Lotus Elite Series - Watkins Glen Nascar / Hock Short - Thu 6th May 2010

[Stuart Thomson]

Servername: RD GTL Racing Club
Class: Lotus Elite
Track: Watkins Glen Nascar / Hockenheim Short
Start Time: 19.00 GMT
Practice: 20 min
Qualification: 10 min (1 timed lap only)
Race: 2 x 18 laps
Note1: Click here to read the password and golden rules!
Note2: Sprint Pack & Elite Pack will be used, so must be installed

 

[Bob Hutchins]

Well again another great night of racing in the GTL club.

Race 1, q 3rd, had a good start and settled into the groove and had a little ta ta tay with Stu for a lap but on lap 4 I spun out at the bus stop chicane and could do nothing but hit the wall very hard, result, suspension damage and killed the engine.

Race 2, q 4th, another good start but so did the others ahead. Again settled into the groove but got an unexpected present when Kris spun it at the hairpin. Now in second and had a fast charging Ross who soon overtook me and set about catching Carlos. I thought I could hang onto the back of Ross but he was just to quick tonight. As the race progressed I saw that Carlos had a spin but again he managed to collect it all up before I could take any advantage so I thought 3rd it was going to be, how wrong was I. As we neared the end of the race I could see Manny taking big chunks out of the gap and 3 laps before the end he was through and gone. Brought it home in 4th.

Great racing tonight guys, Ross & Carlos seem to be in a league of their own. Grts to Carlos for race 1 win & Ross for race 2. Wd all podium finishers and thanks to all you guys that showed up tonight to make it a great nights racing. Also thanks to Stu for showing up and for running a great series.

 

[Bob Hutchins]

Senad, pls don't kill the elite, it is such a lovely little car...............

 

[Ross McGregor]

Firstly i'd like to say my qualifying was simply awful. Race 1 qualie: while warming the tyres on my outlap i spun and hit the barrier, damaging suspension and ruining my hotlap. Managed to work my way up the field and joined the slipstreaming battle at the front. While battling with Manuel for 3rd i put a tyre on the grass and this lost me 5s. I went on a charge and caught him back up, got past, and caught Kris by the end, but couldn't find a way through. Really enjoyed Watkins Glen, it's a real flowing challenge.
Race 2 qualie: this time i got my outlap done, but ran too wide at T1 and got warning for cutting the track. Grr. Luckily for me, one or two others seemed to have done something similar. Got off the line decently enough, avoided a bump ahead, and had a dice for 4th with Senad who drove well for a couple of laps before making an error and letting me through. Caught up with Bob ahead and managed to slip past, and i pushed for a few laps and caught Carlos. We had a tight battle for 3 or 4 laps before i noticed he spun at the 3rd last corner. After that, i took it easy and got my first GTL win! Once again, driving standards were exceptional, and for some reason i seem to have 'clicked' with these cars. (i also disagree with Senad's call to destroy them!) No doubt when i join the next 'big banger' race i'll be back where i belong.
Thanks guys, cheers stu for setting this up.

 

[Manuel Spierenburg]

this nights remind me how awesome GTL club races are

quali 1:
I had a descent lap and was happy with my lap. Thanks for the setup tips carlos btw.

race 1:
I never really felt comfortable on this track. But I managed to do some fast first laps and due the trouble of the others I went up until 3 position.
But ross behind me was catching and after some laps got me on t1. And then he was flying away.
Every lap I tried little bit different line in t1 until one time I was far to wide and got me spinning.
Lost then my position to stu and drove it home behind him.

quali 2:
tricky track this was and I got a "cut" warning in quali so no quali time for me and starting from the back.

race 2:
On the start I used some rocket launchers and I felt I can take the whole field before t1.
Gained some places but then I got a tap from stu at the hairpin. And we both tried to catch the field again.
Later on I had another spin at the hairpin and stu overtoke me. He had a good pace and I tried to follow him.
I was feeling the race is not over yet. After some while I was right behind the back of kris. But I totally overshoot on t2
luckely kris saw that and got me back on the inside (nice switcheru). I was some laps behind him until he made a mistake at
the hairpin and I got him. Unfortunately in the meantime stu crashed his car (due the pc problems) and made some smoke signals.
In front was bob in p3 and I was flying at this moment. I managed to close down the gap and again I could overtake at the exit of
the hairpin when bob went little bit wide. Diaz was making a mistake in the last lap but he had enough space to save p2.
p3 for me at the end. pooooodddiumm :banana:


thanks RD and all the racers.

