Round 2 - Brands Hatch Indy [Feb 1st]

Race 2 server is up.

Gonzalo, you can race the Ford again in race 2 if you like.

Course atroce. J'ai des soucis au boulot et quelques petits problèmes de santé.
Du coup j'étais ailleurs, pas concentré, incapable d'avancer. Pour ne rien arranger les mouvements de têtes sur ce circuit hyper bossélé m'ont filé une envie de vomir au bout de 10 tours. Une horreur sans nom qui m'a fait totalement perdre le peu de concentration que j'avais.
Les derniers tours je les ai fini à l'agonie avec une voiture dont je ne comprenais absolument plus les réactions.
En plus la mentalité de certains est pas top. Retour intempestif en piste sans se préoccuper si quelqu'un arrive. d'autres te tamponnent à l'arrière alors que tu es en appui dans un virage. Bref j'ai eu le droit à une course de stock car.

Au final je préfère lacher ma voiture. Je n'ai aucun feeling avec ce mod depuis le début et cela ne s'arrange pas du tout.
Au moins ca fera un heureux dans la liste d'attente.

Not knowing how to start FWD cost me two wins.

More comments later on...

I don't like Brands.
The Mondeo isn't suited to brands.

Combination of both factors: not a good one.

In race 1 I got close to the top 10, but no points.

Race 2... think my engineer was taking a nap in between races, qualified 20th and was absolutely nowhere in the race itself.

I'm hoping for a better result at Thruxton. Can't do much worse than tonight any way.

Had a blast viewing the races live....

Congratulations to Richard for his double win, great races!      

About my races... absolutely disappointed.  

Had good pace with full tanks, which i didn't expect, and in race 1 i found myself leading comfortably after greg's crash. Made a stupid mistake and lost the lead, and overheated the left tyres at the same time. In the end a nice fight with Jan but i could'nt overtake him, so 4th place, hoping to improve on the second heat.

Second heat was much more fun, amazing battles with Jan, Peter, Jacob and Richard. Towards the end of the race Richad and I passed Jan and we were going to fight for the lead until the last lap. Unbelievably, a lapped car which was on the grass came sideways into the track and it was impossible to avoid. The car was not very damaged but all hopes of a podium were lost. Cruised home in fourth place again.    

Cya all.

I messed up more than i could ever imagine. Went off in Druids in lap1, rolled the car two laps later. Effectively started dead last. It was a chase till the end and i ended up at P10.

The second race started tared even worse, as i crashed into a stationery car at the track. Then again, it was a chase to get some points. Had a contact with Jacob which sent me to gravel and i lost a lot. Anyway, until then it was still a lot of fun despite all the drama. Unfortunately, we had a contact with Alan Forster in the very last corner. I pushed him from behind and there was no way for him to recover with rear wheel drive BMW. I'm so sorry, i robbed him of one championship point. I felt it was fair not to take the point and waited for Alan, but the damage was done. I imagine he's furious, and rightly so. I expect a penalty, i just went a bit too close. Apologies

Q1 Was leading the pace in the total cup.. then i saw Honza had done a blistering lap... I had to get out there and beat it... set a PB

R1: Great start and made the most of some of the others having issues. Was in the top 10 or there abouts then got hit in the rear by Matthias and spun into the gravel at druids. Rejoined near enough last and had the most fun recovery drive i have ever had. lots of battles and fair driving from all in the midfield. Managed to recover to 2nd in the Total Cup and 12th overall. You're forgiven Matthias as i had a blast!

Q2: Set another PB of a 48:6

R2: Had another decent start and did well to avoid the melee, had a dual with the renaul and vectra at paddock and took a hit, as i was sideways i planted the throttle and pulled the front round. There was a big crash somewhere in the following laps which i avoided. Had some battles with Peter and the Vectra but i didnt want to burn up rubber or slow us by defending so let them go in the hope theyd catch the pack with me in tow... was not to be as we were a bit too far behind. 1st in TC and 9th Overall.

I had a blast tonight so thanks competitors, admin and braodcast tram for which im looking forward to watching...

Thruxton next.. my boggie track so we shall see what happens.

Both races I qualified on the front row but it looks like I had the wrong race setup because I had major issues with my left tires. Very odd feeling to fall back so far during a race due to this problems..it does not happen often to me like this..might be the Honda not suited very well to this track...might be me..

I just reviewed the races, big respect for Richard Coxon and the Renault team. Looked like you were not super quick in qualy but your races were very very consistent, very clean and you had the patience most of the other drivers did not have to strike at the right moments. Awful luck for Ricard in race 2 with the backmarker!

There will be harsh words in the Honda camp in the post race meetings...me and Richard Wilks will work very hard to get Honda on the podium again next race!

Brands indy was never a good track for me, so i focused on being really consistent and not making mistakes.

It payed off in race one, where i was able to get a top 5 and extract the most out of the Honda, in a track that doesn't really suit it.

Race 2 was a disaster though. I had a poor performance at qualy, but i was looking forward to the race, and yet another good start made it look promising, until Jacob rolled me over. After that i was playing catch up through the field, and had some really great battles, until all went wrong along side Forster. After that the car felt funny, i guess too much damage at that point, so i spun alone and i believe Ricard hit me yet again. After that i decided to park it and call it quits.

Let's hope that at Thruxton Honda can be back in business!

by the way..it was nice to talk to some of you guys in teamspeak

Hope more drivers will come in post race...will be fun

Results and Points are up 

Petr Hlavac wrote:

I messed up more than i could ever imagine. Went off in Druids in lap1, rolled the car two laps later. Effectively started dead last. It was a chase till the end and i ended up at P10.

