Skeet_Tong

Hi Spike, Don't think you realised but I booked out before 6pm...don't want a messer strike tarnishing my reputation!!! Well done to Paddy it seems!

Hi Mav, Tosh is right (as I have found out over the past couple of meetings)...the default setup for the F1's is top notch, and the only adjustments I now make are to the gearing and brake bias...all other tweaking time is spent finding a rhythm for my own braking and acceleration points and methods. Next time you are in a practice server, take an onboard view of one of the quick cars when they are on track and listen to how hard they are revving the engine, and how hard they are braking...this has been the biggest help to me rather than having someone explain what to tweak and why!

Hi Aub, Think you are a bit premature by writing the meeting off already...I'm one of those drivers who is hoping to compete but as of yet has not booked in. Monday is an Aberdeen holiday however I have a number of things to do this weekend that are weather dependant, so I won't know until possibly Monday itself whether I will be able to join the meeting. I'll politely point out that it is the UK Speedweekend at Skeggy this weekend and I'm sure there are a number of people who might not be venturing home until Monday, and still might not be in a fit state to race by the time they get home! I'm sure there will be the customary late booking surge to boost the grid...hopefully I'll cya'll there.

Great stuff Walker, and what a top race

Thanks as always to Johno and Kev for running the meeting What an absolutely awesome evening of racing! Managed to get half an hour of tweaking time on Wednesday evening to try and put into practice what I'd learned since I last raced here (rather unsuccessfully I might add) and what a transformation...was clocking up sub 14sec laps but most important of all, I had the confidence in the car to be able to clock consistent lap times all within a tenth. Luckily I managed to get into pre-meeting practice a bit earlier than I usually do, so made a point of getting involved in traffic to see how I could cope around faster cars and was quietly pleased to be able to mix it with the likes of Mike, Tosh and Murf...until Tosh broke my car which made me drive into Stephen Was chuffed as hell to win the opening heat...yellow has been an absolute bitch of a grade because there are always plenty of cars and all the drivers know that unless they can break away, they are just gonna get sucked in by the higher grades...hence the bumpers always fly in the first few laps which can either make or break your race, through no fault of your own. Got a demon start and soon nudged Trav wide for the lead...he got a return hit on the next bend but the rear end grip I was getting was immense and I managed to pull away and keep enough of a gap to avoid any challenges, what a boost! I'd kinda hoped that starting from the back of the yellows would be a bit of an advantage and it seemed to be the case at the start of heat 2 when everyone ahead stuck the bumper in on the first bend and left a gap up the inside...a bit of nerfing and sliding held us all up and the blues were on our case in no time, but for a good number of laps there was some fantastic hard-hitting racing going on until I eventually got caught on the inside rear and was spun oot of the top 10. If Heat 2 was good, the Final was absolutely immense...again got a great start and all the yellows ahead slid wide on the first bend...bumpers flew in on turns 3 & 4 and I found myself in the lead but Trav was having none of it and blootered me wide on turn 1. Managed to keep the car from spinning but the impact with the armco had damaged something and the car was now as loose as a pair of baggy troosers so my chances of a win were oot of the window. Somehow I was able to keep up with the pack and was having a superb battle with Harmen, Walker, Fast Track and Munis for lap after lap til again I got punted wide, which put me back into the clutches of the red tops. I inadvertantly squeezed Tosh onto the inner rumble strips whilst trying to recover from opposite lock, and feared the worst when he caught up again in the final few laps for the last scoring position...he managed to tap me wide on turn 1 on the last lap and I thought rather than go for a last bender and risk spinning, I'd leave him to have a shot at Paddy and hope that one of them spun...ended up getting a double bonus tho as Tosh couldnae quite connect with Tom and slid wide, and then I had to contain my amusement at seeing Murf facing the wrong direction just yards from the Finish line...cue celebration at getting points in a Final! The GN got off to a bad start...got spun in the early laps and rejoined at the back nearly half a lap doon...kept my head doon and caught up with the pack, and started picking off cars one-by-one and eventually joined a battle between Tosh, Harmen and Munis for the last paying positions...thought I had managed to sneak into 8th on the last lap as Harmen had been punted wide earlier, and I'd managed to ease Munis wide on turn 1...we were side by side charging down the back straight but as we fought for the inside line on the final turns Harmen seized his chance and planted Munis straight into me, spinning me oot on the last bend...was gutted not to get a point after all that work but it was another superb race, brilliant stuff. Full marks to everyone last night...I thought it was gonna be difficult to top last week's meeting at Scunthorpe but jings what a belter of a meeting! I'm speechless...can't you tell???

