Huge commiserations for Will, that was destined to be your first win in GPL and richly deserved too. I was hoping for a race long battle with you as our times were so close in Qualifying. But, I totally screwed any chance of that before the race even started
. When I engaged first gear on the grid I did not have my foot fully on the clutch pedal ( after years of GPL you have to wonder why???)
, neither did I have my foot on the brake, so the car jumped forward by 1 metre and at the end of Lap1 I got the black flag for a penalty stop.
Perhaps it was years of practice at starts that gave me the edge off the grid, but I was hoping that by getting the lead I could impose a little control over proceedings, but the penalty stop destroyed that plan!! I rejoined at the end of lap2 in last place.
TBH most of the race after that was a blur through the red mist as I worked my way back through the field. Watching PRIB I could see that I was not ever going to catch Will, but Pete and Phil might be vulnerable right at the end of the race......hmmmmm.
Just as I got within 150 mtrs of the Pete and Phil battle and was preparing for a banzai attack, a gear change ( 3rd to second instead of 3rd to 4th) I blew the engine. I cannot say that it was a total surprise after the abuse that I had inflicted upon that engine in the previous 30 laps, but it dashed any hopes of getting at Phil and/or Pete with a Shift/R and only 3 laps to go. Still I cannot complain at a podium finish after such a disastrous start.
BTW I have looked at Will's accident and I can only say that was really rough on him. I don't think Dimi was in any way at fault. He had an accident and was just in the wrong place when Will arrived over the crest. On that part of the circuit after the jumps any chance of adjusting your line is zero. Dimi got it wrong and became a pinball off the barriers, Will arrived aiming straight at the part of the track where Dimi ended up, with no chance of stopping, If he had tried to take any evasive action he would certainly have joined in the pinball game and might well have wiped himself out on the armco. A couple of metres either way, by either car, and we would not be discussing this.
All that I can say Will is that GPL can be a cruel mistress and at times appears to get a great deal of pleasure from making us suffer!! A worrying thought but is that why we keep coming back for more???
