P1LMS 6h of Estoril - Race Recap

Discussion in 'P1LMS' started by Greg Hall, Jun 26, 2019.

  1. Greg Hall

    Greg Hall Member Editor SimHQM

    P1LMS continues to rack up frequent flyer miles. Round 5 takes flight across the Atlantic, once more, to the sun drenched Iberian Peninsula, home of Estoril. 6 hours on this former Formula 1 circuit will test even the best drivers, who must have patience dealing with traffic through the tight confines.

    Through four rounds, the LMP2 battle is heating up. GTE on the other hand, has YourNameHere Racing putting a Mercedes F1-style whoopin’ on the field.

    1. 70 - #106 Black Hawk Racing
    2. 69 - #88 Me Myself and I alone
    3. 42 - #9 Schubert Motorsport
    4. 42 - #42 Hansa Racing
    5. 41 - #69 RevolutionSimRacing V
    1. 79 - #911 YourNameHere Racing
    2. 49 - #81 Black Hawk Racing GTE
    3. 48 - #30 Raceland DE
    4. 40 - #12 Drace Motorsport
    5. 39 - #74 MRS eRacing II

    Different race, same pole. Black Hawk Racing took pole position in the LMP2 class, their third in a row. Csaba Kiss, at the helm of the Oreca 07, logged a 1:21.27. SimHQ Motorsports, with Nic da Silva behind the wheel, earned their best starting position the year, second with a 1:21.34. Martin Fuhrmann rounded out the top three, placing the One Target car there for the second race in a row with a 1:21.43.

    GTE saw Christian Knudsen taking pole, the #26 Rennsimulanten DE II driver posting a 1:29.87. You couldn’t fit a hair between the next qualifiers. YourNameHere Racing, hustled by Sehastian Pfeiffer, logged a 1:30.0564, a mere five ten-thousandths of a second faster than Alex Braeutigam’s 1:30.0569 in the Black Hawk Racing GTE Porsche 911. Sheer insanity.

    The 13 LMP2 and 16 GTE starters then turned their focus on starting the second half of the season in style.


    LMP 1.PNG

    From that stellar pole position, Black Hawk Racing led the field to the green flag. That lead was not comfortable, not one bit. The trailing SimHQ Motorsports and One Target cars did not give any breathing space whatsoever. One hour into the race, and Black Hawk’s lead was less than a second! The pressure on the leader was constant, and eventually, Black Hawk cracked. Da Silva was able to slip by on lap 50, and our race saw a new leader.

    LMP 2.JPG

    The Australian went on a rampage, lengthening the gap lap after lap. By lap 100, the lead was 26 seconds to the trailing One Target car, 45 seconds to Black Hawk Racing. Lap 120 brought a change in course, with a driver change allowing One Target and Black Hawk to close the gap. Cue lap 147, when Black Hawk Racing returned, for just a fleeting moment, to the lead. One lap later, through pit cycles, One Target would take over. At this point, it was apparent One Target was on a differing strategy than the other leaders, and that uncertainty kept the race alive.

    One Target stretched the gap to the trailing cars, and received assistance from lady luck. On lap 192, the SimHQ Motorsports and Black Hawk Racing cars were in a heated battle for P2. Exiting Turn 2, a GTE was parked in the racing line. Black Hawk dodged left, and went straight into the wall. This eliminated them from contention, and brought the Vortex SRCCommunity Oreca 07 into podium position.

    LMP 3.JPG

    With just over 50 laps remaining, the question was whether SimHQ Motorsports could hunt down the leading One Target car. Lap after lap, the gap shrunk. However, One Target had an ace up its sleeve, that differing race strategy that afforded them one less pit stop. Would they be able to lock down the win?

    Time ran out for the chasers. Once again, One Target took home the win, their second in a row. SimHQ Motorsports ran out of time and settled for P2, a mere 9 seconds behind the leader. Rounding out the podium was Vortex SRCCommunity, 2 laps back.
    1. #11 One Target
    2. #63 SimHQ Motorsports
    3. #993 VortexSRCCommunity LMP
    4. #64 OOR SimHQ Motorsports
    5. #86 Exsto Motorsport
    GTE 1.PNG

    In GTE, it didn’t take long for the field to flip up front. YourNameHere Racing jumped into P1 immediately, with Black Hawk Racing hopping into P2 not long after. YourNameHere would hold a stranglehold on the lead until lap 64, an unscheduled pit stop shuffling the team down the order. Black Hawk Racing would assume the lead at this point, something they were more than willing to do.

    Now, Black Hawk Racing did not run away with this, not one bit. In fact, Racing Monkeys would assume the lead on a few occasions, due to off cycle pit stops. Lap 80 and lap 123 would see Racing Monkeys out front, a pleasant sight. But unscheduled pit stops would take the team out of contention.

    GTE 2.PNG

    But remember our polesitters? Rennsimulanten DE II remembers. And they weren’t giving up without a fight. Hanging around, biding their time. When Black Hawk Racing made their final pit stop on lap 195, Manuel Geusen leaped. He pushed hard until his pit stop, the last for Rennsimulanten DE II, on lap 202. On pit exit, Geusen held a lead of less than a second! The fight was on.

    On lap 210, Alex Braeutigam made a beautiful, aggressive passing attempt on the outside of Turn 1. On exit, he was able to clear Geusen. After the pass, Black Hawk Racing was able to drive away. The race was won.

    GTE 3.JPG

    The checkered flag fell upon Black Hawk Racing today, their strong run taking the team to the top of the podium. Rennsimulanten DE II brought it home in second place, 10 seconds in arrears. And, as always, YourNameHere Racing finishes on the podium, this time in P3.
    1. #81 Black Hawk Racing GTE
    2. #26 Rennsimulanten DE II
    3. #911 YourNameHere Racing
    4. #12 Drace Motorsport
    5. #29 Falcon Motorsport III

    With three rounds to go, we have a tie at the top of the standings! Black Hawk Racing and Me Myself and I alone share the top step, with our newcomer One Target lurking in the background.
    1. 77 - #106 Black Hawk Racing
    2. 77 - #88 Me Myself and I alone
    3. 52 - #42 Hansa Racing
    4. 51 - #9 Schubert Motorsport
    5. 50 - #11 One Target
    In GTE, YourNameHere Racing is still up top, but Black Hawk Racing’s recent strong stretch of finishes is narrowing the gap.
    1. 95 - #911 Your Name Here Racing
    2. 74 - #81 Black Hawk Racing GTE
    3. 58 - #30 Raceland DE
    4. 53 - #12 Drace Motorsport
    5. 45 - #26 Rennsimulanten DE II
    Next Race

    Race 6 of the P1LMS Championship crosses the Atlantic, for the millionth time, this time headed south of the equator. Interlagos is the track, July 6th the date.

    Credit to Jon Uyan for the screenshots