RD MINI Challenge 2012

[Philip Antonia]

I'm sorry Bram.

I'm at my ex's with my two little ones as my oldest daughter has had an accident on a trampolIne. She's been taken in an ambulance a short while ago, so obviously I can't join you guys tonight. It doesn't look serious, but they're taking her for a neck X-ray :-(. Just as a precaution.

 

[Jari Vinnari]

I hope she is OK Phillip.

 

[Philip Antonia]

Thank you Jari. They're being ultra careful, but reassured us that it is just them being cautious. She was in good spirits, but got a little panicked when getting in the ambulance :-(.

Good racing guys.

 

[Bill Devery]

I'm sorry Bram.

I'm at my ex's with my to little ones as my oldest daughter has had an accident on a trampolIne. She's been taken in an ambulance a short while ago, so obviously I can't join you guys tonight. It doesn't look serious, but they're taking her for a neck X-ray :-(. Just as a precaution.

Yeah my boy fell off the couch last night, big nasty bruise on his forehead and a concussion (he was quite sick and sweaty) and we were worried so i kind of know the feeling you have right now. Good luck m8, i'm sure it will be fine !!

 

[Jari Vinnari]

Thank you for the race.

 

[Bill Devery]

Chaos for me. Didn't enjoy it at all.
Congrats to the Podium dudes and to all that finished

 

[Dan Allinson]

Remco sorry for the slight nudge in the last turn. I did hit the brakes when i saw you going to prevent driving you off the track

 

[Samuel Fuller]

Im dieing to see the replays to see if I lost it by myself or got severly punted off the track on the last turn on lap 2 of the second race.

 

[Lucas Degen]

Hate to say: terrible race for me.

Q 26 I think and had a good start, was driving 21. Then had a fight in on of the fast corners. Where you can't drive next to eachother. Spun and had to pit. Didn't know how to exit the pit again. Finally when I did, had 2 laps behind.

R2 started 2e on the grid. Pole sitter made a jump start and I jumped with him..
So we both had to do a drive through penalty. So had to start all over again. Come in 23.

Better luck next time.

Too bad @Bram Hengeveld wasn't racing, hope he'll be there next race.

 

[Jordi Casademunt]

Uh, first race was disappointing, I took to long to run comfortable and lost many positions.

Race 2, I was sent to the grass at the hairpin during lap 1 (sounded like a big crash, I might have even caused it somehow, so I want to see the replay), lost many positions, then two drivers fought in the fast S, I almost went off track to avoid one of them when they contacted, then I got sent off again (might not be anyone's fault, I didn't think I could stay on the tarmac either). Then I decided to stop worrying and play a bit harder, since I seem to be racing an open wheeler in a destruction derby, always leaving half the track to the other guy and making passes only when I'm already in front (how does that even work).

End result? Lots of fun, some bumping, got back to 8th position, so not bad.

Also, I'm truly sorry about the bump in the last corner, Kevin Cordice. I was trying to go around the outside, but I didn't go enough to the left and bumped you. I completely miscalculated that, it was my fault.

Edit: Ah yeah, I forgot to add. The clutch wasn't fully disengaging, so I stalled the car in both starts. And I couldn't get it to start with a gear engaged (obviously) so I had to go back to neutral and start. I'm not sure how I avoided stalling the car again. In the second start actually I had just started the engine when everyone started going. So yeah, lost a lot there.

 

[Morten Wernersen]

Qually p15 was up 3/10 on my last lap but ran wide in the last corner :S

Race1: ok start, had a good battle with Webber, for 12th I think, got clear of him after a while but by now my tires were done, and I lost a place and ended in 13th I think.

Race2: couldent see the startlights from that far back, and jumpstarted, so I had to do a drive through penalty, managed to survive the first lap puscing and shoving unharmed, and took my penalty at the end of lap 1, I then managed to drive back up the field again and ended up in 16 or was it 17?

ok racing for me, some good battles along the way.
cya next time

 

[Neil Harvey]

Race 1 - not my best qualy started 25th, made too many mistakes but had some great battles near the back. Sorry Stefan for the knock on the last lap! second to last corner had a better exit and went into the back of you and spun us off, really sorry fella. Ended up 29th.

Race 2 - liking this reverse grid! started 6th far less eventful than race 1, got up into 2nd. Lee R in 1st was gone. Didn't start to see an action until the last 7-8 minutes. When I could see Jimi right behind David Cuthill in 3rd, around 5 minutes to go Jimi caught up to me. Went past easily, tried staying as close as possible as I could now see Dan Alinson on the hunt. Luckily had enough of a gap and held on for 3rd!

 

[Dinca Andrei]

My first race in this SIM with no proper practice (none) and i have to apologize to anyone i bumped or pushed .
I realy enjoy it and i hope i can be in the next race,with a proper practice.Results are not important for my first run but was not bad in 2nd race.Big thanks to Bram for the place on the grid and congrats to podium and all who finished.Cya.

 

[Mark Gormley]

Qualified in the top ten, finished 5th after holding off @Remco de Wildt and @Nik Hughes for half the race, hope my defending wasn't too sloppy chaps.

Not sure how I felt about Mini bingo, rolled off the line late again by missing the lights. Pushing through the field I was pitched into a spin at the fast esses, will have to wait and see the replay before develop an opinion on it. Managed to finish in 9th though by having no mercy on the tyres. But considering I said this:

If I can get two finishes here, I'll be happy.

I'm happy.

 

[Nik Hughes]

Well my gearbox stayed intact for the whole event this time!

Qualifying was incredibly close - ended up 11th, although a tenth quicker and I'd have probably been top 7 and a tenth slower and I'd have been around 20th I think, so all in all not bad, and better than 13th at Interlagos.

