All day I sit at home, I am not allowed outside

Another season with Minardi, yes nice. I just have to adjust the cockpit view file and tweak the in-car sounds and it will be ready to go for rFR Season 12. I feel very comfortable and confident in this car now, and I know I will do well in the coming races. For this season we will only have 1 tire compound, but refueling will be allowed, so the races will have a different dynamic compared to the previous series. Several new drivers have signed up and in the preseason test races I have finished ahead of them, probably due to my experience with the mod and how to setup my car. Of course, the fast guys and other returning drivers are also familiar with their rides, so I am anticipating a good season running in the midfield.

The Teams

1988 McLaren (Marlboro)
#11 - Gustavo Montenegro
#27 - Antonio Hreljanovic

1994 Williams (Rothmans)
#43 - Igor G
#66 - Alex Hill

1995 Benetton
#14 - Tanasic Dragan
#99 - Igor M

1998 McLaren (West)
#74 - Ste Mitch
#78 - Kimmo Savolainen

1999 Jordan 
#30 - Peter Mobsy
#79 - Gatis Stalsans

2000 Minardi
#42 - Alaster Langsom
#xx - FREE SEAT

2001 Williams (BMW)
#77 - Markos Zervos
#95 - Giorgos Kostopoulos

2009 Brawn
#4 - Jakub Rostkowski
#22 - Lukas Enge

2015 Force India
#10 - Gabriel Marcos
#xx - FREE SEAT

2016 Ferrari
#19 - Arek Kulak
#68 - Andreas Fischer

2016 Mercedes
#7 - Sven Dirks
#69 - Joe McLaggen

2016 RedBull
#31 - Edijs Batars
#87 - Juris B

Arek Kulak is the defending champion, and he stays with Ferrari with new teammate Andreas Fischer. They have been strong during the preseason testing. Another team to watch is Sven Dirks and Joe Mclaggen in the Mercedes. They will mount a good challenge for the championship. But I think it will be the Marlboro Mclaren team of Antonio Hreljanovic and Gustavo "Sexy" Montenegro who will win it all this Season 12.

Calendar

Meanwhile, over at Historic Simracing Organization, I have switched to the Mooncraft RX-7 for the next round of the 1982 World Endurance Championship to be held at Silverstone (1975 layout). It looks like it is the slowest car in the field, and I expect the Prototypes to fly around me during the 6-Hours event. I don't mind, my goal is to finish the race and make up for my error in the previous round at Monza. Rotary power! You Wankel!

HSO 1982 World Endurance Championship

Schedule

#	Map	Date	Event	Circuit	Race length
1		Feb 12th	1000 Km di Monza	Monza	1000km (173 laps)
2		Mar 12th	Pace Petroleum 6 Hours	Silverstone	6 Hours
3		Apr 9th	Rudolf Caracciola Wanderpreis 1000 Kilometres	Nurburgring	1000km (44 laps)
4		Jun 18th	Trophee Diners Club 1000 Kilometres	Spa-Francorchamps	1000km (144 Laps)
5		Sep 10th	Trofeo Banca Toscana 1000 Kilometres	Mugello	1000km (191 Laps)
6		Oct 29th	WEC in Japan	Mt. Fuji	6 hours
7		Dec 17th	Shell Oils 1000 Kilometres	Brands Hatch	1000km (211 laps)

Unfortunately, with the schedule conflict I will miss two races in rFR Season 12, Round 2 in Interlagos and Round 5 in Bahrain. Too bad, because I have had good performances in both tracks. I consider Interlagos my home track, it is where I learned simracing with Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 2. I am not so far behind the fast guys over there. And in Bahrain I even won a race, back when I was running in Hammerdown Racing League.

Still, it looks to be a good year, I am even thinking of joining another series somewhere, maybe a Stock Car or Indycar series so I can try oval racing again. Or maybe some Rallycross or Touring Car, I don't know. I have more options now that I have upgraded my controls set.

Pedagogy

That wasn't what I had in mind. Everything was going according to plan. I had gained two positions and made it through the first hour, into my first pit stop. Coming out of the pits with cold tires, there was understeer and I crashed into the concrete bollard at the first chicane. I tried to make it back around for repairs, but the engine blew.

Looking at the results, only three cars finished. Seems almost everyone ran into trouble. I'm sure there will be changes to the mod before the next round. If I had been able to stay out of trouble then I could have been 5th at most. Who knows? That race is over and now it is time to look forward.

