I waited until now before writing a report, to provide myself with enough time for all negative emotions to go away, but the memories remain vivid enough and things are not forgotten. Especially after seeing the server replay now and the patterns of one particular driver's bad driving that emerge just from watching the race on fast forward from my own cockpit camera.
Before that though, a few words about Qualifying. I had just received my new wheel (Logitech Driving Force Pro) on the same day and did some practice before the event to get some feeling for the FF and adjust it properly as much as possible. It was quite promising and I could do some good lap times, so in Qualifying I managed some very good runs, partially helped with some distant slipstream which positioned me 2nd, but long way away from Raoni in his Honda.
I admire Raoni for being so fast with keyboard, but no matter how good you are, driving with keyboard is never optimal, so to be half a second quicker despite that it can only mean his assigned car is too fast for his level of ability. Nothing personal against him of course, but it kills the purpose of handicapping. I hope we'll have a mid-season review discussion again this season so I can post a more detailed opinion.
Onto the race then and as expected, Raoni lost ground on the start (shorter 1st, Raoni!!) and Vix... not, his BRM, was able to get him in front of me as we entered T1. For the next 10 laps I had to be very patient, as Vix would mess up the line in just about every single corner, but then motor away with the aid of the superior power of his car. This meant that despite closing in on him in corners, I had to even ease off on occasions because he was so slow in some of them, but then even when I had a good exit and tucked in behind his slipstream, it was not enough to compensate for the BT7 lack of drive.
In the mean time Raoni was recovering slowly and just when he was about to enter the battle and expand it to a 3-way fight, his engine gave up on him. Tough luck, Raoni, I would've definitely preferred to fight you than Vix (and for good reason, as you'll hear out next).
The first noticeable example of Vix'es bad racing manners was when he had a bad exit off the last corner and so I was ahead for a few meters, before his engine put him back in front, but only just. I used the slipstream as best as possible and was close enough to try brake later as we approached the first slow right-hander. As we went through the flat out T1, I kept the inside and Vix reacted by moving to the right to protect, which was fine, and so I switched to the left to take the outside line for the next corner. Vix reacted immediately though by changing his direction again and blocking my path, forcing me to brake some 20 meters earlier to avoid any contact.
4 laps later I was close enough again, this time on the approach to the slow long right near the end of the lap, and Vix weaves around again to try and prevent me from making an attack, but he goes wide and so I manage to exit the corner quicker and reach the chicane side by side with him. We make the first part without problems, but then Vix decides enough is enough and simply turns into the next apex, hitting my car and getting himself sent off to the side as a result.
I continued unscathed after this and with Vix some 3 seconds behind, without the benefit of slipstream, I drove some of my best laps, overcoming the lack of habits with the new wheel and keeping the gap within 2-3 seconds for about 10 laps. Eventually though, once he grabbed a tiny bit of slipstream, Vix managed to close in on me within 3-4 laps and then pass me easily on the straight. There was no point defending and besides, I don't block like he does.
A lap or so later, I managed to close in again on him and when he took the inside line for the slow right near the end of the lap, I went for the outside. What a "surprise" though, when he suddenly straightened up his line and goes into my path, with inevitable contact. My BT7 veered into the armco, but managed to continue without any noticeable damage. As he didn't go so well through the chicane again, I was instantly back on the attack and exactly a lap later, approaching the same corner which we had just made contact, it was just about to get even worse.
As we went around a backmarker, Vix kept a wide line towards the slow right and I was close enough to launch an attack on the inside, which I did. As soon as that happened, Vix turned to the right and into my path, and contact was inevitable no matter what I tried. This one ripped my front left wheel off while Vix continued unharmed.
I knew there were not a lot of runners left in the race and that some were a couple of laps down, so I continued on 3 wheels to try and grab some points. I tried to stay out of the path of incoming cars as best as possible, so sorry if that was a problem to someone, but I wasn't going to give up after driving my ass off in a race that never favoured me and after being taken out by someone who clearly has no respect or morale in racing. The same one who rearended my slowly moving car, despite seeing it well in time and having enough time to react better.
Anyway, I salvaged 5th, but I was so furious after what happened and especially by Vix'es response who had the nerve to call me a looser, so I decided not to speak for a while to avoid saying much harsher things.
I'm going to say this though - why do I have to race someone who is clearly an inferior driver and if it's not for his machine, he would be driving down in mid-field. Why should the fastest drivers in this division, namely Tim and Evil, be so overly-handicapped that I can't race them any more? I thought the handicapping was supposed to equalize the field, not kill the chances of those who deserve to be at the front? And also, why are drivers who are clearly very talanted and fast, being given a quicker car?
This division is upside-down on its head at the moment and the racing is highly unnatural. I have to drive like a robot and not make any mistakes, and even then I have no chance to beat people who are clearly not driving any near as good, and who only benefit from having a much faster car, particularly on tracks that favour engine power. I think the fact that this is going to be another Amateurs/Pro season which I'm not going to win proves all that, because we can see in Specs when we race the same 65 cars who are currently the fastest drivers and yet those same drivers are robbed of chances in the Pro division. If you want more proof - take the Qualifying times from each race so far and observe.
I'm very tired and disheartened of having to deal with all this, and listening to people saying that it's the right thing to do, because it's not. We should really switch to the Historic system or something, and be done with this perversion once and for all. OK, I guess I may not have to wait for a mid-season review after all, lol, at least for the Pro division.