damage limitation with minimal practise.
Anyhow, all of that is not your problem so I'll just plug away at the
reviews and try to make up for lost time. In some ways this situation is
unfortunate as people have not been offered the opportunity to adjust their
approach and therefore may be made to look like repeat offenders, while in
fact any errors or annoyances were never pointed out to them. The reader
should keep that in mind with these "backlog" reviews.
A no yellows race at Darlington then. Though, personally, I do not support
turning yellows off to stop them from occurring (non-solution), it did
illustrate a point I had been trying to make. If everyone has the discipline
to survive the first dozen laps after the start/ a restart and shows the
maturity of knowing when to fight for position and when to choose the path
of least resistance, racing at Darlington can have decidedly a green flavour
to it. As evidenced by fairly long periods between incidents in the review
(altough cautions will breed cautions easily at this track, I agree).
As for the self spinners... preparation and familiarity with the setup are
prerequisites, IMO. That includes me, BTW, and I'm sorry about that. I'd ran
the track a lot in NR2002 and assumed I'd be ok. Turns out I wasn't.
I cannot be sure there were no incidents between lap 41 and lap 132, I just
didn't spot any. If something did occur, let me know.
BTW: the incident laps are referenced off #3's laps counter. I'm assuming he
all but lead start to finish.
Lap 8, Turn 1:
#1 and #2 go either side of #12 down the front straight. As #1 is about to
move up onto the banking again, #2 winks out momentarily. As #1 rejoins the
banking #2 re-appears and they tangle. ---> racing incident but #1 should
have been more carefull as he was in fact rejoining the racing surface. On
the server replay #2 can clearly be heard alongside before the wink out, but
there's no telling whether this was the case on #1's end.
As the incident unfolds #42 comes up behind and tries to go low to avoid, #1
tumbles down from the banking right in his path. ---> bad luck.
#2 has lost the engine but can't get off the track because of people passing
him off T2. #170 is spooked by the slow car on the racing groove and spins
trying to avoid it, tagging the inside wall in the process. ---> fairly
little either driver could have done about that.
Lap 10, T4:
#24 spins coming out of the turn.
Lap 18, T4:
#5 spins coming out of the turn and blows a tyre.
Lap 20, T4:
#67 spins coming out of the turn and dings the pitwall.
Lap 25, T4:
#67 spins out in front of #7. #99 is a bit late reacting and hits #67. #17
is blinded by the tyre smoke and slows. Other pass unhindered. ---> racing
incident.
Lap 33, T4:
#12 spins out coming out of the turn and slides to a halt next to the wall
along s/f. #17
and #04 avoid. ---> racing incident.
Lap 38, T3:
#96 attempts to overtake #00 going into T3, a desperately tight spot for an
overtaking move. #96 turns in a little late and a typical latency incident
ensues. ---> racing incident.
Lap 41, T4:
#67 spins out in T4, #24 goes high to avoid, but gets clipped all the
same. ---> racing incident.
Lap 132, T1:
#15 moves low along s/f to allow Robert Huggins through and slows a little
just incase #17, recovering from a half spin, drifts into his path. #00 is
coming down s/f, obviously assuming #15 has seen him and will stay low. A
wrong assumption as #15 moves across to occupy the racing line again. #00's
reflex is to swerve to the inside to avoid, but contact is inevitable. --->
racing incident.
#17 narrowly avoids running into #15 (excessive front brake bias and worn
tyres do not mix well... instant lock-up), #42 and #24 do well to avoid the
obstruction created by the two cars.
Lap 140, T1-T2:
#04 swipes the wall between T1 and T2 and looses momentum. #00 who's been
trying to get around is *right there*. #17 avoids. ---> racing incident,
although I do not see the logic behind #04 "defending" his position with
regard to cars that are 3 and 1 laps down respectively. It's a no yellows
race so #17 (the biggest "threat") will not get a caution and a free ride
around the 1.4mile oval, instead he will have to make up all that distance
on merit... almost impossible. So we got two cars trying to get around which
are not for position nor an immediate threat for position and they're on
fresher *** to boot. What's the use of trying to keep them behind and
risking an accident? -I don't know, but #04 must have had his reasons. He
payed for his decision by having the accident, getting serious rear end
damage and losing two positions.
If we are going to have no-yellows races we have got to develop more of a
give and take attitude with regard to lead-lap/lapper situations and people
on different strategies. Staying out of each others races, so to speak.
Actually, this is not a bad idea for races with yellows on either.
It's vitally important to keep tabs on the flow of the race in order to be
able to decide who you are actually racing, who's got a fast car, who's got
new tyres (and who has not!!) and so on. That's why I always find it hard to
believe some people actually find this kind of racing boring. There's so
much to keep track of and think about there's no time to get bored. <g>
Lap 157, s/f:
#99 has been holding up a group of cars for a number of laps. It started
with #00 and #17 catching up / not getting around, which allowed #19 and #69
to close up. Courtesy has played out in the chasing group so #19 has been
following #99 around for 1 1/2 laps. #19 lines up #99 for a run out of T4.
Unfortunately, #99 gets a bit sideways off the turn and #19 has to check up
and move to the inside to avoid a collision. #00 and #96 were ready to "go"
with #19, so they bottle up behind him. #00 manages to check up, but #96
gets into the back of #00 which sends #00 into #19. All remain in control of
their cars and #19 does get around #99, who slots in behind.
Again coutesy plays out among the chasers again as #96 probes to get around
#00 off T2. He gets the knod and passes in T3-T4. He does get boxed in a bit
by #99, but #99 eventually moves up and allows the 4th placed car through.
#00 is able to follow suit. ---> I appreciate Darlington is a hard track to
arrange a let-by on, but, seeing as every car in that group was at least 1
lap up, #99 dragged his heels in this particular situation, IMO.
If it's not your day, it's not going to get any worse by showing some
courtesy in the interest of good relations (there is, e.g., going to be a
time when you will really need to be "let back in "line") and safety on
track. Dealing with faster cars one at a time is a lot easier and safer than
having 4 of them hang off your back bumper.
Lap 179, T3-T4:
#15 swipes the wall between turns 3 and 4. #04 collects; both continue. --->
racing incident.
That's it. One down, three to go.
Jan.
=---