AC Mazda MX5@Brands Hatch, Wednesday 6th April 2022

[thom462]

Didn't think to have that pace as I don't do the Mazda that often and the competition was so big with the great full grid. So I am happy with the podium. Had a good start and after that had a lonely race but it was very sweaty having pressure from Tim the whole race as he was doing same laptimes, so there was no rest and place for error. Glad I kept it flawless and constant to bring it home. Enzo and Chris were too quick so I didnt want to risk too much and make an error pushing too hard.
Thx Han for organizing and cu next time.

 

[Hazzatron19]

Qualified P9 which I was happy with given the pace of the field. It was all really tight but I threw away a time that would have put me top 5-6.

Got a decent start and was running P10, I think. Made a move to get back to P9 but had to back out and someone hit me from behind, putting me back to 19th. I didn't save the replay to review but I think it was a racing incident.

Set off to make up some places as I had the pace. Caught up with Taj and had a couple of laps trying to get past. We had a touch and I waited but got past later.

Had a really good battle with Paul mid race, I had the pace but he was racing good lines and it took me a while.

Ended up in a three way battle at the end with Harry and Allan. Harry, it was me you bumped into on the last corner, probably I braked earlier than you expected. No problem as you waited. Allan let me by on the very last corner as he was caught up in the incident but I don't think he needed to.

P13 and I really need to get a copy of the replay to watch my race and the other battles.

Well done everyone and thanks to Han, as always.

Sorry man unfortunately you weren’t the only victim of my small taps doesn't take alot to in settle the mx5 rear ends. Sorry again we had a nice fight though. As I said before I need to get alot better at judging peoples speed as our shunt was very avoidable on my end

 

[Douglas Aird]

Sorry man unfortunately you weren’t the only victim of my small taps doesn't take alot to in settle the mx5 rear ends. Sorry again we had a nice fight though. As I said before I need to get alot better at judging peoples speed as our shunt was very avoidable on my end

No problem, Harry, I have done that myself before. It's all part of the learning process. I try to brake at least a car length early in anticipation of the driver in front slowing.

It's a fine line, though, as you want to keep your pace up and look for an overtake.

 

[Enzo Fazzi]

Was an awesome race with Chris! Albeit not with a lot of actual fighting, it's still nice to be pushed to the limit. It's been a while for me and that was most noticeable by my amount of mistakes and when I was behind Chris and wanted to catch up. We were already at the limit and I ended up going slower when I was pushing, because I simply couldn't take more speed through a corner and ended up running wide or having to lift.

Like Chris already said on Discord, it came down to who made the most/worst mistakes and that ended up being me.

P13 and I really need to get a copy of the replay to watch my race and the other battles.

Here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16GyTxkM_KVQpnVV_WqtVdLJonPGwaVXS/view?usp=sharing
Was a bit of a weird situation with you in qualifying though. You let Chris through (I was 2 seconds behind) but then started your lap with me something like 6 tenths behind you. No hard feelings, but just thought it was odd. Felt a little screwed over at the time. Didn't matter though, I still had time to put in a pole lap but couldn't quite manage it.

 

[Douglas Aird]

Was an awesome race with Chris! Albeit not with a lot of actual fighting, it's still nice to be pushed to the limit. It's been a while for me and that was most noticeable by my amount of mistakes and when I was behind Chris and wanted to catch up. We were already at the limit and I ended up going slower when I was pushing, because I simply couldn't take more speed through a corner and ended up running wide or having to lift.

Like Chris already said on Discord, it came down to who made the most/worst mistakes and that ended up being me.


Here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16GyTxkM_KVQpnVV_WqtVdLJonPGwaVXS/view?usp=sharing
Was a bit of a weird situation with you in qualifying though. You let Chris through (I was 2 seconds behind) but then started your lap with me something like 6 tenths behind you. No hard feelings, but just thought it was odd. Felt a little screwed over at the time. Didn't matter though, I still had time to put in a pole lap but couldn't quite manage it.

Thanks for the replay.

Sorry I disadvantaged you in qualifying I don't remember what happened there, to be honest. I must have been too focused on my own time to realise you were so close, otherwise I would have definitely let you through too.

 

[maxilogan]

View attachment 554990

I hope you do not mind poking my nose in, I am of the opinion that being 100% reliable in a race is Sooo important, coming off too much can be so depressing, speed will come, and staying on the track is fundamental to this.
I have raced against Alan and Denis for years, constantly being whooped by many seconds a
lap, but even though I qualified near the back of the grid, by always being consistent, staying on the track and not coming off. I would often finish about the top 10, just by staying on the circuit.
In those days we had fields of more than 40+ cars.
First get reliable, ignore lap times, you will then on the back of that get quicker, you are wasting any application of skill by being too focused on the lap time, best to use your lap delta to show you how consistent you are.
Some here start with really impressive lapping ability, most of us just have to make small improvement steps, making sure to also maintain our "consistency."

