dLeague - Road Atlanta

[Thursday - 4th of May]

Track Map

I signed back up to dLeague a few days before the race, and didn't turn a single lap until the practise session on raceday. This time I decided to challenge myself and drive the Toyota, an often neglegted car in GTP. As some of you may remember, WOSEC raced here last season so I didn't have any problems learning the track but I was still off the pace. Somehow I managed to qualify third, but after the polesitter Jan Larsen got a black flag for some reason my row on the grid was pushed up one notch and I was on pole. But just as the safety car was pulling away to start the pace lap, disaster struck and I was disconneted. I managed to reconnect before the race started, but had to start from the pitlane and (as if to add insult to injury) one lap down. The original plan was to be smooth and consistant, but being a lap down I entered bezerk-o driving mode and was pretty much flat out. It was to be the end of me though, as I plowed into the wall between T3 and T4 and that was that.

I'm hoping to be able to mount more of a challenge at the next round.

NGPLS - Rouen

[Tuesday - 2nd of May]

Track Map

I'd been suffering from pedal spiking as early as before the WOSEC race, and my times were so badly affected that I decided to open them up and see what was the problem. After cleaning out a year's worth of dust and putting the pedals back together the spiking was gone, and my laptimes improved accordingly both in GTP and GPL. I qualified 5th on the grid, and was hoping for a clean and uneventful race so I could at least keep 5th.

I got a reasonably okay start, and slotted myself nicely in line still retaining 5th position. After a 100% clean first lap for (at least) the top eight drivers, quite a rare occurance, I passed the Ferrari of Vidar Langseid as he spun off down the ditch in turn two. I didn't see a single car apart from the ones I lapped (about two) until Scierie on the second to last lap, when Vidar had managed to reel in a 20-second gap in just under as many laps. But he promptly spun off in the following corner, and I could cruise in to what I easily consider to be my most consistant race ever.

WOSEC - Bathurst

[Saturday - 29th of April]

Track Map

I was given the honours of starting and qualifying the VTR3 car, paired with Ian Woollam. Surprisingly I managed to put the car 10th on the grid, in the 20-odd car field and got away to a nice clean start. Unfortunately I got stuck behind the OATAS Jaguar, and in my bid to find a way past I had a spin in the very tight Park section. I had to wait for a long time before it was safe to re-join, but apart from another minor spin later on I gradually climbed back up the order. I even had quite the fun little scrap with the ADC69 car, but he fell back after a failed passing attempt in the Esses spinning us both around. I handed the car over to Ian in 6th, and within half an hour he was right back up to 6th again :D

Ian's stint was quick, very quick. Unfortunately it was only rather consistant, and the car I took over wasn't exactly up to showroom standards. After pitting though, I got back the missing miles per hour at the end of Conrod, and my laptimes improved acordingly. I took on less fuel than originally planned at the end of my first fuel run, as continuing with full tanks would mean that Ian would only have about ten laps before finishing. I wasn't that far off running on fumes when handing back over to Ian, one more lap and we would have run dry! Ian drove the car in a smooth and controlled manner (bloody quick at times as well, he did a 1:52.9!), and cruised in to a formation finish with the winning VTR1 car in 6th.

VTR1: 1st
VTR2: 3rd
VTR4: 4th (Quicker drivers, pre-race connection problems)
VTR3: 6th

I'm very happy with this race, and it is my best overall result in an enduro to date. The backmarkers were generally very decent, especially in the mountain section, and made the race a whole lot safer. Safety does tend to make humans a bit cocky and, well, mad, though. In Vader Trophy Racing alone we had about three seperate three wide incidents, me being one of them! The next race is at the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife, don't miss out on live driver radio on the 27th of May!

Vader Trophy - Solitude

[Wednesday - 26th of April]

Track Map

The start was an absolute mess, the field taking over a minute to actually make it through the first two corners. I'd started in 9th but due to me not getting too badly involved in the carnage, I crossed the line after lap 1 in 6th. A small spin late in the lap relegates me to 7th, and another one exactly one lap later puts me back down in 9th. On lap 6 I overtake Chris Kirk's slow Ferrari, I also get to practise my three point turn after spinning in the twisty section near the end. Two laps later I have a rather exciting completely sideways moment under braking for Schatten, but luckily my front wheels in the grass bring the car around and I continue unharmed. A mass disconnection on the next lap bumps me up to 4th, and that's where I (un-offically) finish. The offical result had a coutback to the last lap before the mass-disco, so I actually ended up in 8th.

They didn't call this place "Solitude" for nothing!

