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20110213
Austins Motorsport - Drivers Blogs
Hello and welcome to another one of my driver blogs.
Just a short one this time and I would like to kick off by apologising to the TORA staff and Berty for my comments the other day about Berty's laptime around Tsukuba. My reasoning is because I wasn't feeling too great on that particular day and was absolutely cheesed off. I shouldn't have gone onto the forum that day when I was feeling really down in the dumps. So sorry once again guys.
Round one of the ISCC couldn't have gone any better for us at Austins Motorsport. Managing to finish not only on the podium but to be first in the teams standings is quite something. Especially when you know that the competition in the ISCC is fierce. Now however for round 2 at Tsukuba, we are going to defernately be on the backfoot. One area our car suffers compared to the diesels is handling. And in practice so far, it's as much to be expected. I've even resorted to pushing the car to its limits. Sometimes going a bit beyond its limits sometimes as proven in this clip where I managed to powerslide a prototype. lol:
So far, the Aston Martin is roughly on average about half a second a lap slower than the diesels. But it ain't bad despite downforce being a key element to suceeding around Tsukuba. Johnny and Adrian are not too far off me now which is positive news for the race. Because of the fact Tsukuba is so tiny, the race is going to be key for everyone when it comes to traffic management and in practice so far, everyone in the prototypes has lost buckets of time trying to pass the slower GT cars. However, I am confident that we can manage the traffic very well.
Depending on how VVV fair at this weekends race, we could lose the lead in the teams championship. However, we will be on a more even playing field at Suzuka where we can use all of our horsepowers to good use. But I expect the Peugeots to be heading the field once again.
But for now, everyone here at the team is gonna work hard to make sure we get as best result as we can in these difficult circumstances. But I wish everyone the best of luck for the race on Sunday!
Just a short one this time and I would like to kick off by apologising to the TORA staff and Berty for my comments the other day about Berty's laptime around Tsukuba. My reasoning is because I wasn't feeling too great on that particular day and was absolutely cheesed off. I shouldn't have gone onto the forum that day when I was feeling really down in the dumps. So sorry once again guys.
Round one of the ISCC couldn't have gone any better for us at Austins Motorsport. Managing to finish not only on the podium but to be first in the teams standings is quite something. Especially when you know that the competition in the ISCC is fierce. Now however for round 2 at Tsukuba, we are going to defernately be on the backfoot. One area our car suffers compared to the diesels is handling. And in practice so far, it's as much to be expected. I've even resorted to pushing the car to its limits. Sometimes going a bit beyond its limits sometimes as proven in this clip where I managed to powerslide a prototype. lol:
Aston Sideways from Daniel Austins on Vimeo.
So far, the Aston Martin is roughly on average about half a second a lap slower than the diesels. But it ain't bad despite downforce being a key element to suceeding around Tsukuba. Johnny and Adrian are not too far off me now which is positive news for the race. Because of the fact Tsukuba is so tiny, the race is going to be key for everyone when it comes to traffic management and in practice so far, everyone in the prototypes has lost buckets of time trying to pass the slower GT cars. However, I am confident that we can manage the traffic very well.
Depending on how VVV fair at this weekends race, we could lose the lead in the teams championship. However, we will be on a more even playing field at Suzuka where we can use all of our horsepowers to good use. But I expect the Peugeots to be heading the field once again.
But for now, everyone here at the team is gonna work hard to make sure we get as best result as we can in these difficult circumstances. But I wish everyone the best of luck for the race on Sunday!
ATR DAN- TORA Race Number : 7
Number of posts : 4872
Location : Some boring place in England
Registration date : 2008-09-15
Reputation : 48
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Austins Motorsport - Drivers Blogs :: Comments
Sun 13 Feb 2011 - 0:19 by lfcnicklfc
dayuuuum that's some serious commitment!
Mon 14 Feb 2011 - 16:31 by ATR DAN
Hello one and all.
