?!!!! How on earth do you get your tyres into the red in a 55 car Bastian?? I have found the tyres on these cars to be just about bullet proof?? It would be interesting to see your setup and see what parameters were set.
As for Mr Loynes winning performance,
I have to say "well done at Reims and I am ( maybe ) pleased that his success was due to my gift of a setup when he first struggled with these 55's".
..............I won't make that mistake again lol !!!!
As with any of these slipstreaming circuits, qualification is not as important as the first lap and the last lap. Provided that you are in the draft of the lead group the majority of the race is a question of survival? My slide into Enrique's SL probably had a big influence on the outcome of the race as it dropped the 2 of us out of the tow and allowed Clive L and Jonny to escape. Enrique was doing a grand job of pulling us back into contention until he ran wide and it was left to Yannick, Phil and myself to try and work ourselves back.
We were closing the gap very slowly, but Jonny's SL was just too fast on those long straights. When Jonny stopped for a beer with the marshalls, I thought that Clive's lone Lancia would be a sitting duck but he refused to wait for us !! The three of us did close the gap, but it was not until the final lap that I noticed the first signs that we were picking up the tow down the long straight and my top speed was 3-5 mph higher. (Phil had in explicably dropped back over the previous 2 laps?? He was still in slipstream range but appeared to be losing ground, did you have a problem Phil?.)
In an earlier lap Yannick had followed me out of the final corner and still outdragged me to the S/F line in his rapid Fezza. I had slipstreamed past Yannick on the long straight and nailed the final corner, but I am sure that it was just the slight effect of the tow from Clive L's car 250 mtrs ahead that prevented Yannick from drafting back to take 2nd as we raced to the line.
There was a point in the race when Jonny and Clive were away in front and Phil, Yannick and myself were fighting for 3rd, that I wondered if 5th would be the best that I might get in the final lap lottery. So, to sneak second was a real bonus.
Just to add a little ray of sunshine to Clive's ( and everyone else's thoughts ) I will miss the next race at Silverstone
But I will be back for the mayhem at Indy.