Congratulations to Mark on a fine win! Pace and accuracy do pay off.
A surprise P2 for me and largely due to luck. Greg had what can only be described as an 'off day' with numerous and uncharacteristic misadventures. Poor Axel had a motor failure and Dean an off in the treacherous Dr. T corner.
I did enjoy trying to reel in Axel mid-race but the point fell in my favour with his engine problem. I was laying down fast...for me...laps consistently. After his reset and pit stop...did everyone who reset do so? hmmm..., I started to cruise a bit thinking I was well clear of everyone. In the Lola, my pit board is partially obscured by the roof architecture and I could only see the gap to the person ahead. Mark well up the road. I couldn't see whom was running directly behind me and/or how far and the mirrors are kinda hopeless(virtual included). Not to worry. After Axel's problem and Dean's spin, they gotta be miles behind, right? Yea, right! Got an enormous shock with about four laps to run when suddenly, this white apparition comes ripping up in my mirror at the speed of light. At first, I thought this was Axel recovering from a spin(didn't know he lost the motor and had to reset)and that he'd caught me napping. NO! IT'S DEAN!
I could have sworn that the spin he had in Dr. T...and witnessed by me...would have put him way, way behind. In viewing the replay cap later, I see that, in fact, he never even lost sight of me. He was never more than about six seconds behind and closing with each lap. I spooled up the Chevy mill and over the next couple of laps, we had a ferocious duel done with skill and fairness that included some really keen moves on both our parts. It was great fun. Suddenly, with barely a lap to run, Dean simply disappeared.
Apparently, he needed a reset and I really don't know why. Out of fuel? Could be. I was disappointed that our battle came to a premature end. I expect that if it weren't for the reset, Dean would have prevailed for an impressive recovery to P2. Dean and I have had some pretty good duels of late. I look forward to more.
Edit: Forgot to mention that in early laps, I twice bungled T1 losing time and in one instance, sliding wide and clipping the grail on the outfield. It was a light brush but redirected the Lola back onto the track. Without that little kiss, I almost certainly would have spun. My lucky day!