I have a lot more off's now than I used to because I am now very close to my "ability" limit.

I always think of how good can I be, if I get a 100% from myself that is just as, if not more than impressive as an alien who is at 98%.

No one else sees that, they just concentrate on lap times. some notice it though.

But I know that life is just all luck, your job is to get a 100% from what you have been, little or much given.

Hello Ernie, your comment is much appreciated. I know very well that consistency is key, and my experience here on RD says it all: whenever I had the possibility of achieving good results, I often ruined everything in the attempt of pushing too much over the (personal) limit. However, Carsten perfectly nailed the point and his comment resonates a lot with my inner feelings: I am not a young man anymore, yet I do not consider myself successfull. In the last few months I lived lots of hard moments both at home and at work and somehow I am trying to feel "good at" at least in simracing. But simply, as you stated, you're not "good at" something unless you practice and perfection day after day after day!

 

[HF2000]

Hello Ernie, your comment is much appreciated. I know very well that consistency is key, and my experience here on RD says it all: whenever I had the possibility of achieving good results, I often ruined everything in the attempt of pushing too much over the (personal) limit. However, Carsten perfectly nailed the point and his comment resonates a lot with my inner feelings: I am not a young man anymore, yet I do not consider myself successfull. In the last few months I lived lots of hard moments both at home and at work and somehow I am trying to feel "good at" at least in simracing. But simply, as you stated, you're not "good at" something unless you practice and perfection day after day after day!

Hi Omar,

You're going through rough times clearly. Speaking as also not a young man anymore, I've been there and I still haven't got out of my problems yet. But based on your posts I consider you to be a good man and that counts for me as succesful. I know it's hard to feel good about yourself in the situation you're in but you really deserve it to feel better again.
If we can help you a little bit with simracing then that's great. Let me know if we can do more like telling me your favorite combo.

Also I'd like to invite you to the DRIVE TO SURVIVE events with the Ligier JS8 on certain thursdays.
It's an hour of pure fun and laughter which might help you to escape for a moment of your gloomy thoughts.
Tonight is one on Albert Park (it's always on the track of the Formula 1 in the following weekend).

 

[HF2000]

Well, that went a lot better than I expected. I thought my best lap in qually was really good one being 6th at that moment but at the end I was only 14th. Sucking in Brands and not having driven the Mazda recently I didn't have much hope. But after some cars went off in lap 1 I was 10th and quite content with that. During the race it turned out that I was able to keep the pace of the cars in front of me and even gaining a bit. I even managed to pass Ernie but the rotter got me back in turn 1 (always defend the inside Han!!!). Ernie then start closing the gap to Carsten and Hank and I followed him, hoping that the battle of those three would lead to an opportunity to pass them.
That worked when first Ernie could pass Carsten and I could do the same when Carsten had a bad moment. I could overtake Hank in T1 and was even closing the gap to Ernie. When the gap was about a second I made a small mistake and whith only a few laps to go I gave up the chase and concentrated for my first BH race without an off track moment. So when I crossed the finish line for the last lap I was thinking already on that succes and thus went into the sand on the outside in T1. The 5 seconds I lost were enough for Hank to pass me so it was 7th for me.
Still a good result coming from 14th.

Congrats to the podium. Thanks Chris for beating Enzo and all of you for joining.

What I got from you that most of you want to keep the multiclass but with an occasional Mazda only event on a track that's very suited for that.
How about Ahvenisto for such a mono event?

NB: BH is still my least favorite track!

 

[Dzul]

Hello Ernie, your comment is much appreciated. I know very well that consistency is key, and my experience here on RD says it all: whenever I had the possibility of achieving good results, I often ruined everything in the attempt of pushing too much over the (personal) limit. However, Carsten perfectly nailed the point and his comment resonates a lot with my inner feelings: I am not a young man anymore, yet I do not consider myself successfull. In the last few months I lived lots of hard moments both at home and at work and somehow I am trying to feel "good at" at least in simracing. But simply, as you stated, you're not "good at" something unless you practice and perfection day after day after day!

Señor Filippini, following on what Han said, I can resonate with your words (not just the "not being young anymore" part )... I had several ups and downs in life, some of them right after each other, but a way past them always came by. Some through other people, most through own perseverance. I don't mean to know what you're going through but I do mean to say this: to me Simracing was also a way to cope... and life put this group of fellow simdrivers with hearts of gold in my way, and I decided to keep it, because it brought joy to my life. And still does. Even if I'm mostly at the back of the grid due to my own mistakes. It makes me feel good having this lot to share my beloved hobby with. I hope you share the feeling because I include you as well. To me, you are good at that already.

