UKFormula Euro FB: Limerock

Wacky race! Again I was eating dinner during qualifying, but misjudged my timing and missed out on getting a quali lap in by ONE SECOND! ARGH! Oh well...

Started last but one, got yet another blinder of a start, but struggled to settle in early on. I think I had passed half the field on the first lap though, so that was pretty good. Anyway, I latched onto Tommy Gunn pretty early, but sat there until I found a rythmn. Before I knew it, we where running one-two!!! How did that happen?!? Anyway, I set about passing him when I figured out where the track went, and got passed a few times only for Tommy to regain the place, but finally I made a clean move at about half distance. Then promptly lost it at the top of the hill. I stayed second though, Tommy made a mistake and I caught him, made a few more moves before eventually pulling off a clean one with about 8 to go. From there I just cruised home, determined that I wasnt going to screw it up again.

Nice race all, these cars are fantastic!

You found yourselves 1-2 because I'm an idiot and spun myself out of the lead!

That must be the most battered car to have ever finished fourth!
Picked off the guys in front from eighth slowly as they fell by wayside, then lost it coming over final crest and slapped the inside barrier, struggling from then on in but still picked up a couple of places at the end.

Great track for these cars though!

This one was a disaster of a race for me. I qualified pole, which was nice, but I noticed the clutch on my G25 began acting goofy in warmup. I unplugged the pedals and plugged them back in, hoping that would be good enough, but at the start, the clutch slipped and I got a false start. D'oh! I was determined to come back from a drive-through, but the clutch kept sticking and slipping, so I spun at least 5 times throughout the race. I managed to work my way back to 4th, but then on lap 23 I got the "low fuel" signal. I scrolled through the thing at the bottom of the screen and it read "0.3/1" on the front straight. Needless to say, it was sputtering half that lap and I coasted home to the pits. The pitstop put me back to 6th, with what I thought was 2 more laps. Just great. So I came out right on Barrett Erikson's gearbox, and was setting up to put a pass on him into turn 1 when the checkered flag symbol came up. Turns out there was only one more lap. Oops, oh well. I'm coming back for a vengeance this evening, so watch out!

well that was a lot of fun!

did my usual shit job in qualifying, of course (i'd done a 51.387 with that set just before joining the server). qualifying poorly never used to bother me, but a few recent races have taught me that there's a distinct advantage to qualifying toward the front.

then, when we came back to the grid after the formation lap, i thought everyone was just a little too close for comfort.

just as i'd feared, when the lights turned green i got a good jump, but had to back out of it when others didn't, complicating things further with a hesitant T1 (sorry to give you that moment behind me Brian -- i was getting better, but i've regressed a little after Nuerburg).

but my only big mistake -- and my only off in the race -- came while running P8 on lap 3 and trying to figure out how to get around Nick. comming into the last turn i was thinking a bit too far ahead -- or maybe not far enough ahead -- and dropped a wheel off on the outside at the turn-in point, doing a lazy spin on-track. David McRoberts then suffered my mistake as well. very sorry you got caught up in that David.

luckily pitlane was only a few hundred feet away, so i made a 30-some second pit-stop for repairs and came out a lap down in P13.

the climb back to 5th was mostly attrition, a kind gesture or two that smoothed my path, and unknown circumstance.

oddly enough though, considering the first few laps of my race, i had some very fun encounters with our illustious pole sitter whose problems i only now understand. Tom, you gave me some good laughs while trying to figure out what the hell was going on with you. i think i went by you three times without any idea what position you were running. i just knew you were running a lot faster than i was and probably several positions ahead.

but there you were, several times, and here's what i was thinking:

i pass an obviously faster car in the grass once, i give you the pass as easy as i can make it. i pass that car in the grass a second time, and you have to catch me then make a good and proper move and i'll give it up easy. i pass the same car in the grass a third time and i'm not giving you anything (i don't care if i am a lap down to you at that point i have my own race to think about). i pass you a fourth time and this time it's for position, and i'm working my ass off to prevent you getting around. :)

so there i was coming down the front straight and i see Tom O' coming out of the pits.

i beat him to T1 and see that this time it's for position! he's on my ass all the way around, clearly faster, just not able to get enough of a run on me to get the pass in. i take an early defensive line on the front straight and manage to hold him off as Scott comes into the mix limiting Tom's options. from our previous encounters, i have a perhaps exagerated confidence that i have enough grip advantage, when paired with with his skillfull patience, that i can fend the threat until the next time down the front straight.

so we come to the exit of the last turn, and i'd like to say i was observant enough to have noticed that Scott dissappeared from my mirrors after the S/F line on the last lap, or even that i was well aware that i was a lap down, but truth is, i'm still not used to the difference between the lap counters in rFactor vs. GTR2 and the only thing i saw in my mirrors was Tom. and i was certain he was going to get around me this time. so i was a bit surprised when he tucked back in under my wing rather than make the early run.

at that point my plan was to take advantage of his extended draft tactic and make a _very_ shallow trail-braking entry into T1, starting at about the S/F line, and deny him the inside line if i was still able to do so without risking contact.

Tom, i was as surprised as you when i saw the checker.

from my perspective, it just doesn't get better than those last couple laps.

beyond that, i have to say that watching the replay, i saw a lot of avoidable bumping, a few risky rejoins that risked or even wrecked others, and even some serious breaches of driving safety among the "front runners". i'd like to believe that these were just momentary lapses by some otherwise respectable drivers, so i hope they'll all come forward and fess-up after reviewing the replay.

if not, i guess i now have a few more names of drivers to watch out for.

i think i've said it before, but i wish the damage model on these things was more severe. it just seems that there isn't a sufficiently realistic "punishment" for a risky or even reckless move that results in contact that in real life would have sent both cars to the scrap heap.

the additional risk to me from such drivers would be worth it if i knew they would suffer more severly more often, thus maybe learning a lesson or two about first finishing.