- 16,271
- Boise, ID
- GTP_EDK
I would also prefer to give all the benefit of the doubt. With such short, tight races and 5 or 6 of us on the track at once, adjusting to new cars and tracks with almost every race, mistakes are easy to make and inevitable. I found myself becoming frustrated with contact at times, but after going through all the different events, I'm with Nick on this one. I don't think we had anyone intentionally ramming people about, but there was certainly some contact at times. So we should all just move on with it. 👍
Now that I have that out of the way, I wanted to write a novel with my recollections before they go away completely.
These are admittedly beer affected or induced, so if any of you recognize inaccuracies, feel free to point them out and I will correct ASAP.I think I will take it race by race for the most part, as that's the best trigger for my own memory.
First off, the Clio Race.
I was paired with SimRaceDriver (Ray). We elected to use his setup since it had a sliding seat, was best suited to fit both of our driving styles, and had all of those cool buttons.
I ended up going first. Ray was patient with me, as I was accidentally booted into the sand early, wore the tires out in 7 laps, and missed the pit entry badly, costing us lots of time and starting him off his first run in last place. He fought back gallantly took advantage of the mistakes of others, and endured my plodding but relatively mistake free driving for the rest of the event. 👍On to the handicap event.
My first race of note would be the Hong Kong Reverse. It was my first event in the SuperBird. What a terrible match for that track.
But I was able to be a track hog the entire time and make it a complete mess for Kyle and Jerome in the Domes. They eventually managed to scoot by and not get passed again on the next straight. But there was a lot of wall banging and quite a few "opps, sorry's" on that one, let me tell you. 
Next one of note - Suzuka West. Even after the first 2 laps, most of us kept missing the first turn, to varying degrees.
Finding that braking point out of 130R is nearly impossible. 
Nick's comments on the "Deep Forest Incident", as it shall henceforth be known. I actually tried to do WAY too much with the poor BMW on cold tires and the Kerb might have had something to do with it, but it was a complete disaster. But I was laughing my 🤬 off, nonetheless. 👍
Autumn Ring with Nick - One of the most heated battles I had all weekend. Nick and I were really close in a lot of spots, but zero contact, to my recollection. I think the gap was less than 0.1 s at the end.
But I should have let him have it, which would have allowed me to skip the friggin' Apline. Damn pride. 
HSR in the Alpine - Me spinning and cussing and taking Jerome out by spinning and cussing. Me repeatedly murmuring, "I hate this car, I hate this car"
Suzuka in the Alpine - After a tip from Jerome on dragging the brakes with my left foot, I begin to like the silly Alpine. I manage a nice hotlap and 3rd place. There is still hope for me.
Deep Forest Rev in the Alpine - I manage to spin the car (Again) at the bottom of the hill after T1. Me LMAO, but once again muttering about the stupid Alpine.
Montegi in the Alpine - Finally, a flat track with enough straight sections to out run cars with inferior HP. I like the Alpine again, but am happy to be rid of the 🤬 thing.
Then I never get a chance to run in the last car due to too many races stuck in the Alpine
(Did I mention I hate the Alpine?)On to day 2.
I showed up a couple minutes late (10 after, I think). And ended up jumping right into driving @ El Cap in a Carlton.
. I was a little grumpy, since I'd just finished my coffee and it's not time for beer. And I ended up retiring just after the bridge on the next to last lap of the first race after a small "Racing Incident", as they shall henceforth be known. Alex was gracious enough to concede 4th to me since the incident occurred with him, but I could honestly not objectively say anyone was at fault. 
Opera Paris - I had the far superior Jaguar and a lead of 5 seconds or something like that, after 2 laps. And everyone began waving their arms at me. It turns out we had an incident with 2 4th place cars, or something like that, and had to restart. But I still had the far superior Jaguar, and was able to finish with a big cushion, so all was well.
JGTC Races - Day 2
Tokyo - Kyle and I had some racing incidents in 2 of the last 3 turns. I think one gave me a nice advantage that allowed my place, so we agreed to the "split the difference" No hard feelings and the standings would have ended up the same either way, so race on. 👍
My last race with only the MR-S left to pick from. I was chanting "let it be a short track, let it be a short track". The gods were not with me. Nick calls out, "Sarthe II"
Needless to say, the little MR-S with it's great handling but lower power was not a match for the higher HP cars on the big track.FR Sedan Races
I had 2 other great races with Nick in this series. At Trial Mountain, we were back and forth all race long. The handling of the BMW as compared to the CL600, won out. It was certainly not superior skill on my part. Nick squeezed all he could out of a lesser car. The other race was Seattle FWD. There was an incident behind me in the chicane onto the front stretch in the first lap. And I thought, "Now I can cruise away with this one". And promptly ran into the wall at the end the straight and allowed Nick to catch back up to a 2 second gap.
I was in the CL600, a great fit for the track since the understeer is less of an issue with so much track to work with. And it's my favorite track. But Nick still managed to chip away at me all race long, and was right on my tail at the finish. A very close race from the last split to the finish line. 
All in all, a very fun and eventful weekend. A great group, was glad to get to know all of you, and looking forward to the next one. 👍
Kevin
lol.