As you know, round two of the 2011 TORA ISCC was held last night at the Tsukuba race circuit and things couldn't have gone any better for us.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry after the qualifying because the best that all three of us in the Aston team could muscle up was 9th, 11th and 12th in P1. Basically right at the back of the LMP1 field because of the cars lack of downforce. Thats my excuse anyway. lol
It was quite clear what I needed to do during the race which was to treat every lap as if it was qualifying to see whether I could finish any higher. As you know in the ISCC, its all about the consistancy rather than speed that can affect the overall result. Not only that, but tactics was required when it came to lapping the traffic and speeding towards them at the right time. You could end up losing lots of time if you catch up to them at the slower corners.
At the start of the race, I managed to out-drag EZT Ash to jump into second in the lobby behind VVV Micko. And I feel that I used my tactics reallly nicely by deciding to take a gamble 15 minutes into the race by making my pitstop whilst Micko and Ash were coming up to the traffic. And it worked because passing the traffic until Ash made his pitstop worked really well. I didn't lose much time in the traffic and I was about eight or nine hundred feet ahead of the EZT driver.
However later in the race, the traffic wasn't going my way and Ash was starting to eat up the gap I had pulled out. With about 10 minutes to go, he was right behind me and looking for a way past. But I was determined not to be beaten by a jumped up LMP2 car. lol
Sadly, the great battle between us was over with about 5 minutes to go when he understeered in my slip stream at the last corner and crashed straight into the barrier damaging his car. But that meant I could bring the car home and I was chuffed to bits after the race when I found out I finished in third place. It does mean however that I will have a 10% power handicap for the next race at Suzuka. But to be honest right now, I don't care. I'll enjoy this moment of another podium and I will look back at this as one of the best drives I have ever produced during my TORA racing career so far.
We have lost the lead in the teams standings but that was expected before the race happened at Tsukuba. Despite this, I am really pleased to still be in second place in the teams championship. But at the next round, all of our points will depend on how Johnny and Adrian perform. With my 10% power handicap, I'm gonna be well down the field without any chance of getting in the top six probably.
Here is what my team mates had to say on how they felt the race at Tsukuba went for them:
Adrian (ADx Garage):
"As a team we saw this weekend as a tough one, and not just for our team leader, I must admit I didnt have this one as well rehearsed as the Motegi opener, I knew that my ability as a driver in this championship isnt as refined as any of my fellow competitors, who were all understandably fearful of a bad weekend anyway, and with some people not wanting to enter this race our prime motivation was to get to the end of the race, no matter what the outcome.
With a change of format in qualifying it was much easier to do the sort of lap I was getting in practice runs, not that I was expecting to be leapfrogging up the grid order from the previous round, 12th out of 30 is good.
With the race under way my team mate had a collision with one of the VVV Audis, and was able to get by, but with a mandatory pitstop needed, I decided to take the stop when I felt I was a decent space ahead of those in the GT cars, once I was back to the track I had to concentrate on my racing line, and more importantly making sure of a clean overtake on the GT cars once I caught up behind them. Maybe I was too cautious in lapping, but certainly making mistakes in the braking areas, and these would factor into my finishing position at the end of the race...
...But SEVENTH? Its fantastic news for me becasue I certainly didnt expect that, hats off to Dan once again for putting
faith into his machinery, and his team mates, especially when the tables were not turned in his favour."
John (JohnnyBoy3600):
"Race was really great from my point of view! It may not have been the best result but the way everyone communicated with each other and made was for the P1s was great! I will admit to a bit of contact with a couple of drivers but it didnt really affect the race, it affected the car quite badly as the car relied on the downforce but I managed to keep cool and bring the car home!
Congrats to VVV for a 1-2 and well done to Dan who managed to secure a 3rd place on the podium and bring us some more crucial points!"
Here is a couple of pictures from last nights race. Many thanks for reading.
DAN 2605 lines up third in C lobby behind EZT Ash and VVV Micko:
DAN takes Ash at the start and decides not to make a move on Micko:
DAN had pressure from Ash towards the end but held on to finish third:
Johnny and Adrian line up second and third in D lobby:
Just two corners into the start and Johnny leaves his braking too late and tapping VVV Grimm:
Johnny and Adrian running close for the first couple of laps: (My favuorite Pic)
Johnny runs wide of lap 3 to allow team mate Adrian though:
As you know, round two of the 2011 TORA ISCC was held last night at the Tsukuba race circuit and things couldn't have gone any better for us.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry after the qualifying because the best that all three of us in the Aston team could muscle up was 9th, 11th and 12th in P1. Basically right at the back of the LMP1 field because of the cars lack of downforce. Thats my excuse anyway. lol
It was quite clear what I needed to do during the race which was to treat every lap as if it was qualifying to see whether I could finish any higher. As you know in the ISCC, its all about the consistancy rather than speed that can affect the overall result. Not only that, but tactics was required when it came to lapping the traffic and speeding towards them at the right time. You could end up losing lots of time if you catch up to them at the slower corners.
