Round 1 - Phoenix 200 [Mar 26th]

Results and points are up

Dustin gets 1 point for pole, Alan gets one extra point for the most lead laps.

Well, that was something. The year old March was generally short on downforce and very weak in turbulent air but, thanks to a ton of yellows and cranking up the boost at the end, I managed to get into the podium positions in the closing stages with Chevys hot on my heels.

Naturally, Alberto's Penske got through before long. Then, a lap or two after, I was behind and carried much more speed into T1, had to check up, and had a half-spin that I was able to recover from and continue. Overenthusiastic and eager to get back lost time, I attacked T3/4 at my typical pace and found that my severely overheated tires were not up for the task. This time it was a full spin though thankfully with no damage.

After that, my race was defined much the same as earlier stages, stuck among laps-down cars that were blocking and trying to pass and generally preventing progress.

Either way, best of the non-Chevys is good enough.

The broadcast is currently being processed but it can be found in the link and video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr_I38BbFTU

First off, Congratulations to Alan and everyone who managed to finish the race.  Very exciting stuff!  Thanks to the broadcast crew for the very kind words and a very good job today.  Thanks to Dave Sabre for developing this great Mod, and the HSO personnel who make this great organization what is is today!

I really had a good car today:happy: ..It stuck real well in turns 1 & 2, where I was having the most difficulty during the week of practice.  I was running behind Jason White, exiting turn 4 and for a split second, I lost my concentration and brushed the outside wall, knocking off my rear wing. I had a real good run going and lost it all in an instant.  Oh well, on to the next race.

When will the R2 thread go up?

Threads usually appear a week before the race.

Matthew Hull wrote:

When will the R2 thread go up?

One week before the race.

I love the mod and I enjoyed practicing and the short bit of the race I did, just a shame so many people had random technical issues today. Could have been a much better race.

Congratulations to all finishers. Really strong pace out there, and thanks for lapping me in a safe way.
Made the most out of my 618 HP March86C with 8th. I knew before the race i couldnt match any other car, so the plan A was clear (See the checkered ). Bob Holanda (with the other but faster 86C) drop out quite early, from then on i followed the field without any fights. Even Jason was faster with his replaced rear wing

Great mod, great coverage. 13 races still to come Hope to get a fast car soon

Jason White wrote:

Matthew Hull wrote:

When will the R2 thread go up?

One week before the race.

PSA: Don't post when tired, you'll make obvious comments.

Was a fun race, for the most part. Screwed up in Qualifying, had planned to run a conservative-ish first lap, to just get something laid down, then go all out on the 2nd lap. Was too conservative on the first and ended up overdriving the second to try and make up some time. So I was gonna be stuck in the back.

At the green I managed to make up quite  few places, as the car was fast. But not as fast as I was hoping. I did notice early on that when the field was bunched I could run people down and pass them, but once everyone strung out, it was really difficult to get up to and around people. Was really weird, if I was behind a wad of 4 or 5 cars, I could run up on them in the corners and didn't really have much issue with Aero issues. However, if it was just one or 2 people ahead of me and they were running in line. I had a helluva time in the corners as the front end would wash out, was very weird.

Overall, I took my time and just picked off what I could. I'd hoped to at least finish and try to be in the Top 10. Prior to the halfway point it became pretty obvious that if I could stay out of trouble, I would be finishing in the Top 5. Nearly had a heart attack over the course of one lap, I had David Jundt spin above me in 3&4, then we went into Turn 1 and Dana looped it, and I missed the back end of her car by inches. At the next restart I knew that would be it, I had to get by Alberto if there would be any chance of catching Alan. We went green and Alan just drove off into the sunset, a lap latter I turned the boost up to 5 and was all over Alberto but I just couldn't get a run where I needed it or hold the position. I finally decided on the last lap that I was going by him on the Backstretch, even if it meant straight lining the dogleg, so I did, and as I was down int he grass a little voice told me I probably shouldn't be doing that so I backed out a bit so I didn't pass him. I might've had him coming to the line but I go squirrely coming out of 4 and had to settle for 3rd. Big thanks to my Chief Mechanic Scott Urick for helping set the car up!

Was a good race, congrats to Alan, and everyone who finished. On to Long Beach and Alberto and I can fight for position in the back of the field.

Screengrabs up

http://historicsimracing.org/en/resultatscourse/1369

Still a little shocked I've won, was alot of luck involved but I'll happily take it, first half of the race was just trying to look after the car and engine while keeping as close to the leaders as possible. I didn't have any plans for pit strategy so just decided to do something different from the leaders and hope the yellows went my way which thankfully they did for my first (and probably my last)HSO win .

Thanks to all the HSO staff that have built the mod and run this series its really good and if the rest of the races are even half as fun its going to be a great season  

Also thanks to Bob Wilson whose Milwaukee setup I used (with some fine tuning) was easy and fast to drive , without it I would of been nowhere near as competitive  

Good job as always on the Youtube broadcast Jonatan and the rest of the commentary crew and thanks for not showing my pathetic attempt at doughnuts after the race   Alex Zanardi wouldn't of been impressed.

