BMW 320 Gr5 @ Le Mans Sarthe 79 Enduro - Thu 29th July

Stuart Thomson · Jun 24, 2010

Servername: RD GTL Racing Club
Class: BMW 320 Gr5 mod
Track: Le Mans Sarthe 79 plus the required v1.1 fix
Start Time: 19.00 GMT
Prac & Quali: 60 min (unlimited laps) - we will forego prac & roll to a 60 min quali session @ 19.00GMT
Race: 26 laps

Note1: Click here to read the password and golden rules!
Note2: Default skins that come with the mod only
Note3: As this is a long race, at least one, probably multiple, pit stops will be required, so please check out Warren’s pitstop tutorial here: http://www.racedepartment.com/gt-legends/3302-gtl-pitstop-hints-tips.html

Ross McGregor · Jul 30, 2010

A fitting finale to the BMW series...

Qualified P8, well off most of the guys ahead, but was trying to think of a strategy to out-fox them. After realising 7 laps for a stint was too risky, i went for a 4-stopper, coming in on laps 5, 10, 15 and 20.
The race started quite well for me, i moved up a couple of spots at the start, had Bob latched onto the back bumper down the Mulsanne, and by the end of the lap i was up to 2nd after avoiding a couple of incidents. However, approaching the chicanes at the end of the lap, i experienced horrendous lag (most likely due to my pc doing some random task) and when the fps returned to normal i was facing the wrong way. Quickly got back into the fray down in 10th or something, and set about my original plan of consistent lap times.

Got into the groove, and despite not battling with many other cars i found myself heading up the order after the first couple of stops.

In the final quarter of the race i was under a bit of pressure from Neil, but managed to create a gap after the pit-stops and was now gunning for 3rd place Nigel, who was now around 20s up the road. While he pitted on lap 19 i built a gap of around 10s, but i just wasn;t sure if he was going to run the full 7 laps on one tank of fuel or whether he had to pit again. He rejoined the race, and while i tried to keep nice and tidy lines and braked early-i knackered everything by spinning at the tight left-hander after Arnage. Now Nigel was bearing down on me, i tried to keep calm and take early apexes- easier said than done when the light was fading!
Down the Mulsanne i had a bit of a top-speed advantage, so this gave me a nice cushion going into the Porsche curves, where my car was generally slower. Nigel was again right behind me going into the chicanes, when, to my relief, he headed into the pits with a couple of laps to go! Took it easy from there on, i was 2 minutes behind 2nd and 15s ahead of 4th, no point in gunning it.

Overall, a nice change of pace for the Thursday GTL club races, i'd certainly be in favour of some more GTL enduros. Not sure which tracks to use however. I quite like the idea of using tracks of the period, eg: 60's and 70's tracks, as these tend to be long, wide and fast, basically ideal for endurance races.
Anyway, thanks everyone for some good, clean racing, and many thanks again stuart for setting it up!

Andreas Löffler · Jul 30, 2010

qualy:

got no slipscreen support but could manage 3rd in grid

race:

I don´t tried the start before, better i had done it one time :tongue:. Had spinning tyres and switch to early in second. So the car felt short to stall the engine. Was fear a bit what happen and where to go.

Neil Gault said:
Lost a few places at the start as the slow starting Andreas Löffler moved to block me passing him on the inside which let 3 cars past on the outside :frown: so it was down to 9th very quickly.

I expect more cars left and unfortunately i closed Neil the door, so sorry that you lost some places because of me. :sorry:
Was 6th or 7th after first shicane. Then unfortunately someone spin out on the straight and also in indianapolis corner I think Nigel spin in the lead. In this traffic jam i got also a bit damage but i don´t notice any interference. And as also Ralf spin later out of last shicane i was suddently in 1st position. Due i was in save fuel mode Ralf ame back fast but seemed not he wanted the lead. Probably he aved also fuel in my slipscreen. In sevventh lap my fuel came close and i forced Ralf into the lead to save aome in his slpiscreen down the to long streights.
Maybe already first pit decide the race cause i forgot to click off to repair the damage, so i lost some seconds in the pits. After the stop i was about 15 seconds behind Ralf. With my 3 stop strategy i had again to save fuel for 7 laps. After stop 2 it was only 6 laps per stint required so that i tried to push to get maybe Ralf but the gap stays over the whole race from 8 to 16 sec. This was a bit boring but i enjoyed the track and the great sound of my BMW

until the finish line in P2.
Also i guess Ralf controled the race and had could go a bit faster if nacessary. Maybe my gearbox wasn´t good cause in race it seemed Ralf had some better accalaration then me cause in low rpm the car have not much power in comparison to higher rpm. And i had a long first and second gear for finally shorter 5th and 6th gear so not sure if that was the right way.

Anyhow, it was great driving as ever in Le Mans together with a cool mod - :thanks: Stuart for orgenicing the event and congrats Ralf and Ross in 1st and 3rd and everybody which managed to bring his car home in one piece.

Tom Wilson · Jul 30, 2010

Sad t ohave missed this, sounds like it went down a treat.

