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Post by XRF Lemarrrr on Jan 10, 2021 12:55:45 GMT
Q 9
Sprint P5
Feature P7
Was hoping for a better qualifying session but couldn’t put a competitive lap together and ended up at the back of the grid for the Sprint.
Made a great start and took a number of places before touching wheels with Rich causing him to spin out, no damage was sustained so I pushed on and quickly caught Karl, I made an ambitious move into the hairpin which resulted in Karl’s retirement (huge apologies Karl), I was comfortable in P5 and had little pressure from behind but couldn’t close the gap to Pat in P4, finishing the Sprint Race in P5 and winning some valuable points for the team.
We’d worked on the long race pace in practice and that work really paid off in the Feature Race, made a good start making up 2 places and challenging Rich for P3 in the opening laps, I really enjoyed the battle with Rich and was almost disappointed when he span a few laps later and I moved into the podium places, I pushed to close the gap to Karl in P2 but he was just out of range so I decided to run a few laps longer after he had stopped for his mandatory pitstop, but I began to realize that Karl was fuelled for a much extended 1st stint and I didn’t have that range, I was glad to see Bryan pit and I pushed on my in lap, had a good stop and rejoined the race in P4, car felt great on the new tyres and I set about trying to regain my podium position but I began to notice my wheel felt loose on the hub and I discovered that the retaining nut was coming loose, I tried to retighten it but I couldn’t maintain my laptime and repair the fault. I tightened the nut and rejoined the race after loosing a number of positions and found myself behind Rich again, I closed the gap to Rich but he collected me as he span off in the chicane near the end of the lap causing some serious suspension damage so I had to pit for repairs and finished the race in P7.
All in all a very enjoyable nights racing and a great way to start the season. Congratulations to Karl and Liam for the wins and congratulations to everyone who took part. Looking forward to Monza.
Cheers
Dave
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Post by pattycro89 on Jan 10, 2021 17:51:17 GMT
Q- 8th I think. Couldnt get a lap together that was quick.
Sprint- cautious through the opening of lap one,wanted to get through with no damage. Think I was running in about 6th when Dave went for his overtake. Ran in a solid 4th. Guys ahead were just too strong and I overfuelled haha. Brought it home 4th which is my best finish in XRF.
Feature- apologies to Dave for the first lap spin and contact,I had damage at that point already from an incident on the starting line,lack of downforce and a bump caught me out. No comment about the rest.
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Post by XRF Lemarrrr on Jan 10, 2021 18:04:04 GMT
Q- 8th I think. Couldnt get a lap together that was quick. Sprint- cautious through the opening of lap one,wanted to get through with no damage. Think I was running in about 6th when Dave went for his overtake. Ran in a solid 4th. Guys ahead were just too strong and I overfuelled haha. Brought it home 4th which is my best finish in XRF. Feature- apologies to Dave for the first lap spin and contact,I had damage at that point already from an incident on the starting line,lack of downforce and a bump caught me out. No comment about the rest. No apologies necessary mate |
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Post by csbryan on Jan 10, 2021 21:04:18 GMT
Qualy 5
Sprint DNF
Feature P2
Q - I had done some testing focusing on the qualifying and until last week was very happy with the pace (being like one second behind Liam) so I was aiming for a top 4 in the first session. Dindn´t realize that the qualy would take place in April so I suffered a lot with the temps at the first 20 minutes having tons of OVS at Dunlop chicane and at the final two corners. Manage to put a decent lap at the end to beat Karl so I started 5th.
S - Had a great launch and overtook round the outside one car to claim 4th and was quickly on the rear of Will and Dan on the first lap, was looking like a great race but realized that all of the cars were lagging in front of me and then the game disconnected me from the session. I was gutted as the problem was very weird it was more like the game just freeze rather than the internet. I focused then for the feature race hoping that the issue wouldn´t repeat itself.
