:wacko:ohiohiohi, mammamia how painful it is the fall, after the highs of those 3 dominant (er...if we exclude the end results of the actual races) displays. Was beaten on sheer pace today, by a green mosquito whos clearly upped his game.
Really thought I had it in the bag when I saw the double 0 in between the other numbers on my prib, little I knew that the green mosquito buzzing in my ears and stalking me around during that very lap had treacherously bettered me by 2 entire tenths. When I saw Ross' time I had a shock from which I didnt really recover, his lap effectively equals my PB, so I knew I was up against it. Gave my all, no way to catch that time, had to settle for second :'(.
The flag man caught the green mosquito sleeping
, so I could motor away, but soon was prey of a serious attack of moderational paranoia, horrified at the idea of being the cause of major carnage at Quarry (or earlier), since I couldnt see where (TF!) Ross was, I decided to keep it as close to the grass as possible, so close that I actually cut through it, which obviously sent me straight to the other side of the road, miraculously just ahead of Ross. At which point, I decided not to provoke Lady Luck anymore, and took it super easy down into Quarry, letting Ross off the hook.
10 laps of passion followed, trading tenths with the evil green mosquito, but never really able to get close enough to put proper pressure. It was a game at who was going to blink first. And blink we did, but both at the same time! Focused like a hawk on the tiny green dot, mirroring his every move ready to strike mercilessly, I obviously mirrored also his wrong line down into Quarry, too close to the center of the road. Net result a quick roll of waltz into the barriers for the both of us. Ahead, ahead, dont stop,back on the road as soon as I can! But, oh no, the darned mosquito is quicker to recover. AGAIN
!!
From then on, it is the tale of a melancholic decline. Spin after spun, I managed to race backwards to 6th.
Did have a couple of good battles though, with Mike first, whom I followed for a few laps before trying a move at tower bend (I think thats its name?). As we were approaching the bend side by side, I had a sudden serious attack of 'braccino', but did my very best to keep my Lotus onto my half of the tarmac; still managed to shove him gently on the grass with my sliding rear wheels, hope he is not too resentful, after all I gave it all back after a few laps anyway!
The last 10 laps or so, I found myself behind Ronnie, who obviously hadnt robbed anything taking advantage of my self inflicted misfortunes, and actually had to earn his newly acquired fifth place the hard way. Try as I might, my twin Lotus didnt put a single wheel wrong in any corner whatsoever. I think its, like, 10 Quarrys without ever going wide once!!How annoyed can a smokey Italian get in the space of half an hour! And of course, being Ronnie lotussed as myself, and not coopered as Mike was, there wasnt even a way to try a risky pass at tower. So, opted for a last lap attempt on the outside of Quarry, which resulted in my umpteenth spin, and in Ronnie romping away totally unfazed.Well done to you Ronnie, and sorry for that last lap, it seemed like a decent idea until I started running out of road with screeching tires.
All in all, drove pretty brill first 10 laps, pretty crap following 25. Which teaches, to expound Ross' comments, that is much easier to put it on pole, have a good start and drive away in the distance with a nice performance advantage than, er, anything else.
See you all at SPA.
End of rant.