Post Salburgring - DTM Series Reviews

Wow. What a super race. And a great series. Reports people. Lets have em.

Qualifying

Managed to find some awesome room to do the max amount of laps. Chucked the Softs on for the first time here and didn't even get my best time.
Ended up 4th with a 1:26.8 or something like that. Pretty happy, but i could've gone faster.

The Race

The Alfa is ridiculously slow of the line but i did manage to stay with the pack into turn one. A couple M3s got by me early in the form of Racer and Webber. Mozza was gone, miles up the road. Racer lost it on L3 which left me chasing Webber. A big responsibility knowing he had to finish to claim his championship title. I didnt want to be the guy that knocked him into the wall, finishing his race. On lap 5, the power of the Alfa pushed me pass the M3 on the straight but Webber stayed with me. Two laps later he was still freakin there, and i forgot to brake on the long back sweeper, skidding across the grass and destroying my front bumper.

I pull back onto the track and my wheel is facing the wrong way but the car is going straight. Interesting. I hadn't lost a spot but now the Volvo of Shano was right on my ass. Along with 7 other cars right behind him. Shano got by me when i overshot T1 and ran wiiiide. With the pack closing i thought it was all over.

By lap 16 i had caught back up to Shano which was amazing by itself. I dont remember the last time i was up the front and actually chased down a front runner. So happy with my drive tonight.

He ran wide and i got by. Then with Webber about 11 seconds up the road, i just had to fend off the Volvo for 10 laps or so. He would draw me in on the straights but in the turns i could gain about 3-400 on him and keep ahead.
Was a really good battle until he made a few mistakes and fell back a bit. Came in, in 4th spot about 8 seconds behind Webber. Great race Shano, nice to have a good battle with you.

Well done to Mozza for beating Dan in that big Ford. Epic effort, you were miles gone after 1 lap.

Congrats to Webber for taking out the series. Even with all that weight on it couldnt really slow you down. Bloody awesome.

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Thanks Wally for running a great series. Really loved racing in this one. You did a super job of setting it up.

Lastly, Well done to everyone who competed in DTM 1987. You all raced very well and created some very tense and high quality races.
Compared to the first race of the series, everyone has improved a whole lot and the racing is better than ever.
If everyone shows each other the respect we all expect then all series can be this successful.

See ya's at V8 Support and the coming TCL Sunday series.

Great night.

First off thanks to Wally for running the series and Webber as well. I know it must take a lot of time and hard work to keep it all running smoothly and I think everything went pretty well.
I didn't do very well overall, largely due to computer problems for the first half of the series which forced me to either DNF or crash out. I lost a 3rd because of it. My best result was a 4th at Norisring which was probably my best drive as well. This is the first TCL series I have competed in and I was a bit off the pace of the top m3 guys so hopefully I can catch up a bit in the next series.
As far as the race went I had fun but I didn't drive that well. I think I started 8th and got a great start but a yellow brick spun in front of me and I fell back to last. I managed to pass some cars and I think I got as high as 6th. I struggled a bit mid race mainly though turn 1 I was a complete mess through there. Group C got through and I couldn't hold off Billy at the end.
Finally thanks to all the other drivers in the series.

Qualifying

Logged in with seconds to spare, loaded my race set-up, forgot to lighten the fuel load and did several laps, all of them were shit, either I got traffic or made a mistake. Qualified 15th and last.

The Race

I got a good start and some in front of me were alseep, so i was up to 10th before the first corner. Yeehah! Took it easy and careful into the chicane, so did everyone else around me and came out still in 10th. A Mustang pulled out to pass going up the back straight, I had no answer so moved over to give him room, but he spun, so i was still 10th going into the esses, came in too hot, went straight ahead and spun in the gravel, limped out and rejoined, well behind everyone else and that's where i stayed for the rest of the race.

Concentrated on being fast and clean, was very consistent lap after lap and scored several PBs, but never caught anyone on the track. Attrition saw me gain three places to finish a very lonely 12th.

I was very surprised to see Mozza was the first car to lap me, in a Benz no less. Well done Mozz! It was funny, i got lapped by a Benz, an Alfa and another M3. Each time, I had to roll out of the throlttle on the straight, so they could get the pass done. They might have been a lap ahead, but they had nothing on me in a straightline.

Finally well done to Wally for organising the series. I really enjoyed it. Heck, I'll do any TCL series, I love Group A!

