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Post by Salvatore Sirignano on Apr 14, 2024 20:30:42 GMT
Didn't have much prep time and went the wrong direction on setup in the AGS, so only just scraped onto the grid in 25th. Had a great start, picking up several places and after about 15 laps was still in front of a Ferrari, McLaren and Footwork in 17th or 18th. Succumbed to them eventually, and when the McLaren had a spin I had to take avoiding action, damaging my car, and it would no longer turn left, and Petr in the Footwork was able to disappear up the road. Having already received two warnings for not making t1/t2, the third time I went into the barrier to avoid ruining the race of the Tyrrell coming up behind.
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Post by Michael Drechsler on Apr 14, 2024 21:17:08 GMT
Now I know why the first thing they do post race is hand you a bottle of water. Wrong gear again, just a T is to cold, a sweater to hot. I'm completely drenched in sweat. 7th again, third time in a row (yeah, I know, I finished in the points at Imola, but just because I handed Luke a kick in the bum in the last lap), but things were a little different, more promising this time. Thanks go to Mike, who gave me a setup earlier this week. Springs and wings didn't really suit my driving style, but it gave me some very valuable pointers regarding geometry, dampers and gearing. I did a lot of testing and slowly got the car in a direction I liked. There were some quirks I never really got completely rid off, like the car being somewhat heavyhanded in the chicanes and understeering in long turns, but else, it was pretty vice free. Also, I cobbled together a pretty neat qualy setup, which was in theory good for a mid 1.18 laptime. If I ever get a clean lap in. My first run was a bit out of my comfort zone, and just made it under 1:20. Second run was ... ah well, bad timing, and then I put my car into the Wall of Champions and way beyond, which handed me a 13 minute break. Time for the traditional pre race pizza and espresso. A third run, and again, bad timing and not the best feeling, got me a few hundreds off. Slight tire pressure adjustments for the last attempt, and all seemed to work out this time, I already had shaved off 6/10ths, until the second hairpin, and lost about 8/10ths there, just thanks to a kamikaze approach in the last chicane, I could improve my time a little. 14th, but the car was enough for a top 10 spot on the grid this time...
I made a slight adjustment to my race setup to ease a bit the sharp edges of the car, which made it even more sluggish through the fast direction changes, but a more benign on acceleration. Which would ultimately work well for me in the race.
My start seemed good, I came well off the line, good reaction time and could close to the car in front of me, but three guys behind me had one hell of a start. Not willing to stupid things on the first turns, I took great care and was down to 17th. I was in a sandwich between Oscar in the March and Alan in the McLaren in the first few laps, Oscar stuffed his car into the most infamous wall, and Alan got the better of me while I tried to find a save way through the turquoise bits, so nothing won. But a few laps later, he spun out in the second hairpin, and I was in 16th. There was a nice package all up to 10th place with both the Lotus, Larrousse, Juha and Jules, with a lot of nice battles. I had a pretty good feeling about the potential of the car, and indeed, I could slowly work myself through. I think, I had a slight contact with Juha into the last hairpin, and some didn't make it all too easy through the Casino chicane. Else, the Williams had oodles of traction, and the run from the hairpin back to the last chicane was clearly my territory. So I quickly dispensed of the whole group, was in 8th position before L30, was quickly making up some time to Cezariusz in the Minardi, and he was involved in a fight with John in the other March. Expectedly, by L33, the handling became a bit sharper, as the rear tires wore down, so I went into the pits. And to my surprise, a 20 second stop. Now that didn't work in my sense. I returned in 11th, was directly lapped by Ray and Anders. I was pretty soon back in 8th, thanks to pit stops, but John didn't make it all to easy for me, that went back and forth for a while, I got a bit of a hit into the second hairpin which damaged my suspension slightly. I could throttle past him after through the Casino chicane and even though the March was much slower on the straights, he pressed hard and was able to regain 7th again braking into the first hairpin right again. Trying to challange him again, I probably asked a bit too much of my tires and had an half spin, and to make things worse, in L52, my wheel came loose. It took me about a lap to reattach it (open a screw while driving, push the whole thing back into position, and fasten the screw again, at about 290 kph ), and through the whole process, my chair slightly shifted position, and it took me a few laps to get used to the new position, which also caused a bit of discomfort in my left leg. But in the end, I could wrestle John down and go after Cezariusz again. I got lapped by Ray and Anders, again, and tangled up in a battle of slower cars, which opened the gap again, but towards the end, I could quickly make up time. In the end, I was 2.7 seconds short of 6th place. Which makes that bad pit stop even more annoying.
That was definitely a great improvement over Interlagos and Imola, and the first time I felt I could be in a challenge for a points position under my own power. And next should be Mexico, which I really like for its layout. Way to go! And congrats to Ray for not prematurely celebrating his victory, but driving it actually home!
