SRO SEAT 3 Round 2 Estoral Race reports & screens

Roy, congratulations! You were super fast!
And without pits, how it's possible?

 

I was talking to Pasha earlier today and he said something that got me thinking. Went offline, tried it and I found out that I could do 24 laps on 55L if I was carefull.

BTW, James didn't pit either and he was fast too. Alex didn't pit, also fast. He even had the fasted lap in the race.
Flaviu, another one that didn't pit. I'm glad I tried it or I would have been 3rd, maybe even 4th

 

Well done, you were fast Roy, i couldn't catch you. Good race everyone

 

Thanks, but you guys are pushing me to the limit. And the weird thing is, I LOVE IT!

 

Well done to the lads in the front.
great pace.

I will admit.
Cars do look good, replay of first few corners with uniform banners and numboxes looks great.
well worth the effort.


race went well.
been fending of personal issues so had no practice at all.
didnt even feel the want to race tonight.

but,,, donned my Racing socks and booted up simhub.
Loaded last years race setup and joined practice.
oh my.... okes were fast, no matter .

qualified near the back and started race.
race went well considering no practice.
but fuel burn was too high, me needing to pit.
and here the frustration started.
pulled into the pit, and missed my box.
had to reverse and try again twice,
meant i lost so much time i came out last and more than 10 seconds behind.

im going to have to practice pitting.



Thanks all for Joining "Steeg GP"
it was a lovely event with a good field!

 

Race report;
So the 2nd race of the series was coming up and I did not have a lot of time to practise due to other commitments. Luckily we did this track last series so I had a "good" setup. Still I had a feeling this would not be good enough with all the new fast guys taking part. So I tried to do a few changes making the car faster but it made it pull to the left at the end of the straight having me crash every now and then. Not good. Back to the "old" setup. Not really a problem were it not for Dzintarz who everytime I set a fast lap on the server improved on it. Then this afternoon I went online where Pasha was doing his laps. We got to talking. During our conversation he said something that got me thinking. I went offline to test it. Overal speed stayed the same, but fuel consumption went down. This ment I could do 24 laps on 55 liters and having a 20 seconds overall improvement.
Now there was the issue of qualifying. I knew I was faster than Dzintars' best online time, but I felt he was sanbaggin'. So back to the drawing board. After sometweaking of the driving, not the setup I got a 1.41.6 offline. If Dzintars or anyone else could do better, then there was nothing I could do about it.

Qualies;
A nice number of contestants were on this time. 16! Nice turnout.
Quali started and so did I. Only on my outlap Ptracker said that I had only enough fuel for 2 laps. Weird because it should have been enough for 6 laps. So I did 1 fast lap, a 1.42.0. I dove into the pits because I didn't want to run out of fuel and use the ESC button. So I went out again trying to find a gap where I could go all out. But the Ptracker glitch had me worried and thinking about that instead of concentrating on the laps. Turns out the 1.42.0 was good enough for pole. Alex was a close 2nd and Roel found some speed because he had 3rd! Nice. In fact, the top 5 were very close.
Pole Roy, 2nd Alex, 3rd Roel

Race;
Knowing that the 1st corner on this track can be a very hard one if people are to aggressive on at the start I had a good look at who was behind me. I was fairly certain it was going to be tight, but fair with those guys, so no stress (Yeah right).
Selected the setup, got on the grid. Lights went on, light went off, GO GO GO! Got a descent start but the wheels were spinning just a bit longer than at other times. Weird. Got to the first corner with about a carslenght of a buffer between me and 2nd. Got through the corner ok and saw Dzintars in the mirror. Wait, what? How did he do that Apparently Alex hit Roel. Never mind, stick to the plan... Try to keep the fast guys behind you as long as you can. They will have to pit and I won't (I hoped). Oddly enough the car didn't feel right. Slightly skidding where it should have enough grip. Maybe the track was set for a lower grip level than 100%. Adapt, overcome and stick to the plan. I ignored the car behind me and concentrated on doing the laps. After a couple of laps I saw I had created a little gap to 2nd that was big enough for me to deny him a tow down the straight. Then something caught my eye... I HAD HARD TYRES ON??? WHAT THE... How did that happen? Again adapt, overcome and stick to the plan. I was still doing descent laps so the hard tyres had to do the job. I slowly managed to get the gap up to 5 seconds. Enough for me to go on "autopilot" and start calculating if I could make it to the end without a pitstop. Even if 2nd and 3rd didn't pit I would have enough reserve to have them covered, if the tyres held up that is. Somewhere between 30 and 35 minutes in the race Dzintars went for the pit giving James 2nd and Flaviu 3rd. At that time James was about 20 seconds behind me. There was no way he could close that gap if I didn't make a big mistake. Remain concentrated Roy! Nothing changed much from then on, and that's the way we finished. As a note, Flaviu's engine died on the line starved of fuel
1st Roy, 2nd James, 3rd Flaviu

It seemed that everyone had a great race. Love this series!
Thanks Guys!

