finish 

Had a prolonged 2 part battle with Matt - I passed him early on when he got into a tank slapper at the entry to the back straight.
He than pushed very hard and eventually caught me up enough so that when I ran wide (At the same corner  ) and hit the wall he was able to get up along side me, and then muscle past as we negotiated the right, left, right, left, right sequence towards the main straight.
From behind it became clear how hard Matt was driving (Or just how loose his setup was?) as his car was squirming everywhere and would often loose ground to me in the middle of the technical sections.
I was enjoying hastling him right up until I cut slightly too close to the pit wall at T1 - A glancing blow luckily, but one that saw me bounce fully across the track into the outside wall and loose about 4 seconds.
I settled back down myself and returned to putting in fast, tidy laps (I was convinced tyre management would be important here, esp as Matt and i had the same car) and after about 10 mins was really starting to get close to an even more nervous looking Matt.

I kept it tidy and smooth as I closed on him and was suprised when I past him, it wasn't thanks to a mistake on his part - it was simply down to extra grip on mine as got the power down 10 meters or so before him (Entering the back straight yet again!) and sailed up the inside to pass him just before the braking point.
A few carefull corners later and I was clear to carry on at my own pace - I think Matt struggled harder and tryed to stay with me but lost it big style between the front stretch and the uphill section letting me pull clear by about 5-6 seconds.

From there on in my gap was slowly increasing right up until near the end when I half span into a wall and possibly damaged something. What ever I did Matt started gaining slightly from then on and I think I over drove the car to try and hold him off. It wasn't until the final 2 laps that I saw the gap grow again when I forced myself to calm down more (Matt my have had an incident aswell - don't know though).

I was left aching and covered in a sheen of sweat ( ) but thought it was an excelent choice of car/track 

[phspok]

Results and Replay Posted on the beach (between the bronzed lovelys)

Loose and driving hard   not really done many laps in hard race mode, and the car was looser than I had thought
had Legzy chasing me down towards the end, and managed to concentrate enough to put some good ones in
and slowly catch FMG, I think I bounced off the sea wal or something so dropped back a bit, and then decided
to finish rather than stuff it terminally. Good racing overall,

[goldtop]

Cobras and street circuits are about the worst mix for me. Couldn't get a rhythm all race and it turned into a more of a wrestling match than a drive. Had a nice chase with Legzy but hit the inside walls of the hairpins a few times which lost me any ground I'd struggled to make.

Glad to finish in one piece.

Warning, shameless plug.....

A couple showed interest in the F1 88 event this evening. If you're struggling to find it, it's here  ......

https://www.simracing.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=9190#event2623

[Clive Loynes]

Congratulations and many thanks to John for his win and for clawing SBRC back to a respectable 2nd in the team championship.

Congratulations also to Tim for his overall win.

I like Cobras so I was bound to like this race, although a bit more run-off would have been nice.  I think that for a good lap you had to just scrape the chrome off of the door handles against the walls.

Well done to everyone who found themselves being lapped.  That cannot have been easy on this circuit but I thought that everyone did a grand job of getting out of the way.

I seemed to lose out to people’s last minute bursts of speed in qually and found myself further back than I would have liked. 

After the start I found that I was 6th and following Lorenzo.  He must have felt that he was holding me up as he allowed me past after a few laps.

That left me to chase the ade/lazlow battle, which was raging well just a few hundred metres up the road.

I think that I caught them at about mid-race and shortly after that Lazlow managed to pass Ade and pull a slight gap.  I continued to chase Ade and with about ten laps to go he cut it a bit fine at the first hairpin and it kicked him around so that he was facing the inner wall.  That let me through into 4th spot which I held to the end, despite putting in some really ugly laps.

Grats to Navin and Lazlow for their podium finish.

Cya

[Navin R Johnson]

Lots of fun power sliding the Cobra around for most of the race. Kind of silly starting grid placement as I was second and on the grid and was on the inside of the track which I think gave me an advantage as John and I had Identical starts but I was able to tighten(shorten)my line and got to turn 1 first. From that point I was very sloppy through the s's. Once on the back straight I looked behind and was happy to see that my sloppiness(slowness)didn't cause any accidents. I then just tried not to overdrive the car from that point and waited for John to overtake me at some point . Had a nice short battle with John until he left me in his dust . Just tried to be smooth after that so I had something for the end and had a uneventful run from that point. Always enjoy the old school Long Beach . Big congrats to John for being 1st and silly fast. Grats as well to Lazlow for getting a solid 3rd place podium.

[johnw]

Was a pleasure driving the Cobra again last night Lots of fun in a lairy car that counter-intuitively needed to be driven as smoothly as possible to get a good time out of it!

Got off the line well, but Navin did an equally good start and I could hear him but not see him going into the fast right-hander before the hairpin. I was looking in my mirrors to try and find him when I noticed there was a wall coming and managed to just graze it slightly without picking up any damage Stuck on Navin's tail for the next few laps trying to find somewhere to pass, I was faster in some of the slow corners but he seemed to be getting a better exit onto the straights so I wasn't close enough to attempt anything for a while. I was having fun chasing until I must have done the first corner absolutely perfectly, and before I realised it we were braking for the hairpin and Navin's car was getting closer...closer...bang! 

Luckily I don't think there was any damage as we continued at the same pace for a few laps until I closed up again, got alongside going into the final corner and made a pass round the outside stick by getting the power down well onto the straight. Good driving Navin, fun while it lasted 

The rest of the race was a test of concentration to avoid those walls (which I didn't quite manage). Excellent awareness again from those being lapped as well

Shame I couldn't do more races this season, but it's good to see the team in second place. Grats Tim for being the top man!

[SpecialKS]

Interesting one for me.

Most of the time last as usual, but at least I could improve my best lap time.
After my fastest lap I had a hard contact with the wall which reduced my "lifetime" to 1%
and so was forced to pit, hoping that lifetime would also recover.

But it didn't.

So I continued only trying to see the chattered flag.

After some laps "lifetime" went down to 0% and I was wondering how long the "smoking"
Cobra would last alive. And surprisingly it did some other laps but then suddenly the car "died".


Thank you guys again for organizing all theses great events.

Happy Easter!

[Legzy]

The smoke was amusing! Lol
From what I could see, it looked like the rear of the car has collapsed.

[SpecialKS]

I crashed with the front into the wall.

Game tells me "suspension" as reason for breakdown.

But amusing - indeed.

[Alex vV]

Unofficial LapChart

Apologies for the late posting but was a bit occupied with monster F1 cars and chocolate Easter Eggs...