Sim Racers 4 Life - Lola T280 Season - Round 12 - Watkins Glen - Reports

[1959nikos]

At second race I started way after flag went down, family friends came unexpected and I lost count of time.
Still, I had my best result here, 8th.
I think I should miss the flag from now on :

Pace your reports here gents.

[jerry 33]

second race running third behind nikos and dan - I lost it under braking in turn one. I was just a little out of the groove and took a wild ride and ruined dan's race - sorry dan, REALLY SORRY! I gave myself a dnf for that mistake..

thanks to all that do what they do and congrats to all you finisher's

seeeeeeeeeeee ya --- jer

[bullwinkle]

first race sorry Dan for knocking you out couldn't get stopped in time ended 4th
race 2 went up on curb and coming back off I got Andros then Nikos hit him too went on to pass Mel on last lap straight buy in corner we touched I got 4th again he got a good 3rd.

[gorgias1976]

Qualifying
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I was surprised by the high grip on track compared to other days I practiced online.
On my first flying lap I got a 1.46.1 and a 1.45.9 (which wasn't a legal laptime as I cutted the chicane).
That first flying lap was enough for pole position.

Race 1
-------
Starting on the dirty side of the main straight I lost first position to David.
I then decided to take it easy and let laps go and see when I could try to attack him. But a bit later David did a mistake at the chicane and lost the speed, enough for me to overtake him (fortunately as he had a lower wing setup which made it difficult to approach him).
Now in the lead I pushed hard to get a bit of a gap and then manage it. At lap 8 I went for my pitstop and from then I drived fast but carefull to bring the car to the finish line for the race win.

Race 2
--------
Starting tenth everybody around started fine and we all went safe through the first turn. By then I found myself on 6th place behind David. He was fighting hard to find a way past Rick Naumann but he was defending really well. On the penultimate corner I took advantage of their battle and passed David.
A couple of laps later, braking for turn 1 the car on third place did a very wierd sideways braking taking the car ahead of him in a nasty crash (lost of connection???).
It was really hard trying to overtake Rick, he was defending very well making no mistakes. Finally I was able to overtake when he went wide braking after the backstraight. Then I battled with John Cook who was struggling a bit with his tires.
Finally overtook him and a lap later, lap 7th, I took an early pitstop as tires had taken a lot of effort in all these battles.
After everybody pitted I found myself on the lead with a comfortable lead so I drove again carefull to bring the car to the finish line and for the second win of the night.

Imola coming next, that won't be as easy as today.

[Ricknau]

I had 2 good races. Lots of close encounters and gained some positions, a few by legitimate pass, some due to others bobbling. In first race I ended up in great battle with Dan. He is faster than me so I had to defend many times. We were wheel to wheel quite often. We managed to keep it clean and I held him off for P5.

Second race was very similar. Was running a little higher in the order due to better grid position compared to first race. Somehow I again got into a battle with Dan. We went toe to toe, wheel to wheel again for a few laps. Again with me defending. But this time, after a few laps I left a little crack on the inside after the long straight and Dan got his nose in. I tried to leave some room (there wasn't much) but when I turned in we touched and it send me off at high speed into the wall which ripped a wheel off. So DNF but still it was fun racing. I saw that Dan was able to continue so good for him.

Looking forward to the next one.

[gorgias1976]

Wierd accident in race 2


[youtube]hc8wtUU9Vno[/youtube]

[1959nikos]

Isnt that Jerry's car?
He left after that, and part of his bodywork was hovering over that bend for rest of race, very haunting lol.

[gorgias1976]

The blue car was J Santucci taking out Dan Bayford.

[mel1c]

Damn, you can get caught on camera anywhere these days

[jerry 33]

YES - that was me, as stated in my report above.......... STILL, don't know how it happened, was too pissed to look yesterday, mostly at the fact that dan had a legit chance to win that race. just got home from work, got to cut grass and will try and decipher what I did. I was off line a bit, but never thought that when I hit my brakes I would go hard right into the guard rail???? doesn't change the fact that it happened and that dan had to be the guy who got it. the car could have been repaired, but I felt I deserved a DNF, no matter how it happened, other than someone knocking me from behind.
again sorry dan.. :-[

[gorgias1976]

I had a couple of "moments" braking for T1. In one of them (I thought it was the next lap after your incident) I almost lost my rear on the braking and by inches avoided running wide through the grass.

probably you lost the rear on an assymetric braking (as you had the left side of the car on the rubbered side and the right side on the green side)

I realised, while driving behind Rick, that on heavy brakings the rear used to get locked, probably because of air turbulence.

[jerry 33]

after many reviews:
first, I was following cook, not nikos in first and dan in second.
second, I thought I hit the guard rail, I did not..
third I was in the groove, to the right side, but in the groove. my braking point was hit, I was off the throttle??? I thought I might have hit a bump, there is a crease but I was already sliding right.

I would have to therefore agree with Gorka, by being right of the cars in front of me I caught some of their wash I guess and the results are tears....... :'(

[deecee52]

Doh I left my brain in the glovebox for this one .
I like the Watkins layout but the track surface was very abrasive and I had difficulty in finding a setup that was fast without destroying the left front .

Race 1

Got a good start and gained the lead , this lasted until lap 2 when I hit the chicane too hard and bounced to the outside , G went past but I knew it was only a matter of time anyway as he was faster than me, race progressed ok until I found I was short of 1ltr of fuel and had to do a splash and dash , this cost me 2nd place .

Race 2

Added 3 ltrs extra
Started ok but couldnt make any places , I was behind Rick who was driving a very wide car and covering all the corners excellently , G got past me into last turn and then spent the next few laps trying to get past Rick who was driving superbly , decided to save tyres as I could see both of them were hammering their tyres , G eventually got past then it was my turn , pushed Rick hard and could see his tyres going away under braking , eventually got him into turn 6 and pulled away , went for pitstop and my crew decided to have a tea break so it took 30 secs this let Rick get back past me , chased after him but got passed easier this time , I then moved up to 2nd and was feeling pleased until I checked my fuel and I was going to be ½ litre short DAMMIT , fighting with Rick must have upped my fuel usage , another splash and dash and lost places .

[Ricknau]

I appreciate the attitudes expressed in the fast guy reports. I sometimes feel guilty about holding up faster guys. But on the other hand that's what makes it racing. Thanks guys. I try to make you earn it but try to not make it (too) dangerous.

Though I guess Dan might disagree with that last claim... :