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1st #68 Anders Nilsson - AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia
2nd #00 Jimmy Broadbent - BMW Z4
3rd #23 Garth Buchanan - Feint Motion BMW Z4
4th #45 Chris James - McLaren MP4-12C
5th #07 Someguy_1 - Jack Daniel's McLaren MP4-12C
6th #35 Nabil Abusharr - Nissan GTR
7th #51 John Bacho - Audi R8 LMS
8th #10 James Goldston - SPIN DOCTOR Racing Porsche 997
9th #71 Cam Porter - Lamborghini Gallardo
10th #5 Paul Schuman - Aston Martin Vantage
(DNF)11th #47 Dan Minges - McLaren MP4-12C
(DNF)12th #46 Nick Woodbury - Kessel Racing Ferrari 458 Italia
(DNF)13th #52 Justin Allison - Audi R8 LMS
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Bastogne, Stavelot, Malmedy, Foy-Notre-Dame, Meuse, Wereth: locations found in the surrounding 2.7 million acre region of the Ardennes, all made famous in a brutal and sickening war that ravaged continental Europe.
What better way to honour the sacrifice of human life and irreparable psychological and physical damage but to build one of the greatest race tracks ever conceived. It is on this ground, surrounded by the ghost of war, that the Sim Race Online GT3s completed a grueling 1.5 hour endurance event at Spa-Francorchamps.
After the disappointing driver count last week for the Nürburgring race, it was a welcome sight to see thirteen cars taking part in Belgium. There were notable names missing from the list, including the championship contenders of Stephen Bailey & Kjelle Stenbeck, both reportedly away on holiday. The dark horse leading up to Saturday’s race was Göran Strandh, who suffered a back injury prior to the race and was unable to participate. With those challengers not on the grid, who else would step up to fight Anders Nilsson’s streak of victories?
The answer came from an unlikely person, not because of skill, but in the method he is momentarily forced to steer his BMW Z4: Jimmy Broadbent, the PS3 controller driving extraordinaire! The championship leading Ferrari of Nilsson was a sure-fire bet for pole all weekend long, and he achieved that result with a time of 2:18.152 as expected -- but the rest of the grid was surprising. Immediately following Nilsson was the South African of Justin Allison in the Audi R8 on a 2:18.310 and Jimmy Broadbent’s dexterous thumbs flying across the analog sticks to qualify 3rd with a 2:18.522.
Other notable qualifying results were that of Garth Buchanan displaying his best form of the series thus far in 4th, James Goldston coming out of retirement only recently to get 5th -- with a time he was quite shocked by -- and the Audi driver of Bacho surprisingly down the order in 11th.
Familiar with the rigors of endurance racing and experienced with the dangers surrounding the roller coaster corner of Eau Rouge, the race organizers decided to apply a ‘manual rolling start’ rule for the beginning of this race. Nilsson would lead the field around like a regular formation lap, but he exited the final ‘bus-stop’ chicane, the green flag would drop. Missing from the start of the race was that of #52 Justin Allison in 2nd place; his internet connectivity plagued him throughout the day and prevented him from taking part. This would promote the soon-to-be gnarled PS3 holding hands of Jimmy Broadbent to P2.
Coming around the final corner to begin the race, the field hammered the throttle to begin the 1.5hr race! Everyone but Someguy_1 in the McLaren got away cleanly in the order they qualified. SG went wide at the chicane in front of Bacho, claiming “I was downshifting too slow for the approaching corner!” Bacho capitalized on the mistake and completed the pass on the brakes into La Source for 9th. The lone Porsche 997 of Goldston struggled early on (he’s still coming to grips with the GT3s after such a long hiatus from racing); the Texan would slowly fall down the order, beginning with a bobble at Campus to allow Nick Woodbury to overtake -- Woodbury would go on to crash at Eau Rouge the very next lap and retire -- and soon after that by the Gulf liveried MP4-12C’s of Chris James using a rare low downforce setup.
C. James appeared to have the most eventful race of the field. After qualifying 6th, he quickly moved up two spots and passed Garth Buchanan’s BMW on Lap 13 before Les Combes by using his horsepower & wing advantage for P3. From there he slowly caught the leading cars of Nilsson and Broadbent. The top two traded positions twice before their pit-stops at the halfway point, with Jimmy Broadbent moving into the lead early on Lap 3 down the Kemmel straight, only to switch positions again in an exciting side-by-side duel on Lap 17 from Les Combes to Rivage, this time with the Ferrari 458 on top.
The smoother style of James -- and possibly the McLaren’s softer use of tyres -- allowed him to catch up to the rear-end of the BMW in P2 and simply drive past Broadbent on Lap 19 (like he did to so many in this race). What looked like a three-way fight for the lead took a turn for the worse as James accidentally missed his pit-stall on Lap 22, accidentally hitting the speed-limiter out of frustration, driving out of the pits without receiving service and awarded a penalty for a speeding infraction.The very next lap he completed his stop for fuel & tyres, but didn’t understand that penalties need to be served independently. This lost him several positions and he was forced to blitz his way back through the field.
