Chased Apex hard all through the 1st quarter of the race, keeping the gap at 1.2 - 1.6 seconds. But as my tyres wore exceedingly in the 2nd quarter, I think I was almost 5 seconds adrift when I followed him into the pits.
'Chuffed to bits' as I exited my stall before Apex, then 'shocked as can be' to see him finally exiting the pits 10+ secs behind!
That's a 15 second switch & Apex is one of the best pitters, so I knew some button pressing must have gone wrong.
Through the 3rd quarter, I guess Apex was chasing me like I had him earlier & the gap was again pretty stationary. But with just about 6 laps to go, I assume he had a small off as my lead was extended to 20 secs.
With the pressure off, I just kept it steady & looked after my worn tyres to the flag
Good race all, nice to have the new season underway (cheers H@L)