Ok, bad points out of the way first. Apologies to Billy on lap 1, I closed rather suddenly onto his gearbox entering the Loop. GPL's meting out of damage is certainly not proportionate to blame, as I merely slowed even more and poor Billy did cartwheels [the show-off].Then I think Phil hit the debris, so I have my head held in shame for that one. Then on lap 4 I was chasing M. Girard out of the loop and drew alongside down the back straight. In hindsight I should have realised me couldn't have seen me in his mirror and as he swept into the Speedtrap we made contact- judges will no doubt take their time on that one- but I hope I didn't spoil your race too much Pierre?
The rest of the race was just a matter of settling and finding a rhythmn, something I found easier to do in the Cooper than my usual Honda. As I did I noticed my lap times tumbling, by at least a hundredth of a second per lap
, this middle section of the race saw Bernie having a determined try to take my position, but I suckered him into late braking into Big Bend which relieved the pressure somewhat.
Then 5 laps to go and I was only a hundred yards or so behind my teamie Paul. Now usually its pretty close between the two of us -draw whatever connotations you will from that- but here I was about to LAP HIM. A quick look at Prib to check for any threat from behind and...damn, it goes left here. But I didn't and smacked the bales at the Speed trap head on. Oh justice, the site of a previous misdemeanor. That not only left me no chance of taking 3rd-wishful thinking is a positive trait- but also let Bernie back into 4th. Oh what could have been :'(
Zeltweg next, and just have to tell myself that finishing without any big mistakes is IMPORTANT.
Great race, good fun and points- I'll have to make do with those for now.