Race 3, Singapore Division 1

[Jim Hawley]

Here's a thread for div 1

 

[Jim Hawley]

My Race

Q P5, although after viewing the replay I see I very slightly cut the track in T23 (mm!):frown:

Race,

Got away ok but I was far too cautious into T1 and half the field swept past then I spun at T6 on the downshift, 5th to last in half a lap :frown:

As for the rest of the race, I spun the car more times than I can remember, broke my susp twice and ripped my front wing off, after pitting for repairs I was off the lead lap

I had some good battles along the way though and it was great fun in the wet, I can confirm soft slicks will do 30 laps in the damp (just):tongue:

Finished P6 (again)

Jim

 

[Reik Major]

Race Report: Reik Major – Burning Rubber Motorsport / McLaren

Practice:

Being very busy for the last two weeks, I joined the server within the last 15 mins of practice with not so good feelings. My complete testing time in damp and wet conditions was only 30 mins. So I decided to take it easy.

Qualify (1st):

Qualify was dry but the track didn’t seem to offer as much grip as on the presto server the days before. So it was hard to break the 1:30’s. For a longer time I held pole with a 1:29:9xx and it was difficult to improve, but later on, with a clean lap I made 1:29:3xx. And it was necessary, because Mark improved to a very good 1:29:6xx.

Warm up:

The warm up was wet, so it was clear we would also start in the wet. The forecast said, if the race starts with rain, it would most likely become dry later. So first I thought I could dare to make only two stints, each with mediums and 80 liters. But then I thought the risk would be too high with meds in the wet and in traffic.

So my final strategy was three stints. First on inters with 105 liters, so no matter when I would have to change on meds, I wouldn’t need to refill the car, so I could save time at the first stop. And at the second stop for the third stint I’d stay on meds and take 50 liters.

Race (1st):

The start was good and I could defend my lead, staying on the inside, because Marks start was slightly better, but he had the outside line. From what I could see, everything went fine through the first corners. It was challenging to master the conditions and the following drivers really made a good job. After three laps, I thought I could handle it fine and immediately from this time I started to make small mistakes.

Then at the entry of T1 in lap 4 I went too wide and Mark took the lead. He seemed to be very good in wet conditions, but I could follow him close.

In lap 5 I had an extremely dangerous moment! :sorry: Chasing Mark down the back straight to the tight right hander, I wasn’t close enough to attack and I didn’t want to but I miscounted the braking signs and slowed one sign too late. The only way to avoid the contact was to release the brakes and to pass Marc on the inside, because the outside was still used by him. It was pure luck I didn’t torpedo him, but hit the outside wall straight on very hard. Again I was lucky, that I didn’t loose a wheel but of course had major damages. So I had to pit in lap 5, repair everything and switch on mediums. Sorry MarK, if i harmed you anyway! :frown:

Leaving the pits it took a while to get used to this slippery conditions but it worked well. I didn’t expect much anymore, just thought finishing would bring me some points. But the more laps we drove the more positions I climbed up until I was back in 1st in the middle of the race.

I still didn’t think of winning, because there was one more stop to make around lap 26 and I expected some guys on a one stopper. But maybe others made 2 stops, too or maybe they also made some mistakes. It may have been an advantage that I had no traffic since the stop in lap 5 and somehow it was challenging and funny to slide around the track lap by lap, trying to get quicker.

Finally it resulted in another victory. But honestly I’m not that proud this time, because with a higher damage level I’d never have survived the impact in lap 5. So it feels a bit wrong that I made it to the finish…

Now that we all approved we can handle some rain, I expect a monsoon in Japan – C U there guys!

Thx to Nico, RD and MMG!

 

[Anthony Ishak]

well done Reik,the race was a tough one so a win there is something special

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

I did not have my best race I must admit

At qualify I did quite well as I beat my pb with 0,4 seconds. That gave me 10th place on the grid.

