Maybe I should practice even less often than I do??!
For this race ( which I was NOT looking forward to, as I cannot nail Spa) I only did 30 mins when I arrived home from work in an attempt to modify my old setup so that I could control the rear tyre temps and maybe survive the race.
When qually started, my worst fears were confirmed and I was left trailing mid grid albeit on race fuel.
Gradually the confidence in the setup grew, so with just 5 mins left, I dumped most of the fuel, adjusted the headband, tightened the fundoshi and wiped the tear from my eye.
Got what must be my best ever lap in a 66 Waza without a tow around Spa and crept in front of team mate Tim on the grid into about 4th spot.
I pulled my headband over my eyes and prayed through Eau Rouge and was amazed to find myself still in one piece on the run up to Les Coombs.
The two Fezzas were monopolising the front along with Hristo and I was resigned to being sucked along for a while in the slipstream rather than risk the Waza engine.
Syd's rear end looked very unstable from where i was sat, and he seemed to be struggling to control the Fez, so I dropped back just a fraction. This was a wise move because before long both of the Ferraris performed the Italian version of Hari Kari ( Nieto Cornetto?) and departed stage left!!!
So it was Waza 1-2-3 with 90% of the race still to go
I allowed ( notice that I "allowed" ) Hristo to take the lead and use his Lotus juggernaut to make a hole in the air for me to cruise along in. Tim was following behind for a while but appears to have made a mistake somewhere and dropped just beyond the "tow zone".
This left H and myself away and clear.
It was quite obvious that this race would be decided on the last lap, because barring mistakes the advantage of the tow would pull back a second easily on the run down to Masta. I frequently found myself backing off to avoid getting alongside H with nowhere to go.
So, everything was going to happen on the last lap....but in order to preserve Hristo's aura of invincibility I decided to fake a mistake at Masta
on the last lap to avoid him suffering the indignity of following me across the line.
My story and I'm sticking to it!!!
She was pleased even though a red thing was brash enough to sneak into 3rd place ahead of a much more deserving Tim.