Spa-Francorchamps

The Benz had the power to win this race tonight, but it definitely didn't have the brakes. All night, pulling that big car down from speed involved a stab at the pedal, a tight grip on the wheel, and a prayer. Temps were bright reds and yellows, and sometimes the car would suddenly pull hard to the left. The bumps here at Spa didn't help, skipping the front brakes in and out of lockup unpredictably. So all in all it was quite a handful, maybe more than my tired sun-drenched brain could handle tonight. Still I had a great time battling with Ray for 3rd over the last 5 laps. Congrats to our winners, and to our finishers! On to Targa Florio!

Qualified for P2 on the grid, after time expired I went to setup menu to do some changes, I don't think I spend more than 20 -25 seconds, I'm used to having 2 min. time break between the end of qualy and the start of the race in Race 07, when I was back to the main menu time for race start showed 1 sec. and than it expired, the monitor showed me as DQ and, end of story.

When i looked in the chat menu I saw the server had put the race start on vote (very quickly) and was passed right away i think that cought me off guard. This was going to be my third ever GTL online race, so I guess it was a rookie mistake, I would have tought there would be a little bit more time given to people to do last second changes, or at least there should be some rule for timing of it.

Watching Mr. Miller's charge from the back after his stop n go was fun though, see you guys at Targa...

It's very quick, barely time to change setups. Unfortunately it's automatic and can't be adjusted, we all wish it was longer. I chatted reminders in the first couple of events, guess I should keep doing that. Sorry you missed the race Jon!

I decided to start this one from the back. Doing so put me in the line of fire for a potential incident in the first few corners. Like Mike said earlier, everybody was heads up and no contact was made through Eau Rouge, but while climbing the Kemmel straight, I made an aggressive shift while Ray was to my right and the rear of my car stepped out to the left abruptly. I counter steered the car to keep it on the track, but wasn't sure if I made side to side contact with Ray. I saw him off track in my rear view so I thought I may have been a contributor to his off. At first, I thought it would be considered a racing incident, but later, I figured it was safest to take a stop/go penalty in case it as my fault.

That pit lane is very, very long. The field streamed by as I was trundling along with the pit speed limiter on. Once back on track, I put my head down and cranked off some quick laps. While doing so, I noticed XD said my engine health had fallen from 95% to 65%. I lost 30% health in 4 laps. I would not get home at this rate. This forced me to be smoother with the shifts and selectively take the car to the rev limit. Once I figured out the best approach, I found a way to be quick and save the engine.

I climbed back to 2nd place just before the stop. My only chance at Bret was for him to take tires and I do not. This is exactly what happened. It took me a couple laps to close the gap and get by. My Ferrari was flying up the hill in the draft. I set my fastest lap due to the draft on used tires and my corner speed was down a bit.

I wish he would have hung in there though because my tires were swiss cheese at the end. He may have had something for me with his new tires.

Did anyone really want the third step on the podium?? I got bogged down a bit on the start having to let off the gas when the car in front of me didn't get off the line quickly. MK shot through the opening and I found myself closer to the back of the pack. The skirmishing at the outset was fun and I probably cuased some confusion more than once until I realized that the rear view mirror on my Ferrari was reversed - I remember twice having cars catch and pass me in the draft and they went by on the 'wrong' side compared to my mirrors. Honest guys - it wsn't deliberate. The only things I remember from last night in detail were MK and I trading offs - three or maybe four times through the race. I lost the back end under acceleration which caught me completely by surprise, I went into a slow left hander and went from 3rd to 1st gear with one click of the lever which sent me sideways, I missed a brake point and went off and then after my stop - I managed the fuel correctly for a change and was so excited I forgot to turn off changing tires. On the out lap I was surprised to see my engine life at 20-22% with 10 laos to go. I was in fifth I believe but not really in a position to move up unless others had issues (I have raced with several of you for years - we all most certainly have issues...lol). And monitoring engine life I was trying to short shift when possible but it really didn't save anything - I was using 2% per lap - fortunately it calculated that I would hit zero somewhere after Eau Rouge at the rate I was at but I wasn't going to be able to race anyone. I then found myself in 3rd with a couple laps remaining - MK in his Mercedes would catch me twice after Eau Rouge only to be on the inside and not quite be able to make the pass stick. This repeated on the last lap and I had room to spare on my engine with 3% so felt racy at this point. I then noticed with about 1/3 of the lap remaining that my engine health was at 0%/none/nil/zip/nadda/the big goose egg. Fortunately the engine held through to the finish line and I grabbed third....somehow. Not my cleanest effort but it was interesting.

@MM - the side to side stuff was as much my reversed mirrors since I anticipated you on the other side. And these cars are such a handful under the best of circumstances and with a full race ahead I was cautious when I got out of shape. Nothing to fret about from my perspective but I am sure everyone appreciates your approach to taking the drive through.

Now we get that short two lapper at Targa. I may actually get a complete practice lap in soon....

Hi guys, I really love to race with all of you guys. For this time I was really worried because I could not give myself the usual time to prepare for the race. So i test the 3 possible cars and quickly decide to use the Ferrari, but my expectations for the result were very low. A 2nd is great for the condition, is a 1st without Miller factor, lol, now we move on to Targa and we will see what happen there, the test race give me the no so good news that I was 5 min late, so I have to do something. See you soon guys

LOL, The Miller Factor! I like that!

I'd love to sell that to the networks and make millions.

If you guys like a good barbecue, just bring your favorite treat and we'll put it on the hood of my (insert next car used) after a good wringing out. Honestly, I had no idea how much engine life I had left. And that is why she went KABLOOY somewhere around L13. Someone please point me to the in-car data tracking utility, so I can at least finish in one piece.

How in the world did Mike Miller end up not sitting on pole with the fastest qualifying time? I thought GTL placed you in your qualy spot when you joined the grid, or you didn't make the race. BTW, sorry Jon Uyan missed it - it was a Ferrari fest already. I was preparing for a safe launch from the front row hoping not to spin out.. and then realized it was still in neutral. DUH... rookie front rower engages at the green. Sorry for that start delay Ray!

Past Eau Rouge, things started to get racy. Probably pushed too hard early and tapped Hernan in T3. Glad to see he recovered quickly, so I soldier on. Wasn't sure why MM pitted so early at the time. But, I sure enjoyed gaining a spot. Also gained a spot when Mike Kolar was fighting his big Merc brakes at the bus stop. After those two surprises, I couldn't believe I was actually leading a PSRL event for a while - even if the damage I was imposing on my car would eventually catch up with me.

Can you believe that 'Miller Factor'? - Does a Stop & Go and still drives through the field for a dominant win. Awesome drive. He passed me just before I lit my grill up.

@ MM: Even though your pit stop was shorter than mine, I also chose not to change tires. I just need more practice executing efficient changes on the pit board. And, probably more seat time with some really worn tires. Not sure how well that really would have ended for me!

Thanks to all who could make it! See you at Rouen for sure, if not earlier.

Fun to race with the PASRL gang again even if I was just trying to finish the race. The Miller Effect certainly loomed large here at Spa-Francorchamps.

Brette, I think the drivers are using XD for GTL for the engine life info.

Sims or, TV for that matter, do not do justice to how steep Eau Rouge really is.