Masterful Matt

9/11/98 - Matt Sentell returned to the top of the podium yesterday with a masterful drive at the circuit many consider to be Grand Prix racing's greatest challenge, the 14 mile, 175-corner Nurburgring.

 
Sideways, four wheels in the air, Scott Sanford storms through Antoniusbuche at 175 mph with Rich Yasi in hot pursuit
Rich Yasi in his Lotus finished a hard-charging second, and Randy Cassidy turned in an excellent performance in his Ferrari to take his first podium of the series. The Ferraris of Scott Sanford, Roy Fleck, and Bill Betts rounded out the top six, Fleck and Betts both delighted to take their first points of the season.

Sadly, the expected head to head battle between Sentell, Silverstone winnerYasi, and series leader Dave Kaemmer never materialized. Technical problems plagued Kaemmer, and any chances Rich Yasi might have had of challenging Sentell for the lead were nullified when Rich was punted off at the first turn in a bonehead move by yours truly.

Yasi was unable to restart until the entire field had passed, and put in the drive of the race as he fought his way back up through the field.

Practice

 
Yasi's Cosworth explodes on the second lap of the race
Rich Yasi served notice of his competitiveness as he put his Lotus-Ford on the pole with a superb lap of 8:26.94, almost two seconds quicker than Sentell's best in a similar car. Cassidy showed excellent form, being the only other car under 9 minutes, while I managed my second-best lap ever in the Eagle, a 9:03, and Scott Sanford took his Ferrari around in just over ten seconds more.

Yasi's time was all the more remarkable because the 30 minute practice session gave each driver time for only two or three timed laps.

Unfortunately, Dave Kaemmer, who was not on site and had dialed into the host machine via direct modem connection, experienced difficulties with his computer and was unable to complete a timed lap.

Practice Results

 
 Chaos on the grid as Betts and Kaemmer collide
Race

Matt Sentell led away from the start, with Yasi, Sanford, Cassidy, and myself in hot pursuit.

At the back of the grid, Kaemmer and Bill Betts drifted together as they accelerated away side by side. Apparently neither was able to see each other until the moment of the collision. The impact snapped the Lotus sideways out of control, and it rammed the hapless Betts, sending Betts' Ferrari into a wild, somersaulting crash along pit lane.

 
Kaemmer closes on Fleck as Yasi leads the way
Though Kaemmer was able to resume after a lengthy spin, and Betts was also able to continue after repairs, the incident had repercussions farther up the field. I caught a glimpse of Betts' Ferrari tumbling in my mirrors, and the momentary distraction was enough to cause me to miss my braking point for turn one. Realizing my mistake as I shot between the Ferraris of Cassidy and Sanford, I locked up the brakes, but it was too late, and I slid into the rear of Yasi's Lotus, knocking him hard into the fencing.

 
Fleck and Kaemmer on opposite lock in Kallenhard
Poor Rich got much the worst of it, as his Lotus was badly bent and he had to wait till the entire field passed to make repairs and resume. Sanford, too, was delayed as he spun avoiding Yasi's Lotus.

I was able to continue behind Cassidy, but the incident had rattled me and I made another mistake in the Hatzenbach section, getting sideways and going off as I tried to stay in touch with the Ferrari. I managed to avoid spinning, but the blunder would eventually prove to be my undoing. By the time I had gathered it up I was well off the track into the grass verge, and the officials decided I had cut the course and dropped the black flag at the end of the lap.

 
Fleck politely lets Kaemmer by
Meanwhile, Kaemmer and Yasi began to charge through the field. Yasi and Kaemmer picked off cars one by one until they were on my tail, at which point I spun at Klostertal, just before the Karussell, letting past both of the fleet Lotus. However, Yasi's engine exploded on the run out of the Karussell up towards Hohe Acht, which allowed me to regain one of the positions I'd lost. Kaemmer was really getting into the rhythm now, pulling away dramatically from Hohe Acht down to Dottinger Hohe, but then his technical problems returned and he pulled off just after Antoniusbuche, out of the race.

 
Kaemmer catches air at Hohe Acht
As Sentell raced away in the distance, with the Ferraris of Cassidy and Sanford in pursuit, Yasi's flying Lotus once again closed the gap on my Eagle and began looking for a way by. I managed to hold him off all the way through Hatzenbach and Flugplatz, but he outbraked me going into Aremburg and was gone.

