Welcome to Round 7 of the RDHGP S4
Welcome back to the 2009 RDHGP S4, and to the last Thursday race of the season.
Before I get into the guts of the briefing, some of you might not have noticed why Kris Leeten did not participate at Österreichring, It is because he became a father, so the very best wishes from all at RDHGP to you and your newly expanded family, Kris.
After a couple of races where I ended up having to moan a bit, Österreichring feels like it was a total success, no incidents and accidents, no hints nor allegations. The track is a corker, probably better than the 79 version because of that fast T1, and it will probably be used much more regularly by me, probably in the not-too-distant future. I was, I have to admit, always going to be dreading this race (not the track – I love the track) in my little Escort, but picking tracks that suited my car is not what all this ever was, or is, about. I was glad to see Tom & Carlos get somewhere where the Beemers great engine could do it’s stuff without being compromised by it’s less than agile handling, and where Ivo could really open the taps on his ‘vette (just a shame that his tyres didn’t hold out). My heart went out to Hans after he fell foul of the GTL bladder disease.
Again I was delighted to not see the dread topic of cutting raising it’s ugly head at all before, during or after the event. The only mention was a minor query that required some very minor clarification. You once again have my thanks for that.
And, I am pleased to say, people seemed in general to realise that they win nothing on Lap1 and the driving standards seemed to be back to where they ought to be. Yes, there are (and were) accidents, but we are talking spins and mistakes rather than rash or ill-advised dives into gaps half the size of your car.
I love writing my introductions where everything is not only fine, but also a large dollop of dandy. So please - let’s keep that going for these last 2 races.
While I have your attention, I’m going to use this space as a word from our sponsors, as our American cousins say on TV:
RDHTC Season 5 begins with a Testing event on Thu 15th April, with Round 1 on 29th April.
7 x 100km races on alternate Thursdays, finishing with a 200km event finale on Sat 31st July.
TC65 class of cars – Alfa GTA, Austin Mini Cooper S, Fiat Abarth TCR, Ford Falcon & Mustang, Lotus Cortina, NSU TT, Toyota Corolla.
Car choice now open via PM only.
I hope I will see most, hopefully all, of you on the Grid for Season 5, where I think the cars I’m using, are not only extremely well matched against each other, but much more controllable than their higher powered brethren. Both of these facts are conducive to close racing, so I don’t think it unreasonable to anticipate that the proven RDHTC format, along with the best cars in GTL, and the best, most courteous drivers on RD, will combine to produce something spectacular.
Now back to our regular programming.
We move south-west from Austria to Spain for Round 7, in the form of the Circuit de Jarama. The intricate arabesques and curlicues of the Castillian track provide the starkest possible contrast to the Österreichring’s brutally simple, high speed layout. Also, because of the relatively slow speeds during a lap, it provides yet another contrast to Austria, as it will be one of the longer timed races in the 100km class.
In addition, I will be posting a poll regarding Le Mans, and what conditions you want to drive it in. I’m not sure I want to muck about using accelerated times, but I can set the start time so we get a gradual change in atmospherics. We ran a Le Mans event like that in the past and it worked quite well.
Circuit Notes
Built in 1967 on arid scrubland north of Madrid, Circuit de Jarama has some illustrious siblings, being designed by John Hugenholtz, the creator of both Zandvoort & Suzuka.
It has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix in the past, but the combination of extensive mechanical grip aided by increasingly efficient aero meant that passing was not always possible. An example of this was when Gilles Villeneuve, genius though he was, successfully defended the lead in 1981 from lights to flag despite there being a tail of 4 significantly faster cars behind him.
Happily, this will not be a problem to burden the RDHGP, as early 80’s F1 standards of grip and aero are not something we tend to be troubled by, especially in, for instance, a Ford Escort. I fully expect the layout and the cars to provide ample passing opportunities.
Jarama also has very wide (and in this incarnation, yellow/blue) kerbs that –deliberately– intrude onto what would be the ideal racing line, to make the track even more complex. I’ll say it now – these kerbs are NOT deemed as part of the track, you must keep 2 wheels on the tarmac at all times. There are no other types of kerb on the lap, so there should be no further clarifications needed.
The Start/Finish line is near the end of the home straight and leads into a double apexed left hander, T1aL (Nuvolari) & T1bL (Fangio). The shortness of the run from the grid to this turn should prevent too much conflict on Lap 1, as we won’t be nearing anywhere near full chat.
