I think I actually did Erling a favour in the early laps by frustrating Dimetri in his quick Escort and allowing a gap to build. The inevitable happened and Dimetri slipped through when I made a small mistake and quickly pulled away.
Well you certainly have my thanks..
Early on, I fancied the Escort, as it seemed to work well here, and I wasn't significantly quicker in the other cars, bar the Beemer and Mini, and I didn't want to use the latter here. Cursed the Commodore to no end in early practice, as it seemed like swapping ends under braking was a design parameter..
Initially on-line praccy suggested I could end up somewhere midfield in the Escort, but as people improved their times, I dropped like a rock to the bottom
Could perhaps hope for someone screwing up more than me during the race, and maybe gain a position or two, but still a bleak concept. Better save the Escort for another race then.
Had decided early in the series, that I would only use my precious Beemer drives, if I had an outright shot at winning the race - providing of course that such an opportunity presented itself. Expected that it would at the very least require Dimetrio's absence, but when he showed up in an Escort, posting laptimes I had matched offline in the Beemer, I made a last-minute decision to use it here.
Wasn't going to be easy though. Managed pole by a couple of 10th, and got a good start, keeping the lead. Early on L1, Clive was behind, but soon replaced by Dimetrio. Demanded my full concentration to go as quickly as I could, without making too many errors. Early on, I didn't look at the pit board, as I focused on driving, and didn't need the psychological pressure of seeing a shrinking gap. Eventually curiosity got the better of me, so I had to sneak some peaks
Was relieved to see the gap increasing, if ever so slightly. Stabilized around 10 secs eventually, but Dimetrio kept me on my toes the entire race - the slightest slip, and the gap dropped.
Lonely race after Dimetrio slipped from view, besides the few backmarkers I caught late in the race - thanks for helping me past!
Very happy for my win, and for not having wasted my final Beemer drive, but oh boy, am I gonna miss that wonderful car! :'(
Grats to the rest of the podium, not least Dimetrio, with unbelievable pace in that Escort!
Cheers,
Erling