GTEs are Ace, but Aces drive GTOs, from Monday 6th November

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Zolon32

Zolon32

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Zolon32
Ladies and Gentlemen, Totally Disorganised Racing brings you nine weeks of moderately well organised racing (hopefully).

“Why nine weeks?” I hear you ask. Well, no reason really… so move on. Four(edit) FIVE weeks, to give it a try... that's better

The cars? Any of the splendid, and wonderfully controllable GTE motors, stock (either loose or stable).

Except, if a driver finishes first or second in any race, then that driver is banned from the car he’s using for any following race. This will lead to mid-meeting changes, but because the series is now shorter, we need the handicap to kick in quicker.


If any driver gets pole position, or comes first or second a total of six times then that driver is An Ace! And what do Aces drive? They drive A Car from the GTO Group, that’s what. Yes folks, become an Ace, and you will have the scrap of your life! (The handicap is still in place, get pole, or come first or second with a GTO car, then you are banned from that car too.)

Because the handicap is quite severe, there will be a scoring system that differs from the one we normally use:

Pole position gets you 15 points.
Qualify in second and you get 8 points.

In racing: first place gets 25 points, second place gets 20 points, third gets 16 points, fourth gets 14 points, fifth gets 13, with one more point deducted for each place further down.



The first meeting will be at Dubai GP. Finished.

Second meeting, Spa.

Third, Bannockthingy.

Fourth, Sakitto.

And finally, the fifth week, by popular demand, Mugello.

There will be ten minutes of practice, then five minutes of qualifying (with only one flying lap allowed), a standing start, and a race that lasts around fifteen minutes.

Then, for race two, there will be a short practice session to allow those who have had to change car a bit of familiarisation, followed by rolling start race, with a formation lap. This race will be around 25 minutes long, starting in the reverse of the race one positions.

Finally, there will be another fifteen minute race, with a formation lap to get into the reverse of the final positions from race two.


Weather will be ideal throughout.

Tyre degradation will be standard, as will fuel use. Penalties will be off, but there will be no damage.
 
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Championship Result.​
1705512958644.png




Handicap excluded cars.

GTE
Ford - Zolon, Mario, Half, raeggae, Paul, Xero, Beachboy.
Ferrari - Zolon, Half, Xero, Paul, Beachboy.
Porsche - Zolon, Mario, Beachboy, Half, raeggee, Paul.
Aston - Zolon, Mario, Paul, raeggee, Half. Xero, Beachboy
BMW - Zolon, Half, Xero, raeggee, Paul, Beachboy.
Chevy - Zolon, Mario, Half, Paul, Xero, raeggee.

Qualification strikes.
Mario +2 (6)
Raeggee +2 (6)
Xeronima +1 (5)
Beachboy +1 (6)


ACE drivers, GTO only - Zolon, Mario, raeggee, Half, Xero, Paul, Beachboy.

GTO
Porsche 959 - Zolon, Mario, Half.
Ferrari F40 - Zolon, Mario.
Audi - Zolon.
Lamborghini -
300ZX Le Mans - Mario, Zolon.
300ZX IMSA - Zolon
Ford Mustang - Mario.
 
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Bit more info chaps. Having trundled around Dubai in each of the GTE motors I can say that they're all brilliant, and really quite close in performance. Having said that, I might be wrong, but the BMW seems to me to be simply sensational in its driveabilty and user friendliness, which perhaps allows it to be driven that bit harder, resulting in quicker laps.

Man ,I am looking forward to Monday.
 
Zolon32
Bit more info chaps. Having trundled around Dubai in each of the GTE motors I can say that they're all brilliant, and really quite close in performance. Having said that, I might be wrong, but the BMW seems to me to be simply sensational in its driveabilty and user friendliness, which perhaps allows it to be driven that bit harder, resulting in quicker laps.

Man ,I am looking forward to Monday.
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The BMW really surprised me. I always found it wanting. But definitely not in Dubai. The Corvette was (always was) my favorite GTE and the Porsche I find difficult to drive though. It has a certain amount of surprises built-in

Looking forward to this series and I'm sure I'll be a bit sad that we'll only do four tracks in these cars
 
Results from Round 1:

I didn't capture the screenshot for qualifying.

Race 1:
1.jpg


Race 2:
2.jpg


Race 3:
3.jpg


Standings
Monday.jpg
 
Well folks, I can't help but feel quite happy with how things went last night. Not just because I personally had a very enjoyable time (mostly chasing Raeggee), but also because the scoring system/handicap looks like it might do a good job.

The fastest lap in race 2 (Half) was one thousandth faster than fastest in race 1 (Mario). Then again, Mario got the fastest lap in race 3, is he gong to snatch pole and another 15 points at Spa? Only time will tell.
 
