FIXED: 2h Endurance - Mazda MX-5 Cup at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - Classic Pits

[Frank Sonne]

As attendance has been very low for the last 3 races in Gentlemans Cup, as Co-Admin for the league, I think it will be in order that participants will anounce weather or not they will be attending the final event at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, so we can invite replacements to get a decent grid for a 2 hour event like the upcomming final round.

So if you are taking part, please advise so i can update the list below.

As Michael Ryhl has anounced that he will not take part in the final round, I have taken the liberty to invite Michael Christensen to take part in the final race instead of Michael Ryhl.

Sorry for any inconvinience this may cause, but it would be sad having a grid of yet again, 10 or less participants...

List of participants for final race:

Is attending:
Allan T. Olsen
Jimmy Larsen
Jesper Pedersen
Kim Christiansen
Kim Vedel Østerby
Kheireddine Bouafia
Marcello Maio*
Marc Dinnissen*
Michael Christensen*
Rene Cornella*
Ron Gerrits*
Sami Ovaskainen
Steve Claeys
Steven Jones
Verner Blindheim
Wolfgang Koch *

Not attending:
* Anders Høyland (Spot given to Marcello Maio)
Esben Jahn
* Frank Sonne (Spot given to Ron Gerrits)
* Jakob Søndergaard (Spot given to Marc Dinnissen)
Jens Christoffersen
* Kari Ikonen (Spot given to Rene Cornella)
* Keld Winther Nielsen (Spot given to Wolfgang Koch)
* Michael Ryhl (Spot given to Michael Christensen)
Ron Attwood
Ronni Brian
Stuart Whitehead
Peter Axelsson
Peter Jensen
Richard Torp Jensen

Need to confirm:
Dennis Johansen
Jacob Jørgensen
John Borgbjerg
Johnny Fejer
Martin Dyrlund
Ole Therkildsen

[Frank Sonne]

If you wish to take part, and is not signed up for the league, please post here to apply.

[Kim Vedel Østerby]

I am in and has already taken the Mazda out for a couple of laps on Spa :003:

[Sami Ovaskainen]

I'm in, if there are enough people. I don't enjoy driving for two hours all by myself, except when a few aliens lap me ;)

[Jimmy Larsen]

Im in as well......

[Verner Blindheim]

Im in as well......

Me too! :)

[Allan T. Olsen]

Can't make up my mind right now.

Put me in as a Maybe.

I have really come to hate the MX 5, because I can't get to grips with it.
I'll try a test run on SPA, and post my final decision.

[Steven Jones]

I'll be there :003:

If we struggle to get more than around 12 or so drivers, maybe it would be an idea to switch it to a one hour race? I agree that two hours with 10 cars could get very boring!

[Jesper Pedersen]

I'm in :023:

[Steve Claeys]

Will be present and hope to see a good field cause otherwise 2H will be boring.

[Sweptech]

I'm in :023:

[zretil]

me too!:023:

[Kari Ikonen]

2 hours with a BIG grid and close racing would be great!!!

I'm very sad that it's confirmed now for sure that I can't make 1st of may of this race. I will be lucky if my injury will heal by June... Simply said I'm very disappointed. :( Hopefully I can join the next season.

If I somehow win any price money from this league I will give it to someone else that I see fit (if possible?) in the series that has done the full required amount of races. Clean fair driving will be of very big importance for my decision that will also be very subjective! The last race will have an effect too. ;)

I have a great driver in mind for my replacement if possible? My team mate Rene Cornella. Very clean and fair! Someone who will fit this gentleman league well!

[Michael Ryhl]

2 hours with a BIG grid and close racing would be great!!!

I'm very sad that it's confirmed now for sure that I can't make 1st of may of this race. I will be lucky if my injury will heal by June... Simply said I'm very disappointed. :( Hopefully I can join the next season.

