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Post by Laird Cake on May 16, 2021 9:56:53 GMT
Q – P3
S – P1
F – P2
Last weeks practise session told me that things would be close between Bryan and I, however having him 2 tenths ahead before the qualifying was restarted was pretty much where I expected to be. He had set a 28.1 so I wasn’t too far with a 28.3. After the restarted session I was able to get into the same times as him (28.1’s), with him being .009 behind! Another close race ahead with the T-Rex boys 1st a 2nd. Top four were covered by just under half a second so looking forward to the lights going out.
I thought that I had binned it on the start as I got too much wheel spin which left me fighting the car to keep it pointing the right way. Somehow I got the power down and out dragged Peter and Karl into the first corner to get into P1 and start to pull away. Tyre wear was going to be challenging but more than that; I was short of fuel! Finding the balance between building a lead and saving fuel was going to be hard but for now it was head down and building the gap.
I couldn’t keep Karl behind for long as after lap 3 or 4 I think, he was right behind me. Sector 3 was okay in Qualifying but in race conditions I didn’t have the pace so that put him onto me on the main straight and into the first few corners. I’ve not watched it yet or uploaded it to Twitch (I’ll do it once kids are sorted) however I’m pretty sure that I ran into Karl at the fourth corner, sending him into the air. I knew he was close and that my braking wasn’t great due to tyres, but 100% this wasn’t meant and I apologise if I took you out mate. Like the rest of us I try to keep it clean and concede when needed but it feels 100% my bad.
I then had to focus on pressure from Bryan to for the last 10 laps. I was watching him, fuel and my front left tyre carefully as all three would be crucial for the win! I kept him around a second or so behind, occasionally with him getting closer by a mistake from me or him dropping back with a mistake from him! It was cat and dog until the last few laps where he was hounding me for the win. I knew that I was quicker in the first sector so I had to make it count there. By the start of the final lap I had no tyres left so getting to the end would be hard. I managed to keep him behind to take my third win of the series but by far it must have been the closest finish (.240 tenths!)
Excellent racing with you mate – that’s 5 different races we’ve been right on it and it’s always been fair fights. Well done on the fastest lap – those points saved you this weekend! Congrats to the finishers and chuffed to take the win – sorry to Karl again.
At the back for the feature race, I wasn’t expecting good things to be honest. Tyre wear was a bitch here and my setup wasn’t helping. I added some more downforce to try to keep the strain of the tyres. I think this helped as I only needed to stop once for new boots so always learning.
I got a good start and managed to avoid the big shunt at the start and jumped Bryan and Artie. A few laps under Safety Car conditions, I wasn’t watching at the restart and was gapped to Artie and the Ian ahead. I knew I’d catch them but Mr Bryan was not far behind as always!
I think I was up to 4th or 5th with Ian ahead who was chasing Pete/Dan. There was then a crash between Dan and Karl at the same place Karl and I had a crash in the first race, which meant I could start to catch Ian. A few laps later with keeping both Ian in front and Bryan behind honest, Ian went deep in sector 2 handing me 2nd. Peter wasn’t too far ahead with a 5 second lead. He had damage meaning I caught him and passed him a few laps later then I settled into better times and watching Bryan.
Sector 3 was not as good as before despite having more downforce, this mean Bryan was right on me into the first sector and made a sweet move around me to get the lead. I tried to stay with him but the dirty air was awful, which actually led to me having an off on the next lap. A few slower laps, I decided to pit and get some new shoes. I emerged in 5th but back to second by the time the stops had sorted themselves out. I was around 10 seconds behind Bryan after he stopped but to be honest I was never going to catch him. After having a very near miss with Dan’s stand in driver!, I held Peter off for 2nd place and some good points. Not the best of races but from the back to 2nd, I’ll take it.
Always a good night racing with you all. Hope you all had as much fun as I did and I’m looking forward to the end of the season in a few weeks. Congrats to Bryan on the win and the two fastest laps – all down to the last race to decided where we finish in the drivers’ championship! Either way it was a great race again with you which has been the story of our championship.
Will get the Twitch replay up soon.
Richard
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Post by csbryan on May 16, 2021 17:00:15 GMT
Qualy P4
Sprint P2
Feature P1
Q - Knew that Karl was probably going to grab pole by a comfy margin so had my sights on P2. A 28.3 placed me on first row for a bit.