Wd mozz on the win.. ya tinny prick lol... and wd to dan for pushin mozz the whole way makin him work for it.... nearlly came to a end for both of ya on lap 18 lol with a bit of back marker action lols....!!!!!!!!!!!!!

was on the pace big time until the weight got slammed on lol so just ended up lookin for battles along the way... wd shayn was sum great battles but just couldnt match ya pace towards end.. wd... wd to webb for winnin championship and team mate for takin second....

laters

Thanks to Wally for steering the ship for the series... you did a mega job once again Wal!!

Quali: Didn't go too bad with the 99kg i had stacked in the boot... think i finished up 6th.

Race: Got a Dan Ricciardo spec start last night... SHOCKING!! haha Had a pretty good 1st lap though until i followed my teammate off into the sand hahaha Think i fell back to 11th or 10th. From there it was only going to be picking up a few points. I had some great battles though... Top racing there Peter308, DV8 & Stevo... Was great fun.

I just didn't have the pace to stay with Shayn n Shano... But teammate let me through, well i think he did on the last lap!!! Onya mate!!

All in all a great series, prob my fav race was at Mainz where i battled Bersly for the win in a race long battle that he came out on top!

To the weight ballast... hmmmm i like it but i don't like it. I never have the time to practice much during the week, maybe 30 or so minutes but that is with car that has no ballast... Come to race day i don't have the time to set a car up with that much weight... So it was alittle frustrating in those last few races. BUT i do love the fact it gave us soooo many different winners. I finshed 2nd in the championship with no wins to my name... I'd give the ballast system another go but im not sure about it every TCL season.

WD Webber on the title... You are the TCL master!!

Qual: 2nd last but with a pb, so I was ok with the time.

Race: Got off to a slow start, 2nd last after T1. Went past David when he went into gravel and just tried to stay there. Made an error when being blue flagged. Instead of just sticking to my line and the 2 front runners finding their way around me, I decided to move over to the other side of the track so they could get past me before the last 3 turns. Mistake, I lost it. I am very sorry and just really glad that I didn't wipe you both out. Sorry again. (I did say sorry over TS, hope you heard me). This also let David past. Trying to then catch back up to David I stuffed it on the next 2 laps and ended up pitting. Oh well, I finished the race and the series.

Well done to Wally for this series and well done to Webber for last night and taking out the series.

Sharyn

Throughout the whole week I struggled with pace compared to the turbo boys, Shano, billy and even that poxy Italian alfa all being able to drag themselves up the hill at least .4 of a second quicker.
Was even getting frustrated at about 5pm when it was becoming even more clearer that the merc was very slow and no amount of aggressive driving was gonna help!

Quali.
So after all my struggles in getting a 27.1 during the week imagine my surprise when I started straight up with 26s. Fastest being a 26.1 but i was dubious about my line through the chicane so I let webber know and took my 26.5 as my second fastest lap. Ended 3rd behind dan and Webbs.

Race.
Got an epic start and split Webb and Dan... until the mustang found traction. Then I managed to out brake him into t1. From the we had a race long battle, with Dan makin a few mistakes which let me get past each time.

Dan got back past for what I thought was the last time on the 2nd last lap, and I resigned myself to finish 2nd. During the last lap I managed to drag the merc ever closer and once we reached the right hander after the hill I was sitting on dans bumper.
With a better run out of it I showed him the nose of the merc as a final distraction, not really tryin to get past, but Dan ran too deep into the final chicane, skidded over the grass and spun, leaving me with 1 corner to take and then the win. Awesome race Dan, hats off mate!

Well done to webbz on the championship (again!) Lol.

Stupid phone double post

Lol Mozza, yer Merc drivers were no chance last night.

Well done man.

Sorry Shano I forgot all about the bricks in your boot. Shoulda given you more cred for draggin that thing around so quick. I'm sure it woulda been different had you only had your bowling gear in the boot.

Top Drive.

ah well all goods shayn... still was fun so all good....

oh did i mention mozza won.... top job bra... but merc is still in scuterneering for a really good going over lol...

think mite go again in volvo sorta not a bad car has sum good puff

As mentioned above big thanks to Wally for running the series and Webber for running the final round last night. And big well done to Mozza on the race win and Webber wrapping up the title, a great effort all series and fully deserved.

I had one problem with this track, i could never ever get comfortable with the first chicane all week, lol... it hampered me in qualifying as i never got it right once and ended up 11th on the grid.

