That was quite an eventful race
Settled for the Healey in offline practice, as it was the fastest car for me here. Aston was impossible, Jag even more impossible - can't get rid of its wallowing from left to right, and on a tight circuit like this, where precision is everything in some places, that trait was pure poison. With Matt's kindly provided Merc setup, I could do 1:29 laps in that car, but was faster in the Healey so had to be it.
Matched my offline pb in qual, but only got me as far as 4th on the grid. T1 kerfuffle saw me emerge in 5th. Sorry about the tap Clive; I was shoved into you by another car. Thus didn't wait, as I didn't feel it was my fault..
Chased after Roger, who had gotten past me, with Clive inching closer from behind. Missed my braking point and had to aim for the pavement, to avoid hitting Roger. That let Clive past unfortunately. When he then passed Roger at the beginning of the next lap, with a kamikaze outbrake, I tossed out the hook, caught his tailfin and let him drag me past Roger too
Built a small gap to Roger over the following laps, while trying hard to keep Clive within reach. Was of course hoping the unruly Jag would give him enough trouble, for me to pass him at some point. Regrettably it seems some higher power, with a vicious streak and a little too eager to please, was listening... Suddenly I saw Clive's car in a spectacular somersault at the fast chicane (or should we call it 'The Gauntlet'..
) He went over the edge of the world and into the void. My sympathies Clive - I certainly wanted to steal your position, but not like that..
Then at the beginning of the next lap, I entered the kink right after the start/finish a little too fast. That meant the only possible line for me was up on the pavement on the left, but there was Bill T' s stationary Jag, just recovering after a shunt
He couldn't get out of the way, and I couldn't brake or change my line, so hit him hard. Sorry about that Bill; saw your car too late to do anything
By the time I got rolling again, Roger was right up close and personal again. Aside from the sorry looks it gave my car, I think the collision broke something in the suspension, as the car never felt good after it. Thus could only do 1:30 laps. It was enough to get me away from Roger again, but didn't bring me any closer to Matt up front, so no chance of challenging for 2nd.
Thus ended in a somewhat undeserved 3rd, thanks to Clive and Lobo's untimely exits (in similar fashion). Thanks to those I lapped who helped me past - if I didn't flash a 'thank you', it was because both my headlights were broken (and I can never remember which key holds what predefined message..)
Grats to Pelle and Matt - and Bill T on finally getting to complete a race again without PC troubles - let's hope it's a sign things to come, and not just a lucky break!
Misnoimis: If you loose your cockpit view, you should be able to bring it back with repeated taps on the 'Insert' key. (I don't think I've changed the default key for this, so should be 'Insert'. If that doesn't work, try some others, as it's probably there somewhere)
Cheers,
Erling
