RDHGP S8 - Round 7 - 100km - Gellerasen - Tue 24th Jan 2012

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Stuart Thomson

The Stoat Without Fear ™
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RaceDepartment Historic Grand Prix Season 8 Round 7
Welcome back to Round 7 of the RDHGP S8. As discussed already elsewhere, this will be a curtailed briefing because of the replacement nature of the track.

We go 1,050 miles North from Aubusson to Gelleråsen in Sweden, and the Karlskoga Motorstadion. (download)

s8r7.jpg


Circuit Notes
As Gelleråsen is short, its decent length S/F straight is the longest part of the track, and where top speed is achieved, so key your gearings to here. Also notable is that there are no braking distance markers, so you will need to get your own reliable points.

After the pits exit, you encounter a heavy braking zone for T1R – Trösen. It has a flat approach whilw fairly tight, it is visibly open, with some traction aiding positive camber. There is an uphill exit that crests just where you want to be looking for when you stand on the accelerator to maximise the exit.

You will be on the throttle out of Trösen, and T2R would not pose any problem to you under normal circumstances as it is a gentle curve. Here at Gelleråsen however, it is not a normal circumstance. As you ease the nose in at the entry, the apex of T2R almost becomes the braking point for the next turn, which can catch you out if you are in a scrap.

T3R – Esset is medium tight - enter it from a wide line on a feathered throttle, followed by a quick squirt of right foot, then a dab of brake and another feathered throttle for T4L. This is a positively cambered turn, letting you get hard on gas on the exit, which is important as the second longest straight on the track follows it.

You see T5R approaching, marked by the big green car removal tractor, and sweep through here flat out, exiting into the dip, but you still need to be aware of where you are as you still get the line right for the immediately following T6R – Ejes Kurva.

Ejes Kurva is a tight, greater than 180° turn, approached by early braking on the uphill portion of the preceding dip. You can see the older portions of the track departing straight ahead, and rejoining about 2/3 of the way through the corner. Ejes exits into a dip and T7L, which you take as a flat out curve rather than a turn.

The apex of T7L is at the bottom of the dip, so you enter on full throttle going downhill, and exit uphill. Once you clear the crest and are back on the flat again, you see T8L - Hårnålen approaching.

Brake hard going into Hårnålen, it is a tight turn, and while it has some decent positive camber, there are some nasty tyres on the outside waiting to mangle whatever part of your vehicle you put in their vicinity. Once you’ve safely negotiated the entry and the hazards, stamp aggressively on the loud pedal as a good exit is needed for the following straight.

T9L is another curve, take it as clean as possible as it again is vital for setting up the next turn, and forgetting that will get you into trouble.

T10R is again marked by a tractor, this will require a dab of brakes and a feathered throttle through here. You must be in control here to get a good line for the subsequent braking zone for the last corner.

T11R – Depå-kurven – is a double, possibly even treble, apex curve that leads onto the S/F straight. Brake earlier rather than later on the way in, take an out->in->out profile, and get hard on the gas after the apex, sweeping across the yellow pit indicator line and flat out across the S/F line to start another lap at Gelleråsen.


http://www.nogripracing.com/details.php?filenr=9460
 
I have to say this track was very tricky to drive, and consequently it was difficult to maintain concentration for 40 laps, resulting in a small half-spin for me at mid-distance. I got an ok start, but Dmytro's TVR was out of reach instantly, and i then had to cover the inside of turn 1 as Neil was quickly reeling me in. After that i set about chasing Dmytro, but was really struggling to keep up as the TVR was so quick in sectors 2 & 3, especially exiting 2nd & 3rd gear corners. However, a few laps in Dmytro's car lagged big-time on the main straight, and froze on the racing line, so I had to take some evasive action there. It's a shame he disco'd as it would've been interesting to see if i could keep up with him in the later stages of the race. Congrats to Jay & Bob for the podiums.

Thanks Thommo & RD

p.s.- Yes Tim, that was a close one! ;)
 
Another great fun event for me.. I practised quite a lot for this one and though it really helped me, I still only managed to get ALL the corners right about once in every 10 laps..:oops: I had a great time trying though, enjoying monday practice as well as to my surprise quite a crowd had gathered on my little server :)

Come raceday I felt quite confident, managing good laptimes in practice both on race- and on qualy fuel load. In Qualy however I could not match my practice laptime but still my best lap got me into 8th on the grid.

Race start was not great, losing 3 places before T1, but the race quickly developed into one big non-stop-racing-action fest! Well, the first half at least.. Was back in P6 by the end of lap 1, had a great battle with Ondrej, Nils, Jay and with Bob later on as well including some minor paint-trading :rolleyes:.
Had to brake really hard once to avoid hitting Bob's car gone sideways, but he made up for that a few laps later by pushing me back in the right direction when I had a little sideways spin of my own :D.
Suddenly then Stuart was right in front of me after a collision with Neil. Chased him for a short while, until I lifted and braked a little to avoid contact :eek: ... in the middle of that long fast last corner!!...NOT a good idea!!:mad:

Spun off onto the grass, and when I got going again I was all alone in 8th with no one in sight. That made me lose my focus a bit and a few laps later I had another off, but upon rejoining suddenly Jack, Predrag and Magnus appeared in my mirror. Grabbed myself together and started doing consistent laps again, but Jack had no intention of letting me go, gaining and then losing some and I could not get him out of my mirror all the way to race end. Luckily no further mistakes so I finished 7th, because of Ondrej's fuel problems.

As said before, I had good fun all along. I don't know Turagua but I'd say this track was a worthy replacement!
Very happy with my result although I feel a bit sorry:( for the unlucky Dmytro, Knut and Ondrej who surely could have finished in front of me.

Thanks Stuart for another ace event and for your extra efforts in finding a last-minute replacement track! Sorry to hear that apparently it wasn't your night (again).

Congratulations to Ross (again?? yes, again!!:D ) Jay (again?? yes, again!!:D ) and Bob (who? :p)

Cheers to all others for a great race night, CYA next time.
RDHGPS8R71.jpg


RDHGPS8R72.jpg
 
Because of my bad mood after last two disappointment events I did not even thank Stu for his preparations of these stages. :oops: They were excellent tracks (including Turagua). Nice to ride around rarely used but tricky and interesting tracks. Pity, that I had the speed, but had no luck on this good tracks.
Big thanks for our Boss for his work. And I really hope that Season #9 will have a place to be and I will try to help to prepare for it as much as I can.

Your tiresome whiner
Dmytro
 
My race in a picture show,this time a bit different with a cartoon effect (2 in Black an White an only 1 collar, guess which 2 ? !)

Had a great race one problem when Dmytro's car still on the front strait have to pass on the right side an good not take the corner any more so hit the wall an start from the back only Norman still behind me,but after a lot of great fights with Senad an Tim fin on p11!

I hope you like it ( takes more time than expected )

 
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