NGPLS - Snetterton

[Tuesday - 18th of April]

Track Map

I did some testing beforehand this time, and actually came pretty close to my old PB. From 11th on the grid in a 13 car field I shoot through to 10th by Riches, due to two cars blowing up. Another car is passed between Riches and Sear, but I leave my braking a bit too late and go off. I get going dead last, but manage to pass two spun off cars in the esses plus two more in the Bomb Hole. A good little scrap is had with my quasi-namesake Espen Baklid until I have a little off at the end of the fourth lap. He is gradually reeled in, and by the eighth lap I'm within striking distance. It takes me until the end of lap 10 to get by, as he makes a slight mistake exiting the final chicaine. He manages to stay close for several laps, but when trying to pass me six laps later in the hairpin he spins, almost collecting me. A Lotus has also spun off, so I advance one position up the order.

A few laps go by, and my sock is feeling a little loose. I bend down to adjust it on lap 21 heading towards the Hairpin. Whoops! Was that my left rear wheel that just overtook me? That's right ladies and gents, I broke the third rule in Esben's Big Book of Racing Rules: Never, under any circumstances, adjust your socks while driving. I lose two positions after resetting, but one of them pops their engine on the run down to the esses. Despite this, I still have another Eagle on my tail, and can't do much as his superiour straightline speed promotes him to my position on the run down to the hairpin. Espen spins off in the esses on lap 24 and hands me 6th. I spin in the hairpin with five laps to go, but keep my position. Unfortunately this means that I get lapped by the leader (embarrasing, I know) and I pretty much cruised in to an alright 6th place.

I could have done much better, I really need to cut out this crashing/spinning off business. It's not doing me any good :P

I now have a mascot!

That's right, the ever unlucky prehistoric squirrel Scrat is now my mascot. I went to the cinema with my little (6 year old) sister today to watch Ice Age 2, and the little feller was such an inspiration. Watching him getting up and trying again and again and again to get that ever elusive nut, despite the most heartbraking of failiures and injustices. His never-say-die attitude makes him a true role model, so here's to Scrat!

SSCA - 12 Hours of Daytona

[Saturday - 8th of April]

Track Map

This was quite the spur-of-the-moment decision, as Brendan Kaczmarek (Northstar Racing captain) didn't ask me to join in until the day before on Friday. He originally had enough drivers to comfortably enter two cars, but now he only had himself and Andras Kiraly (from SFH, VTR's toughest rival in WOSEC). I hadn't planned on doing anything that day, and Brendan is a good buddy of mine, so I was glad to help out. It did mean learning to drive the Mazda though, the only car I haven't actively driven in GTP yet. The Mazda runs in it's own class for this series, due to it being so incredibly slow.

I started the race in the #24 Sauber and Brendan in the #124 Mazda. Not surprisingly, he out-qualified me (come on, I had a day to prepare :P) and ran near the top during all of his stint. Then, right on cue, directly after starting my second or third (can't remember) fuel run, mum and dad announced dinner. Brendan had already decided that the Mazda was taking priority, he wanted the class victory. I agreed, and simply parked the Sauber in the pits and rushed off for dinner. When I returned, I found that Brendan had let some random guy do a stint in our car. He wasn't all that good, and actually got us an un-clearable black flag. The car got disqualified and I was fuming. In hindsight though it was a good thing, because three drivers sharing two cars for 12 hours doesn't add up anyway.

I then go to do some testing offline, and just when I'm happy with the setup Brendan comes on the radio and reminds me that he's lost second gear. A few minutes of tinkering and I've got a setup ready, then Brendan comes on the radio again to tell me that we've also lost third! I quickly set the ratios for fourth and fifth (going all through the box to include first would be too risky). I then hop in and do a fuel run without much drama at all before handing over to Brendan, who did half a fuel run. During which he also lost fourth and mysteriously CTD'd, I jump in with my sequential shifter set to first and fifth gears only. I did another fuel run before handing over to Andras Kiraly, who just arrived, who did three very quick fuel runs. I then do one final fuel run, before handing over to Brendan who was set to do the last three.

By that time we were leading in class, but another CTD for Brendan suddenly put us back to second behind the 336team from Russia. He eventually caught and re-passed for the class lead, and the 336team also had another disconnection. Basically we were in the clear as long as Brendan could keep the car on track for another hour or so. By this time it was 3 am for me, but I wasn't willing to leave because that would involve missing the finish! He eventually cruised home to an easy class win, and also his first finish in an endurance race for a long time. The win also secured us each a free shifter! There was much rejoice :D

Vader Trophy - Buenos Aires

[Wednesday - 29th of March]

Track Map

I managed to completely forget about this race, and the only real reason I actually took part was the fact that I randomly joined VROC because I was bored. I'd done a few laps beforehand, but not really enough to really know the track all that well, and after practise I was still way off the pace. The actual race consisted of me plodding around by myself, spinning off and getting lapped. More exciting things have happened to chartered accountants...