Pos	Driver	Car	Laps	Gap	Grid	+/-
1	Matthias Weber Jan Titz	3.0* Porsche 935 (G5)	174	5h39:45.40	10	+9
2	Jason White Juha Bos Michael Drechsler	4.0 Ford C100	174	+ 00.09	3	+1
3	Mick Chapman David Jaques	1.4* Lancia LC1 Spider	171	DNF	2	-1
4	Jonatan Acerclinth David Jundt	2.8* Peugeot WM P82	165	+ 9 laps	11	+7
5	James Knowles	4.9 Ferrari 512BB-LM (G5)	136	DNF	18	+13
6	Pascal Kalide	3.0* Porsche 935 (G5)	122	DNF	13	+7
7	Yves Plaçais	1.4* Lancia Beta Turbo (G5)	102	DNF	12	+5
8	Richard Coxon Richard Wilks	4.0 Sauber SHS C6	91	DNF	6	-2
9	Caleb Marklein	3.0* Porsche 935 (G5)	88	DNF	21	+12
10	Alfredo Calzolari	1.4* Lancia LC1 Spider	85	DNF	1	-9
11	Alberto Ibanez Jason White	3.5 BMW M1 (G5)	85	DNF	15	+4
12	Thiago Canola	4.0 Rondeau M382	84	DNF	7	-5
13	Dana Schurer	3.0* Porsche 935 (G5)	79	DNF	16	+3
14	Martin Lacina Alberto Ibanez	4.0 Sauber SHS C6	65	DNF	8	-6
15	Jukka Maattanen	4.9 Ferrari 512BB-LM (G5)	50	DNF	14	-1
16	Arpad Vincze	4.0 Ford C100	42	DNF	4	-12
17	Andre Lagunzad	3.5 BMW M1 (G5)	29	DNF	17	0
18	Herman Berkhey	3.5 BMW M1 (G5)	18	DNF	19	+1
19	Juha Bos	2.7* Porsche 936C	12	DNF	5	-14
20	Ludovic Tiengou	4.0 Rondeau M382	11	DNF	9	-11
21	Raul Jereb	1.4* Lancia Beta Turbo (G5)	7	DNF	20	-1

Pos	Driver	Car	Laps led
1	David Jaques	1.4* Lancia LC1 Spider	86
2	Mick Chapman	1.4* Lancia LC1 Spider	86
3	Alfredo Calzolari	1.4* Lancia LC1 Spider	85
4	Jan Titz	3.0* Porsche 935 (G5)	2
5	Matthias Weber	3.0* Porsche 935 (G5)	2

Cathedral of Speed

HSO 1982 World Endurance Championship
Starting Grid for Round 1 at Monza

Pos	Car	Driver	Laptime	Gap
1		Alfredo Calzolari  Enrico Fumagalli	1:37.864
2		David Jaques  Mick Chapman	1:38.227	+ 0.363
3		Juha Bos  Michael Drechsler	1:42.675	+ 4.810
4		Pascal Mikula  Arpad Vincze	1:42.852	+ 4.987
5		Juha Bos  Michael Drechsler  Jan Kowalski	1:42.964	+ 5.099
6		Richard Coxon  Richard Wilks	1:43.524	+ 5.659
7		Alessio Campigotto Thiago Canola	1:43.950	+ 6.085
8		Martin Lacina  Michal Janak Alberto Ibanez	1:44.995	+ 7.130
9		Ludovic Tiengou Emmanuel Haas	1:45.806	+ 7.941
10		Jan Titz  Matthias Weber	1:47.690	+ 9.825
11		David Jundt  Jonatan Acerclinth Matt Strand	1:48.288	+ 10.42
12		Yves Placais	1:48.715	+ 10.85
13		Dana Schurer	1:49.353	+ 11.48
14		Pascal Kalide	1:52.274	+ 14.40
15		Jukka Maattanen	1:54.051	+ 16.18
16		Jason White  Alberto Ibanez	1:55.531	+ 17.66
17		Andre Lagunzad	1:55.947	+ 18.08
18		James Knowles	1:56.825	+ 18.96
19		Herman Berkhey  Dylan Canton	1:57.450	+ 19.58
20		Raul Jereb	No Time
21		Caleb Marklein	No Time

If I put my best sector times together I would have a 1:55.3 or something. But one spot up the starting grid in a 1000km race doesn't mean much really. Still, it is good to know that I am on the pace with others in the same car and not so far off the leader of Group 5. There is no class win though, only the overall finishing order will be scored. The main challenge of course is to finish, as I will be running solo for the entire 6 hours race. My plan is to stop every 29-30 laps, which is about an hour stint before each pitstop. I will try to get 150 laps (out of the 173) but the prototypes are way faster and I will probably be more than 20 laps behind by the checkered flag. My preparation level has been adequate and I feel fit for the race distance. I know that if I stay out of trouble I will be able to bring the car home. The start will be a few hours from now and I must try to get some sleep despite this excitement.