A decent battle for 5th was between that of Nabil Abusharr, John Bacho and Someguy_1. The three of them would run within sight of each other for the majority of the race; their machines ebbing and flowing towards each others bumpers. Bacho’s Audi had the biggest disadvantage between them, his R8 LMS ULTRA was petrol thirsty and required the most amount of time to refuel in the pits. By the end of his first stint, J. Bacho fell into the clutches of Someguy_1’s McLaren just before the halfway mark due ot heavy tyre wear. During the overlap, SG1 leapfrogged past Bacho, but still behind Abusharr’s Nissan GTR. The GTR looked to struggle with overall grip throughout the race, but relied on its straight-line speed to negate any passing opportunities.
After a slight hiccup on the opening lap, Paul Schuman in the Aston Martin looked to be running down Garth Buchanan for the final podium position before he flew off the circuit. The Maryland man took too much of Pouhon’s inside kerb on Lap 32; the grass bumps or possibly the low ride height struck the raised kerb and hurled his car into the right wall. The incurred damage required an additional pit-stop, dropping him down behind the remaining cars on track. Not comfortable with the overall balance after the large shunt, Schuman retired his Vantage two laps later due to a heavy crash at Eau Rouge behind Cam Porter’s Gallardo.
Even though the BMW of Broadbent stopped three laps earlier than Nilsson, he kept a quick enough pace during the pit exchange to emerge in first position once again after the Ferrari’s stop. Nilsson set out in his 458 to close the gap from four seconds on Lap 24 down to almost zero by Lap 36. Later in that same lap, the Swede would pressure the BMW and make a late brake move into the Campus corner around the outside of Broadbent, completing the pass for the lead. The Swedish Viking would go on to win his fourth race in a row!
Chris James would recover to finish fourth position, a great result after suffering so much turmoil in the pits and from the looming black flag penalties threatening to disqualify him. Nabil Abusharr ended up losing a couple of spots during the second half of the race after some minor half-spins, ultimately crossing the finish line in 6th as Someguy_1 (who finished P5) put in yet another patient and well-paced display of driving. Much like Cthulhu, he waits. Only his style of waiting entails the close observation of the competition slowly chewing through their tyres and jumping at the chance to exploit an advantage.
Congratulations go out to James Goldston and Cam Porter for sticking with the race even after struggling with pace near the back of the field. Also, a word of encouragement to Dan Minges who retired on Lap 21 of his own accord. Put that man in a historic racing machine and he’ll electrify the venue. For whatever reason, the modern cars don’t suit him as much, but everyone at Sim Race Online loves to have him on the grid, shooting the shit on Teamspeak and giving the league some fucking class!
Anders Nilsson now has a commanding 47 point lead in the championship over fellow Swede Kjell Stenbeck.
What better way to honour the sacrifice of human life and irreparable psychological and physical damage but to build one of the greatest race tracks ever conceived. It is on this ground, surrounded by the ghost of war, that the Sim Race Online GT3s completed a grueling 1.5 hour endurance event at Spa-Francorchamps.
After the disappointing driver count last week for the Nürburgring race, it was a welcome sight to see thirteen cars taking part in Belgium. There were notable names missing from the list, including the championship contenders of Stephen Bailey & Kjelle Stenbeck, both reportedly away on holiday. The dark horse leading up to Saturday’s race was Göran Strandh, who suffered a back injury prior to the race and was unable to participate. With those challengers not on the grid, who else would step up to fight Anders Nilsson’s streak of victories?
The answer came from an unlikely person, not because of skill, but in the method he is momentarily forced to steer his BMW Z4: Jimmy Broadbent, the PS3 controller driving extraordinaire! The championship leading Ferrari of Nilsson was a sure-fire bet for pole all weekend long, and he achieved that result with a time of 2:18.152 as expected -- but the rest of the grid was surprising. Immediately following Nilsson was the South African of Justin Allison in the Audi R8 on a 2:18.310 and Jimmy Broadbent’s dexterous thumbs flying across the analog sticks to qualify 3rd with a 2:18.522.
Other notable qualifying results were that of Garth Buchanan displaying his best form of the series thus far in 4th, James Goldston coming out of retirement only recently to get 5th -- with a time he was quite shocked by -- and the Audi driver of Bacho surprisingly down the order in 11th.
Familiar with the rigors of endurance racing and experienced with the dangers surrounding the roller coaster corner of Eau Rouge, the race organizers decided to apply a ‘manual rolling start’ rule for the beginning of this race. Nilsson would lead the field around like a regular formation lap, but he exited the final ‘bus-stop’ chicane, the green flag would drop. Missing from the start of the race was that of #52 Justin Allison in 2nd place; his internet connectivity plagued him throughout the day and prevented him from taking part. This would promote the soon-to-be gnarled PS3 holding hands of Jimmy Broadbent to P2.
