A Look at the LMP Cars...

In the G1:GP we are using the 2001 to 2003 LMP cars for our sportcar series. That gives quite a range of cars to choose from.

The years featured where mainly dominated by the famous Audi R8 so it's no surprise that that is a popular car. However are there options that are competitive. The Panoz won several LMP races and has been competitive in our series. The Cadilac proved to be pretty competitive too and the Riley and Scott wasn't far behind (interestingly the early Caddy was an evolution of the R&S IIIC ).

I am considering requesting a chassis change to add variety to the series so have been taking a look at the different cars. I'm using the same setup for all cars with the exception of gearing. Fuel loads were quite heavy so pole is likely 2-3s quicker.

Gearing seems to be in two flavours which probably reflects the maximum RPM of the given engine. There are also two styles of engine. a 6l normally aspirated typically V8 (could be V10) or a 3.6-4l V8-V10 Twin Turbo.

I'm going to look at some of the cars around the mosport park race track and achieved a 1m06.987 in an R8. This is therefore one of the benchmarks I'll be using. The other is 'feel'.

The Doran Lista, Dallara with a Judd engine was first up. This car I struggled to get a competitive time in with the setup I was using. The car feels inherently loose althuogh it is pretty quick in a straight line.

Courages C60 was also a struggle. The car feels low on grip and a bit unstable under braking. I wasn't able to attack T2 in the same was as the R8.

The Lola also has the Judd engine and is a pretty fast option. I got a 1m07.467 out of her and she's probably really just lacking a little downforce. Nicely balanced car though.

The RS has the same engine as the faster Panoz in an Elite 6l all be it slightly less power. This is a car I feel at home in. I quickly got a 1m07.097 and very impressed. May well be the car I change to.

The Caddy probably unsurprisingly feels similar to the RS and has a similar pace. I got a 1m07.1 fairly easilly so comparible.

Most people have been using the Elite powered Panoz LMP01 so I took the LMP07 out for a spin next. It doesn't feel bad but the lower power of the 600bhp/387ftlb mugen is noticeable. 1m07.5 seemed to be about the best I could get in a quick test.

The next car surprised the hell out of me. The Dome is powered by the powerfull Judd engine (the most powerfull engine available) but is a little known car.. well I did a 1m06.7 (and was 0.4s down on pb at second split.) so a 1m06.3 was doable. Definatly something to look at.

The LMP02 Caddy was next up. Apparantly this is a Caddy chassis rather than the LMP01's RS derived one. I quickly did a 1m06.5 so another interesting choice. Having got two stunning times I decided I'd finish up going back to the R8 as I felt I might be learning the track better too.

Before that I went to two more cars. Firstly the banned ( due to a pitstop bug) Bentley. The Bentley is interesting as it's the only closed cockpit car in the series. This car had a heavier feel than the others and didn't feel quite so 'glued' as the open cockpit models.

The Reynard is the most underpowered car. In fact I've seen it flagged as a 675 model on some websites so I wonder if the sim is depicting it as a 675 chassis with a 900 engine. It feels very nimble and easy to drive on the limit but the lack of power does show. Sulla has been fairly successful with the car but she most likely is having to push very hard throughout racing and has been hampered by lack of LC.

Finally I went back to the R8. The previous 'mark' time had been set in a 2003 model. so what could I do in my usual mount. The answer was a 1m06.343.

So alongside the R8 and Panoz LMP01Evo I'd say the Caddy's and Riley and Scott look most competitive. The Dome is also in the mix while the Reynard is a car that relies on drivers being able to be work well in all kinds of corners. 

So if anyone is looking at a R8/LMP01Evo alternative take a look at the R&S or the Dome.

G1:GP Watkins Glen LMP Race

Curiously this was my second WG race in 3 days having (sort of) participated in the final pre-season event in the Legends League on the Sunday. I had struggled a lot in the 79's but the 75 laps of practice meant when I jumped in the R8 I was up to speed on the layout.