Rich banked a nice lap for P2 (28.1) which I was able to mirror later then, just .009 shy of that. Peter then put a neat lap for P2 so the three of us were in half a tenth. Had a couple of scruffy with no success until at the checkered flag I hooked the apexes at the chicane better and the delta improved. Was surprised to see myself again in P4, just 004 behind Rich!
28.1 was the absolute limit, good job to the Rexergie boys and to Rich for a close qualy.
S - Good start (at last) on P4 caused me some problems as Rich got in the middle of Peter and Karl and got trapped behind the three of them so had to lift. Took the inside line and managed to overtook Peter for P3.Bluetooth mic failed after that so having a race with no comms was tricky. Rich was on P1 and with 15 minutes to go he had Karl putting pressure on P2. I was in P3 keeping a safe distance an saving some tyres for the end.
Rich had a wobble at T1 which allowed Karl to go side by side in T3, he tried to go round the outside at T4 when I saw both making contact and Karl rolling his car. Thought that Rich had damage for that encounter but his pace didn´t dropped so that was when I started to put some pressure on him.
Following him was awful, as soon as I got within a second my left tyre was orange almost half a lap. Rich had a low downforce setup so couldn´t get close on the straight and he had a decent S3. I could see him struggling on the middle sector so I put some pressure in there. With 7 minutes to go had a good run on him after the 7/8 chicane and was looking to make a lunge down in T10 but had a slapper in dirty air that made me loose 2 seconds and a trip to the cones LOL. Recoup myself putting the FL and went back again. I was all over him in the final laps in turns 4-5-6 were he was struggling for traction, but theres no way to get pass around there, Was thinking about settling for 2nd and take the 18pts when he made a mistake in the last chicane with two laps to go and the battled restarted.
Had a good run and went side by side on T3 and went down the inside of T4 to take the lead. He mantained his position well so we went side by side again for T5. Tried to brake as late as possible but he nailed the apex so had to yield. Folllowed him as a mad man the final two laps with no luck. Great win Rich, awesome driving mate (after that I was shaking haha), at points there was a cigarrette paper between us but we got away with it (just). Loving the rivalry that we are having, always close respectful racing, enjoyed that one a lot. Hope y'all get to see it on video.
F - Practice with long runs were mediocre TBH, but the 2-stop consumed too much time so I compromised to make the 1-stop in case we got a SC.
Got a bad start from 8th as forgot to change the lean fuel mix and Rich got passed me. Saw a huge crash in the front between Hannes and Dave entering T4 so lifted to avoid any debris or cars and the SC was called.
At the restart passed Artie and Rich for P5 but next lap Rich claimed the place back as I was a sitting duck in all of S1. Ian was in P4 holding both of us well but he lost traction at T10 and we got passed him. 45 minutes to go and pace was good, got a consistent rythm and a crash between Karl and Dan allowed me to get on the podium. Peter, Rich and me were matching times until Pete got wing damage and started to loose the 6s gap he had built. Key moment of the race happened right there, as Pete and Rich were battling and the pit window was closing I decided to let my tires cool down and do some lift on the high speed corners. This action happened for at least 4-5 laps.
Peter couldn´t hold us any longer so he pitted and it was Rich on P1 with me not far behind. Had the intention on trying an overcut on him when I saw that he was all out of shape in T5 so got in his gearbox and passed him in the T7/8 complex in a risky rewarding move. He was struggling with tyres due to all the battling so the gap extended to 5s when he made his pitstop. Thought about covering next lap but had still good tyres and with low fuel started to fly, putting some 29s on the table. Extended the stint until 25 minutes to go so the second stint would be like a spint race.
Emerged with a 10sec advantage to Rich and after that if was a case of nursing the car and get it to the end. The car was beautiful so much grip in S2 so the nerves quickly dissapeared and enjoyed myself a lot out there pushing every lap. Such a rewarding feeling to look the gap growing lap by lap. With 10 minutes to go had a heart attack when Dan in front of me lost the car before T9 and took avoiding action on the grass haha. 29.1 was my PB so to tried better that. Put a 1.28.800 on the penultimate lap that was good enough to take the second FL of the night, icing on the cake! Crossed the line 25 seconds clear from Rich and buzzing with that effort. My 2nd win in XRF and the most rewarding one for sure.
