UKGPL Season 21 (2011) Historic (66) - Sachsenring (1927-72) - Jul 5

[BadBlood]

So you lapping in 2:05 then Tim

[BadBlood]

Oh dear - screen freeze on UKGPL3 - don't think its latency... that server is in my loft!

[Hristo Itchov]

Never seen freeze problems with this track.

[s2173]

I had screenfreeze yesterday at UKGPL3, but I checked "toss bigger mips" at Gem... that usially fixes it for me.

[FullMetalGasket]

Span at KTS chasing H then had a Black screen on lap 3 having climbed back to 4th 

[blito]

yeah - server crashed out on lap three ...

[Hristo Itchov]

Span at KTS chasing H then had a Black screen on lap 3 having climbed back to 4th 

Server crashed so we're going to start again, entering by qualifying positions - hope you come on time!

[jhalli]

disconnected from the server when 0 min on quali time left, no change to get back in time.

needed to reset my modem to get back connection.

[bernie]

Fully unprepared for this track , I had raced here before but not with 66mads ! Forgot what a sod it is and spent practise trying  varieties of ride heights dampers and bumpers , but whatever I tried,  my Lotus seemed to leap around like a mad lemming

Suprised to have lasted 5 laps , could have driven more carefully for a finish but with the re start putting me higher up the order I could smell Phil's exhaust fumes and thinking he might be company for 18 laps I decided to give chase but I overtook my driving talent instead

Spent the rest of the race watching the very close fight btw Tim and H which alone was worth the entrance fee , superb racing there chaps with some very talented moves witnessed (rest of the world take note how to race hard, close, and clean ) 

Grats then to H T& E  (who also drove well for P3 )

P.S. Martin thanks for the entertainment , think you had as many offs as myself  but you survived the hardest of the haybales a little longer (dunno how ) 

[maddog]

It was the best of times - it was the worst of times.  I've a very tenuous link on life on the track ATM.  My racing connections are tenuous, and I was fully expecting to get dropped again.  Rather surprised to find t'was not I, who lost the plot, at the first asking.

The dress rehearsal, made little difference to the main event.  Found myself again sauntering around in 5th, and expecting to disco at any mo.  A nice quiet cruise would've suited, but my pitboard told me, Dave had something else in mind.

It's one of the mysteries of life, how a corner can be perfectly taken, 10 times out of ten, but the eleventh time, it bites you!  Such was the case, mid-race. Which meant, with Dave gone, I succumbed to a scrap with Fulvio, while bouncing my car off the scenery a couple of times.  Our luck ran out, when I attempted a smoke screen as he closed in, but fatally, forgot to move out of the way in time!  Entirely my fault.

The good news is, my connection lasted the race better than I did.  That is also the bad news. 

[BadBlood]

You cheeky devil Bernie - you only got higher up the grid 'cos you joined early. Naughty boy!

I decided I was racing the track not the others and I can fairly easily lap around 3:05. As you can see from my fastest I was lapping well below that. My best is 3:00 but I wanted to get to a points scoring place. Made up loads of places on Lap 1 by carefully steering through the carnage and then some bugger tagged me. I waited until everyone had gone to avoid ANY potential contacts and set off. Hit the haybales on the outside of the chicane despite being careful and there and then decided to be ultra cautios and drive for a finish. So, tuned in Classic FM and settled down to a nice 35mph average...

It was hard to concentrate going so slowly and I had some spins - particularly in that bloody chicane. Anyway. Got to the magic 10th lap and thought - right now I can go for it... set a couple of blue sectors easily and then crashed at the chicane. Bugger. Should have just pootled round for three more laps.

Biggest challenge was staying out of the way of all the others and making sure that I got caught at points where people could pass easily. Had one worrying moment when Clive span in my mirrors and I thought 'Oh no, I've put him out'. To my relief he soon caught me up again and I made sure he had TONS of room. He went past sideways

Enjoyed the practice more than the race but nice to get some points at last. More than doubled my total of laps completed as well.

Race report might be interesting as well.

