Assetto Corsa Round 5 Oisterreichring - no chicane

Fixed now. Thanks

 

Got a D/T penalty on the first lap for moving on the grid, even though my clutch was fully down. Had a few little battles afterwards but the inconsistent damage model screwed me over, so after that I just messed around a bit as I was too far behind anyone to catch up.

 

With the unforgiving nature of the armco here I was not convinced that I would get a decent grid position or that I would even finish the race so I was pleased with P7 in qualifying. A slow start saw a few drivers pass me off the start line and then I was taken by surprise by drivers having to brake early into T3 and I shunted someone into a slide. Fortunately they were able to gather it up and so I did not do a drive-through. Things started to settle down and I picked up some places as people had their own "moments". Eventually I found myself in P6 and noted that John was getting ever larger in my mirrors. John caught me and so I defended, convinced that we were in a fight for P6. This continued right up to the last couple of laps when we caught Jens. In reality John was fighting Jens for position, not me, and he took his opportunity to pass me and then also passed Jens on what I think was the final lap. Imagine my surprise when I finished in P6 even though John had gone past me .
Congrats to the podium guys and, indeed, to everyone who saw the chequered flag.

As usual I watched the broadcast after the race and yet again I am amazed at the standard of Caitlin's commentary ... entertaining and informative throughout the whole of qualifying and the race; the anecdote about Vittorio Brambilla's 1975 win was news to me .

On a final note: Congratulations to Jukka, our new Champion ... Outstanding performance, Sir

 

I found out the hard way how different my car was handling with race fuel load. Caught barrier so limped back to pits for repairs. Had a few laps and got it wrong again so limped back once again trying to stay out of everyones way. Had a good few laps as fuel load dropped and the car was feeling pretty good. Still the slowest driver on the grid and I dont have the answer to that yet.
I really enjoy driving these cars and dont have high expectations but the biggest worry for me in the race was losing control while being lapped and taking out the fast guys
Congrats to the podium as it was a real achievement when you take into account how difficult and punishing a track this is
I finally crashed and retired approx 5 mins from the end

 

Well, that was an intense race!
I had a good start from p4 and had the chance to pass Fabrizio at the first corner. After 3 or 4 laps I manage to slipstream Laurent allong the second sector straight, and I managed to pass him, gaining p2, meanwhile Jukka was already eating pop corn with an advantage of approx 5 seconds.
Unfortunately after some laps I did a slight mistake at the last corner, so Laurent, that was breathing on my neck, took back the second position, but I didn't give up at all.
We were three cars in less than 2 seconds for the 95% of the race, so it was more a nerve battle between lapped and crashing cars along the way, but we were lucky not be involved in any incident. After 25 minutes I had the chance to exploit the situation with a lapped driver that gave to me the chance to put again my nose behind the tail of Laurent, and after some learning laps I passed him at the exit of the first corner, slipstreaming him again before the braking of turn 3.
By this moment I managed to put a small gap between me and the Laurent/Fabrizio duo, that were fighting hard for the last step of the podium, until they had a contact with 5 mins to go, so I had the chance to take a breathe after that exciting 40 minutes.
I'm pretty happy for my result on my Italian Prencing Horse! Grats to Jukka for the victory and Fabrizio for the podium!
I hope to be a bit more competitive in the last couple of rounds. They should be more 'twisty' than Monza and Osterreichring.

Thanks for the fun chaps. See you for the next

 

Definitely not my best race.

I had a bit of bad luck during Qual and I also made several small-mistakes, to tell the truth. I qualified 3rd, with a time of over half second from my best lap time.