I did a very carefull start taking no risks which lead to all the guys behind me passing me within a few turns. I tried to follow Jim I think it was for a few laps before I noticed on my telemetry that the track was acctually drying up. I thought that if I was to do any well in this race I needed to gamble on the strategy. I went in after 5-8 laps, filled up with petrol for the rest of the race and changed to medium tyres in front and hard rear. So my plan was not to make any more stops.

It turned out my tyre choice was terrible, I had no grip, so after a few laps I had to pit again. As I tried to adjust the pit settings I passed my spot with 50 meters or so and had to back up. I stressed a bit and ended up with soft tyres and an additional 45 kg of fuel. This meant I had to do the rest of the race with a car that was 45 kg to heavy and also that I had to pit again, and I was already way behind second last place. In addition I had trouble driving nicely as I have not practiced on the wet at all, so I had to learn as I drove.

In the end, after spinning for the xth time I decided to cut my losses short and return to garage.

This was a very hard track for me with a very non-steap lerning curve. Adding the rain that I never found the time to prepare for I knew this would be a very though race for me, but I expect to do better when we return to the super classic track of Suzuka

Congrats to Reik and the rest of the pudium and all the race finishers!

 

[Nicolas Rouge]

Here is my race report :

Qual : 13th
One position to the last one. Beat my PB by a few millis. I did my best but I think the track was slower then. To be honest, I didn't train much qualification laps, but I though I could improve my PB. I trained a lot race laps because I felt that being safe on this track was the key to finish this race with some points.

Race : 7th - my first finish this season.
lap 1 : I started with intermediate and 85l of fuel. I overtook Nicolai on turn 1 but I wasn't taking any risks, since I had to adapt to the weather condition. Andy passed me in turn 8, but I followed him and tried to pass him at turn 14, without success. In the meantime, I gain 3 places because Jim, Coen and Robin were have troubles, so I finished this first lap as 10th.
lap 2-7 : Continued to follow Andy and Jakob who were battling each other. At lap 7 the track was drying a little and my tires were begining to hot up, but I decided to stay on track one lap more and think about what to do with my strategy.
lap 8 : I hit the wall in turn 8 after a massive understeer, but no harm done. My car was difficult to drive then, and I probably made a mistake not pitting the lap before. I lost plenty of time after I finally reached the pitlane, because I messed my stop. I changed my tires for hards, and filled my fuel tank to finish the race.
lap 9 : I exited the pits as 11th, just after Andy. He had difficulties to keep his car in the race line and I passed him at turn 6 on the second straight. I messed by braking on turn 7 and was very wide on turn 8 so I decided to let him pass just after, feeling too dangerous for him at this moment. I hit the wall a second time, after turn 21, but like in the first time, no damage done.
lap 12 : I did a massive oversteer in turn 5, hit the wall and damaged my suspension. I nearly had an accident with Nicolai who was coming from behind. I put myself at the outside of the turn but he also went outside the turn and he managed to pass between me and the wall by a few inches. I'm really sorry Nicolai, I hope you were OK, because on my replay it seems you hit the wall. I pitted at the end of this lap just to fix the damage, and this time I didn't mess myself in the pits.
lap 14 : Did 2 mistakes, hopefully without consequences : braked too late in turn 8 and spun after the chicane in turn 10.
lap 15-37 : Was under David and then Andy pressure till the end, but I managed to make consistent lap times and finished 7th.

Congratulation to all the finishers. Thanks to Nicolai, PrestoGP and RD.
CU @ Suzuka

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

I nearly had an accident with Nicolai who was coming from behind. I put myself at the outside of the turn but he also went outside the turn and he managed to pass between me and the wall by a few inches. I'm really sorry Nicolai, I hope you were OK, because on my replay it seems you hit the wall.

Yes, no problems at all, I managed to squeeze through without losing any time, and if I touched the wall it was only a light touch

 

[Reik Major]

the "thanks" button is away so thanks for your congrats!

It was really noticeable, that you have more grip on the race line and huge trouble besides the line. I often missed the final turn and had to slow very much because of the huge understeer in the wet...

 

[Jim Hawley]

Hey guys, don't forget to send your race reports to the Race director if you haven't done so already

Jim