Out of Fangio and a quick squirt of straight until you cross the first of 3 kinks around the lap T2R, Varzi. Negotiate Varzi and you have another quick dab of throttle until you need to brake for T3L, Le Mans.
This pretty standard hairpin opens out onto what looks like it might be a straight but is, in fact, pretty much just a braking zone for what I think might be the tightest corner of the RDHGP season, T4R, Farina. Depending on your car and gearing, you may even be down in 1st for this corner.
Another very short link takes us to T5L, Pegaso. This is a faster corner, and one that opens up onto a decent straight, Rampa Pegaso, split by the second of those kinks, T6R, Ascari. The circuit used to turn hard right here, until 1990, when it was extended into its current configuration so that it bears left through Ascari, in a curved braking zone for T7R, Portago
Accelerating out of Portago takes us to the last of the 3 kinks, T8L Bugatti, and from there down into T9L Pegio, another hairpin.
From there, it’s a short burst of acceleration and into the double apexed T10R Monza, itself leading onto another short straight and into the final turn, T11R Tunel, a medium speed corner which opens onto the relatively short Start/Finish straight.
So, nearly double the number of corners that we had in Austria, on a track nearly half as short.
The Race Director has some notes for drivers. Please see the track map above for location of Race Direction note:-
· All Corners Without Exception – The kerbs are no longer deemed as track, therefore 2 wheels must be within the white lines, on the tarmac, At All Times. Again, there are NO exceptions to this rule at any point on the circuit. Any exception to this rule is deemed illegal, any advantage gained by this method must be ceded immediately.
· T2R – Varzi, T6R – Ascari, T8L - Bugatti. As mentioned in the lap description, these kinks are bordered by some very wide kerbs, easily wide enough to take a cars width completely. Which I’m now (obviously) going to tell you that you are not allowed to do, as you must have 2 wheels on the tarmac at all times. These kinks make the short straights more difficult, they have been put there for a reason, so we will respect that. Please report anyone you see persistently straight-lining over the kerbs through the kinks.
· T4R – Farina. Very, very slow corner, and by now, you are expected to know the parameters that both your and your opponents car can operate under, including braking distances. I do not want to see anyone being punted from behind in the braking zone for this tight corner.
Incidents, Investigations and Penalties
There were no Incident Reports from the Österreichring event.
There are 3 new no-show infractions arising from Österreichring
Leszek Porzezinski
Piotrek Blaszczak
Predrag Drobac
There are 4 drivers carrying infractions (number of races left to serve in brackets).
Marius Bentu (3)
Sam J Simpson (3)
Ben Tusting (3)
Bert Van Waes (3)
The following 3 drivers are now clear of the infraction they were carrying through Austria:-
Arkadiusz Kotarski
Lee Madden
Matt Crouch
Any further infractions will result in removal from the League, and therefore missing the finale at Le Mans.
The following 2 drivers have been removed from the League due to a second no-show infraction.
Simon Bacon
Stuart Neal
All No-show infractions will be carried for 4 events, after which time they will be rescinded. A further infraction will result in removal from the League.
Please remember, the League staff will only review incidents if they are reported to them.
No report = no review.
Please try and remember the incident reporting guidelines: review, cool off, review again. Only after following the above process, and if you are convinced you still need to report it, should you let the League staff know. Please give as much information as possible during the report (time of incident, drivers involved etc.)
Any accusations or complaints aired in the Chat during or after a race will mean a penalty levied on the person complaining or making the accusations, even if a subsequent official complaint gets found in their favour. I simply will NOT tolerate any post race finger pointing.
Liveries
You have chosen your car and livery already, and you must only drive your chosen car at any time during an RDHGP event. Every driver has a unique livery in this season of RDHGP.
Scoring System
I have extended the points distribution method down to P20 (75% distance completion required) so people can fight for some points no matter where they are on the track, and hopefully have a season long battle with people around them in the League.
The Distribution is as follows (double for the 200km event):
P1 - 25 pts
P2 - 22
P3 - 20
P4 - 18
P5 - 16
P6 - 15
P7 - 14
P8 - 13
P9 - 12
P10 - 11
P11 - 10
P12 - 9
P13 - 8
P14 - 7
P15 - 6
P16 - 5
P17 - 4
P18 - 3
P19 - 2
P20 - 1
1 point for fastest race lap (not double on 200km event)
1 point for qualifying on Pole (not double on 200km event)
Welcome back to the 2009 RDHGP S4, and to the last Thursday race of the season.
