AC ROOKIE EVENT (also non premium)Mazda MX5@Speedforce Raceway, Thu 9th November 2023

[a_murel]

Sorry I baled out guys, the smoke alarm in the room went off and wouldn’t stop, that put me off just as I was braking for T1 and I binned it.
Nice undercut Han, thanks for organising and well done all for hanging on in there.
(Update on the alarm.......battery good so must have been all the heat I was generating trying to catch Han).

Or the smoke alarm is full of dust.

 

[HF2000]

To all regulars: thanks for joining in this event! For Ricardo Barajas was the experience so positive that he now entered our Fat-Alfie championship in the Mazda!

 

[stigs2cousin]

Sorry I baled out guys, the smoke alarm in the room went off and wouldn’t stop, that put me off just as I was braking for T1 and I binned it.

That´s a new one , definitely on my list for

"the excuse of the month"

 

[HF2000]

That´s a new one , definitely on my list for

"the excuse of the month"

Above or under the "wife afraid of spider"?

 

[stigs2cousin]

I think that strongly depends on your current "marital status"

After your comment last week....

 

[zn1zn2c]

I was sad to see you leave so early @Elmar3rd . Looking at the replay it looks like you had some incidents in the first lap. It reminded me of my rookie race back in Laguna Seca. Qualified second, got really nervous when the race started and made lots of mistakes. Eventually ended up in last place. Felt like a complete jackass at the time hahah. I kept going though and had a nice race, eventually gaining all the positions back (while still spinning or going off track a few times )

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is this: don’t feel bad when things aren’t working out. See it as a test to calm your nerves, put your head down and try your best to get the best result possible. There’s lots of things to learn, even when overtaking slower cars. It can be enjoyable as well!

Oh and about the pit exit: no worries, I’m sure most had some trouble with it on this track. I definitely got taken by surprise when I exited and a fast car was right next to me.

 

[Shed 17]

That´s a new one , definitely on my list for

Well that one was real but I have plenty more Carsten ...............................that don't even mention Under/oversteer/FWD/RWD/No TC/ABS/ getting taken out/don't like the car/track/unwanted arachnids etc etc.......................

 

[Elmar3rd]

I was sad to see you leave so early @Elmar3rd . Looking at the replay it looks like you had some incidents in the first lap. It reminded me of my rookie race back in Laguna Seca. Qualified second, got really nervous when the race started and made lots of mistakes. Eventually ended up in last place. Felt like a complete jackass at the time hahah. I kept going though and had a nice race, eventually gaining all the positions back (while still spinning or going off track a few times )

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is this: don’t feel bad when things aren’t working out. See it as a test to calm your nervous, put your head down and try your best to get the best result possible. There’s lots of things to learn, even when overtaking slower cars. It can be enjoyable as well!

Oh and about the pit exit: no worries, I’m sure most had some trouble with it on this track. I definitely got taken by surprise when I exited and a fast car was right next to me

Thank you very much for the kind words. I was already tired and stressed before the race. That was probably the true reason.

 

[zn1zn2c]

That was a fun race!
I don't know why, maybe it was due to the slower cars, the fact that I already knew this track or the smaller grid, but I felt this race was a lot more relaxed then our usual Wednesday races.

Qualified 6th, survived through the first few corners. Although, after seeing the replay I nearly killed Paulo in the first. You had some good vision there to dodge me!

To my surprise I got behind Andre and could grow and keep a gap behind me. I pushed as hard as I could, but couldn't get closer. Eventually Jason caught up to me and quickly passed. After Jason and Andre pitted, I suddenly found myself mixed in there with them and for a few laps I could actually keep up! I asked myself "Is this what it's like to be one of the faster guys?"
Had to pit after a few laps though and lost contact. Was a pretty bad pitstop as well. I couldn't get my pit strategy to change until I realised I had to use the arrow keys. Missed the pitbox by a mile and to put the cherry on top I even changed tyres while nobody else did. All in all that cost me about 15-20 seconds and a few positions.

In the last few laps I tried defending the position vs Ernie, but he was just too fast for me and with 2 laps to go he overtook me.

All in all, good fun! I'll keep coming back to these events. To the new guy: great to have you here and I'm looking forward to seeing you on the Wednesdays!

I may not have won this race, but for the first time I was actually the best in one aspect and I'm not afraid of being proud of that

Also had the second fastest average clean lap time in the ND! OK, enough tooting my own horn. See you guys next time!

 

[Dzul]

A bit late but still wanted to say that I enjoyed thursday's race. It was nice to get back behind the wheel after a while away. Wednesdays have become busy this period but I'll join the odd race with you guys whenever I can and will try events on other days.

Practiced showed me I was a bit rusty so getting to speed was the goal of the evening. I found some time by checking other people's laps and managed a decent qualy. I had a good start off the line but I quickly became the ham in a Zonta sandwich going into T1 and T2... I tried to get out of it by braking earlier than early, yet I had no space behinid to do so so I tried to stay in the box of cars around me... but I locked my brakes and ended up spearing Paul... Sorry once more mate.

After that it was a recovery race. I managed to regain some of the lost places on track and a few extra when others left (a pity chaps 'coz you all were doing well). I had a few fun battles, the one with Ernie at the end being the most challenging 'coz my tyres were skates. But I tried to defend with all I learned from Alonso last weekend, unfortunately I couldn't do much at the end on my Mazda sled... not even Rudolph could have saved me from Ernie's better tyre grip.

It was a nice comeback race I truly enjoyed. I could feel my wrists aching at the end but I had a big grin so it was all good for me. It was fun to be back chaps, I'll squeeze all the races I can the rest of the year, hopefully january brings a schedule that allows me to slot wednesdays back in more regularly... thanks for organising Han, congratulations to the podium finishers and happy to hear some rookies decided to join the regular races. You won't regret it...

Hope to see you soon again lads!