Yeah as Martin says, for some bizarre reason we just can't get enough of each other
. Sorry mate, if I don't laugh I'll cry! I'm out of things to say about it
.
Was a strange race for me, in practice I'd been comfortably running 36's with a best of a mid 35, however that seemed to be impossible yesterday and even my better laps were only 37's.
Had a miracle escape at turn 1, hit Adam quite hard (unlucky mate - great pace in qually though!!) on the left corner as he span across me, that then fired me into Mike with the right but somehow my steering continued to point the right way!? Brief panic as I'm lying sideways across the track just hoping nobody's going to clout me again but thanks to some impressive evasive action there was no further incident!
Rejoined behind everyone but ended up stuck behind the Mustangs just having to be patient - I was surprised too around here, I'd mistakenly thought overtaking would be a doddle but it's those fast, single line corners that make it incredibly tricky. No fault of the Stangs but I lost soooo much time having to be patient. Aside from the twisties, I reckon Road Atlanta was easier to pass on with it's big stops.
Anyway with the shunt and traffic, by the end of lap 1 I was just coming on to the start/ finish as the leaders were on their way down Hangar Straight, but never one to give up hope in the beauty of the enduro format - a lot can happen over 90 mins!
Started trying to chase my practice pace in the next few laps and convinced I could find it i soon ended up giving it plenty through Bridge and then getting on the brakes for priory a millisecond before the car had settles and it caused me to slide slightly to the right. Briefly introduced myself to the gravel and duly took on board the warning that ragging the hell out of my Vette wasn't the way to finish. Other than the unfortunate dink with Martin around the half way mark and a couple of wide corner entries, the rest of the race was mistake free and just as I'd begun to think fourth was as good as it was going to get, Christmas comes early and I see Gazza's wounded pink (sorry purple
) Vette on the exit of Becketts.
Could tell he was struggling either with damage or tyres but I have to say mate - that was a pretty good pace for a bent car still! Kept the pressure up until the end. Knowing nothing was certain with the Stangs in the mix, I knew I had to make my lapping really decisive to eek out some kind of buffer (which also happens to be really good fun) hoping he wouldn't get quite as a nice a run and with a pinch of good fortune it worked out well.
Really pleased with the 90 mins - I'm finding these a lot less gruelling these days and the Vette's balance is where I want it in terms of handling which gives that all important confidence in traffic.
Anyway the whole thing was made even sweeter seeing Raimo pick up the win with Dario second for a delicious green one-two
Wd Ian and Simon on fine drives and unlucky Gazza - that qually pace was quite something!
Thanks to the Stang guys, great driving all round and to Adam for organising another cracking race, hope to see a few more next time out - not sure if the Rugby and Carling Cup Final had anything do with the lower numbers this week perhaps?
Hope to see some of you at Sebring on Sunday for some strictly Stang action at the opening round of the RoC season