I know how Roo feels, as that happened to me being the first car to reach Moss last year in oAo.
Wasn't sure if the Jops setup would work at Mosport, and forgot what track we did before that, so I dug out Hristo's Kyalami set and did some changes after a run, but stuffed up my chance to qually any faster.
Race start was good; I was lucky to pass Axel, while going between him and Roo, and set off to catch/hang on to Rob. After a few laps I started to drop back, and thought the tyres were overheating. Axel got a much better run out of Moss and I didn't fight hard, thinking if he was faster we could catch Rob or I could re-pass later. Big mistake
.
After enough laps of following Axel through Moss, I realised I was getting bad exits by exiting in 2nd gear, which left me lacking torque. Once I switched to 1st gear exits, I could get the same exit, but then hit a wall of only staying level with full slipstream. After 20 or so laps of trying different lines, I almost got inside Axel a few times, but was cautious enough to back out when he hadn't seen me or was continuing on the racing line.
It was real close stuff, a really fun battle, regularly within a car length in the corners. I could gain at apexes, but Axel held firm with good exits, especially from Moss. Near the end, Roo joined the party, setting fastest lap on the way, and this made it even more hectic, as I was now pushing hard to just stay as the meat of the sandwich.. I actually bump-drafted Axel coming out of the last corner with 3 to go!
I guess that was a sign, as on the penultimate lap, I was too committed in T2 to avoid Axel when he scrubbed speed as usual, ending the race long battle 2 laps short of the flag. A shame, as the podium was well deserved after soaking up 30 laps of pressure from behind
. I wanted to try and bump Axel back over but he Esc'd, so I got back on track and tried for fastest lap on the last lap, spinning at Moss.
This put Doni all over me down the back straight, and he was ahead on the inside into the penultimate corner, but I hung it around the outside, and he was cautious to see the flag. I thought about doing the pit lane side-by-side finish, if he got to the last corner still ahead (a little joke between us, after I let him lap me in the GTs by doing a drive through
).