I was a little disappointed to qualify 16th my first lap was too cautious and on the second lap I got understeer exiting turn 2.
For the race I used a setup that I could run in traffic without getting too much understeer and be able to change my lines in the corners, of course that meant being down on ultimate speed. With all of the yellows in the first half of the race an early pitstop moved me towards the front of the race. After some more yellows I was running right at the front. The first green flag pitstop came up and when I pitted the crew disappeared and I had to do another lap and enter the pits again, this putting me a lap down even after the other cars had pitted. Then a steady drive to the flag and fifth place. I would happily have take fifth place before the start, so a good result.

Congrats to Alan, a well judged race.
Thanks to the commentary team, it was nice to have Scott there, it sounds right hearing an American voice.
Sorry to those who hit the solid pit marshals, that should not happen.

My real life got complicated around the middle of the week, and I could not dedicate enough time to make a good race setup, for what I paid dearly later. The car was great in clean air, but I had lots of problems following any of the quickest competitors. Anyway, I was not going to take risks of damaging my only chances of good results this year (Ovals), so I avoided fights and did not try to follow anyone but kept my own pace. I saw chances to overtake on the outside of turn 4 as Grant did (Pass of year so far, amazing one mate congrats ) but did not trust either car or the competitor and was not going to dice it stupidly. The attrition was high, as expected, and staying out of trouble paid off, but I was overcautious with fuel and found myself carrying 65 litres when the last 10 laps under green started. Some laps earlier I had bruised the wall by misunderstanding what David Jundt was doing while as lapping him and got damage in the rear right, which made the car oversteery and quite hairy  . With lots of fuel onboard and a damaged car, that meant I was not going to be able to press Alan for the win, but just defend myself however I could from being "Fitched"  , and I managed to do it -hopefully cleanly enough- for a nice second place   

Quote :

On to Long Beach and Alberto and I can fight for position in the back of the field.

Yeah see you there (At the back )

Totalement absorbé par le pilotage, je n'ai pas vu arriver la panne d'essence.... Dommage, ça se passait plutôt bien, surtout sans setup, ni entraînement.

Dustin Lengert wrote:

Pitted after i hit my fuel window on the 5th? caution, screwed myself out of the race trying to pass a guy too hard who was weaving all over the track trying to hold me off for p10, but more annoyed that I got jumped on every single restart at the beginning and not a single thing was done about it, what is the point of single file restart if you aren't going to enforce people staying in line. I tried to play fair on starts and almost got screwed for it. Oh well on to long beach

As Richard said, we are used to a staggered formation to prevent hits from behind (Happened a lot in teh first races of the 73 season last year), so the rule is to be completely behind -in terms of track position- the other car. In any case, I started several times behind you (staggered) and all of them were on boost 3 and never attempted a pass, as my objective in the race was not about fighting everybody for any position and my setup wouldn't allow it anyway. If I got closer to you, it was while defending me from whoever was behind.

Short race for me,clipped wall avoiding rich coxons spinning car,managed to get it back to the pits with no rear end,but the pitcrew did not repair it so race over.

Just a question. I saw David Jundt driving without a front wheel while race. Can that be repaired in pits? Or was it just a mod gremlin?

Jan Kowalski wrote:

Just a question. I saw David Jundt driving without a front wheel while race. Can that be repaired in pits? Or was it just a mod gremlin?

saw that too in my mirrors...looked hilarious

Congratulations to all the lucky, and highly skilled finishers

I was disappointed to find out how off the pace the March 86 was.  Tried other setups watched replays and put in a lot of laps.  I ended up with a Qually setup that could barely get me into the 22’s.  And a race setup that was good for 23.7 on fresh tires.  I was thankful to have Jan in another March86 to race with.  Messed up my first qually lap and ended up on the last row behind Jan.  I realized soon that my 2nd gear was way to high for starts and restarts.  But I was content in the early laps to keep Jan in sight.  But on lap 20 a faster car that had made an early pit stop came up and punted me out of the race. No doubt he was surprised by my lack of speed.  But I had expected better.

First. Huge apology to Bob Holada for taking him out of the race. I had just finished serving a stop and go (for no reason that I can tell) and was getting back into the race on lap 18.  Bob was runnning ahead of me, off in the distance, and I was able to close the gap relatively quickly.  Starting lap 20 I saw Bob go high into turn 1 but I wasn't close enough to pass.  Then I was closing as we entered turn 3 and Bob was going high again so I turned to go low into the turn, a normal turn-in really. But I didn't leave enough room and clipped Bob's left rear hard and he lost a wheel and I lost a wing and ultimately an engine. Closing speed or going loose so close to his rear or brain fade? I don't know but no excuses, it was my fault.  Again, sorry Bob.

