Well done Tago
Getting the Gordini to the top of the Ams table was no mean feat, and finishing 3rd at Silverstone last night deserves some acclaim. It takes a certain degree of masochism to climb into the Gordini for each race, and keep it going to the flag.
My misfortunes early in the season left me too far adrift to be a problem for Clive who had already secured this season's championship, grats to Clive on staying out of trouble and getting those valuable points.
I was hoping for a decent grid for the final race of the season and some fun racing, but 5 cars was a little disappointing. I had looked at the times from the last 55 race at Silvy and tried a few different cars offline during the afternoon. I had enough T$ to take any car I desired but taking the Merc felt like cheating, and my favourite Connaught was not going to be fast enough on the straights... so which car would give me a chance of dicing at the front?
I remembered that I had used the 250F Maserati at Silvy, so I gave that a run and immediately found that the setup needed some adjustment...either I have changed or the car has??
All of the gear ratios had to be increased, I totally changed the diff, the brake bias was too far rearward and the roll bars were just wrong. Then I reasoned that Clive in his Merc and Uli, if he took the Lancia again, would be in fast cars I needed to allow for slipstreaming in my Maserati so upped 4th and 5th even more to protect the engine.
Great planning and preparation .....................and then I somehow pulled a really good lap to take pole position, which was a worry because I thought I would be a sitting duck on the straights for Clive and Uli with my high top gear. Well, I would just have to get my head down and go for it.
It was sad to see Fulvio and Uli out on lap 1, leaving just 3 cars running, and at first I suspected Clive was sandbagging in his Merc or being careful with his tyres?...he ought to be faster, and closer??!!!
But gradually I eased away and TBH I was cruising for a most of the laps just watching the gap back to Clive, just in case he found some extra pace. I suspect that he was also cruising to get to the finish
Quite pleased to find the sweet spot in the Maserati, as on previous outings I always felt that there was hidden pace in that chassis. A shame that we won't be running these cars next season ( I might have to moonlight in another league to get my fix!), but I know that the 55's are Marmite, you either love them or hate them. maybe we can get them back in the future?