Pole position, however, went to Yuriko with a demon lap from Jafo fractions ahead of Reitveld, Crippy, Suzy and championship leader Remon. Remon had two wins from pole under his belt but was curiously off the pace here while Looming was unable to start so claimed last place.

Into T1 Reitveld had a look inside Yuri who forcefully shut the door while Jafo took the lead. Behind them Remon got airborne (above) and damaged his car. Further round the lap, exiting T6 (I think - the 2nd corner after Carousel) Crippy's car got away from her and she rotated.

Two corners later Jafo ran wide giving Yuri a chance, unfortunatly her first spin occured and she lost a place to Katier. Yuri would get back past the R8 driver shortly after but her race fell apart with a huge spin on lap 7 costing her a lap for a new rear wing.

By that Lap 7 the field had settled down. Jafo looked comfortable a few seconds ahead of Katier who was keeping a 1-2s gap ahead of Suzy. Suku was next up ahead of the recovering Crippy, Rattra and Kiboe. Remon had retired giving him his worst result of the year and pleasing Sulla as her absence meant he gained only a point on her.

The pitstops proper started on lap 12 when Suzy pitted. Afterwards she confessed this stop was earlier than she had intended but it was bang on half distance and she took on exactly the fuel required. Exiting in clear air and suddenly she had a shot at victory. 

Aware that Suzy might be quick on fresh tyre's Katier started to push hard and pitting on lap 14 she just scraped out ahead of the Lola B2K10. Katier drove her outlap absolutely flat out, 5s quicker than anyone else and 7s quicker than Jafo. 

That meant that after the stops Katier lead from Suzy, Jafo, Crippy and Rattra. Suku was last unlapped runner with Kiboe one lap down and, after a second rear wing removing spin, Yuriko was two.

Katier was now clearly driving as hard as she could pulling away from Suzy with a series of 1m30 and 1m29s laps. Suzy was eventually past by Jafo on lap 19 at which point a minor off also damaged her car. 

Katiers hard pressed tyres were now starting to go off and Jafo was closing in fast, by lap 22, with one to go, he was right with her. Out of the last corner he got a better exit and crossing the line was in the lead. Over the last lap Reitveld put as much pressure on the leading Panoz has she could.. almost too much pressure as a half spin near the end of the 'loop' lost her a couple of seconds.

Jafo then crashed exiting the next corner but was able to just, with the aid of a bit of robust driving in the last corner, to hold on to the win by a fraction of a second. (Katier's half spin is depicted as the background to this blog) 

Pos/Driver/Laps/Time/Gap/Aids/Car

1 JAFO2RHh - 23 - 35:58:780 - ABS=2 AutoBlip Clutch Stability=2 TC=3 - Panoz
2 Katier Reitveld - 23 - 35:59:030 +.25s  - ABS=1 AutoBlip Clutch TC=1 - Audi
3 Suzy Cuddihy - 23 - 36:02:786 - +4.01s  - ABS=2 AutoBlip AutoLift AutoShift=3 Clutch Opposite Stability=1 TC=1 - Lola
4 Crippy Oh 23 36:24:203 +25.42s - Cadillac
5 Rattra 23 36:50:409 +51.63s - ABS=2 Stability=2 TC=2 - Audi
6 Tsukuba Ming 23 36:53:268 +54.49s - ABS=2 AutoBlip Clutch Stability=1 TC=1 - Panoz
7 Kiboe 22 +1L  - ABS=2 AutoBlip Clutch Opposite Stability=2 TC=3 - Dallara
8 Yuriko 21 +2L - ABS=2 AutoBlip Clutch Stability=2 TC=3 - Audi
9 Remon Franizzi 7 +16L DNF(DNF) - ABS=2 Clutch Stability=2 TC=3 - Audi

(This series allows a number of driver aids reflecting it's casual friendly nature. It makes an interesting comparison however seeing which aids are used)

G1:GP - Trucks - Stockton and Myrtle

The Stock trucks season kicked off in the familiar surroundings of the Stockton Oval race track. A track we had run in test races and also in the legends in season 2.

