17.02.2020

Race Report by Simon Williams:
Having gained reporting rights, trying my hand at my first attempt:

I now see that only one report is allowed per Event: I had planned on just doing Sport class, however, I have now added a few notes on Pro and Club.

4 pictures are allowed per report and 3 videos (I’ve not done any videos this time.)

2020 SEASON 1 1:10 ELECTRIC ISTC SPEC ROUND 2 Lausanne CRF race report - A Main Sport Class.
As usual in a popular class like 1:10 TC, lots of close racing in Sport class, containing a number of experienced drivers.
Lausanne being one of those tracks where a small mistake touching the track markers will lose 2 to 3 seconds.
Hence, my strategy is to slow down 5% and not take any risks for a clean run = easier said than done.
This time out I'm experimenting with the drag brake to try and get more consistent braking before turning in. (Overshooting the slower corners continues to cost me time.)

Qualifying
With Marco on pole a good 14 seconds up the road from me in 4th it's looking like an uphill race.
However, he's only 0.4 seconds ahead on his fastest lap, so maybe still some hope if I put the practice in.
The Finals have a little more grip at 100%, let’s see if this helps (I often lack turn-in with these cars).
(By the way if you look at the race Overview Event timetable and format this is where you can see the grip %age.)

Final: A Main Sport Class.
At the sound of the tone, Tobias Lindgre jumped the start and got a 1 lap penalty, (all too easy to do.)
Stefan Spacil started well and moved from 3rd to 1st by the end of the 1st lap, followed by Simon Williams and Marco Gianotti.
By lap 3 Chanyoung Hwang had moved from 8th to 2nd and was clearly the fastest car on the track by a few 10ths.

On lap 5, Hwang passed Spacil at the chicane before the main straight, with Williams lurking just behind.



Also on lap 5, Williams inexplicably lost the back end coming onto the main straight and lost 2 seconds and went back to 4th.

Gianotti then had a close battle with Williams, with Williams easing away by 2 seconds to put Gianotti into 3rd.
Lap 10, Spacil hit trouble on the mid field and from that point onwards never really got back up to speed, ending up 6th.
Daniel Geier and Tim Web had reasonably trouble free runs to finish up 4th and 5th.
Lindgre continued to hit trouble to finish up 8th.
Dorian Marcei also had a few problems on the first few laps, but got better mid run and moved from 10th to 7th, (2 DNS).




Lap 17, a roll from Spacil, at the same time as Hwang got out of shape in the midfield losing 2 seconds, meaning that Williams is right on his tail.




Lap 20, Williams tried to turn inside Hwang for his closest stab at the lead, however, 1 lap later a small curb edge set him back 0.5 seconds and that’s how it stayed till the end.

Well done to Chanyoung Hwang, winning by half a second and starting from 8th place on the grid.
Hwang now has 2 wins out of 2 in TC Spec class Sport, season1.



Pro A final
Reece Hodges out front, with 29 laps on a pace that I don’t think Ronald Volker, Bruno Coelho or Michal Orlowski could beat.
RH somehow manages to slow down and rotate each corner with such precision, always looks like a world champion.
Ben Gayson not that far behind in 2nd - e.g. just 1 spin from Reece and he would be on the money.
Daan Haling is another driver that puts in the quick laps, only 2 seconds back from Ben to take 3rd.
Then we have a 'train' of 7 drivers only 1 or 2 seconds apart, all pushing for 4th place down to 10th, nothing much between them and looks great on video.
Tommaso Andreuccetti, doing just enough to keep out of trouble and take an impressive 4th place.
Followed by:
Yama Yama, whose 1 error on lap 22 kept him out of 4th place.
Jozsef Valent, had an unbelievably bad set of events on lap 22 (almost comical to the spectators) to give Olivier a chance to catch him.
Olivier Meunier and Marko Vahakuopus both had fairly quiet races, just a few gentle trip-ups with no major off's into 7th and 8th.
B Howard and Rene Jahn both had 1 crash each to keep them in 9th and 10th but at least they made the A final.


If Reece gets the chance to put the Pro A main final on video, I will add the link.


Club - A main.
From the start Johan Jury makes a small mistake on the first lap ending on his side and another at the end of the straight losing about 4 seconds to put him back to 4th, however, from that point on he runs fairly clean, to get back into 1st place and from lap 19 to 25 he can't be caught.
Thomas Schedl has an even bigger crash on the first lap that sets him back 5 seconds into 6th place, but then runs fairly clean to take 2nd.
David Vacka also loses 2 seconds with a small spin on the first lap, however, manages to run in the lead until getting trapped behind an edge marker on lap 7 and losing a further 4 seconds, he then holds it together to take 3rd.
I believe that flying into the first corner from the grid positions does not get much practice making the first lap the hardest to judge, might be worth taking it slightly slower first time round?
4th, 5th and 6th go to Pierre Hadd, Jurgen Faubel and Grondin David.

Comments

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(Total posts: 5)

Matthew F.	23.02.2023 [01:25] hi
Ricky J.	03.04.2020 [05:38] Only one report is allowed per Event. gmail sign up Edited by author: 3.4.2020 4:38:34 GMT
Jennifer A.	05.03.2020 [11:24] I have to learn to get the car under better control on the approach to the apex like you do, I find all of the four-wheel-drive vehicles quickly push wider than expected, got to spend more time sorting my braking out. Can anyone please share the Swing Design Discount Code because I want to start my own business of Embroidery Work. And I want to buy sewing & Embroidery Machine, and the area of this embroidery Machine is 4" x 4."
Simon Williams	19.02.2020 [10:36] Great comment, and I note that Dana Bailes has a similar attitude on Oulu and it certainly works for you and I'm 100% sure you're right. I think the compromise with 3 runs in a final is to make the first run a safe 'banker' run and then attack on the last 2. I have to learn to get the car under better control on the approach to the apex like you do, I find all the 4 wheel drive cars easily push wider than expected, got to spend more time sorting my braking out. It might be my neutral point on the throttle is not grabbing the drag brake consistently, have to test this. I think as your skill level goes up your last run will probably be your best but lower down the order I find my most 'consistent' run gets the best results, however, I agree no excuse for complacency, attack is where the most fun is (Monte Carlo or Bust!)
Reece H Multiple VRC World Champion	18.02.2020 [22:35] Lausanne being one of those tracks where a small mistake touching the track markers will lose 2 to 3 seconds. Hence, my strategy is to slow down 5% and not take any risks for a clean run Maybe this is just me, but I don't think this is the right mindset. With the track being so tight, staying cautious and not hugging the markers will cost you a lot of time in the long run. Even going a slight bit wide will lose a huge chunk of time in most places as you'll spend a long time circling back. I prefer to give it 100% and if you crash, you should have built a buffer anyway compared to playing it safe. Not to mention that if you go in with the mentality that you're going to crash, your chances of crashing are going way up. Be confident and push your limits.