AC Ferrari 250GTO/TVR Griffith 200@Sebring, Tue 27th September 2022

[32chainshard]

One of my favorite cars now
So fun to drive

 

[Shed 17]

Happy to be of assistance Ernie,I haven’t seen the replay yet, but I saw a gap up the inside going into T1 only to find a blue TVR nose on my line when I got there!
What followed was one of my most intense races with Ernie bearing down on me lap after lap. I had a bit of a moment in Tower turn and Ernie got by but then he pitted. I decided to follow him in for a splash and dash and came out in front.
With 20 minutes to go I now had a 13 second lead but knew Ernie would close that down. On the last lap I had another wobble at Gendelbien and that allowed Ernie a shot going into he last turn. Then a drag race to the line and a very very close finish but I managed to hang on for 4th.
The Fat Alfie tracks will be a different story but I really enjoyed this race, thanks to Han for organising, to Ernie for making me sweat, and well done all who managed to hang onto these beasties.

 

[Alfred Wayne]

That was a lot of fun. A lot of work, but it was fun

Found myself spinning out on cold tires into T1 , but in the end that took the pressure off of "when i might go off" having gotten it over with right away

Settled in after that. Wasn't the fastest, but managed to keep most my laps within a couple seconds of each other. Tried to mask my pit stop till the last moment, but Steve behind me caught on and joined me in the pits. Forgot these weren't modern cars and overshot my pit and had to go into reverse . Ended up coming out the pits with less than a second gap to Steve, who then overtook me pretty much right away in the esses (good passes each time you did ). Stuck close to him for the last 30 min. Couldn't quite close the gap till unfortunately for him, he ran out of gas on the last lap. Had I known you've lived in NJ I might have given you a push home

Really looking forward to the championship now. Thanks for hosting Han, congrats to the podiums and the survivors finishers. Good racing once again see you all next race

 

[Programmer_Rich]

Sorry Richard for lap 1 bump, it was my incompetence driving and braking this car, locked up front tires.
Did only have half an hour practice and was struggling with this car. Could do a 2.31 after a while but it was more of a fight driving this car. Of course it needs a lot of practice.

Thanks for the apology Thomas, they were both a challenge even with a decent amount of practice so definitely in at the deep end for you!

 

[HF2000]

Mixed feelings for me about this race. I had a super lap in qualify which brought me 2nd on the grid. I totally messed up my start (learning point (again): practice the start) and on top of that I was forced to go on the grass in T1. Result 9th after T3. I then already knew that the podium would be impossible. So quite angry on myself I started to try to overtake the cars in front of me. That was difficult because I had apparently different racelines and brakepoints. In my battle with Richard (GTO) that resulted in me hitting him twice causing him to spin (sorry for that Richard). The second time he had trouble coming back on track and while I waited a lot of cars came by and after I repositioned behind Richard I was 12th. When the cars in front did their pitstop I was in free air and I could get up to my pace in the 30's resulting in the end in 6th place.

I love the TVR for it's agility but it's not very forgiven. Looking forward to drive it on Fat-Alfies tracks.

Congrats to the podium, especially Virigilio with the win in his first race with us. Do we have a new Brazilian alien here?

Thanks all for joining. For next week I'm considering Group C on Spa or a mystery event with unknown car/track.

 

[gearwhine]

Well that was a lot of fun. I think everyone enjoyed last night whatever the result and again i want to thank Han for putting it all together. Smug me thought he had the correct plan by stopping half way through for new tyres and half the fuel load thinking the road grip would start sub prime and the lighter car would give an advantage at the beginning. As usual, i was wrong and wasted half a minute in the pits. Luckily, i was not the only one as i came in behind Robert who i had the company of for the entire race. We had a great battle and his Ferrari appeared to be even harder to handle than my TVR but i had to pull everything out of the bag to get past him just to find a few laps later i would make a mistake, he would pass me i and have to start my attacks all over again. Thanks Robert for a great race . It all goes south for me on the final lap on the last straight when i ran out of fuel. As Tony Soprano from NJ would say, "what ya gonna do" right Robert?

 

[cerebralvortex]

Well, great fun driving this car. I always struggled a bit with the Ferrari 250 GTO so this championship is an opportunity to learn how to drive it.

I was on a good qualifying lap to get a 2'29.7 but Matija collided with me in the last corner.. that got me a bit upset as that would have been my best lap so far.. So Matija, I saw you going off earlier in the lap, pls don't fight for position in qualifying when you are not on a fast lap please. And watch out for unsafe returns to the track too.