At the start of the race, I managed to out-drag EZT Ash to jump into second in the lobby behind VVV Micko. And I feel that I used my tactics reallly nicely by deciding to take a gamble 15 minutes into the race by making my pitstop whilst Micko and Ash were coming up to the traffic. And it worked because passing the traffic until Ash made his pitstop worked really well. I didn't lose much time in the traffic and I was about eight or nine hundred feet ahead of the EZT driver.
However later in the race, the traffic wasn't going my way and Ash was starting to eat up the gap I had pulled out. With about 10 minutes to go, he was right behind me and looking for a way past. But I was determined not to be beaten by a jumped up LMP2 car. lol
Sadly, the great battle between us was over with about 5 minutes to go when he understeered in my slip stream at the last corner and crashed straight into the barrier damaging his car. But that meant I could bring the car home and I was chuffed to bits after the race when I found out I finished in third place. It does mean however that I will have a 10% power handicap for the next race at Suzuka. But to be honest right now, I don't care. I'll enjoy this moment of another podium and I will look back at this as one of the best drives I have ever produced during my TORA racing career so far.
We have lost the lead in the teams standings but that was expected before the race happened at Tsukuba. Despite this, I am really pleased to still be in second place in the teams championship. But at the next round, all of our points will depend on how Johnny and Adrian perform. With my 10% power handicap, I'm gonna be well down the field without any chance of getting in the top six probably.
Here is what my team mates had to say on how they felt the race at Tsukuba went for them:
Adrian (ADx Garage):
"As a team we saw this weekend as a tough one, and not just for our team leader, I must admit I didnt have this one as well rehearsed as the Motegi opener, I knew that my ability as a driver in this championship isnt as refined as any of my fellow competitors, who were all understandably fearful of a bad weekend anyway, and with some people not wanting to enter this race our prime motivation was to get to the end of the race, no matter what the outcome.
With a change of format in qualifying it was much easier to do the sort of lap I was getting in practice runs, not that I was expecting to be leapfrogging up the grid order from the previous round, 12th out of 30 is good.
With the race under way my team mate had a collision with one of the VVV Audis, and was able to get by, but with a mandatory pitstop needed, I decided to take the stop when I felt I was a decent space ahead of those in the GT cars, once I was back to the track I had to concentrate on my racing line, and more importantly making sure of a clean overtake on the GT cars once I caught up behind them. Maybe I was too cautious in lapping, but certainly making mistakes in the braking areas, and these would factor into my finishing position at the end of the race...
...But SEVENTH? Its fantastic news for me becasue I certainly didnt expect that, hats off to Dan once again for putting
faith into his machinery, and his team mates, especially when the tables were not turned in his favour."
John (JohnnyBoy3600):
"Race was really great from my point of view! It may not have been the best result but the way everyone communicated with each other and made was for the P1s was great! I will admit to a bit of contact with a couple of drivers but it didnt really affect the race, it affected the car quite badly as the car relied on the downforce but I managed to keep cool and bring the car home!
Congrats to VVV for a 1-2 and well done to Dan who managed to secure a 3rd place on the podium and bring us some more crucial points!"
Here is a couple of pictures from last nights race. Many thanks for reading.
DAN 2605 lines up third in C lobby behind EZT Ash and VVV Micko:
DAN takes Ash at the start and decides not to make a move on Micko:
DAN had pressure from Ash towards the end but held on to finish third:
Johnny and Adrian line up second and third in D lobby:
Just two corners into the start and Johnny leaves his braking too late and tapping VVV Grimm:
Johnny and Adrian running close for the first couple of laps: (My favuorite Pic)
Johnny runs wide of lap 3 to allow team mate Adrian though:
Tue 1 Mar 2011 - 19:02 by ATR DAN
Drivers Blog Update - 01/03/2011
DAN 2605:
"Hello once again.
