detestable remembrance

Review : Oldschool Endurance League - F40 GT Endurance Series

The series started well with some decent sized grids, but eventually most of the drivers lost interest and only 3-5 cars would show up in the latter half. Maybe they couldn't come to terms with the hotmodded F40 GT car, with its prodigious power, anemic brakes, and terrible tires. Too bad, as there was a good selection of tracks, the fast guys were excellent competition and we had a competent host/admin.

I did well in Rounds 1 and 2, finishing on the podium on both occasions. At that early point I was thinking the overall series win was possible. Then came Round 3 where my Internet connection went down and I couldn't even participate. The next two rounds I got disco'ed during the race after only 3-4 laps; not good at all in an endurance series. After 3 consecutive reliability issues I fell away from the leaders in the overall standings.

In the final round, my strategy of running light on fuel and making quicker pitstops finally came into play. I was the fastest car on the track and could make up the deficit of having extra pitstops. On the penultimate lap I had a chance to overtake for the race win but I choked and went wide. Looking back at it now, I should have kept my cool and waited for the long straight to make my move. I felt very nervous during the final laps as I was closing in on the leader. I held on to 2nd place in the race despite the mistake.

Congrats to Fabio Lozio F40 GT Endurance Series Champion. Elia Tartari (ET the alien) was definitely the fastest over 1 lap in these cars and finished 2nd in the overall standings. I got 3rd overall mainly because of my attendance, but I did have the speed to keep up with the fast guys.  

Next up, the Rebellion Vintage Series 2 Hours of Le Mans. There will be two classes available in this event; the monster Porsche 956's and the outstanding BMW M1's. The race will be run on time slip, so there will be more or less a full 24 hour cycle for the duration. I have done some preliminary testing and I will race in the prototype class. Now it is time to practice, learn the car, figure out the strategy, and get familiar with track conditions in the dark.