Time Trial League - Rd 10 - Silverstone

Welcome to Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix, and my home track. 

For this round, we are using a beta version of the Silverstone track by F1Virtual. 

 Championship Standings

1	Fongu	82
2	Gildoorf	54
3	32bobo32	28
4	Carl_gpgames	23
5	Prblanco	22
6	Duffer	20
7	KerleyF1	5

Having taken 7 victorys from 9 rounds, I have a commanding lead in the points scoring table. Gildoorf has been excellent all year, but has been a victim to the steering wheel advantage at some tracks. 32bobo32 has had 5 podiums so far this year and is in third place. Prblanco and Duffer have both missed a round this season and bring up the tail end of a competitive midfield. 

The Track 

I was quite busy once more and could only manage one session on the keyboard and about an hour on the steering wheel. I really enjoyed the lap on the wheel, but on some of the quick corners, particularly Copse, Maggots and Becketts, I just didn't have the same confidence on the same setup. There were clear gains on the long corners like Luffield and Stowe, but all in all, I was about a tenth behind my keyboard lap. 

I ran with 13 on the rear wing, it was about as low as I could go to be flat out on corners like Copse and Abbey (I'm starting to sound like classic Jacques Villeneuve and setting up for one specific corner). I ran a lot extra front wing with a rear brake bias. It meant the car was really nervous if you took too much speed into the corner. 

Gildoorf: "@Fongu I will get your setup once again, if u don't mind."

Prblanco: "This circuit is INSANE! I love it"

32bobo32: "really a nice track"

Carl_Gpgames: 

"not my track."

The Hotlaps

Once more we all had busy weeks, so the laps are not quite as polished as usual, with Duffer unable to make this round at all.

Prblanco: "And as with almost every round, I regret not starting my practice a day earlier 😁"

32bobo32: "I was able to do some laps 😱"

Doesn't fill me with confidence that the lap times will be low this round! 

Just Prblanco and Carl_gpgames on the wheel for this round, the rest of us on the keyboard. 

Thanks again to Carl for another fabulous video. 

0:07 - It looks like we are all running similar amounts of wing, Carl being the fastest just before we turn into turn 1, and Kerley the slowest. 

Abbey (Turn 1) should in theory be flat out, you want to avoid any tyre screeching which means there's sliding and scrubbing of speed. On the keyboard that means you can't just turn all the way through the corner, you have to feather the turn towards the end of the corner. Same for turn 2 but to a lesser degree. 

Carl has to use the brakes a bit into Abbey, whilst Prblanco has to lift. The keyboard users have more confidence in the high speed turn 1, or it may be due to setup, we'll see in the other high speed turns. 

0:13 - Coming into Village (T3), and 32bobo32 is in the lead, closely followed by me, Gildoorf, Kerley, Prblanco and Carl. 32bobo32 runs wide, whilst I am drifting through Village. The two wheel users are able to take some kerb. A burst of wheelspin as I turn my TC off out of turn 3 for me to straighten the car quicker. 

All the wheel users are able to take a wider turn in at The Loop (T4). On the exit of turn 4, Gildoorf is in the lead, just marginally ahead of Prblanco and me. Kerley and 32bobo32 are just a shade behind with Carl at the rear. The Loop is key to get a good exit, and it appears Gildoorf and I have very similar techniques, but Gildoorf really gains in the speed he's able to carry down the straights. 

0:30 - Carl tops the speed trap at the end of the long straight, with Kerley the slowest.

1	Gildoorf	00:26.191
2	Fongu	00:26.421
3	Prblanco	00:26.440
4	32bobo32	00:26.576
5	Carl_gpgames	00:26.598
6	KerleyF1	00:26.735

Here are the sector 1 times, Gildoorf taking a 3 tenth lead from a very close midfield lead by me, only 0.177 seconds separating 2nd and 5th place. Kerley's lack of top speed hurts him a bit as he drops slightly behind. 

Brooklands (T6) is a late apex, so you don't want to turn in too soon. Everyone takes a similar line through here. 

Luffield (T7) allows a few different approaches. I personally like to take lots of speed in, get my turning done quickly, and then straighten my exit. Having said, I hug the kerb on the inside on this particular quick lap, with Prblanco,32bobo32 and Kerley taking wider lines. The wheel users are able to get more steering lock whilst carrying more speed around here, and both of them gain time here. 

By the end of the exit kerb, Gildoorf is starting to pull away. Prblanco has edged into second with me in third. Carl is in fourth ahead of 32bobo32 and Kerley. 

0:52 - Turn 9 at Copse is another flat out corner if you are brave enough with the right setup and timing your turn in is essential. Only Gildoorf and I are able to take this flat. It means on the exit, we are carrying 300kph whilst 32bobo32 is some 10kph slower and Carl losing out the most here. 

