Huge grats to Hristo.....that qually lap was a stunner!!!
I had toyed with the idea of running a WAZA for this race, but after the previous weeks Masters carnage I chickened out and took the all conquering Cooper.
Qually was a bit of a disappointment, as I had managed a second faster a few hours earlier, but with a relatively small grid and a long race against similar machinery I figured it was ok.
Only Ken was brave enough to take something different ( well done Ken,
).
Off the line I was harrassed by Bernie ( in a coop) up the inside of T1 but manged to squeeze my way around the outside and into T2 in front of him.
That put me behind Brendan ( in a coop) and Kruger ( in a coop)...hmmm I thought to myself this is going to be interesting ( in my coop). The pace picked up over the first few laps as tyres warmed and confidence grew. Then one or two people seemed to suffer from magnetic attraction to trees and dived into the foliage on the long downhill bend. Kruger was one of them ( in a coop) which left me ( in my coop) chasing Brendan ( in his coop) for about 10 laps. Kruger seemed to be having probs ( with his coop) and dropped back and out of sight, whilst Brendan ( in his coop) and I ( in my coop) traded half second differences through various sectors but neither gaining an advantage ( in our coops). Until Brendan ( in his coop ) got a little wobbly into T1 and I managed to slip up the inside of (his coop) with ( my coop) and take the position.
Now the roles were reversed and Brendan was chasing ( my coop) in ( his coop), but I seemed to be able to lap a little quicker forcing Brendan ( in his coop) to pull out some very sideways cornering to keep up.
I knew that this track has a reputation for not taking prisoners and with 3rd place on offer approaching half distance and Brendan ( in his coop) was determined to push me ( in my coop) so I thought I would play the pitstop card. Hoping that he would carry on and I could concentrate on my own pace and not be distracted ( by a coop) in my mirrors.
But, Brendan ( in his coop) followed me ( in my coop) into the pits where it all went wrong. I selected neutral instead of first gear and over revved the engine sending half the pistons ( from my coop) over the top of the pits, whilst Brendan ( in his coop) slid gracefully out of the pits and away.
I nearly quit ( with my coop) there and then, but figured that as I was still moving ( in my coop) albeit slowly, I would stick around in the hope that someone would attempt some more tree felling ( in their coops ).
Sure enough
, Brendan vanished ( in his coop) and a few laps later so did Bernie
( in his coop) leaving me in 5th place and a long way last ( in my coop ) Ithought about carrying on for the last dozen laps when the decision was taken from me.
My coop decided that it would put all of the pistons in the same place,.... and that was not to be within the engine block but somewhere in the grass behind the pits ( in the chicken coop!!!!).
So I coasted into the pits and parked it, disappointed not to have done better, but relieved to have salvaged at least a couple of points.
Grats to the podium ( if they were in coops or not ) and big thanks to Brendan for a great half a race, just sorry I screwed up in the pits and missed the second half
( in my coop )