Thanks Tony
Doesn't feel quite right though; GT is the real winner - had he not missed the last round, he would surely have won
Race 1:First of all an apology to Clive. Only when I watched the replay did I realise I hit you at T1 on L1, causing your spin. From my POV, I had cleared your car before you started to spin, and the impact wasn't felt at all. Had I known at the time, I would of course have waited. But then I would have robbed you of the satisfaction of hunting me down later, so maybe not so bad after all..
Had qualified 3rd, but slipped to 4th at the start, when Tony got better off the line. With the above incident, and some 'help' from Tony
, I slipped by on the outside at T1, grabbing the lead. Had Matt in hot pursuit for a few laps, until he got stuck at the pit entrance. With no other cars in sight, I was handed a big advantage - perhaps even a shot at winning the race. However, I promptly tossed it away, when I lost the rear under braking and spun at T1. A Clive shaped dot soon appeared in my mirrors. He was much quicker, so soon got past, when I ran wide at my Nemesis; T1. Thus had to settle for 2nd.
Race 2:Seemed Matt had lost his nerve after the accident in race 1, since I was able to qualify ahead of him
He slipped past at the start, but later lost time on L1, allowing me to reclaim 2nd. Soon after, I went wide at T3 and touched the barrier, flipping the car. By the time it was righted, Kurt and Tony roared past. I gave chase, and on the following lap, Tony passed Kurt at the start/finish. Maybe because of that, Kurt braked MUCH sooner than I expected at T1. Caught me out completely, and I slammed into the back of his car - apologies for that
Fortunately, it didn't seem to affect him. I on the other hand, went into the barrier, flipping the car once more. By the time it was righted, I was in a rather battered Healey, facing the wrong way. If I hadn't been last before, I surely was now!
Set off again. Caught and passed Kurt recovering from a spin, after a few laps. Think he let me through; thanks if that was the case
Tony was 8 secs ahead, and for 3-4 laps, I didn't make any inroads in his lead. But then it suddenly dropped to under 5 secs, and I soon had a visual on him. Wild chase was on then. Caught him with 2 laps to go, but an overtake opportunity never presented itself, so had to settle for 4th... - no wait, 3rd actually, as Clive was DNF
(Had only looked at the gaps on the pit board, so didn't realise I was in 3rd, until after the race)
Looked at the replay to see what happened to Clive. Clive mate, you hit escape way too fast when you flipped the car - had you hesitated a moment, it would have righted itself and you could have carried on, probably to win that one too..
Grats to Clive & Matt for convincing wins (and to GT who's the true Champ)
Cheers,
Erling