I was really looking forward to this race as i love this track but in the end it turned into a mare
I enjoyed the qually battle with FMG, Stefan and Alexey (max and nfsw were too quick!) I held 3rd until near the end then i got a disco so was unable to combat the few tenths that fmg eeked out over me
Race start i was gazumped by two flying cars from behind me! I really need to adjust my clutch pedal as its costing me positions every race
It was intense fun for a few laps then i noticed i was going backwards from 4th down to 7th as the penny dropped that several guys were on softs and had a lot more grip and wing in the early stages
My mediums were rubbish here, just getting no heat into the front but i doubt i could have got softs to last.
I got back to 4th or 5th chasing Alexey after simon and stefan fell over the kerbs (actually thought simon had new sponsors of a lawn cutting firm the amount times he took to the grass
) but after a few laps all over the back of Alexey i got slightly blindsided to those nasty saw-tooth kerbs on the exit of the uphill left and it pitched me into a spin, losing 3 places and 15 seconds
It took me an age to recover and catch the guys ahead but i got past Kimi to take me back to 6th? only to come across a stranded car at the tricky sector 1 downhill chicane. The car was offline but it was enough for me to miss my brake point and take too much kerb resulting in a second spin and losing my hard won position
So I set off yet again in pursuit knowing a few ahead were on softs and must be starting to really struggle. Alas my med rears were now also yellow so i wasnt as fast as earlier so it took a lot of laps to close them right down. I pressured Simon for a couple of laps and he went off grass cutting again at T1 and Kimi finished just ahead of me at the flag. A couple more laps and i would have bagged him too!
So overall a lot of hard work to just get 7th at the end, tyres were rubbish the whole race. Got to say i like the new strategy element that has crept in where guys take a gamble on softs or meds. If i hadnt had my two spins i might have finished 4th with the extra grip (albeit crappy cold mediums!) i had over the worn out soft runners.
Big congrats to NFSW with his amazing pace here, and the podium finishers
Out of interest, is it possible to have the tyre compound added to the race results table? Would be nice to see who ran meds or softs in the race.