WOSEC - Spa

[Saturday - 25th of March]

Track Map

Richard Dickson qualified the VTR3 car 5th on the grid, with VTR2 and VTR1 in 3rd and 2nd respectively. He did one stint before I was due to take over for two fuel runs. Nothing too major happened during the two fuel runs, apart from the leading ruGTP car flipping me in the Bus Stop. I was trying to pit in, I announced my intention to pit in well before the braking zone, but he still managed to clip my right rear and send my flying. Luckily I had enough fuel to make it around the lap, but I wasn't far off running on mere fumes.

Aussie Neil Pearson then took over for a fuel run, and during it actually lost second gear. I do some testing offline, and manage to adapt the ratios rather well. Laptimes drop, obviously, but not by much. Now I have three fuel runs, all of which go smoothly and drama free. Except for a 10-minute period in the middle of the second fuel run in my final stint, when looking for the adjust spoiler setting, I accidentally set off Fraps capturing. As a result, my framerate drops to 20 FPS and my microphone suddenly doesn't work. This was obviously going on without my knowledge, so thank heavens it automatically stopped before it melted my HD. I then hand over to Neil Stratton who drives a stable two fuel runs to the finish. Final standings for VTR is as follows:

VTR1: 1st
VTR2: 3rd
VTR3: 4th

Gav got a stop/go penalty for speeding in the pits on his last stop in the VTR2 car while in second. Exiting the pits with 11 laps to go, the SFH car ahead was exiting Rivage. Twentey minutes later Gav had narrowed the gap down to single figures, and would surely have caught right up with him if he'd have had another lap. Below are three videos, one onboard with me live during the race and two onboard Gav during the whole of his alien-esque stint at the end.

NGPLS - Brands Hatch

[Tuesday - 21st of March]

Track Map

I actually practised this time around, lapping rather competitively without too much trouble. It's really easy to screw up on this track, particularly in Paddock Hill Bend and the compression at Dingle Dell, so I was going to be prepared for this one. For qualifying I just loaded the car up with race fuel and pootled around for the whole session to get my consistency up. 9th on the grid.

The start was actually completely accident-free, and I could easily settle into a rythm as cars gradually started falling off. Blam, I'm up to third. Unfortunately I spin in South Bank on lap 8, and drop to 4th. I catch him a few laps later, and pull a pass on him in Hawthorne on the next lap. He stays on my six for quite a while, a great help for my concentration, and I keep lapping consistent and quick laps. Gradually I pull away, and I'm all by myself but still going strong.

Then, with two laps to go, the engine starts spluttering. Out of fuel! I reset without losing any positions and set off again. But on the last lap, forgetting about the cold tyres and full tank of fuel, I outbrake myself in South Bank and lose two positions en route to a heartbraking 5th place finish.

Vader Trophy - Rouen

[Wednesday - 15th of March]

Track Map

I qualified 9th on the grid, but the car ahead got a slow start and as a result so did I. Repassed a car who spun off in T2, but while trying to pass Alex Martin's Brabham on the outside in T3 (he used a lot of the road :P) my rear wheel hits the grass and I spin. I turn the car around, and before I could say "Oh crap!" I got nailed from behind by a good three cars. One of which went flying into the stratosphere. I get going again behind a slower Eagle, who I collide with under braking for Sanson. Luckily I get going without any spins or damage.

Three laps later I pass Max West just before Paradis, up to 10th! Then on lap 7 I encounter a spun off Ferrari in the Hairpin. I try to pass him on the inside, but lag happens and we both spin. I attempt a reverse 180 (Trust me, I do it all the time), but this one backfired and I....kinda hit him :P. I get passed, but re-take the position when he spins exiting Beuval. Simon Steele has spun in the hairpin, *yoink* up to 9th. Gradually, I start reeling in Alex Martin in the Brabham.

He messes up the hairpin bigtime with three to go, but fearing for my own safety I couldn't get past. He screws up again on the next lap, I get the inside line, but due to him being in the Brabham and me in the BRM the bastard gets ahead again :P. So I resort to the ultra-lunge of death in Sanson, and I would have made it stick if only I'd remembered to shift down to second from third. I stay hot on his six through all the last lap, ready to pounce at any opportunity. He waits until the very last corner on the very last lap to mess up. I go right, he moves over, I go left and get alongside, he moves over on me and we cross the line in a shower of sparks...

He beat me by 0.011 seconds.

