Sim Racers 4 Life - BT44 Season - Round 4 - Zolder - Race Reports

[Paul Swire]

Evening All,

Sorry I couldn't make it tonight. Lets have your reports.

Cheers
Paul

[Harri Mac]

What a strange event for me.

Practice - things started going strange and laggy, had jumps where it seemed to freeze and then I would carry on but from a different position like I'd teleported down the road! Also cars were showing up in wrong places on the bar the bottom of the screen, then the game crashed to desktop.

Quali - started back up but now on top of slight pauses and freezes, the wheel stops responding intermittently too! Drove out of the garage once straight into the wall as it would not steer at all. Restarted computer and checked nothing using bandwidth in the house. Still happening after restart.

Race - I thought it had gone but then, bam, no steering and strange sponginess in pedal response. I'd fight the car back to the straight and then it would be ok for a while, then bam, strangeness again. It was horrible to drive. I managed about 33 laps and then had to give up because it was insanesifying.

The game was fine in single player today and online during the week so no idea why it should be fubar this evening.

Grats to podium and finishers, sorry if I got in your way during one of the no steering and spongy pedal moments.

[bullwinkle]

Finally had a little good luck. Knew I couldn't qualify well so I made lap and waited ended 15th. Slow start to race had to stop for bad start in front of me and then ran into a large pile up in front of me then bummed again I had damage to rear but car drove ok so I kept on with no pit stop was very surprised the tires remained quite good for entire race and I managed to finish 9th finally got some points to help Jerry hope this is a sign of races to come.
Well Done Podium you guys are really fast Harri sorry about your computer I had some very small stutters also but no harm.

[gorgias1976]

Well, this time calculations showed doing a pitstop was necessary for me. I could lap 1 sec faster per lap with half race fuel than full race fuel, so I just hoped everyone around me did so.

Qualy
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In this track it took me like 3-4 laps to get tires to racing temperature. In that situation I expected both Davids to be very competitive and so they were.
My best lap was enough for second and it took me a lot laps to get it.

Race
------
I had a good reaction time but being on the greener side of the straight I didn't have all the grip I wanted to battle DjC. I also saw D Coyne had been overtaken on the back. I felt a little relieved about it as I feared his high grip for the first laps until my tires could be completely operative.
I was chasing DjC lap after lap, being able to hold his pace. My setup was a little oversteery and being behind me just compensated it so I was driving rather comfortable behind but not enough to be able to attack him unless he made a mistake.
I had fuel for 21-22 laps. Knowing I wasn't going to be able to overtake DjC on track I decided to do my pitstop by the end of lap 19 and trust I could overtake him during his pitstop.
I was very fortunate that as I entered the pits we were approaching a couple of slower cars, I trusted on that for DjC to lose some time behind them. I don't know if that was the reason but on the next lap he came out of his pitstop 3 seconds behind me.
It was going to be a very difficult second half of the race.
Depending on traffic the gap sometimes increased to 4 seconds, other reduced to 2.
For the final 5 laps I was starting to battle the rear of the car. In this track the rear tires liked to slide and started getting a bit of a high temperature making the car oversteery mainly braking for turn 2, entering turn 9 and on the final corner. David was getting closer but finally the race was over, getting the victory...and a lot of sweat.

[jerry 33]

Yes Harri - It Sucks when that happens! and you were fast too, it seemed strange that you went off where you did, now i know why. bummer


qually went ok, i kept blowing the hairpin on the far side of the track, i'd be all fast (not 1:21 fast - but for me fast) and i'd overcook that turn and watch it all go away. i think i was 12th or something in the end.


had a good start, was up to 7th watching Mel and John battle for 5th spot. when i say i was watching them, i mean that, cause i wasn't paying attention to what i was doing and looped it going into turn 3! ??? that put me on the Glacier Ice Pack know as the grass. took me over 20 seconds to get out of there... but after that brain fart, everything went ok and finished 8th and Tim finished 9th! Good race Tim - Yeah for us!
must note - very good manners from everyone - Thank You All!
Congrats to Top 3 who lapped the field & thanks to all that make it happen - on to Zanford.........

[deecee52]

Qually

Qualified 3rd with a pb so was pleased with that .

Race

I was running a high 1st gear so i was slow away and dropped in behind Ramon, i was happy with this as i was planning to conserve tyres for later in the stint , didnt try to get passed Ramon just shadowed him until my tyres came in , on 3rd lap going into chicane he slowed right up so i had to do likewise , unfortunately Andi who was following didnt and hit me very hard putting me into the barriers and knocking my front wheels off , game over .