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I was determined to get the Porsche onto that list but didn't quite manage it. Twice. Damn. I really enjoyed driving it through, it's very lively, especially when the tyres start to degrade. I had planned to run the Ford, Chevy or perhaps Ferrari, so it was a complete change. But I've still got those for Spa. 😉

You might need to extend it beyond 4 weeks Zo. 🙂
 
Quick recap

It was a very nice evening. Even if I was without practise for this specific combo, the truth is that I have driven the GTE Ford GT (white with blue stripes, like "My" Caterham) for countless hours, offline and online. Granted my previous experience was usually with some setup tweaks but even the stock setup was nice and I was very "at home" with this car from the get go.

And so it happened that this was the winning car for this track, all 3 races were won by Ford Gts.

My second race with the Ferrari was a disaster, the car was very sensitive to the kerbs and I lost it several times during that 14-lap race. It was very frustrating, and I am usually someone that gets going and finds a pace in longer races, but not this time ... arghh

3rd race was also a kind of a mess, but this time I did enjoy the car and after a few laps I think I "got it", did the fastest lap of that race in the last or penultimate lap. Could've ended better if this was the long race.

Anyway, I really enjoyed yesterday's races, thanks Zolon for organizing this! 👍



PS - About the list of banned cars, I was under the impression that Half's win was with a Ford GT, not with a Corvette, but I'm not sure
 
Hun200kmh
PS - About the list of banned cars, I was under the impression that Half's win was with a Ford GT, not with a Corvette, but I'm not sure
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It was in the Corvette which is why I then changed to the Ford.
 
IfAndOr
You might need to extend it beyond 4 weeks Zo. 🙂
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xeronima
I second that. 4 weeks is a good pre-season length 😉
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Well fellas, I can't say I disagree; I so loved the racing on Monday. Therefore, we will be having an additional week at the end, featuring Mugello. I've remembered where the fourth week was now, too. It's Sakitto.

So, the full list of circuits is:

Dubai (Done)

Spa, 13th Nov.

Bannocketc, 20th Nov.

Sakitto, 27th Nov.

Mugello, 4th Dec.

This means that there a total of 35 'steps' towards being Aces available in total. There'll be plenty of GTO action by the time we're finished. Woohoo!
 
I expect Imola would be quite good with these cars too. Oh and maybe Nurbergring or Brno as well. 😉
An extra 2 weeks would take us up nicely up to the Christmas break.
 
IfAndOr
An extra 2 weeks would take us up nicely up to the Christmas break.
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Do you mean two weeks beyond Mugello Paul, or two weeks including Mugello? I had considered Brno myself, but Mugello got the nod. Brno can take week six. I think it'll be fun in the GTEs or GTOs; quite hard work in the GTOs, but fun all the same.
 
Zolon32
Do you mean two weeks beyond Mugello Paul, or two weeks including Mugello?
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Two extra weeks after Mugello. That'd finish the series on the 18th December, exactly a week before Christmas day. Neat.
And no, that doesn't mean we need snow on the final race. 🙂

Although of course it's entirely up to you and how long you want to run it for and at which tracks. 👍
 
IfAndOr
Two extra weeks after Mugello.
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Hoki koki. Brno, and one other. I'll have to do some research to find another circuit where GTOs don't have the edge over the GTEs. They're trickier to drive, but have mighty acceleration/speed advantage above 130MPH.

And, in view of the extended series length, I think we can dispense with the 'strikes' element of the handicap. A simple, system where a person gets banned from any car they have come first or second in will do. Once a driver has run out of GTEs, then he/she (?) must move on to the GTOs.

Come on Monday!
 
Hun200kmh
If you're going all corporate in your press releases then I suggest you add a "they" to the wording :dopey:
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Coincidentally, I had put the corporate conformity bit in for you, in case you decided to come along in your "Maria" persona, that Raeggee told us about when you were away one week...
 
I do sing "The hills are alive" most excellently! :P

Zolon, so if I understand correctly your latest posts, now we're into 7 weeks of racing. And ditching the strikes means the handicap works solely regarding the cars you can't drive anymore. I have two questions.

1. With 7 weeks a very good and/or very lucky driver can find himself unable to race with any of the available cars (GTE and GTO) before the championhip ends. What to do then?

2. I think we must use GTE cars until we can't but am not sure so the question is: can any of us use a GTO car even when he/she/they :P still have any of the GTE available?
 
Yeah, xeronima was telling me that the track looked a lot more slippery than he had previously experienced so probably that was a season thing. I had weather on "clear" but can't remember what time (of day) the lobby had, maybe it was early morning and that was the reason for the slipperyness
 
xeronima
What date will you use for Spa?
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Aaargh! Sorry I missed this Xero, and I hope the lack of information didn't effect you too badly. 🙃 At least you have prompted me to put this...


THE DATE FOR SCOTLAND WILL BE 10th JULY, AT MIDDAY. MEDIUM CLOUD COVER.


The banned car list now looks like this:

Mario, Ford GT, Corvette, Porsche.

Xero, Corvette.

Half, Corvette, Ford GT.

Raeggee, Ford GT.

