Paul Rubens Vintage GT

HO HUM...Did not enjoy this track at all. I hate monza and this is the sister track, no wonder. Qual'd 6th and finished 8th. I found the sand once in t1 and almost looped it 3 times in t2 or t3...To many bobbles and it paid with such long straights here. Off to riverside with some points to spend...see ya there.

I had a great time dicing it up with Rick most of the race. Nothing like a little horsepower advantage to make up for my other weaknesses :)

Had an exciting trip through the 2nd chicane- Gary was behind me heading up to it, and I saw him dart left in my mirror. I braked for the chicane, and thought to myself "Hmm, whatever happened to that orange Mustang?" Held off the gas for an extra half-second and Gary shot through the chicane right in front of me :) Just a little skin off my nose, no worries Gary :)

I went after Rick early, figuring if I could just get in front of him I could use the horsepower advantage to stay there. Got ahead as hoped on the main straight, and Rick was all over me in T1 and the chicanes, but I stayed ahead and was able to pull a bit every time on the straight. Had a little gap, nothing permanent, and it just wasn't enough- I had to go after Mike. Got within spittin' distance a couple of times, but it cost me too much to do it, was wearing the fronts out at a vicious clip. Sure enough started pushing a bit, went a little wide a couple of times under braking, and Rick got along side. I was clearly holding him up at that point, so I figured it was smarter to let him go and see if he could catch Mike. Off he went, and I think he did the same thing I did over the next several laps, because he slowed markedly after about lap 11, and I started to reel him back in.

Got into the banked turn with a short gap to Rick and Mike Miller in sight up ahead in a Jag, and I knew the three of us were going to converge on the straight, and sure enough we did. I wanted to pass but had a big speed differential and was scared there wouldn't be enough room. I was pretty much bump drafting Rick when we blew by Mike, it's going to make a great screenshot :)

Rick and I traded spots every lap for the next few laps- I'd pick him off on the straight, and he'd pass back either in T1 or exiting a chicane. Lap 18 I knew I had to get ahead and make it stick, because if he got by I couldn't catch him before we crossed the line, but once again I couldn't keep it planted on T1 and he dived back under and that was all she wrote. I tried a bit too hard the rest of the lap and had no chance to catch him at the line. Great racin' buddy!

'Grats also to Mike Waltz, who we just couldn't get to no matter what we did. Another tough break for Bill K, who got disco'd- 2nd time at least, been there myself and I always feel terrible about that.

Never managed to get a qualifying lap in, so I started at the rear and worked up through the pack ended up battling with pete for most of the race. We had some nice battles for a bunch of laps finally I was able to pull a bit after a small mistake on his part. Then towards the end I saw Bill coming up on me in the Green jag but I had some luck and he missed a couple braking points and missed the turn going into the wooded section. from there I just tried to maintain the 9th position and bring it home in one piece.

I drove this track a lot during the rFC 1955 F1 championship, so I had an Unfair Advantage.
I knew it would be hard when I saw the practice times. I was on the softest tires (White), driving 11/10, and I could barely pip Rick for the pole.
In the race I took the Red tires and was pleasantly surprised. The car didn't have quite as much grip but the balance was much better.
I got a little gap on Rick on the first lap and held it for a while. Then Mike K. started nibbling at him, and I was able to stay just a few seconds ahead.

I think if it had just been one of them, I wouldn't have held the lead, as both of them set a better FL than me. It was fun to watch the show in my mirrors. First the Falcon, then the Mustang, then the Falcon... about 10 position changes and apparently no contact!

But they got in each other's way enough, the Red tires didn't degrade one bit, and I didn't make any major screw ups.

This was a pretty dull race for me. I didn't qualify well, so started further back than I had hoped. I managed to get up to 4th spot early in the race and then just stayed there for the rest of the race. Not too many cars around. Only went off a little bit once in turn 1 and didn't lose a lot of time.

I'm looking forward to Riverside. I hope to have a better qualifying time there.

Congrats Mike W. and Mike K.! That race was a great race! I didn't have anything for Mike W. and if it wasn't for a couple bobbles by Mike K. I would have been 3rd. As Mike K. said in his excellent race report we were trading spots all race long. I made a couple dumb mistakes, I forgot to change to the soft whites for qualifying but what really hurt was not going with the reds for the race like Mike W. did. As Mike K. noticed I really started to struggle around lap 11 with tires. We were both pushing each other very hard all race long. Mike W. was still running some very good lap times way late into the race, good choice on the tires and a great drive Mike W. :-) Most fun race so far! Looks like its back to one of those POS Jags for next race :-( See you guys next week.

Mike K and Rick - you scared my passenger blowing by me down the front straight.

The Jag MkII was not the right car for this track. It probably isn't the right car for any track, but this one seemed particularly bad. Next time I run one of these series I will survey the tracks to determine which one will best suit the limo class car.

I had no issues with tires. The softs on the Jag didn't degrade one bit. They were slippery like a banana from lap 1 to lap 19. They felt like they were 100cm wide.

I think the limos should be moved back to the touring class after this season. They'll still be slow there, but at least they're in the same event with most of the pack.

Back to the current event... had a surprisingly good time last night. I opted to spend a few points and get into the bottom of the V8 crowd, just so I might be part of some racing somewhere. And I got exactly that. Battled like crazy with Sheldon for a good long while in an identical car. As the race wore on, though, I was content to let my position slip to 10th so I could max the rental point payout.

Dueled with Bill in his E-Type for a bit. He ended up pulling well away, but an off brought us back in range. I eventually got around him again to regain 10th. He tapped me lightly on one corner exit, but it didn't upset the car badly... just slid the tail out a little and lost some speed. I appreciate you backing off, Bill, but it wasn't necessary in my view. Thanks all the same. Very sporting. Sorry you dropped back further after that.

See you all in Riverside.

Well I opted to blow all 7 points on the Falcon and take my chances. I was looking at how many people had a bunch of points and was hoping for somewhere around 10th so I would have points for Riverside. I Q'd 7th and got a quick start which made going into T1 a little easier. Early spins moved me up to 4th (5th?) with Jason behind me. The falcon was no match for his TA top end and I was easy pickings. From there I built a comfy lead over Bryce and then my lack of brains took over. I was dinking with the field position/tire wear screen and completely drove through my brake point for the sloooooooow left hander before the oval section. Fortunately the lead I had built allowed me to calmly stop, backup, and get headed in the right direction. A sign of improvement(?) on my part is that I settled back into just running clean laps and actually ran my pb for the race the next lap. One more slight bobble in the same turn the rest of the race and it was a wrap. An unexpected 5th gave me championship points I didn't anticipate but now I can only afford a 4 point Jag at Riverside. And with the point structure there isn't any advantage to take a 1 point car and stockpile for the final week.

What can I say, I was a lemonaid stand out there. I chose to drop one point on the e type jag and it gave me exactly what I rented. A LEMONAID STAND. To bad I still could not keep it off the fences and walls. It had no turning or more likely I totally burned the brakes out after about 5 laps. I felt like I was in everyones way until I mercifully put her straight into a wall and it died on me a few laps from the end. Sorry to someone I laid a fender into on the first lap. I got punted and couldn't keep it off ya man. sorry.
I'll be back next race though with a better car for sure.
Nice race everyone. Congrates Mike Waltz.