Down with flu all weekend and Monday too, so didn't get anywhere near my normal prep before these races. Not really fit to race either, but just wanted to make an appearance and scrounge a few points for the championship.
Don't like Laguna Seca, but at least all our recent visits here turned out to be an advantage, as I didn't need to learn a new track too. Mazda was the only car I had tried before I got sick, so had to be it for the races, difficult or not..
Race 1:Never got a good lap in qual, so far down the field on the grid - not that I could have matched the front runners in any way, even at my best. Made up some places early on and was 5th briefly, but lost a couple of places to faster drivers. Was in 7th when I accidentally bumped Tony - sorry about that. Went into the gravel and down to 11th. Had a battle with Bob and Roger over a number of laps, but eventually got away. Back to 7th, when I passed a spun Postal. A move by him on the following lap sent me into a spin, and triggering more events, ultimately down 5 places, to 12th. Postal handed me back the position he could, but that still left 4. Not enough time left to make that up, so finished 8th - went from 10th to 8th on the final meters of the race, when I outdragged Tony and Bob, so a hectic finish
Race 2:Saw Tony's message about qual starting at 21:00 GMT. Did a practice lap and then returned to pits, waiting for qual. 21:00 (22:00 in my case) came and went. Minutes were ticking away, with no 'next session', no messages by others, and no one going out on track. Increasingly puzzled, I suddenly noticed that my router was void of activity. Strange, the game gave me no indication of a lost connection. Rejoined in the final moments of qual, and only just had time for one timed lap, on half cold tyres.
Thus another grid pos far down the field. Most unusual, it was for once me who outdragged Clive at the start
- only to promptly loose the position again, when I went onto the gravel on the right..
Went from bad to complete muck up, when I next spun at T1. Car wasn't damaged, and shouldn't have all that much dirt on the tyres, but it still refused to turn at T2, instead burying me deep in the gravel. By the time I got out, I was very much last! Made up a few places during an otherwise unremarkable race, to finish 9th.
Grats to podiums in both races, and nice to see such large grids
Cheers,
Erling