I almost did not make the effort to join this race, I got home after a particularly harrowing evening and just slumped in the armchair. The biggest attraction was that concentrating on GPL might take my mind away from other things...so I dragged myself in front of the monitor.
A handicap choice of Lotus or Eagle looked a big problem for this deceptively demanding circuit, but the setup I had built for the Eaglet at Anderstorp had been quite succesful so i dragged that in and started some race fuel laps. The car was a nightmare..snapping into overtseer and then understeering at the next corner???
It was not until I aborte and returned to the pits to check the setup that I realised that the Anderstorp setup had been very assymmetric with tyre pressures/camber/ even spring rates out of balance for all the important corners in Sweden. Once I balanced up settings the car came alive and I was able to poke it onto 4th place on the grid with race fuel.
Jops always has the chance to punish any over exuberance and I was quite content to sit back and simply take any gifts that came my way. The first opportunity came as early as T1 when Ronnie got crossed up and I had a smooth run to take the inside at T2. ( I have not looked at the replay but apologies to Ronnie if there was contact that sent him off
)
I was then sat behind Axel and Iestyn who were battling for the lead and dragging all 3 of us away from the rest of the field. It was noticeable that at certain places both of their cars looked a little "on the edge" whereas my Eaglet felt very comfortable.
Iestyn was the first to wobble a little too much and I took the invitation to claim 2nd spot, although whilst passing Iestyn I had lost ground on Axel. It was very gratifying to be able to close up on Axel so easily, without any major risks, over the next few laps and then to sit and wait again.
Axel was good enough to give me the lead a few laps later
I was watching prib and monitoring Axel as he slowly closed the gap, but resisted the urge to push hard until he got within 100 mtrs, then I just upped the pace enough to hold him at a safe distance, figuring that it was his job to push hard and take the risks
My car still felt settled and I knew that I could go faster if I really had to....it was not long before I had to test that extra speed as Axel continued to push.
Then, just when it seemed that I would be in a battle for the champagne...Axel was gone from my mirrors and I was left to keep a steady pace to the flag.
It was certainly a better end to the evening compared to how it began, and a victory that I did not expect. Tristan was absent and I am sure that had he been there, things would not have been so easy
Grats to Axel and all the finishers, but commiserations to Iestyn who I passed several times as he limped his 3 wheeler around to try and make 50% distance only to be fooled by the technology and quit 1 lap too soon
It looks like the last race of the season is going to be a interesting.................................