RD MINI Challenge 2019

[Scott duncan]

Yes indeed it is as our rules explicitly state until when you can report absence. That means not in the last 24 hours. There was an entire week to report it so we can update the starting grids in time. Now a driver was promoted to server 1 in the dying seconds which is far from ideal.

I couldnt report it midweek anyway as i was awaiting conformation from knockhill circuit if my trackday event was going ahead as its been bad weather.

24 hours not enough notice ha! Never mind

 

[Trebormoore84]

A bit of a frustrating race for me in Div 2 but that is racing, I do a lot of bike racing (that's push bikes) in the UK and its the same deal, except you travel for 2-3hrs then can DNF even if you are going really well. At least in a sim you don't get carted off to hospital when you make a mistake!

Race 1.
After qualifying 4th and being comfortable, surprised myself with decent pace, on lap one I came across Colin, completely unintentional, it was probably a mix up between me trying to defend and squeezing you on the outside as the track turns slightly right before the straight braking zone before T4, so I went right (too much) and you held your line, absolutely my fault I need to be more cautious. The nudge was minor though and it was me over compensating that made me loose control. Then slid all the way across the grass and hit someone else in T4. Sorry about that, it was dumb. Genuinely unintended.

After that it was fun chasing back from last to 10th position passing cleanly. But frustrating knowing i had the pace to be at the pointy end.

Race 2
When the light went green my headset stopped working which was funny but very distracting. Lap 1 was ok, trying to be more patient than aggressive. Had a good run on the last corner and then went headlong into the car flying in the air at T1, had no chance. Decided to pull the plug at that point as it took too long to sort the headset out. Probably should have just kept going, but frustration got the better of me.

So could have been worse, but i'll be back next week. Getting confidence in the Mini each time and racing against real people which honestly makes me nervous to try and not make a tit of myself, but obviously need to be a bit more cautious / relaxed in the opening laps to avoid carnage. Only been doing this sim racing lark for a year against AI and only in the last month online so can't be too impatient. All chalked up as good experience. Onwards and upwards.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

@Bram Hengeveld ought to get some points for sacrificing himself to the cause

Nah, ill do my best in server 2 next week and try to be back for the final race.

 

[David Mann]

I actually had a decent couple of races in Div 2, ran mid pack instead of bringing up the rear like usual.

Race 1:
Qualified 13th, then got bumped to 12th when Ed got DQ'd. Passed one or two cars on the opening laps, then just kept clean to pick up a few more places. Got passed a few times and ended up in 8th, by far my best result of the season.

Race 2:
Started 12th, and by the end of lap 1 I got passed seven times and was running in last place. That turned out to be a blessing, because I avoided the pileup in turn 1 on lap 2. I managed to thread the needle through the middle of a cloud of smoke and sideways cars. Got as high as 11th, ended up in 13th.

Overall, I was racing with clean drivers, but there were many accidents throughout both races, especially the second race.

 

[Yetch]

Well in Div. 2 I made a mess of it in the first race. Qualified 3rd, which I was happy with, but gave up a couple places within the first few turns. I had some contact with someone, I believe it was Rob Moore but not sure, between 3 and 4 when I got inside him but he didn't see and came across. Sorry mate, I tried to back out when I realized you didn't know I was there and started to move over, but I couldn't get out of the way in time.

But one that was entirely avoidable was when I got caught looking in my mirrors going into 3 on lap 2 and egregiously punted Paul Martin. Apologies again mate, no excuses for that one. It was even worse in replay because I wasn't really being threatened from behind, I don't know what I was looking at. Too bad because after having watched that replay we had a pretty good battle for the first lap and a half.

Race 2 was a bit of disaster as well, but at least not one of my causing this time! I was trying to just stay out of everyone's way after botching the first race, but as I came into turn 1 on lap 2 someone was sideways directly across the line with cars on either side and I t-boned him and launched into the air. Several other people were caught up in that as well, it was a nasty wreck. I'll attach a screenshot of my view entering turn 1 as it was pretty spooky, and another shot of eventual race winner Ernie Lehmann driving directly underneath the front of my car. My left front suspension was shot after that and I was 3 seconds off the pace, so I just cruised around and took advantage if anyone made a mistake or had to retire for a quiet 14th place I believe.

A super fun weekend but I wish my debut had been cleaner. Hopefully I have less nerves next week. Huge apologies again to Paul Martin, and good racing to everyone else!

Don't worry about it chap, it happens, got punted again later so all in all race one was pants!
Bit better in race 2 but totally cooked my tyres making a run for the front, ended up just trying to reduce the damage on the last couple laps but was powerless to defend first or second. Bit of progress though, on to Oulton Park!
Pleasure as always gents. Lets see which cat gets the cream in sunny Cheshire.

 

[Paul Glover]

I may have the weirdest Race 2 experience for today! P8 after 10 minutes, then the dog decides to choke on a toy as I'm approaching T1. Had to pull over (got a penalty for exceeding track limits!!!!!), clear the restriction in her throat, then set off again in last but one position and never managed to catch the group back up. Looked down after the race to see the dog sat there wagging it's tall as if nothing had happened!

