Finished P2 behind @dj2ca after losing my tyre grip late in the race. Happy with P2 but a very lonely race so not many highlights to show but heres the first lap in the rain.
@SuiCid3 yeah I did one stop and onto hard tyres. @Bounty05 I had a feeling you were on soft tyres, you were reeling me in there! I thought you may have spun when I saw the gap open up. @Ford69xw great to have you racing. You've actually got a full time spot now, one of the guys isn't racing anymore.
Qualifying: Race Results: Fastest Lap: P14: slap-n--tickle (weird DSQ) P15: Anthbark (retired due to wheel problems)
Yeah definitely man. Those wet laps were so crucial to setting up the rest of the race, I nearly had a spin but just managed to save it.
You're right, I was catching you but then lost grip and just made sure I made it home. Had some moments in the first few wet laps but kept focus to stay in the race.
Man that was sweet had stacks of fun,Those laps in the wet were so much fun.Was behind Shoot for some laps in the wet and that was fun.Didnt qualify real well I couldent get a good lap in but u get that, I started the race in 9th I think and I managed to stay away from the first corner spins...well done dj and blue...great race fellas
Congratulations @dj2ca on your win where did that qualy lap come from that would be close to a sec faster than your best in the wet. I looked at the replay bounty put up I came so close to make a mess for you on turn 1 I turned in to have a massive noise ringing through the house so I tried to straighten up then remember I was on your inside after a really good start anyway I got away with it. Well done @bluebounty05 congrats on second good pace great gamble on the softs it was touch and go which was better hard or soft. @mwkw1520 well done on rounding out the podium coming from 10th to 3rd great drive. Nice fastest lap @ranok3n. Looks like @ShootSho7t and @annewa had a good battle to be less than half a second appart
I was very happy to get into the 13's in qualifying last night. I think a few people had some issues in that session because I know I've seen faster times during the week. I noticed familiagtr leave the session about a minute in (not sure why), wasn't sure if he'd make it back in in time. He made it back in just in time with about 3.5 minutes left in the session but was unable to set a qualifying lap. Slap lined up next to me with Anth and Bounty on the next row. I got a pretty terrible start with heaps of wheel-spin. I could see Anth got a blistering start off the line and made heaps of time on myself and Slap by the first corner. I took a wide line but Anth had some understeer and pushed out into my right quarter panel, I got out of that relatively unscathed and continued on with Slap not too far behind me. A short while later I noticed Slap had dropped back (possibly due to a spin) and I now had Bounty chasing me. I knew those first few laps were crucial to a good race so I tried to find the balance between speed and stability. I saw Anth retire due to some wheel issues and Slap retired not long after after receiving a strange DSQ, very bad luck fellas, I feel for both of you. Luckily I didn't have any spins (one close call though) and it set me up well for the rest of the race. I pitted at the end of lap 6 and Bounty followed me into the pits. To my surprise I watched two cars go flying by, opting to stay out an extra lap on the wet tyres. It didn't pay off though and I had caught them by turn 11, passing one up the hill and the other at the final turn. I opted for a one-stop strategy, going onto hard front tyres and soft rears. I had about an 8 second gap back to Bounty but he was closing in on me. I pushed as hard as I could but the gap just kept on getting smaller and smaller, I worked out that he had taken soft tyres but wasn't sure if he was going to take them to the end of the race or go for a two-stop strategy. It turned out that he was taking them to the end so towards the later laps his grip diminished pretty badly and the gap opened right up. I drove a pretty clean race but at the end of the second last lap I hit the grass on the inside of the last turn which almost sent me rocketing into the pits. Well done to Bounty and Mick on rounding out the podium with me and also well done to Ranok3n on getting a great fastest lap. Mick had a blinder of a race, pushing through the field very nicely. Thanks to everyone for racing, it was awesome to see 15 cars on the grid last night! I saw some really close battles on the mini-map, looks like a few of you had some really fun racing. Here's a highlight reel. It's a little boring and please note that the liveries are messed up due to a couple of drivers retiring.
I had a 2 stop strategy set up, but couldn't make my tyres last to lap 16/17. By the start of lap 15, my front left was kaput. The couple of laps prior to that, I had to ease off the pace to try and make it last until my pit window, but that was never going to happen. Good thing I fueled up extra which allowed me to pit those extra laps earlier. 1st spin in the wet was nuts. I was the first to go, then had to wait until everyone passed, but then one after the other, people kept spinning, and spinning and spinning. lol It was a sight to behold, but that one incident cost me the most time. Felt like forever before I could get going again. 2nd incident wasn't as bad as I ended up point in the right direction and there was ample space to get back on track without impeding anyone. Wouldn't have been very interesting to see which strategy placed where at the finish. Congrats @dj2ca on the win and a stonking qualy lap. Congrats to the rest of the guys on rounding out the podium.
