2009 RD Touring Car Championship (STCC)

[Gaëtan Legastelois]

No physical risk because it is only the left shoulder which has a problem (muscular, not osseous).
For the game since I check regularly my rear-view mirror, I do not think of being more dangerous than one the others, I could not check directly the side thus I would drive as a consequence.
Thank.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Ah sweet a polar bear in lap 8

 

[Stephane Leclercq]

Saw every bit of sand there was to see. Hit all the wall there were to hit, lost front bumper, broke suspensions, luckely the engine kept running and allowed me to finish and that's about all there is to say. Had a good laugh however.

 

[Steven Voss]

Thanks Bram for that block cost me my race I am so happy with that.

Q:
Totally not my favorite track but I had pole how dont ask me.

R:
Went fine. 1st lap I made a little mistake and Patrick took me over.
Few laps later Patrick made a little mistake and I tapped him while he was all over the track. Sorry for that Patrick I thought I could pass you there.
Had a nice gap what was slowly getting a little bigger.
Untill I found Bram on my way. He was last and I wanted to pas him he went really slow on the strait. Lost 2.5 seconds and I didnt have my speed anymore on the strait. Think it was 8 km a hour slower or so. The car was so different and harder to drive from that little tab :S.
Before my stop in round 14 the gap went from 6 to 2 sec.
I after all the stops I still had 1.5 sec but I noticed they were a lot faster then my car. Was a nice fight but I dunno who it was. Simon or Wilson tapped me and passed me in the Renault corner and passed me. Got me pretty pissed again. After a nice fight on the strait I go ride on the right. Wilson wants to pass me I guess there and hits me. I cant control the car again and end up in the gravel. So I ended up 4th.
What a great race. I think this was a chance to win but with all this unlucky moments I guess it's not ment to be.

sigh

 

[Philip Antonia]

I'll do my race report later.

Too p***ed off with myself for poor drive after my best league Qual of 3rd.

Just want to say sorry to Theo Loonstra for hitting him on the 2nd to last lap. I was pushing hard to catch Mark in 5th as he seemed to be backing off and I had him in my sights. Exiting the corner b4 last turn Theo was keeping to the outside and I was flat out and then I realised he was struggling to go straight with a puncture or damage. I tried to dart around him without lifting as I didn't want to lose my momentum and I went straight into the back of him.

I'm really sorry and I hope you didn't lose any positions because of my clumsy driving:sad:.

 

[Keith Peppiatt]

qual - happy with my performance, about 1/2 a second off pb but with pressure of superpole happy there.

race - bogged down off the line and went right immediate to defend line to t1 which was observed very well. t4 bob had a wee spin and my evasive line allowe bram to take advantage to move up. starting to get into a rhythm and on lap 3 it happened... graphics hang 30s lock up and down to 15th from 8th/9th place. a bit annoyed then went deep in t6 on next lap and dropped further. still pulled myself together and set up for the come back drive.

from offline practice races had felt coming in at end of lap 12 was the best option. i was closing on HJ ahead (7sec gap when pitted) set about hammering in some laptime when the fresh rubber was on. HJ pitted next lap and i came out 1.7 sec down. a few laps of pressure followed and eventually it paid off, 10th place now. next target wido and neil.

was closing on the two of them at about 1/2sec per lap until wido went ahead. next thing times are tumbling to neil from 15.5 sec. 3 sec a lap then neil said splash and dash was needed. 9th place.

3 or 4 laps to go and times started to tumble to Wido... cross in 9th place about 6seconds behind when at top it had been 22.

shame about the hang - 7th place was 11seconds ahead and hang cost me 30s, but there we go. still enjoyed the race!

cya at the last round!

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

fuel

for the first time, I will fill the ol' Volvo to the brim, just did a 50 min offlien race against ai: race ended after 28 laps, crossing the line in 3rd gear sputter sputter, I had 0.01 litres left First tire warning as usual after 18 mins. See you tonight!

 

[Neil Gault]

It was a good race but i got the math wrong

Setup was working great, kept it on the track with no warnings about tyre wear and got it up to 8th place after we had all pitted.