1:03 - Maggots and Becketts are about taking smooth lines, with Maggots being flat, but Prblanco and 32bobo32 have to lift. The left hander at turn 13 is key to setting you up for Becketts (T14). I take a slightly wider line through the right hander and allows me to carry a bit more speed on exit. 

Having done a few laps through here on the steering wheel, although I could keep it smooth, I didn't have the confidence to carry the speeds I could on the keyboard. 

1	Gildoorf	00:36.464
2	Fongu	00:36.835	+0.371
3	Prblanco	00:37.449	+0.985
4	32bobo32	00:37.656	+1.192
5	Carl_gpgames	00:37.725	+1.261
6	KerleyF1	00:37.951	+1.487

Gildoorf extends his lead with a whopping 4 tenths advantage through this sector alone. I'm 6 tenths ahead of Prblanco in third who is almost a full second slower than Gildoorf through this section. Interestingly the order is exactly the same as in sector 1, so there's no change in the overall running order, only the gaps. 

1	Gildoorf	01:02.655
2	Fongu	01:03.256	+0.601
3	Prblanco	01:03.889	+1.234
4	32bobo32	01:04.232	+1.577
5	Carl_gpgames	01:04.323	+1.668
6	KerleyF1	01:04.686	+2.031

Gildoorf looks uncatchable now with a six tenth advantage on me. I carry the same advantage over Prblanco, with 32bobo32 and Carl running very close together. Kerley is not far behind. 

1:17 - Into Stowe corner (T15), and I found on the keyboard it was better to run wide as you could get a better exit, whereas if you kept to the racing line, you had to lift more on the exit. Gildoorf, me and Kerley all take this line, whilst 32bobo32 keeps it tight. Carl is using the steering wheel input to his advantage. Prblanco manages to take some kerb, but runs a little wide on exit, but no harm done. A wiggle from my rear end as once more I turn off my TC momentarily. 

Carl locks up and runs wide into the left hander at turn 16, compromising his line through Club. 

1:41 - Across the line we go, and as usual let's consider the sector times first

1	Gildoorf	00:26.933
2	Fongu	00:27.102	+0.169
3	Carl_gpgames	00:27.609	+0.676
4	Prblanco	00:27.808	+0.875
5	KerleyF1	00:27.811	+0.878
6	32bobo32	00:28.026	+1.093

Gildoorf gains a hat-trick of quickest sectors, I believe he's the first to do so all season, with a dominant performance. I'm close behind in this sector. The two wheel users head the midfield with Prblanco and Kerley separated by only 0.003 seconds. 32bobo32 continues his trend of having a poor final sector. 

1	Gildoorf	01:29.588
2	Fongu	01:30.358	+0.770
3	Prblanco	01:31.697	+2.109
4	Carl_gpgames	01:31.932	+2.344
5	32bobo32	01:32.258	+2.670
6	KerleyF1	01:32.497	+2.909

Gildoorf takes his second victory of the season with a commanding 7 tenth cushion from me in second. I've watched the laps a few times, and our setups are very similar (because Gildoorf took my setup and fine tuned it), but just knocking 1 click off both wings seemed to give a huge advantage on the straights, whilst Gildoorf was able to take the corners just as fast as I could. Anyway, congratutlations Gildoorf on a super lap, thoroughly deserved. I look forward to returning the favour if we have a Brazilian round. 

There's a fairly equal spread in the midfield, Prblanco was consistently third in all the sectors and brings home another fine podium finish, his second of the year. Carl, the other wheel user, was locked in a battle with 32bobo32 all the way around the lap until the final sector, which where 32bobo32 lost four tenths to Carl and fourth place in the process. Kerley was right in there in the midfield, with his middle sector slightly letting him down, but he brings home another point. 

Prblanco: "Best lap so far [at Silverstone], made an error at S3... A decent S3 wouldn't give me a better position after all... 🥉🥳"

32bobo32: "My traditional bad S3... Stunning lap @Gildoorf!"

Carl_gpgames: "I was lucky with S3, messed up both s1 and s2"

Gildoorf: "I'm surprised about advantage at S1 where CCline really needs fine tuning. Thanks, @Fongu for sharing a strong setup."

Fongu: "Congrats @Gildoorf for a resounding victory, great lap .... don't use my setup again 🤣" 

Carl_gpgames: "Congratulations to @Gildoorf for winning all 3 sectors! amazing drive! 🍾🍾🍾🏎️🏎️🏎️"

Championship Standings

1	Fongu	88
2	Gildoorf	64
3	32bobo32	30
4	Prblanco	26
=	Carl_gpgames	26
6	Duffer	20
7	KerleyF1	6

Gildoorf closes in on the lead, but is still 24 points behind. 32bobo32 clings onto third place, but Carl and Prblanco are tied in 4th place. Duffer loses ground having missed another round, and Kerley is up to 6 points.