I have to confess that Spa has never been one of my favourite circuits. I just cannot hook up a good lap around here.
Hristo posted a 3:15 in qually and although I never profess to be as fast as Hristo, I would normally have hoped to be able to get within a couple of seconds on a banzai lap, but not at Spa!!
Despite running a low fuel quali setup and taking the engine revs over the suicidal 11k mark in all gears, I barely managed to break the 3:20 laptime. Just where I lose 5 secs is a mystery to me, as I am flat out just about everywhere and pulling 198mph before Masta and exiting that treacherous bend at around 175-180mph??
So I started almost at the back of the small grid surrounded by Eagles, Brabhams and Lotus....this is not looking very promising
i got a good start and jumped one car before Eau Rouge ( always a risky move!!) and survived to press on towards les Coombes with Samb's Brabham snapping at my heels. He was obviously quicker and was able to use my slipstream down towards Masta to pass. I was not going to contest that move on Lap1 with cold tyres and eased of to be sure of a clean line. Fulvio was behind in an Eagle and making his usual calm start but building up his speed.
Bab and Samb mamaged to finish their race early by mutual consent and I was up to 4th momentarily, but I lost momentum by going on the grass to avoid their melee and Fulvio swept through. I decided to press on as 4th place might net me some nice points if I could survive the next 14 laps. Fulvio was getting away but only slowly and I could not push any harder in the fuel heavy Honda without melting the rear tyres so I did my best to keep Fulvio in sight even if I could not challenge him.
Then we passed Arf parked just after Les Coombes ...3rd place??? and Fulvio was still just about in sight. I had thought that Arf had trashed his car but was to realise later that he was still very much in the race.
Then Shock!! Horror!! the gap to Hristo who had been miles in front, was reducing rapidly and I saw the smoke before I saw the stricken Waza on the run up to Les Coombes....2nd!!! and Fulvio was just visible at certain points of the track.
About 11 laps still to go and some nice points on offer, if I could protect the Waza mobile and its tyres. The fuel level had reduced and I was able to push a little harder without heating the tyres quite so much and the gap to Fulvio stabilised But I was still very careful to keep the revs below 11K and the engine temp below 250F.
Then I see Fulvio running very slowly down towards Stavelot!! his engine had blown and I was now in 1st!!! and not even half distance!!
. Arf had got himself going but was still a long way behind and I did not know if he had suffered any damage or if he was still able to run at his qually speed, because with about 9-10 laps left to go he could be closing at approx 4 secs a lap!! Hristo had obviously opted to trundle around in the hope of picking up some valuable points for 3rd place, so the race was now between Arf and myself...and there was a long way still to go.
The next few laps involved a lot of "prib watching" at certain points of the track to see where Arf was closing, and by how much per lap. After 2-3 laps it became clear that he was gaining, but at a rate that might not be quick enough to catch me before the flag. Except of course that once he got a sniff of slipstream the last few hundred metres of advantage that I had would vanish. So I was forced toup my pace slightly and still watch the tyre temps.
Lap after lap he gradually closed and with about 4 to go I passed the pits thinking " I've done enough he cannot catch me now, if I just maintain a steady pace!"...........then I promptly relaxed, forgot about the overheated tyres and screwed up Eau Rouge totally!! I was fired out over the crest and flung into the barbed wire fence, but miraculously suffered no damage. BUT! the gap was halved and now I was in serious trouble if I wanted to win this race.
I tied another knot on my fundoshi, lowered my white headband a little more over my eyes and launched the Wazamobile up towards Les Coombes!! If Arf wanted the win he was going to have to fight for it!!
The next lap was crucial, I had to prevent Arf getting his faster car anywhere near my slipstream, so I pushed hard but without stressing the engine trying to carry more speed through the bends after Stavelot up to La Source. I think luck was with me because Arf must have had an incident of his own as the gap suddenly grew by a few hundred metres and that was all I needed
My penultimate lap was the fastest of the race for me and I was able to back off and cruise the last lap to the flag and a totally unexpected win at a track I still don't like!!
Grats to Arf for keeping the pressure on and to Hristo for dragging his Honda around to a Championship winning 3rd place.
Looking forward to racing on a proper circuit next time......where are we going?