CotM GTC65 Alpines @ Snetterton 64 - Saturday 4th April 2009

[Stuart Thomson]

Servername: RACEDEPARTMENT.COM
Class: Car of the Month - GTC65 Renault Alpine
Track: Snetterton 64 Download
Weather: Dry

Practice: 19.00 GMT / 20.00 UK / 21.00 Europe (40 min)
Qualification: 19.40 GMT / 20.40 UK / 21.40 Europe (20 min)
Race: 20.00 GMT / 21.00 UK / 22.00 Europe- 38 laps (approx 1 hour)

Note1: Click here to read the password and golden rules!
Note 2: As this event is a 1 hour endurance race, 1 pit stop is mandatory. Please read Warren's pit stop tutorial here for tips on a smooth and error free pit stop.
Note 3: A skinpack will be used for this event. All partipants are to download ths pack here whether they are using one of the skins or not.

 

[Nigel Atkins]

I am installing this as I type after finding a solution since I have windows 7 as my OS. Please put my name. Fingers crossed.

sadly i think your attempts are in vain, but i also want to try windows 7 so i also have fingers crossed for you. else i`m sticking with vista ray3:

 

[Piotr Misiorek]

sign me up please

 

[Abdul Al-Amry]

Nigel you are right m8

Not gonna make it. GTL Starforce driver version is too ancient and Windows 7 wont support an update, unless Simbin work on releasing an update. I am gutted. Enjoy the race guys.

 

[Hans Sneep]

Stu I get fam. visitors ,I hope to be there for Quali

Hans

 

[Ben Tusting]

Abdul You need to update the starforce drivers(Windows 7 drivers)
Starforce Now do Support drivers for windows 7 beta1
http://www.star-force.com/support/users/windows7/

I can't remember the exact way to do but i'm sure someone else can.
(It involves the same process as Vista but you download the windows 7 drivers instead of the vista drivers)

 

[Amir Margalit]

got back home just in time for qualify. didn't know the track at all and tried to learn it as quickly as possible. that was a big mistake . at the 1st lap i misjuged the 5th corner and hit stuart. we both spun and it took us a long time to get back on track. i am very sorry stuart. i know that it was a very stupid mistake and hope you will accept my deepest appolegy.:sad:
that was the last time i join a race with no practice before. after that incident i pulled over and left the race. hope you guys had good fun

 

[Andrew Evans]

cheers thommo... good stuff good stuff....

 

[Stuart Thomson]

Nige - I'm so very sorry mate. To be honest - I panicked - I didn't know what to do when you got booted - we had 8 sec to race start and didn't think I could get everyone to stop in time.

 

[Luc Frachon]

That was fun! Those cars are awesome to slide around and the track is great.

I did a few practice laps this afternoon and it clearly paid off in qualy: 2nd spot on the grid, just under the 1.40 mark - my best qualification in any RD event so far!

Then bad luck struck once: My gear stick was positionned into reverse when I joined the grid and the car started moving backward. Well, even though it was to my disadvantage, I still got a stop&go penalty! Which I completed at the end of lap 2.

After that, it was a case of fighting back up the order. I lost another 12 seconds after hitting someone at the hairpin (can't remember who it was but sorry for that), then waiting for him to recover from the spin.
A bit later in the race I also had a spin at the same spot, so decided that it was time to pit in and change those tyres.

The rest of the race was consistent and good fun... At the end of the race, I was running 3rd and closing in on Matt, when bad luck struck again: the car started sputtering on the back straight in the final lap! Engine cut out in the last bend. Stuart very kindly pushed me through the finish line (thanks mate) so I was classified 6th...

I don't really understand why I ran out of fuel, as in my pit stop I took 25 laps' worth of petrol. Maybe it was 25 litres?? Apparently I wasn't the only one it happened to.

Anyway, congratulations to Piotr who was in a league of his own - you're seriously fast. Thanks Stuart for organising and everyone for joining!

 

[Glenn Morris]

Geez, I dunno what track you blokes were setting your times on, but it sure as hell wasn't Snetterton... How the bejesus do you squeeze a 1:39 out of an Alpine around there?

Anyway. Race was quite boring really. Wasn't quick enough to bother anyone, and I think I ended up getting in a few peoples' way.

Got a great start, but had to brake straight up or Mr Dawes would have had a great big "Phillips" sticker plastered on his rear end.
After wandering through the first corner last and watching the shenanigans unfold at turn 1, and then seeing the amount of lawn mowing going on at turn 3, I myself and Warren found ourselves in 5th and 6th, from last. Lol
After that though, I saw everyone go whizzing past, and there weren't a darn tootin' thing I could do about it!

 

[Matt Crouch]

It feels like I should have been bored after that given how much time I spent on my own, but it really wasn't boring.

Qualified somewhere in the top 10. Got onto the grid and went to switch on the player names as usual, but instead of hitting the name key I accidentally knocked the escape key and went back to pits. For a few seconds I thought that was it and was almost resigned to being out, when I realised I could still drive. Scrambled to find the mouse and got in with one second before the start, the countdown messed up and was on 2 when it beeped for the start so I got off very slow. That's the excitement for the race :heh:

After the first lap shenanigans I came out in 3rd place, and after getting away from Warren, spent the remainder of the first 19 laps with nobody else even in sight, apart from Hans when lapping. Only real mistake was forgetting to brake for the bridge and going the wrong side of it. That's just the way volvo :bang:

Took a pit stop on lap 19. Spent about an hour working out what to change and think I ended up with way more fuel than I needed. Luckily I noticed that the very minor damage from going the wrong side of the bridge was going to take 95 seconds and changed it. Came out in 10th place and made up more places as people pitted. Up to 4th behind Morten who I'm not sure pitted until the last couple of laps(?). Overtook as he took a spin.
For the final few laps the excitement returned (okay, I lied there was more) as Luc slowly edged closer and I was rather concerned he was going to get ahead.
I managed to stay ahead, and in a twist of fate Sam ran out of fuel and I cruised past on the final straight to take 2nd :heh: With Luc running out of fuel as well this reminds me of a certain GP2 race in Valencia where Pantano ran out of fuel on the final straight from first place, and Senna shortly after

Thanks for the event, quite enjoyed it overall. Liking these cars. Would have preferred a race with more people and a lower position than a lonely second place though :wink2:

 

[Warren Dawes]

That was bad luck for Nigel, in future I think we should vote a restart in that situation. It would have scrambled the qualy positions, but I wouldn't mind, especially in an enduro event.

My Race report:
I probably shouldn't have tried to race this one, I'll pay a heavy price today. After a marathon GTP enduro last night, I had very little sleep and was completely stuffed and sore. But, don't like missing my GTL fix, even at 5AM.

Throughout practice, I just couldn't master turn 1, and became very friendly with that bloody tree on the left (almost every lap).
Qualy improved a bit but still well towards the tail (P9 I think).
After all the shenanigans at the start, I fluked my way to P4 and held it for some laps. Then, starting to feel confident that I had turn 1 under control at last, off I went to carve my name in that bloody tree again. This time I wedged the car on the grassy noll, and took about 4 mins to get it off again.
Eventually settled in behind Glen and was looking forward to spending some time with him, but was pushed off track by a following car. From then on, it was many lonely laps.
Pitted, and forgot to put fuel in (nope, obviously not awake yet). Pitted again later for fuel, and went beserk and overfilled it this time.
After being lapped by half the field, I finally cruised home by pushing poor Sam over the line after he ran out agonisingly close to the line.
Huge bad luck Sam, but a moral victory of sorts.

Thanks guys, not really my morning but still fun.

 

[Luc Frachon]

Anyway, congratulations to Piotr who was in a league of his own

After being lapped by half the field, I finally cruised home by pushing poor Sam over the line after he ran out agonisingly close to the win.
Huge bad luck Sam, but a moral victory of sorts.

Sorry Sam, hadn't realised you were actually going to win that race without the fuel problem!

 

[Piotr Misiorek]

oh yes, Sam was going for a win

unfortunately I down shifted two gears at once and spun loosing 15 seconds, after Sam's pitstop I was behind about 6 seconds, I was closing a little but not enough so I was really surprised when I saw him slowing at last corners

I was enjoying driving this car/track but it was a little bit boring because before my mistake I was driving about 5 sec in front of Sam and after my mistake 5 sec behind and there was nothing else happening but it was nice challenge

 

[Marty Pierce]

Great track and car combo.

Quali P4

Race Started ok then was I spun from behind not sure what happened. Started back from the back of the field. Pushed hard made some forward progress up to around 5th then spun on my own 2 laps in a row after the Bridge. Back to ninth. Caught back up to Gaynall who I had a great dice with very fun. Finally got by Gaynall and was now in 4th going into pit. Missed the entrance to pit lane so I backed up then entered the pit. Took a while to get the selections right then came out 9th. Never saw Gaynall again as my pit was wonderful. Went hard til the end to finish 7th.

Great racing by all fun day. I think in the future I will stick to sprint races with no pit stops. They frustrate me. I have practiced them but I just don't get it I guess. Thanks again Stuart

 

[Warren Dawes]

I think in the future I will stick to sprint races with no pit stops. They frustrate me. I have practiced them but I just don't get it I guess. Thanks again Stuart

C'mon Marty, there is only one way to learn and to improve, that's keep perservering. Practice makes perfect. You weren't the only one to stuff up the pitstop today, a few of the experienced ones botched it too (including me ).

 

[Hans Sneep]

Don't no what happened this evening never made so many mistakes in one race.

Pract. not that good start 15 place but made a good start end after the first corner 9 place wow but second corner- grass-wall grass-wall-track 11 place by then,few laps later hit the bridge and a few laps later hit the fens landed on my roof, et cetera bud stay in 11 spot (last of course)

Pit lap 19 forgot to unchecked repair and stay for almost 2 min,bugger bud at least I did finished the race,and still had a Fun evening glad there where 15 guys to show up.

Thanks all and Stuart as I say it before Nice track good car choice.

Hans

 

[Olaf.j Linortner]

im sorry that i missed this one guys ,put simply i slept in .with last nights gt pro race and the change in daylight savings time i was just too tired to gut my but out of bed
regards
olly

 

[Nigel Atkins]

Nige - I'm so very sorry mate. To be honest - I panicked - I didn't know what to do when you got booted - we had 8 sec to race start and didn't think I could get everyone to stop in time.

no worries m8

just sods law that my router would pick that time to reset it self.

i absolutly loved the cars, just loved how easy there were to drift even for a drift novice like me. in quali i decided to do a few laps to warm the tyres then went for a banzi lap which put me 3rd with just a few mins left. as there was no warm up i got my self ready for the race in the mean time my internet died and i tried to rejoin but lost time by clicking on the wrong server which typicaly had no pw so i had to wait for zolder to load before quiting to try and load snett, for a second i thought i wasa in as the drivers loaded on my screen but noooo booted from server :bad:

oh well onwards and upwards as they say, great to see 16 drivers on the server and i look forward to trying these cars again soon :in-love:

 

[Morten Nør]

Not a great first race for me.

I was pretty fast after getting a setup from one of you pros, and I ended 5th in qualifying.

The start was ok, and after a bit of lawn mowing I was 4th.
Then the stupid things started happening. I wasn't paying too much attention down the finish straight on lap 3 or 4, and all of a sudden I saw a car braking for the pits. I was on the inside, and I could only escape into the pits. I put a couple of litres in the tank and got back on track. I drove too risky and made a lot of mistakes. I finally caught another car, and then I wasn't patient enough, and I believe I touched him (I think it was Warren). I am very very sorry I didn't stop and wait, but I wasn't sure if I touched you, and I kept on going. I regret it, and realise that I should have stopped :-(
In the last laps my tires were getting worse, and I lost a place, but I hoped I could get through without a second stop. I pitted on lap 37 of 38 with 2 Litres left to avoid running out of fuel, and of course I decided to fix the bodywork so my car would look nice after the race... well at least I didn't run out of fuel, and I was being environmental, by only using one set of tires.