12 Hours of Sebring - 11th March - Start: 13:00 GMT (1 Viewer)

GioVtec

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Well done guys!
@falcon2081 :blackalien: the perfect way to comeback to racing.

Congratz!
 

falcon2081

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Thanks everyone for the kind words! Just woke up and I can say that I am truly sore everywhere lol. What a way to come back and start the racing season. To be honest I was a little worried since before the race start as I didn't feel I had the preparation for this endurance race. I only really had less than 10 hours practice time of getting back to my usual pace over a span of a couple of days as you all know. I was super surprised how in just a short 60 laps I was getting comfortable again. I still was feeling very uneasy in traffic even with practicing with the guys.

First Stint - While I was nervous I knew I had to try and keep the 4s gap Manu gave us. Luckily traffic didn't affect me as much and I was able to complete it just fine. After the pit we still came out 1st I believe.

Second Stint - This is where I slowly started to get rattled. Combination of unlucky traffic with the DP's and the GT3's made me start to make little mistakes which cost us those 4s gap. A minor incident with a DP in the inside field where he braked early and me barely just nicking his left rear bumper cost us all of those 4s. I thought we had damage because it felt like I hit him but was possible netcode related too. After that incident we were in 4th and lost the lead. By then I was just frustrated and making even more mistakes. I slightly bumped someone in the inside field and spun them. Thankfully Manu was there with his German ways and told me to just relax. Thanks to my growing experience in endurance racing and thinking back to our many issues I knew we had a long race to go and we were still in it. So if you were watching the stream as I was entering the last corner I basically took a deep breath and let it all out. Even Manu thought something was wrong to which I replied I'm just relaxing.

*During Manu's drive he brought us back to 3rd or 2nd

Third Stint and Beyond - These stints were just my absolute best. Not only was I truly relaxed but it showed in my driving. Consistent times and feeling just comfortable with the car I clawed the 9s gap to overtake the leader. After this they really didn't have a chance anymore. Myself and Manu started to do laps which were .8-1.2s over everyone else. When we needed to do a 2:03 we did. The funny thing was that when Manu was driving we decided he was going to double stint the tires to see how they felt. Up until that point none of the other GT3's which we were fighting for position double stinted either. That all changed when we did it for the first time lol. After that P2, P3 double stinted with us until the end of the race. We took a gamble but it played off very well in our favor as we were the first ones to do it. The tires held very well for double stints and we maintained a very good pace. After that it was our race to lose or get crashed out of. The final 10 minutes or so as I was driving I drove around the track with extra caution in case any fighting DP's were to come around. Thankfully nothing happened and we crossed the finish line with great emotion.

Thanks to everyone who helped us a long the way. I can't say it enough but all of this was possible because of you guy's. The drivers are just a minor part of the whole team. The Livery guys, Setup for the car, Lopez and Masa for the tips as always, Yorkie and Ramiboo who were spotters and for me helped me out a ton with traffic. Congrats to the other guy's as well! Very well deserved and its awesome that we are slowly but surely getting to the top.

Mistakes which were learned for this endurance race:
-Make sure all the teams are set 1-2 days in advance before the actual race! Shame Yorkie and Puff were hit with this.

So what's next for @t0daY and @falcon2081? Well they are heading to the Green Hell and competing in the season opener of the VLN in the Porsche to practice for next month's Endurance Race. :stig:
 

m4nu

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Wow. Just wow... I do not have really words for it, it just feels amazing to give @falcon2081 a victory as a welcome back present. The car felt really good, we had some troubles in the first hours but in the second half of the race we just demolished the rest of the field with our strong pace. First endurance victory for me, second endurance victory for RSR this year!

But it is not all about winning, sure everyone wants to win but I am very proud of each member who participated in the 12 Hours of Sebring.

@Yorkie_065 and @Puffpirat, it was really a shame that the driver registration was fu**ed up for you. That should teach us a lesson that we should be ready with all (teams, liveries, etc..) 2-3 days before the event. I can imagine how gutted the two of you must have been... Let's look forward to the next race!

@Bassetts and @2scoops, the only Mercedes AMG in our Audi Army. I really like the dedication you both putting into all of this. I wish I could watch the VR stream longer than 10 minutes Bassetts, but I am getting very dizzy :D Strong 7th place, very very happy for you guys and if there wasn't a crash in the last couple laps it would have been a top 5 result. Keep it up guys!

@Alex du Plessis and @Corbs, very unfortunate incident destroyed your race in the first 5 laps. You were P37 and I said to you "Aim now for Top 30". You chuckled a little bit about it... 2-3 hours later you were P27, not like I said it ;) In the end P23 for you, very proud that you kept going, that is the spirit guys!

@Mr Beas and @OBigO, what should I say about you two guys. First of all very happy to see OBigO joining us (even so lately) and gave us the opportunity to have a 5th car in RSR. And also very awkward hearing Mr Beas actually talking :p Running P1 for a goog time until you had a crash. Very promising team for the future ;)

All in all I just want to thank everybody, it was again a very nice experience. Nordschleife we are coming!



** My personal shock moment which nearly ended our race **

 

Alex du Plessis

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Thanks to 12hrs of Sebring I got this now there you got it right this time round

upload_2017-3-12_20-19-18.png
 
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Cluck

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You did 24 hours? Crikey, no wonder they promoted you :)
 

falcon2081

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falcon2081

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BTW did anyone see this? Juan Lopez Helmet:smuggrin: Voted best picture during the 12 hours of Sebring broadcast lol.

