Split 1 - R4: Watkins Glen - 2nd April 2018 (1 Viewer)

[Eugene Flerko]

So far it was my best race of the season. Had more time for practice than usual, and felt quite confident. My practice lap times were mid to low 1.42.xxx and I did high 1.40.xxx with my quali setup.

However during the first stint of the race my brakes felt a little off, and I drove slower than I could've. In the middle of the race I went to pits for tyres and some fuel (forgot to decrease the amount of fuel from 15l down to 6 and spent more time than it was needed). My closest foe @Feanor dived into pits together with me but his crew served his car faster and we went out from pits side by side. I'm not really sure how to act in such a situation, but I decided to show a gentleman's gesture and slowed down a bit to let @Feanor go out from pitlane first, I didn't want to maintain a risk of a contact in the exit of pitlane.

After pits my brakes worked way better than before, and I aimed to catch @Feanor who managed to overtake @CatchAGlimpse soon. Unfortunately at some point @CatchAGlimpse underestimated the speed of my approach and closed my line too late in the esses, in result I was bumped off the track and had a slight contact with the wall. Following the league's rules @CatchAGlimpse waited after me and with no hard feelings we went on. Luckily I got just 6 damage on the front aero, and 1 on right front suspension, and I could continue my race with no repairs needed.

I lost my flow two laps after the contact as I had to adapt to car's new (worse) behavior and let @TheDoctor46 sit on my tail. With him behind and @steveg200 ahead we had nice last laps of the race. As a result p10 on the finish line, the highest I had so far in the split1.

 

[Hujkis]

Don't know this track, don't like this track, setup didn't work, missed all apexes....But I got one point! yay.
There were also some interesting incidents in first two laps. I felt like you guys don't like me very much

Bring on the Hockenheim !

 

[Tom]

A poor result & troublesome evening from me, but I had a fun time on track, so I don't really care.

I was hoping to get the bulk of my practice in before the race, but since this was the first time I played the game since refreshing windows 10, I had game input issues. I had to delete my profile, re-install wheel drivers, and some other things, so I was only ready to drive 5 mins before I had to set up the server. I also hadn't had a chance to try my team mate's setup beforehand, so I was going into qualifying blind. The car felt absolutely fine, I think it was just me being slow.

The start was exciting, and was impressed by the driving of all those around me. I had fun chasing down @FlyingKman, and pitted a lap after him, looking to get the overcut. However my pit crew decided to fill the fuel tank in my pitstop, despite me updating the strategy in the ICM, so I was delayed and heavier than everyone around me for the rest of the race. I slowly fell back from Kman, and had to defend from @Hujkis in the closing stages, which was a welcome challenge. Well done to my team mate @SillySausage for a good recovery drive and wiping the floor with me! I'm hoping for a more competitive run in Hockenheim next time out!

 

[CatchAGlimpse]

Most enjoyable race of the series so far for me - thanks everyone in Split 1 and the RSR team.

I set myself the aim of achieving some points, something I've managed to do quite well in the Endurance Series but struggled to translate into the strong Revolution Cup Split 1. I have been feeling a little guilty for being a bad / pointless (quite literally!) team mate for @fab. ICEMAN especially screwing his first race of the series with my horrific lag at Monza, so I was motivated and excited to go race and potentially get some good points for the team.

Qualified 11th with a 1.41.5 (I think), pretty chuffed with that considering I only had an hour of practice and my best pre-practice was 1.43.8. Qualifying however wasn't too important with the race strategy I had planned. I started on softs with the full intention of pitting at the end of the 1st lap. I picked the softs just to get the temps up quickly and to be racey for the 1st lap rather than struggle with the cold hard slicks. Came out of the pits dead last as expected but after a few laps I was already gaining a few places with @Alex Salmon coming out just behind me. I had fun keeping the much faster guy behind me, pushing me all the time but defending when he was making his moves, you could tell the dirty air was causing some trouble. However on this note, I didn't really appreciate you making disgruntled sounds down the mic because you couldn't get past me and then say "come on let me past I'm quicker than you". It's a race dude, I know you are one of the quickest guys here and I've always rated your ability but this isn't a practice session or qualifying, I'm in my total right to fight the position. In the end Alex got passed after I had to raise the issue with him on the mic leading me to have a lockup.

Had a great battle with @Feanor about 10minutes later once everyone started pitting, pretty sure he was quicker but was struggling to pass due to the dirty air and the track in general. Track position was key. My wheel locked up (technical glitch, no idea why it is happening once or twice a race at random) and I ran out wide leading Feanor to pass. @Eugene Flerko was hot on my tail, nice battle for a few laps before I made the mistake judging his pass attempt causing him to half spin, I thought it was only fair I waited for him and let him pass. I lost 4/5 positions in this moment waiting for Eugene to recover and thus finishing me 12th and in the points.

