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Grats guys who finished. Apologies to Jonny.

I was in the lead and lost concentration twice, spinning through the bump and then into the double chicane once I was back in front. I had seen he was behind me, but then saw Pribluda said -2 yards and thought he might have gone along side into the second part, so I was slow sticking to a 2 wide line and he bumped me (netcode lag making it a flip), going into the cones himself.

There's not really enough space to go two wide there anyway, so I was still a bit frazzled from catching the hay bale and going through the cones. I costed us both a likely 1-2.  :-[

Grats to all finishers and thanks for the great racing, Clive! -happy that nothing happens when I lost control at Cote Lapize. And thanks to Tristan for giving me room in the first 2 laps, sadly the reason you lost P3, sorry couldn´t find a rythm fast enough :(

My season has not exactly been notable in 67's, so I decided to spend some tokens. Plus, I had not really done that much practice, although I have raced on this track many times before.
Having decided to spend some tokens, the question was, which car? I was tempted by the Eagle and its top speed on the long straights, but in the end I thought "what the heck, let's try the Lotus as a treat?"
It is a long time since I have used the Lotus and actually got dialled into the performance it offers. So qualifying was interesting as I tried to exploit the potential in the Lotus, gradually improving my time. But Iestyn, Tim and Jonny were stunningly quick so I found myself in 4th.

I knew from a couple of longer runs in qually that my setup took a few laps to get any heat into the tyres, in fact I could not get them warm throughout the whole race, So I was cautious in the first laps and that allowed Tristan to get his Brabham past me. From 5th place I could watch the battle ahead. Iestyn and Jonny were fighting hard in their 2 Lotii, Tim appeared to be struggling with the white whale ( but still impressively quick!!) and Tris was looking for a way past the Honda, but the V12 was just too quick on the straights.
I think there was a close encounter between Tim and Tris with no contact but it slowed them both and it gave me a chance to get a run on Tris, get past the Brabham and chase down Tim.
Gradually I reduced the gap and just when the 4 lead cars had become a single group, Iestyn and Jonny had their "moment" at the chicane before the banking. That allowed Tim and his Honda into the lead and I gratefully followed. I had expected Iestyn and Jonny to perhaps chase us down but Iestyn was out and perhaps Jonny had some damage?
So with 75% of the race still to run Tim and I were in the clear.  :o
I was happy to follow Tim and I hoped that the Lotus would allow me an easy ride, but Tim's pace in the Honda was awesome  :notworthy: and I was not able to cruise along behind him....I had to push quite hard!!
Having some long time knowledge of the Honda I thought that if it was pushed hard the tyres might begin to overheat, so with 10 laps to go I eased up to Tim and started to hassle him a little. I'm not sure if Tim's tyres were suuffering but he eventually lost the rear end at Cote Lapiz. I was so committed that I just could not pull my Lotus on to a tight line and nudged the side of the Honda.
Tim was a gentleman and allowed me to take 1st place as we recovered  ;)
Once I had the lead I knew that Tim's qually time would be a threat as we entered the last laps on low fuel. Sure enough, it was only the advantage that the Lotus offered that allowed me to retain the lead. If I backed off for a lap, or made a small error, the Honda appeared large in my mirrors again!!
I saw Tim run wide with 3 laps(?) to go and that gave me 300mtrs of safety instead of 50mtrs, for the last laps, and I was finally able to cruise to the flag.
That was a very intense race but great fun. Really enjoyed driving the Lotus in anger for once  ;D
Commiserations to Iestyn ( my team mate in Blue Moose) and to Jonny who recovered to 3rd, plus all finishers at a track that is known as a car killer.

Congrats Clive, Tim, and Jonny! It's nice to see you get a win Clive. Excellent lap times in the Honda Tim. That made me think I should have tried it too.

I was actually pleased with the BRM. I never got ambitious and I was relieved I never had anybody on my tail and the end of the straight with the huge dip. I was consistent the first 11 laps until I realized I might run out of fuel with 2 laps to go. I was setting fast sectors starting around lap 7 and knew I could easily get into the 2:30s before the race ended. With enough fuel I might have been able to get the beast into the 2:29s. I don't know how I miscalculated my fuel so much. By the end of the race I was coasting with the clutch depressed to make sure I could actually cross the line.

I didn't realize until the race was finished that Jonny had damaged his car so much that the only reason I didn't catch him was a lack of fuel. A podium finish in the BRM would have been spectacular for me.

Thanks for the fun guys.

Ahh! and another thing. Nice start guys. I didn't keep my car in Axel's mirrors as I had liked but I wanted to make sure I had some room in front of me in case I made any mistakes.

   it was an exciting race, joy and despair with relief, should be a good race of GPLs.
I got a great qualy, it was my best time since always on this track.
in the beginning of the race Iestyn and I made some difference and we came in a fast battle, but we curled ourselves in the cones,
I figured Iestyn was pulling the car to the left and in fact he was getting back on track.
so it was a mistake of mine, I'm sorry Iestyn.
after the accident tried to review the distance to Tristan, but he had some problem and abandoned the race, then I had to think about the points and take my car to the end without doing more nonsense.
Stunning the lap times of Clive and Tim, congratulations guys, you guys went all the way in a beautiful duel !!!!
  it's great to see Clive motivated and it's amazing how Tim was fast with the Hondola, it would be interesting to have Pelle with another Hondola.

Clive, also for me it was a real great race and an honor to drive with you all in a very fair way! Tristan and you gave me room at the first 2 laps, otherwise I would not be able to finish that good! Big thanks for that!
The two mistakes I made were not a reason of hot tyres it was just my inconsistency and the need of pushing all the time.

Very awaiting Laguna Seca!