Congrats Bob,Pelle, and Axel!
After I needed a shift-r my heart wasn't in it anymore.
My apologies Dave and Ray. I tried to slow down but I couldn't quite slow enough. I felt bad wrecking Dave the way I did. I should have known he'd be much much slower than me into that bend.
I'm struggling to run a decent race here. I knew that not being very comfortable with the Brabham would slow my pace over a race with a few spins being possible. I didn't expect I'd be quite as horrible as I was.
I was glad to make it through the first sector in the lead on lap 1. That's my weakest place here. I had a nice lead on Bob by the time I got to Metzgefeld. I missed my braking point slightly, resulting in a spin. A slow recovery dropped me several places. I made another mistake and almost pulled out in front of the other drivers. With over half my car on the track I couldn't see if anybody was coming or not when I looked right.
Being back in the field, I was looking for any mistake to make a pass. Dave ran a little wide at one of the slower sections and knew I could get inside and take the line away from him into the next turn. It appears I didn't hold a tight enough line and gave Dave a little bump.
Luckily it didn't appear to effect him too much.
Later, Clive had to slide his car to avoid Dave before Kesselchen. That's one of my stronger points on the track. I passed Clive in the grass. You'd have to have a death wish to try something like that in real life. I thought I could pull it off without hitting Clive.
Unfortunately it was only a few turns later I bumped Dave off the track. It's a shame. I was wasn't in a great hurry to pass Dave again. I just wanted to be close if he made any mistake.
At one point I caught Axel and Pelle before the long straight. I had my doubts the Brabham could pass the Honda or Ferrari on the straight. I was in Pelle's slipstream entering the straight with him in Axel's slipstream. I wasn't sure at the time but it looks like I could have slipstreamed off Pelle then Axel and then Pelle again and possibly passed them both. I thought it was best to be a little cautious though and I was happy to have passed at least one of them. Too bad I wasn't more cautious coming to the chicane. I braked a little late and since I was in Pelle's slipstream I braked a little harder than usual. The car went sideways immediately. After a 360, I hit the end of the guard rail. That threw me into the air and I did another 540+ before landing on my wheels. I wouldn't be surprised if Axel got a good laugh from that. I know I would have laughed if I was in Axel's seat. I was relieved I didn't hit Pelle or collect Axel.
I was shocked the car still worked after that. From my client replay :
9m20.240s
Gregory Taber - spotters reporting:
minor problems with right front tire.
medium problems with right rear tire.
minor problems with right front suspension.
minor problems with right rear suspension.
the car has an engine problem.
I couldn't tell if the car was damaged or not. It managed to do 8:08 on the next lap though.
Lap 4, Axel is very kind and let's me pass. Unfortunately I get a little out of shape at the low point before Adenauer and can't slow down enough to avoid the deadly tree on the right. After a spin, two crashes, bumping Dave off, and needing a reset, it no longer seemed to be fun.
With no real chance to catch Bob and it being unlikely I would improve my PB, I thought it was best to retire.
I did enjoy it some. I think I've figured out how to fix my crappy gear set. I saw an ideal lap of 8:02.15 before my race ended. That means I should be able to get 8:01's out of the Brabham at some point in the future. That's pleasing.
Congrats to Axel on his improved PB! Watching Justus Forschbach's 312 WR helped me improve my 312 PB from approximately 8:15 to 8:06. The rest of my gains have come from experience and setup refinements.
Thanks guys. Once again, I apologize for my lunacy and mistakes.