Many thanks again to Spike and Kev for running the meeting Superb stuff last night as far as I was concerned, am really glad the opportunity arose for a late booking...debated as to whether I'd have enough time to get some practice in but got home from work at a half decent time and thought well I've got nothing to lose. Got a bit of a shock after the first couple of practice laps and it took a wee while to suss oot the right line but after that, I just absolutely loved the challenge of the track! A wee tweak of the gearing and I was happy not to be a fortnight off the pace and thought I'd pick up a few points if I kept the car on the right line. Got a major lucky break in Heat 1...started from the back row of the yellows, held back at the start and let the rest sort themselves oot...next thing I know someone spins on the homestraight sending the yellows scattering and holding up the pack behind, and I'm in the lead! Managed to stay there until the final third of the race when Mike appeared in the mirror...a wee nudge wide and he was through, but was still chuffed to finish 2nd. Got a good start in Heat 2 and latched on behind Jarry until I made a wee mistake and just caught "that" marker tyre on turn 4...the subsequent delay saw me get bundled oot wide by the pack, but again got back on the racing line and held on for 6th. The Final was a very hectic start amongst the yellow grade, a lot of position swapping but all hard and fair, it was a Final after all...and then the blues and reds arrived and sent most of us scattering wide!!! Slipped oot the top 10 and then was nudged wide by Daveyboy...tried to keep up with the pack in the hope that there would be some frolics somewhere in the race but it was not to be, still a finish on the lead lap tho. The GN was the highlight of the night despite my overexcitement costing me a better finish! Almost a carbon copy of Heat 2 in that Jarry and myself broke away from the rest of the yellows, and had a belter of a battle for the lead...that was until yours truly failed to learn his lesson from a couple of laps earlier and got broadside to the point of no return in turn 1 and battered off a marker tyre. Thankfully someone in the chasing pack straightened me back up and I was still in the top 5 until some bloke with an off-white coloured roof came tapping (makes a change from the thud!!!)...to be fair our squabbling at the start probably cost Jarry the win but it was fantastic stuff, side by side, tap for tap for lap after lap...superb! Maybe I shouldn't have turned off those Superstar lights after all...

Put me down as a provisional please Spike...just aboot to leave work now, will make my presence known in the server if I can or can't make it

43??? FORTY THREE?????????? You're having a giraffe mate!!! Have a good one you norvern munkey!

Great work again Spike and the team, super slick stuff yet again even with a couple of restarts Glad to have avoided a nil score at my home track by steering my way through all the carnage in the GN!!! Had kinda hoped to spend a bit of time during the weekend trying some of the upgrades I have yet to sample and thus get a decent set-up but as per usual, my plans changed at the last minute and I had to make do with a 15min blast offline before the meeting last night Thought that if I could keep oot the way and avoid any pile-ups like you get at places such as Sheffield, I might sneak into a top 10 place somewhere...nae luck in the first heat, picked up some minor damage and there weren't enough retirements further up the field. Heat 2 was a non-event, got T-boned on the first corner which broke the rear suspension or punctured a tyre...parked up on the pit bend to get a birds-eye view of any action but then Tosh decided to park his fat RCE in front of me lol. Final got off to a hectic start and I was soon shuffled oot the top 10...Trav soon appeared in my mirrors so I pulled wide to let him past and went to line him up for a follow-in on the pitbend (haha Pixie) but instead latched on behind a recovering Dave to see if I could keep up...cars were disappearing from the leaderboard so it became a battle for 10th, with Tosh also joining in the fun as he recovered from an incident. Dunno how it happened but even tho Tosh and Dave were battling, they caught up with Trav again and the next thing I know Trav was bundled into the home straight tyres. Pedz also joined the battle for 10th as did new leader Woody...thought I might just be able to sneak into the points but as everyone went for the last bend hit I was battered oot wide...nae luck! GN turned into a bit of a DD, got caught up in a few scrapes and bounced off the tyrewall a couple of times but for once didn't pick up any damage, and spent the rest of the race with SpikeJnr loitering in my mirrors! Bloody enjoyed it tho, the track is a brilliant challenge and extremely realistic...really have to hug close to the armco to get a decent lap, just like the real thing. Will cya'll next time!