The second race started tared even worse, as i crashed into a stationery car at the track. Then again, it was a chase to get some points. Had a contact with Jacob which sent me to gravel and i lost a lot. Anyway, until then it was still a lot of fun despite all the drama. Unfortunately, we had a contact with Alan Forster in the very last corner. I pushed him from behind and there was no way for him to recover with rear wheel drive BMW. I'm so sorry, i robbed him of one championship point. I felt it was fair not to take the point and waited for Alan, but the damage was done. I imagine he's furious, and rightly so. I expect a penalty, i just went a bit too close. Apologies

Wouldn't say I was furious, gutted yes but thanks for giving the place back and the apology(as far as I am concerned no penalty is needed), was slower than most through there so that would of not of helped.

Was surprised I'd managed to get into the points position as my pace was poor again but kept out of the chaos in the first few laps and found myself in 10th place after a few laps but as we got towards the end of the race I had quite abit of a Trulli train behind me and it was only a matter of time before someone got past or there was a coming together, just gutted it happened so late in the race, but thats racing.

Also thanks to Ray Riddall for also giving me the place back at the end, didn't need to but thanks anyway  

So another great race at Brands Hatch i must say.

Quali 1 - PB but not enough to Dave

Race 1 - good start and some nice battles, avoiding contacts, than i was 8. but Miroslav was faster and my priority is not Driver Championship but Independent cup, so i rather let him pass. 9. place was surprise and i was very happy.

Quali 2 - i had problem with traffic and when track was clear and empty before me i made mistake , and at Brands Hatch is postion at start very important.

Race2 - So quali was frustrating for me because Dave was far ahead and especially my start was not good. Very dramatic race, many many battles. Advance from position 18. to 11. was my best what i should do. At the last lap i saw behind me Michal and Peter at hard fight, so i decided let guys pass. I think it was best decision because 2 turns after this Peter cannot avoid contact with Alan, maybe it could be me ... ufff. Leadership of independent it has been defended!

Thank you HSO for another great race! Thank you guys for managing great LIVE show (my friend told me it was very dramatic race with your directing .... today evening i must look at it)!

Sorry guys, I had planned to run but my neighbour and some beers retained me for the evening.

Ben Paulet wrote:

Sorry guys, I had planned to run but my neighbour and some beers retained me for the evening.

I was looking forward to some duel with you

Very kind of you, but sorry, it will not with these cars that I can share doors paints with you, I'm still too slow. But I don't despear.

Having your race completely ruined by some idiot, and that guy having no real consequences from it, is a damn shame. At least a "drive-through" was deserved by that. That kind of reckless, ugly, completely on purpose wrecking has no place on HSO, touring car racing or not. A damn shame.

Anyway, race 1 was totally fair game. A lot of fun, but I rue my awful start. Lost from 4th to 9th or 10th on the first lap. I could quickly gain ground, and kept in touch with the leaders. After the dust had settled, I put the pressure on Richard, but could not get close enough. Well deserved win by him.

In race 2, the same start led to the same kind of fight-back, but this time I got in contact with the leader, and not in a good way.

I hope I get to drive the Volvo more times, it's a great car.

Jacob, as much as you are right, please dont wash "dirty laundry" in the forum. The admins are very aware of what happened. Lots of contact happened, but there is a lot of bumping in these races, and even you ruined my race 2, altough i am sure it wasnt on purppose. Mistakes can happen, but i will leave the warning here that we will be very very harsh if some "mistakes" get too frequent or if we detect any bad intentions again.

Richard Wilks wrote:

Jacob,  as much as you are right,  please dont wash "dirty laundry" in the forum. The admins are very aware of what happened. Lots of contact happened, but there is a lot of bumping in these races,  and even you ruined my race 2,  altough i am sure it wasnt on purppose. Mistakes can happen,  but i will leave the warning here that we will be very very harsh if some "mistakes" get too frequent or if we detect any bad intentions again.

I'm saying what I think needs to be said. The incident I am referring to was made completely on purpose. Brands' Indy layout is probably as contact inviting as it can get, but mean spirited contact should be punished harder than a slight jump-start.

About heat 2, lap 1, it wasn't I who turned you, you were sideways in front of me and I had nowhere to go. I am very sorry that your race was compromised.

Jacob Fredriksson wrote:

About heat 2, lap 1, it wasn't I who turned you, you were sideways in front of me and I had nowhere to go. I am very sorry that your race was compromised.

True, very hard to avoid a car in front of you who loses it. You cannot back off too much because in the first lap 5 others are on your tail pushing you of the track if you brake for something in front of you.

By the way I saw quite some strange moves from drivers who after a spin quickly tried to go back on track and by doing that starting carnage. I hope people will review their races and learn from it.

Quote :

I'm saying what I think needs to be said. The incident I am referring to was made completely on purpose.

It is not a matter of what needs to be said, but HOW it is said. Log your protest to the series admin per PM, you all know they will be reviewed and a reply given and/or action taken if deemed appropiate.

No matter how right you are, calling someone idiot in public won't help your cause, same as questioning an admin that asks you politely to follow the standard procedure. And it won't help the forum friendly ambient either.

If I'm disturbing the friendly forum atmopshere I apologize, that is of course not my intention.

My intention is to have an open discussion about racing tactics, which I think we need. Shoving out other drivers on purpose, and then crashing them out, that is not being Senna-esque, that is being a bad driver. I want to know how those who use those kind of tactics justify them to themselves. What is their racing philosophy? Being an aggressive driver is different from being a bullying driver.

I did lodge an official protest right after the race. I know there is a standard procedure that the stewards follow regarding penalties, but the driver('s) who disturbs the friendly racing atmosphere should not gain from their bullying either. In this case, he certainly did, and that is what I think is a shame.

These are my last words on the matter. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy racing this series, and I still intend to find me a full-time ride (just not in an Audi, those things are sources of pure evil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOTzm3t5nwg )