Had a good qually session, exceeding my expectations. qualified 2nd. When it came to grid for the race my system froze, next thing I know I end up in pit lane, a bit unlucky there. Got going eventually, plumb last. Made up a few positions on lap one due to other peoples woes, eventually managed to catch Marcos who defended well, got past and then had a good fight with Nick. Made up a couple of other spots as peeps pitted but ultimately I was caught & passed again. A couple of mistakes I made set be back a bit but overall a very enjoyable evening. Regards, Bret
Not the result I wanted . Unfortunately I was also a victim of the lap 1 pill up. The car was beaten up pretty bad. Took several high speed hits. Damage list Front right tire gone front wing gone rear wing gone suspention damage body work damage Steering 20% off centre to the right (could not be repaired) After the pitstop I tried to go on, but the car was very bad on the righhander corners. I seriously concidered retiring, bud decided to go on anyway. Netflix would have to wait. I really wonder what happend, because that place after the chicane isn't a place to crash your car and cause a huge pill up. You exit straight out of the chicane ??!! The exit is up hill as you all know, so guys behind the crash could not see in time what happend because of that hill. Close to the end I missed the chicane and ripped my front right tire of again and could not make it back to the pits. Otherwise I could have gotten 10th place . I'm a bit sorry I didn't score to well on point. Well, shit happens. On to the next one.
Wow, what a race! After the wide road and the long high-speed corners of Kyalami, Zolder was going to be the real test of skill, the track being twisty and narrow as it is. All the way through the preparation for this race I wondered how on earth I was going to last the full hour. Even during qualifying I wrecked the car, which dropped me a couple of places from my potential starting position. The race started a little hectically, as can be expected on Zolder with these cars, but I quickly managed to win a couple of places and move up the field. I settled in 6th after having started from 10th, chasing down the pack for the podium with Paulo, Michal and Rui. Turned out it would have been better if had stayed back a little... When Paulo spun his car in lap seven there was nowhere to go! I lost my front wing and didn't have a choice but to return to pit lane and get a new one, as well as a new set of tires. A little hsort of forty laps to go and I decided to see if I could make the softs last for the remainder of the race, hoping to somewhat negate the time lost with the pitstop. I saved the tires on entry and went for smooth exits, while still retaining a decent pace. It turned out to be good enough to keep people behind me and catch up to those in front - except for Dino of course, who was off driving a race on Mars - which gave me confidence for the remainder of the race. After his pistop Michal did chase me down and passed me as I went into a hope-shattering slow spin out of turn one. I guess I was lucky with the damage set to 50% because it should have clipped my front wing again. I was lucky to only loose a few seconds and some tire life. Michal eventually left the server, which put me back in 4th position. Paulo was now out of reach, which he might have been even if I hadn't spun. 4th feels great though, after such an eventful race. Great to see the soft compounds can be made to last, though that might not be so for every track. I'm pretty sure this puts the hard compound out of contention, unless we're going to drive in the blistering heat somewhere. Congratulations to all finishers, especially Dino, Toni and Paulo for taking the podium. Thanks to Paulo, Michal, Rui, Bret and Toni for making my race fun and interesting and to our organisers for hosting this awesome series. I'll be back in France!
"I think you being in the pit lane was the reason the start took so long to get going . Not your fault, don't worry." From my perspective, the counter after the formation lap didn't start until Dan joined the grid just in front of me, and unless there was a different glitch, he wasn't on the formation lap at all! Track bug i'm thinking? Regardless, i came over the hill after the first chicane on the first lap and saw a sea of semi-transparent vehicles spread across the track. Had no idea where anyone one was in reality. Slowed and tried to thread my way but just when i thought i'd emerged from the mist my car launched into the air in reaction to some collision i thought i'd already avoided. I've never seen that (semi-transparent vehicles spread out in non-specific location) before. Anyway, as i said elsewhere, my main problem today was not having sufficient time to adjust between one race and another in two very different vehicles. I have to rethink that.
Out of pace little in this one. Just finished 90mins of endurance series and swapping to 79 formula took its toll i guess. 1st race with mod anyhow and clueless about tyres so started taking easy and avoiding all battles at start to save softs and car. Turned out to be uneventfull and easy cruise to 2nd spot.
Tough race! Couldn't do my best during qualification, but still it went rather well Race, Spunned in lap 7, causing an accident. My car took some damage, but I was able to continue. After that, my wheel kept shaking like a washing machine!! Still can't believe I finished the race Congrats to all
With no time to practice for this event, managed to pick the Kyalami setup and raise wings, only had 1 hour to practice. During qualifying session my engine blow, so i couldn't try another stint to do a better lap time... Got caught in an accident early in the race with Paulo and Michal, which made me lose a lot of time in pits. After that just pushed very hard with a damaged car (wheel turning right) trying to do my best in final standings... Just a thought for drivers being lapped: When you're being lapped just do the opposite line people use most, because braking in the line with a fast car behind is DANGEROUS! Had some issues with that during race, almost crashing again! Cheers all, congrats to podium finishers and we meet (i hope) at Dijon.
I drove into the first lap wreckage but was able to return to the track, which was surprising. Had fun just trying to keep the car on track and avoid all the cars passing me. Decided to use my sequential shifter and not use auto-clutch so that made the race even more challenging. Except for the first lap I had no other issues with drivers on track. Congrats to Dino. Looking forward to the next event.
Omitting all perturbations, reconciled with the fourth position for 5 minutes before the end of the race I lose the internet connection. Congratulations to the winners.
I enjoyed the Thumbs Up icon directed to Mark for driving the Lotus, nice one that. Also the added sound effects to the crash on lap 1. Regards, Bret