If I somehow win any price money from this league I will give it to someone else that I see fit (if possible?) in the series that has done the full required amount of races. Clean fair driving will be of very big importance for my decision that will also be very subjective! The last race will have an effect too. ;)

I have a great driver in mind for my replacement if possible? My team mate Rene Cornella. Very clean and fair! Someone who will fit this gentleman league well!

:023: :023: :023:
Best wishes, Kari!

A true Gentlemans Cup this, and I also hope it will continue somehow ...
And a great Thank You, to our local "uncle Bernie" - Esben Jahn - for making it all happen ... :023:

[Frank Sonne]

2 hours with a BIG grid and close racing would be great!!!

I'm very sad that it's confirmed now for sure that I can't make 1st of may of this race. I will be lucky if my injury will heal by June... Simply said I'm very disappointed. :( Hopefully I can join the next season.

If I somehow win any price money from this league I will give it to someone else that I see fit (if possible?) in the series that has done the full required amount of races. Clean fair driving will be of very big importance for my decision that will also be very subjective! The last race will have an effect too. ;)

I have a great driver in mind for my replacement if possible? My team mate Rene Cornella. Very clean and fair! Someone who will fit this gentleman league well!

Sad to hear you are still some way off being clear of your injury, Kari...

Kari please advise Rene to signup for the forum, so we can put him on for the last race...

[Keld W. Nielsen]

Hi all.

I'm not gonna make the race. Still struggling with my back. Even a 20 min race is hard to complete.:010:

Best of luck to all you gentlemen drivers.

Hope to be in a future race.

Keld

[Ronni Brian]

i am out

[Kari Ikonen]

Sad to hear you are still some way off being clear of your injury, Kari...

Kari please advise Rene to signup for the forum, so we can put him on for the last race...

Rene has pm'd Esben so I hope he gets in soon.

I also let him know that he needs join this forum in case he hasn't done so yet. :001:

[Rene Cornella]

Hey all,

I joined this forum some time ago,...
And thanks that I get the honor to replace Kari for this race :023:.

I'm always in for long fun close but fair racing. Can't wait.

Rene

[Steve Claeys]

Argh, Rene is too fast. :002:

[Jakob Søndergaard]

Sorry for not replying to this before now, but I have been at Zolder most of last week for the WTCC, and the car had to be ready before that.

But sadly I will have to pass on the Spa race, as I simply won't have to time to race sunday evening.

[Anders Høyland]

I think that im out... Fælledparken is calling i think :party-smiley-003: Depending on the weather of course :002:

[Marcello Maio]

Hey guys,

I would like to participate if you have space:-)

[Esben Jahn]

Hey guys,

I would like to participate if you have space:-)

:023:

[Frank Sonne]

I have, sadly, to take myself off the "Is attending" list and assign myself a maybe tag, as my leg is KILLING me, and i am off to see the kiropraktor in about an hour, but i have no hopes for sunday... It has gotten ALOT worse since yesterday.

Of course i will take part if i get better...

[Frank Sonne]

Slipped disc pending, not slipped yet, but underway, so no racing for me, for at least 2 weeks :(

[Jimmy Larsen]

Slipped disc pending, not slipped yet, but underway, so no racing for me, for at least 2 weeks :(

:089:

[MrChaos]

Slipped disc pending, not slipped yet, but underway, so no racing for me, for at least 2 weeks :(

I'm sorry to hear that Frank, but rather take a couple of weeks away from racing than have to take a couple of month away from racing and work.

Hope you get well soon my friend :)

[Michael Ryhl]

Slipped disc pending, not slipped yet, but underway, so no racing for me, for at least 2 weeks :(

ARGHHH!!! Too bad Frank, best wishes ... :045:

Maybe one should consider, building a spare wheel in Jason Watt style, - just in case :105: :003:

To foreigners:
Jason is a Danish racedriver, who lost function in both legs in an accident, but is allowed to race with a special designed racing wheel, including throttle, brake and clutch, and still doing very well. Won a STCC-race last week ....

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhl97_jason-watt-porsche-spa-francorchamp_auto

[Frank Sonne]

Funny thing Ryhl, i thought about the special wheel 2 days ago, when thinking of products i wish to produce...