I offered the front row slot in Heat 3 as I'd been pole yellow in Heat 2, but you said you were fine on the second row?

Argh the dreaded nil score!!! Very disappointed after tonight's racing...Wimbo is by far and away the best track I've raced on rFactor and after a short amount of practice, I was really looking forward to my second(!) return to the league. However, it seems I may have left my luck behind at the old flat as like Johno, it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time for most of the evening...but that's Stock Car Racing! Heat 2 got off to a bit of a duff start...was half spun on the first bend and a couple of laps later, was half spun whilst battling with Munis, unfortunately with a bit of warp evident...was quickly shuffled oot the top 10 and had little hope of rejoining the pack. Managed to safely negotiate the first bend of Heat 3 and was battling with Mav for a couple of laps until he battered off a fencepost, sending himself airborne and me into the marker tyres. Managed to get going again well doon the order and tried to keep up with Fast Track for most of the race as he closed in on Tosh and Walker's battle for 9th and 10th...Tosh quickly disposed FT into the fence whilst Walker got the better of our battle on the last lap for 10th. The Consolation was obviously the highlight of the night...Bobbert doing myself, Spike and Spike Jnr a massive favour by collecting a marker tyre nearly midway through the race thus delaying the rest of the field and allowing us top 3 to wind down the laps for a place in the Final...boost! No a bad start to the Final...again found myself battling with Mav until he did the opposite of Heat 3 and battered off a marker tyre, again sending himself airborne but instead sending me oot to the fence. Got going again eventually and after a few laps, was involved in a battle with Murf, Savage amongst others...was half spun at some point with the subsequent delay having the result of bringing our battle into the path of leader Daveyboy. The second half of the race was very frantic...trying to stay out of the lead battle but trying to keep with your own battle for a possible points finish...sadly my hopes quickly faded when a slight bit of warp whilst side by side with Savage sent me into another half spin. The start of the GN was an utter joke...no-one's fault to be honest but surely a false start could've been called as the resulting pile-up delayed almost the entire field before they reached the green flag, and left a few of us with hefty damage??? I can have no grumbles with the decision to run an all-in GN and I've no been racing long enough to know how often it happens due to car limits but under tonight's circumstances, surely it would've been deemed a "botched start" under the UK-Dirt rules? This is not to be taken as a criticism of Kev as I'm sure if he did restart the race, there would have been a grumble or two...and it would've made no difference to my results anyway!!! One thing's for sure tho...I'm just glad it's only a game cos it's a bloody long drive back up to Aberdeen from Wimbo after a nil score lol! Thanks to Mike and Kev for running another slick meeting and to Madcowie for a fine update to a brilliant track...will cya whenever I manage to climb down from my soapbox