As for ideas about future events, Enduro should probably be not too tough a track. Maybe something like Monza? We all know it and it's short enough to keep us grouped.

I'm thinking something like a for GT40 for the car, don't know why - i just haven't driven it for a while!

Steven Palmer · Jul 30, 2010

Great end to a series....and definitely a fave MOD of mine now....liked these car right out of the box. Shame I couldn't get to a few more of them, work and holidays intervened.

Had some good "lone" pace round here in practice so was looking forward to the race, especially once the field spread out a little, knowing that I could put some consistent times in. Trouble is races never go as planed do they

Had a great start for once, darting up the inside a Andreas, then big lolz down the straight with Nigel, bumpdrafting him into P1 by the end of Mulsanne straight. Ralf got a better drive than me out of the turn and squeezed by on the run down to Indianapolis, where unfortunately we met Nige in the middle of an accident, Ralf darted one way through the smoke, I the other and, bang unluckily I met Nigel, Andreas went into the back of me, and I lost my splitter and about 800 rpm down the straights

Still, only early doors and there were some great laps along the way with Stuart, Neil and near the end a few laps short of the 2 hours, Ross (that was me at the end of you report I think Ross, I was in the Yellow Corn car).

Many congratulations to Ralf, Andreas and Ross for the podium slots and all those participated tonight

Lemans comes in for some stick now and then for being a bit sterile. I think it's a great venue in the right car....last night was awesome.

Thanks Stu for another great series and I hope the keys to the 320 Gr5's aren't left in the key rack for too long.

Good turnout last night, on track and TS too....

Would be great to do one of these every now and then. Look forward to the next one

Nigel Atkins · Jul 30, 2010

superb nights racing, its been a while since i drove GTL.

practice. nils showed my just how fast you could go with a good draft & we both set the bench mark in practice with a 10.4 & 10.9 for me.

quali. had the same plan as in practice and on the 2nd attempt i did a low 11, but nils had problems on his hot lap so later neil took over and he got 4th.

race. got off the line ok holding my 2nd place 7 going on to the Mulsanne steve pushed me up to Ralf and i was able to pass him into the hairpin. heading into Indy i seemed to brake ok and turned in, but maybe just carried a tad to much speed and the rear came round, steve couldn`t avoid me in the middle of the track & we both had front end damadge. with all the field still coming past i had to sit & wait to rejoin the track & tooked in behind Neil but he was in fuel saving mode & i was just going for it flat out & while in traffic i could catch the draft and pass people, but once i was on my own the small amount of damage slowed me a lot.

1st stop went ok, but my motec started playing up during my second stint and i couldn`t use it for fuel consumption & i got to focused on catching people that i crossed the line without enough fuel to get back to the pits, so had to trundle round at 80% revs but it was enough to get me back into the race. now around 7th place but not to face behind 3rd i pushed like hell & thinking i was a lap behind (got caught out by xd tmming) i had enough fuel to go to the end, but just about to start the last lap and only 10L of fuel i was gutted to have to back right off and trundle round to the flag as by then i was only 20secs of 3rd place. i finished in 7th i think.

as a lover of enduros i`m so glad stu put this event up & has promised more for the future. manythanks m8

Ross McGregor · Jul 30, 2010

Steven Palmer said:
Still, only early doors and there were some great laps along the way with Stuart, Neil and near the end a few laps short of the 2 hours, Ross (that was me at the end of you report I think Ross, I was in the Yellow Corn car).

Oops, you can tell i wasn't using the 'display names' function!

Raf Nix · Jul 31, 2010

First off, I'm NO ALIEN. The probable advantage comes from my enthusiasm towards racing by using the full simulation setting which is no automatics at all for smoother down shifting, shorter shift gap resulting in a slightly better acceleration. Fuel efficiency is better via lifting the throttle at each gear change. Had 10.86 l/lap average. Of course cockpit view which might keep constant concentration... But still no luck in encouraging a bunch of guys doing a season with just full sim setting with games offering such in whole WW.
Just as a side note

Read that very evening about this event, saw some good n mature fellows signed up and was familiar with LeMans versions, so was lucky to join. In Quali i was surprised to manage a 4.10 with 15ltr and a risky ride although there've been 2 or 3 ppl with such lap times in practice. Offered Neil a draft thru flashing lights behind him but he didn't realizes. Age related? Well in the end he found i guess it was Nigel giving him a decent slipstream.
First place was history right as we entered the straight and i followed at 3rd and feared Andreas being right in my trunk. Then at first chicane i had a better exit and took 2nd, next chicane i prevented contact with the leader(sorry, got no replays so i don't remember the names) by driving through the grass, got back on tarmac finding me on pole with again Andreas at my back and it was impossible for both of us to pull away if one stayed within a certain distance. Then we both pitted in lap 7 and i did everything i knew from GTR2, limiter-engine-pitboard adjustment-starter- ?limiter again?-go. Don't know what happened to Andreas but had a 6-7sec lead afterwards. He kept pressure all the way to the end.
Very enjoyable race for me and thanks to everyone

don't know how to add smilies and hope the ironic statements appear obvious