Hot stuff there, Greg!
Grats on a deserved win with such a blistering pace. Much as you, I quite like the Oakes Field Bahamas circuit despite no elevations. Hardly surprising given its location and original purpose as a WWII airbase.
Grats to Axel on a good P2 despite some dramas. Hard to luck for Robert after putting up a scintillating drive in the little M1A McLaren.
A quite fortunate P3 for me that after the first 30 seconds of the race, I could hardly have imagined. The AJ Foyt Lola T70 fitted with the 427 CID Ford V-8 has bags of torque modeled into it but with just two forward speeds, you are not going to come off the line like Don Garlits. I wasn't surprised in the least to fall to the back of the pack by the time we got to T1 off the start. Lining up for T2 just behind Carlos, I guess he saw drama ahead that I didn't with Greg skipping off into the weeds and CC checked up early and hard. This caught me off guard and I had to dash off onto the verge to miss giving him a tail punt. The T70 flopped about like a fish out of water as the modeled surface off the tarmac was very hard to deal with and it took an eternity to get righted. Swell. I wasn't aware til after the race that Greg suffered a similar but not quite as disastrous off just up ahead of me.
Nothing to do at that stage but put my head down and press on. Remaining laps went off very well and I was quite pleased with my drive. Ultimately, I found myself close behind perennial S30 UKGPL rival, Carlos, and I could just see we two having another fine old ding-dong for position. Just nicely beyond half distance, it all changed. Carlos had an off and I was free and clear to pursue Robert but then he soon suffered a disco. Cruel. Just cruel.
For the balance of the run, I eased back to preserve my placing and a good thing I did, too. Coming off Sand's Bend on the last lap, the engine started to splutter. MON DIEU! I'm running out of petrol! A quick check of the F10 view confirmed that my fuel pressure was sagging below the point where the engine would fire properly and a DNF was on the cards. Luckily, I do have the Pit Stop Patch in force so a quick dive into the pits for a gas-up was possible if needed. A real concern for me was whether indeed this was the last lap or not. My pit board indicated as much but I have it placed over on the Sassoon Straight for more comfortable viewing and sometimes a relocated board can give me a bum reading. Over the last mile or so, I got an indication that it was, in fact, the last lap as the GPL marshals started waving flags for no particular reason as they do when the winner has crossed the S/F line. I crept around the last corner and saw that the starter was waving the checker. PHEW!
