Great racing today! Congrats to the podium!

Doug, I think 50 laps (two hours) was just about all I could handle today. By my last pit stop at lap 40 (about 1.5 hours in) I could barely sit in my seat anymore because my back was cramping up. While pulling into the pits I thought about taking a break and giving up everything I'd worked for. Stopped in my stall, put it in neutral, and started stretching, bending, and twisting my back to try to make the pain go away. With 2 seconds left in my stop I looked and saw I only had 10 laps to go so I went for it. Very painful race for me, but very fun too.

Dave K was trying to kill me I think because I just couldn't shake him for MANY laps until he finally had a slip and I got away. I feel it in my muscles now because I was trying my hardest to get away without slipping up myself. Great racing dude!

My only real problem was what Doug is talking about and mentioned pre race. With only 11 drivers showing up for an enduro, it got VERY lonely for about 75% of the race. Even if/when I slipped up and spun or banged into a wall I had so much time to get back going that there was no pressure anywhere, and felt more like a Sunday drive through the mountain...at a high rate of speed. I started having lapses of concentration...because I was kind of getting bored and sore. This would definately be a great place for a long enduro with driver swaps. I was surprised after some of the practice races over the past couple weeks that most everyone finished and the racing was very clean. I never saw anyone stuck in the litter, and everyone seemed to be still running just fine at the end. Not sure what happened to Dirt Diver, and such a let down for henny to drop out because of technical problems.

This mod and this track...I am really surprised we didn't get more interest or participation. No idea why. Races here in the past have easily drawn at least 15-20 drivers. This is a great mod, and I'm game for a series or another race somewhere in the V8s. Adelaide scares me in the V8s, but I'd give it a go.

Now to take a little break and wait to see where we're running Skodas next.

Jay Jenkins
Weasy

Well that was a hell of a lot of fun and a big thanks to Doug and SimHQ for putting on a race with these beasts... Like others I'm just a little disappointed in the numbers, but I could drive solo for hours around this track with the slightest reason to do so...

congrats to all who finished and to the other podium placers, commiserations to henny on his disco, and Dirt Driver on his DNF

I just couldn't find a rhythm in qualy (and the first half of the race for that matter) and as a result couldn't get near my PB, let alone Frank or Ahmad, which also allowed Matthias to steal third from me leaving me 4th on the grid...

Made a decent start but I was too cautious into Hell corner and lost out to Birdski who also got past Matthias.. Which led to a battle in the opening laps between the 3 of us, until I got over zealous heading into the dipper after seeing Matthias run wide, I thought my nose will fit in there just nicely, even though I know there hasn't been a move made there in years I still went for it... The end result just like 99% of moves made through the dipper saw a car in the wall, unfortunately it was Matthias, sorry again about that, but you did make a awesome comeback there... After that I set off after Birdski who was showing good pace all day, but was annoying to be behind because he was just slow enough to throw me off over the mountain, but was too fast out of the corners leading onto the overtaking spots... So I just had to bide my time until a small mistake into Hell corner allowed me to make a move going up mountain straight and managed to hold the inside line through Griffins bend after a failed attempt in the preceding laps I was happy to have made the move...

This left Ahmad and Frank some 10-15 seconds up the road from me, and with their pace being very hard to match I decided to try and keep it clean for the rest of the first stint and see how their strategies were going to play out... As it turned out Ahmad started on the same strat as me, which was to run her dry and have a shorter stint and pit stop at the end... I noticed I was a little quicker through the pits then both Frank and Ahmad which made me push like hell in the 2nd stint, but my consistency failed me and I was losing time lap after lap, with the occasional lap being on target and quicker then the front 2 I thought I could make it as long as I kept them within 20 seconds I'd have a shot at the end... Well the 3 stint put that idea to rest... More mistakes led to a bigger gap and I was stuck on settling for third and making sure the gap to Birdski remained the same... In stint 4 I found some consistency and was in the low 11s to high 10s without trouble for most of the stint but with the 2 leaders around a minute in front I was really just driving for the fun of the track, so I had a little fun with the tyre wear and played with the rear exiting corners and treated the car a little more like a rally car then a racing car... Which was a hell of a lot of fun when I got it right lol...