Echoing the thoughts of fellow drivers in this league, this track is not one of my favourites. Having said that it was very rewarding for me in the past with couple of wins with GT3/GTE´s so that helped massively to build confidence.
Bottled it in Buggatti Circuit, Monaco, Nurburgring and Spa, leading all of those races but finisihing P2 at the end. Weight off my shoulders to get that W and with some good points for me and Rich it looks like a 4-way fight for P2 in the champioship at Portimao! Not my strongest track, but looking forward to finish on a high with this great little car that is turning into my fav of the game. Congrats to all on making it a 9 people grid and for the efforts to make the races as clean and fair as possible.
GET THE F IN!!!!
- Bryan -
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Post by Laird Cake on May 16, 2021 18:56:05 GMT
If you're able to deal with my shite ability to work the replay manager, then you'll find the Sprint race here. Like and subscribe and all that  |
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Post by Laird Cake on May 16, 2021 19:28:04 GMT
Also I point out that it was clearly Attempted Murder on Karl. So sorry again mate, I didn't think you were there.
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Post by XRF HammerPH on May 16, 2021 23:35:36 GMT
Sorry for the delay, had visitors here today.
Here is the link to the stream of the Rich / Karl assassination lol and then the Rich and Bryan battle in the sprint race:-
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Post by iang0355 on May 17, 2021 13:36:15 GMT
Q-6th
S-4th
F-5th
Quali went about as I expected, nothing really of note other than my inability to drive a consistent line here.
In the sprint race I had a great start, but when I saw the leaders three abreast heading into one, I decided to say "f*ck that ish" and backed off, and a few corners later I got nipped by I believe Artie and picked up a decent amount of front wing damage. Instead of losing all the straight line I had I went in but after all the incidents and others falling out I ended up with a solid 4th and was happy to have that one.
The long caution period after Dave became a member of the ESA played into my hands well, and I had managed to get into 2nd after some small offs from Karl and a couple others but I knew Rich and Bryan would be on my heels soon, and my 1 stop would be in jeporady so I tried to hold on until he got close at which point on still slightly cold tires I went deep at the end of S2 and him and Bryan zipped by. Eventually started catching Pete but every time I'd get close dirty air or a mistake would knock me back. Pitted a couple of laps after him and came out just over a second ahead, car was a rocket on fresh rubber and I had pulled about a 7 second gap but I ran out of rubber with a few minutes left, with that and little mistakes eventually it got the better of me and I lost out to him and Karl within a lap. Went in for tires to try and get the fast lap with a few minutes left but there was nothing I could do, just kept botching every lap. Well done to rich and Bryan, and a great battle with Pete for almost the entirety of the sprint race, really enjoyed that. Off to portimao in a couple weeks to cap the season
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ElChueco
Racer
Posts: 28
Gamertag: ElChueco#6743
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Post by ElChueco on May 17, 2021 14:00:28 GMT
Q - P5 S - P5 F - DNF Q - Had my best qualy since joining, managed to get really close to my practice time getting me to 5th. I kinda was hoping I could be competitive on this track since I have done first testing with all cars after I read F1 used this track for it because it has a bit of everything. S - I am a lousy starter not using a clutch anyway but this time I just snoozed when the lights turned green. By the time we arrived at the first corner I was in last position. I got a good drive through the first sequence and back to 7th after corner 3. I followed Peter and Daniel with a little distance. At corner 10 Daniel attempted a late brake outside pass on Peter. As both made contact they left the track. That action took a bit of my momentum and when I came around to enter turn 11 it was obvious that Peter was just coming back on track, so I pulled back to avoid ending both of our races. This didn't last very long though. I was about to car length behind Peter entering the corner 14/15 chicane, getting ready to challenge Peter down the long straight. It looks a bit awkward in the replay but one has to accelerate a bit between the two corner to get the car stable. Right then Peter spun and I hit him square in the side. I didn't even know he was upside down. I am very sorry it ended your race Peter. Honestly I may have given you another push to turn you again had I known, my car was trashed anyway. The only good thing the pit entry is right there. For some reason I had already selected my feature race strategy selected. The stop took for ever and the tank was filled to the top so I exited the pit after I was lapped by everyone except Peter and Daniel with 109 liters of fuel. I never had tried the car that heavy and it wasn't setup for