Coming around the final corner to begin the race, the field hammered the throttle to begin the 1.5hr race! Everyone but Someguy_1 in the McLaren got away cleanly in the order they qualified. SG went wide at the chicane in front of Bacho, claiming “I was downshifting too slow for the approaching corner!” Bacho capitalized on the mistake and completed the pass on the brakes into La Source for 9th. The lone Porsche 997 of Goldston struggled early on (he’s still coming to grips with the GT3s after such a long hiatus from racing); the Texan would slowly fall down the order, beginning with a bobble at Campus to allow Nick Woodbury to overtake -- Woodbury would go on to crash at Eau Rouge the very next lap and retire -- and soon after that by the Gulf liveried MP4-12C’s of Chris James using a rare low downforce setup.
C. James appeared to have the most eventful race of the field. After qualifying 6th, he quickly moved up two spots and passed Garth Buchanan’s BMW on Lap 13 before Les Combes by using his horsepower & wing advantage for P3. From there he slowly caught the leading cars of Nilsson and Broadbent. The top two traded positions twice before their pit-stops at the halfway point, with Jimmy Broadbent moving into the lead early on Lap 3 down the Kemmel straight, only to switch positions again in an exciting side-by-side duel on Lap 17 from Les Combes to Rivage, this time with the Ferrari 458 on top.
The smoother style of James -- and possibly the McLaren’s softer use of tyres -- allowed him to catch up to the rear-end of the BMW in P2 and simply drive past Broadbent on Lap 19 (like he did to so many in this race). What looked like a three-way fight for the lead took a turn for the worse as James accidentally missed his pit-stall on Lap 22, accidentally hitting the speed-limiter out of frustration, driving out of the pits without receiving service and awarded a penalty for a speeding infraction.The very next lap he completed his stop for fuel & tyres, but didn’t understand that penalties need to be served independently. This lost him several positions and he was forced to blitz his way back through the field.
A decent battle for 5th was between that of Nabil Abusharr, John Bacho and Someguy_1. The three of them would run within sight of each other for the majority of the race; their machines ebbing and flowing towards each others bumpers. Bacho’s Audi had the biggest disadvantage between them, his R8 LMS ULTRA was petrol thirsty and required the most amount of time to refuel in the pits. By the end of his first stint, J. Bacho fell into the clutches of Someguy_1’s McLaren just before the halfway mark due ot heavy tyre wear. During the overlap, SG1 leapfrogged past Bacho, but still behind Abusharr’s Nissan GTR. The GTR looked to struggle with overall grip throughout the race, but relied on its straight-line speed to negate any passing opportunities.
After a slight hiccup on the opening lap, Paul Schuman in the Aston Martin looked to be running down Garth Buchanan for the final podium position before he flew off the circuit. The Maryland man took too much of Pouhon’s inside kerb on Lap 32; the grass bumps or possibly the low ride height struck the raised kerb and hurled his car into the right wall. The incurred damage required an additional pit-stop, dropping him down behind the remaining cars on track. Not comfortable with the overall balance after the large shunt, Schuman retired his Vantage two laps later due to a heavy crash at Eau Rouge behind Cam Porter’s Gallardo.
Even though the BMW of Broadbent stopped three laps earlier than Nilsson, he kept a quick enough pace during the pit exchange to emerge in first position once again after the Ferrari’s stop. Nilsson set out in his 458 to close the gap from four seconds on Lap 24 down to almost zero by Lap 36. Later in that same lap, the Swede would pressure the BMW and make a late brake move into the Campus corner around the outside of Broadbent, completing the pass for the lead. The Swedish Viking would go on to win his fourth race in a row!
Chris James would recover to finish fourth position, a great result after suffering so much turmoil in the pits and from the looming black flag penalties threatening to disqualify him. Nabil Abusharr ended up losing a couple of spots during the second half of the race after some minor half-spins, ultimately crossing the finish line in 6th as Someguy_1 (who finished P5) put in yet another patient and well-paced display of driving. Much like Cthulhu, he waits. Only his style of waiting entails the close observation of the competition slowly chewing through their tyres and jumping at the chance to exploit an advantage.
Congratulations go out to James Goldston and Cam Porter for sticking with the race even after struggling with pace near the back of the field. Also, a word of encouragement to Dan Minges who retired on Lap 21 of his own accord. Put that man in a historic racing machine and he’ll electrify the venue. For whatever reason, the modern cars don’t suit him as much, but everyone at Sim Race Online loves to have him on the grid, shooting the shit on Teamspeak and giving the league some fucking class!
Anders Nilsson now has a commanding 47 point lead in the championship over fellow Swede Kjell Stenbeck.
Last edited by John Bacho on Sun 25 Aug - 23:23; edited 15 times in total
Didn't mean to attempt a pass there. Clearly, I was braking much later at the end of Kemmel. I think I may have been able to go the whole race on one set of tires... maybe. Took tires anyway. Got a stop-go penalty for accidentally speeding in the pit lane. 
It was lonely after that. See you later.