Main thing is that the dog is ok.

 

[Chris Shepherd]

Championship-busting event for me. Anyone with a replay can see what happened in race 1, and due to the puncture i picked up I had to pit. This meant i had no chance of progressing and finished nearly last.

In race 2 i picked up as many points as i could, but the championship is completely over now, especially when you look at how Chris Butcher's race results turned out versus mine.

Special mention for Simon's first pole position... 0.01s!!!

Don't worry, Ross.

I realised I was about to take the lead of the Championship so I decided to blow my engine to make it interesting.

 

[Ross McGregor]

Don't worry, Ross.

I realised I was about to take the lead of the Championship so I decided to blow my engine to make it interesting.

How did you manage that?!

 

[Chris Shepherd]

I was in a great battle with @Davy Vandevenne , finger had a spasm and downshifted me way too early. BANG!

 

[Chris Shepherd]

Special mention for Simon's first pole position... 0.01s!!!

Indeed! Well done, @Pappa_G_27.

 

[M I]

Here is my short report for Div2.
R1 started on pole, managed to get down to 4th place due to inconsistency and mistakes. Anyway, to Michael Klein and Sergio Mengual for consistent and clean racing. It was quite intense, at least for me
R2 started and progressed well. Luckily just managed to get away unscathed from some spins and carnage early in the race. In the end finished 4th as well.
Have to apologize to Ed Sierra. I expected less braking and couldnt stop in time. I bumped into him and we both ended up drifting off the track.
Congrats to Frank Lehmann for clear victories. Great job as well in R2 for surviving the carnage and winning the race

I played a little with replay editor, so here are some pics.

 

[Ernie]

Congrats to Frank Lehmann for clear victories. Great job as well in R2 for surviving the carnage and winning the race

Thanks mate. And great qualifying lap. You deserved the pole.

... and another shot of eventual race winner Ernie Lehmann driving directly underneath the front of my car.

Scary screenshot. It's a wonder that i slipped through all this wreckage with only a small scratch.

Here's a screen from my view. (Full video footage of my race tomorrow)

I definitively had a lot of luck in this situation. And winning the race even with reversed grid was totally unexpected. I'm very happy about the result .... and i'm still dancing.

 

[Ernie]

As promised ..... here's my video from Spielberg.
I really recommend watching Race 2 and my way from last to first position.

You find some highlights as timestamps in the video description.

cheers
Ernie

 

[Luka Berk]

I apologize for not showing up on yesterdays race, our internet provider seem to have a complete meltdown as we have no WiFi nor mobile data. Hell, had to go to my grandparents place to get internet access. Again sorry.

 

[BP]

Have to apologize to Ed Sierra. I expected less braking and couldnt stop in time. I bumped into him and we both ended up drifting off the track.

Hey, it's me!

Barely avoided that spin between the two of you...heart stopped for a second there. Great races in Div 2, wish I had time last week to practice but it was lots of fun, mistakes and all.

 

[Murat Erdogdu]

I watched the replay Frank, great one, grats and thank you for sharing. I wonder what was your rear wing value? I don't know whether it is the reason or not by the way but there is a really big difference between our rpm values and gears. For example after the first turn till the second turn, you are increasing to 5th gear all the time. I couldn't increase from 4th to 5th except for drafting sometimes. My car was decreasing rpm while approaching the second turn. I see that it is not about the exit speed of 1st turn since mine was very similar with yours. Your car behaves like it has extra boost

 

[Ernie]

I watched the replay Frank, great one, grats and thank you for sharing. I wonder what was your rear wing value? I don't know whether it is the reason or not by the way but there is a really big difference between our rpm values and gears. For example after the first turn till the second turn, you are increasing to 5th gear all the time. I couldn't increase from 4th to 5th except for drafting sometimes.

Definitively no extra boost. I was driving with rearwing 1. I think the formula is to drive smoothly and carrying as much speed as possible through the turns. Brake early and not too late to keep the momentum. And in specific braking zones i kept a little bit of throttle to stabilize the Mini. That's it.

 

[Chris Butcher]

Championship-busting event for me. Anyone with a replay can see what happened in race 1, and due to the puncture i picked up I had to pit. This meant i had no chance of progressing and finished nearly last.

In race 2 i picked up as many points as i could, but the championship is completely over now, especially when you look at how Chris Butcher's race results turned out versus mine.

Special mention for Simon's first pole position... 0.01s!!!

Really sorry about that Ross. I was caught out by your braking into T3. Felt pretty sheepish about that one. I did my best to wait for you, but you had a puncture so it was a moot point.

It's a real shame, I was looking forward to a good battle but there's only me to blame there really. Anyone that knows me knows that isn't the way I race, so I can only hope that any potential penalty that is levied ends up redressing the standings as best as possible.

 

[Daniel Monteiro]

Great to watch the races with commentary on top, really adds another dimension to it, especially considering the amount of action on both races this time out! And @Matt Le Gallez what a move on race two, that's the proper fighting spirit right there

 

[Franklin Stegink]

I want to make excuses at race two in division 2.

I totally misbrake at turn 1 and i hit a couple of drivers.
Totally my mistake and a shame for myself.