rF2 F1 @ Sepang - Malaysia - Sunday 5th April 2009

Mark Birney · Apr 5, 2009

I was behind James, there was debris everywhere, all over the track. Where was the safety car? It doesn't seem to work in Race07 or rF... Anywhoo...

Practice:
Done surprisingly well in the slower Spyker, was only around a second or so off the top time.

Qualifying - 7th:
Did Ok, but the likes of Roman, Daniel and James (x2) were on the bubble in the BMWs, Ferraris, McLarens and a Honda... They were pretty close.

Race - 5th:
Good start, jumped 2 cars, race wen Ok, no real probelems, lost it and went onto the grass, but no damage done. First pit stop was fine, but I realised after leaving the pitlane that I might not have eneough fuel... I didn't. I was running 3rd at the time, Behind Roman and Daniel (I think), and I had to push to keep the place after the stop, but spun onto the grass and the gap wasn't enough. I pitted, fuelled and lost 2 places. A bit bummed, but I was gaining on Nigel (I think... Again) but on the same lap, I was lapped by 1 and 2, and at the end of the laps, the race was over. I had a great race, no problems or gripes to report, very clean and professional driving from all, and the launch control usage was flawless from my point of view. I was very surprised to be in the position I was in a Spyker, and now Sutil has some more points! It's a great little champ we've got going, no one person is champion. It's a group effort

Thanks for organising, great race, I'll see you in China

Helge Dahl · Apr 6, 2009

I qualified 6th which i was very pleased with. Did not get a great start and lost 2 positions before T1. Was causius to stay out of trouble. Clean race until i caught a car standing sideways in T6 i think. Heard a bump and lost front downforce. Decided to pit and try to fix it which i did. But forgot to fuel up for the rest of the race

. Had to pit a second time on lap 19. Finnished 8th which is satisfying. Pleased to have completed the 30 laps though

Great race all. See u in China. What a GREAT club to race in! Thnx to everyone involved in making this happen

Ramon van Rijn · Apr 6, 2009

rFactor does in fact has a safety car. But its not always working very well. So we run without it most of the time.

Now I understand what happened with James. He had a 8 seconds lead and suddenly I saw smoke and he was gone. Never saw him crashing, but now I understand he was disconnected.

Qualify was 0.1 better then expected, so very pleased to be on the second row in the Honda. Ross might be pleased with the drivers performance

Start was good, but some other cars just have better acceleration and I saw Lewis coming in the inside. Small touche but nothing special. Exiting the slow corners he was hitting the acceleration too early or quickly and spun. I was in 3rd again.
Then the front guys made mistakes one after each other and I was in the lead until I was caught by surprise by James. Could not believe his pace at that moment.
After the pass I saw Kyle with his blown engine and was not concentrating. Spun the car and lost a place back to James.
Daniel was also closing in but I could stay in front with about 0.3-1 sec gap.

James and Daniel did their pitstops a bit earlier then I. I could do some flying laps and then suddenly I lost concentration again and almost spin in the fast left/right hander. Nearly got control back but lost about 2 seconds.
Then one lap later my pitstop, everything went well and I was just in front of Daniel again. Mission accomplished.

It was a fast and stunning run to the end where Daniel was 0.3-1.7 seconds away all the time.
In the second to last lap he finally found his Kers button and I was surprised how fast he was going on that lap. Still could hold the inside of T1 and controlled the lap without too much mistakes.
I was lucky to lap Nigel on a safe part of the track where Daniel was just stuck for about 0.2-0.4 seconds.

Finished 1st

:bang:
My fastest lap in the race was 1.34.0x; qualify 1.34.4x.
For the statistics; my fastest lap in the Honda was 1.33.1x
Fastest lap I did with this mod was 1.32.2x in the Ferrari.

Thanks for the racing, it was a blast, as always.
See you next time in happy China.

PS. Feedback on the race duration; Is 30 laps enough or do you want to extend? 35/40/50/full?

Daniel Plaikner · Apr 6, 2009

Qualy:
Second Pole :bang:

Race:
Start was good and defendet P1. Then the next laps I tryed to keep it on track stabel and find a good pace. But then Ramon and James Yates was doing fastest laps and came closer so I tryed to push a bit more then and that try ended in gravel :shock: :silly: P4 after that.
Its hard to keep it on track when you start pushing hard these Beast

oke:
Then after James Yates crash I was on P3 behind Ramon. Tryed to stay close behind him, but we was driving the same pace so difficult to overtake :mad-tongue: tryed to come closer and to push but nearly lost the car again! :silly: Then my pitstop in lap 15. Was good, but Ramon doing 3 laps more. Same situation after his stop, still that 1sec behind him. James Johnson in the lead 7sec in advance not to catch :shock:
Then suddenly I was second :shock: James with problems...
Ramon then with the fastest lap pulling away 1,5secs :woot2:
The last laps then I started pushing more and came closer. Last 2 laps was very dangerouse LOL. Pused like hell:bang: Tryed to overtake... was in the slippstream the start finish line going in the last lap and Ramon defending to the right side. We was side by side but no way to come past. He on the inside line. Next courner He was to far away... Then I missed the brakepoint and was going wide...
Second place in the end :clap: happy to be in finish :fingers-crossed:

Grats Ramon, great race :beer:. thx RD and all finishers :clap:

here the stats:
-->klicke me<--

James Johnson · Apr 6, 2009

Hate Sundays for Racing tbh since it is busy day on internet and you can easily get disconnected i was all good up till race so

i was in really good position so even more

. Sry James Yates really didnt mean to end your night but really weird what happened.

