Events such as our Watkins Glen round will forever keep me an ardent fan of GPL. Great racing, close and hard-fought but scrupulously clean passing bids and 45 laps that just flew by in seemingly a blink. Splendid duels with first Fulvio and later, Clive, really were a treat. My vision was excellent throughout and my policy of minimizing computer time prior to the race start is paying off handsomely when it comes to the old eyeballs.
A new PB in the Ferrari in qualifying was still only good for P10 on the grid. Thanks to Hiro's misfortune...bad luck there, buddy...and his stuttering away from the grid, I vaulted up the order on L1 from my right-handed starting position and could scarcely believe my luck. A terrific scrap with Fulvio was just a joy! I noticed that Al was not far behind for the longest time doing a splendid job in the Cooper but went missing around 1/3 distance. Then, way back there, I caught site of Clive's big Red Ball Special homing in on me. Several laps of fending him off were great fun but ultimately, he got great drive coming off the Esses and ripped by fair and square. As I'd fallen away somewhat from Fulvio, I was hoping that Clive would tow me back up to Fulvio and give me a shot at a podium. Sadly, the last I saw of the Honda was it going wide to the left out of the corner of my eye in the Loop and not showing again as I got up onto the Back Straight. No justice in that, Clive, after a scintillating drive. Came home just a few seconds adrift of Fulvio who claimed that precious P3 podium slot. Good show, mate. I'm not in the least disappointed with P4.
Grats to Art for a super drive for the win and to Sam for surviving that ENORMOUS shunt without terminal affects. I viewed the replay cap of that off and still cannot hardly believe you survived it. I thought Lotus' were supposed to be fragile?
On to sunny Brazil and Interlagos! CYA there!