As far as this mod goes, I love it... I'd race these things around Monaco if we could... But in answer to Dougs questions... Bathurst is a very tough track (yet rewarding) to learn, and these cars compound that problem big time which is what I think turned people off... I'd like to see sprint races, 2 or 3 20 lappers on the one night for that track of the series, 4-6 races in the series and it taking about 3-4 months to get through the series, that gives about 3 weeks between races... With the last race at Bathurst being a voted on a 100 lap race with driver swaps encouraged or sprint races...

Ultimately I'd love to see tracks like Oran Park, Hidden Valley, Surfers Paridise, Adelaide and Canberra along with Bathurst in the series, with sprint rounds leading up to the Enduros with Bathurst and Phillip Island both having driver swaps and a similar format, Bathurst with Qualy, top 10 shootout and 1000kms, and Phillip Island with qualy for all drivers, 2 14 lap sprints with each driver of each car driving one race each for points to decide the grid for the 500km race for the win... Leave set ups open, but enforce upgrades, which takes away any advantage from gear ratios or diff settings, but let's each driver find their way around these beasts...

That's what I'd love to see, but even if we just did some sprint races one weekend around Oran Park, PI or Surfers I'd be happy...

Sounds like it would have been fun. It's been hard to get time lately, and a race this long was definitely out.
Thanks for the skull's up on the update to the mod. It seems nice.

Congrats to those who finished... and the podium

My qualifying lap was the first time I had been in the 2:09s and I was half a second up on Frank going into the last sector. I knew he was stronger than me in this sector but I had hoped it was enough. As I crossed the line I saw 0.0 and I thought I did it and gave myself a fist pump. But then I saw the difference was 0.000 .. a dead heat! I could not better that time when Frank went quicker and I settled for a satisfactory second place on the grid.

I had practiced my starts before the race and this time I was able to get off the line fine but had to slot back in behind Frank after the first corner. After a few laps I began to settle into a rhythm and my pace was looking good, with Frank only about 5 or seconds up the road from me. As the stint went on I began to see where I was stronger and where I was weaker and as the race went on my last sector was beginning to match Frank's. I was also making time up in between the pitstops, coming out closer behind him.

All was well with only a couple of small errors, and I thought I would have a chance to have a run at him in the 2nd half of the race. Unfortunately in my 3rd or 4th stints, or both, I made a couple of disappointing errors which dropped the gap out to 15 seconds. The mistakes were due to pushing a little too hard as Frank was setting a very consistent and fast pace. I didn't give up and kept going just in case Frank made any errors. And it seemed he did.

In the last stint he was significantly slower and I wasn't sure if it was due to tyre problems or lack of concentration. I was making up huge amounts of time as I was driving at my limit and the limit of the tyres as they began to fade away in the 2nd half of the stint. Nevertheless, I pushed on with my pace still very good in the 2:10s and 2:11s but in the end ran out of laps, finishing just a couple of seconds behind Frank.

Congrats on the win Frank, it was a solid and very consistent drive. I wanted to do it again straight after!

Congrats to Pumbaa for the podium and everyone else who survived the mountain.

Just caught this video from the Bathurst 1000 facebook page...

http://youtu.be/4D-JtvVvESc

I'd love to have a go in these cars as well through the World Touring Masters mod... Although I'd prefer the conditions we raced into to these... lol

Let's have those conditions in rF2

I really enjoyed the racing yesterday. Thanks to Doug for making this race possible and thanks to everybody who participated.

Although I barely had direct battles for position, it was the chance of catching up some cars in front of me which kept me pushing forward. So I was able to overtake some cars to find myself on fourth place after the third pit stop. Then I tried to keep Birdski at distance for the rest of the race. I made some small mistakes, but so did he and it was always a back and forth. In the end I am very happy with the result. I think it was the best possible, because Frank, Ahmad and Pumbaa were faster than me. So don’t worry about our little incident, Pumbaa! It made my race really exciting and in the end it did not change much with respect to the final position.

Congratulations to Frank on the win and to Ahmad and Pumbaa on completing the podium!

sounds like it went well, i didnt sign up as i was at Lee Evans at Wembley Arena so wasnt around when the race was scheduled i would however sign up should there be another event

well done guys. Congrats to Frank, Ahmad, Pumba and all participants

not an easy cars and what a place to race

hope to be simracing with you all soon again