Last night was the last race (#6) of the NASRS season 14. It was at Watkins Glen and was deemed the season’s “hot” race with air temps at 49 degrees Celsius, which is crazy-hot. Consequently tire wear and driving style (aka how to nurse your tires) was critical. I had never done a race in such hot conditions so it was kind of fun to try different techniques and car setups to see if I could keep the tire temps and wear down. I had done a lot of practice and testing in the week before the race, but wasn’t really able to find a great solution to the tire problem. I just resigned myself to the fact that the last five or so laps of each stint were gonna be brutal and I needed to do whatever I could to not burn up my tires early on. Which is easier said than done when you’re racing against really fast folks.

Anyway, the Aston had some pace at Watkins Glen, which was a nice surprise. I got lucky and qualified in P3 behind 2 Porsches. I had a clean race start and was able to stay in contact with the two lead cars. P2 spun out at some point before the pit stop so I moved up to P2. I was under some pressure from the car behind the entire first stint, but it wasn’t really affecting my race. I pitted a minute or so after the halfway point and made a huge mistake by over-shooting my pit box, which probably cost me 4 seconds. I ended up losing two places and left the pits in P4.

The race leader spun out in the chicane a couple laps later and I was in P3 behind the two cars that jumped me during the pit stop. So, yeah, I was a bit bummed about that – I should have been in the lead, but shrugged it off and did my best to stay in contact and try to set myself up for something at the end of the race. The top two cars were 1.5 - 2.0 seconds ahead of me for the most the stint, but with about five laps left P2 caught P1 and they started battling, which slowed them down enough for me to catch them. P2 made a mistake and I was able to make a pass and with 2 laps left was right on P1’s tail.

The last lap of the race was one of the best I’ve done. I got a bit desperate in the second half of the lap so it wasn’t like I had driven the best lap ever, just that I was really battling hard for a win and had made some pretty decent moves in the first part of the lap. I really wanted my first win and was giving it everything, but, alas, I didn’t have enough to make the pass and get the win. P3 and P4 also had an epic battle right behind us so the last lap proved to be really exciting. Overall I’m really happy with how I drove and with the race results. It was a super-intense, but really fun race.

I’m planning on summarizing a few things from the season in a separate post so look for that in a day or two.

Week 6 final results (Watkins Glen)

• Qualifying: P3/32
• Race: P2/32

Here are a few highlights from the race

Here’s a video of the last lap battles

Last night was race 5 of NASRS season 14 and it was at Paul Ricard. It was the season’s wet race, but thankfully the rain was light and steady and the track stayed in relatively good condition. Paul Ricard is an interesting track with some technical turns in the first and third sectors; the second sector is dominated by a very long straight. The track can get a little tedious when practicing, but I usually find it provides really fun racing. I did a lot of practicing during the week and while it’s sometimes hard to judge where you’re at pace-wise when it comes to wet tracks, it seemed like I had decent pace. That ended up being the case as I qualified P5 out of 27, which was a good result for me.

As for the race, although it was mentally taxing due to the rain, etc., it was fairly uneventful and I spent most of it alone, cranking out laps. I lost a postion at the start of the race – I was trying to be a little too crafty and get the inside line on T3. I slowed to let the car next to me by, but was too tentative in moving over and lost a place to a more aggressive driver. I had an opportunity to get the place back a few laps later, but misjudged my speed after making the pass, ran a little wide, and lost the place as quickly as I had gained it. I wasn’t able to get it back so was stuck in P6.

I had made some other small errors on some laps and, as you’ll see in the video, almost spun out going into the last corner. But the biggest mistake I made was taking tires during the mandatory pitstop. In this season’s races everyone has to take fuel, which is a fixed 25 seconds. If you change tires, which is optional, it’s an additional 5 seconds. Usually it makes sense to change tires pace-wise, but that isn’t always the case in the rain. I felt like my pace was declining after 25 minutes and because I had a 8 second lead over P7 behind me, I opted to take fresh tires. I should have noticed that the rain got a bit heavier and that was really the source of my worsening pace. Anyway, I came out of the pits in P6, but instead of an 8 second gap to the car behind, now had a 3 second gap. To make matters worse, my car felt a lot worse with the new tires and I was struggling a bit.

The aforementioned technical sections of the track make it really easy to get track limit violations, which can lead to a drive-through penalty if you get more than three of them. I had 2 warnings after about 40 minutes so I had a little breathing room, but not much. Fortunately for me, three of the faster drivers in front all got drive-through penalties so I moved up into P3 with 15 or so minutes to go. But I had P4 breathing down my neck and as I mentioned, I was struggling a bit. Luckily I held things together and was able to finish in P3, which is a pretty stellar result for me, given how quick the competition is on Tuesday nights. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than quick, I guess.

We’re at Watkins Glen next week for the last race of the season.

Week 5 final results (Paul Ricard)

• Qualifying: P5/27
• Race: P3/27

Here are a few highlights from the race. As mentioned, I wasn’t involved in much action so these are mostly just a few clips of me getting passed and making mistakes. :\

It’s the Super Bowl today so I thought this would be a good time to remember/enjoy Prince’s halftime show from 2007, which is undoubtedly the greatest Super Bowl halftime show ever.

