Snetterton, 9th of November - Round 15

[tim]

Hi André,

the server is not transmitting data to pre qualifying list on webpage.

thx!

[Olaf Lehmann]

trackini for Snetterton:
http://race.eolc.de/Olaf_Lehmann/trackiniSNETTER.zip

[snafu]

I might of missed it but how many laps are we running at Snetterton? (The calendar page shows "xx Laps").

Thanks in advance

TTFN
John.

[tim]

GPL Weekly shows 40 laps ..?

[snafu]

Ah ok. Thanks Tim, I was only checking on the main HIES pages.

TTFN
John.

[André Jahren]

Qual
Happy with qualifying. P2 with a lap close to my best Pre Qual lap

Race
The first few laps I was close to Rainer, but as soon as I lost his slipstream he pulled away. Then it was all about holding on to P2. Something I did not manage as I made a mistake entering Coram. Arrived with to much speed and drifted off, and was lucky to not pick up any damage. Tim passed me when I was still on the grass, and as I rejoined back on track I tried to stay out of the way from John as he passed. With the incident and dirty tires I lost around 10 seconds.

Then after some laps John made a mistake in the Hairpin, and the next laps I managed to gain some seconds on Tim before the pit stop.

After the pit stop it was a close battle with Tim trying to forse him in to making a mistake, but he was strong and managed to hold me off. Then with 6 laps to go I made a mistake on the exit on to the Norwich Straight, got dirty tires and needed to slow down and wait for the grip to come back. From there on in I struggled with the grip. John closed in on me, and on lap 39 he was all over my mirrors and I made mistake on the exit of Bombhole, and spun off. Again lucky to not pick up any damage.

Congratulation to Rainer, and Tim and John for joining him on the podium.

The battle for the Championship is closer then ever before. With just 1 point separating me and Tim with 3 races to go.

[snafu]

Well, that went far better than I dared expect. I think I peaked too early around here. I was recording times under 1:25 with impunity about 10 days ago, but for the past week I had been unable to better my online time. Put in a qualifying lap which was good enough for 4th on the grid behind the usual suspects.

The start went well from my perspective and I spent the early laps trying in vain to hang onto the front 3 but slowly but surely they began to pull away. Then I came across Andre recovering from an off track expedition going through Coram, scared me to death and I thank him for keeping well to the left allowing me to stay on the track in my panic. I lost some time to Tim but managed to gap Andre while he waited for his tyres to return to full grip. Then I spun at at the hairpin, I had no idea what happened at the time, but after looking at the replay it appears I had a rear wheel straddling the racing surface and the concrete apron and I think the join between the "Track walls" caught me out. So Andre retook the position and I set off in pursuit after giving it half a lap to get the tyres back into the operating window. Gaps ahead and behind remained fairly static and the front 3 pitted before me so I briefly took the lead until I pitted a lap later. I had been practicing pit stops as I know they are one of my weak points and returned to the track back in 4th with the gaps much as they were before.

Andre closed up on Tim and their lap times suffered by a few tenths allowing me to begin to close in a little. Then as Andre mentioned he made a small mistake entering the Norwich straight, I wasn't aware of this during the race and was surprised to suddenly find myself a real threat to Andre's 3rd place. By lap 36 I was able to begin to make a bit of a nuisance of myself and felt I definitely had more tyres left than he did.

Then on Lap 38 he spun exiting the Bomb Hole and I was finally through. So very happy to claim another podium.

Sadly (But happily for me) It's unlikely I'll make the race at Tripoli, I'm planning a week up in Scotland in the cold and rain, taking my fat bike for some trail riding around the local lanes, bridleways and deserted beaches armed with a pair of binoculars, a pack of sandwiches and a six pack of beer. . I'll hopefully have some internet and plan on watching the live stream. Be sure to put on a good show for me.

TTFN
John.

[tim]

What a pleassure racing with you guys!

I didn´t expect to much for this track as I was not able to reach a laptime below 1:25. I struggled alot with finding the right stiffness for the stabis, even made them a bit softer between qualifying and race - something I never did before, change setup that late..
I did a 15 minutes powernap before quali and sweared to myself one thing: brake supersoftly

Quali was ok, on my last attack the first corners were superhot, but early came the bigger mistakes - so P3, ok for me.

André had a good start, Rainer struggled a bit and I could manage to have a good run on both of them through the first corners. Then Rainer had a realy bad exit at the beginning of Norwich Straight, André was a bit to close and even had to brake a little. I thought now is the moment. I sheared out to the right in hope for a good run on André, maybe even Rainer. But in the middle of the long straight André appeared again and fast on my side – he got Rainers slipstream, even braked perfectly late and I had to pull back. Further on I lost contact to them a little and started to manage racepace as I knew the race will last longer. The two in front had very strong laps but after a few laps I recognized I could follow André and it is not over yet. From then on it was managing tires and laptimes, finding a flow, push but not loose it – everybody knows what I´m talking about ..
Then, in the middle of the first stint, Rainer was pulling away and I was already giving all by hunting André and very slowly closing on him. When he made his tiny mistake that led to an excursion throught the green and these unwanted 10 secs, an „uff!“ for me as he is a real hard nut
I was save for the moment and plan b started to appear in my head – bringing it home. P2 the new target as Rainer was unbeatable this evening – realy great, consistant performance mate!
Pitstop ok, no probs, a few tiny mistakes before and after, even a dropdown in my tension and concentration around the middlpart of this race, but, and that realy saddisfies me, I could find my pace again and keep André off my tail – very difficult ..
All in all I could bring it home safe without any danger, gained 3 points on André and championship...very happy!

As always I watched the replay and stream and that was a great show from us all, especially the first quarter of the race. Everybody could see real great racing from front to back of our field, superb!

The best season for me so far, ever! It´s realy great André, racing with you and everybody else!!

Thank you all!

[Olaf Lehmann]

Code: Select all

  PITSTOP LISTING

  29:04	 34.1s	O.Lehmann	Tire change/Refuel
  31:11	 28.0s	T.Roedl		Tire change/Refuel
  31:16	 27.9s	A.Jahren	Tire change/Refuel
  32:23	 29.6s	R.Alpen		Tire change/Refuel
  34:14	 31.8s	J.Hammonds	Tire change/Refuel

In contrast to the last track, I find Snetterton boring. But the pit lane entrance is a real challenge. I was already sweating with fear laps before my tyre stop...

Congratulations Rainer! Next victory for you.

@John: At some point we decided to start 30 minutes before the end of qualifying so that Andrè wouldn't be at a disadvantage (he still has to set up the live streaming after the server start).
I think we introduced this during your HIES abstinence so that you wouldn't know.

[snafu]

@John: At some point we decided to start 30 minutes before the end of qualifying so that Andrè wouldn't be at a disadvantage (he still has to set up the live streaming after the server start).
I think we introduced this during your HIES abstinence so that you wouldn't know.

Ah ok, Sorry I wasn't aware of that. It was the 1st time I had actually managed to join on server launch, I'm usually about 10 minutes late to the party.

I'll remember for next time.

TTFN
John.