Jerez Post Race

[blackcat77]

d**ned computer locked up again. It's getting to the point where this is the rule and not the exception and it's making it very difficult to maintain any enthusiasm about racing.

Edit to add that I just went to the EVGA forum and they suggested Driver Sweep, fresh install of drivers and use a program to manually set the fan to 100% when doing 3d stuff. Done. We'll see if this works.

Now that I've quit cussing, I'll say that -- while it lasted -- I had a lot of fun tonight. The Mazda Courage is just a joy to drive compared to the Zytek which is powerful but feels like a truck. I was in 4th place which is as well as I had any right to expect and running hi-35s and lo-36s every lap, which ain't bad. Congrats to the winners -- Sandy and Gary were ahead in classes when I departed this virtual coil -- and great racing everybody.

[greds04]

Well I was surprised with how well the little Mazda did at this track as the test run early in the season showed different results, but the car was putting down some impressive times.

I placed 6th on the grid, and had a kind of bad start off the line and then almost got caught up in the turmoil of turn one, and was half on half off the track so I couldn't get to the gas, so Greg and James made it past, and all I could do was keep them in sight, and wait. My patience paid off, Greg had a spill off the track, and then James had some kind of off, not that it would stop him from hounding me.

At my stop I grabbed a bunch of new hard compound tires for the rear and some fuel, then shot out of the pits while James looked like he just grabbed fuel, and caught me off guard with his leaving the pits message being almost right behind me.

I managed to pull a gap out and just remain comfortable for the remainder of the race while my fronts went yellow, I had to drive casual and get the occasional 37's average 38 lap times, to finish 4th overall, I had no idea what happened to one of the original top four during the race but I guess Paul's problems forcing him to drop out explain it.

It is a surprisingly tough track that easily catches you out, congrats to everyone for a good race, looked pretty action packed from my perspective.

[JABowders]

Red Weasel Racing Reports

Race Line: Jerez

The weasels had it a bit rough getting ready for the race, both drivers suffered from the racer’s ailment “…where the crap am I?” while out on track. Took a little bit to get the grove and fall into a rhythm. But once we shook off the cobwebs we started to put down some quick laps.

Had a relatively good start, then with some of the front runners having some problems allowed the Weasels to gain a handful of spots and we were running well, then like always “It” happens, you know you do something stupid…like I went a tad bit wide in the fast right-hander and got a left rear on the curb that put the car out of shape and caused me to smoke the second half of the turn as I bounced through the gravel trap and into the wall removing my rear wing, breaking my right rear wheel and tire, body damage and a possible overheating issue that may or may not toast my engine.

And of course this all happened after my relatively fast pit stop where I simply gathered up a new set of shoes and the pit crew slapped a little tape on the car to hold a few loose panels down. Allowing me to get out of the pits right behind Gary, I might be going down but not without a fight.

Miss Susan had her fair share of OTEs, but with the latter part of the race she settled in and drove cleaner laps and scored a Personal Best seconds faster than her Q attempts. With only ten minutes to go I knew if I was going to have a chance to catch Gary I was going to have to focus and drive like the wind, and I got up on the wheel and drove the Porsche Spyder for all it had, I chased down Miss Susan as Tom brought his P1 into view and as he timed his passes he was able to get past me then the Weasel Wench around my lap 22 or so. I flew past Miss Susan and was watching the time between cars, I saw that Tom was getting closer to me and as I caught back up to his P1 the pressure was on and as he spun his wheels exiting a low speed turn it gave me the advantage I needed to weasel past and start to stretch my legs I was cutting into the gap that separated Gary and I but would it be enough, I kept my head down and drove.

Knocking 3 and 4 seconds off with each lap it was going to be everything I had to even get close. The 00:00 time flashed as I rocketed past the Start/Finish line and with one full lap to go it was now or never and I pushed the poor abused Porsche to the limit, only a handful of laps ago it had stopped over heating, a symptom of the long slow drive back to the pits without my famous Weasel Tail.

But as the last few seconds past Gary was safe across the Line and all I could do is finish in style and let him know he drove a great race and would end as another great race with loads of thrills and spills.

Thanks to our gang of misfits some of the best racing available, another great season goes down in the history pages of PORRS.
No time to rest, time to focus on the next race, the next season and the next batch of cars.

James
Head Weasel

[Greg 'GP' Haley]

OTE's ;D

yep--3laps of zero grip, curb/wall smashing mayhem did me in. hats off to gary and paul for figuring out the mazdarati, i was out to lunch for too long. it was like i had to smash up the car to get grip; all was bliss after i had all 4 corners in the yellow. had fun trying to regain positions from the back--saw some great racing at a difficult track.

i'm bringing an extra rotor for la sarthe--ha ha

cheers,
greg