Race 4 of NASRS season 14 was at Zandvoort and it was this season’s night race. Honestly, I was kind of dreading this one in the days leading up to the race. I was off pace a bit in practice so that, combined with the fact that this track is a particularly tricky one (especially at night), was making me a little apprehensive. Also, many of the fastest drivers in the Tuesday split are driving the Porsche GT3, which is really quick at Zandvoort. I was pretty sure I was going to qualify lower down the field and would struggle to make up any places because it’s so hard to pass at Zandvoort.

I’ve been doing this thing where I try to write down some goals for the race beforehand and I think it’s been helping me focus on a few things as I’m racing. Here’s what I wrote down before last night’s race:

1. Get in the 1:35s during qualifying
2. Have a clean first lap (mainly T1 and T2)
3. Run consistent laps with no errors – mistakes will determine who’s successful here

I did a 1:35.705 in qualifying, which based on where I was in practice, was about the best I could expect. That had me starting in 10th, which is about where I belong in the field pace-wise. So all good there (goal number one met).

As you’ll see in the clips below, there was some mayhem in T1 on the first lap, but I was cautious (and lucky) so was able to avoid that and make up one spot. I then picked up a place on lap two when the driver in front of me mis-judged a pass in T1 and ran wide. It was a fun drag race down to T1 and for a moment I thought about holding my spot and forcing him to lift. But it just seemed too dicey and since it was early in the race, I lifted and played it safe, which ended up working out. So goal number two met.

I got lucky again a few laps later and picked up two places when the car in front of me hit a car in front of him and decided to wait. (You get a smaller penalty if you wait when that kind of thing happens.) So after that I was way behind the lead group and just had to pump out solid, mistake-free laps in order to have a good finish. This is harder than it sounds because, as I mentioned above, Zandvoort is hard! There are so many tricky, technical corners that require the perfect brake pressure and timing as well as the proper racing line. If you any of those wrong, your lap time suffers dramatically (or you end up on the grass, which leads to ending up in the wall.) There’s really no place to take a mental breather and it is really hard maintaining that focus for 65 minutes so mistakes are common.

But, I got in a groove and was able to nail good lap after good lap without any real drama. I mean, I wasn’t lighting the world on fire with my lap times, but I was clean and consistent so that pretty much met my third goal.

I did run into a little drama right at the end of the race when I had a hard time getting by a lapped car. I tried to get by him on the main straight, but even though he was in last and I was in P5, he wouldn’t yield. I sat behind him an entire lap and then tried to pass again on the main straight, but he wasn’t having it. So, I sent it into T1 and muscled my way through. Other than that, it was a really clean race for me where I was mostly alone, just putting in the laps.

So, same result as last week (P5), but I’m much, much happier with how I drove in this race. We’re at Paul Ricard next week for the wet race of the season so it’s gonna be another tough one!

Week 4 final results (Zandvoort)

• Qualifying: P10/34
• Race: P5/34

Here are a few highlights from the race.

I was a bit hesitant to go through last night’s NASRS season 14 race replay from Zolder and pull out the highlights. I usually look forward to doing this the morning after the race, but I was worried last night’s race was pretty cringe-worthy. To put things in context, I qualified P3 and finished the race P5, which are both really good results for me so all good there. But, as I was racing, it didn’t seem like I was driving very well. However, after watching a lot of the replay, I think I did OK, save for a couple big-ish mistakes.

To sum things up, I never really felt comfortable in the car during the race. I think the main issue was that I got lucky and smashed my very last quali lap with, I think, the quickest lap I’ve ever done at Zolder. The main problem, though, was I was starting ahead of much faster drivers who I knew would quickly put me under a lot of pressure. Moreover, P1 and P2 both went wide in T2 so I found myself in P2 after a couple turns. It’s normally a good thing to be in P2 right at the start of a race, but I knew the guys behind me were really fast so it was just a matter of time before I was under a lot of pressure. And that’s pretty much what happened.

I should note, there are a couple chicanes at Zolder that make or break your lap. You need to really risk it and send it in the first one and, depending on your car, it can be a bit of a coin toss as to whether you nail it or end up flying off the track and spinning out. I was really struggling each time through that first chicane, holding my breath, hoping my car wouldn’t spin out. I think I was over-driving due to the pressure and was not slowing enough to get the car settled and turned in. As you’ll see in the highlights, I made it through without any issues 42 times. Unfortunately, there were 43 laps….

So, yeah, I hit the wall and messed up my car a bit with around 15 minutes left in the race. I lost a position right away and ten minutes later, succumbed to a good battle and lost another one. I don’t think I would have been able to hang onto both spots without the mistake, but I had a big enough gap that I think P4 was possible.

Anyway, the point of all of this “sim racing” stuff isn’t so much about the results, but the process. Having something you’re horrible at and then having to work at it to get better, is generally, a lot of fun. At the same time it’s also stressful racing with other humans, especially when you like them and don’t want to foul up their races if you make a silly mistake. So when you’re able to overcome your anxieties and fears and things work out, it feels pretty awesome. That’s why we race, I guess.

Next week we’re at Zandvoort, which is a really fun track to hotlap, but not the best for racing. It’s gonna be hairy, but should be fun.

Week 3 final results (Zolder)

• Qualifying: P3/41
• Race: P5/41

Here are a few highlights from the race.