I started to push it a bit and managed to pull away from Wido a little bit and with the second or so cushion i started to think about fuel and thought it would be touch in go if i had enough to i started to short shift a little bit but struggled to keep the pace going and save fuel so it was not long before Wido caught up and went past so i thought ok keep it together and i can hold on to keep keith behind but as i came around the last corner i had maybe a 4 second lead on keith but with only 1.9L left in my tank i would of had to really short shift all the way to make another lap and maybe finish the race in the pits so instead i stopped for a splash n dash and lost a couple of places, but it was still a good race and i guess i will have to check my fuel better next time

 

[Theo Loonstra]

Yeah I had a puncture so was hard to steer the car back to the pit but no harm was done since Stephane was more than a lap behind me so I was pretty safe for my position and the guy infront of me I think it was Hansi had me lapped already so no hope of catching him anymore all in all no harm done.

 

[Jari Vinnari]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO7H8Off3_M[/ame]

peace
Jari

 

[DeeezNutz]

I'm really sorry guys, but i just can't make it tonight... I'll explain later and inform an admin.

 

[Bob Luneski]

Great video, although painful to watch. Finally able to post after being totally gutted and demoralized by my DNF on lap 16.

I was very happy with the race to that point and ran as high as 8th going into my pit stop. Had trouble starting the engine and lost a spot when I came out. 2 laps later disaster struck and on fresh tires no less. Momentary space out and tires touched the grass, spin out, tire wall, race over. :crying:

Still, my goal for this league was to improve my touring car skills. So I think it's at least a moral victory :victory: :rotfl:

 

[Jamie Wilson]

Video much appreciated, Jari

Good result for the Ninecraft team, Simon now has a handy advantage going into Mantorp and assuming a maximum 22 point score for Patrick, would need to finish 5th to clinch it by one point.

I was behind the main battle most of the time myself, just not able to make up ground when it mattered until the group came backwards to me.

After a nice fight on the strait I go ride on the right. Wilson wants to pass me I guess there and hits me. I cant control the car again and end up in the gravel. So I ended up 4th.

Actually you left (a well judged honda-sized) gap on the right for most of the straight which I stuck my nose into, as most people would given that gap and the way in which it had been left open for as long as it had been, but once I had started to get alongside, you tried to squeeze me into the pit wall. You had plenty of opportunity to close the door beforehand, in which case I would've dived to the outside no problem.

Easy to say now though; it all happened rather quickly. I'm sorry that it ended up with you running wide and losing a position like that, it's not the way I would've liked to have gained the place, but at the moment I pulled out of the slipstream, you were running in a perfectly straight line, I had confidence on the brakes having noted that I was closing on Patrick substantially into T1 beforehand, there was a gap big enough for me to get the car into, and from that moment I was fully committed to taking that inside line.

IMO the driving standards at the front of the field are quite something, big thumbs up. I was watching the moment that Patrick passed two cars to take the lead (albeit briefly); absolutely brilliant opportunistic move, superbly executed.

Seeing two cars squeezing each other is a great sign that two drivers are absolutely trusting of each other; great stuff, but when the pit wall is involved, it's a little more complicated and good degree of spatial awareness is required to ensure that you leave a gap of 100.1% of the width of the car

This league is just enforcing what I already know, which is that you can close the gap to the front. Erik came close to achieving a league championship win last year with myself and Simon a considerable distance down the points table, but here we are with a driver nursing a cushion going into the final round, another driver up there troubling the podium positions, and another driver that every single race demonstrates that he has an almost perpetual cycle of improvement. Roll on Mantorp!

 

[Frank Herfjord]

Oh man... I was on the grid and somebody said they had slicks on. Somebody answered that he should change, so I figured I might as well double check that I had wets on both pairs. But as soon as I hit the garage, I was out of the race. Bohoo!

PS: I watched some of the race afterwards. That was a spectacular crash, Keith!

Well I'll see you all next time.

 

[Keith Barrick]

Bah....my cat managd to turn my computer off while i was racing. The power button is ultra sensitive on this case and it was **** bad luck.

Quali: New PB and took pole.

Race: Rain down, all I did was lower brake power and bias and throw wets on my dry setup. Got a good start and the lead early. Made a small error lap 3 which let Timmy by. Then the next lap over the hill I got airborn and lost it hard, with susp damage. retook 4th and was running well. Planned on taking 2 fronts to regain track position, and try and salvage a good finish. Then kitty kat attack.

Good run to all, I had fun with everyone. Congrats to timmy for the championship. Wish I couldve raced all of them to run u for the title. I think with my pole I locked 2nd up so I am still happy.