Despite the familiarity two collisions, one the fault of yours truly (right) caused the field behind the leaders to scramble up somewhat. 

At the end of lap one Looming led from oval specialist, Suku, and Crippy, in the blue twinkies car, who had narrowly avoided the spinning Jafo.

Yuriko had gained most from the start running 4th ahead of Nella and Suzy. The early battles were centered around these two as they run nose to tail for some time while other drivers had incidents. Mango, Katier, Yuriko and Sulla all spinning before half of the race was run.

By the finish Suku had won by a lap from Jafo and Suzy. A further lap back was Kiboe who had put in a personal best performance ahead of the recovering Katier.

1. Suku
2. Jafo
3. Suzy
4. Kiboe
5. Katier
6. Rattra
7. Crippy
8. Yuriko
9. Nella
10. Sulla
11. Mango

Myrtle beach was run two days later and this time pitstops and yellow flags would be a feature. This time the start was cleaner but Kiboe lost it on lap 1 and brought out the yellow flag early on.

Best restarter was Katier who nipped inside Crippy to take 4th while up front Ming past Jafo for second. Crippy fought back though and retook the place only for an soft touch to put Crippy to the back of the field. No yellow though so the field continued to lap 22 when the yellow was brought out by Rattra.

As soon as the pitlane opened Suku and Katier took to the pitlane and in doing so were able to jump to the lead positions. Unfortunatly off the restart Kiboe didn't listen to the instructions given and squeezed Suku. This delayed both leaders and they lost places quickly to Sulla.

Jafo would then hound Katier for lap after lap but never quite manage to pull the pass off ultimatly half spinning on the last lap and losing a place to Yuriko.

1. Sulla
2. Suku
3. Katier
4. Yuriko
5. Jafo
6. Suzy
7. Kiboe
8. Crippy
9. Rattra
10. Mango

Coming up

Reports on the first two G1GP Truck races, the Watkins Glen LMP races and the First round of the Legends League F1 season.

G1:GP Silverstone LMP Race

From Canada the LMP's were transported across the 'pond' to the classic surroundings of the Silverstone circuit.

Once again Remon claimed pole but off the start Katier made a lightning start. With Looming, second, hampered by lacking traction control the R8 screamed through the gap between them into the lead.  Behind Crippy also took advantage while Rattra settled into 6th ahead of Suzy, Suku and Kiboe.

Jafo was 5th with Nella making a slow start and finding herself surrounded in the GT class runners added to ad some 'spice' to the field.

Reitveld lead into T1 but Remon, with the fast starting Crippy alongside, collided prejumably due to no spotter to warn him of her presence causing a huge spin. Rattra in the second Champion R8 JUST squeezed through past her but Looming was not so fortunate and cannoned off the stranded car.

The action didn't finish there as, in avoiding the crash, Jafo took to the pitlane. As he exited he surprised Suzy who, caught by surprise, braked and quick reactions from Suku avoided a second crash. 

Amazingly all that left no serious damage and at the end of the lap Looming was up to 5th and Crippy 7th.

The next incedent happened on lap four when Rattra and Reitveld collided. It appeared that Rattra got caught out by her slightly earlier than him approaching Vale. Unfortunatly it also appears lag had an effect as she lost a wing to a collision a lot lighter than the T1 incident.

Yet again Reitveld found herself losing a lap and having to fight back.  While Remon cruised away up front. Looming car seemed little effected by the Lap one incedent and now chased the leader hard with initally Jafo, then Rattra chasing.

While the front two looked untroubled things weren't so clear behind and frequent place changes occured through up to the stops on about lap 13. At this stage Yuriko had dropped out shortly after a spin. After the stops Looming led from Remon, Jafo, Crippy and Rattra.