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Post by Grant Riddall on Apr 15, 2024 6:47:44 GMT
I finally didn’t have a CTD! Still trying to find the route cause of my random CTD’s and recently deleted AMS entirely and only installed the necessities I’m using.. not entirely sure it’s the cause but promising so far that it didn’t crash last night I’m also not convinced a 650w power supply is sufficient for a 3060rtx TI. Cyber power says it is but Reddit mainly saying it isn’t. That’s my next action if it continues! A lonely race for me. Opted for a 2 stopper which was totally the wrong call but only noticed after my first stop. I admittedly didn’t practice half as much as I normally would. After Monaco it took it out of me motivation wise and didn’t want to commit to the full amount of practice if I couldn’t find the fix for my issue. Ran half the race in 1st but I knew I was net 3rd with my strategy. The end stint I just eased off to bring 3rd home and finally net some points! Well done Dad and Anders. That’s going to be one close battle this year ! Thanks Jason and Alberto for the broadcast!
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Post by Anders Nilsson on Apr 15, 2024 9:42:45 GMT
Well what to say others than Grats to Ray for a splendid drive . I threw everything i had, apart from the kitchen sink at him but he didnt budge ! Only problem is that he keeps on extending the points gap . Grats to Grant + all that fineshed Boys in the booth
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Post by Gabriele Del Piccolo on Apr 15, 2024 12:14:29 GMT
Had a good qualifying in P13. Was very careful at the start, lost two spots in the first lap. Some laps later, Gabriele made a mistake in the last chicane and I was able to pass. That started a battle us which lasted for 20-25 laps. I think he was a bit quicker, but only 2-3 tenths. Not enough to just let him by, teammate or not haha. Unfortunately Gabriele was just a few car lenghts behind me when my engine exploded. I wasn't quick enough to pull over to the left, he wasn't quick enough to avoid me to the right either and off went his front wing. Damn. Hope the team can afford a new engine for Mexico. First 15 laps i had huge problems with gearbox and clutch, too many miss shifts and out of revs, so i let you by when i missed the fast chicane closing lap 2. No reason to try to block you on these difficulties, only tried to be safe on the engine.. When i started to find my pace out i was considerably faster than you (from 0.3s to 1.5s ) but you did everything to block me outrevving a lot the DFR.. That was clear on worn tires you were struggling on pace meanwhile i was improving my lap times.. so you did nothing to avoid the contact when your engine blew up on lap 26, you stayed in the middle of the straight and i had no chance, and no room, to avoid you at 235kph..
At least i brought my car home in a whole piece P11.
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Post by Bruno Chacon on Apr 15, 2024 12:42:39 GMT
My parameter is my fast teammate so, being 9 tenths behind him I think I qualified well. The wise words spoken at the briefing once again had no effect. I made a sensible start, lost two positions until I received a strong hit from the rear at the entrance of the second "S" which threw me against the guardrail, damaging my left rear suspension. I automatically called the pit box to fix the car, but as it was at the beginning of the first lap and I had fallen to last place, I was evaluating the car's behavior throughout the lap. I noticed that the car was still drivable, but it was a little crooked and I decided to keep it the way it was. I started with 185 liters and soft tires for 25 laps at an estimated pace of 1:25. Of course, with the car in the condition it was in, I wouldn't be able to achieve this pace, which was between 1:27 and 1:29. Even so, my race was not monotonous at all, the excellent Robin de Vos was putting enormous pressure on me and I even managed to open up some advantage only to lose everything when I was lapped by the faster cars. This pressure lasted almost the entire race. We stopped together to change tires and continued our dispute until he had an accident on lap 61. I can say that I am satisfied with 13th place and last place among the cars that finished the race, as it was not easy to drive the badly damaged car without making major mistakes and finishing this long and tiring race. Congratulations to Ray for the well-constructed victory, to Anders and Grant who formed the podium. Excellent broadcast by Jason and Alberto. Let's move on to the next one, my goal is to score at least 1 point in this championship.
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Post by Niklas Kirsten on Apr 15, 2024 14:40:50 GMT
Had a good qualifying in P13. Was very careful at the start, lost two spots in the first lap. Some laps later, Gabriele made a mistake in the last chicane and I was able to pass. That started a battle us which lasted for 20-25 laps. I think he was a bit quicker, but only 2-3 tenths. Not enough to just let him by, teammate or not haha. Unfortunately Gabriele was just a few car lenghts behind me when my engine exploded. I wasn't quick enough to pull over to the left, he wasn't quick enough to avoid me to the right either and off went his front wing. Damn. Hope the team can afford a new engine for Mexico. First 15 laps i had huge problems with gearbox and clutch, too many miss shifts and out of revs, so i let you by when i missed the fast chicane closing lap 2. No reason to try to block you on these difficulties, only tried to be safe on the engine.. When i started to find my pace out i was considerably faster than you (from 0.3s to 1.5s ) but you did everything to block me outrevving a lot the DFR.. That was clear on worn tires you were struggling on pace meanwhile i was improving my lap times.. so you did nothing to avoid the contact when your engine blew up on lap 26, you stayed in the middle of the straight and i had no chance, and no room, to avoid you at 235kph..
At least i brought my car home in a whole piece P11.
