I watched the replay. I was curious, and I usually try to learn from my mistakes.
I handled Mark's accident a little better than I thought I had. Everything was happening so fast I thought I had hit Mark, possibly causing him more damage. I still made a mistake though. I should have tried to slow more and sooner. Then I might have been able to go left and not hit the fence like I did.
I wasn't as consistent as I thought either. I guess since I didn't hit much and kept the car in good shape, I thought I was doing better than I did. 2 spins and up the banking once on lap 1. Two huge slides and a bounce off the fence on lap 2. But from then on I drove well.
I've had a lot of the same problems Mark. It took me 5 years to break 8:20 with the Ferrari. I finally came up with a ride height I like this week. 4.5 inches/11.43 cm worked well on the 330, Lola and 2D. I'm still losing traction at the bump in the middle of the turn entering Metzgefeld. Axel spun there too after I had almost lost it in front of him on lap 2. I still have to be very careful and lift sooner than I think I should at the low place before Andenauer Forest. I had tried 4 inches and as high as 5 inches but it never ever came together like it did Friday at 4.5 inches. I'll probably try setting the car a slight bit higher and/or a little stiffer springs . I've still got room to improve the handling conistency. I'm running the big Fords at 5.5 inches/14cm and I'm still having trouble with bottoming or hitting the bump rubbers.
It's funny that this is one of my favorite tracks in one of my favorite mods but I've had a lot trouble getting good laps here. Targa is the same way. It's taking a long time to find the right setup. I think the GTs are the most difficult cars to drive at Nurburgring. Whenever I see somebody mention the difficulty of The Ring in the 67 F1s, I always think, "give the GTs a try and you'll see what's really difficult." The GTs at The Ring make the 67 F1s seem somewhat easy.
And I'm 10 mph/16 kmh slower through the Karussell and it's still much more difficult than with the F1s. Another big difficulty is the brake bug. I induce it more here than any of the other championship track. I've ruined numerous laps because of it.
I got lucky to win this one. It was a decent drive but nothing that really should have put me in contention with Mark. Consistency won the day though.
I enjoyed the season, in particular the 3 historic GT races. Nurburgring stoked me. I could spend the next 6 months driving nothing but the GTs here before I'd start getting bored.
I wanted to take the 330 as it's my favourite car. But I needed to spend more time setting it up than I had.
I don't blame you. It's my favorite car too. 8:18 is excellent without much practice. I'm 1.8 seconds slower than you with a lot of practice. It's finally coming together though. I'm putting the 2D and Lola into the 18s. I hope I can do it soon with the Ferrari and the Porsche may be capable of it too. I'm fastest with the 2F.
Loved the tracks and cars, didn't have the best of luck. Hearty congratulations to Greg for winning the championship, he's driven very well. Big thanks to Axel for all his work.
Thanks Mark. I wasn't particularly happy with myself thinking I had hit you. That would have been a terrible way to end the season, especially after my mistake at Zeltweg. I had to drive to well and start all races if I wanted to beat you. Had your luck been better it would have been very close either way. The few times my luck was bad never hurt me like yours did. And my big screw up at Spa67 didn't hurt much with the small field.
Thank you too Axel. The season seemed to go rather smoothly. The only two things that would have made it better to me is, larger fields and/or slowing Mark and me to make the field closer.