[1959nikos]

I tried to avoid the 1st lap chaos but I had a direct hit on someone who blocked the whole road suddenly in front of me. Sorry nothing I could do.

Car didnt have much damage tho, steering was straight so I stayed away of repairs.

Then, while I passed in front of pits exit, somebody shooted right out without looking just in front of me.

I spun trying to avoid but incredibly I missed the barriers so I was able to continue BUT I had a huge flatspot so rest of race went BRRRRRRR.

All well, I had good points, teamie as well, I loved the track I love the car.

[donrandom]

I loved the track I love the car.

I absolutely agree!
The BT44 is a wonderful car and Zolder is a very interesting track that I always enjoyed. Also this time.

Q – I didn't manage to come up with a PB but a 1.22.low earned me P4, which was absolutely OK.

R – Congratulations and respect to the TOP 2 for their incredible pace and consistency, as well as close racing!
I started in row 2 on the inside line, which gifted me the inside into T1. That allowed me to take P3 in front of David Coyne, who immediately showed a great pace. I tried to take it easy during the first laps in order to bring the tyres to temperature without destroying them immediately. David was close behind me, but it is not easy to overtake in Zolder. In lap 3, David and I almost came together in the chicane. Although David avoided crashing into me, I saw in the mirrors how he had a come-together with Andi who was just behind him. Really sorry that you couldn't continue after that as we would have a good fight for P3 (at least as long as I would have been able to keep David Coyne behind me :.

After Lap 3 nothing could stop me from a podium position but myself or an unsuccessful lapping attempt. I was able to keep the car on the track without being lapped by the TOP 2, while lapping went very well (although I had my moments ). Finally, P3 in Zolder is a great result for me and already my second podium after Interlagos. Also great a race for the RBR team since Andi also picked up very good and valuable points.

See you in Zandvoort!

[argl]

I had sudden reboots on my machine throughout the preceding weeks, plus my wheel died after years of good service. So in between the crashes I desperately tried to stabilize my system, getting used to my new wheel and preparing the move to my new house next week.

I managed to qualify 6th, to my surprise, and even had a decent start. Looking at my points tally for the season (zero), I desperately wanted to finish this time. After the first turns, I was tucked in nicely behind Ramon and David Coyne, both usually around a second quicker than me. I expected them to disappear in thr distance quickly and I tried to get into my own rhythm. Alas, the two battled in front of me and the gap would not open. Come lap three, it looked like David was trying something going into the chicane, and the two almost came to a complete stop. Unfortunately, I was not prepared for this and I hit David in the middle of the chicane, turning him into the barriers. Certainly no intention from my side, but Davids race was done. After that, I was running at my pace, had some slight moments with backmarkers and on my own, but held it together for a fourth place finish - much better than I have hoped for.

David, I am terribly sorry that your race ended like it did, I only had the slightest of damage from the impact (costing me 5 additional secs in the pits to repair). Once comitted to my braking point, there was not much room to alter the sequence of events, most probably to my lack of talent and judgement.

[deecee52]

I had sudden reboots on my machine throughout the preceding weeks, plus my wheel died after years of good service. So in between the crashes I desperately tried to stabilize my system, getting used to my new wheel and preparing the move to my new house next week.

I managed to qualify 6th, to my surprise, and even had a decent start. Looking at my points tally for the season (zero), I desperately wanted to finish this time. After the first turns, I was tucked in nicely behind Ramon and David Coyne, both usually around a second quicker than me. I expected them to disappear in thr distance quickly and I tried to get into my own rhythm. Alas, the two battled in front of me and the gap would not open. Come lap three, it looked like David was trying something going into the chicane, and the two almost came to a complete stop. Unfortunately, I was not prepared for this and I hit David in the middle of the chicane, turning him into the barriers. Certainly no intention from my side, but Davids race was done. After that, I was running at my pace, had some slight moments with backmarkers and on my own, but held it together for a fourth place finish - much better than I have hoped for.

David, I am terribly sorry that your race ended like it did, I only had the slightest of damage from the impact (costing me 5 additional secs in the pits to repair). Once comitted to my braking point, there was not much room to alter the sequence of events, most probably to my lack of talent and judgement.

NP Andi thats racing , at the speed we are going in these cars you dont have a lot of time to react .