The big chase, however, was Reitveld and Cuddihy. Reitveld had stopped on lap 13 and swiftly dealth with the backmarkers and closed in on Cuddihy. Exiting Vale on the last lap she spun and Reitveld gratefully gained the place.

1. Remon Franizzi - Audi R8
2. Crippy Oh - Cadillac LMP01
3. Sulla Looming - Reynard 01Q-01
4. Rattra - Audi R8
5. Jafo - Panoz LMP01Evo
6. Suku Ming - Panoz LMP01Evo
7. Katier Reitveld - Audi R8
8. Suzy Cuddihy - Lola B2K10
9. Nella Boccara - Audi R8
10. Yuriko - Audi R8
11. Kiboe - Dallara LMP

G1:GP Canadian LMP Race

The first race of the LMP season took place at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal. This circuit blends tricky corners with long fast sections and as such is a challenging circuit especially on machine and it's brakes.

Remon Franizzi lined up on pole ahead of Sulla Looming, Jafo Tendaze, Katier Reitveld, Tsukuba Ming, Rattra, Crippy Oh, Yuriko, Suzy Cuddihy, Nella Boccara and Kiboe.

Looming was concerned about the lack of Launch Control on her Reynard 01Q-01 race car and this proved to be the case as Tendaze and Reitveld both jumper her and challenged Franizzi into T1. Exiting T1 they were next to each other and contact was inevitable.

Reitveld was knocked into a spin and broadside on most of the field scraped past her. Unfortunatly Boccora and Kiboe both struck the stranded car with some force and damaged all three vehicles. Boccora was out on the spot while Reitveld lost a lap in the pits. Kiboe continued but was last and retired on lap 11 with an ill handling car.

Franizzi was in control very quickly and Tendaze, driving hard, was unable to close the gap with Ming holding station behind.

Oh was soon up to 4th after Ming lost time with a lap three spin but dropped behind Rattra sortly after. Her car appeared to be in trouble and on lap 8 she was in for a long stop dropping her behind Retiveld.

Rattra had retired on lap 7 so with the stops approaching Franizzi lead from Tendaze with Looming in third but strangely not quite on the pace. Cuddihy was consistant in 4th ahead of the recovering Ming.

The stops showed why Looming was off the pace.. she'd chosen medium tyres and a lightning stop left her second while Tendaze came out in third. Drama wasnt' finished in the race, however, as approaching the end first Oh, then Tendaze, both suffered brake failure and Ming had a last lap incedent.

1 Remon Franizzi
2 Sulla Looming
3 Suzy Cuddihy
4 Tsukuba Ming 
5 JAFO2RHh
6 Katier Reitveld
7 Crippy Oh
8 Kiboe
9 Rattra
10 Yuriko
11 Nella Boccara

Current Seasons

Currently I am racing in two seasons with G1-GP and will shortly be starting in Division Two of the Legends League F179 series.

In G1-GP I drive a Chevy Stock Truck in the mainly oval series and a 2001 Audi R8 in the LMP series.

In LL I drive for Gallia Racing driving a Ferrari T4.

Legends League opens with Mugello park on 6th of September while the G1-GP has just completed race 3 of the LMP's and is two races in on the trucks.

Previous Seasons

Last Legends League season had me running a Williams FW07 for Landiaspeed racing. I struggled somewhat with a car I found a bit edgy and getting the hang of racing again. 

For G1GP I have run two seasons. The first I joined part way through the LMP675 season finishing 9th overall with a best of 5th.

The second season was one of the most interesting I have every participated in. Instead of a single class this was a 10 race, 3 class season. RF3s running on street/city tracks, Legends cars on ovals ( or Fig 8's ) and the Rayzors at the various Lienz layouts.

Initially I struggled especially with people hitting the rear of me rather a lot ( a trend that get's rather annoying) but by mid season I was 6th and putting in podiums. The highlight was winning at Lienz, a feat I managed without leading a lap. The Lienz events being run as twin races and two seconds was enough for an overall win. I finished 4th that season.