Before I get into the guts of the briefing, some of you might not have noticed why Kris Leeten did not participate at Österreichring, It is because he became a father, so the very best wishes from all at RDHGP to you and your newly expanded family, Kris.
After a couple of races where I ended up having to moan a bit, Österreichring feels like it was a total success, no incidents and accidents, no hints nor allegations. The track is a corker, probably better than the 79 version because of that fast T1, and it will probably be used much more regularly by me, probably in the not-too-distant future. I was, I have to admit, always going to be dreading this race (not the track – I love the track) in my little Escort, but picking tracks that suited my car is not what all this ever was, or is, about. I was glad to see Tom & Carlos get somewhere where the Beemers great engine could do it’s stuff without being compromised by it’s less than agile handling, and where Ivo could really open the taps on his ‘vette (just a shame that his tyres didn’t hold out). My heart went out to Hans after he fell foul of the GTL bladder disease.
Again I was delighted to not see the dread topic of cutting raising it’s ugly head at all before, during or after the event. The only mention was a minor query that required some very minor clarification. You once again have my thanks for that.
And, I am pleased to say, people seemed in general to realise that they win nothing on Lap1 and the driving standards seemed to be back to where they ought to be. Yes, there are (and were) accidents, but we are talking spins and mistakes rather than rash or ill-advised dives into gaps half the size of your car.
I love writing my introductions where everything is not only fine, but also a large dollop of dandy. So please - let’s keep that going for these last 2 races.
While I have your attention, I’m going to use this space as a word from our sponsors, as our American cousins say on TV:
RDHTC Season 5 begins with a Testing event on Thu 15th April, with Round 1 on 29th April.
7 x 100km races on alternate Thursdays, finishing with a 200km event finale on Sat 31st July.
TC65 class of cars – Alfa GTA, Austin Mini Cooper S, Fiat Abarth TCR, Ford Falcon & Mustang, Lotus Cortina, NSU TT, Toyota Corolla.
Car choice now open via PM only.
I hope I will see most, hopefully all, of you on the Grid for Season 5, where I think the cars I’m using, are not only extremely well matched against each other, but much more controllable than their higher powered brethren. Both of these facts are conducive to close racing, so I don’t think it unreasonable to anticipate that the proven RDHTC format, along with the best cars in GTL, and the best, most courteous drivers on RD, will combine to produce something spectacular.
Now back to our regular programming.
We move south-west from Austria to Spain for Round 7, in the form of the Circuit de Jarama. The intricate arabesques and curlicues of the Castillian track provide the starkest possible contrast to the Österreichring’s brutally simple, high speed layout. Also, because of the relatively slow speeds during a lap, it provides yet another contrast to Austria, as it will be one of the longer timed races in the 100km class.
In addition, I will be posting a poll regarding Le Mans, and what conditions you want to drive it in. I’m not sure I want to muck about using accelerated times, but I can set the start time so we get a gradual change in atmospherics. We ran a Le Mans event like that in the past and it worked quite well.
Circuit Notes
Built in 1967 on arid scrubland north of Madrid, Circuit de Jarama has some illustrious siblings, being designed by John Hugenholtz, the creator of both Zandvoort & Suzuka.
It has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix in the past, but the combination of extensive mechanical grip aided by increasingly efficient aero meant that passing was not always possible. An example of this was when Gilles Villeneuve, genius though he was, successfully defended the lead in 1981 from lights to flag despite there being a tail of 4 significantly faster cars behind him.
Happily, this will not be a problem to burden the RDHGP, as early 80’s F1 standards of grip and aero are not something we tend to be troubled by, especially in, for instance, a Ford Escort. I fully expect the layout and the cars to provide ample passing opportunities.
Jarama also has very wide (and in this incarnation, yellow/blue) kerbs that –deliberately– intrude onto what would be the ideal racing line, to make the track even more complex. I’ll say it now – these kerbs are NOT deemed as part of the track, you must keep 2 wheels on the tarmac at all times. There are no other types of kerb on the lap, so there should be no further clarifications needed.
The Start/Finish line is near the end of the home straight and leads into a double apexed left hander, T1aL (Nuvolari) & T1bL (Fangio). The shortness of the run from the grid to this turn should prevent too much conflict on Lap 1, as we won’t be nearing anywhere near full chat.