Thanks 2 million times over to RD and all the staff that make this possible. I love this place and I love the dedication you guys have for this passion we all share. Thanks from the bottom of my heart guys, you rock.

Keith Barrick

 

[Maurice Hurkmans]

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Bram's Polar Bear succesfully attacked my computer in lap 16

bah bah and i really was enjoying racing in the rain

Quali (in dry): P14 with a 1:50,9xx. Made 2 big mistakes. Only due to Aritan's disconnect in quali (luckily he could rejoin) i got to p13.

Race: WET WET WET, aaaaah big scary moment for me, cause i didn't drove a single inch in the wet. So i made a very safe start. But some guys in front took even more precaution, so after T1 was in p11. After a very difficult first lap, cause everybody was searching for his limits in the rain (causing a lot of speed difference and some spins; i luckily avoided one on the backstraight to the audi-s, cause someone spun and stood on the middle of the track). Then i settled on P7 with Lasse and Dave infront and Aritan behind. After 6 laps or so and a few little mistakes the guys in front were getting away and Aritan behind was getting closer and closer. Then it happend: driving full speed to Scheivlak, i lost the car on top of the hill :S
with Aritan just behind.... i was praying that i wouldn't crash myself and Aritan too badly. Surprisingly i had very little damage and i hope Aritan did aswell, cause i did affect him with my spin, cause he was still behind. I decided to let him pass and i try to find my rythm back. After lap 11 i made my stop (in 16 seconds). about 4 laps later, until all others made their stop i was in P5, cause i passed Lasse, Aritan and Rafael with my stop again! I was amazed. Then in lap 16 in the tarzan, i had a freeze and already very soon i noticed i was screwed.... times weren't counting anymore etc etc.

really a big pity, cause i was having great fun in the rain

Hope the others had some good fun aswell!

c ya in Mantorp!!!

 

[Chris Rogerson]

took slicks to start because i'm an idiot, pitted lap 2 then started the catchup.

Failed.

finished 7th

 

[Grégory Cogotti]

Bah....my cat managd to turn my computer off while i was racing. The power button is ultra sensitive on this case and it was **** bad luck.

OMG !!!

Too bad for you ... Fortunately my power switch don't work!

Well :

Quali: 3rd with a not very good lap, but it's superpole lotery!

Race: Damn, the rain!! I haven't made a rain setup before and i made quickly some modification at my dry setup. I missed a little my start and Jay passed me into the T1. I followed him and later i see Keith going into the sand and i take the 3rd place. I had a good fight with Jay but, i don't know why but I believed I could make the entire race with my tires :victory:..but no!:worship:. The 14th lap was the hell to drive, my front tires were very slippery and i made my pit stop (a little late) but i finally finished the race on the podium :thumb:

It was a great race tonight, thank RD and all you guys, congrats to Tim and Jay :thumb:

 

[Dave Gardner]

excellent stuff guys,everyone drove very cleanly.

i managed a pretty good start, and the rain was just what the doctor ordered, certainly helps to put everyone on an even keel.

my race was going superbly,was 7th,then keith left,so gifted 6th,then someone else left and i was gifted 5th.

everyone started to pit, which left gregory 1st and myself 2nd, then gregory pitted so i was 1st, whoo-hoo.

was all going well, so i pitted when i noticed tim was only 15 secs behind me, i selected my wet pit strategy again, but for some reason,when i cam out of the pits i had severe understeer, turns out i had put slicks on the front and wets on the rear, so i pitted again,clicked on the wet strategy again, left the pits and it was like driving on ice,this time i had slicks all round, so i pitted once more but instead of using a strategy i manually selected wet tyres all round, and hey presto, it worked.

is this some sort of bug, as my strategy set-ups usually work fine.

great racing guys.

Dave

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

certainly helps to put everyone on an even keel.

except for me how I loathe rain, honestly, from the darkest corner of my otherwise innocent heart ...
I suppose it's all about how much you are in control, and it turns out I lose an average of 4 secs on the other guys in any rain race on any track. Gladly I cannot be bothered to put in time and energy to change that (though some hints on what to do are appreciated), just vent my spleen after race and suffer while it lasts

on to more positive news: super quali, bested my pb by 1.2 secs and did a 1:50:05 that gave me pos 11 of 14.

race: stayed clean most of the time except for the last chicane where I got the breakpoint wrong 70% of the time, no fun but survived, 9th of 10 still running.

thx RD for another perfect event