 

[Dzul]

About my race... practice was a struggle for pace, which I couldn't find. However, that pace showed up at the right moment on Qualy, managing to get into the 40's which was good for a mid-grid place. The race started well, my strategy was keeping close with Han ahead of me without being overtaken... which I managed pretty well, even surviving a few 'caramboles' on the first stint... at some point I saw I had more pace than Han (probably because he was stuck) and tried to go for a pass, but on the effort of getting a good exit I touched the grass a bit, which in Brands is enough to put you in a green world of misery... Now, you have to know I had a LOT of practice with off-roads in the weekend and mastered the art of "bouncing off the walls" to quickly get back on track. But, of course, that never goes right the moment you need it for real. And so I ended up at the side of the road, facing traffic, unable to rejoin until everybody passed. I was bummed of course but, being my own doing, kept my head down and went for consistent laptimes. I managed to recover a few places, mostly due to other people's need to cut the grass, and had a great chase on Colin for a few laps, until I touched the grass again... this time I recovered fast with no position loss, but could not get back at Colin unfortunately. I managed to get Paulo in my sights but had no laps left to get close enough. Was it a good race? Yes, I had fun, consistent laptimes, and was catching up on the cars ahead which means my pace is improving. Too bad I got off but, hey, I'll blame it on Brands choice of soapy pasture.

Thanks for organising Han and making it a Monoclass, it was funtastic! Also great to finally witness Enzo and Chris go at it. Congratulations on the podium guys, I'll see you on the next one!

 

[pcmoreno]

This race went really well. Basically because it was Brands Hatch and the plan was to simply stay on track and I did so for most of the time. Only one real spin out and then a few instances of running a tiny bit wide costing about a second or so but these happened on the right time when someone with faster pace was catching up with me ;p

Practice went well and at some point I was a consistent 1:40 but that never translated to the race nor qualifying. I was ok with qualifying close to the back given my plan was to be conservative and take what would come to me, so not being in the middle pack would be easier. Unfortunately I got spun on t1 at the start but in hindsight that gave me space and time to settle into the race. My replay cut the 1st 5mins minutes so if someone would like to share their full replay, I'm curious about analyzing the incident to learn what more could I have done.

I did not manage or attempted any overtake except at the last corner of the race when for some reason @colin Jones reduced his pace so much(maybe tires were out?) that I gained 5 secs in 2 laps and we finished the race 0.1s apart. I'm still very curious what happened there.

I only overtook ppl that were either off track or recovering from a crash and I even facilitated being overtaken if the driver catching up had a clear faster pace. I think I let @Allan Ramsbottom fairly easy past me twice since I did not see the point in trying to block him knowing he'll pass me eventually and just being risking an accident and losing time being defensive.
My race pace was around 1:41.5 probably because I was afraid to risk t1 and t3 and most of the times I did not manage to nail t4(the most difficult turn for me of this track)

Finished top 20 and on the same lap as the winner, so that was a modest success for me.

Not worrying about audi's overtaking me all the time probably helped my consistency too.

It was an awesome event so thanks to the organization once again.

Edit: I'll be on holiday next week so I'm skipping next week's event, so see you all on track in 2 weeks

 

[HF2000]

This race went really well. Basically because it was Brands Hatch and the plan was to simply stay on track and I did so for most of the time. Only one real spin out and then a few instances of running a tiny bit wide costing about a second or so but these happened on the right time when someone with faster pace was catching up with me ;p

Practice went well and at some point I was a consistent 1:40 but that never translated to the race nor qualifying. I was ok with qualifying close to the back given my plan was to be conservative and take what would come to me, so not being in the middle pack would be easier. Unfortunately I got spun on t1 at the start but in hindsight that gave me space and time to settle into the race. My replay cut the 1st 5mins minutes so if someone would like to share their full replay, I'm curious about analyzing the incident to learn what more could I have done.

I did not manage or attempted any overtake except at the last corner of the race when for some reason @colin Jones reduced his pace so much(maybe tires were out?) that I gained 5 secs in 2 laps and we finished the race 0.2s apart. I'm still very curious what happened there.

I only overtook ppl that were either off track or recovering from a crash and I even facilitated being overtaken if the driver catching up had a clear faster pace. I think I let @Allan Ramsbottom fairly easy past me twice since I did not see the point in trying to block him knowing he'll pass me eventually and just being risking an accident and losing time being defensive.
My race pace was around 1:41.5 probably because I was afraid to risk t1 and t3 and most of the times I did not manage to nail t4(the most difficult turn for me of this track)

Finished top 20 and on the same lap as the winner, so that was a modest success for me.

Not worrying about audi's overtaking me all the time probably helped my consistency too.

It was an awesome event so thanks to the organization once again.

Edit: I'll be on holiday next week so I'm skipping next week's event, so see you all on track in 2 weeks

Replay link is in Enzo's post above.