Second. I love these cars and this track and was looking forward to earning a points finish at days end. The car was feeling good in traffic during the early laps and I weaved through the first yellow carnage without getting touched.  A good omen I thought.  Even the unexpected Stop/Go wasn't bothering me. Then lap 20 happened.

Third. For the admins, I received a stop and go penalty at the first yellow restart for no reason that I could tell.  I was following Dana around during the yellow, and she was marked in yellow, and when we went green a message flashed that I couldn't read and the stop/go icon appeared in the top left.  I've watched the replay several times from several angles and still don't see what happened.

Fourth.  Thanks to the team that created this mod and puts on this series.  Amazing work.

Looking forward to the next race.

Quote :

Third. For the admins, I received a stop and go penalty at the first yellow restart for no reason that I could tell.  I was following Dana around during the yellow, and she was marked in yellow, and when we went green a message flashed that I couldn't read and the stop/go icon appeared in the top right.  I've watched the replay several times from several angles and still don't see what happened.

Thxs for reporting. We will have a look at the replay and tell you something later

Peter Blom wrote:

Jan Kowalski wrote:

Just a question. I saw David Jundt driving without a front wheel while race. Can that be repaired in pits? Or was it just a mod gremlin?

saw that too in my mirrors...looked hilarious

In hindsight, yes. At that moment, no

But let me elaborate:

I was coming out of T1/2 when the caution was thrown. I had no idea if a car spun ahead or behind me until I saw the cars ahead of me backing up massively.

I also saw Richard's March standing sideways to the track too late. I tried avoiding him to the left where no cars were, but it was too late. Ran into his front and lost my FW and the right front wheel.

Sorry Richard, didn't mean to end your race like that

At that stage, after exactely trying NOT to get into such a situation where I wouldn't be able to avoid somebody(anyone remember my one-off start at the USAC Phoenix race? Well, yeah... same story), I thought my race was over.

I followed the field ahead of me to at least get it to the pits(like the USAC race) and get my parts back. I had to wait though as the pits were closed.

I then noticed the game told me I was going too slow and I got worried I'd be DSQ'd if I didn't speed up.

As the caution was thrown(and standings freezed) while I was still around P15, I had to crawl past several cars on three wheels to slot in behind the Blommeister. I don't have to mention I felt rather awkward doing that, but I had no choice I guess.

So I three-wheeled around when the message "Pit open leaders"(in German) came up.

As I couldn't tell if the game meant like the Top 10 or all cars on the lead lap, I didn't pit and spent another lap with my tricycle

Steered into the pits after the next loop and prayed that I'd get my parts back.

Like in USAC(and opposed to the '91 F1 championship), I got them back!

I took 91 seconds though, so I turned off my engine and fell down the lap that I'd never get back all race long(I sadly even went two laps down as the cautions never came out when I needed them).

But with all the attrition, I am still glad I made it(especially when it meant P6 for me!).

I had no real chance afterwards, as my front kept washing out at T1/2, mostly on new, cold tyres. Not sure if it was better before the accident, but the yellow dots around my right front told me that it probably did affect the performance of my car.

On this occasion, I'd like to mention Mr Jaques again and thank him for his help so close before the event

Would've probably looked even slower if it wasn't for him!


@Dana: You're lucky btw. If I hadn't found the gap between your spinning car and the wall, your car couldn't been toast too, phew  


Also, seems like my epic drift was called when 3-4 people tried to lap me. I opened and steered in too suddenly which threw me sideways. On every other try, I'd have spun I guess, but I hit the brakes aswell, which straightened my car out again and I only lost some seconds.

In the end, my only really lasting battle was with Jason over 6th. I managed to get him back after Dana's spin caution as I worked out that my engine would last if I used boost 5 to attack. I had more than enough fuel to make it work.

It was fun though, looking forward to races like Long Beach, where street- and also road-course racers will have an advantage I guess.


@Alan Forster: You mirrored Mario's finishing position perfectly. I feel short by 3 places

My race was quite eventful from start to finish.  Last year I came in 8th at the USAC 73 Phoenix race, and did so by avoiding trouble, so this was also my game plan this time. Only qualified 13th, but moved into the top 10 quickly as several drivers experienced issues.  Was among the group of drivers that pitted early under yellow, and this proved to be a good strategy, as by mid-race I was in the top 5.  I had a really fun wheel to wheel battle with Alberto on lap 86   Then came a really disastrous restart, where I was overhauled by Alberto, Grant and one other.  The Judd may be smooth, but it is a sitting duck on restarts :/  Then, while trying to keep pace, I experienced severe wash out in turn 4 and brushed the wall, losing my rear wing. By some miracle, I was able to bring the car to a stop without losing a wheel.  I limped back to the pits for a new wing and repairs. The car was surprisingly drivable after this, and although I was now two laps down, I still could finish in the top 10.  A late race spin by David Jundt elevated me to 6th place briefly, but his Cosworth was just too much for me on the last restart.  7th place on a track that is difficult to survive on; I'll take it.  Long Beach will likely be another survival test