After watching v8's video in Div1... I REALLY don't understand this tyre model. Guess I'm too used to Gran Turismo, where once your tyres are gone, you literally have to baby the car. Yet in this game, you can still drive fairly hard. At what point of the tyre life do you start losing multiple seconds off your pace?
I actually notice it fairly quickly. Once I get close to 50% it becomes really hard to turn. At Watkins I struggled big time with tyres down around the 50% mark.
A brief rundown of my weekend for those interested Friday: Friday started really early, I was up at 4am, leaving the house at 5am to get to Barbagallo by 5:30am. Sign on by 6am, ready for our officials briefing at 6:30am. Following the all officials briefing at 6:30am, we had our Flag Marshals briefing at 7:15am, and i found out i would be stationed at Flag Post 9 Relay (the special flag post where only for the V8 weekend, we duplicate the starters flags (Black, bad sportsmanship and meatball flags only) along with the car number). FP9 for those that don't know where it is, is on the back straight, just after the exit of the short circuit. Following a short delay due to the thick fog that blanketed most of the track early in the morning, we finally had cars on circuit from 8:40. The first half of friday was somewhat uneventful for us. The damp conditions from some overnight rain meant everyone was really cautious about the first few laps, but by 11am it was a perfect day. The only action i saw at FP9R was to meatball flag Alex Rullo's car for not having working brake lights, which he sorted in a brisk manner. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful until the stadium trucks rolled out for their first race of the weekend. Little did we know, chaos would ensue as they came off the jump out of turn 1, which had a roll, and a red flag. A short delay for clean up later, and the stadium trucks went back to racing. What a sight they are, especially when you get to be so close to them as they come over the jumps. No better feeling or experience than seeing the Stadium trucks so close to you. Saturday started much the same as friday. Up at 4am, leaving by 5am, starting at 6am. Saturday was vastly different for me, i was rostered on to count patrons as they came through the gates, rather than flagging. I spent my morning counting people through the gates at the turn 7 gate where the busses pulled up. Lots of people to count, and really kept me on my toes. Didn't stop me from taking a peek or two at the action on track when the volume of patrons would die off for a couple of minutes. My afternoon was spent manning the new "wall of death" down the infield. This was a fairly cruisy job, just making sure that no one went up the infield road whilst a race was going on. Sunday was a chaotic day to say the least. Once again, up at 4am, leave by 5am, signed on by 6am ready to start at 8am. Sunday i was stationed at Flag Post 5 (exit of turn 5/apex and/or entrance to the short circuit). I thought it would be a quiet day there, but every time i get stationed at FP5 it tends to be fairly chaotic. First couple of events were quiet, but then things got busy with the aussie race cars, and then the GT's. Lots of Safety Cars for both classes, and often in quick succession really kept us on our feet throughout the day. In fact it go so busy for our comrades at Flag Point 6, that at one stage they were displaying double yellows, a white flag, a lack of adhesion flag, a SC board and on the radio communicating all at the one time. The supercars themselves were fairly clam compared to everything else we had seen that day, but once again, nothing compared to the spectacle that the Stadium Trucks were. All in all, a fantastic weekend that i so very much enjoyed. I love doing what i do, and its such an experience to get up close and personal with the track, and the racing. I've looked forward to that weekend for so long, and I'm already counting down the days until the next local race meeting where i can flag again. 100% recommend giving it a go if this is something your interested in.
V8 stopped 2 laps after me and you can see how slow I'm turning in to hit the apex and get on the power while he carry's more speed. After I got back in front of v8 my tyres were gone and you see how much I understeer away from the corners from there on. The pace if I did one more lap would of been way off.
Pretty happy with the race, bloody stoked actually!!! Managed a couple of hours practice Friday night & that was it. Qualified 12th. I figured everyone else would be trying to nurse it along at the start so I figured I'd try something different, put it in 2nd gear & gave it everything, got to turn one & I'd snuck up a few spots. Only spun 3 times for the entire race, only once in the wet & never enough to hit the wall. Pitted on lap 5 as planned for hards on the front & softs on the rear & filled to 34 litres. Had a couple of small battles along the way but spent most of it on my own & managed to finish in 8th with 6 litres to spare & only the front left causing minor concern. Forgot to save the replay though cheers everyone.
