- 2,980
- The Ramapo Mountains
- jjaisli
EVENT COMPLETED
The 250 GTO event began immediately after Formula 1 Qualifying from Barcelona ended. I was very pleased to see the lobby swelled to it's 8 player maximum within a few minutes. I never did receive a volunteer to open a second lobby but there didn't seem to be anybody else knocking on the door at that point so we set off for free practice at Monza.
Although Monza didn't count for points, it was a good way to settle in and I like the idea of giving everybody one round to "find themselves" in the car. There was some chicane cutting (tsk-tsk), off road excursions, and general frustration, but once that was worked out of everybody's system, the real racing was ready to begin.
Round 1, Homestead - 10 minutes - Dry
Homestead is a track that I largely ignored in Ferrari Challenge as I found it a bit boring, but it's been growing on me of late. Finding the correct entry into the first left hander, leaving the oval and entering the road course, is tricky indeed, especially in these 60s era cars that dart and get squirrelly under braking. I was lucky enough to find myself in the lead for the start of this race. At the end of the inland straight, I saw RS make a move up the inside and leave the track just in front of my nose. (I was taking a rather conservative entry into that turn and I'm not sure if he left his braking too late or I simply shut the door on him--if so I apologize). On lap two I was skidding and sliding on the entry to turn 1 and ended up leaving the track, allowing both PiotrB and Zedux to get by, although considering their pace, they likely would have done so anyway at some point in the next few laps. Or less. I managed to hold my position in 3rd and started to pull a gap to the cars behind me, but at the same time I was generally losing about 0.5~1.0 seconds per lap to the two in front for the rest of the race. Checking the track map from time to time, I could see much of the field bunched up closely and there was some moments of frustration on lap 3 at the hairpin before rejoining the oval portion of the track. Perhaps others would like to describe what happened from their perspective.
Round 1 Results:
1) PiotrB
2) Zedux
3) jjaisli
4) solidmic
5) ENERGIYA
6) JoaoPereira_P
7) RSRacer
8) GTRP-Flinx
Fastest Lap going to PiotrB with a 1:38.90 - enough to break the track record. Well done.
Round 2 - Infineon - 10 minutes - Dry
I like Infineon as a track but for whatever reason, I was never able to find a good flow around this circuit in any car. Perhaps it's the elevation changes which don't translate particularly well or just simply my own inability to come to terms with it's unique character. But I was hoping, most of all, to simply NOT embarrass myself in a crowd of quick racers. Much of this race is a bit of a blur. I managed at one point to get by Energiya but he remained close on my tail. On the final lap I was making up some time on solidmic and made a rather optimistic, 'last ditch' passing attempt on the chicane on the back straight. Not only did the attempt fail but it allowed Energiya to close right up on me and he drafted me into the hairpin. I braked early on the final hairpin and took the inside while he took the outside and it was a drag race to the finish line. Although the screen showed me ahead of him at the finish line, we both agreed that he had a nose on me at the line so I reversed the order. The biggest shock was seeing PiotrB finish the race with a time of 2:04.70--more than 2 full seconds clear of the next fastest. Simply unbelievable.
Round 2 Results:
1) PiotrB
2) Zedux
3) GTRP-Flinx
4) Solidmic
5) ENERGIYA
6) jjaisli
7) RSRacer
8) JoaoPereira_P
Fastest Lap PiotrB 2:04.70
Round 3 - Spa - 20 minutes - Wet
Water on the track. It adds an unexpected element to the racing and it's something that's implemented quite well in Ferrari Challenge. In a car like the GTO, which is already a bit dodgy in dry conditions, racing in the rain is often a nail biting experience. And what better place to do it than Spa-Francorchamps. For this race Flinx had to leave us for priorities in the 'real world' and his place was taken by WayneJones, who unfortunately had to leave us mid race. On lap one, I witnessed JoaoPereira_P and PiotrB come together at Rivage with PiotrB hitting the wall on the inside and Joao spinning wildly, at least 900*. It was quite impressive to see. (He later sent a message that his PS3 somehow lost connection to the Internet and he was then kicked out of the lobby. But I'm happy to say this was the only connection problem I experienced during the event with a lobby full of players and the problem seems to have been on Joao's end. Not long after, Zedux was able to get by me and took off after PiotrB who had managed to maintain his position in front of me despite running off the track. Energiya remained in the lead. From that point forward, for most of the race, I had the best seat in the house, anywhere from 2.5 ~ 6.5 seconds behind Zedux and PiotrB sparring for position. Lap after lap, I could see them drafting, in and out, side by side, left and right. My frustration at that point was that I simply wasn't fast enough to really see the battle, despite my best attempts to keep up the pace and I really could care less about my position, so taken was I by the two 'Strikers' sparring in front. Occasionally, one or both would lose a bit of time in their fight and several times it allowed me to close to <3 seconds for a better view. All the while Energiya remained out front, probably a bit relieved that PiortB and Zedux were, at the moment, more concerned about each other than they were about running him down. On the last lap either Zedux lost some time or PiotrB pulled away but the gap widened and PiotrB finished just adrift of Energiya, who was probably sweating up a storm. GREAT race. I wished I could have seen it on replay!