As you know last Sunday was the third round of the 2011 ISCC and the last round of the Asian leg.
Coning into this event, I had no chance of trying to get another podium thanks to the amount of engine power I had taken away because of my two podiums at Motegi and Tsukuba. So there was no way we could challenge VVV for the teams championship unless my team mates got a good result. What didn't help me further was that I made a huge cockup in qualifying. I went into the session in the wrong player group; meaning that I started without the 10% power handicap I was given. I realised this when I crahsed a few corners into the start of the qualifying session. Because of this, I decided that it would be fair if I pulled over into the gravel at turn one and stayed there throughout the session whilst everyone else completed their qualifying. As a result, I started at the back of the LMP1 field.
All I had to do during the race was overtake the two LMP1 cars of Shane and RKMotorsports infront of me and just zoom off into the distance. This plan worked in two seperate circumstances. Firstly (and rather unfortunately), RK had to withdraw from the race because of the absolutely awful lad that his connection was causing. RK, it's not your fault mate so I don't want you to feel bad about yourself in any way.
Secondly, Shane ran wide coming out of Degna 2 on the first lap which I meant I could pull away and sprint into the distance. Everything worked out fine until fourty minutes into the race. Braking for the first part of spoon, I started to break and change gear from fifth to third. Unfortunately, the gears jumped too quickly (I didn't cause this to happen). As a result, the engine over-revved and caused me nearly 10% engine damage I think. As a result, I had no choice but to make a second pitstop to repair the damage to the engine. I reckon it cost me a maximum of about half a minute. But I was still surprised by the end of the race that I finished in the top six; mainly due to my team mate ADx Garage running out of fuel on the last lap. If I didn't had to make another pitstop, I reckon fourth or fifth is where I would have finished instead.
Despite my issues, Gulf Austins Motorsport did get onto the podium. JohnnyBoy3600 had produced a stunning drive to finish in third place. I would like to congratulate him on this fine achievement because he found it really hard to set the car up to his liking. Worryingly just a few hours before the race was about to start. But well done mate. That has certainly helped us to finish in second place in the LMP1 teams championship and third overall. I am also pleased to be in third place for the LMP1 drivers championship. Could have been better at Suzuka but hey.........lets not dwell on it shall we? lol
Overall, I am really pleased with my performances so far in the ISCC. I knew it was going to be impossible to try and match the Diesels with our beautiful Petrol powered machine. However, we have proved that we have the driving talent to deliver the results.
And on that note......I am pleased to announce that the driver line up hasn't changed for the European leg of the ISCC. And we will also still be running the Lola Aston Martin. Gulf will also remain our title sponsor for this series. I am really happy with the team we have and cannot wait for the European leg to start in April. NURBURGRING..........BRING IT ON!!"
JohnnyBoy3600:
"For me, Round 3 of ISCC, which marked the end of our current Asian leg of ISCC, couldnt have gone any better! It was a really great race with no major incidents (well, none that I was involved in anyway ) and perfect communication between drivers! The result of the race came as quite a shock for me, not in a bad way but it made me realise that I'm not the bad driver I keep saying I am! The car itself felt very comfortable and easy to drive, running constant times and pulling out the extra few hundred feet that kept me in 1st position! Congrats to VVV for the championships but more importantly congrats to VVV Magictap! He is a great driver and a great guy and deserved to win the Asian Championship for all the hard work he has put into his car and the team! Bring on Round 1 of the European leg!"
ADx Garage:
"The reason I ran out of fuel was because I pitted at least 1 minute too early, having worked out that my fuel would last 45 minutes, the reason I pitted was to fix the damage caused by shifting down a gear too early and pushing the engine revs into the red. That was on the a lap which was 13 minutes into the race, A snap decision had to be made, pit before I reached the first round of backmarkers and hope that the guys in front of me would mess up before they decided to pit, or wait another lap, an even slower lap seeing as the engine would be chucking out less power, let alone attempting passes on the GT2 field.
14 Minutes on the dot, and I was in the pitlane getting the works done.
Given the circumstances, given the preparation I went through ahead of this race, I think I would have still ended up where I was, if I stayed out for another slower lap.