F - Started 4th in reverse grid order with Rich Karl and Carmelo in front of me. Then I had the greatest of launches and quickly went up to 3rd and then outbraked the two guys in front at the outside of the Dunlop chicane so I was amazed and quite nervious to be in first place. First 15 minutes were really amazing was flying setting very consistent times (mid 24s) but then I looked that Karl was up in second and could see that my 7s gap was coming down lap after lap.
25 minutes in and Karl was clearly half a second quicker each lap and was 1.8 seconds behind me before my mandatory pitstop that I was planning to take on to the 30min mark. Pitstop was Ok but I saw that the gap with Karl on the lead wasn´t decreasing so I came to reality that the he was going on a super-long stint and that it was going to be very difficult to stay in front. Was trying y very best but encountered traffic at the final chicanne that I assumed didn´t saw me as he parked in the middle of the apex and had to brake very hard to avoid contact and went on to the grass. That was a defining moment as I lost 5 seconds and in the next lap Karl pitted and appeared ahead 4.7s in front.
Anyways Karls pace afterwards was very strong so he would have won probably besides that. Last 15 minutes were very consistant and I fully enjoyed the race looking lap after lap for my PB (23.9). I finished 2nd in no mans land and was very happy with that race. Bitersweet "weekend" as first race was very promising but cannot complain too much. Really enjoyed the event as this was my first official race in XRF and was really encouraged with my pace in a circuit that previously hadn´t driven. Cannot wait for the next race already and hoping for some more good results and clean racing with you all.
- Bryan -
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Post by bigwill369 on Jan 11, 2021 11:23:04 GMT
Qualy 4th
Sprint race -3rd
Feature race - 6th
Sprint -
Had a good start & was up to 3rd after 2 corners, started to catch Dan but when i did i couldn't get passsed. I remember having a spin & dropped back but then soon caught up with Dan again & had a good battle until the end.
Feature -
Started 8th i think, again had another good start & was up to 5th after lap 1, a few laps in i was slowly gaining ground on 4th but then i think my team mate had an incident along the pit straight so i slightly lifted to avoid an accident but then liam was on my ass & went for the overtake & we both crashed. After a lengthy pit stop i was last place but just kept my head down & managed to finish 6th in the end.
Cheers guys that was a fun night of racing, iv'e always been a fan of reverse grids & shorter races as it provides more action.
Looking forward to the next one.
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Post by niblips on Jan 11, 2021 19:21:02 GMT
Q - P6. Quali has never been a strong suit for me and i expected to start midfield anyway so no big surprise.
Sprint - Start was ok, I was practicing with rolling start set, didn't realize it was a standing start series but got away from the line ok. Had an incident with Dave at the double apex hairpin that put me on my roof and caused a lot of damage to my car. These things happen.
Feature - P2 for the start and I hadn't had any long run practice so i decided to fill the tank and see how far i could get on the tyres. The start was on but Bryan had a stellar start and flew past me on the main straight then flew past Rich who was pole. I missed the first left hander and had to run deep through the corner rejoining the circuit still in in P3 But now with Dave breathing now my neck. Dave was really hustling me and with having just sat out the sprint race it took me a few corners to find my feet and get the feel for the car again. I managed to just stay in front of Dave and tried to settle in. Bryan and Rich had already gapped Me and Dave by 3 seconds in the first 2 sectors but rounding the last corner of the first lap it looked like Rich had a slight moment and that gap dropped to under a second.
Dave was sitting back a couple second dueling with Will over P4 while I followed Rich for a couple laps but he had another incident out of the last corner into the gravel and wound up snaking his back end back on the circuit. I slowed a bit and managed to avoid contact with him by going to the left. It was a close call though. Got my blood pumping even more.
By this time Bryan had a lead of about 6 or 7 seconds and it stayed that way for a few laps, but as the sun came out from behind the clouds the gap started to fall. The car felt good and i was turning low 24s and had a high 23 as a fast lap and still had 70litres of fuel in the car. As the laps ticked off the gap yoyoed between 3 seconds and 1.5 seconds to Bryan. Everytime i would get close i would make a small error and give the time back to him. Then Byans back esd started to snake a bit out of the slower corners and right around the halfway mark of the race he pitted for fuel and tyres so i gained P1.