Race 1 took a little while to get into my groove, I felt slower than the guys ahead of me, but while they battled I managed to hold on and probably keep my tyres in decent shape for later. Was running 11th for a while, then gradually made a few places up until I was sitting in 7th. Spent the last half of the race in a great scrap with @Mark Gormley and @Remco de Wildt (well for a long while it was them scrapping with me hanging on behind), last few laps were pretty intense stuff, really good fun, in the end had to settle for 7th.

Race 2 was predictably mental. I've devised a strategy which is don't piss anyone off, and you're more likely to come through unscathed! My plan was to hold on to my teammate when he inevitably overtook me, but he got a few cars ahead so that plan failed, managed to loosely follow @Dan Allinson up through the field, had a good battle with Andy P towards the end, and managed to get the better of him to finish 6th from 28th on the grid.

Two finishes (and two decent finishes at that) feels much better than a DNF, so a good result. Congrats to the podium in both races, hopefully we'll see a championship table soon!

Q:11th
R1: 7th
R2: 6th

 

[Frank]

Nice first race, decent second race.

Had an awesome fight with Lee at the first race, I think we traded places 5 times in each lap for 2 laps. Sadly enough Lee crashed out cause of to much beer :-P. After that I battled for 15 minutes with Tamas, this caused us to lose a lot of time to the leaders Dan and Jimi. As soon I got loose from him I gained around 2 - 3 tenths a lap to the leaders but in the end it wasnt fast enough.

Second race I had a great start, got to 16th quite fast and the racing in this group was quite fun. Everything went good till Alison joined the group and all hell broke loose. First I saw Remco getting shunted out and people flying everywhere and then at the corner after I just got a massive shunt on the side and spun on the grass. From here I had to start all over again.
After 2 laps or so I joined up at Dave's rear, since I was a bit frustrated from before I was trying to push it a bit to much and almost took Dave out, thankfully that ended well. After some nice fighting I was able to break loose from the group and quickly joined at Lars his back, where I then pretty much finished.
Im a bit disappointed about the second race cause I know I would have finished top 5, but then again, we cant have everything and it was still lots of fun.

Thanks for the commentary, filming and organizing!

 

[Dan Allinson]

Nice first race, decent second race.

Had an awesome fight with Lee at the first race, I think we traded places 5 times in each lap for 2 laps. Sadly enough Lee crashed out cause of to much beer :-P. After that I battled for 15 minutes with Tamas, this caused us to lose a lot of time to the leaders Dan and Jimi. As soon I got loose from him I gained around 2 - 3 tenths a lap to the leaders but in the end it wasnt fast enough.

Second race I had a great start, got to 16th quite fast and the racing in this group was quite fun. Everything went good till Alison joined the group and all hell broke loose. First I saw Remco getting shunted out and people flying everywhere and then at the corner after I just got a massive shunt on the side and spun on the grass. From here I had to start all over again.
After 2 laps or so I joined up at Dave's rear, since I was a bit frustrated from before I was trying to push it a bit to much and almost took Dave out, thankfully that ended well. After some nice fighting I was able to break loose from the group and quickly joined at Lars his back, where I then pretty much finished.
Im a bit disappointed about the second race cause I know I would have finished top 5, but then again, we cant have everything and it was still lots of fun.

Thanks for the commentary, filming and organizing!

I thought my climb through the field was fairly clean apart from the nudge with Remco which I apologised for. Ill have a watch on the broadcast when its up as i turned my replays off.

Looking forward to the next event

 

[Kevin Cordice]

What a wonder event today, took to much out my tires and sustain some damages but indeed it was fun

If you like sim racing or never tried it, Game Stock Car give it a chance.

Peace out peeps


Edit: I still can't got over the situation of loosing 12 position in ruffly 2 laps

 

[Jimi Hughes]

Awesome racing tonight, battle with Dan in race 1 for the lead was epic, so close all the way. Dan was definitely quicker but the tow gave me a chance to keep the fight alive, very please with the win from P3 on the grid.

Race 2 was something else completely! Had a great opening couple of laps after starting dead last and was in around P15, and was able to continue slowly picking off drivers, catching and passing Neil Harvey in the last few minutes of the race to take P2. I will have to watch the replay back, but I think I kept it clean in Race 2, although remember making a few very decisive late braking moves! Congrats to Lee Ross for the Win in race 2, you were miles ahead before I could get anywhere near the front!

Thanks to RD, Bram and all involved in the broadcast, which I look forward to viewing later, and thanks to all competitors; shame we didnt have Bram mixing it with us again. Finally, quick thanks to my Girlfriend whose birthday it is tomorrow and she patiently sat beside me cheering me on during the race, I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be an expensive day...

 

[Kevin Cordice]

Awesome racing tonight, battle with Dan in race 1 for the lead was epic, so close all the way. Dan was definitely quicker but the tow gave me a chance to keep the fight alive, very please with the win from P3 on the grid.

Race 2 was something else completely! Had a great opening couple of laps after starting dead last and was in around P15, and was able to continue slowly picking off drivers, catching and passing Neil Harvey in the last few minutes of the race to take P2. I will have to watch the replay back, but I think I kept it clean in Race 2, although remember making a few very decisive late braking moves! Congrats to Lee Ross for the Win in race 2, you were miles ahead before I could get anywhere near the front!

Thanks to RD, Bram and all involved in the broadcast, which I look forward to viewing later, and thanks to all competitors; shame we didnt have Bram mixing it with us again. Finally, quick thanks to my Girlfriend whose birthday it is tomorrow and she patiently sat beside me cheering me on during the race, I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be an expensive day...

Oh I see now! I need to get a girl/s cheering for me (saying "go Kevin go push iiittt" x2)