Joining the server tonight I had low expectations; I had done zero practise, had no setup and felt under the weather (man flu
).
Luckily my Phillip Island setup came to my rescue and somehow I managed a respectable 5th on the grid.
The race started ok, but on the 2nd lap @ T9 I took too much inside kerb and half-spun. This put me back to 10th with an uphill battle ahead of me.
I soon managed to work my way back up to 7th and found myself quickly closing in on the 3-way battle for 4th, between Simon, James and Brendan. On lap 19 I finally caught up to the back of the train (Brendan). I knew I would struggle to get by and any attempt to do so would just waste valuable time. So I took the brave decision to pit early for fuel, flu tablets and no tyres.
It was a risky strategy, but it was my only shot at trying to leapfrog the 3 ahead of me.
Surprisingly it worked, just!!!
As I approached T1 I could see Simon leaving his pit stall. There was a mad scramble for both of us around T1 and then a drag race up to the chicane where I just edged ahead. phew!!!
That was part one of the plan complete, but I knew part two (staying ahead) would be far harder...
I now had both Simon and Brendan on fresh rubber breathing down my neck. I knew I had to try to withstand the initial attacks and hope their advantage would soon wear off.
Lap after lap I just did enough to stay ahead. As my tyres destroyed themselves the pressure from behind became more intense. But I knew providing I didn't make a big mistake the guys behind would have to perform something special to get by.
Unfortunately on lap 31(?) Simon just tapped my rear @ T2 spinning me around. Simon waited for me and let me regain the position (thanks), but Brendan was now long gone with 4th securely in his pocket.
Don't worry Simon, no bad feelings here. It was only a small tap and could of even been down to the net code.
Simon and me resumed our little battle for a few more laps until Simon made a mistake @ T1. This allowed me to give my knackered tyres some much needed rest, and then when Paul spun a few laps later I was free to cruise home to an unexpected 5th position.
Thanks Simon, Brendan and James for a great race. I'm glad I decided to turn up.
Congrats to the Gary and the podium guys...