1976 F1 Season - Round 2 Africa REPORTS

[gorgias1976]

Post your race reports here.

[deecee52]

I could see in practice that the Maclaren couldnt live with the speed of the Brabhams , no matter what I tried I couldnt break into the 1.08s and struggled to get low 1.09s so in the race I wouldnt be able to live with them . My front left was taking a hard hit so I knew I would be struggling towards the end of the race , time to put thinking cap on .
I did some test runs and found with half fuel I could lap in the high 9s>mid 10s compared to full fuel which gave mid 11s>low 12s , a pitstop took 22 secs and the striaght pitlane meant I lost little time on entry and exit . I decided to gamble on the fast guys going the distance and me being able to open a gap for a stop .

Qually
For most of the session it looked like I was on the 3rd row but then some kind person gave me a tow which lifted me onto the second row .

Race
Got a good start behind Dan T , Dan B appeared to bog down so I dropped in behind Dan T through the first corner , got a good run out of last corner and drafted past to take the lead , I now started to drive every lap like a qually lap as I wasnt worried about saving the tyres . I started to pull away and realised the Dans must be running full fuel so I was in with a chance , by the time for my stop came I had 17 secs advantage so felt confident , pitstop went ok and I came back out on a clear track in 4th .

I knew people must be suffering with tyres by now so I pushed , 3rd came to me when someone pitted and I could see I was reeling in the 2 Dans who were fighting hard , I managed to get on their tails and drafted past Dan T on the main striaght .
Whilst checking I was clear to pull in for the turn , I missed my braking point (everything happens so fast with these cars) so I made a clumsy entrance to turn 1 and went wide onto the grass , I was then all arms and legs trying to regain control and the track , this I did but unfortunately I tapped Dan and forced him wide (mega Sorry Dan) , chased down Dan B and drafted past him on the striaght , and just brought the car home .

Can i say well done to all drivers for watching thier mirrors and giving space when being lapped .

I am not going to get away with that one again .

[gorgias1976]

Qualy
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I was surprised to get a top 3, so my objective of a top 5 was in its way.

Race
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Not a good start, lights and sound seemed to be out of synch and I lost a bit of momentum when the race started. Also maybe the right lane was too green for a wheel spin.
I went from third to sixth into turn 1. Around lap 13 in the traffic JP, Dan and I found ourselves in a battle at the main straight for 4th place. I just stayed behind them into turn 1. As they went into turn 2 they both touched wheels, ending JP into a spin I tried to avoid through the outer side, but his car was also moving in that direction so my rear right got kissed and put me into a hard crash against the wall.
Car got damaged so I had to go to the pits for an early pitstop for repairs.
Exited the pits with a heavy car and a long race ahead in 18th place. Little by little I gained places and finally I found myself in 8th place, having Tobias close to me for 20 endless laps until the race was over.
Not the results I excepted, at least my teammate Bryan got a podium finish.

[bullwinkle]

I had a good race I guess Qual 16th only 1.5 off lead really tight grids with these cars. Plug along and as people had issues I moved up the ladder. I think I surprised Oscar in turn 1 and he got messed up really sorry Oscar I thought you knew I was there. Had some offs but no real damage so plug along to 10th.

[Dan Bayford]

I had my 1st pole in a league race I’m still smiling about that but then had possibly my worst start to a race ever to be honest it’s still a bit of a blur other than I remember rolling backwards when the flag went down once I got going I tried to get past Daniel but no chance he was driving great I thought David was going to do a stop and I wasn’t, so tried to not kill my tyres but a moments lack of concentration and I missed my braking mark and locked up big time flat spotting my tyres not good ( I’m still reverberating a day later ) anyway then unfortunately Daniel wasn’t in front of me anymore I’m not sure why ? and David pitted and now I’m in 1st place wow that felt good. But then I could see David making a second and a half a lap on me so I got back to reality and once Dave passed me I was still on for second which would have been an early Christmas present for me considering the class of the field and then I saw that I was a lap short on fuel I could see John was in 3rd place 30 seconds behind me so I tried to coast I even tried letting cars past so I could draft to save fuel but 2 laps to go I could see I wasn’t going to make it round the last lap so had to pit. Ended up 5 still a great position for me and great points for me and Nokia but should have had a few more
Anyway it was a great turnout a great race not one freeze or glitch connection wise my end. And so a big thank you to all who make it possible

