GTP WRS-Online : Special Event III - Spa Mixed Class Enduro - Mar 25

[Adam41]

Cool report Dennis!

I remember them few times I passed you . Once was coming out of Pouhon. I was coming up behind you and I thought to myself "if he even makes the slightest movement to turn left (to take the racing line for Fagnes) then I'll take him on the outside" You did turn a little, so I took the outside, but I think you wanted me to go on the inside. Like you said, no harm done and it's one of them things which happens a lot in mixed class racing in real life.

 

[Dr_Watson]

If any of you like data, you might find this timing sheet interesting. It shows the lap times and pits stops of the 6 LMP/A drivers.

Aderrrm, PASM and DrWatson each pitted 6 times whereas Hydro, Gravitron and I pitted 7 times.

Nicely done. 👍

Though my 2nd pit stop is 1 lap off. The yellow/green should start on lap 18.

 

[Ren-Tec]

And when I came out from the pits this time around (lap 24), Biffy was the one who was ahead of me, and no sign of Ren-Tec (mistake?). So same procedure as the previous stint, but Biffy to chase down instead of Ren-Tec.

Yeah a mistake Denilson , hit the fill me up button which read 68 litres and was sat in the pits for about 1 minute which cost me lots of time as you get 12-15 litres free in a stop. So I could have got the other 43 litres for no loss of time in other stops but like a fool I didn't costing around 25 seconds I think. Any way I quicky worked out after the start that about 9 laps was the best for pace. If not for my half spin on lap 58 and lost 10 seconds having to reverse doh!!!

 

[WRP001]

Nicely done. 👍

Though my 2nd pit stop is 1 lap off. The yellow/green should start on lap 18.

Color coding corrected for this and a couple others I noticed.

This stint by Aderrrm just before his driver change is probably the most impressive set of numbers from the entire race. How do you do a 2'07.989 in-lap on your 9th lap on tires?

2'01.358
2'01.766
2'02.021
2'02.139
2'03.148
2'03.616
2'04.988
2'07.989
7'49.588​

Aderrrm did his driver change late and I think a lot of traffic was in the pits which was a smart strategy. Something I didn't really think of in pre-race planning.

The stint leading up to my driver change was also my best, but just pales in comparison and I did hit traffic a couple times (and the stint is only 8 laps as were all of my stints):

2'02.469
2'02.691
2'05.627
2'06.738
2'04.663
2'05.737
2'13.198
7'40.903​

 

[Dr_Watson]

Color coding corrected for this and a couple others I noticed.

Gotta be careful when you give an analyst (my job) data... Things like this happen spontaneously.

p.s.

While not as fast as Adam... I did like the robotic consistency I was able to pull off on my last stint.

__lap____variance__
2:05.152
2:05.067 (-0.085)
2:05.512 (+0.445)
2:05.454 (-0.058)
2:05.896 (+0.442)
2:05.941 (+0.045)
2:08.979 
2:09.568

 

[Adam41]

This stint by Aderrrm just before his driver change is probably the most impressive set of numbers from the entire race. How do you do a 2'07.989 in-lap on your 9th lap on tires?

2'01.358
2'01.766
2'02.021
2'02.139
2'03.148
2'03.616
2'04.988
2'07.989
7'49.588​

Aderrrm did his driver change late and I think a lot of traffic was in the pits which was a smart strategy. Something I didn't really think of in pre-race planning.

Take 3 ish seconds off for the pit lane and it would probably have been similar to the 8th lap. In online racing now I never push really hard when I get fresh rubber. Having been used to old rubber before a pit stop, it's too hard and mainly too inconsistent for me to push - you'll just lose more tyre than you gain in time. So I tend to push a few laps in. (Like I did at Indy in FMSC the other day and set a PB on my 8th or 9th lap lol).

And yeah I had noticed that about the driver change. At one point there were like 5 of you in the pits when I passed. I also wanted to stay out because I was driving well during the previous stint.

Awesome data guys. 👍 Impressively splits too Dr

 

[mohitraina91]

My (relatively) short race report:

I started second after Wardez, and I managed to pass him on the braking to Les Combes after the long straight. I managed to exit Eau Rouge behind him, and then just drafted him onto the straight, taking the inside line. Managed to hit my braking point sweetly and took the next corner in first place. After that it was just a matter of building up a lead, but Jon (Jtv) didn't make it easy. I had to push really hard in the first stint, but he kept up, losing just 2-3 tenths a lap on average. That may seem good, but my plan was to do 7-lap stints (I think I'm the only LMP to attempt that), and I knew I had to keep pushing. Funnily enough, the top 3 LMP finishers were on different strategies, with Jon doing 8 lap stints and Scott (mcfizzle) doing 9.

The different strategies made for a lonely race, but the GT cars were always there to spice things up. A big 👍 to them for keeping things predictable and making passing them easy. I don't think I had any incidents with GT cars which affected them, though to avoid one while approaching Blanchimont, I had to swerve violently to avoid it. The resulting off, which was my only one of the race, and damage probably lost me around 10 seconds (it wasn't the GT car's fault though, I was just to eager ).

In the end I'm pretty happy with my performance, running almost identical speed to the 3rd place finisher in room A (Hydro). I again have to thank the 3D3 stewards: Marc, Tim, and Lucas, as well as Christophe and Kevin for helping them out. They've really set the bar up very high for whatever they come up with next. Thanks to Jon and Scott too for verifying room B. I wanted to but I didn't have the replay since we had some people who just didn't want to leave the track (*cough Ty *cough).

 

[mcfizzle]

Looking back I would have shortened my stints between stops but really it may have kept me closer to Jon, definitely not you. There were very few laps were I saw the gap shrink between us, I think you ran close to a perfect race.👍

 

[WRP001]

The different strategies made for a lonely race, but the GT cars were always there to spice things up. A big 👍 to them for keeping things predictable and making passing them easy.

Very glad to hear from you given your pre-race concerns about mixed class "dangers". It might have been the "B" lounge, but it was chock full of "A" quality drivers from top to bottom IMO. I wish I could have run in both lounges.

The resulting off, which was my only one of the race, and damage probably lost me around 10 seconds.

Here's where our stories differed. In the first support race on Saturday I basically ran 25 flawless laps. I didn't even have to lift one time for missing an apex or running wide. Only mistake in that race was putting in too little fuel and having to "back off" the final couple laps. But on Sunday I had 6 incidents, none of which involved or impacted other cars, but at least 4 resulted in car damage and ultimately cost me 62 seconds by my calculations. Basically threw away a second per lap of pace. 👎

1. Lap 3: Got in Hydro's dirty air in Eau Rouge and completely lost the car. Should have lifted, but I was hoping to retake third place in Kemmel.
2. Lap 13: Came up on Biffy too fast under braking after Kemmel and had to downshift fast to engine brake and hit first gear by accident (into wall I went). In hindsight I should have just went straight and long which I saw others smartly do in mirror when they overshot.
3. Lap 15: Spun after Rivage trying to set up for a pass on Biffy.
4. Lap 53: Spun tires and turned into wall exiting bus stop (for some reason my car had no grip an entire lap starting here).
5. Lap 54: Caught my left tires just outside the rumbles at Stavelot and basically couldn't turn right on exit and shot straight into the sand pit.
6. Lap 63: Caught a whiff of dirty air from Biffy at Blanchimont, went wider than expected and spun into grass/wall. Limped to the finish.

The Lap 53/54 incidents were the most troubling. I couldn't do anything with the car that lap and up until that point I had recovered most of the time from my previous errors and got into a nice rhythm and even started to catch glimpses of Hydro in 3rd. Getting stuck in the sand got me lapped by PASM and passed for position by DrWatson.

The Lap 63 incident didn't cost me anything really as I had already lost any chance of catching DrWatson in traffic, although it made the result look a little different in terms of gaps.

 

[WRP001]

The results for Room A are now official:

I don't have the data on # of pits for GT nor the time to count them, but if someone submits we'll update the image later.

There are still a few details to sort out for Room B, which are proving difficult without access to the replay, but hoping to make that official shortly.

 

[paulmac2k9]

I pitted 5 times iirc 👍. As I did 10 x 6 stints or there abouts.

 

[hasslemoff]

Paul (hasslemoff), I think I had a brain cramp when you tried to lap me, I did not make it easy for you because it took me a while to realize we were not in fact battling for a position, sorry about that (wow, already a triple dunce post, but it was a long race...).

No problem, but I cant remeber a problem

Thougth all drivers were very good with awarness and the LMPs drivers showed a lot of patience when coming to pass me.

 

[Gravitron]

EPIC WRITE-UP👍

Had only one issue over the entire rce, and that was when Gravitron was about to lap me. We was approaching Blanchemont, and that's probably the worst place to catch up to a GT car if you're in an LMP, casue I'm at 250ish kph there, while the LMP's go thru there well over 300 kph.. Huge difference.
So my guess is that I thought that Gravitron should wait until after, but he did not want to loose that amount of time.. So he went for my outside. I noticed that a tad late, but iirc, I managed to leave enough space, but he was ofc scared of my initial move to the outside, so he just went straight out, hich cost him a good amount of time (15ish sec). Sorry for that.

No need to apologize at all, the fault was all mine. Bad choice in the heat of the moment. It took me a full lap to catch up again and pass you in almost the same spot, which was easier, since we had "practiced" on the lap prior.

And about the math while driving , I agree. Dr Watson's idea that we each need a race engineer was great. 👍 I was actually counting on my fingers out-loud during straights, having problems doing simple laps-till-next-pit calculations.

 

[millross]

The results for Room A are now official:

...

I don't have the data on # of pits for GT nor the time to count them, but if someone submits we'll update the image later..

Cheers Tim! 👍

5 pit stops for me, 3 FULL fuel fill-ups () and my driver change was 5 minutes 38 seconds long (Double ). Entered at 1:13.45, pit stop started exactly 1:14.00 and I left at 1:19.38!!

Some great action as I was flicking through the replays - Dr Watson vs Hydro in particular I watched for several laps - couple of the photos below are taken from that battle, particularly the "Who has the biggest balls" moment as you approach Eau Rouge side-by-side. Hydro backed off, but drafted up Kemmel and was back on it within a few turns. Nice stuff!

I could have taken more....spent over an hour doing these and it was such a short subsection of the race, but a lot of fun none the less 👍

 

[WRP001]

Thanks for posting all the pictures guys. I'm aggregating them in the Race Highlights post.

 

[mohitraina91]

Very glad to hear from you given your pre-race concerns about mixed class "dangers". It might have been the "B" lounge, but it was chock full of "A" quality drivers from top to bottom IMO. I wish I could have run in both lounges.

I never questioned the quality of the drivers, I merely thought at the time that a few GT drivers wouldn't have practice dealing with the LMPs, which would cause headaches. But the room was full of "regulars", who put in decent practice times and made it better for everyone.

Here's where our stories differed. In the first support race on Saturday I basically ran 25 flawless laps. I didn't even have to lift one time for missing an apex or running wide. Only mistake in that race was putting in too little fuel and having to "back off" the final couple laps. But on Sunday I had 6 incidents, none of which involved or impacted other cars, but at least 4 resulted in car damage and ultimately cost me 62 seconds by my calculations. Basically threw away a second per lap of pace.

It happens though, sometimes its not your day. Losing a minute because of stupid mistakes is probably frustrating, but I guess that's how you learn. I consciously sacrificed around 2-3 tenths a lap as insurance, just to make sure I keep this beast on the track.

 

[WRP001]

Room B results are now official:

A couple notes

• Hasslemoff was in the pits on lap 59 as gooners passed the finish line and the checkered flag waived. He had a right to finish that lap, but didn't do so because of the confusion, so lost a possible (albeit small) opportunity to catch and pass EDK for the position. Since he didn't finish that lap he won't get credit for the lap, but he is awarded 2nd position because the 3rd finisher (MilleRSVR) crossed the line after gooners and could not advance his position further at that point. Add twilight zone music right about now.
• Wardez stopped 14 seconds short of 5 minutes during his simulated driver change and thus incurs a 28 second penalty. However, timing and scoring shows he crossed the finish line about 34 seconds in front of Hun so no positions were lost in the results.

You guys in the B lounge sure know how to make things interesting.

 

[MilleRSVR]

Room B results are now official:



A couple notes

• Hasslemoff was in the pits on lap 59 as gooners passed the finish line and the checkered flag waived. He had a right to finish that lap, but didn't do so because of the confusion, so lost a possible (albeit small) opportunity to catch and pass EDK for the position. Since he didn't finish that lap he won't get credit for the lap, but he is awarded 2nd position because the 3rd finisher (MilleRSVR) crossed the line after gooners and could not advance his position further at that point. Add twilight zone music right about now.
  
  
  You guys in the B lounge sure know how to make things interesting.

• 
  
  That sure was a crazy finish.
  
  After reviewing the replay it was apparent Paul could not go another lap without running out of fuel, he had no choice but to pit. Kevin was right on his bumper at that moment, and when Paul pitted he took over the lead on what turned out to be the last lap. (amazing being that close after 2.4 hours of racing). I was about 10 secs behind them after surrendering the lead on my late pit stop a couple laps earlier. Just before the bus stop chicane, Gooners went past me and crossed the S/F line just ahead of me and ended the race. Paul was in his pit stall at that moment which just happened to be past the S/F line and not before it. That pit position meant he finished just ahead of me when Gooners crossed the finish line.
  
  I'm very happy with my 3rd place finish, although with a better pit strategy near the end I think I could have managed the win. It felt great being able to stay with Kevin and Paul for the whole race and even having a chance for the win made this an epic race for me.
  
  Can't wait for the next Enduro.

 

[WRP001]

Blair, that is a crazy finish. Had gooners been about 5 seconds slower you would have had 2nd place for sure and who knows maybe caught EDK. If gooners had been 20+ seconds faster Hasslemoff might have taken first place as he would have crossed the finish before EDK (if I understand the sequence of events properly).

I had asked for a video capture of the final lap or two from the live timing monitor, but never got one so I ended up relying on pics and tables submitted from others. Big thanks to Scott (mcfizzle), Jon (jtv), and Kevin (EDK) for providing the pics & information required to puzzle the finish together and make the results official.

We obviously can't post the replays of this event for others to download which is a shame. Can't even export them ourselves so if a save goes bad we can say goodbye to this one. Luckily we've got all the pictures above and the good memories.

PS> Anonymous race director says to Hasslemoff, "Get out of the damn pits, the leader is coming!"

 

[EDK]

Blair, that is a crazy finish. Had gooners been about 5 seconds slower you would have had 2nd place for sure and who knows maybe caught EDK. If gooners had been 20+ seconds faster Hasslemoff might have taken first place as he would have crossed the finish before EDK (if I understand the sequence of events properly).

He actually pitted at the end of lap 58, going in right in front of me. So to your point, if gooners had been in front of us in terms of track position, there's the potential he would have crossed SFL before me. But he had already mentioned he thought the race was going to go longer. Not sure if he meant he had the finish time wrong, or if he did not realize Gooners was right behind in track position.

He was worried about fuel, and his fuel was just a touch lower than mine when he hit the pits. I ran out right as I crossed SFL, so it's somewhat likely I would have managed to pass him before SFL, IF I did not just take it going up Kemmel, as I was right on his rear bumper when he pitted.

I'm not entirely sure if the clock would have been at 2:24 already if gooners would have managed to get past us. Will have to go back and look again. Just a shame I have to wait through 4 laps every time.

Any which way, it was an epic finish. And could have been even crazier if the strategy gods had not shined upon me.

EDIT : Talk about crazy. I crossed the SFL on lap 58 at 2:23:58. So it looks like even if gooners was in front in terms of track position, we still would have needed to run that one more lap.

I have to say that when I figured out I had about 50 minutes to go and a decision to make about 1 or 2 more stops, I was apprehensive that my strategy was going to land me in 3rd place. I decided to stay with it, rather than changing course, and it ended up working out. But any of the 3 of us could have ended up in 1st place.

 

[hasslemoff]

PS> Anonymous race director says to Hasslemoff, "Get out of the damn pits, the leader is coming!"

Like it, wont type what I said out loud lol.

Definatly a crazy finish to a great race, with the 3 of us running quite close through out the full race and changing places with pits and diffrent strategies suppose the end couldnt be simple.

Regarding me thinking the race was longer I had a blonde moment I read the clock wrong and thought there was another 10 mins left so headed for the pits for the last stint thinking that Kev and Blair would make another stop but once in the pits it became apparant that the race was over . A lesson learnt.

I also thought I had enough fuel for another lap until I watched the reply again and dont think I would of made it.

Again a big thanks 👍

 

[Hun200kmh]

Glad it ended with no position change. It would be totally unfair if Wardez lost a place because of a simple mistake. I'm quite glad with what I have achieved, even if it isn't much.

 

[WRP001]

Glad it ended with no position change. It would be totally unfair if Wardez lost a place because of a simple mistake. I'm quite glad with what I have achieved, even if it isn't much.

I'm glad you decided to race. I would have been quite disappointed if you had posted that "I withdraw" message on race day! One driver cancelling at the last minute was enough.

I finished 5th in LMP class myself and didn't perform up to my own expectations, but I still enjoyed the event immensely.

Hope to see you at our future events.

 

[TheBook]

Glad it ended with no position change. It would be totally unfair if Wardez lost a place because of a simple mistake. I'm quite glad with what I have achieved, even if it isn't much.

I go into every race with the objective of not finishing last. You didn't, and that's something, at least.

 

[Denilson]

5 stops here as well.
12, 23, 35, 43, 51

 

[mohitraina91]

8 pits @ 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43, 50, and 57.

 

[gippone]

What a wonderful event you had guys!! Wish I was there!!
If you do something similar in the future I'll be ready 👍

 

[EDK]

I had 6 pits.

10, 19, 28, 37, 44?, 51?

As mentioned, I was on a 9 lap stint strategy up until my stop at lap 37. After that, I knew I had less than 60 minutes remaining, while my stints had been averaging around 20 minutes each.

It was probably about 54 minutes left in the race, so I settled on going with 2 more stops, not 1. As I recall, I did a couple of shorter stints and then left either 8 or 9 laps for my final stint. So I'm not positive on the timing of the last couple, and have not gone back to look.

I'm also not sure how many stops the other GT leaders made.