that either. Still I managed to be super consistent staying within 32's consistently. With that pace I managed to gain a position back from Artie, I even gained on Ian, though I was still a lap ahead. As most of the time with no challenge around I lost concentration the last two laps and made many mistakes, but no fatal ones. After the first lap incident I should be happy with 5th. F - Started from 5th again. I head a much better start and coming out of corner 3 I was in 4th position, I think. I knew a car was next to me on the outside so I took a wide exit out of the corner. While not ideal I still got decent drive out approaching corner 4. I am actually not sure what happened. I was under the impression I was driving a normal racing line given the circumstances when suddenly I found myself catapulted into the air. Again, I did not see it and I am not able to reconstruct what happened, just one of those race incidents. To be honest, quite disappointing because I was ready to challenge on the track for once. But hey, "can't cry over spilled milk" can ya? Onward to Portimao. I think I can do quite well there too, and with a bit more luck I will give you guys some work to do there . Congrats to Richard and Bryan for their wins, but even more for their exiting battles, that's what it is all about (recorded the first race and watched you guys!). Cheers ya all! |
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Post by XRF HammerPH on May 17, 2021 16:19:48 GMT
Quali: P2
Sprint: DNF Lap 1
Feature: P3
Reports to follow.. had it half written but had to get on with something else and the damn thing disappeared when I came back.. Grrrr lol
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Post by Laird Cake on May 18, 2021 10:46:09 GMT
Highlights here, a bit shorter but cover all the action.
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Post by XRF HammerPH on May 18, 2021 17:01:20 GMT
Q - P5 S - P5 F - DNF Q - Had my best qualy since joining, managed to get really close to my practice time getting me to 5th. I kinda was hoping I could be competitive on this track since I have done first testing with all cars after I read F1 used this track for it because it has a bit of everything. S - I am a lousy starter not using a clutch anyway but this time I just snoozed when the lights turned green. By the time we arrived at the first corner I was in last position. I got a good drive through the first sequence and back to 7th after corner 3. I followed Peter and Daniel with a little distance. At corner 10 Daniel attempted a late brake outside pass on Peter. As both made contact they left the track. That action took a bit of my momentum and when I came around to enter turn 11 it was obvious that Peter was just coming back on track, so I pulled back to avoid ending both of our races. This didn't last very long though. I was about to car length behind Peter entering the corner 14/15 chicane, getting ready to challenge Peter down the long straight. It looks a bit awkward in the replay but one has to accelerate a bit between the two corner to get the car stable. Right then Peter spun and I hit him square in the side. I didn't even know he was upside down. I am very sorry it ended your race Peter. Honestly I may have given you another push to turn you again had I known, my car was trashed anyway. The only good thing the pit entry is right there. For some reason I had already selected my feature race strategy selected. The stop took for ever and the tank was filled to the top so I exited the pit after I was lapped by everyone except Peter and Daniel with 109 liters of fuel. I never had tried the car that heavy and it wasn't setup for that either. Still I managed to be super consistent staying within 32's consistently. With that pace I managed to gain a position back from Artie, I even gained on Ian, though I was still a lap ahead. As most of the time with no challenge around I lost concentration the last two laps and made many mistakes, but no fatal ones. After the first lap incident I should be happy with 5th. F - Started from 5th again. I head a much better start and coming out of corner 3 I was in 4th position, I think. I knew a car was next to me on the outside so I took a wide exit out of the corner. While not ideal I still got decent drive out approaching corner 4. I am actually not sure what happened. I was under the impression I was driving a normal racing line given the circumstances when suddenly I found myself catapulted into the air. Again, I did not see it and I am not able to reconstruct what happened, just one of those race incidents. To be honest, quite disappointing because I was ready to challenge on the track for once. But hey, "can't cry over spilled milk" can ya? Onward to Portimao. I think I can do quite well there too, and with a bit more luck I will give you guys some work to do there . Congrats to Richard and Bryan for their wins, but even more for their exiting battles, that's what it is all about (recorded the first race and watched you guys!). Cheers ya all! Apology not necessary Hannes, not your fault at all. Whoever had been following me at that point was in trouble unfortunately. |
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