I dedicate this victory to Pasha's Pink Fluffy Bunny Slippers.

 

Sorry Sean Devlin for the contact at the start of the race.

 

MY SECRET IS OUT! WHAT HAVE I DONE?!

So it has been well-established that I have been relying on crafty strategy to make up for my pace against the faster drivers. I guess I've tipped my hand a bit too much now.



I've been looking forward to this for a while. It's neat to see the whole field with matching SRO liveries, and several that are personalized. I might be the lowest qualifier of the five people wearing my liveries, but that just means I get more time to admire them during the race.

The start could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse. I lost a couple of positions to folks who took the faster outside line through T1, but I would rather deal with that than make a mistake that cost me or someone else the race.



Speaking of which, really felt bad watching this go down at the top of the hill. Looked like Hakan got bounced off the kerb and into Pieter. Nothing to do but soldier on. Other than that it seemed to be a relatively clean first lap — one of the many reasons that SRO races are such a treat. I knew I had to start saving fuel from the very beginning, so even as Larry and the rest of the pack began to pull a slight lead, I just settled into a comfortable pace, braced for a good back-and-forth with Norman and Karl, and tried to find the consistency that took so long to establish in practice. If I could keep up a dependable pace in the low 1:44s, I knew I could make up the seconds lost to the cars in front when they pitted. Well... if they pitted.



This battle between Rob, Pieter, Paul, and Larry was amazing to watch. I found myself hurrying to keep up with them, not to try to pass anyone, but to make sure I got to see the action. It makes me wish this series were being broadcast on YouTube. Maybe if I get really ambitious, I could retro-edit some commentary, but I'm not really equipped to do it "right" (like the Group C videos) just yet. In my imagination I could hear the Radio Le Mans commentators going nuts watching this battle. I could see they were working hard but they kept it clean. I hoped their battling would let me draw closer to them, but I was holding Norman at bay at the same time, and they were actually pulling a gap!



Speaking of Norman... Thank you, sir, for realizing on lap 4 that you weren't going to make T1 and running wide, instead of using my bumper as a supplementary brake, as so many others have done in other leagues. I don't take any joy in my competitors' misfortunes, but I must admit I was relieved that it remained a single-car incident, to your credit. That left me with only Karl to worry about in my mirrors as I continued to chase the gang of four in front of us. Their battle raged on, positions swapping in every corner. I began to wonder if, perhaps, it would force them all to burn just a tad too much fuel, and open the door for my non-pit pit strategy to work. And then...



NOOOOOOO! Paul was pushing hard, carried too much into the Inner Parabolica, and lost traction, sliding into Rob. Pieter and Larry snuck by inside, and Karl and I followed. Paul conceded the position to Rob, and they carried on behind us, but it was really unfortunate for both of them, because they were doing so well in that pack. Ah well, that's racing.

Things seemed to settle into a rhythm after that. I had Karl looming large in my mirrors but he seemed content to pair up with me to try to catch up to the cars in front, and was pushing me just enough to keep me honest. Pieter and Larry were just too fast, though, so I had to just set my own pace and hope it was good enough. I could see a huge group of cars behind us though, and realized it was Roel making up time from the incident on the first lap. I wondered how long it would take that group to catch up, and how in the world I would fend off someone as fast as Roel without burning too much fuel to make my strategy work. I just had to calm those nerves and keep turning consistent lap times, and maybe the chase would force them into the pits and give me some breathing room.



Karl slid wide in the Senna Parabolica at the end of lap 9 and Roel got a huge run on him to take the position. I knew then that it was only a matter of time before my comfortable 8th place was about to be shaken up. I figured I'd end up letting Roel go and then try to get back to fending Karl off. "Oh well, I'll still salvage a top 10 field position going into whatever pit stops are about to happen," I thought. There I go again, assuming I'm the only one using the no-pit strategy now. Wrong. And then...



SURPRISE, FREIGHT TRAIN COMING THROUGH! I knew Roel was coming for me going into T1, and here he is making an incredible inside pass to take the position. Unfortunately for me, since I was making sure to leave a big gap for him on the inside coming out of T1 and into T2, that also allowed Karl and Alex to follow him through and knock me all the way back to 11th! It was an amazing move, and if I had been a spectator instead of the person trying desperately to keep my car on the track, I would have jumped up and cheered. This close, clean racing is what sets this group apart.

So... OK then. Bumped back to 11th, and now on the tail end of another four-car battle. No time to lament, just had to settle back down and get back on strategy. Surely people would pit... right? The laps kept ticking by. Alex and Roel pulled away. Crew Chief Jim announced the halfway point and expressed more doubt than usual about being able to make it to the end. I adjusted my shift points. Karl started pulling a gap as well. Rob started catching me up from behind! Oh, crud. Was it all falling to pieces? Have I given away my strategy to the point where everyone is going to try it? Would I be forced to make up positions... ON PACE ALONE?