 

[Jack Smith]

Good time all. First race, a thunderstorm passed over and then we had a power outage...apparently a lightning strike killed the mice running on the conveyor belt for our main power generator... life in Nova Scotia is like that. Got back on for race 2, qualified and assumed I was in last place at the start, but got a bit of the crap scared out of me when a few cars came from behind me approaching t1. I slowed to let them by and trailed for most of the race. Passed a few spinouts but they soon caught up. Gave Stu a little rub as he passed me on a corner.. sorry about that mate. I wasn't lapped, so that was a small victory considering the quality of racers. I don't go off the track nearly as much anymore, my lap times are still slowest but showing improvement.

 

[Roman Kruszewski]

Not a good evening for me.

R1: In quali couldn't actually match pace back of the field. Race, tried to keep with quick running Senad, but then he made mistake and spun off - shame it was nice fight with You Senad. Then Stu got me, and I couldn't defend myself as good as with Carlos last time, but Stu showed me really quick line and I kept pushing him. Then we caught Manuel with disturbed my rhythm and I finished some 2 sec. behind Manuel - P6 as I think.
BTW. middle in the race when Stu was chasing me I had strange moment, I was about 0.1 sec behind my bestlap and suddenly I got black screen, I was afraid that next scene I will see will be my desktop, but GTL came back although at next split I was 3.5 sec down with Stu already at my rear bumper. Strange...

R2: Haven't raced Hockenheim since 10 years, but I quickly found how to go on this circuit. At Q got 3rd but all quick drivers didn't qualify. I was 0.4 sec. behind Carlos, but on in lap to pits clocked -0,7 sec at split, but super-pole is one lap only which I very like!
Started quite well got on the inside for turn 1 Behind Carlos and side by side with Kris, but suddenly my brakes were gone, spun off and realised that running without brakes is suicide so I quit There was a loose cable at my pedals - already solved.

 

[Kris Leeten]

I already didn't know what to think of that over enthusiastic move in T2

 

[Senad Subasic]

BTW. middle in the race when Stu was chasing me I had strange moment, I was about 0.1 sec behind my bestlap and suddenly I got black screen, I was afraid that next scene I will see will be my desktop, but GTL came back although at next split I was 3.5 sec down with Stu already at my rear bumper. Strange...

Ah, that reminds me. In the first couple of laps, when you were still behind me, a couple of times you seemed to stop dead. Like when people lose connection. It lasted for quite a while, at one point XD showed you behind Jack, who was 20-30 seconds back. And then you showed up right behind me again. Happened 2 or 3 times. I thought you were gone the first time.

 

[Roman Kruszewski]

I already didn't know what to think of that over enthusiastic move in T2

I simply had no brakes but it was funny feeling and some new experience for me. So my enthusiasm went by together with missed brake point. Afterwards I realized how much luck I had not hitting anyone else with my enthusiastic maneuver and more luckily I didn't start from the end of the grid!

Thanks Senad for info I need to check out my connection again!

 

[Carlos Diaz]

Sorry I'm late...

Race1) I hadn't tried this layout of the Glen before. I had driven the Long version in RDHGP S4, but that was with the nose heavy, understeering BMW Alpina. The Elite is so much nicer to drive than the BMW, at least on this track.
I Qualied first mostly cuz Ross messed up his Q and had to start from the back. And I finished first mostly for the same reason. Had Ross done a good Q I would have surely not won. All I can say is I am surprised I didn't spin out within the first few laps, that's normally what happens when I Q in the top 3. I get nervous wondering if I could stay in the front for the duration of the race and I end up wiping out lol. But I was too busy enjoying the awesome flow of the Glen with the Elite (awesome combo Thommo :thumb to let my nerves get the best of me. Luckily, the race was short enough to not let me screw things up for myself and I came home in first.

Race2) I normally don't like Hock, but I guess it's because it's too tight in the GTC76ers which are the only cars I have ever tried to drive there. Again the Elite was a pleasure to drive on this track (unlike Mondello which I found to be a nightmare). I was surprised to Q 1st and even more surprised to be able to lead most of the race. Ross closed the gap pretty quickly and then we got into a nice clean battle until there was some kind of lagging issue...I was turning right closely following him when all of a sudden I am inside his car lol. I freaked out and clamped on the brakes which caused me to lose control for a bit. I tried to quickly regain control of the car and tried to catch Ross but he was doing an awesome job and he took home a well deserved win. Beautiful driving Ross :thumb:. I was very happy to bring it home in 2nd place. If the race had a few more laps I would have found myself battling with Manuel who was closing the gap between us with every turn.


Thanks Stu, for the wonderful choice of tracks tonight.

Thanks to all who showed up and had fun.