RD GT Championship 2012

[Erik Hafner]

ok quick statement from my side..it doesnt start bad this time.. 2:17 avarage rounds.. then, realy poor qualy.. started 19th...
and then i dont know why at the racestart my motor says 67 % :eek: why??? can somebody explain this to me??? shouldnt it be 100% every time u start? damn.. so my laptimes with full tank where 2:21 where normally i could make low 2:18s.. and with all the good luck i have today i crashed with full speed into the barrier @ round 12.. race over

hoping for more luck next time
cheers erik

 

[Sauli Laurila]

First lap accident ended my race...
In qualifying I was 8th. At the end I had -0.5 on second split, but ran out of time before finishing that one.
But on first lap there was suddenly Kajdys car sideways on the track and I didn't quite manage to avoid him, and at that speed it's race over for the both of us. A little disappointing, car was feeling better in race fuel than in previous races, did some setup changes for this one. That's racing I quess... :eek:

 

[Dubravko Vučković]

peace race...i only thing if i go in pit or not...so i go and lose ...finaly i relaize i will have around 63% tyres...but ok 3th place put me back in 1st div ))...and i have more than 40 lit of fuel ))....so i fuc.. tactics..but only have 2 days so i am happy ))...thanks...and thanks Benjaminfor set..i change him a lot but i have something to work on )...go aston goggoogogog

 

[Bob Miley]

Enjoyed tonight, except for the tap on Jadran, really sorry about that, I thought I had you because you were away so slowly after running off track, but decided after finish line it was risky so braked way earlier than you and still hit you. Again sorry, I hate bumping people.

Congrats Podium.

 

[Andreas Hultgren]

Div 1

Made an ok quali considering I only practice for a while before the event today. Started 12th.

Didn't get the best passage through Eau Rouge on lap one and had to take the inside line into Les Combes. Then someone thought he had an F1 car with carbon brakes because he missed his mark with a country mile. I got rear ended harder then Jenna Jameson. Pure luck my car was relativly intact, it only pulled slightly to the left. Lost about half a minute on that and from there on it was just damage limitation. Finished 14th I belive.

Grats to David and the Project D guys!

 

[Bob Hutchins]

i dont know why at the racestart my motor says 67 % :eek: why??? can somebody explain this to me???

Dont worry as xd always does this. Is does not mean you only have 67% as you always start with 100% motor.

 

[Rob Hermans]

Q: P3
R: P1

I had tested the wet tyres in practice and they overheated very quickly in damp conditions, so I deceided to start the race on slicks and expected to have to change tyres (to wets, probably) at the stop.
This was another track where I could not fill up with fuel at the pitstop, so I filled it with 140 litres (!) and hoped to be keeping my position off the start at least.
Chris Butcher and Dubravko Vučković drove away at an awesome pace, but I was looking after my tyres from the start. Bob Hutchins was P4 and catching a little, then I did a few good laps in a row and managed to get the gap to 5s or so. The car was being good with the tyres, and I was treating them gently, hoping to get to halfway and see how it would go...well, the rain came and the tyres were still ok, so I pushed on
To my surprise was still able to drive, albeit well off the pace of Chris Butcher, who was catching me by several seconds a lap after his stop. Fortunately I had a 45s gap, which he cut to 25s by the end...I was sweating a bit, but REALLY pleased a) to get to the end of a race in this series with enough fuel, and b) to get a win to boot

Good race, despite only overtaking cars in the pits...good driving from the lapped cars, I know there were some places where it was a very awkward time to be lapped!

 

[Scott Webber]

I think Koenigsegg are one team member down atm. I suggest sending Remco or Marco a pm

thank you, i'll give it a shot.

 

[Jadran Dimic]

Enjoyed tonight, except for the tap on Jadran, really sorry about that, I thought I had you because you were away so slowly after running off track, but decided after finish line it was risky so braked way earlier than you and still hit you. Again sorry, I hate bumping people.

Congrats Podium.

N.P. mate

 

[Marco Sbordoni]

Yey another DNF
First lap, Marco Bijl gets pushed off the track and spins, can't avoid him anymore as it looked like he got control again but I saw too late he didn't... Heavy damage... Then I changed to wet front tyres for no reason, burned them to hell. Back to pit again, dry tyres fitted, cold tyres caused me to destroy the front of my car, got sick of all these pitstops and simply went straight on during the next turn...
Jezus christ what another bull**** race for me...

I hope that a penalty will be handed out for the guy who pushed Marco off...

that guy was me.
For a mistake I ended with 2 wheels on the grass. I did not be able to make it pass Marco because I do not had the time of to see where was. In the same lap, i think, i did another mistake...and this time i had time to make Marco pass me.
Anyway if i will have a penalty no problem...