[mel1c]

I haven't had much time in these cars, was away for the first race, did not practice much for this race. These cars are too fast for me and I do not like sliding, so I added downforce and told myself "Self, don't lock the brakes, don't slide in corners, mind the left front, stay on the pavement!"
Qualified down in 17th. Start was clean and careful, didn't see any accidents. It took a few laps to settle down into a rhythm. Santiago was behind for several laps and quicker. I am sure I frustrated him and he had difficulty getting by. I was sure he would draft by on the straight, but no. He was being careful I think; thank you. Slowly I was gaining positions due to others' problems or strategies. For the last 20 or so laps I had Gorka at a distance behind and faster than me of course. He took about 20 seconds out of the lead I had but I was keeping a careful eye on him and ended up 7th.

[Dan Bayford]

I had my 1st pole in a league race I’m still smiling about that but then had possibly my worst start to a race ever to be honest it’s still a bit of a blur other than I remember rolling backwards when the flag went down once I got going I tried to get past Daniel but no chance he was driving great I thought David was going to do a stop and I wasn’t, so tried to not kill my tyres but a moments lack of concentration and I missed my braking mark and locked up big time flat spotting my tyres not good ( I’m still reverberating a day later ) anyway then unfortunately Daniel wasn’t in front of me anymore I’m not sure why ? and David pitted and now I’m in 1st place wow that felt good. But then I could see David making a second and a half a lap on me so I got back to reality and once Dave passed me I was still on for second which would have been an early Christmas present for me considering the class of the field and then I saw that I was a lap short on fuel I could see John was in 3rd place 30 seconds behind me so I tried to coast I even tried letting cars past so I could draft to save fuel but 2 laps to go I could see I wasn’t going to make it round the last lap so had to pit. Ended up 5 still a great position for me and great points for me and Nokia but should have had a few more
Anyway it was a great turnout a great race not one freeze or glitch connection wise my end. And so a big thank you to all who make it possible

Sorry It was JP behind me and my team mate is Nikos. Not Nokia

[sdancourt]

Thanks Mel, actually I started race with too much wings, so I was faster on turns but not fast enough on the main straight.

[deecee52]

Sorry It was JP behind me and my team mate is Nikos. Not Nokia

He looks like a Nokia

[edwin]

my biggest problem was concentration.....Age problem?....sigh......note to self --> practice race long stints.

Okay my report:

Qualy:
Well i'm not a hotlap guy so doing a pb was more then i could ask for, just behind Cookie so i thought not to bad.

Race:
Start went well and kudos to all, this was one of the most clean races i have had since long time.
After T1 i was in 10th place and followed John (Cookie) as close as i possibly could. We gained places and life was nice. At one point Fergy went past me and him and me had a great battle going on for several laps.
Lap 15 disaster struck however, coming onto start/finish straight (i was 7th at that time) in the distance i saw a accident happen. Lots of smoke and debry all over the place. I made the mistake of not slowing down enough and Fergy in front did so all i could do to avoid a collision with him was go left side off track. This is concrete i think and there i lost control, in the process even touching Fergy (not sure) but if really sorry bout that.
Ended up in the wall loosing my front wing and damaging front suspension. Stumbled back to the pit to get repairs, turned out John was in the same boat and came in pit after me.
Came out of the pit in 16th place with a way to heavy car so couldn't do sub 1:11 laptimes anymore. Kept on going however and fought my way back to 10th. Then again i made a mistake and had to go in again because of damage. Got repaired and again was 16th but my car was even heavier then before (note to self: assign buttons to be able to adjust fuel fill) was now struggling to do sub 12 laps was following someone but wasn't able to overtake. At some point Dan Minges made a mistake giving me 15th and i was settling with the idea that this was all that was in it for me this time. Then another mistake in lap 46 and i didn't want to mess anybodies race up due to me stumbling around the track again to get into pits so i gave up.

Eventfull enough but not the way i liked it to be, but then again had great fights and was sweating like a ........
Thanks all and next time i will be better prepared......i hope

[J-P SImard]

Congratulations to the winner and all the participants, always cool to see such a beautiful grid. Thanks to the admins to make all this possible.

On my side I was really lacking speed for a lot of reason and I did not do a lot of lap in qualifying because I watched the GP of the United States at the same time ... A disappointing 8th place for me in qualifying.

I had a pretty good start in the race and I did not get too far from the top 5 when I caught up with Gorka who was fighting with Dan. I really had a lot of speed in the straight and I was able to overtake Gorka and attack Dan but our cars got hooked and I went spinning. Unfortunately Gorka just behind could not avoid my car and that completely ruined his race, I apologize it's entirely my fault.

I decided to make 1 stop, put gas only but not change the tires, which was ultimately a mistake because I had absolutely no rhythm in the second half of the race, I really finished away of the winner. 2nd but I was a bit lucky with the last stop of Dan, I happy with this result given that I had no speed this weekend.

Obviously always pleasant to run with these cars. See you!

[Dan Minges]

Very pleased with the way everyone I could see drove a nice careful first lap. We're getting much better starting races.
Not much to tell for my race. Like Mel, these cars are too fast for me to be competitive. Toward the end my rear tires were getting slippery, and I kept spinning turning on to the straight. Sorry for being stopped there for some guys. At least my teamie Ed is consistently good!

[chrispbbb]

Wow what a tight grid! Qualified 9th with only 0.2 second over my PB and 0.8 back from 1st.
Nice clean start from everyone. I fell back to 11th after T2 but happy to make it through without incident.
Followed Ed and Bryan for a bit, but starting with full fuel I was losing ground on the straights, or maybe they had less wing.
Avoided a close call with Gorka after he got collected by the incident on lap 15/16(?) and then again on the main straight when Cook and Nikos tangled.
Never practiced a full fuel race distance at Kyalami.
I thought tires would be ok but the left front wear kept me off pace after halfway.
Most of the time I was trying to stay in front of Ed P, who I think was driving damaged as he had collided in front of me earlier.
However, had a join/leave lag happen to me and was warped to behind Ed.
Content to stick behind Ed for the rest of the race as the left front tire did not give me confidence to make any moves.
Then realized that I had miscalculated my full fuel load and needed to make a splash and dash with 2 laps to go.
Luckily did not lose a position needing to make the pitstop and finished 6th.
Looks like Long Beach for next race, which should spread the field out and provide more drama. Looking forward to it!

[lamer of fortune]

what a race! I like Kyalami and especially with this car / track combo. This helped my motivation for a few extra training / setup laps and i felt rather confident about speed and control aiming for at least a top 1o position.
I made a few comparisons with full distance fuel and half and identified almost a second faster laps with lower fuel This together with the long race distance and associated risk of damaging something was enough reason to go for a 1 stop strategy.
Qualy turned out ok but it took me all 30 minutes to get back to the speed, think i was 6th or 7th.
Careful start into the race and positive surprise about total lack of stupid maneuvers and daredevilism. Survived lap 1 and could maintain position. I then became victim of the lap 15 issue (it was me Ed, not Bryan ) Cookie saw a space to lap Nikos where there was non and lost it after making contact. The car was spinning from left to right and then back to the left. Trying to avoid a collision i was slowing down to find a path through the moving objects and had to turn left wen Cookie bounced back fro the other side. Unfortunately this surprised Ed who came wit high speed from behind and I took the space away he was trying to get through. We made contact and I crashed to the right and he to the left. As it was on the long straight behind the hill I could not immedieately see whether someone else was approaching and was hesitant to get right back onto the track. I then drove to the other side of the track where i could not find the reverse gear as my wheel was upside down. The whole thing took something like 20 seconds until i was back accelerating and I was worrying about my top 10 goal. However the damage was not too bad and I could wait with the stop until the planned moment. Lost 2-3 kmh in top speed and did not make too many mistakes apart from a spin when closing in on the surprisingly slow Gorka (i knew he must have had a bad repair). So i finished in 9th place which I am still very happy about.
All in all I think this was a fantastic race with good preparation, great turn out on raceday and mostly clean driving. I am looking forward to the rest of the season. Money and time is invested well here