Round 3 Results:
1) ENERGIYA
2) PiotrB
3) Zedux
4) jjaisli
5) solidmic
6) RSRacer
7) JoaoPereira_P DQL
8) WayneJones DQL
Fastest Lap Zedux 3:10.55
Round 4 - Vallelunga - 10 minutes - Dry
Vallelunga is a much more technical track than it's given credit for and putting in a fast time means being as smooth as silk. Especially so in this car. But I made up my mind I would try my best and wouldn't make it easy for anybody, especially when I saw PiotrB drafting me on the main straight. I was pushing to my limit and he was closing on me none-the-less. I was so intent on watching him in my mirrors to see if and where he would make a move that I completely missed my braking point.
I did my best to throw the car sideways but I still ate gravel. I was a bit rueful when I realized PiotrB had followed me off the track. But true to form, he was much more elegant about it and lost much less time. In the meantime Energiya was able to get by and I simply wasn't fast enough to make up ground on him. This race was redemption for Zedux who managed to pull his first victory. Were it not for PiotrB, he would have been running away with this event.
Final Results:
1) Zedux
2) PiotrB
3) ENERGIYA
4) jjaisli
5) JoaoPereira_P
6) solidmic
Fastest Lap going to PiotrB at 2:04.89 - Yet another mind numbing time!
Round 5 - Mont-Tremblant - 30 minutes - Dry
Mont-Tremblant is a true gem. It's a very technical and true 'driver's track' and it's inclusion may in fact be unique to Ferrari Challenge (and the upcoming SuperCar Challenge). It's so tempting to go faster and faster on the long down hill sweeping right hander and indeed, there's a lot of time to be gained if you get it right. But if you get it wrong, you're off the road in a big way and by the time you're back on track, the penalty you paid in time is often too big to make up, even in a 30 minute race. I started this race last (or 2nd to last) and immediately shifted to 4th instead of 2nd. (The drawbacks of using the H-pattern shifter on the G25). But it was a long race and I tried to crank out consistent laps without pushing too hard to put in the ultimate lap time. To be honest, despite it being 30 minutes, this race was a bit of a blur. I can't even fully remember when or where I managed to get by people but I know for much of the last 15 minutes I was running in 3rd, about 8~12 seconds behind Zedux in 2nd. At that point the 4th place car, who had been running about 12 seconds behind me for many laps, had suddenly slipped back to >20 seconds. With 3 laps to go I figured my position was safe enough and I attempted to put in some 'hot' laps. On my first attempt I managed to get into the 2:01s. On the next lap I pushed harder still and came within cms of disaster and nearly flew off the track, dragging my rear end over the curbs in a drift that had my palms sweating. I was simply lucky that I managed to save it and only lost 2-3 seconds. At that point I was coming up on a lapped car and I decided to take it easy from there on until the end of the race, least I throw it all away. So it makes it all the more impressive to see both the first and second place cars exceed my best time by >1 full second. Well done both Zedux and PiotrB!
Round 5 Results:
1) PiotrB
2) Zedux
3) jjaisli
4) ENERGIYA
5) JoaoPereira_P
6) solidmic
7) RSRacer*
Fastest Lap going to PiotrB at 2:00.07. Impressive. Just so impressive.
* I wrote down RSRacer in 7th but I think he might of have been DQL. I'm sorry if I didn't write this down properly--let me know and I'll correct it.
FINAL RESULTS: Keeping in mind we're using the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points system with 1 point for fastest lap and Spa at 2x points and Mont-Tremblant at 3x points:
1) PiotrB_23 - 80 points****
2) Zedux - 54 points*****
3) ENERGIYA - 50 points
4) jjaisli - 41 points
5) solidmic - 30 points
6) JoaoPereira_P - 16 points
7) RSRacer - 14 points*
8) GTRP-Flinx - 7 points**
9) WayneJones - 0 points***
* RSRacer missed one race
** Flinx only took part in the first two races
*** WayneJones took part in one race and DFN
**** Points corrected after error made in calculation
***** Points corrected after error made in calculation
Congratulations PiotrB * Winner* of the 250 GTO Historic Event. Once again, as in the 250TR event, showing jaw dropping speed. (Personally I suspect he's Robert Kubica's faster brother).
I want to thank everybody who took part in this event. The great, clean and respectful racing that I saw makes these events all together enjoyable. Obrigado! Merci-bien. Vielen-Dank. Dziekuje Bardzo! And Thank You!
See you again soon!