Yes, ok I ran out of fuel whilst in 4th place on the last lap, that makes me look like an idiot to the TORA fraternity, but put it this way, being in 4th place until the last lap helped my team mate secure 3rd and another podium for the team. And thats a positive nobody else had achieved in that race."
DAN 2605:
"Hello once again.
As you know last Sunday was the third round of the 2011 ISCC and the last round of the Asian leg.
Coning into this event, I had no chance of trying to get another podium thanks to the amount of engine power I had taken away because of my two podiums at Motegi and Tsukuba. So there was no way we could challenge VVV for the teams championship unless my team mates got a good result. What didn't help me further was that I made a huge cockup in qualifying. I went into the session in the wrong player group; meaning that I started without the 10% power handicap I was given. I realised this when I crahsed a few corners into the start of the qualifying session. Because of this, I decided that it would be fair if I pulled over into the gravel at turn one and stayed there throughout the session whilst everyone else completed their qualifying. As a result, I started at the back of the LMP1 field.
All I had to do during the race was overtake the two LMP1 cars of Shane and RKMotorsports infront of me and just zoom off into the distance. This plan worked in two seperate circumstances. Firstly (and rather unfortunately), RK had to withdraw from the race because of the absolutely awful lad that his connection was causing. RK, it's not your fault mate so I don't want you to feel bad about yourself in any way.
Secondly, Shane ran wide coming out of Degna 2 on the first lap which I meant I could pull away and sprint into the distance. Everything worked out fine until fourty minutes into the race. Braking for the first part of spoon, I started to break and change gear from fifth to third. Unfortunately, the gears jumped too quickly (I didn't cause this to happen). As a result, the engine over-revved and caused me nearly 10% engine damage I think. As a result, I had no choice but to make a second pitstop to repair the damage to the engine. I reckon it cost me a maximum of about half a minute. But I was still surprised by the end of the race that I finished in the top six; mainly due to my team mate ADx Garage running out of fuel on the last lap. If I didn't had to make another pitstop, I reckon fourth or fifth is where I would have finished instead.
Despite my issues, Gulf Austins Motorsport did get onto the podium. JohnnyBoy3600 had produced a stunning drive to finish in third place. I would like to congratulate him on this fine achievement because he found it really hard to set the car up to his liking. Worryingly just a few hours before the race was about to start. But well done mate. That has certainly helped us to finish in second place in the LMP1 teams championship and third overall. I am also pleased to be in third place for the LMP1 drivers championship. Could have been better at Suzuka but hey.........lets not dwell on it shall we? lol
Overall, I am really pleased with my performances so far in the ISCC. I knew it was going to be impossible to try and match the Diesels with our beautiful Petrol powered machine. However, we have proved that we have the driving talent to deliver the results.
And on that note......I am pleased to announce that the driver line up hasn't changed for the European leg of the ISCC. And we will also still be running the Lola Aston Martin. Gulf will also remain our title sponsor for this series. I am really happy with the team we have and cannot wait for the European leg to start in April. NURBURGRING..........BRING IT ON!!"
JohnnyBoy3600:
"For me, Round 3 of ISCC, which marked the end of our current Asian leg of ISCC, couldnt have gone any better! It was a really great race with no major incidents (well, none that I was involved in anyway ) and perfect communication between drivers! The result of the race came as quite a shock for me, not in a bad way but it made me realise that I'm not the bad driver I keep saying I am! The car itself felt very comfortable and easy to drive, running constant times and pulling out the extra few hundred feet that kept me in 1st position! Congrats to VVV for the championships but more importantly congrats to VVV Magictap! He is a great driver and a great guy and deserved to win the Asian Championship for all the hard work he has put into his car and the team! Bring on Round 1 of the European leg!"
ADx Garage:
"The reason I ran out of fuel was because I pitted at least 1 minute too early, having worked out that my fuel would last 45 minutes, the reason I pitted was to fix the damage caused by shifting down a gear too early and pushing the engine revs into the red. That was on the a lap which was 13 minutes into the race, A snap decision had to be made, pit before I reached the first round of backmarkers and hope that the guys in front of me would mess up before they decided to pit, or wait another lap, an even slower lap seeing as the engine would be chucking out less power, let alone attempting passes on the GT2 field.
