Lots of tactical considerations before this race. With Ziu out of Class D drives, and Geoffers absent, a win seemed a distinct possibility. Missing the previous Silverstone race due to computer issues, I had one Camaro and one free-for-all (Boss) drive left. Prepared for both, logging on in the Camaro to see what everyone else was driving - would be quite a scoop if I could bag a win in that car!
Initially only Kurt was in a Boss. Of course couldn't match his speed with the Camaro, but I rather shamefully put my money on him falling off during the race, and stuck with the Camaro. There was of course always the risk that a late comer would join during qual, in a Boss or Capri. As qual was starting, it suddenly dawned on me that Tony probably can see from server admin what we're driving, and would no doubt have spotted an easy win. Whether pre-planned or spur of the moment, as feared, he turned up in a Boss. At this point it was clear I had gambled and lost: Couldn't expect both to fall off, and couldn't change to the Boss any longer.
Instead I got one heck of a race with Bob. Had been comfortably ahead of him in qual, so never foresaw him becoming such a problem (quite a lot I failed to predict in this race - a career move into clairvoyance is probably not in the cards...
) Got ahead of Kurt at the start, but he easily moved past on L2. For the remainder of the race, I had Bob's Escort up my tail pipes. Unsurprisingly, he was quicker through the corners, but the expected straight line advantage of the Camaro never materialized - maybe he was always within towing distance ? Once he moved out of it however, he seemed to run out of puff, and never quite made it past. What it meant for me was no running wide and no room for other screw-ups in the corners, despite being on the ragged edge all 20 laps - that was tough
As the race wore on, and my tyres did likewise, it didn't make the task any easier. Bob was inching closer, so I had to ignore the tyre wear and drive like it wasn't there. Not sure how I survived that.. Thanks to Bob for a very intense race - and for being patient; know how frustrating it is to be behind a slower cornering car, with a driver who refuses to move off the line..
Grats to Tony & Kurt - glad you made it to the finish, even if it drops me to 3rd (and last in class..)
Cheers,
Erling