Lotus Elite Series - Pau 67 & Dijon GP - Thursday 20th May

[Stuart Thomson]

Servername: RD GTL Racing Club
Class: Lotus Elite
Track: Pau 1967 / Dijon-Prenois GP
Start Time: 19.00 GMT
Practice: 20 min
Qualification: 10 min (1 timed lap only)
Race: 2 x 14 laps
Note1: Click here to read the password and golden rules!
Note2: Sprint Pack & Elite Pack will be used, so must be installed

 

[Ross McGregor]

Race 1: Qualified 2nd (my time was more than 1s off my fastest practice lap, so a few other guys also made mistakes on their hotlap) At the start of race 1 i was rather mugged by everyone behind. (i find starts difficult as i don;t have a clutch, and just can't find a technique that works) Found myself down in 6th (i think) but got lucky in that a few guys went off early doors, so i found myself in 3rd. Wasn't quick enough to make an impression on Tom & Gary, so stroked it home with all four corners attached.

Race 2: Qualified on pole unbelievably, after what i thought was a 'so-so' hotlap! Never go well at dijon so this was unexpected to say the least! Got off the line a little better in this race but it was Tom in P1 into turn 1. We had a little battle for a few laps- i made a couple of unsuccessful passes into T1 after some drafting on the straight- but i eventually slipped through and could build a big enough gap so as not to be threatened into the first corner. I increased the gap even more, but lost concentration and spun halfway through the race. Luckily the gap was big enough so i rejoined and counted down the laps until the finish. Really chuffed at getting my first pole as my qualifying performances have been pretty poor lately!

I'd just like to say that i really enjoyed the Elites, they seem to be the only car in GTL (or any sim) that i can actually drive properly! I've had many good battles in these races and thoroughly enjoyed them, whether i'm running near the front or near the back of the field. That's testament to the guys who take part in these events week-in, week-out.

Being a big BMW fan, i'm really looking forward to driving the 320's, should provide some great touring car-esque races!

Thanks for organising this Stuart! Cheers RD

 

[Warren Dawes]

Good to finally join the GTL crowd for some more "classic' action. After about 2 months of no GTL, I was very rusty, but I still had fun.
The morning started well, with the alarm clock going off and me bouncing to the ceiling in fright :eek:, only to find my wife also snapping awake in terror. Oops!!! I really can't handle the new DST Euro times.

Anyway, after a settling coffee, it was time to jump into an Elite, not a bad car to settle in with, but Pau was another story. Those walls looked menacing when you haven't driven for ages.
Qualified down the back somewhere, and tried to stay out of trouble. With a few "incidents" in the opening lap, I settled into P4 but unable to keep the front runners in sight for long, and had Bob and Stu slowly sneaking up on me. Just after mid race distance, I clipped the tyres on entry to the last chicane (flat out too) and became a ping pong ball bouncing between the walls. I knew Bob had slipped past while I was bouncing and assumed Stu had too, so started to drive off again only to see Stu fly past and miraculously miss me by a gnats foreskin. :eek: Sorry for the fright Stu. After Stu made a boo boo (or two), we had some good laps together but my car was a mess by then (but so was his I think). Finally finished P5 with a car that was lucky to even get to the line. These Elites are tough. Grats to Tom for a good win.

Dijon was a little more familiar. After the turn 1 problems for Gary, Stu, and Bob, I found myself a lucky P3 and dicing with Steven, but he later had to leave with connection problems. Pity mate. I was able to keep Ross and Tom in sight and was soon joined by Stu. The four of us had a really good race together, but over the closing laps I started to get ragged and on the start of the final lap, spun off allowing Bob to pass. As we dragged to the finish line, with me slip streaming him, Bob generously gifted me P4 by trying to orchestrate a dead heat. oke:
Well done to Ross for the win, he looked to be much faster than the rest of us.
Thanks Stu for the event, and thanks to all for the fun. I'll have to wait until DST ends before I get to race regularly, but I'll try to join when I can. :ups: