Grats, MJ. Fun race today, and good job by the lapped traffic, thanks guys.
...the gremlins have not yet been evicted. So, I should be at the start of the GT race Friday even if I do not finish..
...
Thanks for the unintentional gift of P2, but good to see you finish one. I was wondering which Ferrari (going the wrong way
) that was I passed in Virage du Parc on the final lap. Realised I was faster chasing you than leading, and the gap back to Raoni was coming down, so better to get 3rd than risk anything. Have you tried a different monitor? The screen blackouts you've described sound (to my very basic knowledge of electronics) like you might have a dying capacitor or something in there (heats up, stops working, cools because it's not working, starts working again, lather, rinse, repeat).
It was gratifying to make it to the end of the race, which is a rare occurence for me lately. I suppose I should be grateful for 3rd place given my recent probs, but I had 3 short screen blackouts each of which had a major effect on my result.
I was pleasantly surprised to get 2nd spot on the grid after a tight qualifying session and had even more reason for optimism when I realised that I had Mark in his 2F on pole. Of the GT's I think the 2F is about the slowest off the grid and the Lola one of the quickest to get going
. Qually on race fuel proved that I had the pace to match the big 2F so maybe I could pinch first spot off the grid?
Sure enough, Mark's white tank was sluggish off the grid and I risked a few extra revs to punch down to T1 where I had the outside line and the faster entry. This allowed me to get the T1-2-3-4 complex nailed on a clear track and I emerged onto the straight already with a healthy lead. I was careful on cold tyres for the initial laps and monitored the gap to Mark's 2F until prib informed me that he was beginning to creep closer as he got some heat into his rubber.
A few quicker laps stabilised the gap and was lapping quite comfortably until the first blackout at the midpoint of DD. When my screen recovered I was parked on the infield and was able to watch Mark cruise past *****!!!
I rejoined just ahead of Dean and it took me a lap or two to regain my composure and pull away from Dean and begin to close down Mark.
Slowly the gap was coming down and I knew that if I could just get into the slipstream I would be able to give Mark some grief. Just a few more laps and I would be in business.
Enter the second blackout!! This time approaching DD ( why is it always at a critical point and never at the start of a straight??) when the darkness cleared I was facing the wrong way and able to watch Dean sweep past ******###!!!!!
Once again I had to control the adreniline rush and smooth out my driving in order to catch Dean. but slowly his gearbox got bigger. It became apparent that I had the advantage through T1-2-3-4 and was gaining a chunk of time there. Eventually I was in the right place as we approached T1 and Dean ran just a fraction wide, compromising the rest of that complex. I lined him up and absolutely nailed the gas through T3 and T4 to emerge onto the straight alongside his Lola, but crucially on the inside for DD
. It was just a case of matching his braking point and making the classic block pass into DD.......back to 2nd place but Mark was out of sight and barring a problem had 1st sewn up.
I steadily pulled a safe gap back to Dean, but he was always close enough to profit if I made any sort of mistake so I tried to just maintain the gap and drive at 95%.
Last lap and 2 corners to go, 100mtrs lead on Dean, 2nd place beckoned and......3rd blackout!!! Once again I recovered to see Dean pass before my eyes to steal my 2nd step on the podium.
Grats to Mark on a faultless race and to Dean for some great racing.
As regards my blackouts. The monitor is only about 2yrs old and is a 23" flat screen HP. I would be disappointed if it was already failing. The problem that I have is that there could be any number of reasons for the problem as it is totally random. I could go out and spend good money on a new monitor only to find that I still have the problem?? I might try and "borrow" a monitor from my office and try that over a weekend, but if the gremlins decide to have a weekend off it might prove nothing.