Zo, Aston, Ferrari, BMW, Porsche.

Paul, Ford GT.
 
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Quick recap, starting with my afterthought that probably it was a good thing that I did my saturday practise under spring and with a slippery track, because the track was definitely grippier during the event and I managed laptimes I didn't think were possible.

Quali - Picked the Corvette (a car I consider to be one of the fastest overall in this class, with the plus that it is a forgiving and easy to drive car). Waited a minute to leave pitbox so I could be entirely on my own and thankfully managed a mostly error free flying lap that earned me pole.

Race 1 - First and second lap were tricky, I had Zolon very close and starting lap 2 I had to keep the car on the right side of the track going up the big straight (Kemmel straight I think it's called) forcing Zolon to either try an outside pass into the chicane or yield. He tried it, with late braking bravery, but the move didn't stick. After that I managed to keep a distance and bring the car home to a win. And said farewell to the Chevy for the remainder of the championship.

Race 2 - Decided to have a go with the Porsche. I had a bad impression of this car from the GT3 class but noticed that Paul had driven it very well in Dubai. It was a messy race, filled with mistakes, but towards the end I was finally adjusting to the car's quirks and I was getting decent laptimes so ...

Race 3 - ... I retained it for the last race, hoping that the experience gained would reward me with a solid result. And it did, I even managed one lap in the 2.16s Funny that Zolon contributed with his own Porsche, and a solid drive, for a 1-2 finish. One thing I have to report though is that for some reason the car became ... different ... in the penultimate lap, making me lose it and spin once, and going off track twice. My lead, thankfully a great one, shrunk to about 3 seconds entering the last lap and I was completely in the dark on what had happened. Basically, the rear tyres lost much of their grip. I don't know if this is because my driving is aggressive and I "cook" the tyres (but their colour was always normal) or if it relates to tyre pressure that keeps mounting during the race. Whatever it is, the car changed! So I entered the last lap with a 3-second lead and I decided to nurse it home. Ended with Zolon under 1 second behind, but managed to keep the car on track for that entire lap!

Onto Bannochbrae. It will be carnage! :D

EDIT - To say that it was interesting to notice that the entire field survived the 14 laps of the 2nd race without Eau Rouge penalties (raeggee got hit with 1 second but his fault was going wide coming down in the Pouhon section). True these cars are good, have grip and stability but it is very easy to make a mistake that either makes you cut the track or go wide on exit and to notice that 8 cars x 14 laps amounts to 112 passages in that spot ... without a penalty .... is impressive.
 
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Just a quick note to share two things with you guys:

a) did a few scottish laps yesterday with Raegee and tried the 3 GTE I still have available (AM, Ferrari, BMW). Here's what I found (grain of salt, this was just a quick hands-on constantly switching cars, I may be totally wrong here).
  • The AM is possibly faster than the Ferrari, but is NOT to be trusted! Stable makes it a litle better but still ... damned car! :crazy:
  • The Ferrari is fast and predictable, it is probably the safest bet. This applies to Loose so I never got to try Stable
  • The BMW has 2 big problems: 1) understeers a lot and is generally not as agile as the other two, maybe its a car for a different kind of track. 2) jumps A LOT more than the others, and that makes it dangerous, especially over that last crest before coming down to the bridge before the end of the lap.

b) I will, most probably, have to travel to Porto next monday and if that happens I will have to skip next monday's races. It annoys me because I love this track (and I'd like to be present when @Zolon32 gets ACE status ;) ) but there are worse things in life, lol

I'll keep you all informed on this. Cheers
 
Oldbass47
Have got to have a caterac done in my left eye on December 5th
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I believe it's statistically the most successful op there is Old. Just think how much better racing will be when you can see properly. Brilliant!

Sorry chaps, a further amendment to the date for the setting of the Scottish race. We'll be having one at the height of summer, 7th August, 2:00pm, with light cloud. There, that should keep the tyres happy.


@Hun200kmh
Mario, if you can't make this Monday we'll postpone it. I'm aware of the problems of repeated postponements, but when the chap who's making the running can't be there we don't really have a choice.
 
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That is very kind of you @Zolon32 , but I'd feel bad for being the cause of you guys not doing these races next monday.

In any case, problem solved, I don't have to go to Porto monday, so will be on the Bannochbrae grid with you all! :cool:

In other news, yesterday raeggee invited me for a few more late night laps. Since I was convinced I wasn't going to make it monday I did a couple of short (4 laps) races with the BMW (arghhh, that understeer kills me) and for the last I went GTO just to know just how much of an handicap that is. and it is huuuuge! I picked the monster Audi car, maybe that wasn't wise at Bannochbrae, and suddenly the BMW almost looked like an efficient, nimble car. That Audi just WON'T obey the steering wheel and turn in for a corner!

Around Bannochbrae that particular GTO cost me more than 5 seconds per lap when compared with the GTE cars. So ... big handicap indeed, unless other GTOs are way better
 

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