Hi all thought i write my race report from the winner!, sorry its late been busy with work
Great Qualifying session, i knew i could do 2mins in a Cooper but not any quicker and that luckily got me 3rd on the grid at Rouen!
As for the race well..
Lap 1 - As always im slow off the startline, Tim and Chris get past me on the way down to turn 1, so that would of been 5th place, but somehow the 2 eagles in front of me go off together at turn 1!, that puts me back in 3rd place.
Lap 3 - Chris overtakes Tim at the hairpin and im right behind them both, I get alongside Tim myself but decide to back off, to let him take racing line, with Phil behind me.
Lap 4 - I have Phil breathing down my exhaust pipes, is this something of things to happen every race, racing against Phil? lol , On last 2 corners Phil gets alongside me, but i hold the racing line, but at same time Tim misses the turn and that gifts me and Phil 2nd and 3rd place.
Lap 6 - Down to the 1st Corner and i see that Chris has got on the verge on left hand side somehow and this gifts me 1st place and Phil is in 2nd!, the lead woohoo!
Lap 7 - I now have about a 4sec lead over Phil's fez, but this time is all over the back of my gearbox going up the hill to the back straight, Phil justs shoots past me with a faster car the ferrari.
Lap 8 - Now being in 2nd im hanging on to the back of Phil's ferrari, down to the hairpin Phil puts it on the grass, and im through into the lead again!, leading up the hill to the back straight, Phils ferari gets past me again!, but do something about that back straight im saying to myself!
Lap 9 - Phil gets alot sideways into turn 1, and im decide I take the inside line into turn 2, in the lead I go again!, now im thinking about the back straight where Phil's ferrari is soo much faster, I defend the inside line this time and make it stick!
Lap 10 - I now finally get a bit of a lead, but have to defend the corner on the back straight, Phil gets alongside side me into the last corner, but I held the racing line to keep 1st place.
Lap 11 - I now lap S.Bird at the hairpin, thanks for moving out of the way:) Now i notice Chris Bull is catching us in 3rd place, least i thought, he can fight with Phil while i try to build a nice gap between us both. I hold the lead on back straight and into the last 2 corners, but Chris spins his BRM.
Lap 12 - Still holding a nice lead on to the back straight and decide to defend the corner to keep me in the lead.
Lap 13 - Im now thinking 5 more laps left!, can i hold it together? lol! We go up the hill, thinking Phil is going to have another go on the back straight, but he touches the grass and spins! Now i got some nice breathing space!
Lap 15 - I can just about see a BRM in my mirrors it must be Chris about 5secs behind me with 3 laps to go!
Lap 18 - The last lap!, I cant see anyone in my mirrors down to turn 1, and i decide to take the hairpin easy!, but not that easy i then see a ferrari closing me down dramatically!, but no its the Cooper of Ben Summers!, hes now got up real close behind going up the hill to the back straight. Im now thinking maybe 1st and 2nd for the Cooper at Rouen, even tho hes not my teammate lol. I decide to defend the last but 2 corners, my taking the inside line. Then suddenly I notice Ben spin it!, I now have last corner and cross the line to be the winner, by 5 seconds!
Not often you see 2 Coopers and a BRM in top 3 at Rouen
The 1st win for the Cooperman!, my 1st win of the season!, and hopefully more to come!
Now im defaintly on a roll, althought its monaco next
Also interesting was after Spa, my manager Steven said "Excellent job Rob - here's hoping you can do even better at Rouen!", I sure did!
I saw the headlines in the Cooperman Express papers next day saying "Rob has scored the first victory of Season 15 for the Men of Cooper - a stunning 1st place in the Clubmans race at Rouen! He qualified well, but bogged down at the start. Undeterred, he fought his way back up through the ranks, and after a wonderful battle with Phil Thornton brought the Coop home first!"
I like to thank Phil, Ben and Chris for some great exciting racing at the front, lets see what Kruger makes of it when he does the modding!