I decided to stay out and see how my lap times were. If they were dropping off i would pit for tyres and fuel, but if they were still quick without Bryan in front of me i would go long before stopping. The lap times were pretty good with low 24s and high 23s so there were about 14 minutes to go. I only had about 11 litres of fuel left and then overfilled while i was in the pits but managed to get back out in front of Bryan. Turns out he had a one incident that helped out my cause.
After that, and with fresh tyres , i had really good pace and the gap to Bryan behind grew little by little until the end.
all-in-all it was a solid drive for me and i was pretty happy with my pace given no feature race length practice beforehand. Looks like Liam will be a tough one to beat in this series as he easily put his car on Pole with more than a second to the next person of the grid, and with both fastest laps. Should be quite a challenging season i think. This car is tricky but fun.
Congratulations to all that started and stuck it out to the end.
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Post by wonkamandan on Jan 11, 2021 21:57:35 GMT
Qualified 2nd
Sprint race 2nd
Feature race 5th
Wow what a start to the series!
Qualifying went as I expected tbh I knew Liams pace and knew if I could get within a second I’d be happy and likely start next to him as he is so damn quick.
During the week I’d had the car set up witn Dave perfectly and I was semi happy but I’d spent an evening online with Liam a few days before the race and learnt a few new lines and Liam also shared his set up with me which I liked but was a bit twitchy for me. So I decided to mess around with my setup and do a few tweaks (This will be important info later later)
Sprint race I had a mighty getaway and could see I had launched in front of Liam however I knew he had the corner and I didn’t wanna fight it out in the first corner so decided to just funnel in behind and see if I could just stay as close as possible and pull away from the pack. Initially the car was mega and I was slightly pulling Away from will and felt on fire. After about 5 laps those tweaks mentioned earlier came back to haunt me. I’d added quite a bit of front camber and I was now seriously overheating the front tyres and was struggling g to slow down snd not lock up. That then resulted in what was prob the best 10 lap battle I’ve ever had with Will, I was so under pressure and it was clear he had more pace then me but I was so super happy I managed to hold him off and not make any silly mistakes and hold
On to 2nd place.
The Feature race started great I had a great launch and went from 2nd last up to 6th I’d also taken away some of the front camber so was looking forward to having a better race car. However it suddenly went very wrong when one of the Italians was losing control in front and I slowed down massively to avoid and yet somehow he swiped me repeatedly 3 times causing me 12 front wing damage and Liam and Ian and one other managed to get past so I was back to 9th. I drove from here on really well despite the damage the main issue was I’d lost straight line speed but I just kept going. I pitted around the middle of the race a little earlier then planed as I was hoping to try jump Ian into 4th after the pit stops as a few cars had run into problems conceding places to me. I’d decided not to repair the wing as from experience it usually takes a minute and I knew I’d loose less with the damage and maintain position and fight with all my might.
It worked a treat and when Ian came out from his pit stop I managed to jump him but there was still a very large chunk of the race to go. I battled as hard as I could with a wounded car and I really enjoyed are battle but in the end I made a small
Mistake and Ian got past. I settled for 5th and bought the car home.
Overall an amazing opening round and to take 2nd and 5th I’m relatively happy I wish the incident didn’t happen on the feature race but that’s life.
Have to say the wheel to wheel combat I had with Will and Ian was awesome I honestly don’t care if I lose places to drivers thag I have such great fair clean battles with. When Ian finally got past I actually thought well done buddy I was as happy as if o had done it.