14 Minutes on the dot, and I was in the pitlane getting the works done.
Given the circumstances, given the preparation I went through ahead of this race, I think I would have still ended up where I was, if I stayed out for another slower lap.
Yes, ok I ran out of fuel whilst in 4th place on the last lap, that makes me look like an idiot to the TORA fraternity, but put it this way, being in 4th place until the last lap helped my team mate secure 3rd and another podium for the team. And thats a positive nobody else had achieved in that race."
Wed 28 Sep 2011 - 22:37 by ATR DAN
Hello boys and girl (as far as I know, there's just SuperDuff?) of TORA.
It's been a while since I've written one of these driver blogs as you can tell. Unfortunately, due to issues that I don't really want to discuss (for arguements sake really), this will be the last time I'll post on the forum for a while. At least until we reveal our plans for the future on forza motorsport 4. I'm hoping to have some imput from Matt as well; seeing as this is a joint venture once more like 2009.
This is a notification for the staff, but if there's any up and coming races that I have registered for, I shall be racing in those, even though I won't be posting "IN" on the appropriate threads.
Firstly, I would like to talk about the most obvious and probably controversial topic which is this seasons touring car championship. I won't add much further to this, because we have already settled the dispute about our Honda Civic's and I'm hoping thats going to be the end of that arguement. I would like to give absolute credit to my team mates, SilentAlarm42 and GTR Evoluzione for turning up to the last round at Sunset because we were left in such a mess and it wasn't the easiest of circumstances either. But we've managed to pull through and it shows our utter dedication to suceed and race here at TORA. All be it that I had to drop down a lobby thanks to the connection issues. I was absolutely shocked about qualifying the car fourth overall because with these new restrictions, I didn't think that A lobby was possible. But it shows how commited we are here at ATR. However, I wouldn't want to suffer with connection issues again because we've lost a big chunk of points and I'm extremely worried that it'll ruin our title aspirations. All the hard work and effort would have been for nothing.
Getting back to the Civic if I may, I bet some of you are wondering how it's affected the builds of the car? Well, I can give you details of that. Firstly, the weight has been increased to 2,795lbs which you'll notice is 5 lbs under the maximum weight limit. In terms of the engine, we are roughly 8 horsepower down which doesn't sound like much, but cobble that with the weight limit and it makes a difference. Finally, we've had to narrow the width of the front tyres to stock size as well as fitted some heavier OZ racing rims. Compared to the old build around Sunset, we've lost about six to eight tenths of a second in my hands at least.
I'm really nervous for Sedona because I fear that we're not going to be that quick around there. However, the performance of our cars around Sunset has given me some encouragement that we should be ok for the final round of the series. It all depends on connections again. Realistically, looking at the tables, it's between us at ATR and M&M racing, and it would be great if we was all in the same lobby together for the race so we can slug it out cleanly and fairly for the championship honours. That would be my wish for the final round. People never believe me when I say this (especially if I'm dominating a race), but I really love the close battles with other competitors in the racing.
The ISCC next. It's a pitty I missed nearly all of the European leg (for personal and mental health reasons) because I fear that we would have done extremely well this season. I feel that I have let Johnny and Adrian down because of my absence. And for that, I can say that I'm extremely sorry guys.
However, 2012 is going to be very different. With the formation of ATR itself and the drivers we have recruited, there are big plans in the pipeline for our organisation in regards to the championships we are entering. I'm hoping that we can run the Lola Aston Martin once again for next seasons ISCC. We have gained very valuable data and experience from this years championship which we can bring forward to 2012. Its the only sensible option for us really. Ideally, we were thinking of having two teams of two running the Lola Aston. One in Gulf livery and the other in Muscle Milk seeing as I have recently created the Muscle Milk logo. Thats one of the plans, but we shall see how things pan out over the next few months.
Back to 2011, this year has been fiercely competitive in LMP1. Sadly, the new rules to try and equal the cars hasn't worked exactly in this category, nor in LMP2 because of the dominance of the Porsche Spyder. But GT2 has been the only exception. Judging by peoples feedback, it has been extremely good and exciting racing. To gain our first and only win in the series this year has been a long time coming, but one that we will never forget. Since Aston Martin introduced their LMP1 machine in 2009, it was a dream of mine to one day race that car, even if it was on a virtual circuit. Pitty I don't have the budget in real life. lol
I would like to add my views about our recent re-formation of ATR.