The race overall wasn't that great, but the closing laps more than made up for it.

NGPLS - Monaco

[Tuesday - 7th of March]

Track Map

The plan here was to not, under any cirumstances, crash. A tall order considering the track, but that's why I devised this cunning plan. Thinking everybody else would fall off and I'd just pick my way through the wreckage(s). During qualifying I slowed right the way down at the end of the lap to make sure I started near the back. This division in this league isn't exactly know for clean starts, so I thought I'd maximise my chances of survival by starting at the back.

Sure enough, there was a huge wreck in Saint Devote, and thanks to my low starting position I missed it all. The rest of the 31-lap long race consisted of me driving smooth and consistent laps while most of the rest of the feild crashed and burned. With only a handful of laps to go, I overtook the last car I would pass that race, and cruised in to a strong third position. The plan worked, and for the first time in a while, I was genuinely happy with my result in a GPL race.

WOSEC - Elkhart Lake

[Saturday - 25th of February]

Track Map

Happy birthday to me, as of the 24th I am officially 17 years old! Woo yay hooray and stuff!

Sim qualified in 23rd, and after almost one hour he'd climbed all the way up to 19th. After Sim handed the car over to me, it was in 17th. Somewhere in my stint I had a somewhat interesting overtaking of the Ringrace car. Where I went left, he went for the middle and the third placed SFH car went for the inside. I go around the Ringrace car, and the SFH car flies into the gravel right in front of my nose, hehe. I hand the car back to Sim in 11th, hoping for a top-10 finish. Unfortunately it was not to be, as I took over the car with 30 laps to go. Going through the last corner, I hit an invisible bump at the end of the kerb. This sends me flying into the inside wall on the right hand side. I hit the wall with the left front side of the car, and the impact actually killed the engine. Game over.

On the plus side, VTR1 won yet agaon, VTR2 came home fifth and VTR3 rounded it off with sixth. I'd post a picture, but I forgot to save the replay and the league admin STILL hasn't posted the server replay yet.

NGPLS -Zandvoort

[Tuesday - 21st of February]

Track Map

Qualified 4th on the grid with relative ease, and was looking forward to consistantly running to the finish. Unfortunately I got boxed in in T1 by a guy in front braking too much and a guy behind not braking enough. Pretty much the whole field (apart from the leader) got caught up in the carnage, and it took a while for the pack to settle into the race. Crossed the line in 7th and steadily climb my way up to second place 32 laps later, although I almost lost second on the last lap when I went off in the last corner...

Vader Trophy - Silverstone

[Wednesday - 2nd of February]

Track Map

Get ready....for the world's shortest race report!

Got good initial getaway. Took it easy. Got caught up in L1 carnage. Lied on head for long period of time before being allowed to reset. Drove a bit. Passed a few cars. Spun. Lost will to continue. Continued. Spun again. Lost will to continue. Continued. Spun in Stowe and ripped off wheel. Retired.

NGPLS - Clermont Ferrand

[Tuesday - 1st of January]

Track Map

Unfortunately I didn't practise much for this race beforehand. Fortunately I've raced here before, albeit not in the BRM. Things loosened up in qualifying though, and somehow I was able to do consistant laps. I qualified 4th on the grid with race fuel in the tank. The start and first lap was a catastrophe, with me crashing in T1, T2, Le Belvedere and the last corner. Next lap I manage to pass a car and I'm up to 9th.

The rest of the race was just a massive crash/spinfest, luckily a lot more so for the others than me. I eventually ended up in 4th, extremely tired and slightly disappointed with myself for messing up so badly on the first lap.

WOSEC - Norisring

[Saturday - 28th of January]

Track Map

Ah, Norisring, 2.2 miles/3.7 kilometres of german streets. A perfect place for a 6 hour race! This is the first race of WOSEC's second season, and not only is it at the shortest track yet but we've also set an attendance record with 35 cars qualifying. Vader Trophy Racing enters this race with the simple aim of surviving all the 6 hours. The attendance record is applying for VTR as well, as we entered four cars with two/three drivers per car.

I was given the job of qualifying and starting the race for the VTR4 car, paired with Simon Steele and later with Neil Stratton. I qualified in 16th, in the top half of the grid, and amazingly managed to avoid killing myself to death in the first few laps. And let me tell you, being one of 35 GTP cars snaking through the Norisring circuit is nothing to sniff your nose at. The first laps were really tense, and it took a long time for the field to settle down to a calm (for this track) rythm.

