Rouen - 21th of December - Round 18

[tim]

Gratulations André for your well deserved championship victory!

I could not reach your pace yesterday. Your strong strategy did the rest. Very well done!

Have some nice days guys, enjoy life!
I hope we all meet each other again next year!

tim

[tagomago]

Good race for me with few failures, which leaves a good taste in my mouth for a season in which I had good beginnings and then disasters here and there.
A great pleasure to participate in this championship ... good and fast pilots but above all good track mates.
I wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best for the next year.
I also want to send a big hug to Robert hoping that his health will improve
Thx all for racing

[snafu]

Congratulations to André for securing the championship which could have gone either way right up to the final race, Tim for 2nd place having pushed André all season.

If someone had offered me a 3rd place at Rouen I would have bitten their hand off. This track has always been something of a mystery to me. GPL Rank says I have done a mid 1:56 in the past but I have no idea how. I knew I should be able to manage low 2m - hi 1:59's and that was the target I set myself. Qualified 5th, race started well settling in behind Olaf's Ferrari and I felt I could push him into a mistake, but it was me who cracked 1st running wide through T1 and spinning off. Somehow I managed to miss everything and recovered back in 7th behind Tago's Eagle ahead of Seb who I think had already had to stop for repairs.

Caught Tago who let me past on the run down to Scierie a lot easier than I had any right to expect as he could easily have pulled a gap on me from Beauval through Gresil, so up to 6th. Set about catching Bjorn and got within about 100m when he spun exiting Sanson promoting me up another position to 5th. no... Wait.. I'm 4th?? Realised Rainer had disappeared.

Slowly began to make ground on Olaf's Ferrari and he went wide exiting Six Fréres, I had a split second of panic... right,left,right as he spun back onto the track. Fortunately I chose the right option and was through to a very undeserved 3rd, more through others misfortune than any skill on my part.

Pitted for tyres and fuel mid race. André and Tim were long gone by this point with no hope of catching either of them unless they made mistakes. so I concentrated on maintaining a decent gap bag to Tago's Eagle behind. All was going well until I spun into the hay bales at Sansom with a few laps to go, I felt the car was ok even allowing for the very dirty tyres but braking for Scierie later in the lap it was obvious that all was not well and I hit the fence. Dived into the pit for repairs all the time watching the gap back to Tago's Eagle reducing all the time. Got back out a few hundred meters ahead and was able to build a further gap in the final few laps.

Thinking of Robert and hoping he can continue his recovery and re join us for next season.

Thanks to all for organising and participating, hopefully we can attract some more racers next year.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and I look forwards to joining you all in 2024.

TTFN
John.

[Olaf Lehmann]

Code: Select all

  PITSTOP LISTING

   5:22	 35.1s	S.gore		Repair
  21:08	 35.1s	S.gore		Repair/Refuel
  24:02	 54.2s	B.Finnestad	Repair/Tire change/Refuel
  28:40	 31.7s	A.Jahren	Tire change/Refuel
  32:47	 31.0s	T.Roedl		Tire change/Refuel
  33:44	 32.0s	O.Lehmann	Tire change/Refuel
  35:23	 32.7s	J.Hammonds	Tire change/Refuel
  39:16	 36.6s	B.Finnestad	Repair/Refuel
  40:39	 32.6s	O.Lehmann	Repair
  56:08	 32.0s	J.Hammonds	Repair

Grats Andrè for winning the championchip.

Merry Christmas to all!
And the best wishes to Robert and his family!

[Bjørn Finnestad]

Grats André for winning race and the championship! Grats Tim for 2.pos in race and championship, and John for race podium! Grats to finishers.

Third place in the championship was decided when Rainer had to retire the race at Rouen. For me, it is surprising to have been able to hold the position so well throughout the season, but it is since I have completed so many races. Had also more endurance than speed.

Testing: Had several good setups to try, important not to understeer in the fast corners, but also important to be able to accelerate. Managed to improve the pb and thought I had found the key to this demanding track.

PreQual: Set a time, not completely satisfied, and hoping to improve it.

PreTesting: Further testing showed that I had adjusted so the result was worse. Changed setup again and struggled with brake balance and stability. One day I got a balanced car that I could push hard and the next day it was impossible. Driving style and setup are linked and the next day a different setup is required because the driving style does not suit or vice versa. Cleaned the rubber knobs under the pedals and thus had to find best position again, may have been unfortunate.

Qual: Did two stints, but the first was my achievement.

Race: The start was good, managed to keep a good flow until lap 9 where I spun in Sanson. On lap 11, the car tracked onto the edge and lost control, which also resulted in damage. Performed pitstop with repair, tires, and fuel for the rest of the race.
In lap 18, I lost my sound in the middle of the hairpin turn. It rarely happens, can't go off or on the gas because then it's guaranteed to spin. When I took my eyes off the road to activate the GPL with the mouse, I was unlucky and hit the barrier at the exit. Minor damage but had to repair. Had a bit of range anxiety so I filled a bit more fuel at the same time, don't know if it was necessary. The tires were a little worn and with cold tires it was noticeable, but the car stabilised.

The Brabham was obviously in good spirits from being patiently tended to. At the end of the race, it allowed itself to be pushed to sub-2.00 laps and came in nicely to the finish line. A feeling of mastery after this, fun race apart from where I messed it up.


Best wishes to Robert and his family! Hoping he can rejoin us.
Dag last raced at the Salzburgring and I look forward to him coming to the track, hope all is well.


Merry Christmas and thanks for the race and for the season, see you all in 2024! Maybe there will be some testing in the meantime.

Bjørn

[snafu]

In lap 18, I lost my sound in the middle of the hairpin turn. It rarely happens, can't go off or on the gas because then it's guaranteed to spin. When I took my eyes off the road to activate the GPL with the mouse, I was unlucky and hit the barrier at the exit.

Interesting you mention that Bjorn. I had a similar issue a few years ago, it seemed to be related to an anti virus update (Although I can't think why). Recently I again have the same issue and it happened to me several times in the Rouen race. You mention activating the mouse to bring your sound back and that also used to be what I had to do. But now nothing brings it back, until it returns on its own after some random time.

If you can always restore your sound by activating the mouse I can recommend a keyboard emulator such as "JoytoKey" which lets you assign input to Joystick functions. I have a mouse click assigned to my throttle. (Which solved the problem originally).

Might be worth a try.

TTFN
John.

[Bjørn Finnestad]

This happens so rarely that I have only checked in the race day, that the antivirus does not have a notice to take act, as well as press Windows exit and see if Windows requires a restart, cancel if not. The mouse is nicely placed on the desk and if the sound disappears, I press the right mouse button (then I can't activate something in a hidden window just in case). In my case, I should have waited until I was out of the turn, then it would have been completely undramatic.

Good tip John could be useful. If the throttle is set to activate, it is a safe way, at least if it only requires a little movement if I understand correctly. (If the accelerator pedal must be released or depressed, the brake pedal could also be used as activation in addition, as an alternative or instead.)

Odd that it happened during the race at Rouen that you lost the sound until it returns on its own (after some random time). Let's hope it was a more demanding update that happened.

[snafu]

the brake pedal could also be used as activation in addition, as an alternative or instead.

I've never seen an oval on the HIES calendar, but using the brake to activate a mouse click might be an issue for ovals where braking is unnecessary.

TTFN
John.