Congratulations Axel, Mark, Dean, and Tom!
Thanks for posting the pics Axel! I would have posted the 2nd one myself, had you not done it.
That second heat was intense. I was a little bit aggressive at times while being considerate most of the time. Tom, Axel, and Andreas did about the same. That was some great driving on Tom's part. Andreas drove well too until his late race clip of the pit wall. Axel did great too except for all his spins.
I started practicing with the Ferrari until Axel told me it was too slow. Then I remembered Dean telling me earlier in the season that this might be the only track the 49 might do well. I immediately started setting new sector bests with the 49 so I decided to use it even though my lap times were about identical to the Ferrari. The Lotus was great on the straights and the banking. I could take about any line I wanted on the banking. I got a bit aggressive passing Tom and Andreas entering the banking on the inside. I thought I could run a little faster lap times in the lead than Tom or Andreas. I was also aggressive passing Andreas on the outside exiting the banking. Thanks for letting me have the line Andreas!
The Lotus wasn't very good on cold tires. It wouldn't turn in or brake well. When I went off early in the second heat I yelled, "DARN, I'm at the back again!" That R was actually a M! This time I didn't lose much time so I was able to come back pretty quickly. I needed a little more time working on the setup too. I was horrible under braking and through Curva Grande, Lesmos, and Parabolica. 1% more rear BB, more coast side diff locking, and some changes to the toe-in might help a lot through those turns. 1 degree of wing might help too.
After I took the lead from Tom, he and Andreas fell back a little fighting for position. At that point I really wished I had my qualifying gearing. I thought I might have been able to break the slipstream. I definitely wasn't geared for leading the race. In the slipstream I actually could have stood a bit longer gear. Every once in a while the engine wouldn't turn any faster at the end of the straights even though the slipstream should have let me keep accelerating.
Now I got my revenge on Axel too after my last lap meltdown in the F2's at Enna.
I thought I'd come up a little short but all the slipstreaming and side-by-side racing that Tom and I did, had me in good shape for where I could and couldn't pass.
That was a lot of fun and likely the best race I've driven online yet. I'm very impressed with what a fine job Tom did. He kept the pressure on me almost constantly and stayed so close at times that I surprised we never collided. I doubt I could have followed him so closely.
That's a pretty good replay to watch too! I enjoyed it so much the first time that I soon watched it a second time.
Thanks guys. I appreciate you letting me race with you!