Just lately I seem to be having races that are either a lonely run, or some epic battles. Last nights 66 race was definitely one of the latter!!
Al and Tom were setting some cracking times in qually and I needed a good tow in my baby Brab/BRM if I hoped to get pole. Sadly no-one was kind enough to give me a lump of slipstream and I struggled to get within a second of my PB. In fact my best time was with race fuel on board!!!
So, 2nd spot on the grid and a clear run to T1 and ( hopefully down to Nouveau Monde). Rouen is one of those tracks where survival on the 1st lap, is very much influenced by where you have qualified. As some of the other drivers discovered, one persons mistake at Nouveau Monde inevitably becomes a problem to share. Off the line I tucked as close as I dared to Al's gearbox in the hope that we would get a small safety gap on the run down the hill.
Fortunately I braked about 75mtrs earlier than I normally would at Nouveau Monde, otherwise Al and I might have been sharing our misfortune with everyone else!!
, because Al was playing VERY safe on cold tyres
.
It soon became apparent that Al's BRM had a definite top speed advantage over my little Brabham up the long back straight, but there were places where I could gain time through bends and under braking. So began a game of Cat and Mouse that was to last the whole race. I made a pass in the early laps and tried to break away, but Al was having none of it and was easily able to reel in any advantage up the straight in my slipstream no matter how much I gained through the twisty sections.
After about 7 or 8 laps I did my customary check on fuel consumption and was a little perturbed to discover that I did not have enough juice to finish the race!!
Although I was still leading, AL was close behind and threatening a pass at the end of the straight on each lap. But more worrying was the occasional flash of red in my mirrors as Fulvio's Ferrari was catching both of us!!! Unfortunately Fulvio went wide, and up the bank, at T1 a lap or so later and that left Al and myself well clear of the field. I was relieved when Al passed me later on the same lap and I was able to tuck into his slipstream and short shift whilst we edged away from the chasing pack. Thanks to Al's tow truck I was able to save enough fuel over the following laps to get myself to the end of the race. I thought to myself that I would wait another 5 laps in his slipstream, just to make sure I had enough "go-juice" and to allow our pace to pull us away.
I think that thought must have un-nerved psychic Al, because he lost it at Scierie and I had to perform a sudden mid corner correction to dodge his tail pipes!! Well. with about 12 laps left I suddenly had an unexpected lead over Al so I pushed as hard as I could to try and keep him out of my slipstream.
The next few laps were unfortunate for both of us as that was when we started to lap the backmarkers. I got caught behind one car through Sansom and Beauval that lost me almost half my lead ( no-one to blame, just bad luck ) and then I made a small mistake out of Scierie with a stupid tank slapper which allowed Al to close right up...........5 laps to go and the race was well and truly ON.
Al blasted past up the straight and I tucked into his slipstream again. starting the last lap Al was a bit wobbly out of Paradis and I stuck my car alongside across the line. It was plain that any attempt to take him through T1 would probably finish both our races, so I backed off but was still in Al's blind spot. He held a very wide line and was slow down to Six Freres where I had always been quicker. I could not make my advantage into a pass and was stuck on Al's gearbox out of Nouveau Monde and up through Sansom and Beauval.
maybe I could outbrake him into Scierie with some slipstream...not quite.
It was all on Paradis and the run to the line, but Al's BRM just had too much top end and he took a deserved win after a race long battle.
Grats to all finishers and especially to Al who drove a great race.
