Results look OK to me guys , other than I am not on the podium, but that might have been a bit much to expect?
Grats to Erling, Doni and Hayman for the top places.
I had done very little practice for this race, except to recce the circuit and get a basic knowledge of which way the next corner turned.
So I figured that I had nothing to lose by using up one of my D type drives.
I made a real gaff in practice and managed to load a setup for an Aston Martin DB2, which had me struggling for many laps until I realised my mistake as quali started.
It took me most of quali to get the correct setup to work and find the right gear ratios...that 4 speed Jag gearbox is an absolute sod to work with. Every gear seems to be too low or too high for every corner
By now it was too late to change cars now and anyway I wanted to use one of my drives in the D type.
The race start was a disaster and I was swamped. At the end of the lap I saw an opportunity that was not really there and succeeded only in taking Flash off the track with me. ( big apologies for that).
From that point on I just tried to keep a steady pace and hoped to pick up places. I had half planned to go the whole race on the same tyres and try taking just a splash and dash. The only problem with this "perfect" plan was that I had no idea how far I could go on a tank full of fuel, so when I reached 14 laps I chickened out and went into the pits. The intention was to only take on fuel, but my over efficient pit crew decided to change the tyres as well!!! so much for a plan!!
Well, I came out of the pits with fresh rubber and plenty of fuel and just nailed it. Within 4 laps I had trashed the rear tyres as I drifted the Jag through the faster corners and floored the gas out of each corner leaving black lines on the tarmac. It was fun for 4 or 5 laps until I noticed that the tyres were all well into the red zone and a little sanity returned.
It was then that I found that I could actually drive this car faster with less grip!!! With gentle throttle modulation and persuasive, rather than punishing steering inputs the laptimes started to fall. It seemed that the more the tyres lost their grip, the easier the car was to drift through corners under power and carry more speed.
In the last few laps I was closing on oldgeezer and almost thought I might catch him before the flag. I passed Misnomis who was focused on keeping a small patch of grass very well trimmed.
To get 7th place in a race where I had not prepared and taken a car that I thought would not make the finish, was not so bad.
Still loving these cars and the challenge they present. Thanks Tony.