Another thing, Jason crashed his Motorcycle about 5 km from where i live...

[Frank Sonne]

IMPORTANT IMFORMATION
After running it by Esben, we have decided to change this event...

This will NOT be a 42 lap race, but a 2 hour event like we orignally wanted, as that is now possible to set up in iRacings hosted capabilities.

[Marc Dinnissen]

Hell i want to drive to , thx see you sunday

[Ron Gerrits]

As attendance has been very low for the last 3 races in Gentlemans Cup, as Co-Admin for the league, I think it will be in order that participants will anounce weather or not they will be attending the final event at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, so we can invite replacements to get a decent grid for a 2 hour event like the upcomming final round.

So if you are taking part, please advise so i can update the list below.

As Michael Ryhl has anounced that he will not take part in the final round, I have taken the liberty to invite Michael Christensen to take part in the final race instead of Michael Ryhl.

Sorry for any inconvinience this may cause, but it would be sad having a grid of yet again, 10 or less participants...

List of participants for final race:

Is attending:
Allan T. Olsen
Esben Jahn
Jimmy Larsen
Jesper Pedersen
Kim Christiansen
Kim Vedel Østerby
Kheireddine Bouafia
Marcello Maio*
Michael Christensen*
Rene Cornella*
Sami Ovaskainen
Steve Claeys
Steven Jones
Verner Blindheim

Not attending:
* Anders Høyland (Spot given to Marcello Maio)
Frank Sonne (Injured)
Jakob Søndergaard
* Kari Ikonen (Spot given to Rene Cornella)
Keld Winther Nielsen
* Michael Ryhl (Spot given to Michael Christensen)
Ron Attwood
Ronni Brian
Stuart Whitehead
Peter Axelsson
Peter Jensen
Richard Torp Jensen

Need to confirm:
Dennis Johansen
Jacob Jørgensen
Jens Christoffersen
John Borgbjerg
Johnny Fejer
Martin Dyrlund
Ole Therkildsen

I like too race too please, count me in....

[Kari Ikonen]

I have, sadly, to take myself off the "Is attending" list and assign myself a maybe tag, as my leg is KILLING me, and i am off to see the kiropraktor in about an hour, but i have no hopes for sunday... It has gotten ALOT worse since yesterday.

Of course i will take part if i get better...

Ouch Frank and bad luck! :085:

Like others said, health is main thing, so make sure to get it fixed first!

On the positive side most of us injured parties will be able to continue with this hobby of ours after healing. Meantime we just need to do other things like... hmm... commentating for example... :002:

[Dandym]

I'm out

[Rene Cornella]

I have another driver who wants to join the the race if it is possible.
His name is Wolfgang Koch.
He is already registered to this site and will write something later on in the forum.
Would be great to have a good grid for the 2h race :).

Don't practice to much,.. See you on the track.

Rene

[Wolfgang Koch]

Thanks Frank and Rene for help.
thx see you on Spa-Francorchamps.

[Esben Jahn]

The sever will be up 16.30 Danish time... :045:

If you have not received the PM from me with the code send me a PM


Gentlemans Cup Final on 2011-05-01 @ 4:30 pm ... Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - Classic Pits- Y- MX5-C 210m- 3L- 120M ---

[Kim Vedel Østerby]

Hopefully I can attend without problems.

Early in the afternoon I discovered we were without internet connection again. We may have a cable problem to solve next week. I have been working on a solution and now have an "air bridge" (wifi-connection) to one of my neighbours. Tests during practice period will show whether it is safe to participate or not.

I am looking forward to an exciting race, but will be extra careful when running close to other drivers.

[Kim Vedel Østerby]

Jesper I am so so sorry for hitting you. I don't know why I couldn't stop, you didn't go slow or break early, but I rammed you.

SORRY SORRY

Stupid mistake in such a long race.