There is no doubt that our luck has changed. I have absolutely no regrets about forming up once more with our TORA president as we were both seeking some championship sucess and glory. The only way to do that was to start from ground zero and work our way up. Sadly, Matt spent some time away so it was a lonely effort from myself.
But hey, the rewards and effort are defernately worth it. Look at where we are now? Seven really good drivers recruited, big ambitious plans for 2012 as well as leading the drivers championship in the Touring Cars as well as drivers and teams in the Tascar series. I couldn't have been more proud at any point in my time here with The Online Racing Association until now! This is not just the hard slog from myself. For those who have raced with us so far in 2011, I would like to personally thank you all very much (from the bottom of my heart) for your time and dedication to try and be a good as we can be. Lets see if we can end 2011 on a high and clinch both series if we can. I know the teams standings is abit out of reach for us in the TCC, but I have the belief that we can do it. Have you?
Who needs to join a big team hey? I don't! I'm extremely thrilled where I am thanks very much!
As I say, this will be the last time I'll post on here for a while. If there are anybody's birthdays between now and lets say at the end of October (not 100% sure yet), I hope you guys will have a good one and enjoy your special day!
Cheers guys. Be looking forward to seeing you on the track very soon.
From Daniel Austins a.k.a DAN 2605
Last edited by DAN 2605 on Wed 28 Sep 2011 - 22:48; edited 1 time in total
It's been a while since I've written one of these driver blogs as you can tell. Unfortunately, due to issues that I don't really want to discuss (for arguements sake really), this will be the last time I'll post on the forum for a while. At least until we reveal our plans for the future on forza motorsport 4. I'm hoping to have some imput from Matt as well; seeing as this is a joint venture once more like 2009.
This is a notification for the staff, but if there's any up and coming races that I have registered for, I shall be racing in those, even though I won't be posting "IN" on the appropriate threads.
Firstly, I would like to talk about the most obvious and probably controversial topic which is this seasons touring car championship. I won't add much further to this, because we have already settled the dispute about our Honda Civic's and I'm hoping thats going to be the end of that arguement. I would like to give absolute credit to my team mates, SilentAlarm42 and GTR Evoluzione for turning up to the last round at Sunset because we were left in such a mess and it wasn't the easiest of circumstances either. But we've managed to pull through and it shows our utter dedication to suceed and race here at TORA. All be it that I had to drop down a lobby thanks to the connection issues. I was absolutely shocked about qualifying the car fourth overall because with these new restrictions, I didn't think that A lobby was possible. But it shows how commited we are here at ATR. However, I wouldn't want to suffer with connection issues again because we've lost a big chunk of points and I'm extremely worried that it'll ruin our title aspirations. All the hard work and effort would have been for nothing.
Getting back to the Civic if I may, I bet some of you are wondering how it's affected the builds of the car? Well, I can give you details of that. Firstly, the weight has been increased to 2,795lbs which you'll notice is 5 lbs under the maximum weight limit. In terms of the engine, we are roughly 8 horsepower down which doesn't sound like much, but cobble that with the weight limit and it makes a difference. Finally, we've had to narrow the width of the front tyres to stock size as well as fitted some heavier OZ racing rims. Compared to the old build around Sunset, we've lost about six to eight tenths of a second in my hands at least.
I'm really nervous for Sedona because I fear that we're not going to be that quick around there. However, the performance of our cars around Sunset has given me some encouragement that we should be ok for the final round of the series. It all depends on connections again. Realistically, looking at the tables, it's between us at ATR and M&M racing, and it would be great if we was all in the same lobby together for the race so we can slug it out cleanly and fairly for the championship honours. That would be my wish for the final round. People never believe me when I say this (especially if I'm dominating a race), but I really love the close battles with other competitors in the racing.
The ISCC next. It's a pitty I missed nearly all of the European leg (for personal and mental health reasons) because I fear that we would have done extremely well this season. I feel that I have let Johnny and Adrian down because of my absence. And for that, I can say that I'm extremely sorry guys.