I made a great start though, was 7th or 8th by the first corner and got a great draft up the back straight and managed to end lap 1 in 4th, then got past Webber on the back straight and by the end of lap 2 i was in third place and feeling pretty good.....until i messed up at turn 1 and had a spin which dropped me to 8th. I then got embroiled in a great duel with the two 'Ligier' Volvo's, DV8, Peter308 & Stevo, with Wally and Billy later joining in too. It was great stuff and a really enjoyable dice... i messed up the chicane again later on and then had Billy chasing me as we both chased the pack again. On the second last lap i had another turn 1 moment which punctured the tyre... i crawled round and finished a lap down.

Well done on the win Moz and well deserved, and great to see you back Dan and up the front

Weight ballast - it produced some great races and different winners and i think worked well with this DTM Series. I think one thing that might have to be watched is how the ballast affects each car depending on the track. For example, if i'm driving a Commodore and win at Symmons, i'll get ballast for the next round at Amaroo..even though the Commodore is already handicapped by weight around a tight track like Amaroo before ballast is applied. By the same token a BMW might win at Amaroo, and be lumped with weight for the next round at Sandown where its already down on power and relies on its lighter weight and better tyre wear.

To be fair though, the above scenario is only really an issue with the later cars (post 1987) where the M3's, Sierra's, Commodores & Skylines etc.. have more pronounced strengths and weaknesses (ie.. Sierra's fly at Symmons Plains, BMWs are very good around Amaroo and Winton etc...). The 1983-1987 cars are relatively even with the various strengths and weaknesses over each lap allowing every car to be more competitive at each track, hence why i think the DTM 1987 series with success ballast worked well.

Enjoyed every minute of this series and look forward to next Sunday

Thanks all

racer69 wrote:
Weight ballast - it produced some great races and different winners and i think worked well with this DTM Series. I think one thing that might have to be watched is how the ballast affects each car depending on the track. For example, if i'm driving a Commodore and win at Symmons, i'll get ballast for the next round at Amaroo..even though the Commodore is already handicapped by weight around a tight track like Amaroo before ballast is applied. By the same token a BMW might win at Amaroo, and be lumped with weight for the next round at Sandown where its already down on power and relies on its lighter weight and better tyre wear.

To be fair though, the above scenario is only really an issue with the later cars (post 1987) where the M3's, Sierra's, Commodores & Skylines etc.. have more pronounced strengths and weaknesses (ie.. Sierra's fly at Symmons Plains, BMWs are very good around Amaroo and Winton etc...). The 1983-1987 cars are relatively even with the various strengths and weaknesses over each lap allowing every car to be more competitive at each track, hence why i think the DTM 1987 series with success ballast worked well.

Enjoyed every minute of this series and look forward to next Sunday

Thanks all

I have just Been discussing weight penalies today and although not as well explained as Racer but basically had just finished saying the same thing

yeah they need to be sorted better. accumaliting weight every week aint fair at all...

ya get a heap loaded on then ya spend weeks doin bad to get rid of it...

I think it is a something that we need to refine and get working a little different.

Here is a suggestion that would require testing but Maybe each cars are tested on each track for the series and set a ratting for the penalty a each car before the series started for each track
Eg:
Sierra would get at
Bathurst 100kg
Winton 10kg
Amaraoo 20kg
tasmania 100kg

BMW
Bathurts 0kg
Winton 80kg
Amaroo 55kg
Tasmania 20kg

Above just numbers thrown up not a true example

Plus each night if it was two races the top 5 could be added penalty for race two to bring them back a little. This would be a choice on the night only if the field need addition closing up

Just an idea to might be completely wrong but throwing it out there for constructive criticism

I've got the smallest violin shano, and it's playin just for you! LOL

You could probably apply set weights over the entire season and given the different types of tracks you should get a fairly even championship. But as Racer said it does depend on what championship you are running. I don't think drivers getting weight added in a race by race basis is the right way to do it.

lol mozza well if there was another round youd be stuck wit a shit load of weight for busting ya chops last nite and pushin ya car to the max.... fair?? just sayin is all

may as well run a league edition of tcl lol..

Lol shano, I'm under no illusions the only reason I won last night was cos all the fast guys were weighed down...

However, I'm a fan of the weight system how it is, and I would have been happy to carry the weight. That's how shit rolls in real life too.