Great fun battling with everyone - look forward to next week.

 

[steveg200]

Most enjoyable race of the series so far for me - thanks everyone in Split 1 and the RSR team.

I set myself the aim of achieving some points, something I've managed to do quite well in the Endurance Series but struggled to translate into the strong Revolution Cup Split 1. I have been feeling a little guilty for being a bad / pointless (quite literally!) team mate for @fab. ICEMAN especially screwing his first race of the series with my horrific lag at Monza, so I was motivated and excited to go race and potentially get some good points for the team.

Qualified 11th with a 1.41.5 (I think), pretty chuffed with that considering I only had an hour of practice and my best pre-practice was 1.43.8. Qualifying however wasn't too important with the race strategy I had planned. I started on softs with the full intention of pitting at the end of the 1st lap. I picked the softs just to get the temps up quickly and to be racey for the 1st lap rather than struggle with the cold hard slicks. Came out of the pits dead last as expected but after a few laps I was already gaining a few places with @Alex Salmon coming out just behind me. I had fun keeping the much faster guy behind me, pushing me all the time but defending when he was making his moves, you could tell the dirty air was causing some trouble. However on this note, I didn't really appreciate you making disgruntled sounds down the mic because you couldn't get past me and then say "come on let me past I'm quicker than you". It's a race dude, I know you are one of the quickest guys here and I've always rated your ability but this isn't a practice session or qualifying, I'm in my total right to fight the position. In the end Alex got passed after I had to raise the issue with him on the mic leading me to have a lockup.

Had a great battle with @Feanor about 10minutes later once everyone started pitting, pretty sure he was quicker but was struggling to pass due to the dirty air and the track in general. Track position was key. My wheel locked up (technical glitch, no idea why it is happening once or twice a race at random) and I ran out wide leading Feanor to pass. @Eugene Flerko was hot on my tail, nice battle for a few laps before I made the mistake judging his pass attempt causing him to half spin, I thought it was only fair I waited for him and let him pass. I lost 4/5 positions in this moment waiting for Eugene to recover and thus finishing me 12th and in the points.

Great fun battling with everyone - look forward to next week.

Although I understand your frustrations with @Alex Salmon and his grizzly bear noises, sometimes it is better to let the significantly faster drivers get past with ease and then try and let them pull you along with them.All you do by fighting them is slow you and them down.This is just my opinion and if you want to race every car that comes close to you that's your choice.

 

[CatchAGlimpse]

Although I understand your frustrations with @Alex Salmon and his grizzly bear noises, sometimes it is better to let the significantly faster drivers get past with ease and then try and let them pull you along with them.All you do by fighting them is slow you and them down.This is just my opinion and if you want to race every car that comes close to you that's your choice.

I think if anything I was going quicker than normal as I was just going round by myself at that stage in the race so Alex was keeping me on my toes - he however probably was going slower than usual.

I get your point and I agree with it but at the end of the day it is a race. It's pretty clear Puffy or one of the top guys will win before we've even started so for me 99% of the reason I race is to have battles with other racers that can hold their own and have good awareness/ability. If I let everyone have a free pass then there isn't any point of turning up.

 

[Nighttiger]

I think if anything I was going quicker than normal as I was just going round by myself at that stage in the race so Alex was keeping me on my toes - he however probably was going slower than usual.

I get your point and I agree with it but at the end of the day it is a race. It's pretty clear Puffy or one of the top guys will win before we've even started so for me 99% of the reason I race is to have battles with other racers that can hold their own and have good awareness/ability. If I let everyone have a free pass then there isn't any point of turning up.

Totally agree with that, it is a race and part of it is pushing other drivers into making a mistake or analysing their driving behavior and prepare an overtake for multiple laps. If a faster driver falls behind because he made a mistake why let him past? It is part of the race that mistakes have consequences. I understand that it can be a frustrating thing to be stuck behind someone else when you are clearly faster than the guy in front, but this happens in real life as well even when the driver himself made no mistakes.

 

[fab. ICEMAN]

While I understand that it's quite disappointing to be stuck behind a slower guy when you just had to pit, I am by no means with the opinion that any driver has to let pass anyone. Only if the rules say so of course. The decision is all on Glimpse there, if he decides to battle then Salmon has to accept it (and I'm pretty sure he did), no matter what. Also don't forget that Glimpse is my teammate and Salmon still has the chance to catch up to me, so Glimpse trying to defend a competitor of mine is nothing I would consider being a bad choice.