Thanks for running the meeting Spike and Dave...was a fine way to round off my temporary return to the UK-Dirt league Chuffed with my haul last night...didn't know what to expect from my first meeting from blue but last night it seemed there were more red top cars than there were white, yellow and blue put together! As Pusher mentioned, it gave everyone in front of the red grade time to settle into their rhythm whilst the star graders sorted themselves oot during the first few laps, and it seemed to produce some good, clean racing. Had been struggling with a sticking throttle for the past couple of evenings, and made a last minute decision to strip the pedal box before the start of the meeting...everything internally seemed fine so the only other hope I had was to put my faith in some WD40 over some places I thought needed it and thankfully it did the trick! Enjoyed a good wee battle with Daveyboy at the start of the opening heat but I quickly realised he was the quicker car and rather than hold each other up by constantly swapping places, I slotted in behind whilst he tried to hunt down Fast Track! Heat 2 was more or less the same...Daveyboy got the jump at the start and like heat 1, it took a wee while for any red graders to appear in the mirror, so it was just a case of no silly buggers and another top 5. Daveyboy's bad luck in the Final meant I quite fancied my chances if I could keep Fast Track in close range...the yellows and whites seemed to have a bit of a dodgy start so it didn't take long to join the battle...Spike Jnr did me a favour by knocking Fast Track wide on turn 3 leaving a nice wide gap up the inside and that left me clear in 2nd. Caught up with Pusher on the next lap and managed to nudge him wide on turn 1 but by not quite enough as he was able to counter-attack on turn 3 and knocked me into a half spin...managed to avoid the marker tyres but by then Mike, Robin and Fast Track had slipped through...cannae grumble at another top 5 tho! As for the GN...slotted in behind Davey again until I was caught and passed by Pedz...looked to be heading for a clean sweep of 4th's until that eejit Drabble decided to finally wake-up by reeling me in over the last two laps and nudge me wide on the Final bend...darn it!!! Great racing tho lads, hope to lock bumpers again with y'all soon!

Thanks for running another slick meeting Mike and Kev and well done to Mike on another top performance Am chuffed to be heading back into semi-retirement on a high after scoring my best result in this league so far with 4th in Heat 1...after that, things went a bit downhill tho lol. I had set no expectations before the start of the meeting as it was my rFactor F1 debut on shale, and I had no idea if I had the consistency to keep the car pointing in the right direction under racing conditions...thankfully the default set-up gives you a great base to concentrate on clocking up neat and tidy laps, and a last minute brake bias change made things that little bit more forgiving. Heat 1 went so much better than expected...managed to break away from the rest of the yellows and set aboot reeling in Mav, which I did just as Johno reeled me in lol. Managed to settle in behind Johno and the fast-moving Mike without losing too much time, and was soon enjoying another fantastic battle with Marten291 until the chequer and a top 5 finish...boost! Heat 2 wasn't quite so straightforward...had a bit of a battle with Wardy and Marco in the early laps although with Marco beginning to warp, I hesitated a bit, unsure of what to do and was quickly relegated doon the order...managed to keep the car pointing in almost in the right direction until my mate Stephen almost half spun me on turn 4, but thankfully I recovered and still managed to finish in the top 10. As for the Final, I had no belief that a top 10 would be possible unless there was a major pile-up somewhere and Trav's impression of Speaky's F2 World Final rolling lap meant the green flag dropped when I had my foot on the brake lol. Was soon swallowed up by the pack and the weight of traffic a few laps later saw Harmen send me spinning into a marker tyre and oot of the top 15. Managed to recover without losing a lap but Mike eventually appeared in the mirrors with only a handful of laps remaining, just as Munis was saying hello as we battled for 12th lol. The GN could've been so much better...again got a good start and broke away from the rest of the yellows, and was quickly closing in on Mav and SpikeJnr...disaster struck tho as Mav spun on turn two taking Jnr with him, and left me with nowhere to go but join their marker tyre dance lol. After a bit of metal clanging, I was pointing in the right direction again albeit in 9th, and after another half-spin whilst battling with Spike, there was nowt much else to race for apart from the glee of seeing Mike appearing back in my mirror again lol! I really enjoyed the meeting tho, and was just so desperate to give the Irn-Bru motor it's debut lol. Thanks for some great racing during my brief comeback so far (except for the dirty bandits TomD, Dazza, Johno and Murf lol lol lol)...this game is one helluva challenge but the pleasure has been all yours...just remember kids, say no to Tic-Tacs Irn-Bru F1 Racing...made in Scotland, from girders!