The 250 GTO event began immediately after Formula 1 Qualifying from Barcelona ended. I was very pleased to see the lobby swelled to it's 8 player maximum within a few minutes. I never did receive a volunteer to open a second lobby but there didn't seem to be anybody else knocking on the door at that point so we set off for free practice at Monza.
Although Monza didn't count for points, it was a good way to settle in and I like the idea of giving everybody one round to "find themselves" in the car. There was some chicane cutting (tsk-tsk), off road excursions, and general frustration, but once that was worked out of everybody's system, the real racing was ready to begin.
Round 1, Homestead - 10 minutes - Dry
Homestead is a track that I largely ignored in Ferrari Challenge as I found it a bit boring, but it's been growing on me of late. Finding the correct entry into the first left hander, leaving the oval and entering the road course, is tricky indeed, especially in these 60s era cars that dart and get squirrelly under braking. I was lucky enough to find myself in the lead for the start of this race. At the end of the inland straight, I saw RS make a move up the inside and leave the track just in front of my nose. (I was taking a rather conservative entry into that turn and I'm not sure if he left his braking too late or I simply shut the door on him--if so I apologize). On lap two I was skidding and sliding on the entry to turn 1 and ended up leaving the track, allowing both PiotrB and Zedux to get by, although considering their pace, they likely would have done so anyway at some point in the next few laps. Or less. I managed to hold my position in 3rd and started to pull a gap to the cars behind me, but at the same time I was generally losing about 0.5~1.0 seconds per lap to the two in front for the rest of the race. Checking the track map from time to time, I could see much of the field bunched up closely and there was some moments of frustration on lap 3 at the hairpin before rejoining the oval portion of the track. Perhaps others would like to describe what happened from their perspective.
Round 1 Results:
1) PiotrB
2) Zedux
3) jjaisli
4) solidmic
5) ENERGIYA
6) JoaoPereira_P
7) RSRacer
8) GTRP-Flinx
Fastest Lap going to PiotrB with a 1:38.90 - enough to break the track record. Well done.
Round 2 - Infineon - 10 minutes - Dry
I like Infineon as a track but for whatever reason, I was never able to find a good flow around this circuit in any car. Perhaps it's the elevation changes which don't translate particularly well or just simply my own inability to come to terms with it's unique character. But I was hoping, most of all, to simply NOT embarrass myself in a crowd of quick racers. Much of this race is a bit of a blur. I managed at one point to get by Energiya but he remained close on my tail. On the final lap I was making up some time on solidmic and made a rather optimistic, 'last ditch' passing attempt on the chicane on the back straight. Not only did the attempt fail but it allowed Energiya to close right up on me and he drafted me into the hairpin. I braked early on the final hairpin and took the inside while he took the outside and it was a drag race to the finish line. Although the screen showed me ahead of him at the finish line, we both agreed that he had a nose on me at the line so I reversed the order. The biggest shock was seeing PiotrB finish the race with a time of 2:04.70--more than 2 full seconds clear of the next fastest. Simply unbelievable.
Round 2 Results:
1) PiotrB
2) Zedux
3) GTRP-Flinx
4) Solidmic
5) ENERGIYA
6) jjaisli
7) RSRacer
8) JoaoPereira_P
Fastest Lap PiotrB 2:04.70
Round 3 - Spa - 20 minutes - Wet
Water on the track. It adds an unexpected element to the racing and it's something that's implemented quite well in Ferrari Challenge. In a car like the GTO, which is already a bit dodgy in dry conditions, racing in the rain is often a nail biting experience. And what better place to do it than Spa-Francorchamps. For this race Flinx had to leave us for priorities in the 'real world' and his place was taken by WayneJones, who unfortunately had to leave us mid race. On lap one, I witnessed JoaoPereira_P and PiotrB come together at Rivage with PiotrB hitting the wall on the inside and Joao spinning wildly, at least 900*. It was quite impressive to see. (He later sent a message that his PS3 somehow lost connection to the Internet and he was then kicked out of the lobby. But I'm happy to say this was the only connection problem I experienced during the event with a lobby full of players and the problem seems to have been on Joao's end. Not long after, Zedux was able to get by me and took off after PiotrB who had managed to maintain his position in front of me despite running off the track. Energiya remained in the lead. From that point forward, for most of the race, I had the best seat in the house, anywhere from 2.5 ~ 6.5 seconds behind Zedux and PiotrB sparring for position. Lap after lap, I could see them drafting, in and out, side by side, left and right. My frustration at that point was that I simply wasn't fast enough to really see the battle, despite my best attempts to keep up the pace and I really could care less about my position, so taken was I by the two 'Strikers' sparring in front. Occasionally, one or both would lose a bit of time in their fight and several times it allowed me to close to <3 seconds for a better view. All the while Energiya remained out front, probably a bit relieved that PiortB and Zedux were, at the moment, more concerned about each other than they were about running him down. On the last lap either Zedux lost some time or PiotrB pulled away but the gap widened and PiotrB finished just adrift of Energiya, who was probably sweating up a storm.