 

[Remco de Wildt]

Provisional results

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

whoooppeee, this is going to be my best result this season: 8th! haha, I heard the guy say: "well done, you're in the points" and this happens to me about once every two years in a tournie race

and this after a dreadful start: i forgot to set my wheel back from iRacing setup in the hardware profile, centering force was only at 115% where it should have been 150%. This meant, that on straights the Zonda would pick a groove and follow it either left or right until I steered against it, causing me to zigzag slowly and also finding myself much too close to apexes at the end of some breakzones. This behaviour was at least 30% worse in wet, and quali was wet so I ended up last, 16th of 16 (where were the other nine?).
in warmup I tried to change the settings in hardware setup but could not access it, when I went back to the game, the wheel didn't react to any input and could also not be remapped. hardware told me my usb was not detected so i unplugged-replugged. still no joy. while fiddling, my screen went black and when it came back: ffb!!! sorry for all my moaning chat in warmup, must have annoyed the hell out of you, thx for all the advice.

started very carefully in rain and was gifted two positions by the incident mentioned above, picked up two more due to guys spinning out, had a great two lap battle with an Italian Corvette but could not hold him back. As halftime approached I checked my pit menu and it said worst tire was at 80%, so what with the endless pitlane and all I decided to do a no-stopper. Was moved up to 6th by this decision and then, after dropping to eight and with 8mins to go, next guy 25 secs down, literally rolled back home, left front tire finished race at 50sth%. big whoop after crossing the finish line, epic!

 

[Theo de Bruin]

Div. 2

Not a very good race for me... qualified OK in p.12. There was some trouble at the start in front of me which I managed to stay clear of so I found myself in p.9 I think after a few corners... then I realized I made a mistake going out on wet tires as it stopped raining 10 seconds after the start of the race and the track dried up pretty quick after that...
Had a big crash in eau rouge (where else... ) and ended up with a punctured right front... so limped back to the pits (man, that track is so long when you are driving slowly... ). Switched to slicks and was of course last and allready 1 lap down to the leader. Decided not to stop again and just finish the race with what I had...

Had a nice little fight at the end with Kieron and Mike, unfortunately I overextended trying to defend Mike and ended up in p.13...

Big congrats to my fellow Blue Flagger Eckhart for an awesome race and a great result! Well done mate!

 

[Kimmo Kokkonen]

15th place, just driving around. Car was too heavy and slow with 150 litres fuel, 1 pitstop and only new tyres changed (slicks).

For the next race I will have my Astma medicines back after 2 months of medical research so be aware that my 'brains' will have more oxygen so i'm much faster and more competitive then, sorry

Thanks all so nice racing again but...please do not race in qualy, some so aggressive Corvette pushing me a little bit too hard and drying to overtake me and then did pass me and ruin my lap thx so much. It was my fastest lap LOL...

 

[Jonatan Åcerclinth]

Gratz to all podium finishers and thanks for a great race in Div2

Was doing mid 2.19's in pre-practice, had some more practice and then had to go for a while. Got back at the start of quali, set off and coming to the first turn, relizing I had drys on I didn't stop and did a 2.27. Got back to pits but gave up as I had 5 minutes left of quali, the extended but fair pitlane made another run impossible.

Formation lap: Interesting how I could, and I dare to day I did, at a 105 kph and sbordoni and the rest ahead allways got away with a big gap, didn't go over 105 but interesting that they got away from me Was pretty close into turn 1 so no harm done

Race: Had a great race, Started 14th and stayed there until after the first run after au ruogh, where, I don't know if this was the time, but Marco was slow out of there wide and I could easily pass him on the straight being stopped by Sbordoni inte the next corner. I stayed behind him and got passed out of the first corner, a little better exit I think. Quickly got up to 2 Matechs, I think Janoz was one of them, battling it out with somone, as I don't run with names I don't know who it was, sorry.

Was behind them and actually felt held up, must be a first for me I got passed one of the Matechs out of the first corner again, got passed in the long right hander before the fast 3rd to last corner, got passed him again out of the first corner, Stayed behind the other Matech and the, was it a saleen perhaps, (EDIT: It was Theo ) a nd allowed them to battle it out, The Saleen went on and hit the barriers at au rough a few laps later and I was 11th I think

We then had a nice run, me a few secs behind for a few laps until we got up to Ken, he was great at defending so we had a nice fight, first the Matech and him, and when he got passed a few laps later, I was hot on the porridge p Swedish for being extremly aggressive xD ) but Ken wouldn't budge, Got stuck there for quite a while.

I noticed that his tires were starting to get worn and I threw my car up on the inside at the first corner after the long straight at au rough as Ken got sideways and slow out of there. I must have been messmarized by your butiful back end as I made quite a couple of wide runs and stuff while being behind you (didn't sound quite right but oh well ) He tried a cutback out into the last part of that right-left-right but I forsaw it and braked a little earlier and let him through, he went a little wide and I got the possition down into the right hand hairpin there

From then on it was quite a quiet race, oh yes, Mike in the Matech got it wrong into the first corner so both of use passed him as he was rejoining, me almost hitting him in the rear, sorry for the close call Mike.