 

[AndrexUK]

Both are 100% valid points, and it is of course up to the driver to decide how he wants to race.
He has every right to defend against a car that is behind him for position of course (I'm quite sure everyone is aware of that), and for sure, having a faster car behind you is certainly one of the best ways to help you learn (Why am I slower here, how can he carry so much speed there, etc = I need to look into this and figure out how to be faster) So there is a lot to be said for holding your position - and if you can keep one of the fastest drivers behind you, then all credit to you! (This is not directed at this situation, but in general!).

Personally, I would let him past (certainly this early in the race), and try to follow as best I could. (Which I did when he caught up with me later on). For me, defending will loose a lot of time, and has the good chance of allowing the next chap behind to also catch up and challenge. I'm more looking at the bigger picture (Not to say you were not, as you have said, you are there for the battles / fun, and that is certainly not a bad thing!). So yes, at the end of the day, it entirely up to the driver in what he wants to do. There is no "wrong" way to do it, as different ppl are looking for different things from their racing.
Also, I am a guest driver, so feel a little guilty for 'steeling' points off ppl

I can understand the frustration of being the faster driver (not from experience of course...., but I can imagine/dream..), and not being able to use your pace / and perhaps feel that all the time you spent on practice / setup work is being 'wasted', but for whatever reason, if you are behind someone, then you essentially just have to accept it, and do your best to get past safely (Which I'm certainly sure Alex did!).

 

[SteveO916]

I can understand the frustration of being the faster driver (not from experience of course...., but I can imagine/dream..),

says the 2018 AOR Ginetta G40 Tier 1 Champion modestly....

 

[AndrexUK]

says the 2018 AOR Ginetta G40 Tier 1 Champion modestly....

Shhhhhh!

But the reverse grids weren't frustrating, that was just awesome fun!
Easily the most fun racing I've done in pCars! Winning was a huge bonus.

 

[Alex Salmon]

Came out of the pits dead last as expected but after a few laps I was already gaining a few places with @Alex Salmon coming out just behind me. I had fun keeping the much faster guy behind me, pushing me all the time but defending when he was making his moves, you could tell the dirty air was causing some trouble. However on this note, I didn't really appreciate you making disgruntled sounds down the mic because you couldn't get past me and then say "come on let me past I'm quicker than you". It's a race dude, I know you are one of the quickest guys here and I've always rated your ability but this isn't a practice session or qualifying, I'm in my total right to fight the position. In the end Alex got passed after I had to raise the issue with him on the mic leading me to have a lockup.

I can only apologise mate, I was just a bit stressed out at the time. I know its no excuse but at the time I had felt that every little thing in the race was turning against me so I was just working my ass off to move forward.

The way the tyres had been meant that when the temp came up in dirty air it never wanted to go back down so I just wanted to have the clear air to make sure that I could keep the tyres that I put on at the stop for damage. So Im sorry about getting frustrated, It was just wrong place wrong time for me. Im more that happy for fighting a position, I mean I love it when we are racing wheel to wheel but it seems that in these cars in more recent races it means that you're sacrificing the end result If you're out of sequence with the cars around you due to the tyre temp issues and the dirty air.

I want to be clear I have no expectations of anyone to let me through at any point, I just let the red mist get to me when things go pear shaped. However I seem to put my pace up a gear when Im P*ssed off so its kind of helpful at times, but yeah Im sorry for venting it at you @CatchAGlimpse it wasn't my best moment

 

[CatchAGlimpse]

I can only apologise mate, I was just a bit stressed out at the time. I know its no excuse but at the time I had felt that every little thing in the race was turning against me so I was just working my ass off to move forward.

The way the tyres had been meant that when the temp came up in dirty air it never wanted to go back down so I just wanted to have the clear air to make sure that I could keep the tyres that I put on at the stop for damage. So Im sorry about getting frustrated, It was just wrong place wrong time for me. Im more that happy for fighting a position, I mean I love it when we are racing wheel to wheel but it seems that in these cars in more recent races it means that you're sacrificing the end result If you're out of sequence with the cars around you due to the tyre temp issues and the dirty air.

I want to be clear I have no expectations of anyone to let me through at any point, I just let the red mist get to me when things go pear shaped. However I seem to put my pace up a gear when Im P*ssed off so its kind of helpful at times, but yeah Im sorry for venting it at you @CatchAGlimpse it wasn't my best moment

All good mate, thanks for explaining it from your side We all have our moments, I look forward to racing with you in the next round.