[Jesper Pedersen]

Jesper I am so so sorry for hitting you. I don't know why I couldn't stop, you didn't go slow or break early, but I rammed you.

SORRY SORRY

Stupid mistake in such a long race.

Np i diden't get any neck injuries or anything.. lol :003: There will be more races to race.. So no worries :023:

[Egil Sandfeld]

So how was the race apart from the ramming accident? Did it feel long and slow because of the mx-5 on a relatively large track?

[Jimmy Larsen]

Im sorry i had to go.........
Neighbor came around.....suspicion on a car on our little road.....he thought it was thieves......
So we went to have a look. But it wasnt......
We earlier have had som break in's in the neigborhood......

* * * * * * *

And that was the last GC race in the league.......

I must say.....the races have been great.....real Gentlemens behind the wheels.......:045:

BUT....its the last league i will participating in with fixed setup....
I really have been struggling with the car......at the rear of the grid.....
And when you know you proberly wont get any podiums at all.....the concentration slowly disappear.........

So.....no more fixed setup races for me.........:023:

[Kim Vedel Østerby]

I had been looking forward to this race for a long time, but I could not prepare for the race as expected, because my internet connection dissappeared early in the afternoon. With help from one of my neighbours, we established a wifi-connection. After that I calmed down.

My qualification went ok, but was far from perfect. On the other hand, it wasn't that important as this wasn't a sprint race. I was going to start 6th on the grid.

As expected the start of the race was close racing and I held my position. On 3rd lap I couldn't brake as well as Jesper and hit in the rear - My fault and I was mad about myself. I destroyed Jesper's race and mine was also changed drasticly. The car was driveable but I discovered that lost a sec. from La source to Les combes.

I decided to make an early pitstop and hoped that some of the damage would get repaired. The car was a little better after the pitstop, but the car was still a little slow. As a result of the early pitstop I focused on minding my tyres and my strategy was to make steady laptimes and gain as much as possible by making no more mistakes. The chase was on.

I always had cars either in front of me or chasing me, so it was never boring. At the end of the race I was chasing Verner, but couldn't really attack. However I tried to put as much pressure on him as possible, to let him know there was no room for mistakes. Verner didn't make mistakes and I finished 5th.

Not the race I had hoped for but a good race anyway. Of course it would have been nice with a full grid but I was never alone on the track. I enjoyed this mini endurance race.

[Marcello Maio]

My race summary.

Qualifying didn't go to plan as I would have wanted. In practise I was able to get down to 2:54:8xx within my first three laps. During my three qualy laps I couldn't seem to get all three sectors together. The result was that I was out qualified by Steven who put in a good lap to beat me by 13 hundredth of a second:)

Race:
My start was relatively good compared to the others on the grid & I was able to tuck myself in behind Steven through Eu Rouge with René close behind me on the run up to Les Combes. Qualifying 2nd probably worked out better than pole as I was able to get a tow from Steven & get myself on the left-hand side of the track with a little more momentum than him. Again René was right behind me but couldn't use my tow to any effect as he was locked in behind me & Steven. Luckily I managed to get myself a little ahead of Steven by the time we entered the first corner of Les Combes & I could hold my position through to Rivage.
I concentrated hard on trying to put in a little space between myself and the rest of the pack, I was also hoping that Steven & René would start fighting each other to give me a little more space. I was also concerned about how much a car could gain in tow as practise showed that there was a significant gain when one was going from Curve Paul Frere to Blanchimont & from La Source up to Les Combes. For some reason the gain was not as extreme during the race & I was able to break slightly from Steven who I could see was also putting some air between himself & René.
Coming up to the halfway mark I was thinking a lot about fuel & pit stops. Steven was only 4 seconds behind after 18 or so laps and i had to take his strategy into account. I could not afford to overfill the car or make any mistakes coming in and out of the pits. I wanted to go as long as possible and see how much time was completed before pitting. 28L had allowed me to complete one hour & I worked out that another 28L should take me to end of the race. Steven ended up pitting one lap before me leaving me to focus on a quick in lap. I ended up filling up to 29L to have a bit of a buffer and I'm glad I did, as I finished the race with 0.7L of fuel with me backing off the pace in the last 5 or so laps to save fuel. I think Steven chose to be over cautious with his fuel & spent an extra 4 seconds in the pits. This gave me a 8 sec lead after pit stops. There still was a lot of pressure as Steven was quick on the pace again after his pit stop & had his tires up to temp. I started to think about lapping other cars & keeping it on the black stuff for another hour and thining all it takes is just a small mistake to ruin a good race:) Steven & I swapped best times for the remainder of the race.
Thank you to all the guys who I came up to who respected the blue flag & moved over to let me pass. It's great to race with such gentlemen:)
This race for me was not at all boring. I think Steven kept the pressure on throughout even when there was a slight gap. There had to be total concentration at all times & yes, the Mazda may be too slow for Spa but it's all relative to the guys you are racing against. Driving a Williams around Spa and having a 1 minute lead is also boring. Driving a Mazda with 8 seconds gap at the end of two hours is tough & exciting.
I hope my summary did not bore you guys too much, that's if you bothered to read it:)