I then went into the pits with about 25 mins left as I felt sloppy on the tires, The stop was good, the exit not as I put the throttle down after the 180 degree pit corner, I span and lost about 15 secs trying to get it back round (didn't want to take the shortcut of the short pitexit).

Got back out in 13th I think, feeling extremly angry with my horrific pitstop, but soon got away from the anger as I found Marco in front of me again, I followed him and I don't know if he wanted to, but he left me lots of room on the outside into the first corner, Thanks a lot if it was intentional Marco

Raced on and got up to 8th as others pitted, was 20 or so sec behind Eckhart, and put the pedal to the metal trying to get up to him as Rob was getting up close to me as well (although he was looking to lap me xD)

I cought Eckhart in the right-left as he got sideways and I threw the car up the inside out of the corner and he left me room, I think you might have thought I was Rob, even so, Thanks for leaving me room as I was a little bit chopping your run off as I ran a little wide there.

Tried to catch up to Sbordoni and without my poor pit, I would have had a battle with him, but I'm not sure I would have passed you

7th in the end and my best finish here in RD so far

Delighted and relaxed, I hope it was ok to flash the lights a little before the finishing line as I finished

Thanks to the Racers, RD, Marco and Remco for organizing it

The hunter from the rear of the grid, Cerberus/Jonatan, out for now (Check out the Eyeshield 21 manga/anime for a reference to Cerberus )

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

I caught Eckhart in the right-left as he got sideways and I threw the car up the inside out of the corner and he left me room, I think you might have thought I was Rob, even so, Thanks for leaving me room as I was a little bit chopping your run off as I ran a little wide there.

knew this was for position, but also knew my tires were down and you'd been x seconds faster in quali, so decided to play it safe

 

[Jonatan Åcerclinth]

knew this was for position, but also knew my tires were down and you'd been x seconds faster in quali, so decided to play it safe

ok Gratz to the great result by the way

 

[David Gronvalls]

Race report, server one:
I made good quali, ended up in P3 with 2:18,8 but did a lap that could've been a low 2:18 but I spun off that lap.

The race was good overall. I was hit in T1 by Ben just when we were about to start, but no worries about that. I accidentally hit Jan in the last corner of the first flying lap and he lost two positions. I started chasing Helder, and on lap six he did a mistake in eau rouge and caught him on the following straight, and overtaking him in les combes. I had great speed in the race and had an eight second lead when I did a mistake on top of eau rouge and got myself some damage. A few laps later some people pitted, while my strategy was a non-stopper. This gave me a bit of breathing room. I was leading with 15sec over Ben and decided on focusing on not doing any mistakes. He gained about ten seconds on me until the end, and was about 5 sec after me at the finishing line.

A small note, if anyone's wondering, the changing weather conditions didn't affect my race. It did however make the quali a bit more exciting.

 

[Jan Wikström]

Div 1
Qualified in 2’nd again ! ..... I’m not hot lapper normally so i don’t really understand this…

The race was really hard and challenging, those changing conditions really keep you alert all the time.

The start went well without mishaps. Then at lap 1 when braking for the final chicane David G in 3’d tap my back just enough to make me loose the rear and I slide wide into the corner loosing 2 places.
The rest of the first half of the race I kept loosing a fraction every lap to the guys in front, while Remco where chasing me hard from behind.
Remocs car look to be much quicker in the twisty sections but lost on the straits making it hard to challenge.
I stopped just after mid race for new tires, and seeing after the race this was probably a mistake.
When the stops where done I had dropped down to 10’th place, and once again with Remco behind.
Someone made a mistake up front somewhere and gave us one position.

Some 10 laps from the finish something happened to Remco and he dropped back giving me the chance to focus on racing only.
I could see that I was gaining some 3-5s/lap on the guys in 8 and 7’th, probably due to my much fresher tires.
A crazy challenge brought me just up to their rear on the last lap. At Les Combes 8’th placed Jadran overshot it and went onto the grass giving me one place. And the in the final chicane Dmytro braked a tiny fraction too late and I could slip trough into 7’th.

Once again a bad pit stop strategy from my side lost me some places, but it was a fun and challenging race and I’m more than happy with 7’th.

Great race all, and thanks to our organizers

 

[János Ócsai]

Div 2:
Qualy P10
Race P10

I liked this special weather for Spa. It really added a lot to the event. You had to adjust all the time. Most of the time was lapping alone, but I always had to be aware of the track conditions.

About the race:
Start was a bit messy. Was a little misunderstanding about keeping 100 kph until La source, everybody was hard on the throttle, then braking heavily. Luckily there was no accindent. Theo overtook me before it was allowed, but just before T1 he moved back. Not knowing his related position, to avoid contact I went wide into T1. Lost 1 place because of this right after the corner. In the first few laps, nice fight between Mike and Jonatan. But later I fell behind.
The scariest moment during race was when at Blanchimont doing 240kph the edge of the curb pushed my rear wheel aside and I barely catched the sliding car.
At the last minutes I was able to catch Marco, who was probably on worn tires or low fuel. I was also worried about fuel, finished with 2.7 liters left.

See you next week.