Again, chaos at the start. I must stress that we have to be aware where the cars are in your direct surroundings. You must look to your left and right to see if you have fully passed someone before cutting back to the racingline. I you are not sure, don't weave or change direction. Check your sides and leave room!
Woah, that felt great - five minutes too long - but great! I started testing with the Shadow, just for the heck of it, not intending to really put it on the grid, but I did plenty of laps. I tested the Ligier as well, planning to race with that, until I took the Ferrari out for a few laps and was sold immediately. Then I thought about how cool it would be bring in any kind of respectable achievement with the Shadow and went for it. So there I was, in a car that was one-to-two seconds a lap down on my Ligier pace and a bunch down more on the Willamses, Ferraris and probably Renaults too. Hello challenge! Qualifying went amazing - that is to say, I slotted in a 1;09.5 - cutting some three seconds off my race pace. The start of the race, however, was disastrous. I saw the first impact and immediately let go off the throttle and started braking lightly, but couldn't avoid a Renault coming across. Right away, one and then another car climbed on top of my rear wing and so I picked up damage all around. I thought it was lost right there - no chance to prove the Shadow's worth - but pulled back onto the racing track and went exploring. It wasn't all good, but still drivable, so I continued, without making stop for repairs. I may have lost a little aero and the brakes were off-balance, but then again, a car with piss-poor downforce can probably miss some useless pieces. Soon I started to pick up places and the pace was decent. Best lap was a 1:12.4, but most of the time I clocked 13's with the occasional 14. Nowhere near the top pace, but good enough to keep in touch with a top 10 spot. As I was on Hards I nurtured the rubber a little and picked up some more places as people went in for stops. If the race had lasted five minutes less I would have been lapped only once and finished in sixth. Unfortunately Darien finally caught up with me and took the pass - though we spun off together before he could claim it - and Dino came by a second time as well as Paulo and John passing me for the first time. I could have done without that. Great move, by the way, Darien. I'm sorry we touched... Nonetheless, coming in seventh feels awesome with a car as slow as this. After the crash it had been a horsepower-fed balancing act and I got off reasonably well. It left me exhilarated and exhausted. One of the greatest driving experiences I have ever had, despite the false start. I'm tempted to see where it can go without a crash like that, but for now I'll settle for a little more comfort. I now nominate Dino and Rui for the Wildy Inferior Car Challenge. Gentlemen, show your picks!
I'm lost.. I thought we were going to have a slow lap, and then Dino would punch it at last corner. Don't even know what went wrong I'll see it when the replay file is uploaded. The race Fun stuff!! Had some nice fights with John and Rogier. I enjoyed quite a lot!! Congrats to Dino and Rui for having an outstanding race pace!!! I really like the renault, to bad it drinks too much fuel. One starts the race much heavier Before I go, and without being pretentious, I would to point out that I had some hard time overtaking (lapping) some drivers. Blue flag is there (when it's there) for a reason See you all on the next one!
Being dutch, I'm of course very proud of the achievement of Yoeri also driving the Jan Lammers car. Quite remarceble to finish 7th with that car, including the crash. But hey, if it ain't dutch, it ain't much . Race: Had a rocket of a start of the line. Passed 3 cars on acceleration and then even more after the guys in front crashed and ended up 4th before turn one. I saw the whole incident in my mirror and thought ... "OMG, what a shame for all those people ...". After that I had some good fights, but it was mostly taking care of the tires and not sliding to much. Being neat and precise in the corners. (I hate it when the tires get damaged and the steeringwheel starts to shake in your hands). This is a difficult and technical track for these cars. The trick for me was to keep the car balanced and finding the right line and entryspeed. Another challlence for me was ajusting my drivingstyle from new tires to worn tires. Quite a different ballgame. I'm on board with Youri. I would be curious to see what Dino could do with a inferior car. I believe he will win the championship anyway.
That was the first part of the disscusion. After that we debeted some more and in the end agreed to do a standing start straight away. I'm sorry you've missed that final conclusion. The server was not set correctly. It's also my fault for not testing it a day before. Will not happen again .
Qualified in 9th spot with the Ligier only just ahead of Yoeri who was in the Shadow (superb effort that Yoeri), and I was a whisker behind John who was in 8th. So...the start, got away a little slow because I was mindful of the cold tyres, worked out ok, until the collision happened up front, slowed down but still nowhere to go as a Renault ended up right in my path, total chaos, I went upside down and honestly thought my race was done & dusted but miracle of miracles my car was only slightly damaged. Got going again, not sure what position I was in but I made up a few places passing other damaged vehicles. Bit of a lonely race for about 15 laps or so, eventually set my sights on catching Darien who was about 12 secs ahead, I could see I was gaining fairly quickly and eventually got within striking distance. After that it was rather a lonely race, John was a good 40 secs up the road, I gained another spot after a retirement and ended up in 5th position which, in hindsight, was a great result for me after the start mess which cost me at least 35 seconds. Will watch the replay tonight. Congrats to Dino yet again and a good run from Rui & Paulo as well. Regards, Bret
Third race out of three I have got caught up in the Lap 1 (or straight one) incident, which is almost as boring as the anti-Williams debate. Doesn't exactly matter which car you take if you keep getting wrecked, but hey carry on the billy big balls debate anyway :-] So 59 minutes of trying to keep a bent car on track was obviously going to be difficult and proved to be. Hopefully there is enough room round Silverstone not to have another repeat, but I shall not hold my breath. I look forward to the challenge of 60 minutes with an unaltered car soon.
qualifications: P3 Race: tanker started as predicted - sluggish The rocket fired after me, a great start to Bas, but you had so much space .. I had a good plan for this race, I did not find out how good I am sorry for all who participated in this accident if at Silverstone "it will be just as good" as another race I can take anything and run out of the pit line, there is a chance that I will keep going Congratulations to the winners
Copse is a killer! The circuit is quite a roomy place, but not very comfy when you're side-by-side. Except for Stowe - no lack of room there!
That was my first thought: read half of the discussion because i was trying to adapt to the race setup. No harm done, i avoided the initial crash
@all (especially Michal) sorry for the start crash, after my good start I cleared the rearwheels of Michal and thought I was in the clear (I did not steer left) but apparently my angle was slightly off and collected the front tire of Michal by just a couple of centimeters which started the crap for so many others. Was very excited for the race seeing my race set was very solid to give the podium a run for the money, but after all the damage I caused I just ended up with shame. Stuck around to see a masterclass from Dino and supported Rog and Yoeri as much as possible, unfortunately for Rog he got a windows update (ouch) which ended his race. Great to watch Yoeri in that @#$#box doing so well and was gutted to see him lose the 6th place in the last lap, although it was a great pass from Darien around the outside.
Hi Bas, Firstly, thank you for your post, secondly, I know how it feels to cause a multiple accident and I'm fairly confident that most drivers here also know how it feels, you have the character to admit it, that to me is commendable and shows what you are made of, you have my respect for doing so, .....so don't feel too bad (even though you probably will for a little while). Regards, Bret
I have to adres it in the video review Bas, but don't see it as laying blame. It's just a objective statement of fact for what happend. I agree that it was a race incident and that you did not mean for it to happen . I know from R2P that you are a good and save driver overall . The "Clean start diploma" in the Silverstone thread is just because we also had big incidents in the previous 2 races. Chin up and see you in the next one. The video review will come later tonight.
Great video and commentary John, I always look forward to watching. My best quote "No one Died" I had a slight jump start. Was doing a drive through, that was the reason you saw me in the pit lane.