Grats to the podium and to all the class winners........great choice Robby ( I almost went that route myself lol )
Also having had a quick squint at the replay through the fingers of my hand, I owe Robby a big apology. I thought that when I lapped him he had simply clipped the kerb and spun. But it was my fault
I clipped the rear of his Corolla and he ended up inverted after I was past him and focusing on the entry to Lesmo 1.
This year I have decided to try and put in some track time BEFORE each race in an attempt to gain some consistency ( and hopefully some pace!). I did a few short sessions on the server with the cars and found that the hierarchy was much as others found.
In my hands the Cosworth was fastest but required a great deal of concentration to exploit the potential, with the BMW a couple of seconds behind. Then the Alfa, which was slower but with a longer range on a full tank and, in my uncultured hands, not as nimble as the BMW. The Corolla was a pussy cat to drive and just outpaced for top speed around Monza.
After deciding that Robby was entitled to a class win after all of his efforts lately ( I'm really kind like that sometimes. honest I am ). I had decided that I needed some more time with the Cossie before I used it in anger. So was it to be the fast BMW, or the long range Alfa?
In my hands the Alfa was approx 2 secs a lap slower than the BMW, but I would get to lap 20 ( possibly 21 ) before I needed refuelling. If I could protect the tyres I might get away with a 6 lap splash and dash with no change of tyres?? That decision would be made in the few laps before the pitstop.
Dan appeared determined to scupper my plan by harassing me from the very start and forcing me to drive hard to hold my position. By the time he had dropped back a little , the damage was done and my tyres looked finished as early as lap 16!!! But, the fuel was looking good and I was borderline getting to lap 21. Dan pitted much earlier than I expected so I was left alone to push on.
In the 2 laps before my stop, my front left tyre was showing as a mere "hint of red" on HUD, but interestingly the car was only around 1.5 secs slower per lap.
I suspect that Dan had issues with his pit crew as he was a long way behind as I entered pit lane. I missed my pit box and overshot by 10 mtrs, but reversed onto the foot of my Crew manager to get his attention. I opted to run on the steel rims for the last 6 laps and just grab 8 galls of gas, hoping to exit the pits with a healthy lead over Dan.
I had around 15 secs once up to speed ( it might have been 20 if I had been more careful with my stop!??) So for the final 6 laps I simply had to stop Dan taking more than 2 secs per lap out of my lead. That bit went well, but with 3 laps to go I realised that my fuel calculations were a little too precise and I had to short shift and coast to cross the line with 0.2 galls still in the tank
. Plus the front left tyre no longer existed!!
Thanks for all the fun guys
I have posted my setup online if Dan is reckless enough to try it as Evil Alfa 75 in the Monza folder