Out of Fangio and a quick squirt of straight until you cross the first of 3 kinks around the lap T2R, Varzi. Negotiate Varzi and you have another quick dab of throttle until you need to brake for T3L, Le Mans.
This pretty standard hairpin opens out onto what looks like it might be a straight but is, in fact, pretty much just a braking zone for what I think might be the tightest corner of the RDHGP season, T4R, Farina. Depending on your car and gearing, you may even be down in 1st for this corner.
Another very short link takes us to T5L, Pegaso. This is a faster corner, and one that opens up onto a decent straight, Rampa Pegaso, split by the second of those kinks, T6R, Ascari. The circuit used to turn hard right here, until 1990, when it was extended into its current configuration so that it bears left through Ascari, in a curved braking zone for T7R, Portago
Accelerating out of Portago takes us to the last of the 3 kinks, T8L Bugatti, and from there down into T9L Pegio, another hairpin.
From there, it’s a short burst of acceleration and into the double apexed T10R Monza, itself leading onto another short straight and into the final turn, T11R Tunel, a medium speed corner which opens onto the relatively short Start/Finish straight.
So, nearly double the number of corners that we had in Austria, on a track nearly half as short.
The Race Director has some notes for drivers. Please see the track map above for location of Race Direction note:-
· All Corners Without Exception – The kerbs are no longer deemed as track, therefore 2 wheels must be within the white lines, on the tarmac, At All Times. Again, there are NO exceptions to this rule at any point on the circuit. Any exception to this rule is deemed illegal, any advantage gained by this method must be ceded immediately.
· T2R – Varzi, T6R – Ascari, T8L - Bugatti. As mentioned in the lap description, these kinks are bordered by some very wide kerbs, easily wide enough to take a cars width completely. Which I’m now (obviously) going to tell you that you are not allowed to do, as you must have 2 wheels on the tarmac at all times. These kinks make the short straights more difficult, they have been put there for a reason, so we will respect that. Please report anyone you see persistently straight-lining over the kerbs through the kinks.
· T4R – Farina. Very, very slow corner, and by now, you are expected to know the parameters that both your and your opponents car can operate under, including braking distances. I do not want to see anyone being punted from behind in the braking zone for this tight corner.
Incidents, Investigations and Penalties
There were no Incident Reports from the Österreichring event.
There are 3 new no-show infractions arising from Österreichring
Leszek Porzezinski
Piotrek Blaszczak
Predrag Drobac
There are 4 drivers carrying infractions (number of races left to serve in brackets).
Marius Bentu (3)
Sam J Simpson (3)
Ben Tusting (3)
Bert Van Waes (3)
The following 3 drivers are now clear of the infraction they were carrying through Austria:-
Arkadiusz Kotarski
Lee Madden
Matt Crouch
Any further infractions will result in removal from the League, and therefore missing the finale at Le Mans.
The following 2 drivers have been removed from the League due to a second no-show infraction.
Simon Bacon
Stuart Neal
All No-show infractions will be carried for 4 events, after which time they will be rescinded. A further infraction will result in removal from the League.
Please remember, the League staff will only review incidents if they are reported to them.
No report = no review.
Please try and remember the incident reporting guidelines: review, cool off, review again. Only after following the above process, and if you are convinced you still need to report it, should you let the League staff know. Please give as much information as possible during the report (time of incident, drivers involved etc.)
Any accusations or complaints aired in the Chat during or after a race will mean a penalty levied on the person complaining or making the accusations, even if a subsequent official complaint gets found in their favour. I simply will NOT tolerate any post race finger pointing.
Liveries
You have chosen your car and livery already, and you must only drive your chosen car at any time during an RDHGP event. Every driver has a unique livery in this season of RDHGP.
Scoring System
I have extended the points distribution method down to P20 (75% distance completion required) so people can fight for some points no matter where they are on the track, and hopefully have a season long battle with people around them in the League.
The Distribution is as follows (double for the 200km event):
P1 - 25 pts
P2 - 22
P3 - 20
P4 - 18
P5 - 16
P6 - 15
P7 - 14
P8 - 13
P9 - 12
P10 - 11
P11 - 10
P12 - 9
P13 - 8
P14 - 7
P15 - 6
P16 - 5
P17 - 4
P18 - 3
P19 - 2
P20 - 1
1 point for fastest race lap (not double on 200km event)
1 point for qualifying on Pole (not double on 200km event)