I understand your frustration but things seemed a bit different from my perspective. The engine let go on upshift. When 5th gear engaged I realized it was dead, from that point it was ~ one second until you hit me. Really don't know what I (or you) should have done in that situation. Also I didn't "block" you. On the one occasion you were in a position to make a pass (turn 1 a few laps before the incident) I gave you plenty of space on the inside, I think.
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Post by Giovanni Centorame on Apr 15, 2024 17:15:27 GMT
For the first time this season i really understand what means having a car fitted with Pirelli tyres. Maybe my HUD was stuck or sending wrong information but i think track was not at 22° as displayed, soft tyres went tremendously hot after few laps and the engine too was at a risk. During practice my pace was very similar to Anders if cold enought but with yesterday conditions i had basically no traction at all and combined with a relatively lack of power made me a sitting duck on the main straight, while the car was at best decent for the other parts.Never able to go below 23.5. It's unfortunate since when cold the car was brilliant and the setup spot on,mediums was the other possibility but i was even slower, i basically had no choice. I let Grant by since i had to stop yet and tyres where dead and i was 4th. The stop was really slow and i found me just ahead of Richard, the ligther car didn't help and again boiling tyres after 3 laps; I hit the second curb a little more happily than usual and smashed against the wall, DNF for me.
Ray Anders and Grant did a superb race, congrats! Thank to Jason and Alberto for the broadcast, haven't found yet the time to watch at.
Wow, nearly two months for the next race, a long time, i hope i could try oval racing for first time of my life maybe
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Post by David Sabre on Apr 15, 2024 17:53:28 GMT
For the first time this season i really understand what means having a car fitted with Pirelli tyres. Maybe my HUD was stuck or sending wrong information but i think track was not at 22° as displayed, soft tyres went tremendously hot after few laps and the engine too was at a risk.
Wow, nearly two months for the next race, a long time, i hope i could try oval racing for first time of my life maybe The track temperature does change during a session. Qualifying started with the track temperature at 22° but it rose to 29° after about 30 minutes, I was checking the temperature during qualifying as I knew that I could have a problem with the front tyres if the track temperature went too high. I did all of my laps in the first 30 minutes due to the rising temperature. Oval racing can be good fun, the Indy500 is a great event here, its best to try and find a helpful teammate if you are unsure about setup or the same type of car as other drives who can then help you with setup.
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Post by Giovanni Centorame on Apr 15, 2024 18:41:52 GMT
For the first time this season i really understand what means having a car fitted with Pirelli tyres. Maybe my HUD was stuck or sending wrong information but i think track was not at 22° as displayed, soft tyres went tremendously hot after few laps and the engine too was at a risk.
Wow, nearly two months for the next race, a long time, i hope i could try oval racing for first time of my life maybe The track temperature does change during a session. Qualifying started with the track temperature at 22° but it rose to 29° after about 30 minutes, I was checking the temperature during qualifying as I knew that I could have a problem with the front tyres if the track temperature went too high. I did all of my laps in the first 30 minutes due to the rising temperature. Oval racing can be good fun, the Indy500 is a great event here, its best to try and find a helpful teammate if you are unsure about setup or the same type of car as other drives who can then help you with setup. Yes ,i know but the hud was still displaying 22 deg even midrace, that's strange. Thanks for the advice David, i'll try to participate if i'm free.
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Post by Ray Riddall on Apr 16, 2024 18:09:07 GMT
Had a really fun evenings racing Sunday, Managed to qualify on pole just ahead of Grants time. My start was abit sluggish allowing David into 2nd place and me into 3rd as Grant made a good start into 1st. Followed David a few laps until his spin at the hairpin and then set my sights on Grant who was around 5 seconds ahead. When Grant pitted early I knew he was on a 2 stopper and this put me into 1st with Anders just behind. I had to really focus and concentrate to keep him behind. I pitted around half way and was surprised by my 12 seconds stop. After this the racing resumed with Anders closely following with Grant leading again until his second and final stop. Once leading again i had to then really push as i knew Anders wasnt far behind. i nearly threw it away when i misjudged braking behind Gabriele and accidentally nudged him, sorry for that. Thankfully bought it home just ahead of Anders and extending the championship lead! Well done to Anders and Grant and thank you to the guys in the booth! See you at Mexico!
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Post by Kayo "Sideways" Michiels on Apr 17, 2024 18:27:45 GMT
Loving the track, tried various wing settings, but it worked best for me with very low wing settings...
Managed to be just fast enough to qualify and started at the rear..
Race started with a lot of messes here and there on lap 1 and just trudged on and hoping to stay clear...
I managed to pass someone on the backstraight because of the higher top speed and a daring move..
But i clearly selected the wrong tyres as they were heating up fast... which caused me to spin a couple of times...
Untill i clipped the kerb at the backstraight and went airborne..
Okay, onward to Mexico.. oh god.. rip tyre temps..
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Post by Michael Drechsler on Apr 17, 2024 20:10:37 GMT
After watching the (once again excellent) broadcast, it was Brian who got the little love bump from me, not Juha. Apologies for that!
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