However, 2012 is going to be very different. With the formation of ATR itself and the drivers we have recruited, there are big plans in the pipeline for our organisation in regards to the championships we are entering. I'm hoping that we can run the Lola Aston Martin once again for next seasons ISCC. We have gained very valuable data and experience from this years championship which we can bring forward to 2012. Its the only sensible option for us really. Ideally, we were thinking of having two teams of two running the Lola Aston. One in Gulf livery and the other in Muscle Milk seeing as I have recently created the Muscle Milk logo. Thats one of the plans, but we shall see how things pan out over the next few months.
Back to 2011, this year has been fiercely competitive in LMP1. Sadly, the new rules to try and equal the cars hasn't worked exactly in this category, nor in LMP2 because of the dominance of the Porsche Spyder. But GT2 has been the only exception. Judging by peoples feedback, it has been extremely good and exciting racing. To gain our first and only win in the series this year has been a long time coming, but one that we will never forget. Since Aston Martin introduced their LMP1 machine in 2009, it was a dream of mine to one day race that car, even if it was on a virtual circuit. Pitty I don't have the budget in real life. lol
I would like to add my views about our recent re-formation of ATR.
There is no doubt that our luck has changed. I have absolutely no regrets about forming up once more with our TORA president as we were both seeking some championship sucess and glory. The only way to do that was to start from ground zero and work our way up. Sadly, Matt spent some time away so it was a lonely effort from myself.
But hey, the rewards and effort are defernately worth it. Look at where we are now? Seven really good drivers recruited, big ambitious plans for 2012 as well as leading the drivers championship in the Touring Cars as well as drivers and teams in the Tascar series. I couldn't have been more proud at any point in my time here with The Online Racing Association until now! This is not just the hard slog from myself. For those who have raced with us so far in 2011, I would like to personally thank you all very much (from the bottom of my heart) for your time and dedication to try and be a good as we can be. Lets see if we can end 2011 on a high and clinch both series if we can. I know the teams standings is abit out of reach for us in the TCC, but I have the belief that we can do it. Have you?
Who needs to join a big team hey? I don't! I'm extremely thrilled where I am thanks very much!
As I say, this will be the last time I'll post on here for a while. If there are anybody's birthdays between now and lets say at the end of October (not 100% sure yet), I hope you guys will have a good one and enjoy your special day!
Cheers guys. Be looking forward to seeing you on the track very soon.
From Daniel Austins a.k.a DAN 2605
Last edited by DAN 2605 on Wed 28 Sep 2011 - 22:48; edited 1 time in total
Wed 28 Sep 2011 - 22:44 by CQR Rogue
Nice blog Dan 
By the way porsche spyder is not the fastst car in P2, you should of seen what M&M could of done with the LOLA and Acura
By the way porsche spyder is not the fastst car in P2, you should of seen what M&M could of done with the LOLA and Acura
Thu 29 Sep 2011 - 3:16 by Radiation Louis
Duncan wrote:Nice blog Dan
By the way porsche spyder is not the fastst car in P2, you should of seen what M&M could of done with the LOLA and Acura
Gone slower
no but it's great you guys are giving that car the run it deserves before it is retired.
Thu 29 Sep 2011 - 9:59 by Ianmr
Louis wrote:Duncan wrote:Nice blog Dan
By the way porsche spyder is not the fastst car in P2, you should of seen what M&M could of done with the LOLA and Acura
Gone slower
You have no idea how much work in testing we do, put it this way at the last round I was 2nd on the grid with 15% but I still beat someone in the same car who only had 10% by around 2-3 seconds.
I believe we could do the same in any P2 car
That's the M&M style haha
Thu 29 Sep 2011 - 12:16 by Radiation Louis
indeed it is Ian, no doubts what so ever of what you guys do
Fri 30 Sep 2011 - 19:56 by ATR DAN
I've forgot to mention that if anybody needs to get in contact with me, don't hesitiate in sending me a private message. I usually recieve e-mail confirmations to say that one of you has sent me a p.m
Cheers guys and I'll look forward to seeing you on the track.
Cheers guys and I'll look forward to seeing you on the track.
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