I started quite badly and I preferred no take risks and I left pass Matteo inside the dangerous T1. For the rest of the race it was a close battle between me, Matteo and Laurent. I was definitely faster in the central part of the circuit, but there is not enough room to pass there. Near the end of race I passed finally Laurent but I did a wrong line before the T2 and I was near to go on grass, so I lost the position.
After few laps I went side by side at T1, hoping Laurent would have lift a bit. Unfortunately, this corner is very dangerous and doesn't allow easily to pass with two cars side by side. It was a point where I never wanted to pass, but it was the only place where I could do it, being impossible in the central part of the track. I tried to leave enough room outside, but unfortunately we touched (really a small contact). Laurent, being outside, had serious consequences, even touching the barriers. I'm really sorry.
Not knowing who was at fault (most likely a racing contact), I preferred to continue without waiting.

I finished 3rd a race that by the lap-times could give me a chance to fight with the legendary Jukka.
The only consolation, I should have done the best lap in race.

Congratulations to Matteo for doing miracles with a slower Ferrari and to Laurent for the great battle during the whole race.
Special Congratulations to Jukka, unbeatable, perfect; in short, Jim Clark.

 

That was intense indeed as Matteo said !

I didn't expect to be on pole. Fabrizio has had the fastest practice time for some races now and Jukka always pulls out the lap. This time around I set my PB during qualifying and they didn't get the lap together. Qualifying is when it matters .. so really happy with that last lap pole.

Race start wasn't as bad as my last races but still not really good (weak point for me). Jukka managed to pass into T1. From the start it was close with Matteo but after a few laps I was able to keep around a 1.2 second gap to him. As Matteo also pointed out he was able to close in on me when I was lapping Karl Steeg. I was hoping for him to lift a bit on the straight but instead I had to take the inside line into the corner which allowed Matteo to get closer. From then on Matteo was building the pressure again and managed to pass after a few more laps. The battle for second place was on for the whole race with just a second between Matteo, Fabrizio and me.

With 5 minutes to go Fabrizio came really close going on the pit straight. I knew it would be close for T1 but I chose to remain on the best line. Fabrizio was side by side but I knew he had to lift some more being on the inside otherwise he would go wide and into the barriers. Which he did and I made sure to leave a cars width going into the turn. But he clipped my back wheel understeering a bit into the corner which sent me spinning.. Too bad because we had had such a clean intense battle all race. It really is a very tricky point to pass. Here is a replay of the incident.

Can I have my podium finish back ?

Congrats to Matteo and Fabrizio for the excellent racing !

And of course to Jukka for his excellent drive once again ! Well deserved championship winning all races and making no mistakes ! Very solid !

 

[QUOTE="
As usual I watched the broadcast after the race and yet again I am amazed at the standard of Caitlin's commentary ... entertaining and informative throughout the whole of qualifying and the race; the anecdote about Vittorio Brambilla's 1975 win was news to me ."[/QUOTE]
Thanks @Bill Grewcock ! I'm glad I could be informative. Well done on your points finish!

 

yes
I always watch the replay with commentary and I would like to show my appreciation too as it is of a very high standard
Thanks Caitlan

 

Caitlin*, but thank you very much. I love doing this, and I'm really glad you enjoy it!

 

Caitlin did exellent job with coverage as always. So nice to watch race afterwards with this great commentary I will not be able to win 7/7 because I am working on last round and have to pass that nice race and also I will be working till 21.00 this week too so will be home just before race with just little practice before race so doubt that I will be winning that either since I always need many laps to get up to speed.

I was pretty sure my streak would have come to end here because could not get close to Fabrizio´s time no matter what I tried. Got exellent start on race and lead at T1. Fabrizio, Laurent and Matteo had so intense battle all race long (noticed that also during race following realtime but broadcast showed that it was even more intense I tought) so they loose time there and I could pull some gap. I was counting on Toni to come to rescue my head but he must have got lost in the bushes ;D Huge thanks for all the congrats, really nice words And it´s an HUGE honor to be compared to Jim Clark, thank you for that Fabrizio <3

 

and congrats to Matteo and Fabrizio for podium. Sorry to see accident between Fabrizio and Laurent... was so great battle that would have been nice to see that all the way to the end. Unlucky outcome to Laurent