For those of you that read the Bradford results thread after last week's tarmac double header, you'd have seen me rave aboot how enjoyable the meeting at Odsal was compared to previous experiences. Pre-meeting practice was another story however...as these pictures show, your two biggest "superstars" World "Champ" Dazza290 and National Points "Champ" TomD had to team-up in order to bully an innocent yellow top over the boiler plate and off the track...jings it was almost like the 2002 World Final again...aaargh the nightmares!!!

for a special someone

Thanks to Kev and Johno for running the meeting Talk aboot chalk and cheese...I rated last night's sesh at Hedno as the least enjoyable meeting so far but tonight saw the pendulum swing the other way to produce the best evening's racing I've had in the F1's. No race wins or scintillating performances to boast aboot, just some good, hard and clean racing with most of the field during the evening, and a very enjoyable track to learn into the bargain. Heat 1 got off to an odd start when myself, Spike and Leech were squabbling over who should be lead yellow, only for Spike's connection to fail just as I tried to use him as a cushion for the hit coming in from Leech, which saw me shoot straight through the 221 car...stuff like that never happened to Mark Peters or Tim Warwick lol! I stayed out of the pack's way until I managed to regain a rhythm, and enjoyed a cracking battle with Corny, JK And Fast Track til the chequer - top stuff. Got a bit of a break in Heat 4 when Leech suffered a half-spin ahead of me with one of the white tops, and after a brief moment in the lead, I settled in behind Johno, MOR and Dazza after all 3 showed plenty of racing common sense and didn't go for a lossy hit - cheers lads. Got a decent start in the Final until things went a bit mental somewhere, which gave the pack quite a shuffle...was still in the top 10 for a few laps until I got tangled with someone on the home straight which tumbled us both oot of the placings. Clung onto 12th place in the hope of some more action ahead, however some bloke called Stephen decided 12th place was worth scrapping for and nailed me on the last bend lol. Got another good start in the GN but a wee slide for Spike Jnr whilst leading caught me out and gave MOR all the invitation he needed to slip through into the lead...weight of traffic a couple of laps later caused Jnr and I to clash again, but once the dust settled, we had a good race to the chequer. Great stuff lads, time to put the Tennent's F1 into the garage for the next wee while and roll oot the Irn-Bru shale car for my last meeting for the forseeable future...bring on the KL marker tyres!!!

Many thanks for running another slick meeting and for the super late booking Spike Hednesford just didn't seem to favour the yellow graders last night...it didn't seem to matter how sensible we were trying to sort ourselves oot, the blue graders were on yer bumper in no time and one of us would end up being spun. Only managed to score in Heat 3 as the field seemed to be rather spread oot after all the shuffling was done so it was just a case of reeling off the laps to avoid a nil score. I had a stupid expectation that cos of the speed of the track, it would be a bit more difficult to get the big hits in...how wrong was I, it was a bit rough last night!!! Harmen the sneaky git - not satisfied with showing me his acrobatic skills at Buxton - used Murf as a cueball to plant me in one of the heats...I knew Murf wasn't capable of such strength Such is life tho, another 4 race finishes and a couple of points...thanks to Mav's sandbagging going awry last night, it puts me another step closer to white

Would it be possible for admin to run a few night races at Bradford during pre-meeting practice on Thursday evening please? The fixture list never advertised it was going to be night racing so I would like to do a systems check before the meeting to make sure the PC tweaks are gonna be ok to handle a hectic F1 race in the dark!

Another great read and interview

Top job Tosh...I'll be offering to autograph anyone's copy of Ftooz Weekly should they wish to frame it Great stuff!

Skeet #31 Yellow

This thread is the best April Fools yet! Come on now lads, get the real results posted! Nice try tho...Murf winning a championship...you almost had me fooled!

Thanks for running a superslick meeting last night lads Superb racing last night...Sheffield is one of the few tracks I've already had some F2 practice on, and I thought if I could keep the wee winged wonder away from the big bad posts I would pick up a few decent places...never thought I'd manage to take a hat trick of wins tho Gotta give some major credit to the backmarkers...every single one of them paid attention to their mirrors last night and left plenty of room when I came up to lap them, great sportsmanship and awareness It was great to line-up at the back for the GN and even better I managed to get a top 5 thanks mainly to other people's misfortune and bad luck...that's stock car racing tho...and I'm no ashamed to admit I'm still wearing the chufty badge lol! Cya's next time.

Jings...no surprised the bloke that got interviewed is a commentator...doesnae half waffle on eh!?!?! Great read again, and well done Big Al!

Great stuff Walker