Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Testing at Goodwood. In 1965.

 So the Lola is brought to the Goodwood estate for a spot of testing, and immediately there's a problem. I don't really know this track all that well. It's a subtle track with lots of different types of right handers. So the car is a little bit soft, bu I really need to get this track right in my head before I start mucking about with the setup. Definitely don't need fifth gear on the straight. 

Monday, January 18, 2021

Season 38: GT cup: Round 1 at Riverside (28 laps)

So we kick off the season at Riverside, and nice to see 16 drivers take to the track.  Most of us are in Lolas for the first race.  Maybe the track suits that car more but I think the Ferrari is slightly faster and didn't want to use one up for the first round.  Managed to get into the 1.43's at the end of qualifying but only good enough for third behind Tristain and Raoni.  That will have to do.

Surprised at the start with the car bogging down a little, I guess we're carrying a lot more fuel than usual.  Everybody played it safe into turn 1 and as it shook out I ran third behind Raoni with Tristain comfortably in the lead.  Alain Maurice was behind me in one of the few Ferrari's.  I could see Raoni having a few slides here and there and on the second lap he skated wide in turn 7 and I could take 2nd spot.  The gap to Tris steadied at around 4-5 seconds for a few laps and I thought maybe I could start to reel him in a little.  But around lap 10 it seems Tris decided to get on with it and started pulling away.  He was driving really hard, even throwing the Lola into the slower corners, and I couldn't really match his pace.

I was safe in second, and also noticed as the race wound on I started to pick up some understeer in the slower corners.  I suspect in testing I was more aggressive with pitching the car around, sliding the rears and keeping them hot.  In the race I may have been a bit more careful and hence not heating the rear tyres as much.  Anyway it was controllable.

So that was really it, I did have a silly quick spin and touched the fence in the difficult braking into turn 8.  I was on the wrong line and got caught out.  The car wasn't really affected and it didn't cost me that much time.  So the race ground out to the end.  Not a spectacular race but I'm glad I survived and got some good points.  Concerning about how quick Tris is though.


Open - Drivers Championship (scoring)
RankDriversPPTotalVehicleRiverside
January 15, 2021, 10:36:02 PM +0000
United StatesGoodwood (Circuit)
January 29, 2021, 09:00:00 PM +0000 (to be confirmed)
United KingdomStardust
February 12, 2021, 09:00:00 PM +0000 (to be confirmed)
United StatesDundrod
February 26, 2021, 09:00:00 PM +0000 (to be confirmed)
United KingdomSpa (1947-78)
March 12, 2021, 09:00:00 PM +0000 (to be confirmed)
BelgiumBrands Hatch (GP)
March 26, 2021, 09:00:00 PM +0000 (to be confirmed)
United KingdomRoad America (Full)
April 23, 2021, 09:00:00 PM +0100 (to be confirmed)
United StatesHockenheim (1965-2001)
May 07, 2021, 09:00:00 PM +0100 (to be confirmed)
GermanyIsle of Man (Mountain Course (Full))
May 21, 2021, 09:00:00 PM +0100 (to be confirmed)
United KingdomLe Mans (Sarthe (1932-67))
June 04, 2021, 09:00:00 PM +0100 (to be confirmed)
France
1MagicArsouille (FT)50.0Lola T70 MkIII50.0
2Mark Jones (FT)43.0Lola T70 MkIII43.0
3Alain Maurice (FT)37.0Ferrari 330/P437.0
4Cookie (FT)32.0Lola T70 MkIII32.0
5Enrique Farina (FT)28.0Lola T70 MkIII28.0
6EvilClive (FT)25.0Ferrari 330/P425.0
7Markus Friedrich (R1)23.0Lola T70 MkIII23.0
8philippe GIRARD (FT)21.0Lola T70 MkIII21.0
9Doni Yourth (FT)19.0Lola T70 MkIII19.0
10fpolicardi (FT)17.0Ferrari 330/P417.0
11Phil Thornton (R1)15.0Lola T70 MkIII15.0
12Rainier (FT)13.0Ferrari 330/P413.0
13francesco (FT)11.0Lola T70 MkIII11.0
14Pete Bennett (FT)9.0Lola T70 MkIII9.0
PaulV (FT) 
GregT (R1) 
Raoni Frizzo (R1) 

Thursday, January 14, 2021

Testing at Riverside

Preparing for the new season, I've chosen the Lola to start with. It's a nicely agile car for this track. I'm not the biggest fan of this track but this car is really a lot of fun and makes it better. 

Season 38 - Sportscars - Lola vs Ferrari Cup (UKGPL league championship)

Well, after a few years hiatus the UKGPL organisation has setup a new league series for Saturday mornings (NZ time) featuring the Lola and Ferrari sports cars from 1967.  These are both terrific race cars and I am really looking forward to this series, particularly as there are some fantastic race tracks that have been selected.  Here's the official breakdown:



Car set: 1967 Sports Cars - Lola T70 MK III and Ferrari 330 P4 onlyDate: Every second Friday from 15th January 2021
Time: No later then 9:00pm UK Time (30-60 mins practice, race starts at 9:30pm)
Race Length: 50 minutes
Damage Model:  Intermediate
Server: UKGPL08_60fps
Race List: IGOR
Divisional Moderator: Cookie

Calendar:
Date    
 Day        
   Time        
Mod    
   Track        
     Folder      
  Laps  
     Download      
15/01/2021    Friday21:00 GMT67SCx
Riverside International Raceway 1966
riside66
28
29/01/2021    Friday21:00 GMT67SCx
Goodwood 1965
goodwd65
35
12/02/2021    Friday21:00 GMT67SCx
Stardust 1967
stardust
28
26/02/2021    Friday21:00 GMT67SCx
Dundrod 1965
dundrod
13
12/03/2021    Friday21:00 GMT67SCx
Spa 67
spa67
13
26/03/2021    Friday21:00 GMT67SCx
Brands Hatch 1967
brands67
30
23/04/2021    Friday21:00 BST67SCx
Road America 1971
roadamer
20
07/05/2021    Friday21:00 BST67SCx
Hockenheim
hockenhm
24
21/05/2021    Friday21:00 BST67SCx
Isle of Man
AAIOM
2
04/06/2021    Friday21:00 BST67SCx
Le Mans Sarthe Night
nbsarthe
14

Handicapping

"Works" drivers will carry a weight penalty in the form of extra fuel. "Works" status will be declared by the divisional moderator at the start of the season.
So 10 rounds, and each car has to be driven 5 times but drivers decide at which track. I am designated a works driver, so will be driving with the extra fuel penalty. I've already installed the brake light patch so that's not an issue. Something that might be an issue is the race at the Isle of Man track. It's a wonderful and challenging track, but I think my old PC might not be able to run it, it's so graphics-hungry. That's something to ponder.  What a calendar - Dundrod, Spa, Rd America, Isle of Man and the finale at Le Mans.