James Yates · Apr 6, 2009

James Johnson said:
Hate Sundays for Racing tbh since it is busy day on internet and you can easily get disconnected i was all good up till race so i was in really good position so even more . Sry James Yates really didnt mean to end your night but really weird what happened.

Wasn't your fault really - i ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Hansi Josefsson · Apr 6, 2009

Finally a race I finished. I'm quite happy with that p7 as I climbed from q11. But most memorable thing in this race would be my rookie mistake in not checking out the pit entrance before the race.. - Silly me was cruising around:fwd2: on lawns and asphalt strings next to the track in my search for the pits. Twice.

I even went wrong way in my urge to find it.:th_blush:

I might as well admit it like this before I get called up to the race control or something and get caught lying about it

Congrats podium and thanks Ramon and RD!

Edit: Ramon, I'm fine with 30 laps. It's about an hour race and for the racing club that's not too many or too few.

Helge Dahl · Apr 6, 2009

30 laps suits me well. It is 9PM ( during daylight savings ) here in Oslo at the time the event starts, and a 2 hour event is perfect. Just my opinion. But I would race 50 laps if the majority votes for that

Ben Tusting · Apr 6, 2009

30 laps is fine for me Ramon

Mark Birney · Apr 6, 2009

I would personally like about 40, brings strategies into play, but 30 is a good amount too.

Ivor Topley · Apr 6, 2009

Gr8 race I had last night!! Managed to make a few places from starting in 10th and then capitalized on others mistakes to eventually battle with Mark Birney for 3rd!!? My pitstop took about 13 seconds longer than expected and I thought my battle with Mark was over, until he pitted!

Best finish for me in any form of open wheel racing so far!!
I have to agree this is a gr8 bunch of guys to race with. Also the 30 lap distance works out fine for me.

Keith Peppiatt · Apr 6, 2009

30 laps is great although I think a full distance should be planned for the final round and a 40 lapper for the mid point. Obviously this would need to start a bit earlier though.

Lewis Fergusson · Apr 6, 2009

I think we should add the Safety Car. Obviously we need to test it first to make sure it functions properly but otherwise it shouldn't be a problem.

James Johnson · Apr 6, 2009

i was looking over my laptimes after pits my gosh all of them except outlap was a 1.34 ;o

David Thompson · Apr 6, 2009

Dad V's Toenail ( Dad Victory Eventually )

I must apologise for my rather lame withdrawal last night. I had a domestic situation that required my full attention. A toenail, a teenager and a squeamish wife undone all my race plans. It was not a pretty sight and I had to tread carefully, as wife does not understand sim racing and the way it is habit forming. So whilst I wanted a swift resolution she was not prepared to inflict any physical pain so the removal of the offending toenail, meant a long soak to loosen the skin. Which equated to me missing the race.

I hope it was a good one, my preparation for the next one will now include a minor injuries check on Sunday morning to ensure that this will not happen again.

Mark Birney · Apr 7, 2009

Lock your son in a padded cell and encase him in a bubble. That should do it

Kyle Evers · Apr 7, 2009

I'm still p****d about how I got stuck on that curb. I could have coasted into 7th or higher had I not downshifted too much into the turn

Keith Peppiatt · Apr 7, 2009

Kyle Evers said:
I'm still p****d about how I got stuck on that curb. I could have coasted into 7th or higher had I not downshifted too much into the turn

Hey Kyle. we were having a good scrap prior to that. i know its a real pain to spin out and get stuck like that but don't dwel on it, it'll only drag you down. put it down as a lesson learnt and get cracking on practice for next circuit. important thing here to remember this is a fun league where we are scoring points for the real driver rather than ourselves. one thing is for sure, your reactions at the light got you a great start and we'll all have to keep an eye on you in future!

Kyle Evers · Apr 8, 2009

Keith Peppiatt said:
Hey Kyle. we were having a good scrap prior to that. i know its a real pain to spin out and get stuck like that but don't dwel on it, it'll only drag you down. put it down as a lesson learnt and get cracking on practice for next circuit. important thing here to remember this is a fun league where we are scoring points for the real driver rather than ourselves. one thing is for sure, your reactions at the light got you a great start and we'll all have to keep an eye on you in future!

What do you mean at the light?

And yeah I guess you're right. It's just that I put so much time into that circuit, and still was only running 1'36s. Then I managed to mess it up come race time. Oh well, live and learn.