Thank you to the organisers for letting me race in this final round and for, in general, running a great league that I really believe is filled with true gentleman!

Mange tak.

Marcello

[Verner Blindheim]

I did a few laps early in the practice yesterday and didn't get the times that the others got. After the qual I think that was because they where set with drafting, because I got a 7th starting position.

The first half of the race was full of close racing, and we settled down in a 3-4 car group fighting. After a while I figured that I would stay in the back of the group letting them fight it out. The cars ahead of me (Sami and Wolfgang) pitted one lap earlier than I had planned, so I did another lap before I did my stop.

After the stop it turned out that they must have had repairs, because they where several seconds behind me now. And soon Kim V Ø, was past Wolfgang and he set on the chase. He slowly reeled me in and I was wondering why he didn't catch me sooner. He is usually much faster than me. But then I realized that he did his stop earlier, and his tires was more worn then mine. So I made up my mind to push and stay in front. The distance was close a few times, but I managed to pull a small gap that saved my 4.th position. Eventually that gave me a 3'rd place in the total standings. I'm very pleased with that.

I now want to thank everybody for taking part in the Cup and I really hope the Gentlemans Cup is here to stay. If not in the Mazda maybe in one of the other slow cars like the SRF or the Skippy.

I will not do much racing in season 2 but I hope to see you all in August when I again put on my racing boots.

And to all those organizing, sponsoring, developing and drifting the site. Thanks!

Have a Great Summer!

[Rene Cornella]

Was great to be a part of this event.
Steven and Marcello were just too fast for me.
At the start and in the opening laps I could follow quite easy and we 3 pulled a little gap to the casing cars.
Than in lap 3 or 4 at the last turn I drifted a bit to hard and could not go on throttle soon enough. There I nearly lost the contact to Steven. Than into the chicane I pushed too hard (to make good the lost space) and lost even more. After that second mistake I was never able to come back in the slipstream of Steven.
I still was a bit faster than the casing group and pulled slowly away from them.
Only a few laps in and I was already in the nowhere land, slower than the top guy’s and faster than the drivers behind me.
Only once, Verner past me while I was in the pits getting new rubbers and some fuel.
A lap later it was his turn to do so and all was back to normal.
To race 2h all alone was not that much fun at all. A more difficult track with more corners and less full throttle time would have been much more entertaining for me.

Anyway, was my first but sure not last event in a series like this.
I like the idea of a slower car and a fixed setup. This is just easy to drive and have fun without the need of hours and hours of setup work.

Hope to see you all soon at some other races. Thanks to everyone made this possible.

