Daiman Patel
rFactor 2 Technical Assistant
Well, this was a funny old club race! I had great fun. Fantastic event thanks to all of the participants, and of course @Gijs van Elderen. It was nice to once again partake in a race where there was little to no pressure, unlike the recent league. 
Prior to the event I put in a couple of hours of practice, both in the GT-R and Megane. Both were great fun, but I enjoyed the nippiness of the Renault, so I concentrated on that a little more, and developed a fairly decent feeling setup. Then, thanks to the wise words of Adrian O'Newey and his recent spate of setup advice that has even been shared by ISI, I was able to make some tweaks that allowed me to find another second whilst retaining stability.
During qualifying I put in a decent banker lap, before my car spun at the exit of Cobb after hitting the curb too hard and unsettling the car a bit too much. I sat in the garage for a little while, deliberating whether or not I should go out again; I eventually decided "what the heck - let's see what a couple of setup tweaks here and there will do". My first couple of laps were distinctly average, but traffic in front and behind didn't help my cause. With about a minute and a half left before qualifying was over I gunned it - there was a clear track around me; first sector - looking good, second sector - even better, the finish line is in sight and I dive to the inside of the track for the shortest line, and I manage to neatly slot the car into 4th position in class. I really wasn't expecting the Megane to be so competitive against the Camaro, and on several occasions even the Corvettes were being pushed a little bit.
The start was pretty daunting to say the least, with all of the cars bunched together on the grid. It almost ended before it began, when the car in front of me broke very sharply just as we all started to pull away for the formation laps - thankfully my reactions were as sharp as those of a cat. There were a couple of incidents unfolding in front of me, and the grid eventually split into two packs; the 3rd placed Megane and I had lost sight of the competition ahead of us, but not to worry - plenty of time in the race to try and make things happen.
Unfortunately things happened a bit too quickly for me once the green flag dropped - on cold tires, and with a low rear wing, I binned it going into the first corner, straight into the wall. Thankfully I managed to slow the car down enough so as not to incur any damage, but the damage to my race was seemingly done and all of the hard work undone as I dropped down the order. I rejoined the track behind @David O'Reilly - I was expecting a tough but fun battle, before he went a little wide in the final corner, and I was able to pass him.
I began to pull away, and had a quiet few laps before I suddenly ended up in a great battle with @Jason Skyring that lasted for almost the remainder of a race - a good 70 minutes. He was pulling away at first, but after a few more laps the gap remained fairly constant. I'm not entire sure how it happened, but by the time of the first pit stop I entered the pit-lane almost right behind him. I was all hands on deck - the crew performed well, and I was underway again, with my nose against the rear of Jason's car. He begun to pull away again slightly, but an incident with @Stefan Woudenberg, who was lapping in the GT-R, caused Jason to go off track around Goodwood. Incidentally, I also made a mistake going into the corner - I went a little wide whilst attempting to let the leader past, and ended up on the grass - but kept the car going and passed Jason on the outside. At first I started to pull away from Jason, but he started catching up again at a fair rate. But just before he made the move to pass me he spun at the exit of the final chicane. The gap had increased again, but not massively, and I was making a few opportunistic overtakes (particularly on the Camaros) to ensure I stayed ahead. During the next round of pit stops I opted to stay on the same tires, but Jason decided to put on a new set of boots. The gap was now 24 seconds in my favour, and everything was going OK until my front right started to wear a little more as I begun to lock my brakes especially going into the final chicane. A few clicks rearwards on the brake bias fixed this, but I became no match for Jason with his much fresher tires. He started to catch me at around half a second per lap, with around 35 minutes left in the race. With about 18-20 minutes left on the clock I came in for my final stop; I decided to brave it with the tires - no change, there wasn't enough time if I wanted to stay ahead of Jason. I also messed up by completely but unnecessarily re-filling my tank, and stopping short of my pit spot. The nerves were starting to show. Thankfully Jason made the same refuelling mistake as I did, but the gap was only around 14 seconds, with Jason now catching me at about 1 second per lap. Unfortunately the battle ended with about 8 minutes to go, when Jason went too hard into the final chicane, over the curbs, and lost the gap as well as his rhythm. It was interesting to see how the two strategies played out. And I must say, all credit to Jason for pushing me hard - I was so exhausted that I needed a lie-down after the race. I'm getting old.
7th overall was good enough for me, but I realised an opportunity to get 6th in the closing minutes of the race as I began to quickly close the gap on the car in front. On my penultimate lap the gap suddenly plummeted, and I saw the Corvette of @Josh Hoare taking a detour across the grass around the inside of Goodwood, Village and Church. I presume your tires had gone Josh?
What a race. The car and track combination were spot-on! A quick mention to @Matt Horst and @Miroslav Davidovic - you guys were absolute beasts during this race, and blew the competition right out of the water; hats off to you. I'll be asking you for some tips in the future!
@David O'Reilly: HAHA! There's no wife - I'm too young - but if there was then I'm not so sure I'd be given enough allowance for the car, never mind tires (you know what women can be like these days). A lack of money from sponsors and the day job left me with a budget just about enough to cover the cost of juice for qualifying and the race! Thankfully my single set of tires were OK, and I think they might have been able to go on and complete another couple of stints.
Thanks again all (and apologies for the essay - I wasn't expecting it to be this long)! Hopefully I'll see you all again soon for some more club races like this!
Prior to the event I put in a couple of hours of practice, both in the GT-R and Megane. Both were great fun, but I enjoyed the nippiness of the Renault, so I concentrated on that a little more, and developed a fairly decent feeling setup. Then, thanks to the wise words of Adrian O'Newey and his recent spate of setup advice that has even been shared by ISI, I was able to make some tweaks that allowed me to find another second whilst retaining stability.
During qualifying I put in a decent banker lap, before my car spun at the exit of Cobb after hitting the curb too hard and unsettling the car a bit too much. I sat in the garage for a little while, deliberating whether or not I should go out again; I eventually decided "what the heck - let's see what a couple of setup tweaks here and there will do". My first couple of laps were distinctly average, but traffic in front and behind didn't help my cause. With about a minute and a half left before qualifying was over I gunned it - there was a clear track around me; first sector - looking good, second sector - even better, the finish line is in sight and I dive to the inside of the track for the shortest line, and I manage to neatly slot the car into 4th position in class. I really wasn't expecting the Megane to be so competitive against the Camaro, and on several occasions even the Corvettes were being pushed a little bit.
The start was pretty daunting to say the least, with all of the cars bunched together on the grid. It almost ended before it began, when the car in front of me broke very sharply just as we all started to pull away for the formation laps - thankfully my reactions were as sharp as those of a cat. There were a couple of incidents unfolding in front of me, and the grid eventually split into two packs; the 3rd placed Megane and I had lost sight of the competition ahead of us, but not to worry - plenty of time in the race to try and make things happen.
Unfortunately things happened a bit too quickly for me once the green flag dropped - on cold tires, and with a low rear wing, I binned it going into the first corner, straight into the wall. Thankfully I managed to slow the car down enough so as not to incur any damage, but the damage to my race was seemingly done and all of the hard work undone as I dropped down the order. I rejoined the track behind @David O'Reilly - I was expecting a tough but fun battle, before he went a little wide in the final corner, and I was able to pass him.
I began to pull away, and had a quiet few laps before I suddenly ended up in a great battle with @Jason Skyring that lasted for almost the remainder of a race - a good 70 minutes. He was pulling away at first, but after a few more laps the gap remained fairly constant. I'm not entire sure how it happened, but by the time of the first pit stop I entered the pit-lane almost right behind him. I was all hands on deck - the crew performed well, and I was underway again, with my nose against the rear of Jason's car. He begun to pull away again slightly, but an incident with @Stefan Woudenberg, who was lapping in the GT-R, caused Jason to go off track around Goodwood. Incidentally, I also made a mistake going into the corner - I went a little wide whilst attempting to let the leader past, and ended up on the grass - but kept the car going and passed Jason on the outside. At first I started to pull away from Jason, but he started catching up again at a fair rate. But just before he made the move to pass me he spun at the exit of the final chicane. The gap had increased again, but not massively, and I was making a few opportunistic overtakes (particularly on the Camaros) to ensure I stayed ahead. During the next round of pit stops I opted to stay on the same tires, but Jason decided to put on a new set of boots. The gap was now 24 seconds in my favour, and everything was going OK until my front right started to wear a little more as I begun to lock my brakes especially going into the final chicane. A few clicks rearwards on the brake bias fixed this, but I became no match for Jason with his much fresher tires. He started to catch me at around half a second per lap, with around 35 minutes left in the race. With about 18-20 minutes left on the clock I came in for my final stop; I decided to brave it with the tires - no change, there wasn't enough time if I wanted to stay ahead of Jason. I also messed up by completely but unnecessarily re-filling my tank, and stopping short of my pit spot. The nerves were starting to show. Thankfully Jason made the same refuelling mistake as I did, but the gap was only around 14 seconds, with Jason now catching me at about 1 second per lap. Unfortunately the battle ended with about 8 minutes to go, when Jason went too hard into the final chicane, over the curbs, and lost the gap as well as his rhythm. It was interesting to see how the two strategies played out. And I must say, all credit to Jason for pushing me hard - I was so exhausted that I needed a lie-down after the race.
I'm getting old.7th overall was good enough for me, but I realised an opportunity to get 6th in the closing minutes of the race as I began to quickly close the gap on the car in front. On my penultimate lap the gap suddenly plummeted, and I saw the Corvette of @Josh Hoare taking a detour across the grass around the inside of Goodwood, Village and Church. I presume your tires had gone Josh?
What a race. The car and track combination were spot-on!
A quick mention to @Matt Horst and @Miroslav Davidovic - you guys were absolute beasts during this race, and blew the competition right out of the water; hats off to you. I'll be asking you for some tips in the future! @David O'Reilly: HAHA! There's no wife - I'm too young
- but if there was then I'm not so sure I'd be given enough allowance for the car, never mind tires (you know what women can be like these days). A lack of money from sponsors and the day job left me with a budget just about enough to cover the cost of juice for qualifying and the race! Thankfully my single set of tires were OK, and I think they might have been able to go on and complete another couple of stints. Thanks again all (and apologies for the essay - I wasn't expecting it to be this long
)! Hopefully I'll see you all again soon for some more club races like this!
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