Then, at the start of lap 19, with time winding down, a break, of sorts. Rob was fending Norman off, bounced off the kerb in T2, and took to the grass. The incident wasn't bad but it held them up just enough to let me relax a bit, and focus more on whittling away at Karl's gap, if I could. I'd managed to conserve enough to satisfy Crew Chief Jim, who was no longer as worried about making it. And at the end of the lap...



OMG SOMEONE'S PITTING! Karl ducked in for fuel. Finally, +1 for The Strategy. I had begun to wonder whether the whole field was trying to just push through without stopping, and with such little time left in the race, it became less and less plausible that anyone would be in a position to dive into the pits. Whatever the case, with Karl in the pits, and Rob and Norman fallen back into their own battle, I was basically left alone for a bit, which was exactly what I needed to concentrate on keeping my pace up and try not to destroy myself with my own silly mistakes like I did at Laguna. Then, lap 22... What's this on the course map? Another stopped car? Sean? I couldn't believe it. Strategy +2. Hope swelled. Would it work after all? There were lots of cars still within 30 seconds. Lap 23, Pieter ducked in for a splash. That's three spots. Finally, it was coming together. But it was already lap 23. Too little, too late? Lap 24... Roel was in! Oh happy day! Could it all play out on the final lap? Would people start running out of fuel on track? How far would this incredible streak of luck last?



Well... exactly that far, as it turned out. Incredibly, no one else in front of me pitted long enough during the race for me to catch up to them, and I crossed the line in 7th. Having started 11th, and having never even tried Estoril before this week, it was a spectacular result, and a great finish to another fantastic race with SRO. I'll head to the torturous twists of Vallelunga with 50 points, sixth in the series championship. Now, I wonder if I can gain an edge by finding places to coast downhill...............

 

On an unrelated note, here's a great shot of the two FKR cars running together, with the back 2/3 of the field behind them, just because.

 

And here's a battle I think we're going to be watching a lot this season...

 

No problem. Just a racing incident lol

 

BTW guys, I gave my setup to a few guys who needed it or could use the help. Don't know if they used it, but if you want me to help you for next race, please ask.

 

The setup was a big help Roy, thanks very much. As you can see from Pasha's report I was at least battling for places in this race. Driver errors and fuel consumption let me down a little, Might have finished a couple of places higher.

 

Yes, I always avoid contact if possible. I was right behind you but under pressure from Karl, as soon as you braked I realised that T1 was not going to happen. Your screenie says it all, you on the apex, Karl locked up and me shooting off track, and safely rejoining.

 

First race of the season for me. Good to see a 16 person turnout.

QUALIFICATION
Got caught in traffic and then ran out of fuel. With not being allowed to escape to the pits that was my qualification session over with, 15 out of 16. P16 did not go out on the track. Wow, great start to my season.

RACE
Got a good start and was a bit worried about T1 where I had to go out a bit wide to avoid being hit. That slowed me down a bit but no contact which was the most important. The race was on! I was then the last of the group with Rob, Pieter and Paul which was fun but fuel consuming. As Pasha has already brilliantly explained this fight in his post I won't go over it again here.
Anyway, when it was just Pieter with me behind I asked my engineer where I was with fuel. His answer, "You have 19 minutes of fuel left Larry". Great. The only problem was that the race would not finish before another 20 minutes! Fuel economy mode switched on! I thought as Pasha thought, most drivers would need to do a pit stop. nb In the last series it was only Pasha and I that managed to finish races with out stopping most of the time. And as Pasha was wrong, I was wrong also! But I did know that at that time. I did suspect though that Roy would not be stopping as I saw that he had put on hard tyres. (I now know that was a mistake).
Anyway, back to fuel saving mode. Let the fast guys move ahead, do not fight for position, let them pass if they want to! I will get them in the end when they have to pit, YES!
But they didn't pit the fast guys!
Even though, managed to finish sixth running out of fuel just a couple of metres after crossing the finish line!

As for Mister Pasha Paterson I am no longer talking to you! Giving away your secret to the person who needed it the least! Unforgivable!
Also, I want my money back for the pair of Pink Fluffy Bunny Slippers that I bought from you. You had told me that was your secret for driving gently and saving on fuel! False publicity! You should be ashamed of yourself.

And thanks very much to Karl for the the super paint job on my car even if you did use lead paint to slow me down (confirmed by laboratory tests)

 

Love these race reports! Keep them coming guys, It shows commitment to the series.

 

And in defence of Pasha, he didn't tell me anything that I didn't know. It was "reading between the lines" that got me thinking that there was something I hadn't tested yet on this track.
That and the fact that his Fluffy Bunny Slippers are now on sale at Amazon

 

absolutly loving these race reports.

those that havent written anything, Do So... even its its only yours start , end positions and lap pitted.


it really adds to the event of the race. this is what SRO is all about

 

i am so sorry.
lead based was all i had at hand,
my supplier of super Heavy Uranium U252 paint is all out.
Borris says America bought it all.

i can repaint in a month or so.....