[cookie]

i was running in 5th on lap 15 , chasing jp with tobias hot on my tail , when i came upon a slow car in the apex of the driving line in the last turn/kink on the straight , he was barely moving , it was nokia being lapped but he must have slowed or crashed because he was barely going and had moved onto the racing line ., i started to go left but he looked to be moving left at the last second so i made a dive for the inside and we collided , i lost many parts but made it around to the pits and found nokia again going slow in the pits , i hit him again in the pits - damn - sorry nikos - we changed your name to nokia btw
i dropped to last but made it back a few places , my tires were gone

[Edvvc]

I qualified in 5th and got a good start, gaining a place or two off the lights and then carefully negotiated turn one with I think Dan B on my inside. Looking back at the replay it's fantastic to see so many beautiful cars pushing hard at the start without contact. My strategy was not to stop, which I regret in hindsight, but it didn't seem too bad with laptimes in the mid 1:10 range. By lap 12 or so I was in 7th and in front of me cars were in trouble with one stationary sideways and I had to made a quick decision - left or right. I went left but the barrier closed in and my car hit it taking rear suspension damage. This was the Dan B/J-P incident although I didn't realise at the time.

After that the car was a bit of a handful. Thankfully no flatspots but accelerating out of righthanders (of which there are many) made the car very unstable. Eventually I got used to the new handling and settled down when Chris and I began our battle . I was behind him for a while considering my options for a move when unexpectedly on the straight he disappeared only to reappear in my mirrors leaving me very bewildered. It was not how I wanted to take the position and I don't understand what happened. The racing was great apart from that and I alternated between gaining ground and having to defend. At one point I got a terrible exit on the last turn and was sure Chris would overtake before turn one so I stayed left but he didn't. Guess your front left tyre must have been really bad.

Kept it steady for the rest of the race gaining a few positions from people pitting and losing a position to Bryan who I had no defense to. Near the end, Dan B emerged unexpectedly behind me and I couldn't work out whether we were racing for position. I didn't see any blue flags nor did I see any change in my position. At least that's how I remember it - maybe need to see the replay again.

Overall this was a fine race. Hard work with some great battles, an incident to spice things up and a high degree of respect between drivers. This series is serious fun

[Fergy]

Make no mistake this is a tough season. I really happy with the standard so far. T1 lap one was a great example of that with all drivers putting value on the distance and not so much the place.

I was happy with my race, the 5.15am alarm was missed but luckily Gorka sent me a message on hangout which woke me haha.

Happy with my Qual, started from 7th off memory but like round one missed the start and dropped to 11th. The dirty air effect impressed me and the lack of actual race practice meant I needed a few laps to pick it up. I had some nice mini battles during the race and much to my surprise came out with a 3rd. A lot of luck there, two near misses that would have ended where I missed cars by millimeters.

Well Done DeeCee, great effort and looking forward to the next race/challenge at Long Beach.

Great turn out to the first two rounds, let's hope it continues.

P.s. I'm using my phones hotspot to connect to these races, hardwired through my TP-link. Download and upload speeds seem very good. If anyone is having issues with my ping could you let me know? I am racing upside down on the other side of the world.:p

Cheers,
Fergy

[gorgias1976]

Bryan, remember DST ending in Europe this weekend and how it may affect AUS times.