GREAT race. I wished I could have seen it on replay!Round 3 Results:
1) ENERGIYA
2) PiotrB
3) Zedux
4) jjaisli
5) solidmic
6) RSRacer
7) JoaoPereira_P DQL
8) WayneJones DQL
Fastest Lap Zedux 3:10.55
Round 4 - Vallelunga - 10 minutes - Dry
Vallelunga is a much more technical track than it's given credit for and putting in a fast time means being as smooth as silk. Especially so in this car. But I made up my mind I would try my best and wouldn't make it easy for anybody, especially when I saw PiotrB drafting me on the main straight. I was pushing to my limit and he was closing on me none-the-less. I was so intent on watching him in my mirrors to see if and where he would make a move that I completely missed my braking point.
I did my best to throw the car sideways but I still ate gravel. I was a bit rueful when I realized PiotrB had followed me off the track. But true to form, he was much more elegant about it and lost much less time. In the meantime Energiya was able to get by and I simply wasn't fast enough to make up ground on him. This race was redemption for Zedux who managed to pull his first victory. Were it not for PiotrB, he would have been running away with this event.Final Results:
1) Zedux
2) PiotrB
3) ENERGIYA
4) jjaisli
5) JoaoPereira_P
6) solidmic
Fastest Lap going to PiotrB at 2:04.89 - Yet another mind numbing time!
Round 5 - Mont-Tremblant - 30 minutes - Dry
Mont-Tremblant is a true gem. It's a very technical and true 'driver's track' and it's inclusion may in fact be unique to Ferrari Challenge (and the upcoming SuperCar Challenge). It's so tempting to go faster and faster on the long down hill sweeping right hander and indeed, there's a lot of time to be gained if you get it right. But if you get it wrong, you're off the road in a big way and by the time you're back on track, the penalty you paid in time is often too big to make up, even in a 30 minute race. I started this race last (or 2nd to last) and immediately shifted to 4th instead of 2nd. (The drawbacks of using the H-pattern shifter on the G25). But it was a long race and I tried to crank out consistent laps without pushing too hard to put in the ultimate lap time. To be honest, despite it being 30 minutes, this race was a bit of a blur. I can't even fully remember when or where I managed to get by people but I know for much of the last 15 minutes I was running in 3rd, about 8~12 seconds behind Zedux in 2nd. At that point the 4th place car, who had been running about 12 seconds behind me for many laps, had suddenly slipped back to >20 seconds. With 3 laps to go I figured my position was safe enough and I attempted to put in some 'hot' laps. On my first attempt I managed to get into the 2:01s. On the next lap I pushed harder still and came within cms of disaster and nearly flew off the track, dragging my rear end over the curbs in a drift that had my palms sweating. I was simply lucky that I managed to save it and only lost 2-3 seconds. At that point I was coming up on a lapped car and I decided to take it easy from there on until the end of the race, least I throw it all away. So it makes it all the more impressive to see both the first and second place cars exceed my best time by >1 full second. Well done both Zedux and PiotrB!
Round 5 Results:
1) PiotrB
2) Zedux
3) jjaisli
4) ENERGIYA
5) JoaoPereira_P
6) solidmic
7) RSRacer*
Fastest Lap going to PiotrB at 2:00.07. Impressive. Just so impressive.
* I wrote down RSRacer in 7th but I think he might of have been DQL. I'm sorry if I didn't write this down properly--let me know and I'll correct it.
FINAL RESULTS: Keeping in mind we're using the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points system with 1 point for fastest lap and Spa at 2x points and Mont-Tremblant at 3x points:
1) PiotrB_23 - 80 points****
2) Zedux - 54 points*****
3) ENERGIYA - 50 points
4) jjaisli - 41 points
5) solidmic - 30 points
6) JoaoPereira_P - 16 points
7) RSRacer - 14 points*
8) GTRP-Flinx - 7 points**
9) WayneJones - 0 points***
* RSRacer missed one race
** Flinx only took part in the first two races
*** WayneJones took part in one race and DFN
**** Points corrected after error made in calculation
***** Points corrected after error made in calculation
Congratulations PiotrB * Winner* of the 250 GTO Historic Event. Once again, as in the 250TR event, showing jaw dropping speed. (Personally I suspect he's Robert Kubica's faster brother).
I want to thank everybody who took part in this event. The great, clean and respectful racing that I saw makes these events all together enjoyable. Obrigado! Merci-bien. Vielen-Dank. Dziekuje Bardzo! And Thank You!
See you again soon!
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If I ever hit it filthy rich, I'm going to buy 330 Short Wheelbase and trace the steps of the Mille Miglia.