Can’t wait till Monza now the series and format is amazing and I just love racing wheel
To wheel with you guys
Peace out Wonka xxx
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Post by Laird Cake on Jan 12, 2021 11:42:38 GMT
Q 7th
Sprint - DNF
Feature - 8th
Sprint race was one to forget. After good pace in quali thanks to a setup from Will, Dave and I made contact just off of the grid which put me in the air and on my roll bar. Since I never had the reset button mapped, I was out within the first 10 seconds. Gutted as I was looking forward to a good race but lesson learnt.
Feature race was a bit more of a successful start! I started on pole due to the reverse grid and managed to keep it clean for the first few laps. Bryan got a rocket of a start however I kept up with him for a few laps while settling into a rhythm. I ran wide at the last corner on the end of lap four, which gave me a tank slapper to try and correct. Thankfully I didn't take anyone out but it cost me a few positions. Dave and I then had a few good laps together but another wide corner when trying to let Will through saw me losing more positions. I soon needed to box for fuel and tyres but I was pleased to have not sustained any damage and keep it mostly clean.
A good stop saw me running in clear air, keeping tabs on Dan and I think Bryan who were further up the field. As I was catching Dave after his stop, I took too much kerb after passing him before the chicane and dropped it, giving me a lot of damage as well as taking him out. Should have been a cleaner pass from me, mate, so apologies for that.
Long pitstop later and frustratingly no tyre change, I brought it home to finish in 8th. Could have been better so will look forward to Monza. Congrats on podiums for everyone in both races and see you in Italy.
Laird
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Post by iang0355 on Jan 12, 2021 14:45:38 GMT
Q-4th somehow
Sprint race-6th
Feature-4th
Great start to a new season and new year of racing, I love this track so I was really looking forward to this one. Had a great qualifying session and managed a top two lap time almost immediately and just left it at that, by the time everything had shaken out I was P4 and ready to get going.
After the handful of practice events we've had I was (and still kind of am) terrified of causing an incident at the start, especially being so high up the grid so I was ultra conservative going into Dunlop and it actually bit me, I caught the kerbing on driver's right, had a bit of a lockup and almost lost it, managed to catch it but miss the chicane so I waited for the field to go by, dusted myself off and kept on going. Later in the lap coming into T9 I was behind morrison and peppe, one of them locked up and went wide so I tried to undercut him and go past when he turned hard back into me and pushed us both out into the wall, I lost my wing and i'm not sure what happened to him. Set the frustrations aside and pushed for a clean finish and after retirements and other incidents managed to make it to P6, wasn't thrilled but all things considered a good comeback.
The feature was where things really got interesting - started dead nuts midpack, with some fast guys in front due to misfortunes and other incidents. Worked my way through traffic and was riding around in P5 or 6 for the majority of the race. Will and Dan were racing for quite a while until something happened to Will, i can't remember what but eventually i worked my way up to Dan in P5. I was within two seconds of him for probably 10 - 15 minutes before pitstops happened, I still had good speed and he was struggling so I stayed out a couple laps to try and make some time up on him since i knew he had repairs to do. I caught traffic, though, and after my stop we were right back to where we were before them. What followed after that was just excellence; the whole last half of the race was cat and mouse between him and I, I'd gain on him, make a small mistake and drop back, he'd make a small mistake and lose a touch of time, traffic would separate us a bit, and it went on like that for well over half of the race. It got more serious as Dave had his wheel issue and the battle was for P4. With about 7 to go I was starting to push, I knew I had more speed than him but Dan's a hell of a driver on defense so I had nowhere to get by him until in La Chapelle (T4) he went a smidge wide and I managed to get alongside of him. we ran side by side all the way through T5, and I finally got past and cleared him on the exit of T6. After that it was just cruise home, keep the nose clean and take the awesome finish.
Massive kudos to Liam and Karl for their wins in the Sprint and Feature respectively, both of you always have excellent pace and they were two well deserved wins. It was an awesome race, a good haul of points to start off with and hopefully when Adam comes back we can take the Besmone team up into the top 3! Looking forward to monza, difficult track for me but looking forward to it nonetheless
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