I did very little preparation for this race, in fact to be honest I almost forgot about it
So, i arrived in qually with about 15 minutes left......chose the Lola ( nice colour!?? seemed a good reason)...no setup.....no idea what a good setup even looks like for Spa!! lol
Did my first flying lap and it felt good..until I crossed the line...............6 secs behind fastest time!!!hmmmmmmmmmmmmm???
Major gearbox change and I found another 3 secs.............hmmmmm but maybe with a tow ??
In desperation I upped the ratios some more and made 5th even higher, slipstreaming could be important here lol.
From about 9th on the grid I got a reasonable start and slipped past a couple of cars down into Eau Rouge, being very careful to avoid any contact early in this race.
The first time we ran down to Masta I discovered that 5th gear was perhaps not right
Fortunately people in front opted to throw themselves either at each other, or the scenery and i gradually moved up the order until I was running alone in 2nd spot!!!!!.
By this time, Mark was a long way in front and now that I was sans-slipstream Mark was at least 2 secs a lap faster and going away.
With about 5 laps to go, I thought I was quite safe in 2nd place...lol..............How wrong could I have been??!! 5 cars closed in on me at a scary pace and suddenly I was in a 5 car dice for 2nd place!!!
The last few laps were absolutely brilliant racing, with slipstreaming moves happening all the time. The last lap was going to be VERY interesting
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Through Masta on the last lap there were 4 cars very close and I was wondering if I should make a move into Stavelot or wait. Fulvio and Natan solved that problem by going 2 abreast so I stayed behind and waited for an opening....and waited..... and waited. Every time I picked up the tow and thought I might be able to make a pass, the cars in front provided a rolling road block. So we all approached La Source spread across the road.
Natan took the defensive inside line and Fulvio took a line only slightly wider on the approach ...so I took the only vacant bit of tarmac and braked as late as I dared, hoping to sweep around the outside. I pulled level with Fulvio around the apex and nailed the gas.
Initially, Fulvio eased slightly ahead, but it seems my weird gear ratios finally kicked in and I was able to scream the Lola engine to breaking point and just, only just, steal 3rd spot from him.
Great racing guys and a great opener for our first F2 season