[FullMetalGasket]

Glad the server crashed in race one as I made a right old mess of it 

Race 2 was odd, I joined the server to find Hristo already in there and then got given the pole spot when I went to the grid??
Decided there was nothing I could do about it now so decided that rather than trying the extra-ordinarily risky maneuver of letting H by on the start I'd let him have '1 free pass' and basically let him by - which he used on the run down to KTS 

From there on (especially after Clive dropped back enough to stop worrying me) it was a great battle, I get the feeling that we were both pushing as hard as we dared in an attempt to see the flag first as we each made little mistakes quite frequently 
We each took different approaches to setup here (again) as I had a very stiff setup that could take the compression at Heiterer Blick flat out without bottoming - H couldn't but as a result had slightly more grip to play with elsewhere while I was skating about!

We swapped places several times right up untill my first proper mistake, this was then compounded by a whole host of distractions going off in my room around me - not least of which was an alarm clock! (I'd been meaning to watch a film after the race, but the server crash ment it started while we had about 4 to go ) This didn't exactly help me concentrate and catch H quickly! 

Then just as I got back into my rythem (And I think possibly even closed the gap slightly) I span at KTS and parked facing the haybales 
Race now lost I made a quick 3 point turn and continued - my only hope being that H ran out of fuel or something 

Sadly he didn't (I finished with about another 5laps of fuel for some reason!)

Anyway, well done on a desearved victory H, and well done for bringing it in 3rd Clive. Also congrats to all finishers 

[Ronniepeterson]

Sorry I missed the rerun, rats!

[EvilClive]

Well, I preferred the way things were looking in race 1 before the server had migraine!! 

After Tim tangled with the bales at the Esses on lap 1, he sort of glided out of my path and I swept through into 2nd spot behind Hristo whilst there was mayhem behind. I was in no great hurry and was more than content to sit a safe distance behind Hristo in case he had a "moment" on this unforgiving circuit. I was quite deliberately going easy, as I did not want to close the gap and was well ahead of the car in 3rd place, so I had my own bit of space . After the disco (which was greeted by some very choice words!! , I was surprised when Hristo accused me of being a bit fast??!!

Race 2 was a little different as Tim did not have the decency to repeat his haybale testing move and insisted on racing Hristo instead. Again I was happy to sit a safe distance back and wait for mayhem ahead. I could see that they were having a very intense battle and frankly I thought that it would have to end in disaster for one or both of them. But they maintained their pace and their battle, nice driving guys, and I held my distance as the pace picked up.
Then I clipped a kerb quite heavily, and on the same lap I caught Paul on the long back straight . Not sure if there was some minor warping going on, or if Paul's car really was proving a handful, but I had a real problem deciding which side to pass... and I chose wrong!! lol. I thought I actually clipped Paul's rear wheel (but it seems that he felt nothing) and was bumped onto the grass. I regained the track just in front Of Goran and was able to get back up to speed and hold 3rd spot, but by now Hristo and Tim were a memory  ,
From then until the end of the race the car was not handling quite so well and I was unable to push hard without risking everything, so I settled into a steady pace and hoped for the leaders to have a
 problem or run out of fuel, they didn't!!
Only a handful of finishers on a very tough track. Not tough to learn but very difficult to run at 100% I find. Big grats to Tim and Hristo for their high speed dice and to all those who finished.

[BadBlood]

and on the same lap I caught Paul on the long back straight. Not sure if there was some minor warping going on, or if Paul's car really was proving a handful, but I had a real problem deciding which side to pass... and I chose wrong!! lol.

Sorry about that Clive. I was very concerned when I saw you spin - I thought you first caught me in the outskirts of the town... I'll check the replay. I was just trying to stay out of the way TBH.

There are some really nasty blind crests and I actually went for a trip on the railway in practice - off the bridge approaching the last turn. It was bloody hard getting up the banking but I was impressed that the track builder had modelled the rails... Found it really hard to create a setup that rode OK and didnt keep bottoming out. In the end I settled for taking the compressions at around 20mph...