 

OBigO

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Mr Beas put our #68 car 2nd on the grid and started the race. The guy in first didn't leave a gap to the DP's and Luke predicted that things would get messy and they did! Cars were spread all over the track after T1 and we had no time to avoid the carnage - link. Things could have been a lot worse however and luckily we managed to push our way through a couple of cars to get back on track without too much damage. We dropped down a few positions but Mr Beas clearly wasn't effected as he made daring moves to regain the positions dropped - link. With alien mode activated he quickly got us into P1 and lapping 0.5 to 1secs faster per lap we were already 30secs ahead after he finished his double stint.

Now it was my turn! Feeling so nervous I wanted to puke I set out just wanting to hand the car back to Mr Beas in P1. For the first few laps I was braking really early and being really cautious just trying to settle in. There was no traffic about and I started to feel a bit more confident. The first few DP's passed without a problem but then one was a bit impatient and he clipped my rear spinning me off but with no real damage but it wiped out the buffer I had to work with to keep us in the lead - link. I had a couple of cut tracks and my pace wasn't great and after my 1 hour we had dropped back to 5th.

Mr Beas got us back into 2nd but showed he is human braking late and going into the back of a DP - Link and losing it at the unforgiving Sunset Bend - Link. When I took over for my second stint we were still in P2 the car now had a bit of damage, however there was only a small drop in laptimes. I was feeling a lot more confident in the car and getting into a nice rhythm but then on lap 139 this happened - Bollocks! A slow and painful slide into the wall resulting in 11 mins of repairs and the car would never be the same again :banghead:

I didn't finish my stint and Luke went out again to try and salvage something for the team. Lapping in the high 2:03s low 2:04s we started regain some time but the cars ahead of us were 2 or 3 laps ahead. Not really sure what happened here but Luke's hard work was undone in an instant! With nothing to lose we decided to try and double stint the tyres, at the time we felt like it wasn't worth it but looking back on it the reason our times drooped off so badly was probably because of this unavoidable collision with a DP.

Two hours had passed since my big mistake and I was now ready to get in the car again. So eager to make up for it I disabled the pit limiter a fraction too early and got given a 15 second stop and go! I also didn't tell the pit crew not to change the tyres so there was another lap lost on the field! Once I finally got going again I settled in quickly and felt I was driving a lot better even though the car had definitely lost some power. As soon as I thought this though I met another wall here! Apart from that mistake this stint was an improvement and it was time for another double stint from Mr Beas! He did 57 laps without putting a foot wrong until he lost it on the inlap.

So then it was down to me to bring the car home for the last 1.5hrs. My wrists and ankles were sore and the car had taken a beating but I felt like I had finally got a hang of the track and the car and my times were pretty consistent throughout. Then on the second to last lap I lost it again coming out of Sunset Bend the car swerving left to right and I just managed to avoid spinning into the pit lane! Finally a bit of luck went our way and I managed to get us over the line.

12 hours and 331 laps later (Mr Beas doing a whopping 207!!!) it was all over and we finished in 15th place out of 31. Would have been interesting to see how we would have done without the big crash but I think we can be proud of how we soldiered on! Thanks for being a great teammate Luke and to everyone else involved, I hope I will be driving in the RSR colours again very soon!
 
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falcon2081

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@OBigO nice race report. I know all about feeling like you wanted to puke before the race. That's how I felt for my first Daytona 24HR race. I still get a little nervous now but eventually settle down during the race. iRacing is just a different animal. You really do feel the pressure when you do the endurance events.
 

2scoops

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It's a good thing to be nervous, I think you are much more nervous because you have team mates, your actions have a direct impact on them too, you don't want to screw up so you put more pressure on yourself. It's important for everyone to know that you win as a team and loose as a team, nobody is going to blame you for crashing, it shows you are trying.
 

Mr Beas

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Well im not sure what more i can say, i think @OBigO summed it up pretty well. The whole race was a bit chaotic from start to finish really, definitely one to forget for me ! I think i had double the incident points than my last two endurance races combined. Lap 1 - Turn 1 was actually pretty hilarious, not so much at the time but looking back at it i cant help but laugh. Having said that, i can't say i didn't enjoy it. Taking part in a endurance event under the RSR banner is always a great experience and i enjoyed (almost) every moment of it, even the long hours of practicing which i find can get a bit tedious and boring for any normal race. I have to say a massive congratulations to everyone that took part especially my team-mate as he completed his first endurance race + i know he had very little practice, and a big thanks to all those who helped out in the build-up. I have already forgotten this race and looking forward to the next !

A couple of things i want to clear up from OBigO's post -
..and losing it at the unforgiving Sunset Bend - Link.
Unfortunately the stream didn't show it well, but i was actually punted by a very late braking DP driver, hence my reaction. The stream does show the car contact incident points as it happens in the bottom right though.

Not really sure what happened here but Luke's hard work was undone in an instant!
I may be wrong on this one, but i believe this is when cars started disappearing/blinking for a few seconds. If i remember correctly a blinking DP passed me just before my braking point then disappeared and reappeared already on the brakes in front of me. I stamped on the brakes, rear left caught the grass and i span into him. I then rejoined the track thinking it was safe to do so and suddenly was hit by the red audi that appeared out of nowhere, that then sent me directly into the path of the DP i had previously hit. In all honesty i was ready to chuck the towel in at this point, but thought i wouldn't be doing my team-mate or RSR as a whole any justice by quitting that easy.

Congratulations again to everyone that took part, @t0daY & @falcon2081 for getting the well deserved win, and on to the next one !
 

m4nu

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falcon2081

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We can totally do their times. I mean iRacing is so close to real life lol.:D
 

2scoops

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iRacing should be as close to real life times as possible, otherwise it's an arcade game not a simulation. 2-3 seconds quicker a lap than reality was rediculous.
 

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