A great start to this promising series indeed
Improved my pb in qual by 1/1000 of a sec, so it seems I've hit my terminal velocity in this car on this track
Surprised, but delighted of course to be on pole, but very wary of Clive in 2nd, not far off my pace, and in a Healey no less. Would be just typical of him to upstage us all, by winning the race in the presumably slowest car!
As expected, I got jumped by Clive at the start (curious; do you use a clutch pedal ?). No worries though, as there were plenty of laps to find a way back past him. However, he was proving bloody quick through the corners, so I had to work hard, if I was to prevent him getting away. Thought I had him at St. Marys on L2, when he went wide into the right hander, but he recovered quicker than I could exploit it. After the way I battered him on the same track in our Christmas Special, I was determined to not as much as scratch his paint this time, so I bit my time and waited for the right opportunity. Had a look down his sides a few times, but were not in a sufficiently good position to attempt a pass - in a way, it wasn't too bad a situation; I could put him under pressure, while relaxing (relatively speaking!
). I knew that as soon as I got past, the pressure would be on me instead. Had my first serious attempt down Lavant on L4, but put 2 wheels on the grass and lost momentum. Tried next lap in the same place, this time succeeding. Sure enough, pressure was now on me, and I couldn't afford any mistakes - no major ones at least.
Very slowly worked up a gap of about 5 secs, and could ease off a little - just enough to be reasonably sure of not making big mistakes. Small ones or too much cruising would shrink the gap right away, so Clive was obviously still going hard back there! When he slipped from view, the race should have turned lonely, but I had the pit board reminding me of his not too distant presence every lap, and a steady stream of traffic also kept me company - thanks for helping me past guys!
Bill, sorry about the rather rude bump. In the replay, it seems obvious that you kept the door open for me, but I hesitated in the situation, and when I decided not to go for the inside, it was too late to brake.
Towards the end, I almost lost it though. On the penultimate lap, I entered the chicane 'too hot' and knew I wouldn't make it. Know from bitter experience that hitting the wall on the right, can take out your engine, but thankfully managed to brake in time. Lost some 6-7 secs, but still enough gap to hold on to first.
Grats to Clive, Matt and all finishers - not least Bill; glad to see you complete a race this time.
Much impressed with Clive's pace in the Healey. It's obvious he'll be an even bigger pain than last season
- unless he makes some mistakes in upcoming races, I predict he'll walk away with it all this year (Tony, we need more pit stops..
)
Cheers,
Erling
