rFactor 2 Round 4 Belgium 66 F3

My groceries shop may or may not get delivered around the time of the race.... so I don't know if I will make this.

 

I'm also potentially unavailable for the race, just a heads up. Got blasted with work Yesterday so will be doing OT all weekend for a Monday deadline.

 

If I'm alive after this, hopefully.

Also, one of my tax documents got screwed up so I didn't get paid the last 2 weeks - 100% of both paychecks got taxed. :/

 

lost connection just before the Race session

 

Oh the irony

 

When I opened rf2 today it did install a few things... Could it be an update behind the scenes and discrepancies with the server settings?

 

Lost draft in the first 2 laps.... spent 30 mins bored out my skull on my own. Dropped back to draft with someone a minute behind so I didn't lose the will to live. Saw that Caitlin stacked it so I sped up to see if I could capitalise. 4th.... not bad considering, just a very boring race.

 

I think the F3 EVE races here in Belgium 66 could be shorter. Two 30mins races or even three 20mins races would be much more intense as it would allow for some tactical draft and "black arts" as those used against me today but it would also give us the intensity of the tactical final lap three times. Obviously not for this series but perhaps next time?

Btw, @Ken Jagger, I'm just curious about why we have three F3 races and only two F1 and F2 races?
Processing the video now, that I thought it was going to be more boring, but the issues Caitlin and Maddie had, made the race far more interesting in the end.
See you.

 

Not a bad result for me considering the circumstances and the development of the mid-section of the race...
It was obvious, even before the start, that the race would be dominated by slipstreams and tactical racing. I was playing my part to keep the 3-pack ahead although, due to some inefficient interactions at the beginning of the race and the robust driving from @Maddie Shepherd, we soon were joined by her and forming a more complicated race to manage in the draft dominated race we were negotiating.
I was normally at the front of the pack but took also my turn at the back... And then, what the heck happened!? As we were approaching Stavelot, the two in front lifted quite heavily and, as I was wrongly reacting to the reduced pace by shifting to 4th gear, the three of them, as if coordinated by some black art took momentum ahead and 1 sec gap that I should have managed to close had I not overreacted a bit and lost time in silly mistakes. Worst, I was giving a draft to @Nick Phillips that attempted the most awkward overtake at Masta with the impending crash. This didn't slow me down a lot but enough to certify my complete separation from the lot at the front that was now 2 secs faster than earlier in the race! Well done you cheeky b****ds . That was a formidable lesson about how anything can change in a sec when racing.
I could have given up seeing such terrific coordination between the three devils ahead but a thought came... Having secured P1 to P3, they will start fighting in the last part of the race... And that would be my opportunity.
Tried to keep a good pace (in the 18s, not at as good as I wanted) but enough to take the tail of the first casualty (Maddie) of the troubles erupting in front... Even if not without my share of body damage and risk of getting out of the race. Soon enough, Eau Rouge delivered another pray. This time @Caitlin Penny, who didn't recover quickly enough to pick up our tails... So, avoiding errors, my circumstances had improved substantially to P2 or P3, depending on how my wheel to wheel battle with Maddie developed.
@Gert-Jan van Osch was already gone and secured P1 after a phenomenally tactical race. It was impossible to shake off Maddie although at least this time we were not losing pace to increase the party at the end of the race...
Last lap was crucial and 50-50 our chances for P2...Taking the lead before Blanchimont, keeping the insight at La Source and minimising the braking distance in this final turn wasn't a guarantee of success but the best strategy in hand...
I think I managed to execute it quite effectively and that P2 tasted as a win considering where I was 20mins earlier in the race... Congrats to Gert_Jan, Maddie and Caitlin for their great races... I won't be so candid next time btw (I hope!).
I leave the video of the race here (more intense than it seemed mid-race):

I've also processed the qualy session this time. I think Gert-Jan had done his homework yesterday pretty well. Great qualy on his part as well:

Enjoy!

 

Nothing much to add from my side to the great analysis and videos to back up yesterdays race. I had a great qually. I decided not to start in the lead on the quallifying lap by letting Jos and Caitlin pass me before Blancimont knowing that my pace would be good anyway... However during the 1st lap which I planned to do a banker lap I gradually caught back up with 1st Jos and then Caitlin. When going into the lead and back and forth I was in front into Blanchimont and keep the lead into La Source doint a 4.15 for the first time. The 2nd lap I decided to let Jos and Caitlin go because I gambled that a 4.15 would not be improved if I was not in the lead anymore.

I knew that the start would be difficult because I have a long 1st gear and the refs drop too low to make a quick launch... The 1st laps it was more or less a three way battle with Maddie in fourth sitting back and study our overtakes. At some point she came to the front and I think this is when the lap times went down. I also decided to take part in the action since I was sitting in fourth observing basically fights between Jos and Caitlin.

I was very lucky at the time Nick left the race because my car warped from being in between Caitlin and Maddie to just behind Caitlin back to 3rd. This could have gone so very wrong... I think everybody left space to race and we had to go off the throttle to let some one slot in to get single file again before tight turns... One of these events resulted in Jos getting behind the pack and losing time. 3 cars are faster then one. The same thing happens when you are in 2nd trying to overtake and the person in 3rd slots in behind the leader. The two cars generate more pace...

During the race I noticed that my grip was very low (again) and I had to be very careful on the brakes not to lock the rears. This also gave me great rotation in the corners but had to be very careful applying throttle and brakes in Eau rouge and the Radillon, but i could manage. During the 2nd part of the race Maddie and Caitlin made a few mistakes which made my race more easier. At one point I saw that Caitlin was on a small gap one second behind and I decided to give it all to try to pull away and I succeeded.. It was smooth sailing from there after Caitlins spin in Eau Rouge. I focussed on my concentration until the end of the race. Not to make the same mistake as last race...

This was a very interesting race from tactical and strategic point of view and no major incidents in eau rouge this time... A great result for me with another pole and win. CU all next time and take care...

 

Congrats on the win but I didn't make a mistake. I had to slam on the brakes at Eau Rouge to avoid hitting Caitlin because for some reason both of you weren't going anywhere near as fast through there as previous laps. Went off and hit a hay-bale which lost me 6-7 seconds

 

My snoozefest

Was there something special done with others gears? I just seemed to be left out if I didn't have a wiff of draft. Think my maximum was about 221 kmh.

 

I had again little grip at the rear where I had to brake very carefully into eau rouge not to spin out... but I had to do that already from lap 3 or four. I do not have a replay file, so I only saw the video from Jos... but he already dropped back by then.

 

Without a draft 226kph is about the top speed... In a draft it will be 230-235kph. I tuned the gears for those speeds