Race start was good, gained a position after Han got sideways on the line and completely pulled to the right. After that the pace of the TVR of Allan and Virgilio was much too quick. Lonely race for me, haven't seen anyone except for Matija a few times. When I came out of the pits my fuel app said I was 2.0 liter short to get to the line. I had about a 16 second gap to Paul behind so I cruised to P3 which was quite satisfying in the end. P3 is the best I could have done without mistakes in front so I'll take it. It was a bit of a rough track for the Ferrari, let's hope the Fat Alfie tracks suit it better.

 

[HF2000]

It was a bit of a rough track for the Ferrari, let's hope the Fat Alfie tracks suit it better.

Well that is my expectation (and hope) because between some challenging corners there are far more tracksectors with straightlike high speed corners which should be in favor of the GTO.

 

[JamKart22]

I followed Han's setup advice but was still a few secs off the pace. I'm not sure I had the gearing correct as I was taking a lot of corners in first. Could someone give me a clue on the correct gearing?

Looking at other inboards people seemed to be taking most corners a gear higher than me. I.suspect it was really killing my time.

Given the long season ahead with the TVR I'd like to be a bit more competitive!

 

[Medilloni]

Ferrari GTO motivation; Damon Hill has some understeer oversteer understeer oversteer fun

https://www.facebook.com/rarespares/posts/10160194549899420

 

[HF2000]

Could someone give me a clue on the correct gearing?

I didn't use first gear except with the start. The car was very nervous on the throttle so I used quite low revs like short shifting in Collier Curve to avoid oversteer.
I used the gear setting with top speed 250 in 4th.

 

[HF2000]

Ferrari GTO motivation; Damon Hill has some understeer oversteer understeer oversteer fun

https://www.facebook.com/rarespares/posts/10160194549899420

It looks like the GTO characteristics in AC are quite realistic!

 

[32chainshard]

Well, great fun driving this car. I always struggled a bit with the Ferrari 250 GTO so this championship is an opportunity to learn how to drive it.

I was on a good qualifying lap to get a 2'29.7 but Matija collided with me in the last corner.. that got me a bit upset as that would have been my best lap so far.. So Matija, I saw you going off earlier in the lap, pls don't fight for position in qualifying when you are not on a fast lap please. And watch out for unsafe returns to the track too.

Race start was good, gained a position after Han got sideways on the line and completely pulled to the right. After that the pace of the TVR of Allan and Virgilio was much too quick. Lonely race for me, haven't seen anyone except for Matija a few times. When I came out of the pits my fuel app said I was 2.0 liter short to get to the line. I had about a 16 second gap to Paul behind so I cruised to P3 which was quite satisfying in the end. P3 is the best I could have done without mistakes in front so I'll take it. It was a bit of a rough track for the Ferrari, let's hope the Fat Alfie tracks suit it better.

You sure you are not overreacting? And can i also add that my favorite movie is vanishing point? So if you are upset i am sorry to hear that but i am not.

 

[gearwhine]

I followed Han's setup advice but was still a few secs off the pace. I'm not sure I had the gearing correct as I was taking a lot of corners in first. Could someone give me a clue on the correct gearing?

Looking at other inboards people seemed to be taking most corners a gear higher than me. I.suspect it was really killing my time.

Given the long season ahead with the TVR I'd like to be a bit more competitive!

Hi Colin, i had my gearing at 144 mph in 4th and i did not quite rev out on the long straight but i also had 1st gear tall at around 65 mph and used it on the two tight turns because it helped me turn in better. As Han said, short changed at times but i was geared tall and close apart from 4th which i saw no point in over gearing. Quite happy with the spread and will probably just change overall ratio in the championship.

 

[gearwhine]

Hi Colin, i had my gearing at 144 mph in 4th and i did not quite rev out on the long straight but i also had 1st gear tall at around 65 mph and used it on the two tight turns because it helped me turn in better. As Han said, short changed at times but i was geared tall and close apart from 4th which i saw no point in over gearing. Quite happy with the spread and will probably just change overall ratio in the championship.

Oh, and added 5% over rev because the damage was set low. My strategy was crap but i was happy with the car

 

[JamKart22]

I followed Han's setup advice but was still a few secs off the pace. I'm not sure I had the gearing correct as I was taking a lot of corners in first. Could someone give me a clue on the correct gearing?

Looking at other inboards people seemed to be taking most corners a gear higher than me. I.suspect it was really killing my time.

Given the long season ahead with the TVR I'd like to be a bit more competitive!

I've done a bit more practice using higher gears in every corner and knocked nearly two secs off my lap time. So a useful lesson learnt.

I'm sure a bit more practice would yield a bit more time but I'll save that for the championship. Missing the first race unfortunately.

 

[HF2000]

Next week event: https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/group-c-cars-spa-tue-4th-october-2022.249797/