 
Yasi on Sanford's tail - from the Ferrari's rear camera
At the end of the second lap, I pulled into the pits to serve my penalty. However, I overshot my pit stall by the slightest margin. Being unfamiliar with the pit lane procedures for penalties during a race, I thought that I was supposed to wait until I got a go signal from the official, but instead after 30 seconds of sitting just beyond my pit stall, I was disqualified and my car withdrawn from the race.

I was quite disappointed, but I must admit that I felt that my driving was not up to par that day anyway, and perhaps it was just as well that I was taken out of the way of the faster drivers!

 
Yasi and Sanford flying in formation at nearly 180 mph!
Yasi wasted no time in catching Scott Sanford; by the time they reached Pflantzgarten on the second lap, the Lotus was looming in the Ferrari's mirrors. However, despite a brave overtaking attempt by Yasi at the first turn at the beginning of the third lap, Sanford was able to hold off the Lotus until Scott made a mistake at Aremburg, spinning to the inside under the bridge, and Yasi was through.

 
Sanford's Ferrari soars at Fluplatz
Partway through the fourth lap, the tigering Yasi caught Cassidy, the Lotus closing on the Ferrari through Metzgesfeld. Randy, perhaps feeling the pressure, missed his braking point for one of the sweepers in the downhill Kallenhard section, handing Yasi a well-deserved second place.

Yasi's last lap was also his best, less than four seconds off of Sentell's quickest lap of the race. It is interesting to speculate what might have happened had Yasi been able to stay close and keep the pressure on in the early laps, but alas, we will never know.

Sentell had an uneventful race at the front. The nine points he scored moves him into a tie for the championship with the unlucky Kaemmer.

The series moves on to Mosport next week. The daunting undulations through the hills of Ontario may seem a bit less dramatic after the wild run through the forests and mountains of Germany, but no one underestimates the difficulty of turning consistent, competitive laps at the Canadian circuit.

 
The day's best battle: Yasi and Sanford
Official Standings

Fastest Lap

17 M. Sentell LOT 8:28.71

 
Sanford spins at Aremburg, conceding the battle to Yasi
Notes on Driving the Ring

I believe that a big part of the reason for my good result at Silverstone revolved around my decision prior to the race to drive carefully, within my limits, and to avoid mistakes. This stood me in good stead as a clearly faster driver passed me twice, only to hand me back the position with two errors which cost him considerable time.

I was determined to follow the same strategy at the Nurburgring, but alas found this a more difficult task than I imagined.

As I was learning the Ring, I drove the Advanced Trainer to remove the distraction of having to deal with the GP cars' excess of power, so I could focus on remembering which way the track went over the next hill. This worked quite well, and once I switched to the GP car, I was able to drive a number of clean laps, quickly working my way down to under 9 minutes and 30 seconds.

However, as I began to fix the track in my memory, and no longer had to drive hesitantly at various points due to being unsure of what lay over the blind rises, I found it more and more difficult to drive a clean lap.

 
Yasi dives under my Eagle at Aremburg
The problem is the intoxicating nature of the circuit. It seemed that no matter how much I resolved at the beginning of a given lap to drive prudently, keeping well within my limits, by the time I was through the first few corners, the track had seduced me and I would have flung caution to the winds, going faster and faster for the sheer exhilaration of it.

Like the speed-drunk Toad in The Wind in the Willows, I found it impossible to resist the marvelous sensations and shimmering excitement as I drove faster and faster, taking the car nearer and nearer to that seductive, dangerous edge. Like Toad, as I yielded to temptation and left all good judgement behind, I would inevitably come to grief.

Take care that the same doesn't happen to you!

Aftermath: The Setup

Committed to the Eagle for the series, I focused on setting it up in preparation for the Nurburgring race. To ensure I got maximum seat time in the Eagle, I didn't even try any other cars despite glowing words about the Ferrari's drivability there from several of the beta testers.

While I was at Papyrus, several people commented very favorably about the default Nurburgring setup for the Ferrari, which I believe was developed by Scott Sanford. This evening, after writing the above race report, I decided to try the Ferrari and its default setup. They were right; it was far more tossable and forgiving than my best Eagle setup, and a great deal more stable through the high speed twisty bits, with much less tendency to try to swap ends when things got a little hairy.

I put the same spring rate, damper, differential, and toe-in settings on my Eagle, and immediately went under 9 minutes, finishing with a best of 8:45 during testing, though I still haven't done a totally clean lap. The Eagle is wonderful with these settings.

Ah, if only I'd known all this a day ago!