 

[maxilogan]

I've been able to join the race with only 7 minutes left of the quali, and had very limited time to follow the thread in the days before so I was pretty suprised of how things ended up: a Mazda only event? Full grid? That's going to be much harder than I thought!

Despite not having had time enough to perfect my time in quali, my race start was nice so I hoped to have a good race when all of a sudden I have been bumped out of the track just after T1, before the hairpin. I could not control the car and basically rejoined the track becoming myself a crazy bullet.. As the rest of the group in front was far already, and I didn't know whom I harmed, I decided to wait for the backmarkers group to rejoin and that proved to be a good consequence as I had a lot of fun with both @Casper de Wit (definitely bad to have lost you after some laps) and @Ernebro .
He had a great middle sector pace while I was a little better at driving through the hairpin and in the last sector, which led to having very close lap times.
Me and him had a very fair racing (I hope at least!) and were pushing each other's limit lap after lap, made our errors but we have been close for the rest of the race, so despite not being in a top position I had a very intense battle and enjoyed race and track very much!

And I definitely have to confirm what @Chris Down said on Discord, that in some corners there are so many racing lines that only ask to be exploited, and that grant you the same time with totally different paths.

Given that I had little time to figure out who raced and who did the pole position (I was focusing on getting the most out of the few laps I had at my disposal) I was quite astonished when the Crew chief kept saying for the first 10 laps or so, "Fazzi is leading the race" but then when I finished almost last and Realtime was showing the first driver of the race, I realized he was Enzo, which I didn't know had joined the race at all.

Thanks @HF2000 for organising and cheers to the podium finishers as usual.

I just to also thank everybody for the empathy you showed, it's such rewarding to be in a group like this!

 

[pcmoreno]

I hoped to have a good race when all of a sudden I have been bumped out of the track just after T1,

Yeah, that was my car. Only after looking at the replay I realized you were the last piece of the domino effect started by Casper. had I realized that then, I would have waited for you to rejoin in front of me. I actually thought it was a different incident that you and Raul were out of the track there.

 

[The Almighty Snark]

Yep the domino effect started with me but I didn't know whom I had hit there. I was going outside in T1 and the car in front of me briefly lost control of the rear end and thus speed. I was quite close and couldn't lift off in time to avoid a collision unfortunately I wanted to figure out whom I had hit but the replay had removed the first 5 minutes...

 

[pcmoreno]

Yep the domino effect started with me but I didn't know whom I had hit there. I was going outside in T1 and the car in front of me briefly lost control of the rear end and thus speed. I was quite close and couldn't lift off in time to avoid a collision unfortunately I wanted to figure out whom I had hit but the replay had removed the first 5 minutes...

no worries, it happens. It took me looking at the replay to realize the chain effect it had. I also thought it had only involved the two of us.

It was also quite a small nudge, but I was already on the curb so that was enough. Had I had 4 wheels on tarmac, I think nothing would have come out of it.

 

[maxilogan]

Yeah, that was my car. Only after looking at the replay I realized you were the last piece of the domino effect started by Casper. had I realized that then, I would have waited for you to rejoin in front of me. I actually thought it was a different incident that you and Raul were out of the track there.

Oh no worries mate! **** happens

 

[Dzul]

This is one interesting way to look at this unique event... did I say "I love graphs"?

P.S. If you think I should remove it please let me know Han @HF2000 .

 

[Kek700]

Luck comes and goes, success comes and goes, no one has any control over them, they are imaginary forces in our heads that lead us up or down spiral paths in our chemical driven physiological minds.
True success is being as nice as you are able ( sometimes admittedly difficult ) to those around you.
We as a society seem to look for things, fastest runner , best looking, smartest, most money, all these are given not earned.
Being nice to your fellow earthbound creatures has to actually be something that you can or can decide not to do.
Times I have had some crap luck, noticeably my crap starts, often swallowed up by the whole field, Rotters, accidents and the like. I just ride it out , plug away and hope I get some good fortune further in the race.
Just stay on the track, that is most important, never going to catch the Chris’s of this world, but you can those of your standard, if you wait the race out and not get too disheartened.

I like this sim racing because it teaches about life, all in one 60 minutes race.

Like I always say, 100% from yourself is easily equal to a gold medal in the Olympic, it is only societies distorted view of reality that contradicts that truth.

What is worst of all we allow that to affect our mood.

 

[The Almighty Snark]

It was also quite a small nudge, but I was already on the curb so that was enough. Had I had 4 wheels on tarmac, I think nothing would have come out of it.

Yes I saw it happening in slow motion, I am not sure what caused your wobble but my first reaction in my mind was "Oh no... that's not good". Then I hoped you would go the other way but alas, physics pinged you into the traffic around us and I pretty much had a good seat at watching the chaos unfold!