Division 2 season 10

what a race!
qualy'd 2nd only 0.003 behind Natman, i was hoping for another lap

nat runs wide on 2nd lap handing me the lead, but i make all sorts of mistakes and get caught up in a messy battle with cars running 3rd to 8th... ended up being 2nd last. push and push and make an early stop on lap 10, and made up good time but too much push = worn tyres and i just couldn't keep it up.

on top of this, i underfuel the car by 2litres - my practice and sums worked out i needed only 56 litres to refuel, but that was when i was doing 2.08's !! i was running consistent 2.07's and behind in the draft.
i put in 58 litres total, but ran out last lap - needed 2 more litres to keep my battle for 4th place with Natman alive.

i punched out a 2.07.095 hoping was good enough for fastest lap, but alas, CJ managed to pip me by 0.008 seconds to take it.

finish 5th, enough to hold onto the championship lead, however with a non start next week for me, i fear (even with drop round) it won't be enough to take the title this season after a promising start. i'll give it my best and fairest shot tho boys!!!

I was considering it, since i was having such an atrocious night, but thought better of it, as that would be breaking ROOZ rules.

Said it last night, and I will say it again. Piece of network.

Up until that point, I was having a blast. Did a PB (2'07.7) on my first hotlap of quali, which held up for 4th on the grid. Got an average start, with the 3 blokes in front of me jumping clear by a couple of car lengths. Thought I had the track to myself so started to move right for turn one. Oops, sorry Cob.

Settled into 5th after N64 came through lap one with elbows out, then moved up a spot when Nat ran wide in turn 1. Followed beannie and N64 for a lap or so, then pulled the move of my life in turn one of lap 4. N64 drafted beannie (or the other way around) and went to the outside. I had a good run, so I went inside and managed to come out the other side in front of both of them, with all three of us still on track! My heart was thumping for the rest of that lap.
It wasnt to last though, as I had a couple of scruffy laps and beannie, nat and cj got past me. Then approaching turn one on about lap 8, bam! You have been disconnected. F*** off. Stared blankly at the message til it went away, then stared blankly at the GT5 logo til it went away and I got told I was booted from PSN too.
Still really pissed off, as I had done enough practice to feel competitive, and I was feeling pretty good. So much for port forwarding solving all issues.

Think i would have preferred the way you went out Barra - at least you got something to blame

Last night was the first time I have been DC's in a league race. Had my share of lag, and a few times where I couldnt see one or two people. The network has progressively weakened since the game came out. In early seasons, there was barely any trouble. These days, there is always at least one DC from one of the divisions.

Oddly, I got DC'd from an open lobby on Saturday, but I was the 3rd to go in about a minute, so I put it down to destabilization of the room, and that everyone else there was in Europe.

Gratz to Stu for a great win! Even if you dont race for the rest of the season, you are going out in style! Great drive from cob too!

Well, as happens sometimes, screwed up my qual. My left rear caught some dirt on those fast sweepers before the last 180 turn, and I spun the car into the wall.
Lost all momentum, and scraped home in 5th or 6th? Cant remember. (residual effect of all the wine I consumed on sat night). Very tight start off the line, and lost a few places. Saw N64 came flying into T3 looking like a protest inducing freight train, but with some deft braking, he pulled it off perfectly, and made a few spots in the process! Wd! This relegated me further.. L

Had a fair scrap those first few laps with, Nat, Cob, Barra (tough luck mate! that sucks!). I was looking good to catch the front guys, when I got caught on the outside of a locked up Beannie coming out of the tunnel, into the hairpin.. This let Nat and cob right through <sad face> I knew those buggers would be hard to catch. Was BRIALLIANT to have a good drive with similar paced cars, really thrilling stuff. Nat and I swapped places more than a few times. Plenty of bumping and scraping, but I think we both gave as good as we got without ruining each others race (though on a couple of occasions I think we both came very close LOL). I wasnt surprised to find out hes a Karter. Another mate of mine who I raced GT5 with was a Karter, and he had a very similar race craft. Somehow these Karters can make their car seem twice as wide!

I didnt have a plan for how many stops I was going to do, so I played follow the leader. When Stu and Cob pitted, Nat and I were 3rd and 4th. I held it out for another lap, but went in the very next lap. I put a full tank in, so I could do a splash and dash for my second stop. When I exited the pits, I was dead last, with a fair gap between myself and second last.. grrrr.

Managed to claw my way back to the pack using my fresher rubber, and took a few spots back before all the one-stoppers decided to pit. It was during this time I had to catch and pass TTR. I was surprised, because given the difference in tire wear, he was still driving very quickly. Eventually found myself in 3rd I think (again, wine affecting memory). I was closing the gap on the front guys with every lap, so I was happy I could make up the time, and maybe challenge for the win if I could reach them with enough laps to spare.

Eventually found myself in first again as Cob and Stu pitted, so I ducked in on the next lap. 20 liters, 4 fresh tires and I was away. Exited in 5th, behind Stu, Cob, Nat and Bean in that order. Commenced the charge (during which I set fastest lap), and inherited 4th when Bean caught the dirt on T1. Looking at the gap, I felt I had a fighting chance to catch the front boys as long as I got some clean air.

But enter stage left, my Grand Valley nemesis, NAT. This quickly put an end to any thoughts I had of challenging the leaders. We had a good scrap as I tried to take advantage of my fresher tires to sneak past, but was continually foiled in my attempts by his ability to put his car right where I didnt want it to be! We had an oh ! moment on one lap going into T1. I got a run on his inside, and held my line into T1. But so did nat. Thank goodness the GT5 ghosting gods decided that our race didnt need to end there, as we both drove through each other.

It was now obvious the front boys were no longer catchable, so I settled to just get past Nat for 3rd. My tires were in much better shape, and I would have been pissed at myself if I didnt take advantage of that. I eventually got a run (on the downhill bit towards the hairpin) and managed to get around the outside, taking the lead up the hill. From here I was able to put daylight between Nat and I. This earns me the last spot on the podium, and *sort of* keeps me in the hunt for the championship. However, with stu and bean missing next week, I think Cob or maybe TTR are looking the goods atm.

NOTE: After checking replay, looks like I may not have been able to reach Stu or Cob even with clean air. Their pace was very good, and 5 laps probably would not have been enough.

Thanks for the race guys! Had a blast! Gratz to Stu and Cob, and everyone else. These enduros are challenging. Condolences to Barra and Groover.. those DCs are a massive ! I hope your connections are rock solid for the remaining rounds!

Cyas at

/sigh

Autumn Ring

/sigh

reverse ;-)

'protest inducing freight train' LMFAO!

LOL, no excuses this time stu

+1

Yeah some good battling CJ, I think we managed to find each other's rear bumper enough times to keep a panel shop busy full-time!

I was actually surprised when almost everyone pitted around L14, I'd figured a 1-stopper would be 5-10sec. quicker.
Turns out I figured wrong!
I never tried running new tyres with 1/2 a tank of fuel, guessing that made the difference.

mmmm I'll miss the Autumn ring round - long weekend in Vic, I'll be skiing behind the V8 in my life Sunday.
Actually - I'll probably miss the final too, my bro booked that weekend for his Buck's weekend.

Inconsiderate so & so !

Was more like a mini bus full of drunken yobbo's

8o