Rene

[Steven Jones]

Well, it wasn't the most exciting race in terms of close-racing and overtaking, but it was still a very hard race mentally. I hadn't actually done much practice for this race as I did the Corvette Okayama 400km race on Saturday and I was still recovering from that. That race lasted almost 2h45m and with the 2h race yesterday, my body is feeling the pain today! :042:

I was surprised to get pole position, I knew I'd done a good lap but I didn't think it was that good! I didn't get a great start though as I missed the lights slightly, that gave Marcello a good run at me on the drag up to Les Combes. I braked as late as I dared into there, so imagine my surprise to see Marcello shoot around the outside of me into the lead! :103: I then spent the next few laps trying to hold off Rene while still keeping up with Marcello. Having to defend slightly into the hard braking zones though compromised my corner exits and eventually I lost Marcello's slipstream.

I eventually managed to drop Rene from my own slipstream but could never catch back up to Marcello either. All the way through the first stint I was trying as hard as possible, without making a mistake, but still the gap remained around 3-4 seconds - Marcello wasn't making any mistakes either.

I decided to pit a lap early, hoping a lap on new tyres would close the gap a bit. I decided to play it safe (although I looked good in the championship, with double points on offer I didn't want to lose a load of points by running out of fuel), so I went for an extra click of fuel. What I'd forgot was that the new build has changed the pit crew and they're much slower topping the fuel up now. That extra click of fuel cost me about 4-5 seconds, combined with not a very good outlap and I lost around 6 seconds to Marcello in the pits.

For the rest of the race I was still driving flat-out, just to let Marcello know he couldn't make any mistakes :) But, he didn't make any all race and took a well deserved win, great drive mate :023: I should say a big thanks to Sami and Marc too, despite being in a close battle with each other they both pulled out of the way to let me through when I caught them up. You're both gentlemen :045:

It's been a fun season, something different to the other races and leagues around. I've have had some really great races - Infineon, Road Atlanta and Phillip Island - and raced some true gentlemen - Kari (pity you couldn't complete the season, it would have close between us, get better soon :) ), Didine, Kim V Ø and Frank. Big thanks also to Esben and Frank for putting it all together and Kim V Ø for doing the results :023: It's been a pleasure and I hope to race with you guys again soon
:c096: :c351:

[Sami Ovaskainen]

First of all, the race: I was extremely surprised to get 8th place in the quali. It required me to improve my PB by 0.6 seconds on one well-concentrated lap. :023:

After the start I lost a couple of places to faster guys, but then I found a group of three others who I was able to hang with, and even race a little. Wolfgang, Ron, Verner and I slipstreamed together until the pitstops. My pitstop was 15 seconds longer than for example Verner's, I have no idea why. Didn't Verner change tires? Did I take that much extra fuel?

After the pitstop, the group wasn't there anymore, but I set my mind on catching up with couple of guys in front of me. Then, a few laps later, a huge spin in Pouhon, into the wall and completely bent front suspension. I drove for one lap to find out if the car was still drivable, but it wasn't. I pitted, changed into a new car and came back for a brief battle with Steve. I was able to pass and pull away, and even another spin in Pouhon didn't cost me a position. In all last week's practice, I didn't spin in Pouhon, but it became my Achilles' heel in the race. In the end, I ended up fighting for fun with Marc D., even though he was a lap down from me.

My goal was to beat Kim C, to keep my position in the overall standings ahead of him, but my encounter with the wall let Kim pass me in the race and in the championship table.

Thank you everyone for the fun series and congrats to Steven for winning it! I had memorable fights in some races, in some races I just sucked. :105: I was a bit disappointed by the poor turnout in some races. I was one of 3 people who ran in all 7 races, and one of only 7 who ran the 5 races that you get points in.

Special thanks to Kari for coaching me for Spa. Couldn't have been so competitive without it!

If there's a new series, I look forward to running again. However, I think the points system is a bit unfair. After the first couple of races, there was no way anyone could catch the top, as the points even for winning were so poor, because the points are based on the number of participants. I think there should be a set number of points, for example to the top 10, plus the bonus points, plus one point for every race you participate in, even if that race is not calculated for your total score.

Thanks to the hosts, see you all on track, and a great summer to everyone!:party-smiley-003: