Good to see Pelle and Gismo joining the fun.
I confess that I was lazy and cheated a little for this race. It was my intention to use the Eagle when I saw this round in the series. Somewhere I have a setup that would allow me 1:23 laps on race fuel ( one of the best setups I think I ever had in GPL ) I used it in the last World Cup series and the car just seemed to be on rails.............................but I could not find it!!!
Real life got in the way over the weekend and I arrived at race time with zero practice. So I opted for a nice stable Brabham and saved my tokens
. The problem I find with the Brabham is that it lacks top speed, but it is very driveable through the twisty bits.
Robert had his usual quick pace and set a great pole time. Once I had second place on the grid I was content and spent the rest of the time getting used to full fuel levels.
I had to watch Pelle at the start as I did not want him squeezing that Honda up the inside into T1!! I was able to stick close to Robert for the first few laps without too much trouble and was happy to let him set the pace and pull us clear of the pack. Only Pelle appeared to be able to stay with us in the Honda. then I made a small mistake somewhere and only corrected the error by throwing the car sideways and igniting the rear tyres. That cost me a load of grip for the next few laps and dropped back from Robert and presnted Pelle with a chance to pass. I could not contest as my rear tyres were infra red!
A few gentle laps and temps dropped, so I eased back up to Pelle and his Honda.
many years of racing the Honda in the Mighty Waza team has taught me that you have to respect that engine. I could hear the revs that Pelle was using and I thought to myself..."hmmm a little risky revving that high so early in the race??!!"... and then he pulled off the track with a blown engine.
Again I pushed to close the gap to Robert up ahead, but it was a balancing act, maintaining the pace and protecting the tyres, and once again I overheated the rears and had to back off.
it was about this time that we all experienced the interweb gremlins and there was a lot of spikes and warping. Several times my wheel kicked so violently that I almost lost my grip.
All this time Iestyn was hunting me down in his Fezza, so that by the time the "web wobblies" had finished he was on my tail. The next 15 laps were all about defensive driving and trying to preserve my 2nd place.
I know from experience that there is only one passing place around Zandvoort as long as the car in front stays on the racing line at a good pace. So each lap I kept things neat and tidy (ish) trying to concentrate on getting off the final corner as quickly as poss and commanding the inside line down to T1. If Iestyn was going to pass me he would have to use all the extra speed in his Ferrari and outbrake me AND hold it around the outside line at T1.
Boy!!, he did try hard!!
at least 3 times he got alongside and almost held it on the grey stuff but ran wide and allowed me some breathing space, and time to cool my tyres, until he came charging up behind me again!! He was a persistent pest for every lap and just when I thought I had held onto 2nd spot he did the only thing he could and outdragged my Brabham from the final corner to the flag. Beating me by less than ).1 secs!!
Grats to Robert on taking that Cooper to the flag at tremendous place, although I think Iestyn and myself were slowing things down in our battle for 2nd. Grats to Iestyn on forcing that red thing through at the very last moment...great fun and good racing