Lemons to Le Mans Tuesday Series

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Thats what you think. :P
 
Hah hah. Let the trash talking begin. i may have to put my headset down for this race. There are going to be too many LOL's when it starts raining.

I imagine myself cruising safely by one wrecked car after another in the rain...only to have them catch back up when they put the proper tires on.

The good news is, if you miss your brake zone into the final chicane and hit the wall (one of the few places on the track where there is a wall close enough to hit), you aren't far from pit road.
 
chuyler1
The good news is, if you miss your brake zone into the final chicane and hit the wall (one of the few places on the track where there is a wall close enough to hit), you aren't far from pit road.
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I keep hitting the wall on the left-hand hairpin. There is a slight right just before it. And if I get the angle wrong on that, then my tires touch the grass on the left. That sends me immediately into the wall on the right.

There are a couple other turns that if I push too hard I'll beach it. But that is where I keep hitting the wall.
 
Oh yeah, I forgot about the second part of Degner curve, when you go under the bridge. it can be tight there. No matter what tires you are on, it is always safe to brake earlier than you think and get at least half of the car over the curbing. If you go wide on exit, don't mash the throttle down or you'll spin out and destroy everyone racing behind you.
 
I got part Cherokee in me, so I'll be doing the rain dance later. Y'all best be prepared.
 
Like Jackie Chan once said %&@#^#$(&#$^.

Yah, that line always got to me as well.
 
Drunken Monkey makes me cry everytime.
 
Can't make it tonight. Have fun in the rain.
 
I'm so effing pissed. I'm sorry. If I didn't wreck, I think, no.. strike that, I know, I could've gotten a podium finish. I know my car was that quick and I am able to put down fast enough laps. Anyone else in the room, even Cujo, could've gotten first place in my car, and had enough time to have a tea.

It is entirely my fault. But that completely wrecks my season.
 
dude... instead of parking it, drive your car and move up in the field. BTK was way at the back running with me at the start, and finished 3rd. If your car was really that good, then next time don't give up so easily!

In case you didn't get my message before the race - I didn't add anything to my car. It's shared right now too, btw.
 
pyxen
dude... instead of parking it, drive your car and move up in the field. BTK was way at the back running with me at the start, and finished 3rd. If your car was really that good, then next time don't give up so easily!

In case you didn't get my message before the race - I didn't add anything to my car. It's shared right now too, btw.
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That makes two of us
 
Garris, you're never going to improve if you don't get on the track and try. It looks like you put a tire on the edge of the track and spun out. It happens to all of us. I went wide on a few turns here and there. Thankfully no one was nearby when I did it. Actually, scratch that. Geezer saw me go wide on turn 1 and he stayed safely inside while I re-entered the track on the outside.

I saw plenty of action on the track despite being one of the slower straight-line cars. I stayed out of trouble the first 5 laps out of sheer luck. I saw people crash left and right in front of me, as well as a bunch of close calls.

I really don't know what tips to provide others that I haven't said already. Race your own race. If you know you're faster than someone...hold back a little and wait for the right moment to pass. If you're not faster, well you just gotta focus on hitting your apexes and maximizing exit speeds. With these sticky tires, you could sometimes get on the throttle way before the apex.

As for Bowtie and Geezer's altercation. I watched the replay and I'll upload it. If you ask me, bowtie was following too closely for the beginning of the race. He claimed Geezer braked too early, but that's not a valid excuse. The leader can brake whenever they want. The bump wasn't that bad either...but Geezer went wide and hit the throttle exiting the turn with one wheel in the dirt. I've done that enough on that turn to know you never hit the throttle until the car is perfectly straight and in the clear.

In the end, I don't think the altercation mattered that much. Bowtie pulled over according to GTP OLR rules. Geezer caught up to miata_1 after just a few laps and ran with him for a while. There were plenty of laps where he could have passed and pulled ahead if his car was in fact faster.

I also caught a glimpse of some sort of altercation between bowtie and I think diabolic. I didn't get a good shot of it but it looks like Diabolic caught some grass then spent the next 100 meters fish tailing down the straight before eventually hitting bowtie.

Other than that, it looked like a good clean race. There were some different pit strategies that made things very interesting...but it would have been nice to get some rain.
 
If anyone saved the replay...

I made what felt like a crazy pass at the 130R on lap 30. I'd greatly appreciate getting to see it in some form or another.


I should've won this race easy. I put the car in the gravel early on and lost my lead because of it, then after my first pit stop I stopped paying attention once again and hit a wall getting front left damage. I had the pace but I just wasn't there mentally. One more lap and I would've had bowtie though.
 
I've got a funny pass attempt at 130r in the video I'm uploading now. Dikarika flys past me on the inside before it, then runs wide. He crosses past my nose as I duck inside and stay ahead. It was pretty close!
 
chuyler1
I've got a funny pass attempt at 130r in the video I'm uploading now. Dikarika flys past me on the inside before it, then runs wide. He crosses past my nose as I duck inside and stay ahead. It was pretty close!
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I think my pass was actually on Dikarika. I went around him on the outside on the entry, getting my right side half into the grass. Braked super late and pitched the car in. I probably chopped him up. All I could think of while coming up on him on the Back Stretch was this pass by Alonso on Schumacher.
 
Sorry, I didn't park it because of the one wreck. I parked it because on lap 5, I was pitting for the third time and down two laps.

I really really don't want to wreck anyone else, and I was just so frustrated after the first wreck that I wasn't focused and had two more.
 
Repeat after me Garris...slow in, fast out. Listen to your tires, they'll tell you when you are pushing too hard.
 
0:47 - Pyxn puts a wheel in the dirt and gets sideways in the esses. He threads the needle between miata_1 and diabolic and puts it into the wall.

1:13 - I tail diabolic through a cloud of smoke. Bowtie and Geezer are on the side of the road. Dabney catches up but wisely backs off before the hairpin.

1:41 - Dikara and Dabney double team me and almost make it 3 wide. Dabney backs off as I try to leave room for Dikara on the outside. Then Dikara understeers through the next turn and goes into the gravel.

2:14 - Dikara catches back up and makes an inside pass attempt at 130R. He brakes heavy to keep it on the track and I fly past on the inside. What a rush...that could have turned out pretty bad...but I had a feeling (based on the previous turn) that he wasn't going to make it stick.

2:42 - Finally Dikara gets by with a clean draft pass.

2:55 - I had a brain fart and went flying off the track in turn 1. I did my best to safely re-enter the track and give Geezer plenty of room. He probably could have sqeezed by but I think he backed off to avoid contact.

3:20 - Garris puts a wheel off the track in the same place pyxen did. Guys, note my line through this turn. I don't get anywhere near that curbing. Watch other videos online and you'll see it is faster to ease off the throttle before the final right hand ess so you are set up for full throttle through the final left hand ess.

3:35 - In the aftermath of Garris's off track expedition, miata_1 and diabolic slow down. I get past diabolic but miata is too fast. He pulls ahead of me before degner curve. I think he may have been trying to leave room...or was watching his rearview as he went wide on the turn.

6:06 - Geezer does a good job chasing me through the esses. Shouldn't have been to hard with his wing. He uses his extra power to get along side me before degner curve. I've mentioned this turn multiple times in my 450pp thread. You can try a pass on the inside...but it almost never ends well. As you can see in the video, Geezer loses a sold second or two because he has to brake so much harder coming at it from the inside.

6:10 - Both Geezer and miata_1 try to use my braking point on the second part of degner curve but they miss the turn in point and have a nice little picnic on the beach.

8:35 - Next lap at the same degner curve, miata_1 thinks about making a pass...or more likely he just didn't want to be behind me when I braked. I pull a good second on him through this curve alone but it doesn't take long for him to catch back up. I give him room to pass on the sweeping right hander but he decides not to make a move.

9:40 - After barely completing the draft pass, miata_1 and I go 2-wide through 130R. A ballsy move on my part...but after seeing everyone else brake heavily I figured I could still carry quite a bit of speed on the outside. We rubbed door panels on exit and out braked to the chicane. He tapped me lightly as I had a late turn in...and then had no trouble draft passing me down the front straight. That would be the last I saw of miata.

11:53 - Dikara goes off at the same turn. Understeer in a FF is a bitch.

The remainder of the video I tried to catch some other action on the track, but most of the cars were pretty spread out by then.




This next video shows Bowtie's altercation with Geezer. Geezer was definitely slow through that section of the track, but as I mentioned before...the lead car can run whatever pace they want and it is up to the following car to adjust. Bowtie wasn't expecting such an early braking point. I wouldn't have expected it either...but I wouldn't have been following that close on the first lap...especially through that part of the track.

 
I had a great car, but I botched it up after taking the lead. I stayed with slight, but got greedy. He's the better driver and I should've let him pull me around. I passed him and immediately missed a braking point then another. Lost 13 seconds in one lap. And more importantly, lost the draft on the straights. I decided to make it a one stop race when bowtie pit with 8-9 laps to go.....MISTAKE. tires ran out on lap 333 and I dropped four positions in two laps. Was a good learning experience. Makes me excited to try team racing bc I ran a second faster just following slight. I had plenty of car to get by but when I did the cars potential was adversely effected by my erratic driving. Must say I was on the edge of my seat most the night. Amazing how two offs over 1.5 hours ruined my race.

A fair warning for next week, even on race mediums my skyline will eat up track space. To the FFs that may get behind me, if I see you coming ill move DON'T TRY TO GO AROUND ON YOUR OWN, I'LL GET NERVOUS AND THE BACK END WILL GO OUT AND I WILL HIT YOU. Then you'll be bummed and.ill be laughing and thats just no bueno.
 
I believe next week, we'll be hovering around the 1.50's. Last night diabolic got a 1.49 but I think he will be the guy too beat.

As for geezer, I was following a little close but Geezer braked way early. It was mostly my fault, but you can't put it all on me. Besides, I came to a complete stop and went too last. I also apologized atleast 5 times or more. Geezer claimed that was a punt, but that tap was not enough too push him out into the sand. We were still in the stretch with plenty of road to slow down. The reason I followed that close was because if Geezer got just a little ahead, he could have ran away with the show. He has 40pp over me.
 
I understand bowtie. You stopped to wait for him...and you even gave him quite a head start.

I think the two of us could have run that close through that turn (and we may have while I was following you)...but we are quick and precise drivers. Others, I hate to say it, still can't figure out the braking zones and proper lines even after 35 laps.
 
BTK
I believe next week, we'll be hovering around the 1.50's. Last night diabolic got a 1.49 but I think he will be the guy too beat.

As for geezer, I was following a little close but Geezer braked way early. It was mostly my fault, but you can't put it all on me. Besides, I came to a complete stop and went too last. I also apologized atleast 5 times or more. Geezer claimed that was a punt, but that tap was not enough too push him out into the sand. We were still in the stretch with plenty of road to slow down. The reason I followed that close was because if Geezer got just a little ahead, he could have ran away with the show. He has 40pp over me.
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I must apologize for creating that mess. I braked late into that corner and went off track, slowed, and caused the contact. Wow........video does not lie.
I owe everyone a beer for yelling at them during the game.

Geezer
 
You're aight Geezer, just didn't want you too hold a grudge for something that wasn't intentional.

As for chirped, I keep forgetting this isnt the 450 room. Not saying anybody is a bad driver, just that I'm so used too having too tailgate for 35 laps to be in contention.
 
One thing I would fault Bowtie on was trying to avoid Geezer to the inside. Keep in mind that if a car is oversteering it's going to continue going that direction after a certain angle is reached. It would've been wiser to continue going straight.

I've noticed that this is the cause of a lot of wrecks in this series. If someone is about to lose it directly in front of you, hold your line. In most cases they won't be there anymore by the time you get there. The worst that can happen is that you end up tapping them on the rear bumper which isn't a big deal because, let's face it, they already screwed up. That's much preferable to dodging around and causing everyone behind you to have to avoid.
 
Heavy Damage sucks though
 
That's generally true sl3ight, but every situation is different. You really don't know what the driver is going to do. If its the end of the race, I'd say power through anyway you can...but at the beginning, its wise to just back off completely and hope you don't get rear ended by the guy behind you.

I'm guilty of following closely at the beginning of these races just like bowtie. I need to find the car that is a little faster than me to draft. There hasn't been a single race where I have had the quickest car on the track (both Tuesday and Wednesday) so drafting faster cars has been the secret to decent track position early in the race.

The only reason I beat Dik last night was because I got about 5 laps of draft from bowtie. He was on worn tires but I was able to shave 2 seconds off my lap times by running hard in the turns and staying within drafting distance. After he pitted I had no chance of keeping up, but my gap was big enough to be out front on the last lap. One more lap and he would have had me.

I'm getting pretty good at following too. At trial mountain I tapped a few cars when they checked up on the brakes after the apex...but other than that I am pretty good at stealing driver's draft and getting them to pull me around the track.
 
I agree that backing off is the right thing to do, but maintaining the line is still the key part. The attempted avoidance to the inside is what screwed it up.
 
chuyler1
I've got a funny pass attempt at 130r in the video I'm uploading now. Dikarika flys past me on the inside before it, then runs wide. He crosses past my nose as I duck inside and stay ahead. It was pretty close!
Click to expand...

As my tires went, I still tried to push.

In the 206, this is not a good idea.

Luckily, the only person who suffered was me. I was hoping for rain, and the 5 lap rain race really proved I was probably the best set up for rain (chuyler took the better line around Cujo...).
 
Did anyone grab the replay of the 5 lap rain race? That was insane....35 laps like that wouldve been hilarious!
 
my car is looking pretty good for next week
 
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