I was suckered into watching some football, until it got into extra time and I could see the dreaded penalties looming at which point some GPL GT racing seemed a more entertaining option
.
Just for the sheer hell of it, I went for the 2D Chap and was reasonably happy to get myself into a good 4th grid spot with full race fuel and very little practice. I just wish that I could more easily identify the different Fords from behind. Because I thought Sam was incredibly quick down Hanger straight in his Mk1 Ford!!...now of course I realise it was the Mk4!!
. Somehow I was gifted the lead as each car in front made a mistake and allowed me to pass.......but I knew that the pitstops would end that moment of glory
.
I thought I would try a 2 stop race (thus avoiding the 30 second disco problem
) and things were looking good after my early first stop, dropping only to about 7th place with all but one car in front still to make their timed stops.
Then I came up behind Phil in his Mirage.... which sort of ruined my game plan for a few laps as I had to find a way of getting onto his tail as we hit the straight, so that I could use the extra power to make the pass. Then I tried to leave Phil room inside at Stowe and succeeded only in running onto the grass and letting him past again!!
A couple of laps later I finally managed to get a clean pass and set off after the leading quartet, but I still had my second pitstop to make. In hindsight I should have made that stop instead of fighting with Phil!! What really scuppered my chances was a being hit by the brake gremlin for the only time in the race on the entry to Woodcote. I almost saved it, but just drifted onto the grass and instead of merely clipping the fence the car decided to become embedded and I had to Shift-R. Luckily I was able to dive straight across the track and perform my SnG immediately, but that lost me a good 25-30 seconds I reckon.
After that I pushed hard but with full tanks I could not keep the speed and the tyre temps balanced. Plus the 2nd stop dropped me back again and I was lucky to eventually get a reasonable points finish.
Grats to Hristo, Tim, Axel and Sam for the top places and to Doni for bringing his Fezza home for HER team.