France NA Div 2

Steve · Post by **Steve** » 08 Aug 2005, 03:52

Welllllllllll, Bilbo wins again, lol, XZ 2nd, me a distant 3rd < had to nurse my Jag the last 9 laps, as i basically had NO brakes> Sorry to the new guys as they suffered DNF's in their 1st race, but they were fast !! i'm sure they'll be battling up front in Great Britain !

Bilbo · Post by **Bilbo** » 08 Aug 2005, 03:57

NA Div2 results
------------------

Qualifications:

1-SteveB 1:18.504
2-Juan Garcia 1:18.587
3-Xzwins 1:18.908
4-Bilbo 1:20.097
5-Qc-Mike 1:31.365
6-Titoff 1:32.724
7-Steve DNQ

Race:
1-Bilbo 1:36:55.426 Race best lap: 1:17.419
2-Xzwins +1 lap
3-Steve +2 laps
4-Qc-Mike DNF (lap 37)
5-Juan Garcia DNF (lap 12)
6-SteveB DNF (lap 7)
7-Titoff DNF (lap 5)

Bilbo · Post by **Bilbo** » 08 Aug 2005, 04:18

Well, after scr3wing my qualifcation (hit the wrong side of the wall in the very last turn) which should have been so easy to get 1st due to mistakes by others, I had a mostly uneventful race.

I started 4th but got 3rd at T1 either because Xz started too late or I was faster due to being lighter because of my usual 3 pitstops strategy vs 2 for most of the others (at least among those who survived up to their pitstop!). SteveB and Juan Garcia seemed to be quite fast in front of me but before the end of the first lap, JG was on trackside and a lap later, SteveB did the same, handing me what would end up being an easy victory.

I managed not to make any big mistakes (except for losing a wing and slightly hurting the suspension just before my last pitstop) but it was hard to keep my concentration, especially after I had lapped Xz then I could not even entertain myself by looking at the time interval...

Thanks to all who gave way when I got behind them, I know it's not the easiest track to let someone pass. Congrats to Xz and Steve for their finish!

Steve · Post by **Steve** » 08 Aug 2005, 04:22

I had a pretty nice battle with Mike for several laps, and luckily got by at the Hairpin, then set off to TRY to catch XZ , seems like we were both doing pretty similar times, although i was catching him at certain points, closest i got was within 2 secs

and we pitted at the same time both times, lol, then near the end < lap 62, still had XZ within reach, hoping he might make a little mistake, and once again, my brakes failed me, sheesh !! lol>, but i was able to nurse my Jag to the finish in a distant 3rd place

Bilbo · Post by **Bilbo** » 08 Aug 2005, 04:30

I had my brake pressure set to 80% and I was never worried about my brakes... Still had over 1cm left at the end.

Steve · Post by **Steve** » 08 Aug 2005, 04:55

hm, i was at 95% gonna have to rethink my brake settings, lol

Bilbo · Post by **Bilbo** » 08 Aug 2005, 04:59

Juan Garcia: You used the BAR car for tonight's race, which is fine given the very little forewarning you/we had before the race.

However, the BAR car is already driven by Koma (not there tonight) so you will have to switch teams or ask Koma for a trade. At the moment, the BMW (Williams), Toyota and Arrows cars all belong to inactive Div2 drivers and should be considered as available.

Since I need you to have a team to enter your race results in the database, I will assign you to the BMW team, but it can easily be changed if you want. You just have to tell me your choice and I will make the adjustments. I believe Flow will also like a relatively quick answer/confirmation to that question so he adds you to the website only once (it's more work for him than for me!).

XZWINS · Post by **XZWINS** » 08 Aug 2005, 14:52

Happy to finish second, anyway when bilbo is there .... it's the only place we can get!!!

sorry bilbo if i do not challenging you enough lol

For my race i saw that the two new guys are quick!

I had to figth with the ferrari Steve B. and i battle again with my old pawl steve, like every race (exept for monaco)! until he had brake failure i was scare of him because he was catching up, most of the time.

so that was my race !!!
see u at silverstone in two weeks!!!

Bilbo · Post by **Bilbo** » 08 Aug 2005, 17:17

LOL Xz, np. It's my problem, I'm still not used to driving at the front after all the time I spent running as a back marker...

I'm still watching my mirrors expecting Erick/MrSector and the others to lap me at any moment! It's like a conditionned reflex or something like that or maybe it's a past traumatism...

SteveB · Post by **SteveB** » 08 Aug 2005, 22:26

Well......

I was so excited for my first NAR race, maybe a little too excited...lol

My qualifying lap wasn't the greatest I have done, my foot was shaking so much I thought I was on the throttle but I wasn't...lmao so my exit speeds were very slow.
I thought for sure it wouldn't stick but it did and I was very happy.

The start of the race I saw Juan beside me on my left but I held the line strong in first turn and got it right into turn 2.

On the 2nd lap exiting the second hairpin I got onto the throttle too hard and had a little spin that's when BILBO and XZ passed me.
I was able to catch XZ again only to have another small spin...LOL

I again reeled in XZ and was going for the pass at the first hairpin and again getting on the throttle too hard and spun again when I got the car to stop sliding on the grass I could only think not to let XZ get too far ahead of me and popped it into 1st gear too soon and stalled the engine.
I was letting the car roll backwards hoping to bum start it but got up against the wall and that was it...

CONGRATS to BILBO,XZ and STEVE.

You guys drove an excellant race.
I hope at Silverstone we will have a better race with some great battles.

CHEERS

Steve B