FXRs @ BL1

[spoong]

Well, if no-one else is posting...

I've spent hours on this track (the day before the race I did 260 laps of practice!) so unlike most of the dMr combos I started with some knowledge of braking points etc, and was even pulling off times within 2 seconds of the fast guys so was anticipating it with interest, fearing only the danger of "roofing it" after the T1 chicane.

Qualified in the middle of the pack, oooh no, I'll ruin everyone's race; quietly surprised that in fact I did not!

Spent 15 laps battling with CrazyR1, great race matey, went in the pits for my stop (ok yes doors it was still to early) and then had to go in for a second one around L30 as my tyres were wearing thin, was in 9th before that but went down to 12th - had a bit if a bumper scraper a few laps before the end (do not place rear wheel on grass at 165 MPH!) but recovered well enough to finish 11th (should have been 12th but someone didn't finish, can't remember who that was, sorry!)

Well pleased with the race, finishing around where I qualified, and generally just enjoying the whole experience!  So delighted was I that I've become a supporting member - got to be worth 12 quid for that much fun once a week.

[obsolum]

I was wondering why there wasn't a thread for this combo yet :g:

I didn't really like this combo at first, as I generally don't like the GTR's much. However, I decided thursday to just do the 1hr race and see how it went, as I had hardly raced that week and I was itchin' for some action

I qualified 19th out of 23 or 24 drivers, so pretty much near the back, where I'm usually are. I had a good start, though, and was in 13th I believe by the end of lap 1. In the second lap I misjudged the braking distance in Lameduck's draft in T1, causing me to lock the wheels and bump into him. He managed to go on without too much delay, but I found myself being back down to 19th

After that I started to claw my way back up through the grid. I had a fairly uneventful race for the most part. Until the 45-minute mark, where I put a wheel on the grass in the braking zone on the downhill straight. Not a good idea, that. I went sliding across the track and ended in the gravel. Lameduck and CrazyR1 passed me, and had a 10+ second lead on me by the time I was back on track. However, CrazyR1's engine appeared to be damaged, and through Ventrillo I heard Lameduck say he blew his engine as well whilst fighting with CrazyR1, so that gave me hope and motivation to keep pushing to try and catch them. I gained several seconds on them each lap in the first sector - the straight, where their speed was significantly slower. I managed to pass both CrazyR1 and Lameduck by around the 55 minute mark I believe. With them both having damaged engines I could take it a bit more easy for the final laps, not having to worry about them

I finished 8th, so this was the second race of the year where I earned points, yay :yahoo:

All in all, I enjoyed this race. It took me a while to get used to the GTR's, but once I did it was good fun.

[easyed]

Glad ya started this spoong.... always good to hear about ppls prep and race impressions.

I also did 250+ laps in prep ..... but that was for the week - not all in one day :woot2:

I was concerned about tire choice strategy ... and if I'd actually done what I had planned I probably would have been fighting for 2nd or 3rd instead of being 15 sec back.

I did several 50+ lap runs with R3/R2 tires.  Found that if I really pressed every lap (FL of 1:08.0) I'd end up blowing the left front tire.... but if I laid back a bit (about 0.5 sec) I could get the tires to last.

So the plan was to set a steady pace and pit w/o changing tires ... except I forgot to change the option to no tire change - costing me the 15-20 sec uselessly on lap 47 :doh:

Great fun for my first long race........ partly because I just love the car/track combo - cuz you can throw the car around so much - but esp cuz it was such a fine bunch of gents to race with.  Lapped racers were very considerate .... gave Bob the Bike a pretty good tap when he tried to let me pass by taking the inside exiting a turn.  My bad for taking the inside too soon.

Sure did get me hooked - I'll be back for the Thursday races as often as I can

[obsolum]

So the plan was to set a steady pace and pit w/o changing tires ... except I forgot to change the option to no tire change - costing me the 15-20 sec uselessly on lap 47 :doh:

That's too bad. You were doing really good all race, I remember. You were in first when you went in for your pitstop, right? I thought you were gonna win the race

Better luck next time!

[easyed]

Yeah obsolum - I was in the lead for a few laps near the end.........15-16 sec ahead of Dee Slider and Eisbaer.  W/o the tire change I would probably have exited the pits right with them and had a very interesting last few laps ........

But w/o the tire change I could also have had an ugly blowout in the final laps and fallen back several places - so I was very pleased with the result.

I'll need ....... we'll all need...... more luck with the FOX/South City Long combo this week :norty: What a handful that is!!