I was pretty consistant throughout my first stint, but I did manage to flip/get flipped about four times (one of which was actually a James Bond style barrel roll). The car was a bit down on power, but she kept going at it until I handed over to Simon in 3rd. In the midst of all these flips, the dE Racing car got taken out by a runaway car in the hairpin, right in front of me. After the driver change we were down in 9th, and Sim did a nice and steady stint without too many moments. Neil Stratton - who was originally going to do a stint in VTR1 but decided to let Gav Wilson, who'se car had been wrecked early on, drive in it instead - then took over and brought us back up through the order.

I took over with about an hour to go, and drove relatively drama free all the way to the finish. I came home in 7th, and VTR1 actually won the whole thing! Forza VTR!

Vader Trophy - Lime Rock Park MC

[Wednesday - 1st of February]

Track Map

I procrastinated practise for some reason, so I wasn't expecting much for this race. I qualified in 10th after tweaking the setup a bit to stop me from spinning off every other lap. Enough with the heart attack inducing excitement, now on to the snorefest that was my race.

I got a good start, and passed the wreck just as it started. I pass a spinning Kev at the top of the hill and I've gained 4 positions up to 6th. Passing the finish line on the next lap I pass a spun-off Rich and apparently someone else, as I'm now in 4th. He goes for the outside (or rather, I defend the inside) at the hairpin one lap later, but puts a wheel in the grass. Thus granting me half a lap's peace and quiet before he's snapping at my heels once again. He passes without much drama at the top of the hill, and I'm left to the doom that is solitude. I did have a minor high speed slide near the end of lap 9, but due to me being awesome I saved it without much effort at all :P

Hot racing action on lap 12

Exactly 11 über consistant laps after the minor slide, I decide to go for a good laptime and brake a bit later for T1. Thus breaking the first rule of Esben's Big Book Of Racing Rules: "Don't brake late for T1 with less than 5 laps to go". I spin, Kev catches, Kev goes off in the last corner and lets my blood pressure drops slightly. While racing for position a lap or two later I brake a bit late for the hairpin on the second-to-freaking-last lap of the race. Thus breaking the second rule of EBBORR: "Don't brake late for the hairpin on the second-to-freaking-last lap of the race". Slightly miffed, as one might expect, I drive like hell on the last lap and smash my old PB by a second while crossing the line sideways and pouring out tyresmoke.

Here are som pictures of me making a fool of myself with less than two laps to go: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

This is the same story as the last two races: Consistent as f*ck, but get screwed over in the dying laps. One of these days I'm gonna complete a race without spinning off at all...

NGPLS - Monza

[Tuesday - 24th of January]

Track Map

I hadn't done much practise between the VT race and this one, as my mind was set on beating my old BRM PB at the Nürburgring. To read all about my chase for the PB, and the reason I dedicated it to a girl in my year, go here and read down the page. The lack of practise wasn't to be a problem however, as I was consitently doing 1:30s in practise, and actually managed two laps under 1:30 thus getting me a new PB and 6th on the grid.

My start wasn't exactly world class, and I was passed by a Lotus on the way down to Curva Grande. He braked very early for the Lesmos, and I barely avoid hitting him as I swerve to the left. Riding the wall of death round the outside of the Lesmos doesn't help, a little lag happens and I spin off. Into the path of a Cooper who collides rather spectacularly. Despite this I get going pretty quickly, and actually cross the line in 6th, so I didn't really get that badly affected. The rest of the race was me just basically driving along all by myself, although I did get caught up in a little accident with ten laps to go (video clip at bottom of post). I lost a position due to that, and as a result drive the last ten laps under the red mist. I cross the line in 4th. Not bad, but I seriously think that could have been a 2nd....at least a 3rd.


(8,3 MB - 31 seconds)
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Vader Trophy - Monza

[Wednesday - 18th of January]

Track Map

After a day's break (where nothing worked) everything fell into place. I was doing constant 1:31s on race fuel, and 1:30s after emptying the tanks during qualifying. My quickest time was a 1:30.34, which got me 11th on the grid out of 17 drivers. Not bad for Monza :D

I got a good getaway from the line, but got stuck behind a row of 3 cars going 3-wide. My racer's sense started tingling and I lifted off, just enough so I didn't get too involved in the ensuing carnage. Although I hit one of the cars, I only did a 360 and could continue without losing a single position. In fact, I gained four positions on it!

The rest of the race was as un-dramatic as it gets. Consistently hammering the times in and just driving my own race in the Division 2 lead. Richard Dickson did catch me though, and I out-braked myself into the first Lesmo which let him by. I made the same mistake two laps later while looking for a way past, and I lost him. This didn't stop me from getting a new PB on the very last lap, a shiny new 1:30.072.

Finished in 8th overall, and won Division 2 rather comfortably. The season ahead could be very exciting if I can keep up this good form.